I Care If You Listen: 5 Questions to Viet Cuong
On September 22-24, the Pacific Symphony and the endlessly musical and adventurous Sandbox Percussion will perform Viet Cuong’s Re(new)al concerto. The three continuous movements of Re(new)al explore the power of hydro, wind, and solar energies through the brilliant use of found objects and orchestral instrumentation.
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
By Anne Goldberg-Baldwin
On September 22-24, the Pacific Symphony and the endlessly musical and adventurous Sandbox Percussion will perform Viet Cuong’s Re(new)al concerto. The three continuous movements of Re(new)al explore the power of hydro, wind, and solar energies through the brilliant use of found objects and orchestral instrumentation. The hydro movement uses tuned crystal glasses to create an otherworldly sound environment, while the second movement is transformed into marching band-style drum line licks and bold brass bursts. The third movement reflects on the sun’s energy and power through metallic percussion instruments. Cuong also takes special care in choosing players’ orientations to one another, as well as specific choreographic instructions as the piece develops. Following the Pacific Symphony performance, Sandbox Percussion will bring Re(new)al to Carnegie Hall with American Composers Orchestra on October 20.
Read more here.
Blogcritics: Exclusive Interview: Kevin Kwan Loucks, CEO of Chamber Music America
As the acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic recede into memory, musicians are eagerly resuming their concert careers. Chamber Music America (CMA) is a national service organization that provides ensemble music professionals with access to various resources and benefits, including professional development seminars, grants and awards, and, not least, opportunities to network with presenters, managers, and other musicians and ensemble professionals, especially with its annual National Conference. Kevin Kwan Loucks, a concert pianist, educator, and arts entrepreneur serves as the CEO of CMA.
Blogcritics
By Jon Sobel
As the acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic recede into memory, musicians are eagerly resuming their concert careers. Chamber Music America (CMA) is a national service organization that provides ensemble music professionals with access to various resources and benefits, including professional development seminars, grants and awards, and, not least, opportunities to network with presenters, managers, and other musicians and ensemble professionals, especially with its annual National Conference. Kevin Kwan Loucks, a concert pianist, educator, and arts entrepreneur serves as the CEO of CMA.
Read more here.
Violin Channel: VC Artist Paul Huang Opens 2022/23 Season at the Taiwan Philharmonic
Huang will perform Bruch's Scottish Fantasy as part of a program of Scottish-themed music
As the featured soloist for the Taiwan Philharmonic, also known as National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Taiwan, VC Artist Paul Huang will perform alongside Music Director Jun Märkl. The season-opening programs will be presented in three venues: the National Concert Hall, the Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Concert Hall, and the Taitung Art and Culture Center.
Huang will perform Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, as part of a Scottish-themed program that also includes Debussy's Marche écossaise sur un thème populaire and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 "Scottish."
Violin Channel
Huang will perform Bruch's Scottish Fantasy as part of a program of Scottish-themed music
As the featured soloist for the Taiwan Philharmonic, also known as National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Taiwan, VC Artist Paul Huang will perform alongside Music Director Jun Märkl. The season-opening programs will be presented in three venues: the National Concert Hall, the Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Concert Hall, and the Taitung Art and Culture Center.
Huang will perform Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, as part of a Scottish-themed program that also includes Debussy's Marche écossaise sur un thème populaire and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 "Scottish."
"I'm particularly excited about returning to my homeland, Taiwan, to share the stage with the Taiwan Philharmonic and Maestro Jun Markl again, because this will be the opening night of its first post-pandemic season," Paul told The Violin Channel.
Read more here.
OperaWire: Grand Teton Music Festival to Livestream ‘La bohème’ with Jose Simerilla Romero & Nicole Cabell
The Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming is set to livestream its semi-staged production of “La bohème.”
The production will be streamed on August 27 and features an all-star cast led by Nicole Cabell as Mimì, Jose Simerilla Romero as Rodolfo, Meechot Marrero as Musetta, Ryan Speedo Green as Colline, Thomas Lehman as Marcello, and Carlton Ford as Schaunard.
Sir Donald Runnicles conducts the Festival Orchestra in the concert version directed by David Lefkowich.
OperaWire
By Francisco Salazar
The Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming is set to livestream its semi-staged production of “La bohème.”
The production will be streamed on August 27 and features an all-star cast led by Nicole Cabell as Mimì, Jose Simerilla Romero as Rodolfo, Meechot Marrero as Musetta, Ryan Speedo Green as Colline, Thomas Lehman as Marcello, and Carlton Ford as Schaunard.
Sir Donald Runnicles conducts the Festival Orchestra in the concert version directed by David Lefkowich.
Read more here.
The Strad: ‘Art has the ability to make one look at the world from a different perspective’ - cellist Trey Lee
The cellist and artistic director of Musicus, a Hong-Kong based organisation which promotes cross-cultural collaboration through performances, speaks about musical outreach, exploring new repertoire, and overcoming the challenges of travelling with a cello.
Musicus Society was founded to connect musicians from around the world with young talents from Hong Kong. The city has always had a huge proportion of young people who played a musical instrument (easily more than 50%), but not many had the chance to perform or interact with the visiting artists whom they saw performing on stage; rather, many just practised to pass an exam - a process that anyone would find musically uninspiring. Therefore, Musicus Society created three main programmes to address this situation: Musicus Fest, an annual festival; Musicus Inspires, an educational programme; and Musicus Heritage, a concert series in historic sites.
The Strad
The cellist and artistic director of Musicus, a Hong-Kong based organisation which promotes cross-cultural collaboration through performances, speaks about musical outreach, exploring new repertoire, and overcoming the challenges of travelling with a cello
Musicus Society was founded to connect musicians from around the world with young talents from Hong Kong. The city has always had a huge proportion of young people who played a musical instrument (easily more than 50%), but not many had the chance to perform or interact with the visiting artists whom they saw performing on stage; rather, many just practised to pass an exam - a process that anyone would find musically uninspiring. Therefore, Musicus Society created three main programmes to address this situation: Musicus Fest, an annual festival; Musicus Inspires, an educational programme; and Musicus Heritage, a concert series in historic sites.
Being artistic director sometimes feels like being a CEO. We have a great team at Musicus, but alas, the buck still stops with me. For example, when I suggested holding concerts in historic sites in Hong Kong, it was just wishful thinking because performance spaces in the city are so scarce. When it actually happened, many things needed to be done, including programming, research into historic sites, artist selection, etc. But I must admit that it has been truly gratifying whenever a young Hong Kong musician tells me that their first ’professional’ experience was with Musicus Society.
Read more here.
The New York Times: A Road Trip to Sample America’s Many, Many Music Festivals
My family and I — including children aged 6, 3 and not quite 1 — started with the up-and-coming Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, which is within easy reach of Rocky Mountain National Park. Then it made sense to a climb up to the ski resorts west of Denver — first to Bravo! Vail, then to the next valley for the Aspen Music Festival and School. Jackson Hole, Wyo., didn’t look all that far away, really. There, the Grand Teton Music Festival plays just outside the park of the same name, with Yellowstone National Park an hour to the north. Why not?
The New York Times
By David Allen
With a minivan and a three small children in tow, a critic spent 12 days discovering classical music offerings among the Rocky Mountains.
Four classical music festivals. Three children. Two exhausted parents, with a brave grandfather in tow. One bedraggled minivan.
It’ll be fun, my wife promised me. Surprisingly, it was.
…
My family and I — including children aged 6, 3 and not quite 1 — started with the up-and-coming Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, which is within easy reach of Rocky Mountain National Park. Then it made sense to a climb up to the ski resorts west of Denver — first to Bravo! Vail, then to the next valley for the Aspen Music Festival and School. Jackson Hole, Wyo., didn’t look all that far away, really. There, the Grand Teton Music Festival plays just outside the park of the same name, with Yellowstone National Park an hour to the north. Why not?
Read more here.
Photo Credit (right): Andrew Miller for The New York Times
Blogcritics: Exclusive Interview: Pianist Weiyin Chen on Music, Healing and Designing Her Own Performance Wear
To Taiwanese-American pianist Weiyin Chen, music is more than a creative endeavor. It’s part of a whole range of artistic and humanitarian engagement with the world.
For years she has worked with her father, renowned surgeon Hung-Chi Chen, to raise funds for charitable activities in the field of medicine. Their “Music & Medicine” humanitarian foundation arose from Dr. Chen’s development in the 1990s of a way to restore the gift of speech (and even song) to cancer patients who had lost the use of their vocal cords.
Growing up in a family of doctors linked music and medicine in Weiyin Chen’s mind from an early age. “As a concert pianist,” she has said, “my goal is to also become a healer, a healer of people’s soul or spirit through music.”
Blogcritics
By Jon Sobel
To Taiwanese-American pianist Weiyin Chen, music is more than a creative endeavor. It’s part of a whole range of artistic and humanitarian engagement with the world.
For years she has worked with her father, renowned surgeon Hung-Chi Chen, to raise funds for charitable activities in the field of medicine. Their “Music & Medicine” humanitarian foundation arose from Dr. Chen’s development in the 1990s of a way to restore the gift of speech (and even song) to cancer patients who had lost the use of their vocal cords.
Growing up in a family of doctors linked music and medicine in Weiyin Chen’s mind from an early age. “As a concert pianist,” she has said, “my goal is to also become a healer, a healer of people’s soul or spirit through music.”
Read more here.
Bachtrack: The New York Phil pays heartfelt tribute to Stephen Sondheim at Bravo! Vail
One of four orchestras appearing at Bravo! Vail this summer, the New York Philharmonic brought along six different programmes, the first four of which were led by music director Jaap van Zweden – including a cathartic Mahler Sixth. Leonard Slatkin took over the reins for the remaining two programmes in the open-air main venue: an all-Tchaikovsky evening and this concluding concert, “A Sondheim Celebration”. Originally, these last two concerts were to have been conducted by Bramwell Tovey, a much-loved regular at Bravo! Vail who died on 12th July, only 69 years old. Slatkin dedicated the performances to his memory.
Bachtrack
By Thomas May
One of four orchestras appearing at Bravo! Vail this summer, the New York Philharmonic brought along six different programmes, the first four of which were led by music director Jaap van Zweden – including a cathartic Mahler Sixth. Leonard Slatkin took over the reins for the remaining two programmes in the open-air main venue: an all-Tchaikovsky evening and this concluding concert, “A Sondheim Celebration”. Originally, these last two concerts were to have been conducted by Bramwell Tovey, a much-loved regular at Bravo! Vail who died on 12th July, only 69 years old. Slatkin dedicated the performances to his memory.
The NY Phil has made several deep dives into the work of the Broadway trailblazer, who died at the age of 91 last November. Along with orchestral arrangements of suites from several of his musicals and a film score, they’ve given semi-staged concert presentations of Company and Sweeney Todd over the years. But the guiding idea of this programme was simply to sample and savour the astonishing variety of worlds that Stephen Sondheim conjured with his innovative – indeed, paradigm-shifting – contributions to music theatre.
Read more here.
Photo: Carly Finke
Blogcritics: Concert Review (NYC): The Knights and Lara St. John with Music of Avner Dorman and Felix Mendelssohn at the Central Park Bandshell
The meat of the program commenced when Lara St. John stepped in front of the white-clad orchestra. Nigunim is a violin concerto rooted in melodies inspired by Jewish songs from around the world. The piece won the Azrieli Prize in 2018. In a recent interview with Blogcritics the composer told us that in writing it he created new melodies inspired by “listening to music from Jewish communities around the world, recalling music I had heard from different diasporas, and internalizing the styles and gestures. I also analyzed these melodies and found some surprising commonalities.”
Blogcritics
By Jon Sobel
The organizers of the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts could hardly have asked for a nicer evening for The Knights and violinist Lara St. John to present the New York Premiere of Avner Dorman’s Nigunim. The darkening sky turned rose-red and aqua blue as the audience heard a spectacular performance of the virtuosic concerto and an invigorating reading of Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”).
Around the World in Four Movements
The meat of the program commenced when Lara St. John stepped in front of the white-clad orchestra. Nigunim is a violin concerto rooted in melodies inspired by Jewish songs from around the world. The piece won the Azrieli Prize in 2018. In a recent interview with Blogcritics the composer told us that in writing it he created new melodies inspired by “listening to music from Jewish communities around the world, recalling music I had heard from different diasporas, and internalizing the styles and gestures. I also analyzed these melodies and found some surprising commonalities.”
Read more here.
Photo: Oren Hope Media
The Economist: The wonder of Lim Yun-chan’s performance of “Rach 3”
Still standing at her podium, the distinguished conductor Marin Alsop wiped away a tear. She says she cannot remember the last time she cried onstage, but she was far from alone in feeling moved by the artistry of Lim Yun-chan. Ms Alsop had just conducted the 18-year-old South Korean pianist in Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” in Fort Worth, Texas—a performance that last month helped make him the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. A video of his mesmerising interpretation of “Rach 3”, as the piece is known by pianophiles, has been viewed more than 5m times on YouTube.
The Economist
The 18-year-old pianist’s version of a famously difficult piece has wowed music fans
Still standing at her podium, the distinguished conductor Marin Alsop wiped away a tear. She says she cannot remember the last time she cried onstage, but she was far from alone in feeling moved by the artistry of Lim Yun-chan. Ms Alsop had just conducted the 18-year-old South Korean pianist in Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” in Fort Worth, Texas—a performance that last month helped make him the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. A video of his mesmerising interpretation of “Rach 3”, as the piece is known by pianophiles, has been viewed more than 5m times on YouTube.
Read more here.