Gerard Schwarz Joins The Frost School of Music
The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami has appointed Gerard Schwarz as Distinguished Professor of Music; Conducting and Orchestral Studies. The announcement was made by Shelton G. Berg, Dean of the Frost School of Music. Schwarz will assume his position in the fall of 2019, and he will be a full-time member of the faculty as Professor of Practice in the Department of Instrumental Performance.
The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami has appointed Gerard Schwarz as Distinguished Professor of Music; Conducting and Orchestral Studies. The announcement was made by Shelton G. Berg, Dean of the Frost School of Music. Schwarz will assume his position in the fall of 2019, and he will be a full-time member of the faculty as Professor of Practice in the Department of Instrumental Performance.
Internationally recognized for his moving performances, innovative programming and extensive catalog of recordings, Gerard Schwarz is Conductor Laureate of the Seattle Symphony, and Music Director of the All-Star Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival, the Mozart Orchestra of New York, and Conductor Emeritus of New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival. He has recorded over 350 albums as a conductor and has received 6 Emmy awards, 14 Grammy nominations, 8 ASCAP Awards, and numerous other accolades. He is a noted composer, and also has 6 million enrollees in his courseware with the All-Star Orchestra for the Khan Academy. A champion of new music, Schwarz has conducted more than 300 world premieres. Maestro Schwarz also played a leading role in the creation of Seattle Symphony’s Benaroya Hall. His much-anticipated memoir, Gerard Schwarz: Behind the Baton, was published by Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group in March 2017.
“We are ecstatic to welcome the esteemed Gerard Schwarz to the Frost School”, says Dean Berg. “He is a tour de force as a conductor, musician, composer and recording artist. As an educator, Maestro Schwarz personifies our Frost Method Curriculum®, which holistically trains musical leaders for the 21st Century. An embodiment of excellence, Gerard has created iconic organizations and raised the bar everywhere he has been. I have no doubt that working with our world-class colleagues, he will help us achieve new heights.”
“Shelly Berg, the Dean at the Frost School of Music, has created a unique musical and educational environment, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to join him and the superb faculty to support the great artistic leaders of the future,” Schwarz said. “Music education, for professionals and audiences alike, has been a guiding force and passion in my life, and I look forward to bringing that commitment to the Frost School under the mission of creative innovation and artistic excellence.”
Regarding new initiatives Maestro Schwarz plans for his position, Schwarz comments:
“I hope I will be able to continue and add to the growth of this wonderful school of music. My ideas for the orchestral/educational program are ones that are already embraced by faculty. Specifically, I would like to expand the graduate conducting program to train conductors, who will lead ensembles of all levels. I have always believed in the interaction of the community with an orchestra or school and I would like to expand this initiative with the Frost Symphony Orchestra. Shelly Berg, Robert Carnochan, Conductor of the Frost Wind Ensemble and Chair of Instrumental Performance, and I have already begun discussion of annual festivals beginning with a festival around 20th century American music. Of course, programming for the Frost Symphony Orchestra is very much on my mind and I think of this in three distinct areas: the most important works of the great repertoire of the past; works that have proven to be excellent of the 20th century that need exposure; and new works.”
Gerard Schwarz succeeds Thomas Sleeper, who conducted the Frost Symphony Orchestra with distinction for 25 years. The Frost Symphony Orchestra maintains an active performance schedule, on campus and beyond. Frost School orchestras have long had the distinction of performing with some of the most celebrated conductors and soloists from around the world including Pierre Monteux, Leopold Stokowski, Gregor Piatigorsky, Jasha Heifitz, and Arthur Rubenstein. In recent years that tradition has continued to include Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, Jennifer Koh, Dawn Upshaw, Eric Owens, James Newton Howard, Bobby McFerrin, Cristian Macelaru, Simone Dinnerstein, and many others. American Record Guide called the world premiere of Surinach's Symphonic Melismas, "The most auspicious premiere by the UM Symphony since 1956 when Andre Kostelanitz conducted the premiere of William Schuman's New England Triptych here."
The FSO and Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra have released recordings with Sony Music, Concord, Centaur, Cane and Albany Labels with excellent reviews. Former members of the FSO hold positions in prestigious ensembles and serve as arts administrators, teachers, conductors throughout the world.
Read the announcement from The Frost School of Music here.
The Strad: Juilliard String Quartet Review
This was the first evening concert in the UK of the Juilliard String Quartet with its new first violinist, Areta Zhulla (it had given a lunchtime concert at Wigmore the previous day). Zhulla has clearly settled in nicely, and played in absolute musical empathy with her colleagues.
The Strad
Tim Homfray
WIGMORE HALL, 15 January 2019
This was the first evening concert in the UK of the Juilliard String Quartet with its new first violinist, Areta Zhulla (it had given a lunchtime concert at Wigmore the previous day). Zhulla has clearly settled in nicely, and played in absolute musical empathy with her colleagues.
Read more from The Strad’s April issue, available here.
Finnish Music Quarterly: Grappling with Sibelius in China
“Could a certain distance from Western symphonic thought have contributed to the surprising qualities of the performances I heard in China?” Andrew Mellor reviews performances of Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos 2 and 5 in Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Finnish Music Quarterly
Andrew Mellor
“Could a certain distance from Western symphonic thought have contributed to the surprising qualities of the performances I heard in China?” Andrew Mellor reviews performances of Sibelius’s Symphonies Nos 2 and 5 in Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra – 140 years old this season – presented Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 at a concert on 13 January conducted by Li Xincao. Sibelius is not a regular part of the SSO’s diet, I was told by Doug He, the orchestra’s Vice President. Sometimes the Violin Concerto crops up in a season. There might even be, as in this season, a symphony included. But there was zero Sibelius in the season before. Like the Orchestre de Paris, however, this is a flexible modern symphony orchestra with strength in all sections and high levels of discipline.
Li Xincao and the SSO’s Sibelius was exceptional, perhaps because it grasped some of the basic principles mentioned above. It appeared to take rhythm as a starting point, understanding that a focus on the rhythmic devices presented from the very start of the score will allow those devices to take on the kinetic significance they need. Intentionally or otherwise, the orchestra spoke relatively plainly but still with a sure sense of colour (the solo trumpet playing was deliciously peaty). The performance acknowledged the strain in the music, as in the final movement when building disquiet metamorphoses into natural release.
Read more here.
Strings: Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers & Guitarist Jason Vieaux Play the Green Center
Meyers floated in, 1741 “Vieuxtemps” del Gesù in hand, wearing a voluminous gown in a soft black, its overlaid geometric pattern a seeming nod to the hall’s distinctive woodwork. Vieaux, also in black, took his seat and with a quick smile between them, they jumped into the music. An arrangement of Arcangelo Corelli’s Sonata in D minor, Op. 5, No. 12, “La Folia,” with variations headed the program. Fleet fingerwork in both instruments marked the players as virtuosos, but the variations that showcased the artists at their best allowed Vieaux to indulge in a little head bobbing, as he navigated his guitar with astonishing ease, and Meyers to pull a sultry voice from her del Gesù.
Strings Magazine
Megan Westberg
Meyers floated in, 1741 “Vieuxtemps” del Gesù in hand, wearing a voluminous gown in a soft black, its overlaid geometric pattern a seeming nod to the hall’s distinctive woodwork. Vieaux, also in black, took his seat and with a quick smile between them, they jumped into the music. An arrangement of Arcangelo Corelli’s Sonata in D minor, Op. 5, No. 12, “La Folia,” with variations headed the program. Fleet fingerwork in both instruments marked the players as virtuosos, but the variations that showcased the artists at their best allowed Vieaux to indulge in a little head bobbing, as he navigated his guitar with astonishing ease, and Meyers to pull a sultry voice from her del Gesù.
Read more here.
San Francisco Classical Voice: Marc-André Hamelin – Artistry With Sprezzatura
Marc-André Hamelin has been a regular visitor to San Francisco for some time. Yet, until Sunday’s concert as part of the San Francisco Symphony’s “Great Performers Series,” he had not given a solo recital in Davies Symphony Hall. With San Francisco’s biggest concert stage all to himself, he made a case for being one of the greatest artists of today.
San Francisco Classical Voice
By Ken Iisaka
Marc-André Hamelin has been a regular visitor to San Francisco for some time. Yet, until Sunday’s concert as part of the San Francisco Symphony’s “Great Performers Series,” he had not given a solo recital in Davies Symphony Hall. With San Francisco’s biggest concert stage all to himself, he made a case for being one of the greatest artists of today.
Hamelin began with a steely and solemn reading of Bach’s Chaconne in D-Minor. Adhering faithfully to the score, he played the opening measures with his left hand only (an homage to another transcription of the same piece by Brahms, for left hand). His disciplined approach maintained the solemn character of the piece. Even as the variations flourished, at times more Busoni than Bach, the central chord progression remained clear. Hamelin worked hard to fill the large hall, and the effect was akin to being surrounded by organ pipes in all directions — fitting for a Bach transcription.
Read more here.
San Francisco Classical Voice: Razzle-Dazzle From Anne Akiko Meyers and Jason Vieaux
Anne Akiko Meyers is a dazzling violinist with flawless technique, impassioned playing, a high-gloss violin, and even a voluminous Cinderella evening gown that easily covers a square yard of stage. She is impossible to miss.
San Francisco Classical Voice
Steve Osborn
Anne Akiko Meyers is a dazzling violinist with flawless technique, impassioned playing, a high-gloss violin, and even a voluminous Cinderella evening gown that easily covers a square yard of stage. She is impossible to miss.
To all that add an adventurous repertoire and a brilliant guitar accompanist, Jason Vieaux, and you have a surefire formula for a memorable evening. Such was the case on Saturday, when Meyers and Vieaux displayed their formidable talents to an appreciative audience at Sonoma State’s Green Music Center, playing works by Arcangelo Corelli, Philip Glass, Astor Piazzolla, Rentaro Taki, Antônio Carlos Jobim, John Corigliano, and Manuel de Falla.
Read more here.
Washington Classical Review: Cellist Julian Schwarz unearths fascinating rarities at Austrian Embassy
Julian Schwarz had a lot to celebrate on Friday night. The American-born cellist played a recital at the Austrian Embassy, presented by the Embassy Series, bringing together composers associated with the city of Vienna. In several amiable turns at the microphone between pieces, Schwarz explained that since his last performance here, in 2015, he had become an Austrian citizen and was now engaged to Marika Bournaki, the pianist sharing the stage with him.
Washington Classical Review
Charles T. Downey
Julian Schwarz had a lot to celebrate on Friday night. The American-born cellist played a recital at the Austrian Embassy, presented by the Embassy Series, bringing together composers associated with the city of Vienna. In several amiable turns at the microphone between pieces, Schwarz explained that since his last performance here, in 2015, he had become an Austrian citizen and was now engaged to Marika Bournaki, the pianist sharing the stage with him…
In Stutschewsky’s Legend, Schwarz drew from his Neapolitan cello, made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743, a gorgeous melody adorned with beautiful blue notes and folk music-like vocal cantillation. The Freilachs Tanzparaphrase, on a simple, joyful traditional tune, was also a delight.
Read more here.
Gramophone: Long Yu Cover
Keep an eye out for Maestro Long Yu on the cover of April’s issue of Gramophone! Also featured in the article is Shanghai Orchestra Academy, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Youth Music Culture Guangdong.
Gramophone
Keep an eye out for Maestro Long Yu on the cover of April’s issue of Gramophone! Also featured in the article is Shanghai Orchestra Academy, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Youth Music Culture Guangdong.
Preview the cover here. And read more about China holding “the key to the future of classical music” here.
The Times: Mahan Esfahani on why JS Bach is misunderstood
“Johann Sebastian Bach is my favourite figure in all of history: the master of masters, the big wig in the sky. But he’s also one of the most misunderstood. In my new show on Radio 3 I will be finding new ways to approach his music, as well as challenging some of the myths that have arisen about him. These are some of the keys to his life and work.” – Mahan Esfahani
The Times
Mahan Esfahani
Johann Sebastian Bach is my favourite figure in all of history: the master of masters, the big wig in the sky. But he’s also one of the most misunderstood. In my new show on Radio 3 I will be finding new ways to approach his music, as well as challenging some of the myths that have arisen about him. These are some of the keys to his life and work.
Read more here.
The New York Times: Yo-Yo Ma and Wu Man with Long Yu Play With Cinematic Sweep
“A Happy Excursion” had a fitting companion in Tchaikovsky’s emotive “Pathétique” Symphony. The [New York] Philharmonic musicians can probably play this overprogrammed piece in their sleep; in the past, it has occasionally felt as if they were doing just that. But under Mr. Yu’s baton, they summoned surprising extremes, leavened occasionally with the brisk lightness of a Tchaikovsky ballet.
The New York Times
Joshua Barone
“A Happy Excursion” had a fitting companion in Tchaikovsky’s emotive “Pathétique” Symphony. The Philharmonic musicians can probably play this overprogrammed piece in their sleep; in the past, it has occasionally felt as if they were doing just that. But under Mr. Yu’s baton, they summoned surprising extremes, leavened occasionally with the brisk lightness of a Tchaikovsky ballet.
Like Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, which the Vienna Philharmonic was playing on Wednesday evening at Carnegie Hall, the “Pathétique” has an unusual form of four movements in slow-fast-fast-slow progression. Mr. Yu seemed to approach it as program music, finding a long arc in the work’s adagio bookends.
Read more of the review here.