Violinist: Interview with Anne Akiko Meyers and Adam Schoenberg
When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers started getting the music for a new violin concerto that she had commissioned from composer Adam Schoenberg, she was in for a rather major surprise.
"The first movement was all done in scordatura, which was a first for me," said Meyers. In other words, Schoenberg's music required that she tune one of the strings of her famous 1741 "Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesù down an entire step. Specifically, the G string would be tuned down to an F. "I thought, what am I supposed to do with this? What happens? Do you read the music the same way? Or do I need a crash course on how to play the violin in the key of F, with an F string?"
Violinist
Laurie Niles
When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers started getting the music for a new violin concerto that she had commissioned from composer Adam Schoenberg, she was in for a rather major surprise.
"The first movement was all done in scordatura, which was a first for me," said Meyers. In other words, Schoenberg's music required that she tune one of the strings of her famous 1741 "Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesù down an entire step. Specifically, the G string would be tuned down to an F. "I thought, what am I supposed to do with this? What happens? Do you read the music the same way? Or do I need a crash course on how to play the violin in the key of F, with an F string?"
Read more here.
Chilled: Chillin' With Piano Duo Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe
The power of duos permeates the performances and creative processes of Anderson & Roe. They’ve even thought to couple cocktails with concertos. What began as a blog feature called “Musical Mixology,” which according to Anderson, sprung from the premise that “the effective pairing of music and cocktails can enhance the potency of both” has developed into a live concert model. In the same manner that those with synesthesia perceive color while listening to music, Anderson & Roe may be aiming for their wrapped audiences to taste sound and hear taste. Chilled sat down to chat with the duo.
Chilled
Cydnee Murray
The power of duos permeates the performances and creative processes of Anderson & Roe. They’ve even thought to couple cocktails with concertos. What began as a blog feature called “Musical Mixology,” which according to Anderson, sprung from the premise that “the effective pairing of music and cocktails can enhance the potency of both” has developed into a live concert model. In the same manner that those with synesthesia perceive color while listening to music, Anderson & Roe may be aiming for their wrapped audiences to taste sound and hear taste. Chilled sat down to chat with the duo.
Read the interview here.
The Strad: Shanghai Quartet – May 2019 Cover
Keep an eye out for the Shanghai Quartet on the cover of the May 2019 issue. What a celebration of their 35th anniversary this season!
The Strad
Keep an eye out for the Shanghai Quartet on the cover of the May 2019 issue. What a celebration of their 35th anniversary this season!
The issue is available for purchase online here.
Excerpt:
‘When we formed the Shanghai Quartet in 1983 chamber music in China was almost non-existent,’ says the ensemble’s first violinist Weigang Li. ‘Western music had been introduced to the country in the 1920s and 30s, and the first generation of classical musicians included my grandfather, a violinist, who played in a quartet with Yo-Yo Ma’s father (also a violinist) before the latter moved to Paris. But most Chinese musicians, even by the 1980s, simply weren’t aware of the scope and depth of this fantastic repertoire.’
Li is speaking to me at the 2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, where he is serving as a jury member. His fellow quartet members are here too, providing the professional element for the chamber music round. The significance of the Stern name is not lost on Li, who in 1979, at the age of 15, was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.
Read more here.
Miami Artzine: A Conversation With Cellist Julian Schwarz
Many musicians often come from musical families, but American cellist Julian Schwarz of Seattle truly has an unusual royal musical lineage.
Miami Artzine
Marvin Glassman
Many musicians often come from musical families, but American cellist Julian Schwarz of Seattle truly has an unusual royal musical lineage.
Schwarz, who will be performing classical musical selections on cello in a concert recital on Sunday, April 14 at 1 p.m. at Temple Israel in Miami and on Tuesday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra, has ten relatives who attended the prestigious Julliard School Of Music and became acclaimed professional musicians.
Read more here.
Wisconsin Public Radio: Pianist Marc-André Hamelin
Pianist Marc-André Hamelin joins Norman to talk about his upcoming performance of Strauss' "Burleske in D minor" and Ravel's "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major" with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, John DeMain conducting, at the Overture Center in Madison on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 12-14.
Wisconsin Public Radio
Pianist Marc-André Hamelin joins Norman to talk about his upcoming performance of Strauss' "Burleske in D minor" and Ravel's "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major" with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, John DeMain conducting, at the Overture Center in Madison on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 12-14.
Mr. Hamelin has released almost 80 albums and has been nominated for a Grammy nine times. He is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the German Record Critic’s Association and has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada. The Canadian native currently lives in Boston.
Read and listen from WPR’s website here.
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.