In Friday’s (5/8) Seattle Times, Michael Upchurch reports, “For the first time, the Seattle Symphony is appointing an ‘Artist in Association’: Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly. The occasion will be marked by a limited-edition release of a Seattle Symphony recording of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (‘Symphony of a Thousand’). A monoprint by Chihuly, ‘Mahler’s Eighth Sister,’ serves as cover art. Chihuly will donate the original ‘Mahler’s Eighth Sister’ to the symphony. Eighty-eight limited-run lithographs of a related Chihuly work, ‘Symphony Sisters,’ will be on sale through the Symphony. Anyone who attends the symphony is bound to be aware of Chihuly’s ‘Crystal Cascade,’ two elaborate chandeliers, created for Benaroya Hall’s opening in 1998, that hang at either end of the outer foyer. Of the new project, Chihuly says, ‘It is a pleasure to once again be working with the symphony and Maestro Schwarz on a project.’ Chihuly also contributed visual elements to symphony performances of Béla Bartók’s ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ and ‘The Genesis Suite’ (composed by Arnold Schoeberg, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud and four other composers).”
Posted May 8, 2009
Photo: Glass artist Dale Chihuly and Seattle Symphony Music Director Gerard Schwarz stand with some of Chihuly’s work.
Credit: Terry Rishel