The Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship has announced a series of concerts by orchestras around the world during the 2022-23 season, to be led by nine women conductors who are alumnae of the program founded by Marin Alsop to promote gender diversity in music. In addition to performances, conductors at each location will participate in a weeklong residency with community and audience engagement events; masterclasses; open rehearsals; and talks with women and girls and at local universities and corporations. All locations will include performances by Israeli-American cellist Inbal Segev in Anna Clyne’s DANCE concerto. The Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Global Concert Series 2022-23 begins in September 2022 at Fundación Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid (music director Marzena Diakun) and concludes in May 2023 at the Chicago Sinfonietta (music director Mei-Ann Chen). Other conductors include Holly Mathieson (music director, Symphony Nova Scotia, Canada), Laura Jackson (music director, Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, Nevada), Chloé van Soeterstède (music director, Arch Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra, London, U.K.), Valentina Peleggi (music director, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Virginia), Carolyn Kuan (music director, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Connecticut), Jeri Lynne Johnson (founder and artistic director, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Philadelphia), and Marta Gardolińska (guest conductor, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice, Poland).
Author: Ginger Dolden
Review: Tulsa Symphony’s Borodin, Bartók, Schubert program, gaining fresh relevance during Ukraine war
“For an evening that had been planned more than a year ago, Saturday evening’s concert by the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra was very much of the moment,” writes James D. Watts Jr. in Monday’s (3/7) Tulsa World (OK). “It wasn’t just that principal guest conductor Daniel Hege requested that the audience stand for a performance of the Ukrainian national anthem as well as ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ or that he and the other musicians of the Tulsa Symphony were all wearing blue or yellow chrysanthemums, reflecting colors of the Ukrainian flag. These gestures … provided the audience with a unique way to hear the music that was performed Saturday … The three works … seemed to embody and express the emotional turmoil and uncertainty so many people are facing…. The evening began with the Overture to ‘Prince Igor’ by Borodin, which—coincidentally—is the story of a heroic leader from what is now Ukraine who must confront an invasion by barbarians from the east…. Orion Weiss’ performance [of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3], which Bartók wrote while in exile in the United States because of World War II … was captivating… The Tulsa Symphony’s performance [of Schubert’s Symphony No. 8] … imbued this piece with an even greater resonance.”
Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine musicians head to Hungary, Slovenia, other EU destinations
“An evacuation of young musicians who play with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is underway, as Europe’s classical music community plays a small part in the continent’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II,” writes Tim Gallagher in Tuesday’s (3/8) Associated Press. “Violins, cellos and violas littering a train platform in Hungary were accompanied by their young owners fresh from a long train journey…. 30 of their number were still unaccounted for. Violinist Myroslava Sherbina says her instrument was the only thing she took as she fled Ukraine, along with the clothes she wore. The instrument has remained silent since the start of Russia’s invasion of her country. ‘I didn’t want to play so I could hear the sirens and we could go to the bomb shelter,’ says the 20-year-old…. She is among the more than 1.7 million people who have fled Ukraine…. On Monday, European Union foreign affairs policy chief Josep Borrell urged the mobilization of ‘all the resources’ of the 27-nation bloc to help countries welcoming them. Sherbina … and her companions made their way to Slovenia as part of a joint evacuation mission with a Slovenian orchestra.”
Philharmonia Baroque’s 2022-23 season: Handel, Rameau, Muffat, Davóne Tines, Mason Bates, U.S. and European tours
“A rich program encompassing centuries, 13 major guest artists, and the first-time return of … Nicholas McGegan to the podium as music director laureate—these are some of the attractions of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra’s 2022–2023 season,” writes Janos Gereben in Tuesday’s (3/8) San Francisco Classical Voice. “Richard Egarr returns for his third year as music director in a season that offers both adventurous and core repertory, large-scale choral works by Handel and Muffat; new twists on the acclaimed series ‘Jews & Music’ and ‘SESSIONS’; tours in Europe and on the East Coast (details to be released later)…. ‘Vaudeville Baroque’ will pair Jean-Philippe Rameau’s suite from the opéra-ballet Les Surprises de l’Amour with André Campra’s Le Carnaval de Venise. Egarr will conduct his first PBO Messiah… ‘SESSIONS,’ PBO’s alternative concert series … returns … in a program titled ‘The Artist as Human,’ designed by Davóne Tines and his colleagues, conductor and keyboardist David Belkovski and soprano Nola Richardson…. The season comes to a close with … the ‘Missa in labore requies’ (Muffat Mass) … a Baroque work rarely performed and richly textured with orchestra, chorale and eight voices,” on a program with newly commissioned music by Mason Bates.
New York Philharmonic sets October opening for renovated Geffen Hall, more than a year ahead of schedule
Rendering of the interior of the renovated David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Image: Diamond Schmitt Architects
“Gone are the mustard-colored seats and shoe box interior of David Geffen Hall, the New York Philharmonic’s home at Lincoln Center,” writes Javier C. Hernández in Wednesday’s (3/9) New York Times. “When the hall reopens this fall, wavy beech wood will wrap around the stage—and so will the audience, in seats upholstered in richly colored patterns…. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, paralyzing the performing arts, the orchestra and center seized on the long shutdown to accelerate a planned makeover of Geffen Hall, gutting its main theater and reimagining its public spaces. Now the long-delayed overhaul is almost complete. The project’s leaders announced on Wednesday that they had raised their goal of $550 million to cover the cost of the renovation, and that the hall will reopen to the public in October, a year and a half ahead of schedule…. Deborah Borda, the Philharmonic’s president and chief executive, said … ‘The whole space is transformed….’ With 2,200 seats (down from 2,738 in the old hall), Geffen will have a more intimate feel—and, if all goes as planned, improved acoustics. The project’s leaders hope the renovated hall will help galvanize New York’s performing arts scene during a difficult time.”
Bangor Symphony to premiere works by Jessica Meyer and Connie Ellisor
On March 6, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra will perform a world premiere by Jessica Meyer, recipient of the orchestra’s second Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Composer Award. Music Director Lucas Richman will conduct Meyer’s untitled work on a program with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Blackberry Winter, a new concerto for mountain dulcimer by Maine-based composer Conni Ellisor, featuring Pam Weeks as soloist. The concert will be performed for an in-person audience at Collins Center for the Arts and also live-streamed. Leading up to the concert, Meyer is participating in a weeklong residency in Bangor; she will perform an in-person solo viola concert at Bangor Arts Exchange on March 1, and on March 3, she will participate in a forum on women in classical music at the University of Maine’s Minsky Recital Hall, presented as part of Women’s History Month at the University of Maine.
Review: Chicago Symphony’s Beethoven Ninth, on evening after Russian invasion of Ukraine
“The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s set of four performances of Ludwig van Beethoven’s famed Symphony No. 9 … were originally scheduled on what seemed to be ordinary February dates,” writes Kyle MacMillan in Friday’s (2/25) Chicago Sun-Times. “But … Thursday evening’s concert [took] place on the second day of Russia’s horrific attack on the Ukraine. There is no more fitting work for this dark moment than this landmark symphony, which sums up Beethoven’s lifelong belief in hope and freedom…. Music director Riccardo Muti offered a few remarks…. He condemned hate and violence and noted the final movement’s setting of Friedrich von Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy,’ saying that ‘joy without peace cannot exist.’ But perhaps more important than words, Muti and the Chicago Symphony delivered a thrilling, superlative performance.… It was a milestone evening for the Chicago Symphony Chorus, [marking] the final time the singers were prepared by Duain Wolfe, who is retiring after 28 years as chorus director and conductor…. His distinguished work could be heard … in the chorus’ laser-focused unity and precision…. Often, orchestras add a … work before the Symphony No. 9…. Muti [allowed] this timeless masterpiece to stand on its own—an ode to joy at an awful moment of sadness.”
Recently launched Charlotte Strings Collective, highlighting music by Black composers
“Two summers ago, during the uncertainty of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, combined with escalating social and racial tensions, Malik Johnson did what he knows best: He played his violin,” writes Virginia Brown in Thursday’s (2/24) Charlotte Observer (NC). “Along with roughly 20 other musicians, Johnson, who teaches elementary music education at Cabarrus Charter Academy … grabbed his bow and stepped into his frame on the virtual stage…. The group, now called the Charlotte Strings Collective, aims to highlight the work of Black composers…. The group is composed of student musicians, faculty and alumni from UNC Charlotte, Winthrop University and Northwest School of the Arts, plus members of the Charlotte and Union Symphonies, Charlotte-area public school music teachers and freelance musicians…. In the summer of 2020, … they performed ‘Mother and Child,’ … from William Grant Still’s 1943 Suite for Violin and Piano…. ‘We thought that … this piece in particular would be really fitting for that moment in time,’ said violinist Kari Giles, a member of the collective and Assistant Concertmaster for the Charlotte Symphony…. On Feb. 8, the collective played [Timothy Adams, Jr.’s] ’Ode to Breonna,’ [in] homage to Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers in March 2020.”
Williamsburg Symphony names Michael Butterman music director
The Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra’s search for its new music director has come to a close. WSO announced that Michael Butterman has been appointed as the organization’s new music director,” writes Molly Feser in Sunday’s (2/27) Williamsburg Yorktown Daily (Williamsburg, VA). “Butterman … will assume his new title in July and will begin conducting concerts in September of the 2022-2023 season. Boulder succeeds Janna Hymes, who ended her tenure as Music Director in May of 2019.… Following his audition with a Masterworks concert in November, Butterman was appointed the new music director…. Butterman grew up in Northern Virginia and attended the University of Virginia and earned his doctorate in conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music…. He is also the longtime Music Director of the Pennsylvania Philharmonic,” and is music director of the Boulder Philharmonic and Shreveport Symphony orchestras. He has led “many prominent ensembles throughout the country, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Houston Symphony. ‘Michael Butterman’s creative artistry and exciting programming will no doubt thrill our current audiences, and influence the greater arts community in profound ways,’ executive director Carolyn Keurajian said.”
Munich Philharmonic terminates Gergiev’s contract as chief conductor; other European orchestras also sever ties
“Valery Gergiev, the star Russian maestro and prominent supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, was removed Tuesday from his post as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic after he refused to denounce Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” writes Javier C. Hernández in Tuesday’s (3/1) New York Times. “Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, announced his decision in a news release saying termination of Mr. Gergiev’s contract was the only option available…. The city said that Mr. Gergiev, who had held the post of chief conductor since 2015, had failed to respond to a demand issued on Friday by Mr. Reiter that he condemn Mr. Putin’s ‘brutal war of aggression’ by Monday or be fired…. On Monday … the Verbier Festival in Switzerland [said] it had asked for and accepted the resignation of Mr. Gergiev as music director of the festival’s orchestra…. The Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland, where Mr. Gergiev served as honorary president, also said Monday that he had resigned his position after being asked to do so. Philharmonie de Paris, a performing arts complex in France, announced it was canceling two concerts in April with Mr. Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra. And the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland said it was canceling two performances in August with Mr. Gergiev and the Mariinsky.”