“After a two-year search for a new music director, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra named Michael Butterman its first new director in more than 40 years,” writes Mickayla Miller in Thursday’s (6/16) LancasterOnline (PA). “The organization started its search after former director Stephen Gunzenhauser, who led the orchestra for 40 years, retired in 2020. The Lancaster Symphony Orchestra received more than 190 applicants for the position. The organization narrowed it down to four candidates, who each conducted their own performance for LSO. Butterman’s guest performance was held April 8 and 9 … in downtown Lancaster. His show, called ‘Awaken,’ doubled as a benefit concert for Ukraine. ‘From our first rehearsals with Michael, it was clear he was a musician and artist of exceptional quality focused on engaging the entire community,’ said Lancaster Symphony Orchestra board chair and principal cello player Sara Male in a press release…. Butterman will start in his role on July 1, and will conduct four concerts with the orchestra for its 2022-2023 season.” Butterman is also music director of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and the Pennsylvania Philharmonic; as announced in March, he begins as music director of the Williamsburg (VA) Symphony Orchestra this summer.
Author: Jennifer Melick
Jennifer Melick, Symphony magazine’s former longtime managing editor, is a freelance journalist based in Detroit.
South Korea’s Yunchan Lim, 18, wins Cliburn competition; Russian and Ukrainian pianists also win medals
South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim, 18, has “become the youngest gold medal winner in the 60-year history of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition,” write Scott Cantrell and Tim Diovanni in Saturday’s (6/18) Dallas Morning News. “An awards ceremony Saturday night in Bass Performance Hall brought an end to a grueling 17-day schedule of solo recitals and concerto performances with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra by 30 young pianists from 15 countries…. The second-prize silver medal went to … 31-year-old Russian Anna Geniushene, and the third-prize bronze medal to [Ukrainian pianist Dmytro] Choni, 28…. Selections were made by an international jury including prominent concert pianists…. Lim’s stunningly virtuosic and mature performance of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes in the semifinal round carried the day…. Geniushene’s … performances of Brahms’ Op. 10 Rhapsodies and Beethoven’s Op. 33 Bagatelles were magical. Choni offered playing at once sophisticated and natural…. Geniushene, who is 6 ½ months pregnant, [said] … she is used to playing while pregnant, having done so before her first child was born…. At the awards ceremony, [Vadym] Kholodenko, the 2013 Cliburn gold medalist who was also born in Kyiv, stirringly played the Ukrainian national anthem.”
Hartford Symphony’s 2022-23 season: Bologne, Price, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, hip-hop dance troupe, Bell’s “Stonewall” Suite
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Carolyn Kuan in performance.
“The Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s just-announced 2022-2023 Masterworks Series is anchored by heavy hitters such as Gershwin, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and … Scott Joplin,” writes Christopher Arnott in Wednesday’s (6/15) Hartford Courant (CT). “But the composers who aren’t household names are just as intriguing, including Felix Mendelssohn’s equally talented older sister Fanny … mid-20th century Black female composer Florence Price, [and] 18th century Creole composer Joseph Bologne.… ‘Throughout the pandemic, we were all yearning for a sense of freedom. This season is an exploration of what it means to be… free … and how that freedom inspires us,’ [Music Director Carolyn] Kuan said…. The hip-hop dance troupe BRKFST from Minnesota will perform its original choreography to Beethoven’s ‘Grosse Fuge Op. 133′ and also dance to ‘Dancers, Dreamers, and Presidents’ by the contemporary composer DBR (aka Daniel Bernard Roumain)…. [The orchestra will perform] a suite drawn from Iain Bell’s [2019] opera ‘Stonewall,’ written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall gay liberation protests…. The symphony will also premiere a work by the yet-to-be-named first artist-in-residence to be supported by the Joyce C. Willis Fund, dedicated to giving opportunities to Black artists at major Hartford arts institutions.”
Firelands Symphony free summer performances through July 24
Ohio’s Firelands Symphony Orchestra is in the midst of its summer “Around Town Tour” of free small-ensemble performances at area venues. The series began on May 29 with the Firelands Symphony Chorale performing at Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside, Ohio during a community worship service, together with Lakeside United Methodist Church Choir. The Cleveland Trombone Collective—founded by J.C. Sherman, Firelands Symphony’s principal tuba, and featuring brass musicians from multiple Ohio orchestras and bands—will perform classical and popular music on June 13 at Meals on Madison Street in Port Clinton, Ohio. The Firelands Brass Quintet will perform fanfares, marches, and popular tunes on July 10 at the Boat Basin Amphitheater in Huron, Ohio. The Firelands String Quartet—FSO Concertmaster Ron Brooker, violinist Alice Weiss, violist Rosalind Soltow, cellist Brian Shifflett—will perform classical and contemporary music on July 21 at the Ritter Public Library in Vermilion, Ohio. In addition to the “Around Town Tour” performances the full Firelands Symphony Orchestra will perform free patriotic pops concerts on July 2 at Marblehead Lighthouse in Marblehead, Ohio, and on July 4 at Jackson Street Pier in Sandusky, Ohio. The Firelands Symphony Chorale will join the orchestra in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major on July 24 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Sandusky.
Johnstown Symphony’s offices move to former theater in downtown Johnstown
“Business operations for the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra are moving to Johnstown’s downtown,” writes Rebecca Parsons in Thursday’s (6/9) WTAJ-TV (Altoona, PA). “Previously located in Richland, JSO’s business and box office operations are moving to the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority at 416 Main Street after signing a lease on June 1. The move is part of the orchestra’s strategic shift to expand to neighborhoods across the region. The JSO’s performance home has been the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center for the past 31 years and will remain at that location. The JSO joins non-profits Cambria Regional Chamber, Vision Together 2025, Visit Johnstown, and Junior Achievement in the redeveloped space, [which] was once the Embassy Theatre, but has gone under a complete renovation by the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority. Johnstown Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Melissa Komar said, ‘We’re excited to see yet another key organization in the region move their business operations downtown! It will be incredible to have the JSO with us on Main Street, and we look forward to all of the possibilities for collaborative service together.’ The JSO Box Office will be located on the second floor.”
Incoming chief conductor of the Concertgebouw: Klaus Mäkelä, age 26
“Klaus Mäkelä, a 26-year-old Finnish maestro on a rapid rise, will be the next chief conductor of the storied Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the ensemble announced on Friday, after a several-year search following the dismissal of Daniele Gatti over sexual assault allegations in 2018,” writes Joshua Barone in Friday’s (6/10) New York Times. “Mäkelä … currently leads the Orchestre de Paris and the Oslo Philharmonic…. Because of Mäkelä’s existing posts, he is on an initial 10-year Concertgebouw contract that begins this fall with the title of artistic partner, with a commitment of five weeks a season; he will not fully assume the podium as chief conductor until 2027, at which point he will appear with the group for a minimum of 12 weeks…. Mäkelä, who was originally trained as a cellist … has appeared with some of the world’s top ensembles in ambitious repertory—such as Mahler, and contemporary music by the Peruvian-born composer Jimmy López—and will make his New York Philharmonic debut in December…. Mäkelä said that he hoped his initial five-week commitment would increase over time, and that he would begin conducting opera ‘as soon as the schedule allows it.’”
California’s Monterey Symphony hires Jayce Ogren as music director
“The Monterey Symphony celebrates the conclusion of its 75th season with the appointment of Jayce Ogren as its new music director,” writes Barbara Rose Shuler in Wednesday’s (6/8) Monterey Herald (CA). “He brings a reputation as one of this country’s finest young conductors. Ogren, 43, led the orchestra in an exhilarating program in May as the last of the four conductor candidates competing for the position…. The new music director is poised to expand the concert reach and profile of this outstanding orchestra, to create collaborations with contemporary artists and develop greater educational opportunities for young people. He brings innovative artistic vision to the Symphony’s subscription series and other musical offerings…. He is described as a leader in breaking down barriers between audiences and great music. Among the distinguished orchestras he has conducted are the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, the Dallas, San Jose and San Francisco Symphonies, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra…. Concertmaster Christina Mok, the lead musician on the nine-member search committee, says … ‘With Jayce, we felt the way he led the orchestra was very organic, almost effortless. He just made things work.’ ”
Oregon summer festivals get underway: Britt, Oregon Bach, Sunriver, Willamette Valley, and more
“Concerts are back in a big way this summer,” writes James Bash in Wednesday’s (6/8) Oregonian. The Oregon Bach Festival’s June 12 performance of Bach’s Mass in B minor “will be led by American conductor Kazem Abdullah, who is one of the candidates for the festival’s artistic director…. [At] Britt Music and Arts Festival … baritone Davóne Tines … will sing … ‘VIGIL,’ created by Tines, Dutch-English composer Igee Dieudonné and Matthew Aucoin in response to the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020. Another powerful statement will be Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony under the baton of Teddy Abrams…. [Portland-based festival Makrokosmos Project will feature] Latinx composers [including] Marcos Balter, inti figgis-vizueta, Manuel Valera, Tania León, Nathalie Joachim, Gabriela Lena Frank and Angélica Negrón….Chamber Music Northwest [will present] Alistair Coleman’s Flute Quintet … in its West Coast premiere … ‘Darshan’ by Indian American composer Reena Esmail … for solo violin … [and] Andy Akiho’s ‘Seven Pillars’ with Sandbox Percussion…. The Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival [will present Esmail’s] string quartet, ‘Zeher’ [and] Kevin Day’s String Quartet No. 5….. Sunriver Music Festival [will be led by] newly appointed artistic director and conductor Brett Mitchell.”
Handel and Haydn Society, offering historically informed performances in Boston for 207 years
Handel and Haydn Society, offering historically informed performances in Boston for 207 years
“On a recent Friday evening at Symphony Hall in Boston, the program included an orchestral suite by Johann Sebastian Bach; Vivaldi’s triumphant ‘Gloria’; and the ‘Magnificat,’ a 1749 masterpiece by the younger Bach (Carl Philipp Emanuel),” writes Michael Andor Brodeur in Friday’s (6/10) Departures magazine. “The stage belonged to … the Handel and Haydn Society … in the midst of its 207th consecutive season…. The orchestra … strives to recreate as closely as possible the sound and spirit intended by early composers…. What’s different, to the core, is the feel of a Baroque orchestra: the energy coursing through the music, its physical intensity, its bodily presence…. Outgoing artistic director Harry Christophers … this season … will conclude his 13-year tenure leading H+H…. The Handel & Haydn Society goes well beyond the work of its namesake composers. Specifically, the orchestra has delved deep into Mozart, and its new recording of violin concertos—performed by concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky—is a great way to get up close and personal with the orchestra…. ‘I believe that this music is a living thing,’ says Nosky.’ ”
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra world premiere of PaviElle French’s “Sands of Time”
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra will conclude its 2022-23 season at Ordway Concert Hall with the commissioned world premiere of PaviElle French’s Sands of Time, on a program also featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. French, who is based in the Twin Cities, will perform as vocalist and keyboardist in her own composition; Sands of Time will also feature members of her band. Chia-Hsuan Lin will conduct the concerts on June 9, 10, 11, and 12; the June 11 performance will also be livestreamed for free via the orchestra’s SPCO Concert Library. The composer describes her new work as “celebrating musical manifestations of love in all its forms,” and was rescheduled from the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 season.