“After a year of live music venues closing doors and being shuttered, one of Williamsport’s premier ensembles is returning to the stage,” writes Robert Hinkal in Thursday’s (10/21) Williamsport Sun-Gazette (PA). “The Williamsport Symphony Orchestra has announced a new [five-concert] season … set to begin … Oct. 26 … ‘It has been a challenging year and a half indeed for the performing arts and we are very excited to return to the Community Arts Center with the full orchestra,’ said Gerardo Edelstein, WSO music director and conductor…. The new season … will see the return of WSO principal flutist Reuben Councill, performing the Flute Concerto by Christopher Rouse followed by … [Dvořák’s] ‘Carnival Overture’ … and [Beethoven’s] Symphony No. 6, Pastoral…. Edelstein says that after the past year and the shared global experience of the pandemic, he feels as though audiences will be able to view and approach the performances this season in a whole new light. ‘I believe that the pandemic changed us all in some way and … people appreciate now more all what we missed,’ … he said. ‘I have no doubt our audience will leave the Community Arts Center fulfilled and rewarded after each concert.’ ”
Author: Joanna Bettelheim
Cincinnati Symphony’s Louis Langrée named next music director of Opéra-Comique in Paris
“Louis Langrée, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, is the new director of the Opéra-Comique in Paris,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Thursday’s (10/21) Cincinnati Business Courier. “The announcement was made in Paris on Thursday afternoon. Langrée, 60, CSO music director since 2013 … will be working in his native France, and he will also again focus on operatic conducting. The music director of the Opéra National de Lyon early in his career, Langrée is a regular guest in the pit of the Metropolitan Opera. Besides the Opéra-Comique, he’s also conducted opera at the Vienna State Opera, the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Bavarian State Opera. Langrée succeeds Olivier Mantei, who is heading to the Philharmonie de Paris.… The company [pointed] to Langrée’s fine record in Cincinnati, not only artistically but also institutionally. The Opéra-Comique’s distinguished history goes back to the opera company’s founding in 1714. Langrée also has been music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival in Lincoln Center since 2003. Langrée opens the CSO’s subscription season Oct. 29.” The appointment follows June’s announcement that Langrée will remain at the Cincinnati Symphony through 2024.
Waco Symphony returns in person: pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton, plus basketball coach as narrator
“The Waco Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by [pianists] Christina and Michelle Naughton and a special guest, Baylor men’s basketball head coach Scott Drew, will be performing … on Thursday in Waco Hall,” writes Paul Holladay in Thursday’s (10/21) Baylor Lariat, Baylor University’s student publication (TX). “The twin sisters will perform Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra along with Saint-Saëns’ ‘Carnival of the Animals’ for the Waco Symphony Orchestra’s season opener, narrated by Drew. [It] will be the first concert since January 2020…. ‘What I can’t wait to experience is how they play melodies and harmonies in perfect tandem and pass musical phrases back and forth to one another,’ Carolyn Bess, executive director of the Waco Symphony Association, said.… ‘We wanted an iconic figure from the Baylor community to be featured in this season opener, and coach Scott Drew certainly fits the bill,’ Bess said. Along with Drew, there will also be 20 Baylor students playing in the orchestra. Stephen Heyde, who is a conductor-in-residence at Baylor, will be conducting this ensemble. ‘After such a long pause during COVID-19, I think the experience of audiences hearing live classical music together … will be a memorable and meaningful one,’ Heyde said.”
Obituary: conductor Bernard Haitink, 92
“Bernard Haitink, one of the preeminent conductors of our time, has died aged 92,” states an unsigned article in Friday’s (10/22) Gramophone (U.K.). Haitink died at his home in London on Thursday. “The Chief Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for 27 years, a former Music Director of The Royal Opera, London and of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, a Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and conductor of more than 450 recordings, his legacy is immense…. Haitink was born on March 4, 1929 in Amsterdam, in which city he was to study violin and conducting at the Conservatory. He made his conducting debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in 1954 … The following year … [he] first conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1959 … he was named First Conductor of the orchestra: he was 30. … In 1963, became the Orchestra’s sole Musical Director. For the next 25 years—until stepping down in 1988—he would develop one of those celebrated conductor-orchestra relationships that was, thankfully, enshrined on disc.” Haitink was appointed principal guest conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1995, and named conductor emeritus in 2004. “A further period saw him taking on two major positions: as Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden (2002-4) and Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony (2006-10). Since then he went on to develop close relationships with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe…. In 2019 … he announced his retirement after 65 years at the podium.”
Boston Modern Opera Project and Odyssey Opera to present five-year series of operas by Black composers
“The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and Odyssey Opera have unveiled plans for ‘As Told By: History, Race, and Justice on the Opera Stage,’ a five-year series of performances of operas by Black composers,” writes Taylor Grant in Thursday’s (10/21) Musical America (subscription required). “The five operas … written over an eight-decade span … will … include New England and world premiere performances and … recordings on the independent label BMOP/sound. The first in the series—X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by … Anthony Davis—will receive its New England premiere at Boston’s Strand Theater on June 17, 2022 with … Davóne Tines in the title role…. Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom [by] Nkeiru Okoye will receive its full orchestra premiere … in 2023. The following year will include 75th-anniversary performances in Boston and New York of William Grant Still’s Troubled Island (with a libretto by Langston Hughes)…. Ulysses Kay’s 1991 Frederick Douglass will receive its New England premiere and first performance since 1991 in 2025…. The last in the series will be a world premiere of The Bridge, a BMOP commission by Boston-based composer Jonathan Bailey Holland that explores Martin Luther King Jr.’s years in Boston.”
Elkhart County Symphony heads outdoors to launch 2021-22 season
The Elkhart County Symphony will open its 2021-22 season with an outdoor afternoon concert at the Wellfield Botanic Gardens in Elkhart, Indiana on September 12. The 4 p.m. program will feature the orchestra performing works to include Gershwin’s An American in Paris, and baritone Brian Major will join the orchestra in music from opera and Broadway. The orchestra’s remaining 2021-22 performances in November, February, March, and May will take place at the Lerner Theatre in Elkhart. Soo Han is music director of the Elkhart County Symphony; Karen Braden and John R. Hill are co-executive directors.
New proposal for national music school in Edinburgh, Scotland
“A £55 million national music centre plan has been put forward for the old Royal High School in Edinburgh after a luxury hotel proposal was rejected,” writes Brian Donnelly in last Friday’s (9/3) Herald (Glasgow, Scotland). “The Royal High School Preservation Trust has put forward detailed plans to City of Edinburgh Council for the restoration of the iconic Thomas Hamilton building on Calton Hill as a ‘world-class centre for music education and public performance for the benefit of the whole of Scotland.’ … The trust’s proposals include a new National Centre for Music with ‘clearly defined spaces for classical music education, community access and engagement and performance.’ St. Mary’s Music School remains at the heart of the proposal…. The updated proposal brings together a network of partner organizations … including the Benedetti Foundation and IMPACT (International Music and Performing Arts Charitable Trust) Scotland with a shared vision of creating a new platform for musical collaborations, both within the building, online and out in the wider community…. The trust’s new proposals have also been tested for economic sustainability by BOP Consulting [which] predicts the project will contribute nearly £100 million to the Edinburgh economy over 30 years.”
Memphis Symphony’s Brandon Knisley on how the orchestra is evolving and adapting its mission
“Brandon Knisley, vice president of patron engagement at the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, has to be a great juggler,” writes Alex Greene in Wednesday’s (9/8) Memphis Flyer (TN). “He’s intimately involved in the mission of the MSO as it marches on into the 21st century…. Today’s MSO … has evolved by leaps and bounds … Q: How would you describe [the MSO’s] mission now? Brandon Knisley: Right from the beginning, [CEO] Peter Abell and I lined up on what we wished for the musicians and what we thought an orchestra is for a city….. How do we make the music education program better? How do we partner with the library system and their literacy program? To do these things, you have to make it possible for artists to live here.… We want to raise money to ensure that we can pay musicians to live here. And endowment funding is how we’re really trying to do that…. Art and music should be used as instruments for intentional inclusion…. Pretty much every program on our new season features composers who are either women or people of color. Or we have an artist who is a person of color. It’s just something we do.”
Knoxville Symphony’s 24 commissions for solo KSO musicians, debuting virtually
“The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra has seemingly created a trifecta of musical marvels that magically brought together an artist, a composer, and a patron,” writes Diana Skinner in Tuesday’s (9/7) Violinist. “Dubbed the KSO1x1 Project, a donor was asked to commission a composer to write a short solo piece for a specific KSO musician. A total of 24 pieces [by 25 composers] were commissioned and digitally premiered weekly between February and August 2021. Composers were found not only in KSO’s own backyard, but also from Belgium, Tanzania, and other locales…. In a truly wonderful touch, the sponsor got to attend the work’s premiere at the recording session and received a score autographed by the composer. KSO Music Director Aram Demirjian said the project started ‘as a creative way to feature the individual talents within our orchestra, and then sparked enthusiasm among our musicians, supporters, and followers beyond anything we could have imagined.’ … The project yielded a piece for nearly every instrument in the orchestra, stemming from composers representing a wide range of backgrounds, musical styles, and years of experience, including … composer/bassist John Clayton, pianist/NPR personality Lara Downes, and … East Tennessee’s own Jennifer Higdon.” A complete playlist with videos is at the Knoxville Symphony’s website: https://knoxvillesymphony.com/tickets-calendar/ondemand-concerts/.
Detroit Symphony’s Christopher Harrington to lead Twin Cities’ Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
“The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts has hired a dynamic trailblazer as its next president and CEO. Detroit arts executive Christopher Harrington will become the 12th leader of St. Paul’s flagship performing arts venue when he takes the helm on Nov. 1,” writes Rohan Preston in Wednesday’s (9/8) Star Tribune (Minneapolis). “Harrington, 36, will be the Ordway’s first Black president and CEO … He succeeds Jamie Grant, who left this summer after 4½ years to lead the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, Calif.… Harrington, who earned his MBA at Wayne State University, has held a variety of leadership roles at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 2012. His skill set includes marketing and programming, and he has worked closely with jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard on a series for the orchestra. Under his leadership, Harrington helped the orchestra to expand audiences, grow ticket revenue by 300% and advance goals in diversity, equity and inclusion. Notably, Harrington reimagined and rebranded the orchestra’s black-box theater, The Cube, [with] programming like salsa, jazz, poetry slams and yoga.… The Ordway … programs its own concerts and … is the principal venue for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Schubert Club and the Minnesota Opera.”