Author: bfc-admin

“Though the Barnes Foundation is rarely without music for very long, Philadelphia’s legendary art collection is instituting three new series of concerts,” writes David Patrick Stearns in Wednesday’s (1/11) Philadelphia Inquirer. Founder Albert C. Barnes “ ‘spoke about art in musical terms and music in visual terms,’ Martha Lucy, deputy director for education and public programs, said… The Barnes will add 16 concerts to Philadelphia’s classical music calendar. The Solo Series begins Jan. 27 with a concert titled ‘Fragments,’ featuring clarinetist Carol McGonnell. The Resounding Voices Choral Series begins Feb. 26 with Vigilia, an hour-long work by Einojuhani Rautavaara performed by the Philadelphia Voices.… Later this year, the Barnes Ensemble will be formed [of postgraduate musicians], appearing four times a year with as many as 80 players for intensive two-weeks-or-more workshops and performances, for exploration of complex modern works…. Conductor/composer Robert Whalen [associate conductor of the Delaware County Symphony] and soprano Katherine Skovira, a husband-and-wife team, are curating the concerts…. Whalen and Skovira have extensive academic and performance backgrounds, including the University of Minnesota … the University of Chicago (where he worked with composer August Read Thomas), and the Lucerne Academy (where Skovira worked with new-music specialist Barbara Hannigan).”

Posted January 13, 2017

“Markus Rhoten started learning piano as a toddler in Germany, ‘but I would always go to the low notes. I had an affinity for bass,’ he said. So his parents started him on drum lessons when he was 5,” writes Hilary Potkewitz in Monday’s (1/9) New York Crain’s Business. “At age 28, in 2006, he was named principal timpani player for the New York Philharmonic.… His father, Bruce, was principal trumpet player for the Northern Germany Radio Philharmonic; his mother, Sharon, was a classical pianist. Both parents are from the American Midwest but moved to Germany in the 1970s…. Because the timpani often establishes the tempo and strength of a piece, the timpanist is sometimes referred to as ‘the second conductor.’ There is little margin for error, Rhoten said—but that’s part of the thrill: ‘It’s one of the loudest instruments in the orchestra, and I’m the only one playing it.’ … To avoid arm injuries, Rhoten won’t play volleyball or basketball. Tennis is out, too, because it can make arm muscles develop unevenly…. Rhoten has a grand piano at home. He plays Rachmaninoff or Brahms to relax. ‘I play it because it makes me happy,’ he said.”

Posted January 13, 2017

“The Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera is aiming for the top of the pops at the anniversary of the death of David Bowie,” writes Willie Clark in Thursday’s (1/12) Sacramento Bee (California). “Bowie’s death on Jan. 10, 2016, at the age of 69, came as the SP&O was planning its 2016-17 pops series, according to the executive director, Alice Sauro. Bringing Bowie’s music to Sacramento was something the arts organization thought it needed to do.” The Sacramento Philharmonic is one of many orchestras performing Bowie tributes. “ ‘The Music of David Bowie: A Rock Symphony’ on Saturday, Jan. 14 … blends orchestra with electronic instruments, drums and vocals. Richard Carsey will conduct…. Handling Bowie’s vocal parts will be Tony Vincent … Mixing the orchestra with a rock band ‘blows people’s minds who have never been to this type of concert before,’ Sauro said…. With its pops series the SP&O hopes to attract people who might not necessarily attend performances of classical music…. The Bowie concert will have ‘fun elements’ for concertgoers, Sauro said, adding that people are encouraged to attend dressed as their favorite version of the performer.”

Posted January 13, 2017

“The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is well on its way to transforming a historic theatre into a 21st century concert hall,” reports Ben Jordan on Tuesday (1/10) at WTMJ-TV Milwaukee. “The Warner Grand Theatre on 2nd and Wisconsin has been closed since 1995, but the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra wants to bring the theatre back to its former glory as their new venue…. ‘We feel like we’ve been waiting for this building and the building has been waiting for us,’ said Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra President Mark Neihaus. The theatre still has its 1930s historic charm.… Another big push for the new location is the city’s efforts to revitalize West Wisconsin Avenue…. The project would cost roughly $120 million, but thanks to anonymous donors, the symphony is halfway there with hopes to begin playing at the venue in 2019…. If everything goes according to plan for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, reconstruction will begin this fall.” Says Neihaus, “It’s really gone from ‘how are you guys going to do this’ to ‘how could you possibly not do this?’ ” The Milwaukee Symphony currently performs at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, which also presents musical-theater productions and other events.

Posted January 13, 2017

“This weekend marks a return to business as usual for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,” writes Elizabeth Bloom in Thursday’s (1/12) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Although it has given a handful of concerts since the musicians’ strike ended in November, the PSO will perform a program from its core classical series for the first time since last spring…. The orchestra’s administration says that the musicians’ wage concession is worth $3.6 million over the life of the contract, but it believes it will have to raise several times that amount to overcome its financial challenges…. The PSO has slimmed down its already lean administrative staff…. [President and CEO Melia] Tourangeau … has taken a 10.5 percent pay cut…. While the orchestra’s annual fund has grown in recent years, it also has overly depended on local foundations and former board chairman Dick Simmons, said an independent analysis of the symphony’s finances…. The organization plans to launch a fundraising campaign soon…. ‘It can’t be a message of entitlement,’ [Tourangeau said]. ‘It has to be a message of we, the Pittsburgh Symphony, want the community to own its orchestra and love it.’ … The organization has raised $300,000 more than it had by this time last year.”

Posted January 13, 2017

Pictured: Music Director Manfred Honeck conducts the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Kai Bienert

Spoleto Festival USA has announced programming for its 2017 festival, taking place in Charleston, South Carolina from May 26 to June 11. Orchestral highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra led by Resident Conductor and Director of Orchestral Activities John Kennedy, paired on a program with the U.S. premiere of Anna Thorvaldsottir’s Dreaming; and four concerts of contemporary music by Jose Manuel Serrano, Helena Tulve, and Luca Francesconi. Also planned are Sounding Peace, a new piece by composers Ted Hearne and Jonathan Holland written in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and works by Lou Harrison and John Cage. A “Cinema and Sound” series will pair the silent films The Cameraman’s Revenge (1910), Suspense (1913), and Mighty Like a Moose (1926) with music composed by pianist Stephen Prutsman. Other offerings at the festival include dance works We Love Arabs and OCD Love by Israeli choreographers Hillel Kogan, Sharon Eyal, and Gai Behar; the U.S. premieres of two operas, Vivaldi’s Farnace (1727) and Luca Francesconi’s Quartett (2011); and circus troupe Compagnie XY in Il n’est pas encore minuit, billed as “a metaphor for the ways in which humanity faces instability and imbalance.” 

Posted January 12, 2017

“Clustered at the very top of the piano-playing profession are a handful of players everyone agrees are supreme. Mitsuko Uchida is one of them,” writes Ivan Hewett in Tuesday’s (1/10) Telegraph (U.K.). “Uchida has to be careful about her health, since persistent vertigo caused by an inner ear problem left her unable to play for months. ‘I had to abandon my Beethoven Diabelli recording,’ she says. ‘That’s now scheduled for 2020…. After a career of more than 40 years, Uchida is still at the top of her game, which she ascribes to her slow rise. ‘Nowadays young pianists are pushed, pushed, pushed,’ she says…. Uchida was a made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2009 … The illness and death of close friends and of revered colleagues Pierre Boulez and Nikolaus Harnoncourt … ‘made me reflect on things. I have reached the age where I can step back. I don’t have to run around giving 120 concerts a year—50 is enough for me.’ … Her latest project is a partnership with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with which she recently played Mozart piano concertos in London as a curtain-raiser to her three-year residency at the Southbank Centre.”

Posted January 12, 2017