KUSC: Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers on Respecting the Old and Welcoming the New
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers believes in respecting the old and welcoming the new. In this recent conversation with Jim Svejda, they discuss several of her recent commissions.
KUSC
Jim Svejda
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers believes in respecting the old and welcoming the new. In this recent conversation with Jim Svejda, they discuss several of her recent commissions.
Listen below or here.
Musical America: Gerard Schwarz Headed to Palm Beach
Having been appointed to the faculty of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami last month, conductor Gerard Schwarz is planting further roots into the Florida sands by accepting the post of music director of the Palm Beach Symphony. He starts next season, succeeding Ramón Tebar, who held the job for eight years.
Musical America
Nicholas Beard
Having been appointed to the faculty of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami last month, conductor Gerard Schwarz is planting further roots into the Florida sands by accepting the post of music director of the Palm Beach Symphony. He starts next season, succeeding Ramón Tebar, who held the job for eight years.
Read more here.
The Irish Times: What makes Marc-André Hamelin so special? Different class
There are any number of ways you could attempt to explain what makes Canada’s leading living pianist Marc-André Hamelin special.
The Irish Times
Michael Dervan
There are any number of ways you could attempt to explain what makes Canada’s leading living pianist Marc-André Hamelin special.
He’ll turn 57 in September and he’s been recording since he was in his 20s. So you could point to his extensive discography, which runs to over a hundred CDs. His recordings for the Hyperion label alone run to over 900 pieces.
But to look at the extent would be to miss the point. Other pianists have copious discographies. Alfred Brendel’s complete Philips recordings were issued as a set in 2015 and ran to 114 CDs, and the recordings he made earlier in his career add a further 35.
Read more here.
National Review: The Harpsichordist, An Instrument of Their Own
Mahan Esfahani is a musician, and an unusual one. He’s not a pianist, violinist, cellist, or even a tuba player: He is a harpsichordist. Jay talks with him about his life and his instrument. William F. Buckley Jr., a devotee of the harpsichord his entire life, would have loved this.
National Review
Jay Nordlinger
William F. Buckley Jr. would have loved meeting Mahan Esfahani. I have done a Q&A with Esfahani, here. He is one of the leading harpsichordists in the world. He is also sort of an evangelist for his instrument — making the case for it as a going, living concern. WFB was devoted to the harpsichord, all his life. He owned several and played them regularly. He knew Wanda Landowska, and her student Ralph Kirkpatrick, and his student Fernando Valenti, and so on. He told many stories about them (a few of which I shared with Esfahani). He had harpsichordists give recitals in his home(s). He definitely would have loved having Esfahani over. I think the feeling would have been mutual.
Read more here.
The New York Times: Classical Music Concerts to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend – Mahan Esfahani
ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA at the 92nd Street Y (May 8, 7:30 p.m.). The harpsichordist de nos jours Mahan Esfahani is the soloist in two relatively recent concertos, by Manuel de Falla and Bohuslav Martinu. Also on the bill are two arrangements for nonet, one of Mozart’s Wind Quintet by Jean Françaix, and another of Strauss’s “Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche” by Brett Dean.
212-415-5500, 92y.org
The New York Times
David Allen
ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA at the 92nd Street Y (May 8, 7:30 p.m.). The harpsichordist de nos jours Mahan Esfahani is the soloist in two relatively recent concertos, by Manuel de Falla and Bohuslav Martinu. Also on the bill are two arrangements for nonet, one of Mozart’s Wind Quintet by Jean Françaix, and another of Strauss’s “Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche” by Brett Dean.
212-415-5500, 92y.org
Read about other events here.
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.