“It’s no surprise that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s [Executive Director] Jennifer Barlament had a music-filled childhood, studying clarinet for years and playing violin with the Savannah Symphony Youth Orchestra,” writes Lisa Mowry in Wednesday’s (6/1) Atlanta Magazine. “She … pursued a double-major in physics along with music at Emory University…. A graduate course in orchestra management at Eastman School of Music set her on a new path. ‘A group of students started an orchestra there, and I got hooked,’ Barlament says…. ‘When I was managing the orchestra, I felt a sense of satisfaction about helping make the whole thing happen.’ … [Barlament] joined the ASO in 2016 and has helped the symphony thrive… Under her leadership, the ASO had a record seven years of balanced budgets…. During the height of Covid-19, ASO’s Behind the Curtain series allowed subscribers and single-ticket holders to enjoy full concerts via streaming…. Recently, her historic hiring of Nathalie Stutzmann as ASO’s [first female] music director caught the attention of leading news outlets…. [Barlament] has been mentored by other women in her life and loves being a mentor herself. ‘Being the voice that encourages them to say “yes!” is one of my favorite things to do.’ ”
Author: Ginger Dolden
League’s Simon Woods on three key issues for orchestras as they move forward together
Thursday’s (6/2) Medium includes the text of League of American Orchestras President and CEO Simon Woods’s opening address at the League’s 2022 Conference in Los Angeles on June 2. “I keep coming back to three defining issues that I believe will fuel our artistic creativity and our financial success…. The first is about building a new audience that’s not just from the same demographic as the current one…. The second is about the promise of diversity.… There is no excellence without diversity. To deny that is to admit that classical music is a white art form created for white audiences…. I can’t accept that, and I think we need to show the world that none of us can accept it. This does not mean disparaging the inspiration of where we have come from. But it does mean defining the place we are going to as richer and more inviting—and it does mean going there faster…. The third is about relevance and community meaning…. American orchestras … are the most creative in the world, and capable of turning on a dime when circumstances demand it, as they just did. And circumstances still demand it … as we tackle those three critical pillars.”
Philadelphia-based Project 440, teaching young people entrepreneurship and life skills through music
Joseph Conyers, assistant principal bass at the Philadelphia Orchestra, is co-founder of Project 440. Photo by Kriston Jae Bethel
“Project 440 takes its name from an audio frequency of 440 hertz, which is equivalent to pitch ‘A,’ the note orchestral musicians use to tune their instruments pre-performance,” writes Natalie Pompilio in Thursday’s (6/2) Philadelphia Citizen. “Project 440 … doesn’t offer music lessons or seek funds for sheet music or instruments…. The organization’s largest program, Doing Good, teaches the basics of entrepreneurship, how to run a business, and life skills, by encouraging young musicians to merge their love of music with ways they want to improve their communities.… Says co-founder [and Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Principal Bass] Joseph Conyers, ‘The point of Project 440 is to figure out how can we make better citizens, better young people, by opening up the possibilities of their life through a passion that they have. In this case, that’s music.’ The program’s participants come from Philadelphia public and charter high schools…. In 2022 … the organization launched … Doing Good II, which offers lessons in quantifying results, applying for grants, raising money and other relevant issues…. After completing … Doing Good, [students Claire Casanova and Chloe Cooper] founded Generation Music in 2018 with the goal of exposing underserved youth to classical music.”
Jackson Symphony to release first recording as part of new Equal Billing Project
Michigan’s Jackson Symphony Orchestra will release a recording of music by French composer Fernande Decruck (1896-1954) on the Claves record label on June 10, 2022. The album—featuring music by Decruck for saxophone, trumpet, horn, and harp—will be the inaugural recording in the orchestra’s recently launched Equal Billing Project under Music Director Matthew Aubin that aims to record and support the research, recording, and publication of music of a deceased composer not recognized during their lifetime. The album will include Decruck’s Sonata in C-sharp for alto saxophone (or viola), performed by saxophonist Carrie Koffman; Heroic Poem for solo trumpet in C, solo horn in F, and orchestra, with trumpet soloist Amy McCabe and New York Philharmonic Acting Associate Principal horn player Leelanee Sterett; and the concerto for harp and orchestra featuring Chen-Yu Huang as soloist. Aubin, who first discovered Decruck while studying for his doctorate at the Hartt School in Connecticut, says the orchestra is planning another recording from Decruck’s catalogue, after which the orchestra will open the Equal Billing Project to an application process, allowing scholars to introduce other undiscovered or underrepresented composers. “This is music that deserves to be heard,” says Aubin.
Omaha Symphony’s Council Bluffs Guild, supporting music education with “Bassoons and BBQ” event
“The Council Bluffs Guild of the Omaha Symphony is getting ready for another night of fun, food, and music,” writes Adam Kiesel in Tuesday’s (5/31) KMA Radio (Shenandoah, IA). “The Guild’s ‘Bassoons and BBQ’ is coming up in early June. The event serves as a way to give back to the community, and also raise funds to support the Omaha Symphony…. ‘It’s going to be a bassoon trio outdoor concert,’ said [former Guild president and current board advisor Kelsey] Stupfell.… Landon Williams will be receiving the Southwest Iowa Educational Foundation … $2,000 scholarship … given annually to a student … entering the music field. The Guild’s Bassoons and BBQ follows their mission to educate and engage the community—including the over 4,000 Southwest Iowa students and educators they serve. The Guild has even been recognized nationally for their work with the esteemed Spotlight Award granted by the Volunteer Council of the League of American Orchestras. Stupfell says this passion of giving back is what initially drew her to the Council Bluffs Guild…. Said Stupfell, ‘I’m a music lover myself, and I love the music education for our younger audience to kind of help with that next generation coming up.’ ”
Last-minute adjustments to Toledo Symphony’s Memorial Day program, due to COVID-19
“The audience at Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall was treated to an incomparable performance by The Toledo Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, May 28,” writes Tammy Watts in Tuesday’s (5/31) Daily Advocate (OH). “Several major last-minute changes were made to the playbill, due to the conductor, Alain Trudel, testing positive for COVID-19. Guest conductor Rodney Miller, considered to be one of the world’s foremost historians on John Philip Sousa, was absent from the program, for the same reason. Fortunately, conductor Steven Jarvi came to the rescue, with a high-energy and expressive style…. The orchestra performed rousing Sousa pieces, such as ‘The Liberty Bell March,’ … and ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever.’ … During the ‘Armed Forces Salute,’ veterans in the audience, and those currently serving, were invited to stand when their respective military branch’s anthem was played. In addition to the patriotic numbers, the orchestra played Franz von Suppé’s ‘Poet and Peasant Overture,’ the prelude to Engelbert Humperdinck’s ‘Hansel and Gretel,’ and selections from Bizet’s ‘Carmen.’ … Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) … and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra embody the true spirit of ‘the show must go on’—and go on it did, in spectacular fashion.”
Canton Symphony’s Rachel Hagemeier honored with “Twenty under 40!” award
“Rachel Hagemeier, Canton Symphony Orchestra manager of education and community engagement, has quite an impressive resume at 24 years old,” writes Kelsey Davis in Wednesday’s (6/1) Repository (OH). Hagemeier was selected for this year’s “Twenty under 40!” awards recognizing twenty Stark County, Ohio leaders under age 40. “Hagemeier has quite the list of professional achievements: creator, producer and co-host of the podcast Orchestrating Change; program developer and manager of Orchestrating Change Leadership Program; designer of 2021-22 Composer Portrait Project; manager of Canton Youth Symphony program …; created a free string instrument training program in partnership with Lighthouse Ministries; reached more than 8,000 students through free virtual educational programming in the 2020-21 season; created new community partnerships between CSO and local businesses and nonprofits…. Hagemeier’s personal achievements include … League of American Orchestras Essentials of Orchestra Management Program [and] a member of the League’s Education and Community Engagement Leadership Committee.” Says Hagemeier, “Innovation and creativity will be needed to keep this art form relevant…. I strive to one day work as a president and CEO of an orchestra and help guide this field to continue the life-changing work it has done for hundreds of years.”
Portland Chamber Orchestra to debut Nancy Ives’s multimedia work “Celilo Falls”
“Nancy Ives leads the cello section in the Oregon Symphony, plays contemporary chamber music with FearNoMusic and Portland Cello Project, and … recently embarked on a burgeoning second career as a composer,” writes Bret Campbell in Wednesday’s Oregonian (Portland; subscription required). “But she never expected researching her next musical project would lead her to the Columbia Gorge, sprawled face down on a rock outcropping above the rushing waters of the Klickitat River. But the Yakama woman who’d invited Ives to her family fishing grounds insisted. ‘Listen to the river,’ Martha Cloud told Ives…. This weekend and next, that sound will emerge when Portland Chamber Orchestra plays Ives’ new composition for chamber orchestra, ‘Celilo Falls: We Were There,’ in a multimedia performance that also includes original poetry and narration by renowned [Shoshone-Bannock poet, playwright, and performer] Ed Edmo and projected imagery by [Cherokee photographer and activist] Joe Cantrell…. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction on the Dalles Dam in 1957, a project that completely inundated Celilo Falls, destroying traditional salmon fishing grounds…. The inner rhythm of the waterfalls, the percussive flopping of salmon heads striking rocks, even the wind eventually made their way into her 11-movement, 45-minute composition.”
Osmo Vänskä prepares for his final concerts as Minnesota Orchestra music director: Mahler 8, Kuusisto world premiere
Osmo Vänskä conducts the Minnesota Orchestra. Photo: Scott Strebl
“In this flinty arts hub, where modesty is prized no less than achievement, an era is about to end, as Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra’s redoubtable 69-year-old music director, prepares to leave his post after 19 seasons,” writes David Mermelstein in Tuesday’s (5/31) Wall Street Journal (subscription required). “His final appearances on the podium in the job come this month…. One must acknowledge the extraordinary events that have occurred on Mr. Vänskä’s watch…. [Last October’s performance of] Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4 (‘The Inextinguishable’) … was a thing unto itself—a hell-for-leather glimpse into the horrors of war rendered in musical terms that also proved a glowing showcase for qualities like precision and unity of ensemble. [Mahler’s] overwhelming Symphony No. 8 … will mark Mr. Vänskä’s valedictory as music director … June 10 through 12…. Before the rigors of Mahler Eight, Mr. Vänskä and the Minnesotans have one other program, running June 2 through 4 and featuring the premiere of a symphony by the Finnish violinist and composer Jaakko Kuusisto, who died in February at age 48. Mr. Vänskä bequeaths his successor, and this community, a committed and polished ensemble. He also leaves a hefty number of recordings.”
New Music USA’s “Amplifying Voices,” multi-orchestra commissions by Contreras, Iyer, León, Montgomery, Nabors, Shekhar, Sorey, Washington
New Music USA is presenting “Amplifying Voices” programs throughout 2022, featuring orchestral world premieres by Valerie Coleman, Juan Pablo Contreras, Vijay Iyer, Tania León, Jessie Montgomery, Brian Raphael Labors, Nina Shekhar, Tyshawn Sorey, and Shelley Washington. In April, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in Little Rock presented the first performances of Tania León’s Pasajes (“Passages”); co-commissioning orchestras include the Auburn Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic, and National Symphony Orchestra. Earlier this month, the Las Vegas Philharmonic premiered Juan Pablo Contreras’s MeChicano; co-commissioners include the California Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Tucson Symphony, and Richmond Symphony. On August 20, Tyshawn Sorey’s saxophone concerto will be premiered by the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra in Switzerland; co-commissioners include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. More than 30 U.S. orchestras will premiere new works through “Amplifying Voices,” which fosters collaboration toward racial and gender equity in new orchestral music. New Music USA President and CEO Vanessa Reed said, “Our musical canon will only evolve if these pieces are played more than once. I’m so pleased that this program gives more audiences across the country a chance to discover the power of these composers’ work as we all strive towards a more open and equitable future for classical music.” Learn more at https://newmusicusa.org/program/amplifying-voices/.