Author: Mike Rush

“Spring programming from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) continues in the virtual realm, a mix of newly recorded material, what CMS dubs ‘newly curated’ archival recordings, and educational programs,” writes Susan Elliott in Friday’s (3/12) Musical America (subscription required). “The season is dedicated to the individual responsible for CMS having an archive at all, the late Gustave M. Hauser, whose eponymous foundation paid for the recording of the group’s performances in Alice Tully Hall starting in 2014. Hauser, who died at 91 on February 14, enabled the Society to be among the first to jump into the digital realm when the pandemic hit last March, having built up a substantial archive at the ready for streaming. Newly created programs will be offered Thursday evenings at 7:30 from April 1 to July 1; educational materials are streamed Monday evenings. CMS points out that it will have presented 117 digital programs since March of 2020 by this season’s end. ‘We know we are reaching more people than ever,’ said Wu Han, who, with husband David Finckel is the Society’s co-artistic director. ‘We see it in the engagement numbers around our website and streaming programs.’… Most of the group’s offerings are free, with registration.”

“As the Erie Philharmonic awaits the return to the renovated Warner Theatre this fall, you can vote to bring the concert to your hometown,” states an unsigned article on last Tuesday’s (3/9) YourErie.com. “The philharmonic has announced plans to put on outdoor concerts—ranging from family-style to full brass choir—in parks and venues across the region in June, July and August 2021. You can vote to bring the philharmonic to your hometown by visiting eriephil.org/hometownvotes. Votes will be collected in March and April, and the concert schedule will be released in May. Although a few venues are already solidified, the philharmonic is looking for additional locations or communities that would be excited about the orchestra performing for their community residents. Concerts will be free and open to the public, and will follow all mandated COVID-safety restrictions in place at the time.”

“The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted a national search … for its first-ever chief diversity and inclusion officer,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Friday’s (3/12) Cincinnati Business Courier. “In the end, they found the right person in their own backyard. The orchestra announced on March 12 the appointment of Harold Brown, who resides in the Glendale area, for the newly created executive leadership position. As chief diversity and inclusion officer, one of the first positions of its kind at a major American orchestra, Brown will guide the CSO’s new action plan to tackle issues of diversity, equity and inclusion across its entire operation. He will begin on March 17 as part of the senior management team, reporting to president and CEO Jonathan Martin. ‘A big part of this work is helping this orchestra to become a better, more accessible and more relevant community partner … ‘ Brown said. ‘There are a lot of programs already under way that are doing great things.’… Brown, a native of Oxford and a Harvard University graduate, has previously held positions at Interact for Health, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and KnowledgeWorks…. He and his wife, Gwen, have been leading donors of the orchestra’s annual Classical Roots concert.”

“President Joe Biden signed the $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief package into law,” reports Mark Hrywna in Wednesday’s (3/10) Nonprofit Times. “The legislation includes billions for nonprofits and public service … The American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319) passed the House on Feb. 27 … The third federal relief package since the pandemic was declared a year ago, the American Rescue Plan Act includes billions in support for state and local governments and expanded eligibility for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP)…. The bill extends to Sept. 6 the subsidy for costs incurred by employers, including nonprofits, that provide unemployment benefits on a reimbursable basis versus tax contributions…. The Employee Retention Tax Credit would be extended through the end of the year…. The December stimulus added 501(c)(6) associations as PPP eligible. This latest stimulus would make charities eligible if they employ up to 500 people per physical location and adds another $7.25 billion in funding, bringing the total available to $813 billion. The Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program—a.k.a., the #SaveOurStages campaign—would get an additional $1.25 billion, including $500,000 set aside for technical assistance to help entities apply for grants.” Read League of American Orchestras resources explaining the impact of the plan on orchestras here.

On March 10, Young Concert Artists will live-stream a concert from New York City’s Merkin Hall by Steven Banks, the first classical saxophonist on its roster. The program—featuring Banks, pianist Xak Bjerken, and members of the Zorá Quartet—will include the world premieres of Carlos Simon’s hear them for tenor saxophone and piano (a co-commission with Washington Performing Arts), Saad Hadid’s A Sonata for When Time Stands Still, and Banks’s own Come as You Are, influenced by the African-American church music that was part of Banks’s childhood. Each of the latter work’s four movements is dedicated to a different member of Banks’s family, and takes inspiration from their favorite spiritual or sacred song (“Lift My Eyes,” “Times of the Storm,” “Strength of My Life” and “Lift My Hands”). Also on the program: Mozart’s Oboe Quartet and Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73. Banks was among the first-prize winners of the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, who also included Quartet Amabile and pianists Martin James Bartlett and Albert Cano Smit. The program will be live-streamed on YCA’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

“The final notes of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ (‘The Song of the Earth’) drifted away on a glowing cloud of harp and celesta,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Saturday’s (3/6) Cincinnati Business Courier (OH). “No one—not the musicians, the conductor Matthias Pintscher nor the 300 listeners in Music Hall on Friday—breathed for a full minute after mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung left us with these words, ‘Ewig, Ewig’ (forever, forever). There are almost no words to describe the orchestra’s exquisite performance of Gustav Mahler’s work. Part song cycle, part symphony, ‘The Song of the Earth’ is … simultaneously uplifting and devastating…. It was a performance that was stirring and memorable, particularly for the poetic texts so beautifully interpreted by DeYoung and tenor Sean Panikkar…. With this concert, guest conductor Pintscher begins a three-season appointment as the orchestra’s creative director…. There was no foot-dragging in the funeral march at its center. Every moment was gripping…. Several [CSO musicians] deserve special mention, notably oboist Dwight Parry, flutist Randolph Bowman and piccolo player Joan Voorhees…. The work was about 70 minutes in length, an ideal choice for the CSO’s in-person series featuring shorter concerts with no intermission.”

“The phrase ‘live streamed from the Weill Center’ is in effect through May for the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra,” writes Warren Gerds in Monday’s (3/8) WFRV-TV (northern Wisconsin). “For COVID-19 pandemic reasons, three virtual performances are scheduled from the Weill Center for the Performing Arts [in Sheboygan]…. On March 13 … the orchestra’s string and wind sections will take turns in an eclectic program” of Ching-Chu Hu’s Spheres of Influence for string sextet; Rimsky-Korsakov’s String Sextet in A Major; and, for winds, Ibert’s Trois pieces breves; Amy Beach’s Pastorale; William Grant Still’s Miniatures for woodwind quintet; and Gounod’s Petite Symphonie. The orchestra’s percussion section will be featured in an April 10 program of music by John Alfieri, Nigel Westlake, Bob Becker, Andy Akiho, Molly Joyce, Carlos Chavez, Ivan Trevino, and Christopher Rouse. A May 8 program of “works seldom heard in the concert hall” will include music by Copland, Tchaikovsky, and Louise Farrenc. “The orchestra previously this season presented programs from the Weill Center on Dec. 12 and Feb. 13.”

“In 1931, Rochester’s orchestra made history when it played the ‘Afro-American Symphony’ by composer William Grant Still,” reports Brenda Tremblay on Mondays’ (3/8) WXXI News (Rochester, NY). “It was the first time in the U.S. that a leading orchestra played a major work by a Black composer, and it was a smashing success. But since then, a lot has changed. The population of Rochester was 98% white then. Black and Hispanic people make up the majority now, and the city has deep and troubling concentrations of poverty and economic segregation. Yet, the city’s orchestra has remained an essentially white institution with a stated desire to reflect the people it serves. New leadership signals the possibility of a new direction. [Newly appointed Music Director] Andreas Delfs … said he recognizes that having only one Black player, trumpeter Herb Smith, presents a long-term challenge for the orchestra…. According to the most recent study by the League of American Orchestras, Black musicians represented 1.8% of the nation’s orchestra players in 2014.… Lee Koonce, president and artistic director of Gateways Music Festival, an organization based in Rochester that fosters concerts featuring professional classical musicians of African descent…. and Delfs agree that creating a pipeline of talented young musicians is key to creating racial equity in institutions like the RPO.”