The San Diego Union-Tribune: Fresh from White House dinner, Sameer Patel is Named New Music Director of La Jolla Symphony
His selection is the latest achievement for Patel, who also heads San Diego Youth Symphony and is the former associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony. ‘It’s a joy,’ he says of his new position.
It’s shaping up to be a landmark summer for San Diego’s Sameer Patel. His selection as La Jolla Symphony & Chorus’ new music director and conductor comes less than four weeks after he and his wife, Shannon, attended the state dinner at the White House that President Biden hosted for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This is absolutely a dream gig — it’s a joy to be part of this wonderful music organization,” Patel said. “And, having not ever been to the White House before, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be a guest at a state dinner there.”
Patel, 40, is the artistic director of the San Diego Youth Symphony, a position he will continue to hold. The former associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony, he regularly conducts orchestras around the country.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
By George Varga
His selection is the latest achievement for Patel, who also heads San Diego Youth Symphony and is the former associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony. ‘It’s a joy,’ he says of his new position.
It’s shaping up to be a landmark summer for San Diego’s Sameer Patel. His selection as La Jolla Symphony & Chorus’ new music director and conductor comes less than four weeks after he and his wife, Shannon, attended the state dinner at the White House that President Biden hosted for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This is absolutely a dream gig — it’s a joy to be part of this wonderful music organization,” Patel said. “And, having not ever been to the White House before, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be a guest at a state dinner there.”
Patel, 40, is the artistic director of the San Diego Youth Symphony, a position he will continue to hold. The former associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony, he regularly conducts orchestras around the country.
Patel’s selection to head La Jolla Symphony & Chorus — announced today — comes 14 months after his predecessor, Steven Schick, stepped down. Patel’s initial contract is for four years, with options to renew.
Read more here
I Care If You Listen: Bravo! Vail Festival Blends New Music with the Classics at its Lavish Colorado Rockies Home
It wasn’t until I’d taken the gondola down from Eagle’s Nest, perched 10,350 feet up on Vail Mountain, that I took in the full idyllic scenery of the Rocky Mountains, where the Bravo! Vail music festival makes its home. It was the third day of my trip and I was rushing to the Ford Amphitheater, after a morning hike to the top of the ski lift, to catch the end of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s rehearsal for that evening’s concert.
From July 12 to 14, I attended the last three concerts of the famed orchestra’s 16th Bravo! Vail residency with seven other members of the Music Critics Association of North America. We got a window into the six-week, $9.2-million summer festival — now in its 36th season — which brings in more than 50,000 visitors every year.
I Care If You Listen
Esteban Meneses
It wasn’t until I’d taken the gondola down from Eagle’s Nest, perched 10,350 feet up on Vail Mountain, that I took in the full idyllic scenery of the Rocky Mountains, where the Bravo! Vail music festival makes its home. It was the third day of my trip and I was rushing to the Ford Amphitheater, after a morning hike to the top of the ski lift, to catch the end of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s rehearsal for that evening’s concert.
From July 12 to 14, I attended the last three concerts of the famed orchestra’s 16th Bravo! Vail residency with seven other members of the Music Critics Association of North America. We got a window into the six-week, $9.2-million summer festival — now in its 36th season — which brings in more than 50,000 visitors every year.
Hungry for the music of today, I gravitated toward the contemporary offerings during my visit, the highlight of which was the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s This Moment. The festival has recently committed to commissioning new symphonic pieces; in 2022, they presented premieres of works by Chris Rogerson, Katherine Balch, and Carlos Simon.
Read more here.
I Care If You Listen: 5 Questions to Nick DiBerardino (composer)
Composer Nick DiBerardino writes music that draws upon programmatic themes, like his percussion quartet Gossamer, a musical reflection on a Walt Whitman poem, or his string quartet Beet Juice, which explores how the vegetable increases our body’s ability to produce energy from oxygen. At the Curtis Institute of Music, DiBerardino is the Chair of Composition and Director of Ensemble 20/21, which focuses on music of the 20th and 21st centuries. In this role, DiBerardino creatively highlights different composers and contemporary music styles by curating programs that span the giants of the past century to living composers from all parts of the globe.
For the 2023-24 season, Ensemble 20/21 will explore Curtis’ macro-theme of “Music of the Earth” through the lens of ecologically-conscious composers such as John Luther Adams, Raven Chacon, Allison Loggins-Hull, Gulli Bjornsson, Luciano Berio, and Curtis alumna Gabriella Smith. The program looks at our world through folklore, culture, and natural themes, and offers a rich addition to Ensemble 20/21’s exciting upcoming season at Curtis.
I Care If You LIsten
By Anne Goldberg-Baldwin
Composer Nick DiBerardino writes music that draws upon programmatic themes, like his percussion quartet Gossamer, a musical reflection on a Walt Whitman poem, or his string quartet Beet Juice, which explores how the vegetable increases our body’s ability to produce energy from oxygen. At the Curtis Institute of Music, DiBerardino is the Chair of Composition and Director of Ensemble 20/21, which focuses on music of the 20th and 21st centuries. In this role, DiBerardino creatively highlights different composers and contemporary music styles by curating programs that span the giants of the past century to living composers from all parts of the globe.
For the 2023-24 season, Ensemble 20/21 will explore Curtis’ macro-theme of “Music of the Earth” through the lens of ecologically-conscious composers such as John Luther Adams, Raven Chacon, Allison Loggins-Hull, Gulli Bjornsson, Luciano Berio, and Curtis alumna Gabriella Smith. The program looks at our world through folklore, culture, and natural themes, and offers a rich addition to Ensemble 20/21’s exciting upcoming season at Curtis.
What drew you to Curtis, and what do you enjoy most about leading Ensemble 20/21?
My first experience with Curtis was as an audience member. This was about a decade ago, when I drove down to Philadelphia to hear new music for orchestra by Curtis’ student composers. I expected the concert to be good, but I wasn’t prepared for what I actually experienced. I left with my jaw on the floor — I was stunned by the caliber of the orchestra, and I was also surprised to hear the wide-ranging aesthetic languages of Curtis’ composers. Each composer had something distinctly personal to say, and the orchestra brought all that music to life with a special energy and commitment.
Read more here.
Your Classical: Pianist Michelle Cann explores the music of Bonds and Price in 'Revival'
Pianist Michelle Cann has had a pretty incredible journey. Her path into the world of piano led her to the Cleveland Institute and the Curtis Institute of Music, which is where she teaches. In 2022, she was the recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence. Now, her journey goes down another life-changing path with the release of her debut recording, Revival: Music of Price and Bonds.
“Growing up, I didn't play any music by any Black composers other than church music. Nothing in the classical field was really ever assigned to me. I wasn't really aware of anyone except for Scott Joplin,” Cann says. “And it wasn't until 2016 that I was introduced to the Florence Price Piano Concerto and I was asked to play it. I'd never heard of her, never heard of the piece, and I read through it. You can only imagine that moment and put yourself in my shoes. I've never been aware of somebody like her in this field.
Your Classical
By Julie Amacher
Pianist Michelle Cann has had a pretty incredible journey. Her path into the world of piano led her to the Cleveland Institute and the Curtis Institute of Music, which is where she teaches. In 2022, she was the recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence. Now, her journey goes down another life-changing path with the release of her debut recording, Revival: Music of Price and Bonds.
“Growing up, I didn't play any music by any Black composers other than church music. Nothing in the classical field was really ever assigned to me. I wasn't really aware of anyone except for Scott Joplin,” Cann says. “And it wasn't until 2016 that I was introduced to the Florence Price Piano Concerto and I was asked to play it. I'd never heard of her, never heard of the piece, and I read through it. You can only imagine that moment and put yourself in my shoes. I've never been aware of somebody like her in this field.
Read more here.
Jackson Hole News & Guide: Music festival jumpstarts Friday
The Grand Teton Music Festival is entering its 62nd summer season and continues to provide unprecedented access to classical music for the Jackson community.
This summer, the goal for GTMF is clear: Bring as much music as possible to as many people as possible.
“Music is for everyone,” said Emma Kail, executive director of GTMF, “especially the music we offer at the music festival.”
This season will stretch eight weeks, from Friday to Aug. 19, with 220 classical musicians from 75 major orchestras and 55 educational institutions participating. It will start with Beethoven, Bruch and Mendelssohn by the festival orchestra with Grammy-award winning violinist James Ehnes. It will end with a semi-staged production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Music Director Donald Runnicles once again helms the orchestra.
Jackson Hole News & Guide
By Dillon Hanna
The Grand Teton Music Festival is entering its 62nd summer season and continues to provide unprecedented access to classical music for the Jackson community.
This summer, the goal for GTMF is clear: Bring as much music as possible to as many people as possible.
“Music is for everyone,” said Emma Kail, executive director of GTMF, “especially the music we offer at the music festival.”
This season will stretch eight weeks, from Friday to Aug. 19, with 220 classical musicians from 75 major orchestras and 55 educational institutions participating. It will start with Beethoven, Bruch and Mendelssohn by the festival orchestra with Grammy-award winning violinist James Ehnes. It will end with a semi-staged production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Music Director Donald Runnicles once again helms the orchestra.
Maestro Runnicles has also worked closely with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. His continued participation in the festival is but one indication of GTMF’s ever-spreading, international influence.
Read more here.
Vail Daily: Meet Your Musician Bravo! Vail Edition: Dover Quartet
Q: What is your name/your ensemble’s/orchestra’s name?
A: We are the Dover Quartet. We formed at the Curtis Institute of Music, and our name pays tribute to “Dover Beach” a song written by fellow Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber.
Q: What instrument(s) do you play?
A: Joel Link, violin; Bryan Lee, violin; Hezekiah Leung, viola; Camden Shaw, cello
Q: How long have you been performing? How long have you been with your current orchestra or ensemble?
A: We formed in 2008 with Joel, Bryan, and Camden as founding members. Hezekiah has been touring with the group this year and violist Julianne Lee will be joining the quartet in September 2023.
Vail Daily
By Tricia Swenson
Q: What is your name/your ensemble’s/orchestra’s name?
A: We are the Dover Quartet. We formed at the Curtis Institute of Music, and our name pays tribute to “Dover Beach” a song written by fellow Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber.
Q: What instrument(s) do you play?
A: Joel Link, violin; Bryan Lee, violin; Hezekiah Leung, viola; Camden Shaw, cello
Q: How long have you been performing? How long have you been with your current orchestra or ensemble?
A: We formed in 2008 with Joel, Bryan, and Camden as founding members. Hezekiah has been touring with the group this year and violist Julianne Lee will be joining the quartet in September 2023.
Q: How long have you been coming to the Bravo! Vail Music Festival?
A: Our first performance at Bravo! Vail was in 2014, and we look forward to visiting every time we get the opportunity! We’ve made some amazing memories here in the summertime.
Read more here.
BBC Music Magazine: Revival (Michelle Cann)
Acclaimed pianist Michelle Cann has long been a champion of African-American composer Florence Price, and this fine new recording brings together two substantial works by Price for solo piano alongside Margaret Bonds’s glorious Spiritual Suite.
BBC Music Magazine
By Kate Wakeling
Acclaimed pianist Michelle Cann has long been a champion of African-American composer Florence Price, and this fine new recording brings together two substantial works by Price for solo piano alongside Margaret Bonds’s glorious Spiritual Suite.
Born in Arkansas in 1887 in the midst of the Jim Crow segregation laws, Florence Price showed early talent at the piano and went on to forge a remarkable path as a composer. Her series of Fantasie nègre for solo piano (the first of which was premiered by a young Margaret Bonds), were composed across the 1930s and ’40s: they present a new musical genre which fused elements of European classical music with African-American spirituals. Each of the Fantasie nègre included here is intricately constructed, and Cann’s vivid performances bring out a terrific depth of emotion – among many such fine moments, the final rendition of the spiritual ‘Sinner, Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass’ in No. 1 is breathtakingly powerful. Price’s Piano Sonata in E minor is every bit as accomplished and Cann’s reading is poised yet vital, drawing out the work’s vibrant polyrhythms and creating a wonderful sense of line in the luscious slow movement.
Read more here.
BBC Music Magazine: 'We must educate young musicians' ears and hearts' – violist Hsin-Yun Huang
Every time I take the train between New York and Philadelphia, I am reminded of my earliest days of train travel. First I was at the Menuhin School in the UK, travelling from Cobham to Wimbledon to play for my teacher, David Takeno. Later I travelled from Philadelphia to New York to play for Michael Tree when he didn’t have time in his schedule to visit the Curtis Institute, where I was a student.
My train time became sacred thinking time as I played a game with myself — am I going to face forward or backwards? I never knew and was delighted in the mystery revealing itself as the train departed.
BBC Music Magazine
Hsin-Yun Huang
The Juilliard School and Curtis Institute viola professor Hsin-Yun Huang reflects on music's cult of perfection
Every time I take the train between New York and Philadelphia, I am reminded of my earliest days of train travel. First I was at the Menuhin School in the UK, travelling from Cobham to Wimbledon to play for my teacher, David Takeno. Later I travelled from Philadelphia to New York to play for Michael Tree when he didn’t have time in his schedule to visit the Curtis Institute, where I was a student.
My train time became sacred thinking time as I played a game with myself — am I going to face forward or backwards? I never knew and was delighted in the mystery revealing itself as the train departed.
Forward and backward is exactly what we do in life and in music. Young people have the privilege of extraordinary excitement, keeping their dreams alive as they embrace an unknown journey ahead of them.
Older people have the privilege of experience: the wisdom not to repeat mistakes and live a life that is more intentional and conscious. Each day, we are our youngest selves as well as our oldest selves. This is such a good reminder for all of us, gifted as we are with this one life.
Read more here.
Vail Daily: Bravo! Vail Music Festival Welcomes Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in 2024
The Bravo! Vail Music Festival (Bravo! Vail) announces the debut of Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (the Orchestra) for a three-concert residency on June 20, 22 and 23, 2024, opening its 2024 Festival season. Led by Artistic Director and renowned Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, the acclaimed ensemble will be Bravo! Vail’s 2024 international chamber orchestra and the first Latin American orchestra featured at Bravo! Vail.
Vail Daily
The Bravo! Vail Music Festival (Bravo! Vail) announces the debut of Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (the Orchestra) for a three-concert residency on June 20, 22 and 23, 2024, opening its 2024 Festival season. Led by Artistic Director and renowned Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, the acclaimed ensemble will be Bravo! Vail’s 2024 international chamber orchestra and the first Latin American orchestra featured at Bravo! Vail.
“Since we started the international chamber orchestra residency at Bravo! Vail, I have dreamed of inviting my friend, the incredible Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, to bring the musicians from the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería to Vail,” said Anne-Marie McDermott, Artistic Director of Bravo! Vail. “Musically speaking, having performed with them many times, I can attest to the magical chemistry Carlos has with the players and the level of artistic commitment they bring to the incredibly wide range of music they perform. I simply can’t wait to welcome them.”
As part of its residency, the Orchestra will perform an expansive breadth of repertoire — from Beethoven and Haydn to leading Mexican and Latin American composers such as Pacho Flores, Gabriela Ortiz and Alberto Ginastera, and including Spaniards Joaquín Rodrigo and Manuel de Falla. Members of the Orchestra will also participate in education and engagement programs throughout Colorado’s Vail and Eagle River Valley communities.
Read more here.
The Washington Post: Classical music festivals feature Mother Nature as accompaniment
For nearly 40 years, this admission-free festival has been attracting persnickety listeners and unpicky picnickers to Sun Valley, Idaho. Music Director Alasdair Neale has lined up strong guest artists, including pianist Orli Shaham (July 30 and Aug. 3); mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (Aug. 9 and 10); Stéphane Denève, the new director of the New World Symphony, conducting a concert of John Williams’s music (Aug. 12); pianist Yefim Bronfman (Aug. 14); and violinist Augustin Hadelich (Aug. 20 and 21).
The Washington Post
By Michael Andor Brodeur
Sun Valley Music Festival
For nearly 40 years, this admission-free festival has been attracting persnickety listeners and unpicky picnickers to Sun Valley, Idaho. Music Director Alasdair Neale has lined up strong guest artists, including pianist Orli Shaham (July 30 and Aug. 3); mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (Aug. 9 and 10); Stéphane Denève, the new director of the New World Symphony, conducting a concert of John Williams’s music (Aug. 12); pianist Yefim Bronfman (Aug. 14); and violinist Augustin Hadelich (Aug. 20 and 21).
Read more here.