Newport Classical Announces Spring Community Concerts Free, Casual, and Welcoming to All
Newport Classical Announces Spring Community Concerts
Free, Casual, and Welcoming to All
L-R: Empire Wild (photo by Titilayo Ayangade), Invoke (photo by Nathan Russell) available in high resolution here.
Newport Classical Announces Spring Community Concerts
Free, Casual, and Welcoming to All
Presented by BankNewport
Empire Wild
Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 2:30pm
Newport Craft Brewing | 293 JT Connell Highway | Newport, RI
Invoke
Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 2:30pm
Miantonomi Memorial Park | 120 Hillside Ave | Newport, RI
Information & Registration: www.newportclassical.org
Newport, RI – Newport Classical presents two spring Community Concerts featuring Empire Wild on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 2:30pm at Newport Craft Brewing (293 JT Connell Highway) and Invoke on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 2:30pm at Miantonomi Memorial Park (120 Hillside Ave). Audiences can look forward to these casual, engaging, and welcoming concerts – presented right in their own Newport neighborhoods. The performances are free and advanced registration is required for Empire Wild due to the limited capacity of the Taproom. Registration is requested but not required for Invoke’s performance at Miantonomi Memorial Park.
On April 28, Empire Wild brings a genre-bending musical experience to Newport Craft Brewing, where audiences can purchase beer and bites to enjoy during the performance. Empire Wild channels their love for musical exploration into their sound, fusing pop, folk, jazz, and more. In this program, the group puts its own spin on music by composers whose work has endured the test of time. Hear classics by Beethoven, Ravel, Bach and more brought to new life in the trio’s unique arrangements, at this free concert – fun for listeners of all ages.
On May 19, Invoke, described as “...not anything but everything: Classical, Folk, Bluegrass, Americana and a sound yet to be termed seamlessly merged into a perfect one,” brings its signature blend to Miantonomi Memorial Park. Invoke strives to successfully dodge even the most valiant attempts at genre classification. The multi-instrumental quartet encompasses traditions from across America, including bluegrass, Appalachian fiddle tunes, jazz, and minimalism. Featuring violin, viola and cello, plus banjo, mandolin, and vocals, this free, family-friendly concert promises a joyful afternoon outdoors, with music and community.
These free concerts are generously presented as part of the BankNewport Community Concerts Series with additional support from the NewportFed Charitable Foundation, RISCA, and a Rhode Island Foundation Community Grant.
Up next as part of Newport Classical’s Chamber Series, on March 22 bassoonist Eleni Katz and pianist Evren Ozel bring to life classical bassoon repertoire exploring themes of dance styles, rhythms, lyricism, and emotion, at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport. Newport Classical’s April 26 Chamber Series concert will be performed by the award-winning Balourdet Quartet, which recently won the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, and will feature music by Mozart, Beethoven, and Karim Al-Zand. Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuźma, praised as a "standout" with "star quality" by Opera News, performs a program spanning from Chopin to Rachmaninoff to Rodgers and Hammerstein on May 17. On June 7, pianist Asiya Korepanova closes the Chamber Series with music by Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, Beach, Chopin, and more. Celebrating its 55th anniversary, the 2024 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-21, 2024, with programming to be announced on March 26, and tickets going on sale to the general public on April 10.
For Newport Classical’s complete concert calendar, visit www.newportclassical.org/concerts
About Newport Classical:
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc. and previously known as Newport Music Festival, Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music.
Newport Classical is proud to be an essential pillar of New England’s cultural landscape, and to invest in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form. Newport Classical’s four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow – illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”
April 19: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein is Guest Soloist with Berkshire Symphony
GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Performs as Guest Soloist with Berkshire Symphony
Photo by Tanya Braganti available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/simone-dinnerstein
GRAMMY-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Performs as Guest Soloist with the Berkshire Symphony
Featuring Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major
Conducted by Music Director Ronald Feldman
Friday, April 19, 2024 at 7:30pm
Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall | 54 Chapin Hall Drive | Williamstown, MA
Free and Open to the Public - More Information
“colorful and idiosyncratic”
– The New York Times
Williamstown, MA – On Friday, April 19, 2024, GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The New Yorker as an artist of “lean, knowing, and unpretentious elegance,” will be the featured guest soloist with the Berkshire Symphony in a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major. The concert will be held at Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall (54 Chapin Hall Drive) and will be conducted by Ronald Feldman –– his final performance as the Berkshire Symphony’s Music Director. A beloved guest artist of the Berkshire Symphony, Dinnerstein returns for the first time since 2015, to perform as part of a concert program that also features Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major. There will be a pre-concert talk with Ronald Feldman at 6:45pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. This event is free and open to the public. There are no reservations or ticketing.
The Washington Post has called Simone Dinnerstein “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”
While Dinnerstein has come to be recognized and celebrated for her appreciation of music by J.S. Bach, she has also brought bold and expressive artistry to the work of Brahms in performances for over 10 years –– including the other of Brahms’ two piano concertos: No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15. Brahms’ second piano concerto is a newer addition to her repertoire –– one which Dinnerstein has been excited to perform this season.
She says of performing Brahms’s second piano and getting to collaborate with Ronald Feldman and the Berkshire Symphony on an all-Brahms program:
“I am honored to join Ronny Feldman for his final concert as the beloved music director of the Berkshire Symphony. We last collaborated on Brahms’s First Piano Concerto for the reopening of the beautiful Chapin Hall and it will be a joy to collaborate on his Second piano concerto for this special event. Since he is also a fine cellist, I know that Ronny will bring a special sensitivity to this work, which so prominently features the cello in the gorgeous third movement. And it just so happens that Julian Müller will be playing principal cello in this performance. I’ve known Julian since he was a student of mine at the Mannes School of Music, and he is a member of my string ensemble, Baroklyn. It will be an added joy to play this work with him.”
About Simone Dinnerstein: American pianist Simone Dinnerstein first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”
Dinnerstein has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seoul Arts Center and Sydney Opera House. She has made thirteen albums, all of which topped the Billboard charts. During the pandemic she recorded three albums which form a trilogy: A Character of Quiet, An American Mosaic, and Undersong. An American Mosaic was nominated for a Grammy.
In recent years, Dinnerstein has created projects that express her broad musical interests. She gave the world premiere of The Eye Is the First Circle at Montclair State University, the first multi-media production she conceived, created, and directed, which uses as source materials her father Simon Dinnerstein’s painting The Fulbright Triptych and Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata No. 2. She premiered Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic, a tribute to those affected by the pandemic, in a performance on multiple pianos throughout Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the U.S. for the first time, performing eleven concerts. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for her, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras. Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals, and performed it at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and presented by LA Opera. Dinnerstein has also created her own ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs. The Washington Post comments, “it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative. For more information, please visit www.simonedinnerstein.com.
About the Berkshire Symphony: The Berkshire Symphony is a 75-member symphonic orchestra comprising, in roughly equal proportions, Williams College music students, Williams music faculty members, and area professionals. The Symphony performs music by a range of composers, including Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and Wagner. The Berkshire Symphony was founded in 1946 and is directed by Ronald Feldman.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The Washington Post as “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity,” is the featured soloist with the Berkshire Symphony, conducted by Music Director Ronald Feldman. Dinnerstein will perform Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2. in B-flat Major. The concert will also include a performance of Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major. A pre-concert talk will be held at 6:45pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. This event is free and open to the public. There are no reservations or ticketing.
Short description: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity” (The Washington Post) is the guest soloist with the Berkshire Symphony in Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, led by Music Director Ronald Feldman. The concert will also include Brahms’ Symphony No. 2. There will be a pre-concert talk at 6:45pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. This event is free and open to the public.
Concert details:
Who: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Conducted by Music Director Ronald Feldman
Presented by the Berkshire Symphony
What: Music by Johannes Brahms
When: Friday, April 19, 2024 at 7:30pm, Pre-Concert Talk at 6:45pm
Where: Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, 54 Chapin Hall Drive, Williamstown, MA 01267
Tickets and information: www.events.williams.edu/event/berkshire-symphony-62
March 22: Newport Classical Brings Eleni Katz and Evren Ozel in Music by Saint-Saëns and Debussy to Downtown Newport
Newport Classical Brings Eleni Katz and Evren Ozel in Music by Saint-Saëns and Debussy to Downtown Newport
Eleni Katz (left) and Evren Ozel (right). Photo by Geneva Lewis available in high resolution here.
Eleni Katz and Evren Ozel play Saint-Saëns and Debussy
Friday, March 22, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Newport Classical Recital Hall | 42 Dearborn St | Newport, RI
Tickets and Information
Read an interview with Eleni Katz in the Newport Daily News
“potent and agile bassoon”
–South Florida Classical Review
“daring creativity and fierce passion”
–ClevelandClassical.com
Newport, RI – Continuing its commitment to ongoing year-round programming and following two sold out concerts in January and February, Newport Classical presents its next Chamber Series concert featuring bassoonist Eleni Katz and pianist Evren Ozel on Friday, March 22, 2024 at 7:30pm at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.). In her Newport Classical debut, Eleni Katz performs music by French composers Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Noël Gallon, and Camille Saint-Saëns alongside Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Deep River, 2024 GRAMMY-winner Jeff Scott’s Elegy for Innocence, and Cindy Hsu’s Spring Fever. Katz will be joined by pianist Evren Ozel in his return to the Newport Classical stage – together the two bring to life classical bassoon repertoire exploring themes of dance styles, rhythms, lyricism, and emotion.
Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. Audiences are invited to enjoy these performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with a complimentary glass of wine from Greenvale Vineyards. Both performers and audience members alike have described these concerts as some of their favorites. “I always enjoy the artist, but I also enjoy the attendees. Each attendee seems to have such a genuine interest in the music,” raved one concert goer. “The concert was absolutely breathtaking ... What beautiful music and a perfect setting for the performance,” said another.
Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, bassoonist Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player – and one of the country’s foremost bassoonists. What makes Katz’s performances special is her approach to this instrument. Eleni Katz is a classically trained singer and has always believed that the bassoon should emulate the human voice. The Royal Gazette described her playing as “uncannily human.”
A native of Iowa City, Iowa, Eleni Katz trained at University of Wisconsin’s Mead Witter School of Music before earning her master’s degree at the Yale School of Music. In 2022, she was named a winner of the Concert Artist Guild Competition and enjoyed her Carnegie Hall debut through Young Performers Career Advancement. She performs across the country including with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Jupiter Chamber Players, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra.
Pianist Evren Ozel has established himself as a musician of “refined restraint” (Third Coast Review), combining fluent virtuosity with probing, thoughtful interpretations. He is the recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and is currently represented by Concert Artists Guild as an Ambassador Prize Winner of their 2021 Victor Elmaleh Competition. Most recently, he was selected as a Bowers Program Artist for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Since his debut at age 11 with the Minnesota Orchestra, Ozel has gone on to be a featured soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Boston POPS Orchestra, and The Orchestra Now at Bard College.
More about the Concert Program:
Eleni Katz and Evren Ozel will begin their concert in Newport with Camille Saint-Saëns’ Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, Op. 168, showcasing the full range of the bassoon’s rich dynamics and lyricism, before performing Debussy’s Images II and Ravel’s Pièce en forme de Habanera. Originally written for bass voice and piano, Ravel later transcribed his Pièce en forme de Habanera for cello and piano. The work incorporates the grace and movement of the habanera dance form with technically difficult melodic passages and lush accompaniment. Cindi Hsu’s Spring Fever opens the program following intermission. Composed in the spring of 2017, Hsu’s two-movement piece for bassoon and piano is inspired by the spring-bloom of flower fields outside her Colorado home.
The penultimate work on Katz’s and Ozel’s program, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Deep River, draws on the tradition of Black spirituals. Coleridge-Taylor famously noted, “What Brahms has done for the Hungarian folk music, Dvořák for the Bohemian, and Grieg for the Norwegian, I have tried to do for these Negro Melodies.” Closing out the program is Jeff Scott’s Elegy for Innocence. Beginning with emotive melodic ascensions, the piece quickly turns darker, with virtuosic interplay between the bassoon and piano, encompassing the hardships of personal growth. The program also includes selections from Debussy’s Preludes, Book 1; Noel Gallon’s Récit et Allegro, a mainstay of the bassoon repertoire; Leon Kirchner’s Interlude II; and Coleridge-Taylor’s The Phantom Tells his Tale of Longing, Op. 66.
More about Eleni Katz: www.elenikatzbassoon.com
More about Evren Ozel: www.evrenozel.com
Newport Classical’s next Chamber Series concert is on April 26, performed by the award-winning Balourdet Quartet, which recently won the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, featuring music by Mozart, Beethoven, and Karim Al-Zand. Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuźma, praised as a "standout" with "star quality" by Opera News, performs a program spanning from Chopin to Rachmaninoff to Rodgers and Hammerstein on May 17. On June 7, pianist Asiya Korepanova closes the Chamber Series with music by Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, Beach, Chopin, and more. The 2024 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-21, 2024, with programming to be announced on March 26.
For Newport Classical’s complete concert calendar, visit www.newportclassical.org/concerts
About Newport Classical:
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc. and previously known as Newport Music Festival, Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music.
Newport Classical is proud to be an essential pillar of New England’s cultural landscape, and to invest in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form. Newport Classical’s four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow – illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”
April 12-16: Premiere Tour of Song Cycle by Gity Razaz Performed by Karim Sulayman and the Israeli Chamber Project
Premiere Tour of Song Cycle by Gity Razaz Performed by Karim Sulayman and the Israeli Chamber Project
Photos available in high resolution here.
World Premiere Tour of New Song Cycle by Composer Gity Razaz
Flowing Down the Widening Rings of Being
Performed by Tenor Karim Sulayman and the Israeli Chamber Project
Friday, April 12, 2024 at 7:30pm
Kaufman Music Center | 129 West 67th Street | New York, NY
Tickets & Information
Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 7:30pm
Bender JCC of Greater Washington | 6125 Montrose Road | Rockville, MD
Tickets & Information
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 7:30pm
Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington
4040 George Washington Lane Northeast | Seattle, WA
Tickets & Information
“There’s an uncompromising beauty to works by the Iranian-born American composer.” – BBC Music Magazine
“Razaz has a compelling voice and refreshing command of sonority and harmony.” – San Diego Union-Tribune
Stream the Canadian Premiere Performance of Razaz’s Methuselah (In Chains of Time):
https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/35704
Composer Gity Razaz’s music has been hailed by The New York Times as “ravishing and engulfing” and in 2022, she was named a “Rising Star” by BBC Music Magazine. Her new song cycle, Flowing Down the Widening Rings of Being, will be given its world premiere performances by the Israeli Chamber Project with Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman in three performances in April – in New York, NY at Kaufman Music Center on April 12; in Rockville, MD at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington on April 14 as part of the Poling Artists of Excellence Concert Series; and in Seattle, WA at Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington on April 16. Flowing Down the Widening Rings of Being for tenor, violin, viola, cello, clarinet, harp and piano is based on poetry and prose of Rumi and Rainer Maria Rilke. The song cycle is commissioned by the Israeli Chamber Project.
Gity Razaz, who was born in Tehran, Iran in 1986 and now lives in New York, is a composer whose music is deeply influenced by the constantly changing, at times tumultuous, realities of the world, including her identity and personal journey as an immigrant. This process of what Razaz describes as “uprooting and rebuilding” occupies much of her work, resulting in music that is emotionally charged and dramatic, while still maintaining mystery and lyricism. Her compositions are her means of responding to a hyperactive, disconnected world and offering transformation to listeners.
Razaz’s new song cycle, Flowing Down the Widening Rings of Being, juxtaposes the writing of Rumi and Rainer Maria Rilke. In an interview with I Care If You Listen, Razaz explains:
“Rumi and Rilke lived about 700 years apart and on nearly opposite sides of the earth, and with completely different religious backgrounds. Yet their philosophical and imaginative perspectives on some of the most existential topics in the history of mankind are eerily similar. In the poems selected for this project, I was attracted to the almost identical poetic imagery they both used in the poems which I ended up selecting for this project: they both use the imagery of ‘widening rings and circles’ to describe life and existence. Rumi calls for embracing uncertainty and living the ‘questions,’ ‘flowing down the always widening rings of being’ while Rilke acknowledges life’s unyielding truth, and moves through it with the confession that ‘I live my life in widening circles.’…”
“Tibi Cziger, artistic director of the Israeli Chamber Project, and I have been dreaming up a collaboration for many years,” Razaz says. “It’s been a joy to finally write for this fantastic ensemble, and of course, Karim Sulayman, whose voice is absolutely divine and sure to bring such depth of color and expression to these poems.”
“I first heard Gity Razaz’s music when we were both students at the Juilliard School, nearly twenty years ago,” says Israeli Chamber Project Artistic Director and clarinetist, Tibi Cziger. “Her unique, original and meaningful voice was already apparent and it was clear to me that I would one day commission a work from her. When the idea to collaborate with tenor Karim Sulayman was hatched, we at ICP felt the need and even the duty to include a new, original work, and I could not think of a more appropriate composer to reflect the beauty of this collaboration. The upcoming premiere is one of the artistic peaks in the sixteen years of our existence and we are eagerly looking forward to it.”
Also this spring, Razaz’s major orchestral work Methuselah (In Chains of Time), commissioned by the League of American Orchestras and Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, received its Canadian premiere in performances in February by the National Arts Centre Orchestra conducted by Alexander Shelley. The performance is available to stream online in full on NACO’s website.
Other spring 2024 highlights for Razaz include a performance by Alisa Weilerstein of Secrets, Invocations for solo cello, presented by Washington Performing Arts at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on April 6, 2024. The piece in two movements was commissioned by Weilerstein as part of her multi-year FRAGMENTS project which weaves the 36 movements of Bach’s solo cello suites with 27 newly commissioned works.
More about Gity Razaz:
Gity Razaz’s music has been commissioned and/or performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, National Sawdust, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, former cellist of the Kronos Quartet Jeffrey Zeigler, cellist Inbal Segev, violinist Jennifer Koh, League of the American Orchestras, violinist Francesca dePasquale, Metropolis Ensemble, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and Amsterdam Cello Biennale among many others.
Recent works include a piece for Alisa Weilerstein and her ground-breaking project Fragments, a commission from BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo for the prestigious Last Night of the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and a world premiere with San Diego Symphony under Rafael Payare as part of an ambitious multiple-orchestra spanning initiative from the League of American Orchestras. Upcoming commissions include a collaboration with Israeli Chamber Project and the Grammy-winning tenor, Karim Sulayman, as well as a concerto for flautist Sharon Bezaly and London’s Wigmore Soloists.
Her compositions have earned numerous national and international awards, such as the Andrew Imbrie Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters that is “is given to a composer of demonstrated artistic merit in mid-career”, the Jerome Foundation award, the Libby Larsen Prize in 28th International Search for New Music Competition, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Composer Institute, Juilliard Composers’ Orchestra Competition, multiple ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer awards, ASCAP Plus Awards, Juilliard’s Palmer Dixon Award for the outstanding composition of the year in 2010 and 2012, as well as special recognition from the Brian Israel Composition Prize, Margaret Blackburn Memorial Competition, the League of Composers (ISCM), to name a few.
Razaz’s debut album, The Strange Highway, which was recently released on Sweden’s preeminent BIS Records, has garnered international praise. As described by BBC Music Magazine, “There’s an uncompromising beauty to these works by the Iranian-born American composer, the opening title work, for cello octet, is a wild rhythmic ride, while the closing Metamorphosis of Narcissus offers some fantastic musical storytelling. Impressive.”
Violinist Kristin Lee is Guest Soloist with the Olympia Symphony
Violinist Kristin Lee is Guest Soloist with the Olympia Symphony
Performing Tchaikovsky’s Virtuosic Violin Concerto Conducted by Music Director Alexandra
Photo by Lauren Desberg available in hi-resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/kristin-lee
Violinist Kristin Lee is Guest Soloist for
the Olympia Symphony’s Concert Pride on March 17
Performing Tchaikovsky’s Virtuosic Violin Concerto
Conducted by Music Director Alexandra Arrieche
Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 3pm
Washington Center for the Performing Arts
512 Washington St. SE | Olympia, WA
Kristin Lee: www.violinistkristinlee.com
Olympia, WA – On Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 3pm, violinist Kristin Lee, praised in The Strad for her “elegance” and “vivacity and electric energy,” will be the featured soloist with the Olympia Symphony, led by Music Director Alexandra Arrieche at Washington Center for the Performing Arts (512 Washington St. SE) in a concert titled Pride. Lee will perform Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s passionate Violin Concerto in D Major from 1878 as part of this program exploring the theme of prohibited love – the composer had intended to dedicate the piece to his partner but relented to societal pressure to hide that he was gay. The concert also includes Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story in an unconventional mashup arrangement, and a special, unannounced encore. Pride is part of Olympia Symphony’s 2023-2024 season True Colors, which invites audiences to appreciate authenticity.
Kristin Lee is a familiar face in Olympia. She last soloed with the Olympia Symphony in spring 2022, giving a fiery performance of Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. She is also co-founder and Artistic Director of Emerald City Music, which presents eclectic and vibrant chamber music performances in both Olympia and Seattle. The series was recently deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" (CityArts) and seeks to provide concert experiences that leave both the audience and performers mutually transformed.
Lee is dedicated to forging personal connections between audiences and classical music. She performs widely as a member of New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including on tour in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Taiwan, and across the U.S. Always up for adventure, at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, Lee has performed in such unexpected places as rafting down the Colorado River, in a natural rock grotto, and in the magical landscape of the red rock canyons of the area.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity.” Lee has performed as soloist with leading orchestras around the world including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Nordic Chamber Orchestra of Sweden, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic, and many more.
Of returning to perform with the Olympia Symphony, Lee says,
“Olympia holds such a very special place in my heart, especially because of the many meaningful friendships I’ve made through Emerald City Music. I am extremely thrilled to join forces again with my friends at the Olympia Symphony to perform my absolute favorite piece - Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. This will be my first time collaborating with Alexandra [Arrieche] and from the incredible development of the Olympia Symphony I have followed and witnessed through her leadership, I know that she is an absolute force of nature! I can hardly wait to see the magic we'll bring together to the stage!”
Born in Seoul, Kristin Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, and Itzhak Perlman. Her many honors include awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation. She is also the unprecedented First Prize winner of three concerto competitions at The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Her violin was crafted in Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.
Lee is committed to the future of classical music as a devoted mentor and educator for the next generation, serving on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin, and teaching in residencies with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, El Sistema Chamber Music Festival of Venezuela, and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute, among others. For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Violinist Kristin Lee, praised in The Strad for her “elegance” and “vivacity and electric energy,” will be the featured soloist with the Olympia Symphony, led by Music Director Alexandra Arrieche, in a concert titled Pride. Lee will perform Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s passionate Violin Concerto as part of this program exploring the theme of prohibited love – the composer had intended to dedicate the piece to his partner, but relented to societal pressure to hide that he was gay. The concert also includes Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story in an unconventional mashup arrangement, and a special, unannounced encore. Pride is part of Olympia Symphony’s 2023-2024 season True Colors, which invites audiences to appreciate authenticity.
Concert details:
Who: Violinist Kristin Lee
Soloist with the Olympia Symphony in Pride
Conducted by Music Director Alexandra Arrieche
What: Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Leonard Bernstein, and more
When: Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 3pm
Where: Washington Center Main Stage, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia, WA 98501
Tickets and information: www.olympiasymphony.org
March 23: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Performs as Guest Soloist with the Erie Philharmonic in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 Conducted by Music Director Daniel Meyer
GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Performs as Guest Soloist with the Erie Philharmonic
Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/simone-dinnerstein
GRAMMY-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Performs as Guest Soloist with the Erie Philharmonic
Featuring Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major
Conducted by Music Director Daniel Meyer
Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 8pm
Warner Theatre | 811 State Street | Erie, PA
Tickets & Information
“colorful and idiosyncratic”
– The New York Times
Erie, PA – On Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 8pm GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The New Yorker as an artist of “lean, knowing, and unpretentious elegance,” will be the featured guest soloist with The Erie Philharmonic in a performance of Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major. The performance will be held at the Warner Theatre (811 State Street) and will be conducted by Music Director Daniel Meyer. A beloved guest artist of the Erie Philharmonic, Dinnerstein returns as part of a vivid concert program that also includes Modest Mussorgsky's famed work, Pictures at an Exhibition, as orchestrated by Maurice Ravel.
The Washington Post has called Simone Dinnerstein “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”
While Dinnerstein has come to be recognized and celebrated for her appreciation of music by J.S. Bach, she has also brought bold and expressive artistry to the work of Brahms in performances for over 10 years –– including the other of Brahms’ two piano concertos: No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15. Brahms’ second piano concerto is a newer addition to her repertoire –– one which Dinnerstein has been excited to perform this season.
She says of Brahms’ second piano concerto and performing alongside Daniel Meyer and the Erie Philharmonic:
“I am eagerly anticipating collaborating with Daniel Meyer and the Erie Philharmonic on this magnificent work. I have had wonderful experiences with them in the past and always enjoy visiting the community of Erie and playing in the historic Warner Theatre. In addition; I am looking forward to meeting their new piano!”
About Simone Dinnerstein: American pianist Simone Dinnerstein first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”
Dinnerstein has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seoul Arts Center and Sydney Opera House. She has made thirteen albums, all of which topped the Billboard charts. During the pandemic she recorded three albums which form a trilogy: A Character of Quiet, An American Mosaic, and Undersong. An American Mosaic was nominated for a Grammy.
In recent years, Dinnerstein has created projects that express her broad musical interests. She gave the world premiere of The Eye Is the First Circle at Montclair State University, the first multi-media production she conceived, created, and directed, which uses as source materials her father Simon Dinnerstein’s painting The Fulbright Triptych and Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata No. 2. She premiered Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic, a tribute to those affected by the pandemic, in a performance on multiple pianos throughout Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the U.S. for the first time, performing eleven concerts. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for her, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras. Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals, and performed it at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and presented by LA Opera. Dinnerstein has also created her own ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs. The Washington Post comments, “it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative. For more information, please visit www.simonedinnerstein.com.
About The Erie Philharmonic: The mission of the Erie Philharmonic is to strengthen our community and region by providing high-quality live orchestra concerts and programs that enrich, educate, and entertain people of all ages. In existence since 1913, the Philharmonic is one of the oldest ensembles in the country and is consistently recognized on a national level as one of the top orchestras in our budget size. With a season that features 15 mainstage concerts, a free regional summer-concert tour, various chamber music performances, youth concerts and numerous outreach events, the orchestra reaches nearly 50,000 people annually. In the last seven seasons, the orchestra has become an unrivaled presence in the community, selling out concerts and presenting life-changing musical experiences that have garnered national attention from Good Morning America, the National Endowment for the Arts, Forbes Magazine and the Telly Awards.
In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the orchestra broadcasted 20 free concerts on WQLN PBS. These free performances represented a positive and healing light for our region as Erie looked to weather the ongoing health crisis. In January 2022, the orchestra returned to a newly renovated Warner Theatre, and has since seen audience growth nearly unparalleled in the classical music world. The 2023-24 concert season marks the 111th season of the orchestra.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The Washington Post as “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity,” is the featured soloist with the Erie Philharmonic, led by Music Director Daniel Meyer. Dinnerstein will perform Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. in B-flat Major. The concert will also include a performance of Modest Mussorgsky’s iconic Pictures at an Exhibition, as orchestrated by Maurice Ravel.
Short description: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity” (The Washington Post) is the guest soloist with the Erie Philharmonic in a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2, led by Music Director Daniel Meyer. The performance will also include Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Maurice Ravel.
Concert details:
Who: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Conducted by Music Director Daniel Meyer
Presented by the Erie Philharmonic
What: Music by Johannes Brahms and Modest Mussorgsky / Maurice Ravel
When: Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 8pm
Where: Warner Theatre, 811 State Street, Erie, PA, 16501
Tickets and information: www.eriephil.org/calendar/pictures
May 3: Sony Classical Announces Antonello Manacorda & Kammerakademie Potsdam Conclude Their Recording of Beethoven's Complete Symphonies
Sony Classical Announces Antonello Manacorda and Kammerakademie Potsdam
Beethoven - The Complete Symphonies
Sony Classical Announces
Antonello Manacorda and Kammerakademie Potsdam
Conclude Their Recording of
Beethoven - The Complete Symphonies
with Release of All Nine Masterworks Together
First Single “Scherzo” from “Eroica Symphony No. 3” Out Today
Final Installment in Series Celebrates the 200th Anniversary of the Ninth Symphony’s Premier Performance
Cycle Out May 3, 2024 on Sony Classical as Special Boxset and Digitally
“Those listening to these new recordings will be richly rewarded.” – Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
The Kammerakademie Potsdam (Chamber Academy Potsdam) and its principal conductor Antonello Manacorda will complete their new Beethoven cycle with the release of all nine symphonies in a special box set out on Sony Classical on May 3, 2024. As the third and final installment in the series, the release will include their new recording of Beethoven’s Third, Fourth and Eighth Symphonies as well as the composer’s legendary Ninth Symphony. The release coincides with the 200-year anniversary celebrations of the premiere performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in early May. The first single is out today - the “Scherzo. Allegro vivace” from Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 "Eroica” – listen here.
The first two installments in the ensemble’s Beethoven cycle recording have been released to great critical acclaim. Reviewing their first installment, German magazine Stereoplay spoke of an “incredible anticipatory pleasure and love of life,” Gramophone Magazine remarked “The orchestra’s rhythmic assurance is similarly impressive, and especially in the way they bring a sense of the dance to these scores,” while Fono Forum singled out the performances’ “inner logic and power of conviction.” Reviewing the second installment, the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung wrote, “Those listening to these new recordings will be richly rewarded.”
Antonello Manacorda explains his approach to the cycle “What matters to me personally is that Beethoven is not just a composer but basically also a philosopher. He tells us not just about music but also about ourselves: who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going; why we are here in this world and what we hope to achieve here. A traversal of these symphonies is far more of a philosophical journey than a musical one.”
Of the composer’s seminal Ninth Symphony Manacorda believes, “it was and remains a hugely provocative piece. Every instrument in the orchestra is taken to its limits. Then comes a theme that is so simple and yet so memorable but which he repeats with dangerous frequency. What he does with the four vocal soloists borders on the ridiculous. The bass is a kind of Evangelist of Joy, the tenor a hero for the whole of humankind and the poor women are two angels. To me it’s like a Mass but with secular words, a philosophical credo. Beethoven spent his whole life asking himself why humankind has been placed on this earth and what our mission may be. Here he gives his answer: it revolves around the ideal of brotherly love, the great fraternization of humankind in a spirit of life-affirming joy.”
The Kammerakademie Potsdam and its music director Antonello Manacorda have garnered multiple awards with their complete recordings of the symphonies of Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn, while their release of Mozart’s last three symphonies earned them the title of Orchestra of the Year at the 2022 OPUS Klassik Awards – Germany’s leading televised classical awards. Brandenburg’s first orchestral academy appears in Potsdam and throughout Brandenburg, performing concerts geared to all age-groups, while also undertaking Europe-wide tours. The musicians perform on a combination of old and modern instruments which allows them to perform works for relatively large ensembles without a large string section, while enabling them to achieve the right balance and requisite degree of clarity.
As an Italian with a pronounced affinity for German music, Manacorda has appeared in many of the world’s leading opera houses from London and Munich to New York. Among the internationally renowned symphony orchestras with which he has worked are the Berliner Philharmoniker, where he returns in May, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. He will also conduct Carmen at London’s Royal Opera House in April this year.
Sony Classical will release Beethoven – The Complete Symphonies on May 3 as boxset and on all digital formats. The artwork has been created by renowned German artist Jorinde Voigt.
Antonello Manacorda & Kammerakademie Potsdam
Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies
Ludwig Van Beethoven 1770–1827
Tracklist
CD 1
Symphony No. 1 In C Major, Op. 21
Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat Major “Eroica”, Op. 55
CD 2
Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Op. 36
Symphony No. 4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 60
CD 3
Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, Op. 67
Symphony No. 6 In F Major “Pastoral”, Op. 68
CD 4
Symphony No. 7 In A Major, Op. 92
Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93
CD 5
Symphony No. 9 In D Minor “Choral”, Op. 125
Kammerakademie Potsdam
Antonello Manacorda, Conductor
April 19: ECM Releases Fred Hersch's new album Silent, Listening
ECM
Fred Hersch: Silent, Listening
ECM Releases
Fred Hersch: Silent, Listening
Release date: April 19, 2024
ECM 2799
Press downloads available upon request.
Silent, Listening is both a highly individual musical offering and an important contribution to ECM’s line of innovative solo piano recordings. It finds US pianist Fred Hersch, one of jazz’s most outstanding soloists, putting a poetic emphasis on alert, open improvisation while also embracing original compositions and a scattering of standard tunes in his album’s graceful creative arc. Interspersing songs and spontaneously composed pieces, Hersch shapes and sustains a musical atmosphere that he describes as “nocturnal”, an atmosphere of heightened sensitivity to sound.
“I still believe in the idea of an album as a complete musical statement from beginning to end,” he says, adding that this is a perspective being lost in an impatient age. “To me, an album has to tell a story.” Silent, Listening builds upon Hersch’s alliance with Manfred Eicher, established with The Song Is You, Fred’s duo album with Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava.
“The things that I’ve been happiest with in my life as a musician in jazz,” says Fred, “have been those things that have happened most organically. And in that recording with Enrico, which was made very spontaneously, I recognized that something special was going on. I said afterwards that I’d really like to make a solo album with Manfred as producer, in the same hall – where the acoustics, to my ear, are pretty-near perfect - and on the same piano.”
In May 2023 Hersch returned to Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI. “I came with some ideas of tunes of mine I might want to play, and with some little snippets of things that were like launching pads for improvisation. ’Silent, Listening’, the title piece, for instance, has written material at the beginning and the end, and I improvise on its motives and feel.”
“Little Song” is a Hersch composition, written originally for the duo with Rava, which receives its recorded premiere here. As for the standard pieces chosen, “I had no idea I was going to play those. I just sort of felt them in the moment, and then the spontaneous compositions arose to offset the tunes.” To name the latter, Hersch brought along a list of titles culled from a Robert Rauschenberg monograph – “Rauschenberg was always good with titles” - hence “Volon”, “Aeon” and more.
“I play a little more inside the piano than I usually do,” says Hersch of the exploratory, freely-structured pieces. “People don’t necessarily associate me with open improvising, but it is something that I have done a lot of, over the years. In fact, the recording with Enrico also included an improvisation that worked really well. And Manfred’s very positive response to that encouraged me to go further in this direction, alternating tunes and not-tunes on the solo album.”
Among the standards, Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington’s “Star-Crossed Lovers” sets the scene with a sparse, haunted interpretation that cleaves to the melody. “It’s such a beautiful melody, and sometimes it’s enough to state it. I learned the tune from Jimmy Rowles who used to play the song , as did Tommy Flanagan. I knew both of them well when we all worked at Bradley’s in New York, and recorded a version of ‘Star Crossed Lovers’ on my very first album back in 1985.”
“The Winter of my Discontent” is a tune that Hersch began playing after meeting its composer Alec Wilder in 1978. “Wilder made contact – also at Bradley’s, as it happens - and sent me books of his songs, and that’s one I’ve been playing ever since, in different formats including duo and trio. In Lugano, the mood of what I was playing seemed to suggest and lead to it.”
“Softly As In a Morning Sunrise” is, in Fred Hersch’s mind, “always associated with Sonny Rollins at the Village Vanguard. Sonny’s version is the gold standard for me. Sonny Rollins is my hero, frankly. As a jazz musician he has everything, and I’ve been strongly influenced by him.”
“Akrasia” is an instance of a Hersch composition that took on a second life in the studio. Its title, meaning “acting against one’s better interests”, is an allusion to life in lockdown when, Fred says, he found himself spending too much time indulging in detective novels and computer games. “You know you shouldn’t be doing it, but… Anyway, ‘Akrasia’ is a longer composition and, when we started recording it in Lugano, I suddenly realized that the music was on the floor, and I couldn’t see it! So I played the beginning of it and then just kept going, improvising, and it turned into something unexpected but, we felt, interesting.”
This openness to contingency and willingness to honour the flow of things was also, Hersch says, reflected in his performance of Russ Freeman’s “The Wind”, which provides one of the album’s most magical sequences. Fred says that his younger, perfectionist self might have balked at his delineation of the melody but that, at 68, he is trying “not to micromanage everything anymore. What we got was a great first take” – gentle, but full of feeling – “that would have been impossible to recapture with the same spirit.”
The in-the-moment spontaneity of Silent, Listening makes it, similarly, a self-contained one-off. Hersch enjoys the challenge of finding new musical solutions for new spaces and his upcoming touring activities include solo piano performances in both the US and Europe. Dates include Merkin Concert Hall, New York City (April 16), Piedmont Piano Company, Oakland CA (April 28) ,Dakota, Minneapolis MN (April 29), SPACE, Chicago IL (April 30), Cleveland OH (April 31), Firenze, Italy (May 11), Festival Ste Germain, Paris, France (May 18), Stadtcasino, Basel, Switzerland (May 21), Innsbruck, Austria (May 23),), Flagey, Brussels, Belgium (May 31), Ghent, Belgium, June 1. Additionally Fred Hersch plays duo concerts in France with Avishai Cohen in Nantes (May 6) and Coutances (May 8), and appears with the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra in Stockholm, Sweden on May 17. He plays in trio with Drew Gress and Joey Baron in Treviso, Italy on May 25. Hersch returns to Europe for another round of concerts in October.
For biographical and other details, visit Fred’s web site: www.fredhersch.com
Further ECM recordings with Fred Hersch are in preparation.
Sony Classical Announces New Solo Album from Award-Winning Composer Mike Post – Message From The Mountains & Echoes Of The Delta
Sony Classical Announces Message From The Mountains & Echoes Of The Delta
New Solo Album from Mike Post
Sony Classical Announces
Message From The Mountains & Echoes Of The Delta
New Solo Album from Mike Post
The Award-Winning Composer Behind TV’s Most Memorable Music
The Iconic Composer For Law & Order, The Rockford Files, Magnum P.I. & More Brings A-List
Soloists Together with a Full Orchestra In Celebration of Bluegrass & Blues Music
Lead Single Campfire Breakdown/Night Sky
Out Today – Listen Here
Available April 5, 2024 – Preorder Now
From the iconic “dun-dun” sting that has become synonymous with the Law and Order universe to instantly recognizable riffs from The Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, Magnum P.I., L.A. Law and more, Emmy®- and Grammy®-winning composer Mike Post has helped shape half a century of pop culture with his beloved television themes. Now, he celebrates the music that inspired this prolific career with Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta, a truly unique solo album that pays homage to bluegrass and blues music, available April 5, 2024 via Sony Classical. Making its debut today alongside the album preorder is the collection’s lead single, Campfire Breakdown/Night Sky – listen here.
The way composer Mike Post simply describes himself now – “I’m an American musician” – is as grateful and respectful as it is limitless in its compass and its ambition. His new solo album, Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta, emerged as his own celebration of the music of the American people that has inspired him in a career spanning six decades. Presented as a pair of original works, the album combines the sounds of a bluegrass band (Message from the Mountains) and a blues band (Echoes of the Delta) – joined by two “dream teams” of soloists who are his longtime friends and colleagues – with the rich palette and expressive power of a full orchestra.
The first in a pair of original works encompassing the album, Message from the Mountains features nine multifaceted movements utilizing the sounds of bluegrass to celebrate the mingling of tradition and diverse cultural experience in American music. The immensely talented and decorated members of these rhythm sections are as follows: Herb Pedersen (5-string banjo); Gabe Witcher (fiddle); Mike Witcher (dobro); Patrick Sauber (acoustic guitar/mandolin); and Amy Keys (orator). Echoes from the Delta, meanwhile, reflects and explores the exuberant joy and the well of anguish that forged the blues in 14 short, expressive movements. Joining Post and the orchestra as soloists are Sonny Landreth (slide guitar); Eric Gales (electric guitar); Abe Laboriel Sr. (bass); Abe Laboriel Jr. (drums); Robert Turner (organ/piano); Jon O’Hara (keyboards); and Amy Keys (vocalist).
Mike Post: Message From The Mountains & Echoes Of The Delta
Tracklisting
1. Message from the Mountains: I. Journeys - The Message
2. Message from the Mountains: II. Onward
3. Message from the Mountains: III. Sunrise Special
4. Message from the Mountains: IV. Redemption Valley
5. Message from the Mountains: V. Campfire Breakdown - Night Sky
6. Message from the Mountains: VI. Fort Smith Waltz
7. Message from the Mountains: VII. Strings Afire
8. Message from the Mountains: VIII. Spirit of the Owl
9. Message from the Mountains: IX. Destined to Dream
10. Echoes of the Delta: I. John the Revelator
11. Echoes of the Delta: II. River Walkin'
12. Echoes of the Delta: III. Just Before Dawn
13. Echoes of the Delta: IV. Highway 41
14. Echoes of the Delta: V. Little Zion
15. Echoes of the Delta: VI. The Gate to Greenwood
16. Echoes of the Delta: VII. Crossed Road
17. Echoes of the Delta: VIII. Riley Smiles
18. Echoes of the Delta: IX. Riffs 'Round the Sun
19. Echoes of the Delta: X. Sunday With Maudes
20. Echoes of the Delta: XI. Boogie Offspring
21. Echoes of the Delta: XII. Backside Middle
22. Echoes of the Delta: XIII. Sonny in the Second Line
23. Echoes of the Delta: XIV. Light the Dark Sky
24. Echoes of the Delta: XV. The Call
25. Echoes of the Delta: XVI. Circle Back Home
About Mike Post
If his name is not instantly recognizable, Mike Post’s music is. His unforgettable themes for The Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, Magnum P.I., NYPD Blue, L.A. Law and many other TV classics – including the Law & Order family of dramas (notably, in the landmark, two-note “dun-dun” effect he created) – are part of the soundtrack of modern American life.
Steeped in music from childhood, Post was a go-to session musician as a teenager in the Los Angeles area, quickly becoming part of a legendary collective of studio musical virtuosos known as The Wrecking Crew. Post played for virtually everyone active in the LA recording scene during this time. Most notably he worked on all of Sonny and Cher’s early hits, starting with “I Got You Babe.” While working for producer Jimmy Bowen, he formed The First Edition, featuring then unknown bassist/vocalist, Kenny Rogers. A breakout success – and at 23, winning the first of his five Grammy® Awards – with his arrangement of the 1968 instrumental smash hit “Classical Gas” raised Post’s profile as a composer, arranger and producer, before television changed the course of his career in the early 1970s.
Over the years, he’s written the music for seven thousand hours of TV including: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Law & Order Criminal Intent, Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Rockford Files, Magnum PI, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, The A-Team, Wiseguy, Hunter, The Commish, Quantum Leap, Doogie Howser MD, Blossom, Hooperman, The White Shadow, Hardcastle & McCormick, Byrds of Paradise, News Radio, Silk Stalkings and Renegade. Theme songs from The Rockford Files, The Greatest American Hero, Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law all became chart-topping records and landed Post four of his five Grammy® Awards. In 1996 he won the Emmy® for outstanding achievement in Main Title composition for the critically acclaimed Murder One.
Connect With Mike Post: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Tiktok
Mike Post Approved Images (Credit Lawrence Sumulong): Download
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Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/
California Symphony Announces 2024-25 Season - Showcasing the Crowning Achievements of Composers at the Peak of their Powers
California Symphony Announces 2024-25 Season - Showcasing the Crowning Achievements of Composers at the Peak of their Powers
Photo by Kristen Loken. Hi res photos available here.
CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ANNOUNCES 2024-2025 SEASON
Donato Cabrera, Artistic & Music Director
Showcasing the Crowning Achievements of Composers at the Peak of their Powers
Featuring the Final Symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Bruckner
and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony
Plus a World Premiere by 2023-2026 Composer-in-Residence Saad Haddad
New Works by Carlos Simon and Mason Bates
Joaquin Rodrigo’s Famous Guitar Concerto
and Rarely Performed Music by Louise Farrenc and Grażyna Bacewicz
“a performance of vividness and grace” – San Francisco Chronicle
“the past decade has seen [Donato Cabrera] accomplishing great things — revitalizing the organization with smart programs and offstage innovations, making the California Symphony one of the region’s most vibrant musical attractions.” – Mercury News
Subscriptions available now. Single tickets go on sale in July.
WALNUT CREEK, CA (February 22, 2024) – California Symphony, led by Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera and Executive Director Lisa Dell, announces its 2024-2025 season, showcasing the crowning achievements of composers at the peak of their powers in five imaginative programs over ten concerts at Hoffman Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Performing Arts from September 2024 to May 2025.
Illustrating California Symphony’s signature approach to creating vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, this season features the iconic final symphonies of titans of classical music Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the unfinished masterpieces of Anton Bruckner and Franz Schubert; a Grammy-winning Disney Fantasia-esque concerto for film and orchestra by Bay Area composer Mason Bates paired with Benjamin Britten’s lively introduction to the ensemble; a world premiere by the orchestra’s 2023-2026 Young American Composer-in-Residence Saad Haddad; a recent work by Grammy-nominated composer and Kennedy Center composer-in-residence Carlos Simon; Joaquin Rodrigo’s famous tour-de-force guitar concerto Concierto de Aranjuez; and rarely performed music by 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc and 20th-century Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz.
“In celebrating the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, it became clear to me that an interesting journey for our audience would be to hear the final symphony of a great composer at each concert of the 2024-2025 season,” Donato Cabrera says. “I’ve paired these five final symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Bruckner, with contrasting orchestral works, some of which are completely new, while others are very well known. We continue our deep commitment to living and overlooked composers by performing a diverse list of works from our current and former composers-in-residence and others throughout the season. We are re-establishing a partnership we began pre-pandemic with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music [SFCM] Chorus, as well as welcoming guitar soloist and SFCM faculty member, Meng Su. It has been a dream of mine to pair Schubert’s unfinished symphony with Bruckner's, but performing these two extraordinary symphonies together requires a very special bond between conductor and orchestra. Indeed, very few orchestras could successfully summit both of these masterpieces, but this concert will confirm why my colleagues in the California Symphony have rightfully gained such a well-deserved national reputation.”
California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through its commitment to community, imaginative programming, and support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere, serving a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area. During the 2023-2024 season, the orchestra enjoyed a 27% increase in subscribers, meeting or exceeding pre-pandemic attendance at its concerts.
In the 2024-2025 season, California Symphony will continue to serve its community beyond the stage through its nationally recognized educational initiative Sound Minds and its innovative lifelong learning program Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed. It will also expand its programs for vulnerable populations at Trinity Center Walnut Creek and initiate new community partnerships to reach more underserved youth throughout Contra Costa County.
BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 7:30pm
Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 4pm
Louise Farrenc: Overture No. 2 in E-flat
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor;
Allen Michael Jones, bass; San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus, Eric Choate, Director
California Symphony launches its season with two thrilling concerts marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a monumental masterpiece that celebrates our shared humanity. The concerts open with a vivacious and powerful overture by pioneering 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc, who was well known during her lifetime but whose work is only now being performed widely. Instantly recognizable, Beethoven's final symphony is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces in classical music. Four internationally acclaimed singers with Bay Area connections – Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Allen Michael Jones, bass – join the California Symphony and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Chorus. Powerful and uplifting, the work’s final movement Ode to Joy has become an enduring anthem for unity.
BRAHMS ODYSSEY
Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 7:30pm
Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 4pm
Benjamin Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Mason Bates: Philharmonia Fantastique – The Making of the Orchestra
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.4, Op. 98, E minor
California Symphony’s November concerts take audience members on an odyssey through the orchestra. Benjamin Britten’s lively Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra uses a catchy theme to introduce different instruments in the orchestra, making it a great way to learn about the symphony. Former California Symphony Resident Composer Mason Bates invokes the spirit of Disney’s classic Fantasia in his Grammy-winning concerto for orchestra and animated film, Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra, guided by a mischievous sprite. Brahms' Symphony No. 4 – his final symphony – is a deeply emotional, poignant masterpiece. Even though Brahms lived for more than a decade after its premiere, it was the last symphony he wrote, with many considering it to be the pinnacle of his career.
MOZART SERENITY
Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 4pm
Carlos Simon: Breathe
Joaquin Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Meng Su, guitar
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No.41, K.551, C Major (“Jupiter”)
California Symphony’s first concerts of 2025 combine a calming meditation by composer Carlos Simon, a world-famous Spanish guitar concerto by Joaquin Rodrigo, and Mozart’s classical grandeur. Inspired by the words of theologian and former San Francisco resident Howard Thurman, Simons’ Breathe is a serene appeal to “stay put for a while.” For music lovers and guitar enthusiasts alike, Rodrigo's iconic Concierto de Aranjuez, performed with the stunningly virtuosic San Francisco-based guitarist Meng Su, features evocative melodies and distinctive Spanish guitar solos, designed to transport listeners to another time and place. A majestic, intricate, exuberant masterpiece, Mozart's final symphony, his Symphony No. 41, is one of his most celebrated and frequently performed works, showcasing a genius at the height of his powers. The work is commonly known as the “Jupiter” Symphony for the Roman god because of its grand scale.
TCHAIKOVSKY PASSION
Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 4pm
Saad Haddad: World Premiere (Commissioned by California Symphony)
Grażyna Bacewicz: Piano Concerto
David Fung, piano
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)
California Symphony’s March concerts feature music that is full of emotion and high drama, concluding with Tchaikovsky’s powerful final symphony, Symphony No. 6. The concerts begin with the world premiere of Composer-in-Residence Saad Haddad’s second commission for the orchestra. Haddad’s music frequently delves into the relationship between the West and the East by transferring the performance techniques of traditional Arab instruments to Western symphonic instruments. Pianist David Fung, praised by The Washington Post for his “poetic and exquisitely sculpted interpretations,” makes his California Symphony debut as soloist in 20th century Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz’s Piano Concerto. Bacewicz incorporates Polish folk themes in this work which features intense moments of drama and a demanding and virtuosic solo piano part. Tchaikovsky’s sixth and final symphony is also known as the “Pathétique,” but the composer originally called it the “Passionate.” Grand, sweeping, and with themes recognizable from movies and pop culture, it is one of the Russian melody master’s most popular and frequently performed works.
UNFINISHED BRUCKNER
Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, May 4, 2025 at 4pm
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8, D.759, B minor (Unfinished)
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (Unfinished)
California Symphony concludes its 2024-2025 season with a striking pair of unfinished masterpieces, each marking the pinnacle of achievement for the composer. The orchestra will perform the two surviving movements of Franz Schubert’s haunting and beautiful Symphony No. 8. Declining health, hesitation over how to continue the piece, work overload, or even that the pages were completed but ultimately lost . . . theories abound, but no one really knows why Schubert never finished it. The three completed movements of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 conclude the program, showcasing his signature big symphonic sound, iconic themes, and brass fanfares. Featuring one of the largest ensembles to take the stage during the season, Bruckner’s unfinished Symphony No. 9 makes a fittingly epic grand finale to California Symphony’s 2024-2025 season.
Concert Details:
Location for All Performances: Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts; 1601 Civic Drive; Walnut Creek, CA
Ticket Information: Subscriptions for three, four, or five concerts start at $99 and are available now, with single tickets ($45-90) and student tickets ($20 for students 25 and under with valid Student ID) going on sale in July. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit CaliforniaSymphony.org or call the Lesher Center Ticket Office at (925) 943-7469 (open Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6pm).
About the California Symphony:
Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera since 2013. It is distinguished by its vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, including works by American composers and by living composers. Its concert season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California serves a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area.
California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through this commitment to community, imaginative programming, and its support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere.
Since 1991, California Symphony's three-year Young American Composer-in-Residence program has provided a composer with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with the orchestra over three consecutive years to create, rehearse, premiere, and record three major orchestra compositions, one each season. Every Composer-in-Residence has gone on to win top honors and accolades in the field, including the Rome Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Awards, and more.
The orchestra's nationally recognized educational initiative Sound Minds impacts students' trajectories by providing instruction for violin or cello and musicianship skills. Sound Minds has proven to contribute directly to improved reading and math proficiencies and character development, as students set and achieve goals, learn communication and problem-solving skills, and gain self-confidence. Inspired by the El Sistema program of Venezuela, the program is offered completely free of charge to the students and families of Downer Elementary School in San Pablo, California.
Through its innovative adult education program Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed, California Symphony provides lifelong learners a fun-filled introduction to the orchestra and classical music. Led by celebrated educator and California Symphony program annotator Scott Foglesong, these live classes are held over four weeks in the summer annually and are available to stream online year-round.
In 2017, California Symphony became the first orchestra with a public statement of a commitment to diversity. Its website is available in both Spanish and English.
Reaching far beyond the performance hall, since 2020 the orchestra's concerts have been broadcast nationally on multiple radio series through Classical California (KUSC/KDFC) and the WFMT Radio Network, reaching over 1.5 million listeners across the country.
For more information, visit CaliforniaSymphony.org.
California Symphony’s 2024-25 season is sponsored by the Lesher Foundation.
March 28, April 11 & 25: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Curates Bach Series at Miller Theatre at Columbia University
GRAMMY-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Curates Bach Series at Miller Theatre at Columbia University
Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/simone-dinnerstein
GRAMMY-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Curates Bach Series at Miller Theatre at Columbia University
Thursday, March 28, 2024 at 8pm – Bach Collection
with Mezzo-Soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, Oboist Peggy Pearson, Violinist Rebecca Fischer, and Baroklyn
Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 8pm – Bach Suites and Concertos
with Flutists Christina Jennings and Ilaria Loisa Hawley,
Plus Baroklyn
Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 8pm – Bach Sinfonias
Simone Dinnerstein, Solo Piano
Miller Theatre at Columbia University
2960 Broadway (at 116th Street) | New York, NY
Tickets and Information
“an utterly distinctive voice in the forest of Bach interpretation”
– The New York Times
New York, NY – GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein will be presented by Miller Theatre at Columbia University (2960 Broadway, at 116th Street) in three concerts on Thursday, March 28, Thursday, April 11, and Thursday, April 25, 2024 as part of Miller Theatre’s 2023-2024 Bach Series, which was curated by Dinnerstein.
A champion of unifying people through music and sharing its beauty with everyone, the Brooklyn-based pianist has collaborated with Miller Theatre to present and perform in another concert series highlighting the awe-inspiring complexities and collaborative joys of J.S. Bach’s work, in addition to music by several other compelling composers.
Dinnerstein shares these thoughts ahead the series opening on March 28:
“For these concerts, I commissioned the fabulous composer, Philip Lasser, to create keyboard realizations for the Cantata 170, Brandenburg 6, and the Orchestral Suite No 3. Philip’s very special sensitivity to Bach’s writing is melded with his own distinctive musical voice and will bring a new flavor to these familiar works. I am particularly excited about his transformation of the Air on the G String and can’t wait to premiere this on April 11!”
On March 28, Dinnerstein opens the series with Bach Collection –– a program highlighting an elegant variety of Bach’s music in several musical forms –– sonata, concerto, and cantata –– performed together with a stellar group of guest artists.
The second performance on April 11, Bach Suites and Concertos, highlights a pair of Bach’s orchestral suites and two of his concertos –– one for keyboard and one of his famed Brandenburg concertos –– performed in collaboration with Dinnerstein’s ensemble Baroklyn, and two guest flutists.
Lastly, on April 25, Dinnerstein closes the series with Bach Sinfonias –– a program for solo piano, which juxtaposes Bach’s Sinfonias with three other musically diverse selections, spanning more than 250 years.
Over the course of more than a decade, Dinnerstein has steadily gained recognition as both a skilled and imaginative performer of Bach’s music. Public appreciation for her performances of his music began with the exuberant and wide-reaching reception of her 2007 debut album featuring J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Since then, Miller Theatre has enthusiastically embraced several opportunities to present Bach-centric concert programs curated and performed by Dinnerstein.
The opening concert on March 28 underscores the creative versatility of J.S. Bach as a composer. The program is anchored by two Bach masterpieces—his Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, where violas get their chance to shine, and his breathtaking sacred cantata Vergnügte Ruh', beliebte Seelenlust (Delightful repose, cherished pleasure of the soul). Featured with Dinnerstein are mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, oboist Peggy Pearson, violinist Rebecca Fischer, and Dinnerstein’s ensemble, Baroklyn, of which she is the Artistic Director and which Dinnerstein conducts from the piano.
Dinnerstein says of the collaborations for the first performance in this year’s series:
“It is also my special pleasure to welcome back Peggy Pearson on March 28. I first fell in love with Peggy’s fabulous oboe d’amore playing on the legendary recording she made with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Emmanuel Music of Bach’s Ich Habe Genug. In this same concert, we will welcome concertmaster Rebecca Fischer’s daughter, Oriana Hawley, to join Baroklyn’s violists in our performance of Brandenburg 6. Oriana is a dual degree undergraduate student at Columbia University and the Juilliard School.”
On April 11, the Bach Series continues with a performance centered around two pairs of pieces by Bach: his orchestral suites and concertos. Dinnerstein’s artistry at the piano shines in Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 6 in F major (1738), while Baroklyn and flutists Christina Jennings and Ilaria Loisa Hawley add a whirlwind of grandiosity and musical color to performances of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor (c. 1738-39); Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major (c. 1731), and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major (c. 1720-21).
Then on April 25, Miller Theatre will present the finale of the Bach Series with a performance featuring a thrilling program of solo works for piano that display an assortment of moods and musical forms. Rooted in the Baroque era with J.S. Bach’s technical collection of 15 Sinfonias (1720-23), Dinnerstein also brings her highly skilled and thoughtful performance style to Philip Lasser’s 12 Variations on a Chorale by J.S. Bach (2002), Keith Jarrett’s Encore From Tokyo (1978) and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Gavotte et 6 Doubles (c. 1729-30).
Through every concert, Dinnerstein strives to inspire enthusiasm and curiosity around Bach’s music. She showcases the beauty of his work, in modern interpretations for today’s listeners. “I hope that hearing these myriad works in one program will bring new shades of meaning to the listeners as well as the performers,” she says.
About Simone Dinnerstein: American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has a distinctive musical voice. The Washington Post has called her “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”
Dinnerstein has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seoul Arts Center and Sydney Opera House. She has made thirteen albums, all of which topped the Billboard charts. During the pandemic she recorded three albums which form a trilogy: A Character of Quiet, An American Mosaic, and Undersong. An American Mosaic was nominated for a Grammy.
The Eye Is the First Circle is one of the projects Dinnerstein has created in recent years that express her broad musical interests. In addition, she premiered Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic, a tribute to those affected by the pandemic, in a performance on multiple pianos throughout Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the U.S. for the first time, performing eleven concerts. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for her, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras. Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals, and performed it at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and presented by LA Opera. Dinnerstein has also created her own ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs. The Washington Post comments, “it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative.
About Miller Theatre: Miller Theatre at Columbia University is the leading presenter of new music in New York City and a vital force for innovative programming. In partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Miller is dedicated to producing and presenting unique events, with a focus on contemporary and early music, jazz, opera, and multimedia performances. Founded in 1988, Miller Theatre has helped launch the careers of myriad composers and ensembles over the years, serving as an incubator for emerging artists and a champion of those not yet well known in the United States. A four-time recipient of the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming, Miller Theatre continues to meet the high expectations set forth by its founders—to present innovative programs, support the development of new work, and connect creative artists with adventurous audiences.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The New York Times as “an utterly distinctive voice in the forest of Bach interpretation,” is presented by Miller Theatre at Columbia University in three performances over March and April, as part of Miller Theatre’s 2023-2024 Bach Concert Series. The performances were each curated by Dinnerstein herself and features several guest artists, including Baroklyn, the ensemble Dinnerstein founded and which she conducts from the piano.
Short description: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, “an utterly distinctive voice in the forest of Bach interpretation,” (The New York Times) is presented by Miller Theatre at Columbia University in three performances as part of Miller Theatre’s 2023-2024 Bach Concert Series, which was curated by Dinnerstein herself.
Concert details:
Who: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, Mezzo-Soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, Oboist Peggy Pearson, Violinist Rebecca Fischer, Flutists Christina Jennings and Ilaria Loisa Hawley, and Baroklyn
Presented by Miller Theatre at Columbia University
What: Three performances as part of Miller Theater’s 2023-2024 Bach Concert Series
When: March 28, April 11, and April 25, 2024 - all at 8pm
Where: Miller Theatre at Columbia University 2960 Broadway (at 116th Street), New York, NY 10003
Tickets and information: www.millertheatre.com/season-subscriptions/bach#subscription
March 8-9: Emerald City Music Presents Quartet in Spotlight: Abeo Quartet and the Calidore Quartet
Emerald City Music Presents Quartet in Spotlight: Abeo Quartet and the Calidore Quartet
Featuring Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, Plus Music by Dimitri Shostakovich and W.A. Mozart
Emerald City Music Presents
Quartet in Spotlight: Abeo Quartet and the Calidore Quartet
Featuring Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
Plus Music by Dimitri Shostakovich and W.A. Mozart
Violinist Kristin Lee, Artistic Director
Friday, March 8, 2024 at 8pm
415 Westlake | 415 Westlake Avenue N | Seattle, WA
Tickets & Information
Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 7:30pm
The Minnaert Center for the Arts | 2011 Mottman Rd SW | Olympia, WA
Tickets & Information
“[Artistic Director Kristin Lee] wants to show you, through Emerald City Music’s concert series, just how varied and innovative chamber music can be.”
– The Seattle Times
Seattle & Olympia, WA – On Friday, March 8, 2024 at 8pm in Seattle at 415 Westlake (415 Westlake Avenue N) and Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 7:30pm in Olympia at The Minnaert Center for the Arts (2011 Mottman Rd SW), Emerald City Music (ECM) presents its annual Quartet in Spotlight series, featuring not one, but two exceptional string quartets sharing the stage: the Abeo Quartet (Njioma Grevious, violin; Rebecca Benjamin, violin; James Kang, viola; Macintyre Taback, cello) and the Calidore Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, violin; Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; and Estelle Choi, cello).
The collaboration of these two ensembles celebrates a very meaningful relationship and built legacy: the multi-award winning Calidore has served as mentors and teachers to the emerging Abeo Quartet at the University of Delaware. Each ensemble will perform a work on their own in the spotlight. The Calidore performs W.A. Mozart’s Quartet No. 16 (1783), a tuneful work that redefined the possibility of musical form and bearing a dedication to his contemporary Joseph Haydn.
The Abeo performs Dimitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 122 (1966), a cryptic suite of seven movements that bitterly elegizes the passing of Vasili Shrinsky, a close friend of Shostakovich and a member of the Beethoven Quartet to whom he dedicated four quartets. The Calidore and Abeo Quartets finally join together to perform arguably among the most resplendent pieces of music ever written: Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major (1825). Written at the mere age of sixteen, Mendelssohn’s prodigious symphonic vision met his affection late in life as he called it: “my favorite of all of my compositions.”
Of this thoughtfully curated program, Artistic Director Kristin Lee says:
“As a part of our Quartet in Spotlight segment, we couldn't overlook the fact that we are celebrating our Eighth Season at ECM and decided to feature these two fantastic quartets to join forces on one of the most beloved pieces of the chamber music repertoire- Mendelssohn's Octet. The Calidore Quartet mentored the Abeo String Quartet at University of Delaware in the recent years, so it will be such a special performance to witness the leading quartet of our time collaborating with the next generation of up and coming string quartets. It's a program not to be missed!”
For the performance at 415 Westlake, audiences can enjoy ECM’s flagship “date-night experience,” which combines vibrant classical performance with an open bar, and a “wander-around” concert setting with no stage dividing the audience from the musicians. The second performance of the program in Olympia will take place at the Capital High School Performing Arts Center.
Emerald City Music (ECM) is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Known for their casual environment combined with award winning artists, ECM has gained recognition from several high-profile publications like Seattle Times, The City Arts deemed ECM “the beacon for the casual-classical movement.” Unique to only ECM attendees are encouraged to wear casual clothes, enjoy the open bar and walk around in order to increase the satisfaction of each of the ECM concerts. The Seattle Times calls ECM’s programming “very different,” noting its “nontraditional atmosphere,” which often “doesn’t have a stage separating performers from the audience, and artists mingle with the audience during the intermission.”
This performance, and all of ECM’s mainstage performances this season, will be recorded live and then made available on Emerald TV, ECM’s subscription-based streaming platform for performances and additional video content.
For more about the artists, visit: www.emeraldcitymusic.org/season-artists
About Kristin Lee, ECM Artistic Director
Kristin Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”
As a soloist, Lee has appeared with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic. She has performed on the world’s finest concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ravinia Festival, the Louvre Museum, the Phillips Collection, and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery. An accomplished chamber musician, Kristin Lee became a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center after winning The Bowers Program audition and completing the program's three-year residency. In addition to her prolific performance career, Lee is a devoted educator. She is on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin. Lee is also the founding artistic director of Emerald City Music (ECM), a chamber music series that presents authentically unique concert experiences and bridges the divide between the highest caliber classical music and the many diverse communities of the Puget Sound region of Washington State.
Kristin Lee’s honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, top prizes in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions, and awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation.
Born in Seoul, Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples, Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley. For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.
About ECM
Founded in 2015, Emerald City Music produces and tours seven productions annually, with each tour visiting Seattle’s South Lake Union (415 Westlake, a chic contemporary venue with an open bar), Olympia’s Minnaert Center (a 495 seat modern concert hall), a once annual concert at the Bellingham Music Festival, and an annual concert in New York City.
ECM has gained recognition regionally and nationally as a major player in the chamber music scene. Artistic Director Kristin Lee –– a touring violinist awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant and a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center –– is regarded for her innovative programming that both honors the tradition of chamber music while expanding the genre’s boundary past common limits. Emerald City Music made a name for itself beginning in its second season with a national collaborative commission with Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams, and has continued to press the boundary of chamber music with accolades like a tour of Steve Reich’s iconic and rare Music for 18 Musicians, a pitch-black performance of Georg Haas’s “In the Dark” quartet, and the West Coast debut of the Danish folk group The Dreamers’ Circus.
ECM values real, authentic connection and holds the belief that music possesses the innate power to connect people, inclusive of varying backgrounds and perspectives. Over eight years, artists from every corner of the globe have visited Emerald City Music to prove just that: there exists a special connection between artist and listener that only music can facilitate.
Follow ECM on Social Media
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emeraldcitymusic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/emeraldcitymusic
San Francisco Girls Chorus Celebrates 45th Anniversary Season with Annual Gala and Auction on April 26
San Francisco Girls Chorus Celebrates 45th Anniversary Season with Annual Gala and Auction on April 26
Photos available in high resolution at www.sfgirlschorus.org/press-room.
San Francisco Girls Chorus Celebrates 45th Anniversary Season with Annual Gala and Auction on April 26
Featuring Guest Speaker Diane Jones Lowrey
Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Common Sense Media and former SFGC Parent
And Guest Artist Silvie Jensen, Mezzo-Soprano & SFGC Alumna
Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6pm
Julia Morgan Ballroom | 465 California St | San Francisco, CA
Tickets & Information
San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) continues its 2023-2024 season led by Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe, celebrating 45 years of empowering young women, with its Annual Gala and Auction on Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6pm at the Julia Morgan Ballroom (465 California St., San Francisco). SFGC’s goal for the event is to raise $225,000 in support of SFGC’s Music Education Programs and the Elizabeth Avakian Need-Based Scholarship Fund.
This evening of celebration and song will include performances by the GRAMMY® Award-winning SFGC Premier Ensemble and Soloist Intensive, as well as a live auction and Fund-A-Need – an initiative to ensure that every young singer is able to access SFGC’s transformative music education programs. SFGC also welcomes Guest Speaker Diane Jones Lowrey, the Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Common Sense Media, former SFGC Parent, and recently appointed Commissioner on the Commission on the Status of Women in San Francisco, as well as Guest Artist Silvie Jensen, mezzo-soprano and SFGC Alumna.
The 2024 SFGC Gala Committee includes chairperson Sarah Hollenbeck, Laura Lane, Ann Gray Miller, Kim Nakahara, John Sanborn, Leah Fitschen Schloss, Sheila Schwartzburg, Alma Sorensen, and Stephanie Wei.
SFGC Gala Table Sponsors include Ryan and Johanna Aipperspach, Shoshana Berger, Jen Bilik, Ellen and Joffa Dale, Charles Ferguson and Kay Dryden, Leah Fitschen Schloss '85 and Randall Schloss, Carol and Richard Harris, Sarah Hollenbeck and David Serrano Sewell, Alison Huang and Jonathan Howe, Ann Gray Miller, Erin Pettigrew and Matthew Fong, Sheila and Thomas Schwartzburg, Julia Trujillo and Richard Bourgon.
The 2024 SFGC Gala is sponsored by The Julia Morgan Ballroom, Image Orthodontics, and Whistler Vineyards.
Since 1978, SFGC has provided girls and young women the unique opportunity not only to perform at the highest artistic caliber, but also to develop self-confidence, leadership skills, and an awareness of the role of the arts in civic engagement. A leader in the Bay Area and national music scenes, SFGC produces award-winning concerts, recordings and tours; empowers young choristers in music and other fields; and sets the international standard for the highest level of performance and education. SFGC has been recognized through numerous honors including five GRAMMY Awards, four ASCAP/Chorus America Awards for Adventurous Programming, and in 2002, becoming the first youth chorus to receive Chorus America's prestigious Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence. Each year, hundreds of singers of diverse backgrounds from 45 Bay Area cities ranging in age from four to eighteen participate in SFGC’s programs. The organization consists of a six-level Chorus School training program and the Premier Ensemble, a professional-level chorus of treble voices.
Under the direction of Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC has achieved an incomparable sound that underscores the unique clarity and force of impeccably trained treble voices fused with expressiveness and drama. As a result, the SFGC vibrantly performs 1,000 years of choral masterworks from plainchant to the most challenging and nuanced contemporary works, many created expressly for them, in programs that are as intelligently designed as they are enjoyable and revelatory to experience. The SFGC 2023-2024 season is no exception.
Individual tickets for the San Francisco Girls Chorus 2024 Gala and Auction are available for $450, with table sponsorships starting at $3,000. For more information on the gala, tickets or table sponsorships, please visit www.sfgirlschorus.org/gala or call (415) 863-1752 x306.
About Diane Jones Lowrey:
Diane Jones Lowrey is a global brand marketing and social impact leader with extensive experience guiding the operations of global marketing organizations, building global brands, and forging meaningful partnerships to accelerate growth and impact. Diane is currently the Head of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. Before Common Sense, Diane held several roles at Levi Strauss & Company, leading global marketing operations for the Levi’s brand. She led diversity marketing, which included Latino marketing for the US and Latin America.
Diane’s community and volunteer service focuses on equity, education, and the arts. She has served as a Trustee of the French American International School in San Francisco, Alonzo King Lines Ballet Board Member, and Communications Chair for the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association. The mayor appointed Diane as a Commissioner for the Commission on the Status of Women in San Francisco in 2024. Diane attended Mount Holyoke College and the University of Michigan Graduate School of Business Administration. The San Francisco League of Women Voters recognized Diane for her leadership by receiving the Women Who Could Be President Award. She also won a Cannes Lion Award for outstanding public service advertising. In honor of her community service, Diane was appointed to the board of the California First Lady’s Conference on Women by Maria Shriver. Diane lives in San Francisco with her husband and has an adult daughter who will soon finish law school. Diane enjoys exploring the city, discovering new restaurants, international travel, cooking, and engaging with different cultures. A devoted Francophile, Diane frequently travels to France while continuing to struggle through French language classes.
About Silvie Jensen:
Silvie Jensen is a highly sought-after oratorio soloist; she recently made her solo debut at Carnegie Hall, singing Handel’s Messiah with Kent Tritle and Musica Sacra. She sang as Alto Soloist with the San Francisco Symphony in Bach’s Magnificat in 2018, and also made her debuts with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players singing Berio, and with the Mendocino Music Festival, in Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto. She has appeared with Symphony Parnassus at Herbst Theater, singing Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen and Symphony No. 4. She has sung St Matthew’s Passion with Ivan Fischer conducting the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, in Sir Jonathan Miller’s St. Matthew Passion at BAM, as well as singing the Israelitish Man in Judas Maccabeus with Clarion Music Society; Handel’s Messiah with Trinity Wall Street and Monmouth Orchestra; in the B Minor Mass with the Springfield Symphony and with Voices of Ascension, with Musica Sacra at Alice Tully Hall, with Sacred Music in a Sacred Space; and with Broadway Bach Ensemble singing Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Joseph Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne.
She has commissioned and premiered works composed for her, and is a frequent recitalist, appearing in New York at Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, Symphony Space, Americas Society, Liederkranz Club, The Stone, Bonhams, Nicholas Roerich Museum, The Cell Theatre, and at the Ethical Humanist Society in Philadelphia. She has made recordings for ECM, London, Koch, Helicon, MSR Classics, Sono Luminus and Soundbrush Records. Her solo album “Who is Silvie?” is available on iTunes.
More about the San Francisco Girls Chorus: www.sfgirlschorus.org/about
More about Valérie Sainte-Agathe: www.sfgirlschorus.org/valerie-sainte-agathe
The San Francisco Girls Chorus receives support from Grants for the Arts, The Kimball Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Sequoia Trust, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The Sam Mazza Foundation, The Bernard Osher Foundation, and the Joseph and Vera Long Foundation.
Violinist Kristin Lee is Featured Soloist with Missoula Symphony Orchestra on March 2-3
Violinist Kristin Lee is Featured Soloist with Missoula Symphony Orchestra in Two Concerts
Conducted by Music Director Julia Tai Performing Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1
Photo by Lauren Desberg available in hi-resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/kristin-lee
Violinist Kristin Lee is Featured Soloist with
Missoula Symphony Orchestra in Two Concerts
Conducted by Music Director Julia Tai
Performing Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1
March 2 at 7:30pm and March 3 at 3pm
Dennison Theatre at University of Montana
32 Campus Drive | Missoula, MT
Tickets and more information: www.missoulasymphony.org/concerts/in-natures-realm
Kristin Lee: www.violinistkristinlee.com
Missoula, MT– On Saturday, March 2, 2024 at 7:30pm and Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 3pm violinist Kristin Lee will be the featured soloist with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Julia Tai –– the first female music director in the Missoula Symphony Orchestra’s history –– at Dennison Theatre at University of Montana (32 Campus Drive).
Lee will be the featured soloist in a performance of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The concerts will also include Dvořák’s In Nature's Realm Overture, Op.91 Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale," and the world premiere of Nothing Gold Can Stay by Missoula composer Scott Billadaeu.
Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1 was the result of an idea posed by Kristin Lee back in 2009, during rehearsals for a performance, Fung took Lee up on a proposal to write a piece for her. The musical foundations the new work were jointly inspired by Fung’s tour of Bali with a Balinese gamelan and her friendship with Lee, who had accompanied Fung to Bali with interest in experiencing what Fung describes as “the sounds that have moved [her]”, as well as Lee “wanting to understand where [Fung’s] ideas came from.”
Fung says of the work: “The concerto draws on the sights, sounds, and memories of Bali that have remained in my heart from the tour, as well as my getting to know Kristin [Lee], her firebrand style of playing, and, complementing that, the intense lyricism that she expresses as well. The work is in one continuous movement with several sections.
Kristin Lee’s accolades and sheer virtuosity as a violinist make any opportunity to witness her perform live an occasion worth much excitement. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lee has performed as soloist with leading orchestras around the world including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Nordic Chamber Orchestra of Sweden, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic, and many more.
In all of her performances and in the impressive array of roles she inhabits as a musician, Kristin Lee is dedicated to forging personal connections between audiences and classical music. She performs widely as a member of New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including on tour in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Taiwan, and across the U.S. Always up for adventure, at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, Lee has performed in such unexpected places as rafting down the Colorado River, in a natural rock grotto, and in the magical landscape of the red rock canyons of the area. Lee founded Emerald City Music in Seattle, and as artistic director, presents eclectic, vibrant concert experiences in unusual venues, which leave both performers and audiences mutually transformed. The series was recently deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" (CityArts). She is also committed to the future of classical music as a devoted mentor and educator for the next generation, serving on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin, and teaching in residencies with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, El Sistema Chamber Music Festival of Venezuela, and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute, among others.
Born in Seoul, Kristin Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, and Itzhak Perlman. Her many honors include awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation. She is also the unprecedented First Prize winner of three concerto competitions at The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Her violin was crafted in Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.
For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.
About Missoula Symphony Orchestra: The Missoula Symphony Orchestra and Chorale has delivered unique, live performances to Western Montana since 1954. Locals and visitors of all ages and backgrounds attend MSO concerts, from first-time symphony goers to dedicated sponsors and community members.
Under the leadership of our Music Director, Julia Tai, the company has expanded musical offerings and education programs. The current season features eight concerts, including four Masterworks Concerts, a Holiday Pops! concert, a Youth/Family concert, a Broadway concert, and a free outdoor summer concert. Education and community engagement programs include free mini concerts at the Missoula Public Library and its branches, Student Night@Dress Rehearsal, a coaching/mentorship program in regional public schools, a summer string camp, and important scholarship support to University of Montana music students. To learn more, visit us at MissoulaSymphony.org.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Violinist Kristin Lee will be presented in two concerts on March 2 at 7:30pm and March 3 at 3pm, as the featured soloist with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra conducted by Music Director Julia Tai. A musician of impeccable skill whose performances The New York Classical Review describes as “vivid” and “fluid and expressive,” Lee will be the featured soloist in a performance of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1 –– a piece Fung wrote for Lee. Fung says the concerto “brings together my influence by non-Western traditional music, especially Balinese gamelan music, and my friendship with violinist Kristin Lee.” The program will also include Dvořák’s In Nature's Realm Overture, Op.91, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale," and the world premiere of Nothing Gold Can Stay by Missoula composer, Scott Billadaeu.
Short description: Violinist Kristin Lee –– a musician of impeccable skill whose performances are described as “vivid” and “fluid and expressive” (The New York Classical Review) –– will be presented in two concerts as the featured soloist with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Michelle Merrill. Lee will perform Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1 –– a piece Fung wrote for Lee. Fung says the work blends her “influence by non-Western traditional music, especially Balinese gamelan music, and my friendship with violinist Kristin Lee.”
Concert details:
Who: Violinist Kristin Lee
Presented by the Missoula Symphony Orchestra
What: Music by Vivian Fung, Dvořák, Beethoven, and a world premiere by Scott Billadaeu
When: Saturday, March 2, 2024 7:30pm Sunday, March 3, 2024 3pm
Where: Dennison Theatre at University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812
Tickets and information: www.missoulasymphony.org/concerts/in-natures-realm
GatherNYC Sunday Morning Concerts at MAD in Columbus Circle continue with Duo Kayo, Invoke, Borromeo and Juilliard Quartets
GatherNYC continues in February, and March with Duo Kayo, Invoke, Borromeo and Juilliard Quartets
GatherNYC Continues 2023-2024 Season at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Columbus Circle
Every Other Sunday Morning at 11AM
Coming Up Next in February, and March:
FEB 18 • Duo Kayo
MAR 3 • Invoke
MAR 17 • Borromeo Quartet
MAR 31 • Juilliard Quartet
Spring 2024 Concerts:
APR 7 • Orpheus + Boyd Meets Girl (rescheduled from November)
APR 14 • Maeve Gilchrist (harp)
APR 28 • Majel Connery + Felix Fan: Rivers are our Brothers
MAY 12 • Ocean Music Action: Megan Conley (harp) + friends
MAY 26 • Kristin Lee (violin) + friends
“thoughtful, intimate events curated with refreshing eclecticism by its founders, the cellist Laura Metcalf and the guitarist Rupert Boyd, complete with pastries and coffee”
– The New Yorker
“A sweet chamber music series”
– The New York Times
“Impressive Aussie/American led concert series proves music can be a religion.”
– Limelight Magazine
Museum of Arts and Design | The Theater at MAD | 2 Columbus Circle | NYC
Tickets & Information: www.gathernyc.org
New York, NY – GatherNYC, a revolutionary concert experience founded in 2018 by cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd, continues its 2023-24 season at the series’ home venue, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) (2 Columbus Circle) with five upcoming concerts in December, January and February. The season runs through May 2024, with concerts held every other Sunday at 11am in The Theater at MAD. Coffee and pastries are served before each performance at 10:30am.
Guests at GatherNYC are served exquisite live classical music performed by New York’s immensely talented artists, artisanal coffee and pastries, a taste of the spoken word, and a brief celebration of silence. The entire experience lasts one hour and evokes the community and spiritual nourishment of a religious service – but the religion is music, and all are welcome.
Spoken word artists perform briefly at the midpoint of each concert, many of whom are winners of The Moth StorySLAM events. “It’s an interesting moment of something completely different from the music, and it often connects with the audience,” Metcalf told Strings magazine in a feature about the series earlier this year. “Then we have a two-minute celebration of silence when we turn the lights down, centering ourselves in the center of the city. Then the lights come back on, and the music starts again out of the silence. We find that the listening and the feeling in the room changes after that.”
Metcalf and Boyd say, “We are thrilled to be returning to the beautiful Museum of Arts and Design, offering 16 concerts throughout our 2023-24 season, our most exciting lineup yet. We look forward to providing our audiences with world-class musical experiences in an intimate, unique setting, complete with spoken word, silence, coffee and a communal, welcoming environment.”
Up next:
Feb 18: Duo Kayo
Duo Kayo is the dynamic pairing of violist Edwin Kaplan and cellist Titilayo Ayangade, both star chamber musicians and veterans of esteemed string quartets (the Tesla and Thalea Quartets, respectively). The duo is on a mission to become a vessel for new and exciting music, which they have already shared with audiences across the country, as well as closer to home at Lincoln Center. Their expressive, richly harmonic programs creatively blend the classical with the contemporary.
Mar 3: Invoke
Described as “...not anything but everything: Classical, Folk, Bluegrass, Americana and a sound yet to be termed seamlessly merged into a perfect one” (David Srebnik, SiriusXM Classical), Invoke strives to successfully dodge even the most valiant attempts at genre classification. The multi-instrumental quartet encompasses traditions from across America, including bluegrass, Appalachian fiddle tunes, jazz, and minimalism. Fueled by their passion for storytelling, Invoke weaves all of these styles together to form a unique contemporary repertoire, featuring original works composed by and for the group.
Mar 17: Borromeo Quartet
One of the most influential quartets of our time, the Borromeo Quartet has held residencies at both New England Conservatory and the Taos School of Music for 25 years. Their vivid performances and fearless approach to music making have inspired many generations of musicians, and led them to be recognized with some of the industry’s most prestigious awards: the Cleveland Quartet Award, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Martin Segal Award of Lincoln Center.
Mar 31: Juilliard String Quartet
Founded in 1946 and hailed by The Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history,” the ensemble draws on a deep and vital engagement to the classics, while embracing the mission of championing new works, a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring. Each performance of the Juilliard String Quartet is a unique experience, bringing together the four members’ profound understanding, total commitment, and unceasing curiosity in sharing the wonders of the string quartet literature. Based out of the Juilliard School in New York City, where the four members of the quartet serve on the faculty, the reach of this venerable quartet is worldwide.
GatherNYC's Spring 2024 Schedule – All Concerts Take Place at 11AM:
April 7: Orpheus + Boyd Meets Girl (rescheduled from November)
GatherNYC Artistic Directors Rupert Boyd and Laura Metcalf team up with violinist Abi Fayette and trumpeter Louis Hanzlik, two of the Artistic Directors of the legendary, Grammy-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, for a joyous collaborative program that spans many genres including Baroque, tango, jazz and more.
April 14: Maeve Gilchrist (harp)
The Edinburgh-born, New York-based harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic harp to new levels of visibility. Sought after as both a soloist and collaborator, she has released 5 albums and enjoyed high-profile collaborations with the Silkroad Ensemble, Arooj Aftab and many others. Her most recent album was hailed by the Irish Times in its five-star review as “Buoyant, sprightly and utterly beguiling...a snapshot of a musician at the top of her game.”
April 28: Majel Connery + Felix Fan: Rivers are our Brothers
The Rivers are our Brothers is an electronic song cycle on ecological responsibility, told from the point of view of the land. Based on a letter from Chief Seattle that urges us to think of the earth as kin, the songs take a first-person view of nature: rocks sing about their mothers, and snowflakes tell about their hearts of sand. Connery’s vocals and Felix Fan’s electric cello combine to tell the story using a “supernatural” sound. "The goal of this music is to give nature a voice" says Connery, “and this isn’t a cute nature documentary. I want to stop people in their tracks and show them the world like they’ve never seen it: as vibrant, and thrilling, and alive.”
May 12: Ocean Music Action: Honoring Mother Earth
On Mother’s Day, harpist Megan Conley brings her Ocean Music Action project to GatherNYC with a concert paired with a volunteer day of climate action. OMA uses the transformative power of music to inspire greater stewardship of oceans and waterways, and the musical selections are inspired by the natural world. Megan, formerly the principal harpist of the Houston Symphony now living in Honolulu, will be joined by several of her esteemed colleagues from The Knights for a special program honoring mother earth.
May 26: Kristin Lee & Friends
GatherNYC’s 2023-24 season concludes with a celebratory program curated and performed by one of New York City’s most accomplished violinists, Kristin Lee. Kristin enjoys a vibrant and multi-faceted career as a soloist with major orchestras like the Philadelphia Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony, a chamber musician on the roster of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, an Assistant Professor of Violin at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and Founder and Artistic Director of Emerald City Music, a chamber music series in Washington State. Kristin and her colleagues will share a virtuosic and exciting program to finish the season.
For tickets and information, visit www.gathernyc.org.
GatherNYC's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Jupiter Quartet Presented by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
The Jupiter String Quartet Presented by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Performing the Music of Anton Arensky, Nathan Shields, and Max Bruch
Photo of the Jupiter Quartet by Todd Rosenberg available in high resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/jupiter-string
Jupiter Quartet Presented by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Performing the Music of Anton Arensky,
Nathan Shields, and Max Bruch
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 7:30pm
Barbro Osher Recital Hall | 50 Oak Street | San Francisco, CA
“The Jupiter String Quartet, an ensemble of eloquent intensity, has matured into one of the mainstays of the American chamber-music scene.”
– The New Yorker
San Francisco, CA – The Jupiter String Quartet –– internationally acclaimed winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Banff International String Quartet Competition, who are known for their “compelling” performances (BBC Music Magazine) –– will be presented in concert for Chamber Music Tuesday by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 7:30pm. The concert will feature performances of Anton Arensky’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Medusa by Nathan Shields, and Max Bruch’s String Octet in B-flat Major. This performance is part of a week-long residency by the Jupiter Quartet, wherein the ensemble will present several masterclasses and rehearsals for the students of SFCM.
Giving concerts all over the country, the Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg’s older sister), and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg’s husband, Liz’s brother-in-law). Brought together by ties both familial and musical, the Jupiter Quartet has been performing together since 2001 and has been the quartet-in-residence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2012. Exuding an energy that is at once friendly, knowledgeable, and adventurous, the Quartet celebrates every opportunity to bring their close-knit and lively style to audiences. Their connections to each other and the length of time they’ve shared the stage always shine through in their intuitive performances.
For this chamber concert, the Jupiter Quartet will perform a program that stokes intrigue, both through the boldness of the music and the sophistication of the arrangements. Several student musicians of SFCM will collaborate with the ensemble during the performance. (Additional musicians are subject to change).
The concert will include Anton Arensky’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor –– a piece which features the unusual combination of two cellos, one viola, and one violin –– resulting in a darker, richer timbre than the usual string quartet makeup. Arensky wrote the piece in homage to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who died a year prior to its composition, and as such features lovely melodic lines as well as flashy virtuosity. The Jupiter Quartet will perform this piece in collaboration with SFCM student cellist, Constantine Janello. Additionally, the Jupiter Quartet will perform Nathan Shields’ new quartet, Medusa –– a work composed for the ensemble for Shields’ Guggenheim Fellowship. The work uses the scintillating paintings of Caravaggio as an inspiration for exploring the effects of various types of political and social violence. Lastly, the program will feature Max Bruch’s beautifully lush String Octet in B-flat Major, for four violins, two violas, cello and double bass. SFCM students musicians –– violinists Shintaro Taneda, Mathea Goh; violist Isabel Tannenbaum; and bassist Christopher Yick –– will accompany the Jupiter Quartet. The composer’s final work, it was completed in 1920 –– the year of Bruch’s death. However, the piece would remain in obscurity for several decades, as it was not published until 1996.
Jupiter Quartet says of working in residency with SFCM and performing this program for the SFCM community:
“We are so pleased to be able to spend several days at SFCM, both teaching and collaborating with the students and faculty there. We are particularly excited to get to perform together with some of the SFCM students at our recital. Playing together in performance is one of our favorite ways to interact with students, as it is a dynamic and joyful way to exchange ideas.”
More About Jupiter String Quartet: The Jupiter Quartet has performed in some of the world’s finest halls, including New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, Austria’s Esterhazy Palace, and Seoul’s Sejong Chamber Hall. Their major music festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival and School, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, Music at Menlo, the Seoul Spring Festival, and many others. In addition to their performing career, they have been artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign since 2012, where they maintain private studios and direct the chamber music program.
Their chamber music honors and awards include the grand prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; the Young Concert Artists International auditions in New York City; the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America; an Avery Fisher Career Grant; and a grant from the Fromm Foundation. From 2007-2010, they were in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two.
The quartet's latest album is a collaboration with the Jasper String Quartet (Marquis Classics, 2021), produced by Grammy-winner Judith Sherman. This collaborative album features the world premiere recording of Dan Visconti’s Eternal Breath, Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat, Op. 20, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round. The quartet’s discography also includes numerous recordings on labels including Azica Records and Deutsche Grammophon.
The quartet chose its name because Jupiter was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time of its formation and the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four. For more information, visit www.jupiterquartet.com.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: The Jupiter Quartet, the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, who are described by The New Yorker as an ensemble of “technical finesse and rare expressive maturity,” is presented by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for a performance at Barbro Osher Recital Hall (50 Oak Street). The Jupiter Quartet will perform a program sparked with intrigue, including Anton Arensky’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor and Nathan Shields’ Medusa, in addition to Max Bruch’s String Octet in B-flat Major.
Short description: The Jupiter Quartet, an ensemble of “technical finesse and rare expressive maturity” (The New Yorker), is presented by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for a performance featuring the music of Anton Arensky, Nathan Shields, and Max Bruch.
Concert details:
Who: Jupiter Quartet and SFCM student musicians: violinists Shintaro Taneda, Mathea Goh; violist Isabel Tannenbaum; cellist, Constantine Janello; bassist Christopher Yick
Presented by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
What: Music by Anton Arensky, Nathan Shields, and Max Bruch
When: Wednesday, April 2, 2024 at 7:30pm
Where: Barbro Osher Recital Hall, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Tickets and information: www.sfcm.edu/experience/performances/chamber-music-tuesday-jupiter-string-quartet
March 15: Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma Announce Third Album in Beethoven for Three Series
Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma Announce Third Album in Beethoven for Three Series
Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma
Announce Third Album in Beethoven for Three Series
Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97, “Archduke”
“Symphony No. 4: Mvmt. IV Allegro ma non troppo”
Out Now – Listen Here
Album Release Date: March 15, 2024 – Pre-Order Now
Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma’s Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97, “Archduke" is set for release on March 15, 2024 on Sony Classical and available now for preorder. Accompanying today’s announcement and preorder is the first track release: “Symphony No. 4: Mvmt. IV Allegro ma non troppo” — listen here.
Like the artists' two previous Beethoven for Three releases, this new recording challenges the traditional distinction between chamber and orchestral repertoire, pairing the unforgettable "Archduke" trio with one of the composer's most internally varied symphonies, thoughtfully re-arranged for piano, violin, and cello by Shai Wosner. Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97, “Archduke" is the latest chapter in three friends’ ongoing exploration of what Beethoven’s invention means for musicians and audiences today.
The Beethoven for Three series features three artists in pursuit of the essential elements of Beethoven's musical language, presenting Beethoven's most iconic symphonies in intimate arrangements that maintain the power and immediacy of his orchestral works. By performing the symphonies on three instruments alongside the composer’s canonical piano trios, the artists present a wealth of insight into both Beethoven and his earliest audiences.
“We all feel that being able to participate in a symphony is such a wonderful thing to do,” says Ma. “One of the things that has separated people since recording began is the categories that we put people in, in which chamber musicians, orchestra players, people who play concertos, people who do transcriptions, people who compose, people who conduct, are all viewed as separate categories with no overlap. That siloed thinking discourages actual creativity and collaboration between people. And so we feel that one of the things that is really important to do today is to actually go back to the first principles of music, the simple interaction between friends who want to do something together."
Beethoven for Three has its origins in the 2021 Tanglewood Music Festival, where Ax, Kavakos, and Ma first played Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in trio format. The performance was an instant success, and the first release in the series, Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5, was recorded soon after. Gramophone highlighted their recording of Symphony No. 5, noting that “the performance by Ax, Kavakos and Ma is not just aptly intense—the opening Allegro con brio is as involving as any orchestral performance I've heard—but also incredibly sensitive to the music’s crucial juxtapositions, as one can hear in the Andante con moto, where they so deftly balance delicacy and heroic swagger—note the vulnerability in Kavakos's tone at 1'42"—in a way that I find deeply moving."
The second installment in the project, Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale” and Op. 1, No. 3 was released in 2022 to further acclaim. The Strad noted that "the blend and balance between these three hugely experienced players is just about ideal in the relaxed outer movements [of Symphony No. 6] and in the ‘Scene by the Brook’, while the ‘Peasants’ Merrymaking’ is as rustic and playful as the ‘Storm’ is disruptive...They are just as urbane and sophisticated in the C minor Piano Trio...This is Ax’s stamping ground and he brings his string-playing friends along with him for a performance that beguiles and delights from beginning to end."
Ax, Kavakos, and Ma first performed together as a trio at the 2014 Tanglewood Festival, playing a program of Brahms's piano trios. Their first recording effort, Brahms: The Piano Trios, was released in 2017 to universal critical acclaim; Gramophone observed that "These performances get straight to the heart of Brahms’s music, relishing its pull of opposites," while Limelight noted, "There’s no doubting the ardour that these players bring to the music, which is delivered with an eye to creating broad, sweeping phrases … there are plenty of opportunities to swoon along the way.”
Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.
Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97 "Archduke"
Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos & Emanuel Ax
Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60
1 I. Adagio - Allegro vivace
2 II. Adagio
3 III. Allegro vivace
4 IV. Allegro ma non troppo
Piano Trio No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 97, "Archduke"
5 I. Allegro moderato
6 II. Scherzo. Allegro
7 III. Andante cantabile, ma però con moto
8 IV. Allegro moderato
2023 Trio Performance Dates:
January 30 Ann Arbor, MI – Hill Auditorium
January 31 East Lansing, MI – Cobb Great Hall
February 1 Cleveland, OH – Mandel Concert Hall: Severance Music Center
February 3 Chicago, IL – Chicago Symphony Center: Orchestra Hall
Connect with the Artists
Emanuel Ax
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Leonidas Kavakos
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Yo-Yo Ma
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Tiktok | Twitter | YouTube
Hauser Returns with Classic II – Lead Single: Yiruma’s “Kiss The Rain” Out Now
Hauser Returns with Classic II, An All-New Collection Of Classical Music’s Most Beautiful Melodies Reimagined For Cello And Orchestra. U.S. Tour Kicks Off May 31
ALBUM ARTWORK (FOR MEDIA USE): DOWNLOAD
Hauser Returns with Classic II
An All-New Collection Of Classical Music’s Most
Beautiful Melodies Reimagined For Cello And Orchestra
Out Today: Lead Single – Yiruma’s “Kiss The Rain”
Listen Here and Watch the Music Video
U.S. Tour Kicks Off May 31 – Dates Include Carnegie Hall, Ravinia Festival And Orpheum Theater – Tickets Here
Available Friday, April 19, 2024 – Preorder Now
Global cello sensation HAUSER brings his artistry and passion to a new selection of classical music’s greatest melodies with the release of his new album Classic II, a follow-up to the worldwide success of 2020’s Classic. For the new album, which arrives Friday, April 19, 2024 HAUSER has chosen and realized 18 unforgettable melodies in revelatory new arrangements, which were recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Ziegler. Heralding the album’s arrival today alongside preorder is the release of HAUSER’s deeply felt interpretation of the romantic “Kiss the Rain” by the internationally acclaimed Korean composer and pianist Yiruma – listen here and watch the music video.
Wrapping up 2023 with the release of his first-ever holiday album, HAUSER shows no signs of slowing down in 2024, as he gears up for his first-ever solo U.S. tour this spring. Kicking off on May 31 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, FL, the tour includes stops at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Tickets for HAUSER's 2024 U.S. tour are available now at HAUSERofficial.com/event-directory.
“You can’t go wrong giving a beautiful, singing tune to the cello,” HAUSER says of his new album. “There is always a good chance that it will sound even better than the original!”
On Classic II, which he produced himself, HAUSER reunites with his creative collaborators on Classic – arranger Robin Smith, Ziegler and the London Symphony Orchestra. With Smith, he reimagined his favorite melodies in elegant new settings that feature the solo cello, perhaps the most “vocal” of all orchestral instruments. The melodies he chose were written originally for voice, piano, oboe or – in several instances – entire symphony orchestras, from the Baroque era to the present day. The goal was to make these melodies “sing” anew in the cello.
“This is such a pleasure for me,” HAUSER says, calling Classic II and Classic his “dream albums.” “It’s what I actually enjoy the most – when I come back to my roots, to the classical repertoire. When I was a little boy, this was my dream: to play with an amazing orchestra, in a good studio, on a good cello. These melodies are some of my earliest memories, when I fell in love with music. This comes naturally to me.”
Two of the melodies he chose for Classic II had a life-changing significance for HAUSER.
The cellist first heard the luminous “Song of the Moon” from Antonín Dvořák’s opera Rusalka when, as very young cello student in London, HAUSER was chosen to play in an orchestra accompanying soprano Renée Fleming in the aria for a Buckingham Palace performance for Prince Charles. The music itself so galvanized HAUSER that he transcribed it for himself – “a pivotal moment in my life,” he says, that opened up his awareness of how the cello could “sing.”
Years later, before HAUSER launched his career as half of 2CELLOS, the soulful Baroque elegance of the Albinoni “Adagio” inspired him to arrange the piece as a cello solo, to perform in a video he put together. He released it on YouTube, never imagining that it would trend in an epic way – earning some 91 million views. On Classic II, both works have been freshly reimagined to take advantage of HAUSER’s mature artistry and the sumptuous sound of the London Symphony Orchestra.
When HAUSER released Classic in early 2020 – before the COVID pandemic and the onset of global political turbulence – the cellist said of the music, “This is what the world needs.” Of Classic II, he makes the same point, adding, “The world needs this music now – more than ever.”
HAUSER – CLASSIC II
TRACKLISTING
1. Albinoni Adagio
2. Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23
3. Arioso
4. Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2
5. Slavonic Dance
6. Emmanuel
7. Kiss The Rain
8. Serenade
9. Song to the Moon (from Rusalka)
10. Una Furtiva Lagrima
11. Pathétique Sonata
12. Intermezzo
13. Tristesse
14. Adagio d'Amore
15. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
16. Postlude No. 3
17. Adagietto
18. Lullaby
HAUSER – 2024 U.S & CANADA TOUR DATES
Fri, May 31, 2024 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live
Sat, June 1, 2024 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
Sun, June 2, 2024 - Orlando, FL - Walt Disney Theater
Tues, June 4, 2024 - Virginia Beach, VA - Sandler Center
Wed, June 5, 2024 - Washington, DC - Warner Theatre
Thurs, June 6, 2024 - New York, NY - Carnegie Hall
Sat, June 8, 2024 -Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
Sun, June 9, 2024 - Detroit, MI - Fisher Theatre
Tues, June 11, 2024 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
Thurs, June 13, 2024 - Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre
Fri, June 14, 2024 - Chicago, IL - Ravinia Festival
Sat, June 15, 2024 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
Mon, June 17, 2024 - Dallas, TX - AT&T Performing Arts Center
Tues, June 18, 2024 - Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall
Thurs, June 20, 2024 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
Fri, June 21, 2024 - Salt Lake City, UT - Eccles Theater
Sat, June 22, 2024 - Las Vegas, NV - Wynn Las Vegas – Encore Theater
Sun, June 23, 2024 - Costa Mesa, CA - Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Tues, June 25, 2024 - Phoenix, AZ - Mesa Arts Center
Thurs, June 27, 2024 - Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre
Fri, June 28, 2024 - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery
Sat, June 29, 2024 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
HAUSER – 2024 AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND TOUR DATES
Fri, April 12, 2024 - Brisbane, Australia - Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Sat, April 13, 2024 - Sydney, Australia - Qudos Bank Arena
Wed, April 17, 2024 - Auckland, New Zealand - Spark Arena
Fri, April 19, 2024 - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
Sat, April 20. 2024 - Perth, Australia - RAC Arena
HAUSER – 2024 JAPAN TOUR DATES
Wed, April 24, 2024 – Osaka, Japan – Osaka International Convention Center (Grand Cube)|Thurs, April 25, 2024 – Tokyo, Japan – Tokyo International Forum Hall A
Sat, April 27, 2024 – Tokyo, Japan – NHK Hall
HAUSER – 2024 MIDDLE EAST
Fri, May 16, 2024 – Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Dubai Opera
Sat, May 17, 2024 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Dubai Opera
HAUSER – 2024 EUROPE
Tues, July 9, 2024 – Tartu, Estonia - Tartu Lauluväljak
Wed, July 10, 2024 – Sigulda, Latvia - Castle Of The Livonian Order
Thurs, July 11, 2024 – Vilnius, Lithuania - Kalnų parkas
Sat, July 13, 2024 – Bucharest, Romania – The Roman Arenas
Sun, July 14, 2024 – Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Ancient Theatre
Mon, July 15, 2-24 - Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Ancient Theatre
Wed, July 17, 2024 – Regensburg, Germany - Thurn und Taxis Schlossfestspiele
Sun, July 21, 2024 - Łódź, Poland – Atlas Arena
Wed, July 24, 2024 – Nitra, Slovakia - Amfiteáter
Fri, July 26, 2024 - Kroměříž, Czechia - Kroměříž Archbishop's Palace
Sat, July 27, 2024 - Kroměříž, Czechia - Kroměříž Archbishop's Palace
Thurs, August 1, 2024 – Sitges, Spain – Jardins de Terramar
Sun, August 4, 2024 - Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain – Concert Music Festival
Wed, August 7, 2024 – Marbella, Spain – Starlite Marbella
FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT HAUSERofficial.com/event-directory.
ABOUT HAUSER
Following an incredible 10-year run as half of 2CELLOS, global superstar HAUSER has ushered in a new era as a solo artist and visual concept creator, using his innovative musical skills and irresistible charisma to bring a new wave of cello music to fans everywhere. Making his solo debut in 2020 with the release of Classic and The Player in 2022, HAUSER has amassed over a billion audio streams and 4 billion video views globally. Revered globally for his captivating live performance, the Croatian musician is a phenomenon that thrives on audience interaction, hitting the stage in over 40 countries across the globe (including historic venues like New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall) and performing alongside such wide-ranging acts as Andrea Bocelli, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Elton John. His electric stage presence has also led to several high-profile appearances, including an opening night performance at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival, performing at the Vatican for the Pope, and special features for both the NFL and UEFA. Named one of People Magazine’s 2022 Sexiest Men Alive and featured by the likes of Rolling Stone, Forbes, and The New York Times, HAUSER has graced the stage for numerous broadcast performances, most recently adding Love Island to a long resume of appearances that includes The Bachelorette, TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Ellen, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CNN en Español and more.
Connect With Hauser:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
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Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/
Sony Classical Announces Vivaldi – The Four Seasons the New Album from Violinist Luka Faulisi
Sony Classical Presents Vivaldi – The Four Seasons
the New Album from Violinist Luka Faulisi
Sony Classical Announces
Vivaldi – The Four Seasons
the New Album from Violinist Luka Faulisi
New Single: "Spring" I. Allegro
Out Today
Vivaldi is the exceptional new recording of the much loved Vivaldi “Four Seasons” by rising Italian-Serbian-French violinist Luka Faulisi, taking on the piece with his bright, youthful energy. For this album, scheduled for release via Sony Classical on April 12, 2024, he collaborated with the excellent Polish baroque ensemble (oh!) Orkiestra Historyczna, directed by concertmaster and ensemble leader Martyna Pastuzka. New single, "Spring" I. Allegro is out today – listen here.
The combination of Luka’s romantic sound, formed in French impressionistic repertoire, and the ensemble’s energetic and forceful take let the well-known masterpiece shine in a new light.
Providing an additional feature, Luka has chosen three corresponding romantic pieces, sitting between the Vivaldi concertos to provide a change of perspective – the Catalan traditional Song of the Birds, Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne and Tchaikovsky’s Autumn Song.
About Luka Faulisi
With ‘a million-dollar sound’ (Pinchas Zukerman), twenty-one-year-old Luka Faulisi is one of the most promising violinists of his generation. Having started to play the violin at the age of three, Luka was a student of Boris Belkin at the Conservatorium Maastricht in the Netherlands. Over the years, through personal mentoring, several distinguished artists have influenced Luka’s musical formation. Pavel Berman describes him as an ‘an incredibly gifted virtuoso violinist’. Flautist Emmanuel Pahud praises Luka as ‘an extremely talented young man with great instrumental abilities and a strong musical expression’ and according to Jean-Jacques Kantorow Luka possesses ‘incredible facilities.’
Recent European concerti highlights include Luka’s Polish debut with the Szczecin Philharmonic; French debut with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse; Italian debut with the Orchestra Filharmonica di Torino; Serbian debut with the Radio Television Serbia Symphony Orchestra at the Kolarac Hall in Belgrade and a North Macedonian debut with FAME'S European Orchestral Performing Institute. Luka’s Asian presence is also growing, having collaborated recently with the Macao Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Shortly upcoming is Luka’s British debut with the Liverpool Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall; Finnish debut with the Oulu Symphony and Parisian orchestral debut with the Orchestre National d'Île-de-France.
Recent recital highlights include debuts in Paris at the Salle Colonne and debut at the 30th anniversary of the “Festival du Salon de Provence” in summer 2023.
Luka’s debut recital album “Aria”, recorded with the pianist Itamar Golan, was released with Sony Classical International in Spring 2023.
Maya Beiser Releases Terry Riley's In C as Soundscape Reenvisioning the Minimalist Masterpiece; Performs at National Sawdust April 6
Maya Beiser x Terry Riley: In C releases April 5, 2024.
Maya Beiser x Terry Riley: In C
Release Date: April 5, 2024
Islandia Music Records
Pre-Save: https://found.ee/MayaBeiserInC
Maya Beiser Plays Terry Riley’s In C Live at National Sawdust on April 6, 2024
www.nationalsawdust.org/event/maya-beiser-terry-rileys-in-c-ello
Press download and CDs available upon request. Hi res photos available here.
New York, NY – On April 5, 2024, cellist and producer Maya Beiser will release her newest solo album, Maya Beiser x Terry Riley: In C, on her Islandia Music Records label. On it, Maya recreates Terry Riley’s In C as a series of ever-evolving cello loops. Enveloped by live drumming by Shane Shanahan and Matt Kilmer, Maya constructs a hypnotic, rapturous soundscape that re-envisions this classic Minimalist masterpiece.
To celebrate the release, Maya will perform In C live at National Sawdust (80 N 6th St., Brooklyn, NY) on Saturday, April 6, at 7:30pm with Shane Shanahan and Matt Kilmer, incorporating spatial sound designed specifically for National Sawdust’s immersive Meyer Constellation system.
“To me,” Maya says, “Terry Riley’s In C is an amalgamation of an ‘open source’ and ‘sacred text.’ In creating this album I was interested in finding the serendipitous rhythmic and melodic connections that emerge when reconstructing In C’s 53 melodic cells as a series of cello loops, floating above continuous C string cello drones. The cello’s lowest, most lush string, with its overtones and harmonics, forms the depth and resonance of the album.”
Terry Riley describes Maya's performance on the recording as, “stunningly beautiful.” He says, “The overall shape flows so naturally and her cello sound is so warm and powerful.”
About Maya Beiser:
Hailed as “the reigning queen of avant-garde cello” by The Washington Post, Maya Beiser brings a bold and unorthodox presence to contemporary classical music. Raised on a commune in Israel’s Galilee Mountains by her Argentinean father and French mother, Beiser spent her early life surrounded by the music and rituals of Jews, Muslims, and Christians, while studying classical cello repertoire. Throughout her extensive career she has been a featured performer on the world’s greatest stages, defying conventional norms with her boundary-crossing performances. Maya has collaborated with eclectic artists across five continents, reimagining solo cello performance in the mainstream arena. Maya’s vast discography includes fourteen solo albums, many of them topping the classical music charts, and she is the featured soloist on numerous film soundtracks. A graduate of Yale University, Maya Beiser is a United States Artists (USA) Distinguished Fellow in Music and was a Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist at MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology. She is the founder of Islandia Music Records, an independent record label that creates work with large-scale social, cultural, and spiritual impact by pushing the boundaries of the art-music genre.
For more information, visit www.mayabeiser.com.
Track Listing:
Maya Beiser x Terry Riley: In C
Islandia Music Records
Release Date: April 5, 2024
Terry Riley: In C 1-10
Total Time: 55:04
Maya Beiser, cello, vocals
Shane Shanahan, drums
Matt Kilmer, drums
Produced by Maya Beiser
Recorded by Dave Cook at The Art at Foothill Farm, Lenox, MA
Edited and mixed by Dave Cook at Area 52 Studios, Saugerties, NY
Mastering by Scott Hull at Masterdisk in Peekskill, NY
Photography by Hu Boyang
Art direction by Denise Burt
Creative Director: Kristen Loring Brennan
About Islandia Music Records:
Islandia Music Records is an independent record label that engages avant-garde musicians, visual artists, sound designers and technology innovators who are redefining the boundaries of art and music. Founded by cellist and producer Maya Beiser, Islandia Music Records is on a mission to foster, support, and represent the whole vision of our artists, working to create new vernacular with large-scale cultural, spiritual and social impact.