Author: Ginger Dolden

“Year in and year out, some of the area’s most intriguing orchestral programming arrives with Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra’s Summermusik Festival,” writes David Lyman in Sunday’s (6/6) Cincinnati Enquirer (OH). “CCO’s 2020 season was knocked out of commission by the pandemic…. But CCO … were able to produce a full-fledged, if online, festival. And now they’ve announced their 2021 lineup. It’s a smaller festival, with just two weeks of concerts instead of the usual three…. The primary quality that makes the festival so worthwhile, the breadth and adventurousness of its repertoire, is as strong as ever. Because guidelines for audience health are continuing to evolve, CCO has followed the lead of several other arts groups and opted to take Summermusik outside [at] a quirky mix of venues. The large, full-orchestra concerts led by [Music Director Eckart] Preu will take place in Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park. Meanwhile, the Sunday afternoon concerts will be performed at Coney Island’s Moonlite Pavilion and Chamber Crawl concerts will take place at the Cincinnati Zoo’s Wings of Wonder Amphitheater, Coney Island’s Moonlite Pavilion and Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park’s Pavilion.” Featured composers will include Berio, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Persichetti, Sujari Britt, Reena Esmail, Jessie Montgomery, and Nico Muhly.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “Front Row” digital series has received two 2021 “Telly Awards,” the annual honors for regional video and television content. The orchestra shares the awards with Pittsburgh-based Flying Scooter Productions, which created the series with the PSO. The series won a Telly Gold prize in the “Series—Webseries: Music” category, and a Telly Silver prize in the “General—People’s Telly” category. The PSO’s digital “Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience” platform launched with six episodes in October 2020, when the orchestra was not able to perform before live audiences at Heinz Hall due to the pandemic. Executive producers for the series are Aleta King of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Courtney Gumpf of Flying Scooter Productions. “We are thrilled to be joined by our production partners, Flying Scooter Productions, in this wonderful honor by the Telly Awards. As our country faced the deep impact of the COVID pandemic, our hunger to create and to enjoy music required a reinvention of our season and new ways in the digital world to bring the fantastic sound of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,” said Melia Tourangeau, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

“The dream of ascending from the assistantship of a major American orchestra to its leadership—like rising up a corporate ladder—[is] cemented in the popular imagination,” writes Zachary Woolfe in Friday’s (6/4/21) New York Times. “They go by a variety of titles: assistant, associate, fellow, resident. Almost every major orchestra has at least one … But it is rare to see them ascend to the top jobs…. When Marin Alsop steps down from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra this summer, it will leave the top tier of American ensembles … without a single female music director. There has never been a Black music director in this group, and just a handful of leaders have been Latino or of Asian descent…. But it is a very different story when you look at the country’s assistants, a far more diverse group in which women and musicians of color have found success in recent years…. Orchestra officials insist that things are changing, accelerated by the jolt of the pandemic and the calls over the past year for greater racial and ethnic diversity…. This is the work that can help turn the encouragingly diverse landscape of assistant conductors into the future of the country’s top music directorships.”

“The Erie Philharmonic is hitting the road this summer with a free, 16-concert tour named In Your Hometown, it announced Thursday,” reads an unsigned report in Thursday’s (6/3) Erie News Now (Erie, PA). “Different ensembles will perform in parks and outdoor venues from June 23 through Sept. 8. The locations were selected through a suggestion and voting process online. ‘These concerts are our thank you to the region for supporting us over the last year and a half,’ said Daniel Meyer, music director.… All mandated COVID-19 safety policies will be in place.” Five family concerts from June 23 to 27 will feature Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and pre-concert activities from the Erie Playhouse and the expERIEnce Children’s Museum. Concerts from July 5 to 12 will feature brass musicians performing music by John Philip Sousa, Henry Mancini, Scott Joplin, and patriotic tunes. Light-classical chamber concerts from August 10 to 18 will include music by Rossini, Bizet’s Carmen, and Ravel’s Bolero. String musicians from the orchestra will perform on September 8.

“This month, in collaboration with the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and the Fulton Theater, two related theatrical works by Igor Stravinsky and Wynton Marsalis will be performed virtually for free,” writes Richard Patterson in Thursday’s (6/3) Pennsylvania News Today. “Both were recorded from live performances and can be streamed on both … organizations’ streaming platforms.… Both works include performances by a small ensemble of actors, singers, dancers, and Lancaster Symphony Orchestra musicians. Stravinsky’s ‘Soldier’s Story’ will premiere online at 7 pm on Friday and will be available for 30-day streaming…. Marsalis wrote a jazz-influenced ‘Fiddler’s Story’ in response to the ‘Soldier’s Story’ by moving the story to the Mississippi Delta. Fiddler is now a woman and is tempted by the promises of a record producer. The performance will be streamed for 30 days from … June 18th.… The ensemble of musicians for both … led by guest conductor Michael Lepper, is Luigi Mazzocchi (violin) … Brent Edmondson, bass; Luis Engelke, trumpet; David Sciannella, trombone; Doris Hall Gratii (clarinet); Robin Plant, bassoon; and Thomas Blanchard, percussion. Fulton Theater Executive Artistic Producer Mark Robin and LSO Executive Director Guy Macintosh are the creative team behind the production, with Robin directing both works.”

“For the first time in over a year, part of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra performed in front of a live audience Tuesday evening,” writes Lowell Rose Rochester in Tuesday’s (6/1) Spectrum News 1 (Rochester, NY). “ ‘It’s amazing,’ said Mark Dinitto of Rochester. ‘I used to go see the RPO at the Eastman all the time. And spending the whole year without seeing them is kind of a bummer.’ That bummer of a year has now turned into excitement for those looking to get out of the house and enjoy the arts…. The orchestra is also excited to perform in front of a live audience…. ‘We’re ready, we’ve been ready and we’re back!’ said Barbara Brown, director of education for the Rochester Philharmonic. The neighborhood ensemble concerts known as ‘Around the Town’ are held by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in partnership with the city of Rochester. ‘It allows us to go into all four different quadrants of the city and perform free concerts, completely breaking down barriers and making classical music assessable to everyone in the Rochester area,’ said Brown. The [performance] at Barrington Park … was the first of five events held every Tuesday … throughout the month of June.”

“The Kansas City Symphony has announced a robust lineup of classical, pop and family concerts for its 2021-2022 season, to be performed before full capacity audiences in Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts,” writes DC Benincasa in Wednesday’s (6/2) KCUR (Kansas City, MO). “ ‘When we finally see a full house and we are back into the rhythm of what our life had been, I think it’s going to hit us pretty strongly,’ music director Michael Stern said.… In late May, the symphony presented several concerts to limited-capacity audiences…. More of these performances are scheduled in June…. Stern also said the return to Helzberg could provide some healing for Kansas City. ‘The need for healing that comes through music and community is important like never before,’ he said in a press release. The concert schedule … opens up Sept. 24-Sept. 26 with Symphony No. 1 from Gustav Mahler. Later classical concerts will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.” World premieres will include Gabriel Kahane’s Piano Concerto, with Jeffrey Kahane as soloist; Chris Rogerson’s Violin Concerto, with Benjamin Beilman as soloist; and Jessie Montgomery’s Piano Concerto, with Awadagin Pratt as soloist.

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, based in New York City, has received $100,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support its ongoing Orpheus Reflections, a program for New Yorkers living with dementia and their caregivers. Through the program, orchestra musicians present intimate performances for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia and their caregivers in venues including private care facilities and public spaces. Over the two-year grant period, Orpheus Reflections will reach approximately 1,050 individuals with dementia and caregivers through 42 programs. Throughout the past year, Orpheus has presented Reflections programs over Zoom; on June 29 at 2 p.m., Orpheus Reflections will resume live performances with a concert at the Queens Botanical Gardens that is also open to the public. The program will feature a string trio performing classical works and arrangements of popular tunes. Partner organizations and institutions for the Orpheus Reflections program include CaringKind, NYU Langone, Riverside Church, and the Unforgettable Chorus, a choral group for people with dementia and their family members.