“If you’ve ever wondered what an orchestra conductor does besides waving a baton in front of a group of musicians, you can find out at an upcoming workshop,” writes Cindy Hval in Thursday’s (1/2) Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA). “On Jan. 10, Jan Pellant, artistic director and conductor of the Coeur d’Alene Symphony, will lead a free seminar … open to everyone.… Topics will include the importance of a conductor, what the conductor does behind the scenes, the greatest conductors, and how a student musician can become a guest conductor of the Coeur d’Alene Symphony. Pellant, a native of the Czech Republic … vividly remembers the first time he conducted. ‘I was 16 in Japan,’ he recalled. ‘I was violist with a youth orchestra and had the opportunity to conduct.’ He was hooked. ‘It’s very mystical,’ Pellant said. ‘Why do people go to live concerts? It’s because something special happens. A conductor can create a magical atmosphere.’ And the tools of his trade are not limited to a baton. ‘A conductor uses his eyes, his energy,’ he explained. ‘He creates his own sound. The worst thing a conductor can be is boring!’ ”
Author: Jennifer Melick
Jennifer Melick, Symphony magazine’s former longtime managing editor, is a freelance journalist based in Detroit.
Getting more people involved with musicmaking in northern California
“Pete Nowlen is the music director of Symphony d’Oro, the current name of what used to be known as the Rancho Cordova Civic Light Orchestra,” writes Anthony Barcellos in Tuesday’s (12/31) Sacramento Bee. “Nowlen is also the former artistic director of Nevada City’s Music in the Mountains, having just stepped down after its 2019 season. Nowlen is on the music faculty of the University of California, Davis … plays the French horn and has worked with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, among others.… The focus of all of Nowlen’s activities is the promotion of a vigorous musical culture in northern California…. ‘Programming must be local…. Each program needs to be curated for a specific audience,’ … says Nowlen…. ‘We’ve done a program of Ferde Grofé’s music about California … focusing on the Pony Express and its terminal in Folsom,’ he said…. ‘This fall, we will feature … Ryan Sulieman’s ‘California Burning’—a response to the devastating fires of the last two years.’ ” Nowlen says in his ideal world, “Everyone would be producing art in one way or another…. Through the experience of making music, understanding and appreciation are fostered.’ ”
League’s Heather Noonan named a music-industry trailblazer
“Trailblazers push the boundaries of their industry to forge new paths for generations to come,” writes Samantha Harward in last Friday’s (12/27) College Magazine. “From education to performance to technology, the National Association of Music Merchants Show gives these unique individuals a platform to connect and inspire thousands…. These 10 music professionals give us once-in-a-lifetime performances, fresh insight and … a new interpretation of the music industry.… Did you know there’s a whole political side to the industry that keeps music and music education alive and accessible to underserved communities? Heather Noonan represents the importance of that side as the Vice President of Advocacy for the League of American Orchestras.… Noonan represents orchestras before Congress when it comes to education reform, government arts funding, nonprofit policies and more…. ‘Whether seeking policies that spark charitable giving, visa and travel rules that support international cultural exchange, or education reforms that breakthrough systemic inequities, I’m inspired by finding common ground in unexpected partnerships … and supporting opportunities for artists, students, and arts leaders to make their voices heard,’ Noonan said. She’s a trailblazer in making music education a priority.” Others on the list include Bobby McFerrin and Sarah McLachlan.
Looking forward to 2020 with the St. Louis Symphony
“The number 2020 has a nice look to it,” writes Sarah Bryan Miller in Thursday’s (1/2) St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Stéphane Denève finished his season as music-director-in-waiting at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and ascended to the podium in September as the SLSO’s 13th music director. That’s just a start…. There’s also plenty of great music to look back on. Last fall, Denève and his new band did the best possible job on the Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3, ‘Organ,’ possible without a pipe organ…. Here are some treats for the new year…. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra [will] welcome the orchestra’s first artist in residence, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet [in a program including] Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2, as well as Wagner’s lovely ‘Siegfried Idyll,’ Anna Clyne’s ‘This Midnight Hour’ and the wonderful suite from Richard Strauss’ ‘Der Rosenkavalier.’ ” This year, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will also perform Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, with vocal soloists, the SLSO Chorus, and the St. Louis Children’s Choirs; and “Maurice Ravel: A Musical Journey,” written and directed by Didi Balle, combining actors playing characters from Ravel’s life with Denève, Thibaudet, and the SLSO performing Ravel’s music.
Honoring Beethoven’s 250th anniversary—with a one-year moratorium on his music?
“Classical music organizations around the world began a major anniversary celebration this fall for Ludwig van Beethoven, born almost 250 years ago in December 1770,” writes Andrea Moore in Monday’s (12/30) Chicago Tribune. “Classical music culture, as others, seems unable to resist anniversary blowouts: Mozart’s 250th birth year in 2006 was exhaustively celebrated, as was the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death in 2000. The problem with these festivities is that the composers being celebrated do not otherwise lack performances—far from it…. A worthier way to honor these composers might be something more drastic: a cooperative, worldwide, yearlong moratorium on live performances of their music…. Letting Beethoven’s music fall silent for the duration of his 250th anniversary year might give us a new way into hearing it live again. I’d further propose that we fill the Beethoven-sized hole in our repertoire with new music…. With Beethoven’s nine symphonies at the core of the orchestral repertoire, what about a bold commissioning project? It could aim to produce nine new symphonies, from the broadest range of composers imaginable. And five new piano concertos, 16 new string quartets, 32 sonatas—not as responses to the Beethoven works, but as a way to hear these genres utterly reimagined.”
Read Ben Finane’s article evaluating the relevance of Beethoven today in the current issue of Symphony magazine.
In photo: Ernst Julius Hähnel’s statue of Beethoven in the composer’s hometown of Bonn, Germany
Baltimore Symphony launches “Symphony in the City,” free community concerts
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is launching a new series of free concerts, “Symphony in the City,” to be performed at communities throughout Baltimore during the 2019-20 season and featuring works by Beethoven as part of the orchestra’s Beethoven 2020 project for the composer’s 250th birthday. The first program on January 14 will take place at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, with Associate Conductor Nicholas Hersh leading Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and Coriolan and Creatures of Prometheus overtures. A February 21 performance at New Psalmist Baptist Church conducted by Joseph Young will feature violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins in Beethoven’s Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2; the program will also include Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst, Florence Price’s Dance in the Canebrakes, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8. Performances are also planned on February 26 at Morgan State University, with Jonathan Rush conducting music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Joseph Bologne, and Beethoven; and May 20 at Patterson Park, with Nicholas Hersh leading an all-Beethoven program of the Egmont Overture, Wellington’s Victory, and Symphony No. 4. PNC is the presenting sponsor of the free “Symphony in the City” concerts.
Obituary: Michael Grebanier, San Francisco Symphony’s principal cello, 82
“Michael Grebanier, the San Francisco Symphony’s principal cellist for the past 43 years, died on Dec. 19,” writes Janos Gereben in Monday’s (12/30) San Francisco Classical Voice. “The Brisbane resident was 82 and still on the orchestra’s active roster, although he had not played for some time, being in ill health. His widow, Sharon, has been a violinist with the orchestra since 1973; she was also first violinist with the Aurora Quartet…. Grebanier … joined the SF Symphony as principal cellist in 1977. He studied with Leonard Rose at the Curtis Institute, and at age 19 he won the Walter Naumburg Competition and made his solo debut in his native New York City. He was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra for four years, and at 25 became principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the youngest first cello in that orchestra’s history, serving there for 14 years. With pianist Garrick Ohlsson and former SF Symphony Associate Concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis, Grebanier formed the FOG Trio, and he had been affiliated with the Marlboro and Casals festivals. He … recorded the Prokofiev cello sonatas and the complete music for cello and piano by Rachmaninoff (Naxos). His instrument was a 1698 cello by Francesco Ruggeri of Cremona.”
Boston Symphony’s Lawrence Wolfe, on touring China from 1979 to 2020
The world is “plagued by conflict, with the fight between China and the U.S. part of it,” writes Rong Xiaoqing in last Thursday’s (12/26) Global Times (Beijing, China). “A few days before the New Year, the dark clouds that have been hovering above my heart for a while were lifted by a man named Lawrence Wolfe … the assistant principal bassist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra…. In March 1979, 31-year-old Wolfe went on a tour to China with the BSO…. In 2014, he visited again as part of the BSO’s second China tour. And now, for the third time, he will be there with the orchestra in mid-February…. The desperate thirst for music among the Chinese musicians performing with the orchestra and the Chinese plans to invest in instruments and build concert facilities [in 1979 portrayed] a China very different from the U.S. but eager to embrace the world…. Wolfe told me: ‘I only saw progress, a continuation of our relationship.’ … [Wolfe’s] long timeframe makes the current period of turmoil seem less disturbing…. There is music, the universal language that … ‘will be a big part for healing and reconnection,’ he said.”
Saluting Darko Butorac’s twelve years at Missoula Symphony
“He taught us the stories, and fun, behind the classics. But more than anything else, Missoula Symphony Orchestra Music Director Darko Butorac showed us the enthusiasm for live music,” writes Dennis Bragg last Thursday (12/26) at television station KPAX (Missoula, MT). “Butorac and the symphony worked hard for … Darko’s [April 2019] farewell concert that capped an exhilarating 12-year stint in the Garden City…. It’s been a dozen years filled with tremendous music and punctuated by Darko’s infectious enthusiasm for music. But he’s also left a mark by making concerts fun, and helping young fans in particular discover the spectacle that is live music. ‘Our kids are great because they have zero preconceptions about what they’re into. So, they just hear music. They get righteously excited. They clap. They sing. They yell. I mean the energy is incredible,’ Butorac said. ‘And the family concerts certainly stand as one of my favorite projects we’ve done …’ Darko will consolidate three musical directorships into two, continuing his five-year stint as musical director for the Tallahassee Symphony, and the new position he accepted with the Asheville Symphony last fall…. ‘I’ve been very fortunate to call Missoula my home—and now in the future Asheville.’ ”
Pittsburgh Symphony to digitize 433 Previn-era reel-to-reel recordings, with state grant
“More than 400 reel-to-reel tapes and thousands of late-18th century photos and correspondences are among the items that will be preserved using funds from a state historic documents grant,” reports Katie Blackley in last Thursday’s (12/26) WITF television (Harrisburg, PA). “In Allegheny County, the state Historic and Museum Commission awarded $1,907 to Woodville Plantation: Neville House Associates in Bridgeville, Pa., and $10,000 to the Pittsburgh Symphony … among 29 organizations statewide to receive funds allocated to ‘help care for Pennsylvania’s significant historical records,’ according to a release…. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will focus its preservation efforts on the 1976-84 tenure of former music director André Previn. The group recorded 25 albums and won a Grammy Award for its performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 under Previn’s direction, and decided to use the state grant funds to highlight the time period. The 433 reel-to-reel recordings from the Previn era will be preserved and digitized, according to president and CEO Melia Tourangeau…. ‘To be able to have these historic recordings available for the world to be able to take a peek at is really important,’ … Tourangeau said. She anticipates the recordings will be accessible in … the PSO’s 125th season around February 2021.”