Sept. 4-24: La Ballonniste – Opera-in-Progress by Composer Lisa Bielawa with Libretto by Claire Solomon – Workshop Performance Presented by University Opera at the Mead Witter School of Music

Opera-in-Progress La Ballonniste to be Workshopped at University of Wisconsin–Madison from September 4-24

Lisa Bielawa, Composer & Claire Solomon, Librettist
Cori Ellison, Dramaturg
with University Opera at the Mead Witter School of Music

Workshop Performance: Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Hamel Music Center, Collins Recital Hall | University of Wisconsin-Madison
740 University Avenue | Madison, WI

Free and open to the public, no tickets required
More Information

“Bielawa’s music is thoughtful and approachable. She’s a voice in what you might call the new accessible avant-garde.” – Gramophone Magazine

Lisa Bielawa: www.lisabielawa.net

Madison, WI – Guggenheim and Rome Prize-winning composer, producer, and vocalist Lisa Bielawa – described as “a dynamic and innovative composer” by The Boston Globe – will workshop her opera-in-progress, La Ballonniste, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from September 4-24, 2024, collaborating with University Opera at the Mead Witter School of Music, and joined by the opera’s librettist Claire Solomon and dramaturg Cori Ellison.

The development period will culminate with a workshop performance of La Ballonniste on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 7:30pm in Collins Recital Hall at the Hamel Music Center (740 University Avenue) featuring University vocalists May Kohler, Ben Johnson, Brendin Larson, Alex Cook, and others to be announced. The work-in-progress performance is open to the public to attend, free of charge (no registration required).

Lisa Bielawa’s music has been described as “ruminative, pointillistic and harmonically slightly tart,” by The New York Times, and “fluid and arresting ... at once dramatic and probing,” by the San Francisco Chronicle. She is the recipient of the Music Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters and an OPERA America Grant for Female Composers. She was named a William Randolph Hearst Visiting Artist Fellow at the American Antiquarian Society for 2018 and was Artist-in-Residence at Kaufman Music Center in New York for the 2020-2021 season. Recently she completed a Loghaven Artist Residency and was part of the inaugural Louisville Orchestra’s Creators Corps. She received a Los Angeles Area Emmy nomination for her unprecedented, made-for-TV-and-online opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser. For her Guggenheim Fellowship period, Bielawa is writing and developing this new opera as well as a book of prose vignettes from her experiences and encounters with music in a variety of international settings.

La Ballonniste is a heartfelt comedy centering on 18th century French opera singer Élisabeth Tible: the first woman to fly in a hot air balloon. The opera opens in 1784, Lyon, on the cusp of the French Revolution, as balloon madness sweeps France.

The opera takes its themes from beloved entertainments of the ancien régime (the “old regime” of kings that was about to be overthrown in the French Revolution), satirizing the blurry line between power and magic and the hubris of Europe’s ruling class, in an era of vast inequality, much like our own. Élisabeth is fashioned on the heroines of opéra comique, her métier; its tropes and techniques inform every aspect of the opera, with buffoonery, animated wax statues of royalty, a revolutionary chorus and demonic orchestra, a neoclassical deus ex machina, and multiple musical styles in unholy alliance. We follow Élisabeth as she breaks free of a controlling husband, who – as a “waxworker” or creator of lifelike wax effigies – prefers inanimate women; finds an ally in artist-balloon pilot (aeronaut) Fleurant; and finally defies both gravity and the rigid social class structure of her day to fly free and sing her prophetic vision from the air.

The “globe aérostatique,” as the first gas balloons were called, was an instant craze and the ultimate autocratic status symbol: expensive, dangerous, drifting uncontrollably through the skies to the amazement of crowds up to 400,000 people, the ballon symbolizes absolute power and its fragility. La Ballonniste is a romp, but it is also an allegory for the end of absolutism with resonance in our own time. It stages the lush excesses of the ancient régime as freedom soars as a descant, above the skies, in a rapture of aesthetic pleasure.

“The discovery of this forgotten woman’s story, brought to life with such humor and humanity in Claire’s superb libretto, has taken me to totally new musical places,” Bielawa says. “Inspirations range from Shostakovich and Gogol’s The Nose, Leonard Bernstein’s Mass and the Barbie movie. These characters are full of lovable foibles and I frequently catch myself laughing while I work, but there is also tenderness underneath the sonic playfulness. It is a supreme luxury to be able to develop these characters and ideas with members of the University Opera community. Their sense of adventure and discovery is unlike any other opera department I have encountered. It’s going to be a very fun ride!”

More about Lisa Bielawa: Composer Lisa Bielawa consistently incorporates community-making as part of her artistic vision. She has created music for public spaces in Lower Manhattan, a bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville, KY, the banks of the Tiber River in Rome, on the sites of former airfields in Berlin and San Francisco, and to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. During the pandemic, Bielawa cultivated a virtual community using submitted testimonies and recorded voices from six continents through her work Broadcast from Home, now archived by the Library of Congress.

Bielawa’s music has been premiered at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, SHIFT Festival, National Cathedral, Rouen Opera, MAXXI Museum in Rome, and Helsinki Music Center, among others. Orchestras that have championed her music include The Knights, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, ROCO, and the Orlando Philharmonic. Premieres of her work have been commissioned and presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Rider, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Radio France, Yerevan Concert Hall in Armenia, the Venice Architectural Biennale, American Music Week in Salzburg, the INFANT Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, and more. www.lisabielawa.net

For Calendar Editors:

Concert details:

What: Workshop Performance of Opera-in-Progress La Ballonniste
Lisa Bielawa, Composer & Claire Solomon, Librettist
Who: University Opera at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
When: Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 7:30pm
Where: Hamel Music Center’s Collins Recital Hall, 740 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
More information: www.music.wisc.edu/events/la-ballonniste

Description: University Opera at the Mead Witter School of Music presents a special workshop performance of La Ballonniste – a new forthcoming opera by composer Lisa Bielawa, with a libretto by Claire Solomon. The opera, which spans three short acts, highlights the rise of Elisabeth Tible – abandoned wife of a maker of wax effigies and aspiring soprano to iconic status as the first female balloonist in late 18th-century France.

Oct 11: ECM New Series Releases Yuuko Shiokawa & András Schiff's New Recording of Brahms & Schumann

ECM New Series Releases

Brahms & Schumann
Yuuko Shiokawa, violin & András Schiff, piano

First Single Available: Brahms' Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, op. 78: Adagio
Listen Now

ECM New Series 2815
CD 0289 4875 878 4
Release: October 11, 2024

Press downloads and CDs available upon request

After tackling the sonatas for violin and piano of Bach, Busoni and Beethoven in 2017 – a “thoughtfully determined and subtly interconnected programme” according to Strad magazine –, the duo of Yuuko Shiokawa and András Schiff returns with striking renditions of Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 1 and Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 2. When the violinist and pianist made their first joint appearance on the label with the 2000 recording of Schubert’s C major fantasy for violin and piano, Gramophone magazine was in awe with their performance, raving how “from the start, there's an air of magic,” and calling the renditions “interpretations of rare penetration and individuality: a must for the Schubert section in your collection.” Now turning their gaze to the Schubert-admirer Schumann and his contemporary Brahms, the duo offers a deeper look into core repertory of Romantic chamber music. 

Brahms’s First Violin Sonata in G major, known as the “Regenliedsonate” (Rain Sonata)”, with its final movement incorporating motifs from his two songs “Regenlied” (Rain Song) and “Nachklang” (Lingering Sound), is presented in an evocative guise. In his liner note, Wolfgang Stähr notes how, from those two previous songs, “Brahms adopts not only the theme, but also the “rainy,” onomatopoeic, dripping piano accompaniment. He had given these two poetically and melodically linked songs to his lifelong friend Clara Schumann for her 54th birthday.” In an overwhelmed response, she wrote she couldn’t believe “that anyone feels about this tune as rapturously and wistfully as I do.” The motif from the “Regenlied” appears twice, its triple d in dotted rhythm opening both the first and the third movement, bringing the overreaching theme full circle. 

The Brahms sonata stands in an inviting juxtaposition with Schumann’s at times vigorously driving Sonata in D minor. Completed almost 30 years prior, in 1851, the sonata was premièred by Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim in 1853 – the link between Clara Schumann and Brahms kept well maintained. That same year, Brahms and Schumann, together with Albert Dietrich, composed the collaborative F-A-E Sonata, whose c minor scherzo, contributed by Brahms, was most likely inspired by the second movement in b minor of this Schumann sonata.

Devoting themselves completely to the music of these composer-friends, Yuuko Shiokawa and András Schiff once again display their own rare duo understanding throughout their third collective undertaking for ECM’s New Series. Recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.

The recording can be viewed in both the context of the duo’s longstanding collaborative partnership in chamber music and Schiff’s more recent deeper foray into the music of Brahms, which includes the 2020 recording of the composer’s clarinet sonatas alongside Jörg Widmann and the critically acclaimed 2021 recording of Brahms’s piano concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (“A vibrant new recording - Mr. Schiff and the outstanding players make [the concertos] sound intimate and human-scale.” – New York Times

Oct. 15: Sacred and Profane: Music by Robert Sirota & Sheree Clement Performed at New York City's Symphony Space

L-R Photo of Robert Sirota by Ryuhei Shindo, Photo of Sheree Clement by Tatiana Daubek. Photos may be found here.

Sacred and Profane:
Music by Robert Sirota & Sheree Clement
Performed at Symphony Space

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 7:30pm
Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space
2537 Broadway | New York, NY
Tickets and More Information

www.RobertSirota.com | www.ShereeClement.com

New York, NY – Composers Robert Sirota and Sheree Clement present a shared evening of their music titled Sacred and Profane on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 7:30pm at Symphony Space in Leonard Nimoy Thalia (2537 Broadway). Sacred and Profane invites audiences to explore the dual narratives of conflict and reconciliation. A unique blend of chamber music and opera, Sirota and Clement’s music grapples with the human condition through the lenses of comedy, drama, and lyricism.

The evening will feature an all-star group of performers including soprano Ariadne Greif, baritone Paul Pinto, the Momenta Quartet, cellist Benjamin Larsen, pianist Hyungjin Choi, flutist Roberta Michel, violists Jonah Sirota and Nadia Sirota, and percussionist Katherine Fortunato.

Sacred and Profane opens with Robert Sirota’s Broken Places (2016), which comprises seven brief movements as a meditation on the theme of brokenness. The chamber work for flute and cello is accompanied by an original poem written as a textual companion to the piece.

Continuing the theme of contrast and internal conflict, the world premiere of Sheree Clement’s Mermaid Songs (2024) for string quartet and soprano features three humorous and forthright songs containing vivid dreams of becoming a mermaid, maintaining friendships with sea urchins, and coping with chemotherapy amidst champagne cocktail parties. Setting three poems from Heather Hartley’s Adult Swim, the three songs expose conflicting truths told through Clement’s intricate musical language and candid humor.

Robert Sirota’s 2005 work A Sinner’s Diary for flute, violas, cello, percussion, and piano, opens the second half of the concert, and serves as a musical confession, probing the push and pull of suffering, doubt, and grace. Written in nine movements, Sirota describes the piece as a “surreal liturgy” with titles and themes taken from rubrics in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. He explains that the movements, which began as a kind of journaling, “evolved into a conversation between my inner demons and the angels of my better nature. This duality reflects the year in which it was written – a year that included a number of personal crises as well as abundant grace.”

The evening ends with the live premiere of Sheree Clement’s Table Manners (2020), a comedic duet with soprano Ariadne Greif, baritone Paul Pinto, and 40 pounds of silverware. With text by Phillis Levin, the duet revolves around dueling themes of friendship, competition, and greed, punctuated by mercurial moments of connection and dada comedy. Table Manners is directed by Mary Birnbaum.

More about Robert Sirota: Robert Sirota’s works have been performed by orchestras across the US and Europe; ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, Sequitur, yMusic, Chameleon Arts, and Dinosaur Annex; Concerts on the Slope; the Chiara, American, Ethel, Elmyr, Blair and Telegraph String Quartets; the Peabody, Concord, and Webster Trios; and at festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen, Yellow Barn, and Cooperstown; Bowdoin Gamper and Bowdoin International Music Festival; and Mizzou International Composers Festival. Recent commissions include Jeffrey Kahane and the Sarasota Music Festival, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Palladium Musicum, American Guild of Organists, the American String Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, the Naumburg Foundation, and yMusic, Thomas Pellaton, Carol Wincenc, Linda Chesis, Trinity Episcopal Church (Indianapolis), and Sierra Chamber Society, as well as arrangements for Paul Simon. Since 2021, Sirota has presented Muzzy Ridge Concerts, an annual series featuring performances by world-class musicians, in his home studio in Searsmont, Maine. 

Robert Sirota has received grants from the Guggenheim and Watson Foundations, NEA, Meet the Composer, and the American Music Center. His music is recorded on Legacy Recordings, National Sawdust Tracks, and the Capstone, Albany, New Voice, Gasparo and Crystal labels, and is published by Muzzy Ridge Music, Schott, Music Associates of New York, MorningStar, Theodore Presser, and To the Fore. For complete information, visit www.robertsirota.com.

About Sheree Clement: With intricate shimmering colors over fragments of tunes, Sheree Clement builds surprising narratives. She upends the listener’s expectations with politically charged texts, found sounds and unusual structures, all to wake us up to the upheaval, conflicting truths and possibilities of now. Her works have been performed in New York at Merkin Hall and Miller Theatre, at the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and at the Temple du Luxembourg, Paris, France. The New York Times has described her work as “intriguing”… “fascinating in its explorations of instrumental color” [with] “arresting moments of calm.” Winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Sheree has had her works performed by Speculum Musicae, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the Canyonlands Ensemble in Salt Lake City.

Recent premieres include Vocalise for the Naked Emperor, for the Louis Moreau Gottschalk Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Fast Fish for the New York New Music Ensemble. This fall, Sheree will also produce a music video of her work, Teeth, for solo piano and fixed media with Eliza Garth. Among her honors are grants from NYSCA and a Goddard Leiberson Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Sheree holds composition degrees from the University of Michigan and Columbia University.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Composers Robert Sirota and Sheree Clement present a shared evening of their music titled Sacred and Profane on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 7:30pm at Symphony Space in Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Sacred and Profane invites audiences to explore the dual narratives of conflict and reconciliation. A unique blend of chamber music and opera, Sirota and Clement’s music grapples with the human condition through the lenses of comedy, drama, and lyricism. The performance features an all-star group of musicians including soprano Ariadne Greif, baritone Paul Pinto, the Momenta Quartet, cellist Benjamin Larsen, pianist Hyungjin Choi, flutist Roberta Michel, violists Jonah Sirota and Nadia Sirota, and percussionist Katherine Fortunato, with stage direction by Mary Birnbaum.

Concert details:

What: Sacred and Profane: Sheree Clement and Robert Sirota
Who: Director Mary Birnbaum, pianist Hyungjin Choi, percussionist, Katherine Fortunato, soprano Ariadne Greif, cellist Benjamin Larsen, flutist Roberta Michel, The Momenta Quartet, baritone Paul Pinto, violists Jonah Sirota and Nadia Sirota
When:Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 7:30pm
Where: Symphony Space’s ​​Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway, New York, NY 10025
Tickets and Information: www.symphonyspace.org/events/vp-sacred-and-profane-sheree-clement-robert-sirota

Sept. 28: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Four Seasons Arts Performing the Music of Rebecca Clarke, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Maurice Ravel

Available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/telegraph-quartet

Telegraph Quartet Presented by Four Seasons Arts

Performing the Music of
Rebecca Clarke, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Maurice Ravel

Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 3:00pm
Berkeley Piano Club | 2724 Haste Street | Berkeley, CA
Tickets and More information

“soulfulness, tonal beauty and intelligent attention to detail”
– San Francisco Chronicle

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Berkeley, CA – On Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 3:00pm, the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group described by The New York Times as being “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” will be presented in concert by Four Seasons Arts at Berkeley Piano Club (2724 Haste Street), performing Rebecca Clarke’s Poem for String Quartet, Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp”, and Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major. The Telegraph Quartet recorded the latter work as part of their newest album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths –– the first in a three-volume album series exploring string quartets of the 20th century.

The Telegraph Quartet formed in 2013 with an equal passion for standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as, “an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape” and “powerfully adept… with a combination of brilliance and subtlety,” the Telegraph Quartet was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

This Saturday afternoon performance will feature works that were composed by Clarke, Beethoven, and Ravel during the early 19th and 20th centuries. Rebecca Clarke wrote her Poem for String Quartet –– a serene work rooted in rhythmic and melodic repetition –– in 1926. However, she would never see the work published before her passing in 1979. Beethoven had begun losing his hearing by his late 20s and by the time the good-natured “Harp” Quartet was composed in 1809, its cheery quality belied the composer’s 11-year-long struggle with hearing loss that inevitably kept him from fully experiencing this work. Ravel and Debussy held a great deal of mutual respect and admiration for each other’s work. Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major is inspired by and modeled after Debussy’s own string quartet, which he composed 10 years prior. Ravel’s quartet embraces the conventional four-movement classical structure and uses the quartet medium to find a space and vibrancy; it uses clear, etched themes set against a backdrop of colorfully evocative environments.

The Telegraph Quartet’s latest album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths, was released in 2023 on Azica Records. The first in the Telegraph’s three-album series focused on string quartets of the first half of the 20th century, Divergent Paths explores the bewildering and unbridled creativity of the period through the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Maurice Ravel, whose music on this album weaves threads of great contrast and surprising similarity. The album has been met with critical acclaim, with The New York Times reporting, “[I]n the Schoenberg, they achieve something truly special, meticulously guiding its often wayward progress. At times Schoenberg makes the four strings sound almost orchestral, but the Telegraph players can also make his contrapuntal tangles radiantly clear. Every minute of their account sounds gripping and purposeful, which is one of the highest compliments you can pay the piece.”

More about Telegraph Quartet: The Telegraph Quartet has performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Masters Series, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival. They have collaborated with pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein; cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton; violinist Ian Swensen; St. Lawrence Quartet, and the Henschel Quartett. A fervent champion of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, the Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by John Harbison, Osvaldo Golijov, Robert Sirota, and Richard Festinger. In 2018 the Quartet released its debut album, Into the Light, featuring works by Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten, and Leon Kirchner on the Centaur label. The Telegraph Quartet released its new album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths––which features Ravel’s renowned quartet and Schoenberg’s first quartet––on August 25 via Azica Records.=

The Telegraph Quartet begins a residency at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance in fall 2024. From 2017-2024, the Telegraph was quartet-in-residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In addition to giving regular faculty performances, the ensemble gave master classes abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Telegraph has also served as artists-in-residence at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp, SoCal Chamber Music Workshop, and Crowden Music Center Chamber Music Workshop. In November 2020, the Telegraph Quartet launched ChamberFEAST!, a chamber music workshop in Taiwan and in fall 2020, Telegraph launched an online video project called TeleLab, in which the ensemble collectively breaks down the components of a movement from various works for quartet.

For more information, visit www.telegraphquartet.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Concert details:

Who: Telegraph Quartet
Presented by Four Seasons Arts
What: Music by Rebecca Clarke, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Maurice Ravel
When: Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 3:00pm
Where: Berkeley Piano Club, 2724 Haste Street, Berkeley, CA 94705
Tickets and information: www.fsarts.org/telegraph-string-quartet/

Description: The award-winning Telegraph Quartet, described by The New York Times as being “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” is presented in concert by Four Seasons Arts. The ensemble will perform a concert program featuring Poem for String Quartet by Rebecca Clarke, String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp” by Ludwing van Beethoven –– works noted for never being experienced by their composers, as well as a work on the ensemble’s 2023 album, Divergent Paths: String Quartet in F Major by Maurice Ravel.

Emerald City Music Announces Season 09: Global Resonance Concerts from October 2024 to May 2025 in Seattle and Olympia – Opening Weekend: American Sketches

High resolution press photos available here.

Emerald City Music Announces Season 09: Global Resonance

Fifteen Concerts from October 2024 through May 2025
in Seattle and Olympia, WA

Violinist Kristin Lee, Artistic Director

Featuring Performances by violinist Kristin Lee, pianist Jun Cho, cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, violist Melia Watras, percussionist Bonnie Whiting, Brentano String Quartet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with guitarist Jason Vieaux, Dreamers’ Circus, Canellakis-Brown Duo, flutist Sungwoo Kim, & More

Opening Weekend: October 18-19, 2024

Season Subscriptions and Single Tickets Available Now: www.emeraldcitymusic.org

Seattle & Olympia, WA – Continuing under the leadership of Artistic Director and violinist Kristin Lee, Emerald City Music (ECM) presents fifteen concerts for its Season 09 between October 2024 and May 2025 at two signature venues – in Seattle at 415 Westlake and in Olympia at The Minnaert Center for the Arts – as well as at Olympia’s Capital High School Performing Arts Center and at Lairmont Manor in Bellingham. Emerald City Music is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Known for a casual environment combined with award winning artists, ECM has gained recognition since its founding in 2015. Season subscriptions and single tickets for Season 09 are available now.

The Seattle Times reports: "ECM isn’t falling back on the tried-and-true, under the assumption that a new listener is an unadventurous, easily frightened-off listener. Instead, they’re betting that the tried-and-true could be precisely one of the barriers to sparking interest that classical-music organizations need to overcome." The concept of the concert series as a platform where artists and audiences transform one another breathes life into every element of what ECM does – from the casual open-bar setting of its flagship Seattle concert experiences, to the bustling community that faithfully assembles in its concert halls in Olympia and beyond. At Emerald City Music concerts, the audience’s presence matters, transforming the artists, the community, and the future of classical music.

Artistic Director Kristin Lee says of this year’s diverse array of performances:

“The theme for Emerald City Music over Season 09 is Global Resonance. From the lively American program that starts the season to the Spanish Journey with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Danish folk music with Dreamer's Circus, the festive Bulgarian Dance with the Canellakis-Brown Duo, and the timeless elegance of Joseph Haydn's compositions, this season is about experiencing the world's diverse musical sounds. This theme connects with our Evolution Series, featuring the flute – one of the world’s most celebrated instruments – and honors composer Pauline Oliveros, who championed the concept of ‘Deep Listening,’ encouraging us to tune into the universe's offerings.”

Emerald City Music’s Season 09 Mainstage Performances:

Kristin Lee: American Sketches

Friday, October 18, 2024 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake
Saturday October 19, 2024 at 7:30pm: The Minnaert Center for the Arts, SPSCC

Emerald City Music returns to the stage for its ninth season, celebrating Artistic Director Kristin Lee’s upcoming solo album, American Sketches, out on November 15 on First Hand Records. American Sketches captures the pride that Kristin Lee has for the U.S. as a foreign-born citizen, through tunes that embody a recognizable and spirited sound. Lee states: “It’s been quite a journey in bringing this album to life, especially since this is my very first curated album. Through recording and creating American Sketches, I’ve gained a voice and better understanding of myself. With the courage to share this album with the world, I’ve gained boldness and trust within myself. I’m embracing the changes that this process has bestowed upon me and eagerly anticipating how I will continue to evolve, bringing changes to my musical life.” For the opening weekend of Season 09, Lee performs with pianist Jun Cho, showcasing selections from the album including music by H.T. Burleigh, Jonathan Ragonese, Ernest Bloch, George Gershwin, JJ Johnson, Scott Joplin, and Amy Beach, with arrangements by Jeremy Ajani Jordan.

Composer in Focus: Pauline Oliveros’s Sound Meditations, Curated & Hosted by Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir

Friday, November 8, 2024 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake
Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 7:30pm: Capital High School Performing Arts Center

Pioneer of “deep listening” and “sonic awareness,” ECM celebrates the life and music of Pauline Oliveros. This meditative evening, curated and hosted by cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, will combine live performance, film, and an interactive audience experience. Pauline Oliveros' life was about opening her own and others' sensibilities to the universe, influencing American music profoundly through improvisation, meditation, and technological exploration. She was one of the original members of The San Francisco Tape Center – a significant resource for electronic music in the 1960s – and a founding member of the Deep Listening Band, which was formed in 1988 in Port Townsend, Washington. The concert program will include video segments from an Oliveros documentary that explains her concept of music; performances of her compositions by Thorsteinsdóttir, Kristin Lee, violist Melia Watras, and percussionist Bonnie Whiting; along with group activities of meditation.

Quartet in Spotlight: Brentano String Quartet with Haydn’s Opus 33s

Friday, December 6, 2024 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake
Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 7:30pm: Capital High School Performing Arts Center

The incomparable Brentano String Quartet, going on 30+ years as an ensemble, joins Emerald City Music’s stage for the first time with a monumental program of Haydn’s Op. 33 Quartets in its entirety. Three of the quartets will be performed in Seattle on Friday evening, the other three in Olympia the following evening – a great opportunity to experience ECM in both cities. Joseph Haydn, also known as "Papa Haydn," earned his nickname through his pioneering contributions to symphonies, string quartets, and piano trios. Throughout his life, he composed 104 symphonies and 68 string quartets, becoming a pivotal figure in classical music and a mentor to both Beethoven and Mozart. In 1781, Haydn wrote his Opus 33 string quartets, which were dedicated to the Grand Duke of Russia, leading to their nickname, the "Russian" quartets. These works are renowned for their wit and humor, including the "Joke" quartet being one of his most celebrated compositions.

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Spanish Journey

Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 7pm: Lairmont Manor, in partnership with Bellingham Friends of Music
Friday, February 7, 2025 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake
Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 7:30pm: The Minnaert Center for the Arts, SPSCC

New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center returns to the Emerald City Music, bringing a vibrant celebration of Spanish music. This exciting program features Artistic Director Kristin Lee alongside the acclaimed, GRAMMY-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux, who returns to the ECM stage. Spend a musical evening in Spain, a country of enchanting colors, rhythms, and textures, in this special evening curated by Lee. The distinctive Spanish style is beautifully expressed in piano trios of Falla and Turina, while guitar – an instrument deeply associated with Spain – is also featured, played by Jason Vieaux. Song complements the balance of the program with vocal works by Sarasate, Rodrigo, and Obradors, the texts of which beautifully express the flair and passion of the Spanish language. The combination of the guitar’s intoxicating sounds, the language’s seductive tones, and the trios’ vivid style illustrates the richness of this culture. Soprano Vanessa Becerra, cellist Clive Greensmith, and pianist Soyeon Kate Lee join Lee and Vieaux for these evocative performances.

The Return of Dreamers’ Circus

Friday, February 28, 2025 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake
Saturday March 1, 2025 at 7:30pm: The Minnaert Center for the Arts, SPSCC

After a smashing hit in 2019, having made their American West Coast debut on Emerald City Music’s stage, Dreamers’ Circus is returning to the Puget Sound from Denmark. The young Danish Trio is a driving force in Nordic world music. Contemporary and endlessly innovative in their approach, they draw inspiration from the deep traditions of folk music in the region and reshape them into something bright, shiny, and new. Dreamers’ Circus are Nikolaj Busk (DK) on piano and accordion, Ale Carr (SWE) on Nordic cittern and Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (DK), also of the Danish String Quartet, on violin. Dreamers’ Circus display inventiveness and talent in their approach to performances that include music from Denmark and Sweden as well as Finland, Norway, and the far reaches of the windswept Faroe Islands. The ensemble has won five prestigious Danish Music Awards and were named 2023 Artist of the Year by the Danish national classical radio channel P2, becoming the first non-classical group to earn that honor.

An Evening of Music and Film with Canellakis-Brown Duo

Friday, April 11, 2025 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake
Saturday April 12, 2025 at 7:30pm: The Minnaert Center for the Arts, SPSCC

Returning artists Nicholas Canellakis and Michael Stephen Brown bring a program with a twist to the ECM stage, showcasing collaborative original films in dialogue with music by Rachmaninoff, Korngold, and more, in Such Stuff as Dreams. Reinventing the cello/piano genre into a concert experience unlike any other, Such Stuff as Dreams combines the many talents of cellist-filmmaker Nicholas Canellakis and pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown into one evening. Featured on the program are two films – Canellakis’s latest short comedy My New Cello, and Such Stuff as Dreams, a mesmerizing new multimedia work for film and live score, directed by Canellakis and composed by Brown. Alongside will be evocative and thrilling music by composers with strong ties to the world of film, creating a truly singular, multi-genre event.

EVOLUTION Series: Evolution of the Flute, Co-Curated by Sungwoo Kim

Friday, May 16, 2025 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake
Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 7:30pm: TBA

An ECM fan favorite, the EVOLUTION Series is back, this time delving into the fascinating world of the flute in Evolution of the Flute, co-curated by flutist Sungwoo Kim. The flute is among the earliest known identifiable musical instruments, with origins dating back more than 53,000 years. Over millennia, this remarkable instrument has evolved through numerous stages to become the flute we know today and is one of the most celebrated woodwind instruments. This extraordinary concert will feature five exceptional flutists, each showcasing the instrument's remarkable evolution from its ancient origins to its contemporary brilliance. Experience the transformation of the flute, from a simple tube with holes to a sophisticated, multi-metal marvel with over 120 articulating parts, exploring the flute’s lineage, and witnessing a variety of flutes in diverse repertoire.

For Emerald City Music’s Complete Schedule and Concert Details, visit www.emeraldcitymusic.org/calendar.

Emerald City Music’s 2024-2025 concerts take place on Fridays at 8pm at 415 Westlake in Seattle, WA and on Saturdays at 7:30pm at The Minnaert Center for the Arts in Olympia (2011 Mottman Rd) or Capital High School Performing Arts Center (2707 Conger Ave NW). Season tickets and tickets to individual concerts are now on sale at www.emeraldcitymusic.org.

About Kristin Lee, ECM Artistic Director

Kristin Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”

As a soloist, Lee has appeared with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Tacoma Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Nordic Chamber Orchestra of Sweden, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic, and Singapore National Youth Orchestra.

She has performed on the world’s finest concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ravinia Festival, the Louvre Museum, the Phillips Collection, and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery. An accomplished chamber musician, Kristin Lee became a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center after winning The Bowers Program audition and completing the program's three-year residency. In addition to her prolific performance career, Lee is a devoted educator. She is on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin. Lee is also the founding artistic director of Emerald City Music (ECM), a chamber music series that presents authentically unique concert experiences and bridges the divide between the highest caliber classical music and the many diverse communities of the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

Kristin Lee’s honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, top prizes in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions, and awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation.

Born in Seoul, Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples, Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley. For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.

About ECM

Emerald City Music (ECM) is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Deemed “a welcoming and more inclusive environment for intimate music-making” (The Seattle Times), ECM hosts world-renowned musicians in unique concert experiences. Founded in 2015, Emerald City Music produces and tours seven productions annually, with each tour visiting Seattle’s South Lake Union (415 Westlake, a chic contemporary venue with an open bar), Olympia’s Minnaert Center (a 495 seat modern concert hall), a once annual concert at the Bellingham Music Festival, and an annual concert in New York City.

ECM has gained recognition regionally and nationally as a major player in the chamber music scene. Artistic Director Kristin Lee –– a touring violinist awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant and a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center –– is regarded for her innovative programming that both honors the tradition of chamber music while expanding the genre’s boundary past common limits. Emerald City Music made a name for itself beginning in its second season with a national collaborative commission with Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams, and has continued to press the boundary of chamber music with accolades like a tour of Steve Reich’s iconic and rare Music for 18 Musicians, a pitch-black performance of Georg Haas’s “In the Dark” quartet, and the West Coast debut of the Danish folk group The Dreamers’ Circus.

ECM values real, authentic connection and holds the belief that music possesses the innate power to connect people, inclusive of varying backgrounds and perspectives. Over eight years, artists from every corner of the globe have visited Emerald City Music to prove just that: there exists a special connection between artist and listener that only music can facilitate.

Follow ECM on Social Media

Facebook: www.facebook.com/emeraldcitymusic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/emeraldcitymusic

Sept 27: World Premiere of Rising – New Dance Piece Opens PRAx’s Season Exploring Water

World Premiere of Rising

Performed by the Neave Trio & Pigeonwing Dance
Choreography by Gabrielle Lamb & Music by Robert Sirota

Presented by PRAx and the Oregon State University
College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

Friday, September 27, 2024 at 7:00pm
Detrick Hall at Oregon State University
470 SW 15th Street | Corvallis, OR

Tickets and Information

NeaveTrio.com | PigeonwingDance.com | www.RobertSirota.com

Corvallis, OR – On Friday, September 27, 2024 at 7:00pm, the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University launch PRAx's 2024-25 season and year-long exploration of water with the world premiere performance of Rising, an evening-length work that brings together the GRAMMY®-nominated Neave Trio, New York City’s Pigeonwing Dance, a rich score by eminent composer Robert Sirota, intricately detailed choreography by Gabrielle Lamb, and the spoken words of oceanographers and naturalists. Dances about water - rivers and oceans - are among the oldest human forms of expression; but in this time of climate change and rising sea levels, Rising takes on heightened significance. The performance will be preceded by a PRAxPRELUDE Curator's Talk, “How to Carry Water,” with Ashley Stull Meyers and Kelly Bosworth at 6pm in the Toomey Lobby.

An exploration of the human connection to Earth's oceans, Rising intertwines Robert Sirota's emotive, Iyrical music with Gabrielle Lamb's choreography, rooted in restraint and scientific inspiration. Rising, developed over three years, was initiated by the Neave Trio (violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura), whose mission “to Engage, to Exchange, to Connect” prompted them to respond through music and movement to the 2021 UN Report on Climate Change. Unusually, the musicians handpicked both composer and choreographer and have been vital to shaping the work's vision. The artists wish to bring attention to the impacts of climate change and rising sea levels on marine ecosystems, while leaving space for the hope that, in the words of naturalist Craig Foster, “we can all learn to walk a little more lightly on this planet.”

Gabrielle Lamb describes Rising’s choreography and its connection to the images of its oceanic theme: “A single dancer is onstage, moving to spoken text by an oceanographer describing oceanic gyres. Words give way to the piano’s rippling arpeggios, and more dancers enter with sinuous oscillations suggestive of sea creatures. Soon, their five bodies combine into fluent living sculptures. Eye contact connects dancers, transforming abstract movement into human interaction and hinting at multiple interrelated stories.”

About the Artists

Gabrielle Lamb: www.pigeonwingdance.com/gabrielle
Robert Sirota: www.robertsirota.com
The Neave Trio: www.neavetrio.com
Pigeonwing Dance: pigeonwingdance.com

For Calendar Editors:

Description: On Friday September 27, the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University launch PRAx's 2024-25 season and year-long exploration of water with the world premiere performance of Rising, an evening-length work that brings together the Grammy-nominated Neave Trio, New York City’s Pigeonwing Dance, a rich score by eminent composer Robert Sirota, intricately detailed choreography by Gabrielle Lamb, and the spoken words of oceanographers and naturalists. Dances about water - rivers and oceans - are among the oldest human forms of expression; but in this time of climate change and rising sea levels, Rising takes on heightened significance. The performance will be preceded by a PRAxPRELUDE Curator's Talk, “How to Carry Water,” with Ashley Stull Meyers and Kelly Bosworth at 6pm in the Toomey Lobby.

Performance details:

What: Rising (world premiere)
Who: The Neave Trio, Pigeonwing Dance, Choreographer Gabrielle Lamb, and Composer Robert Sirota
Presented by PRAx and the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University
When: Friday, September 27, 2024 at 7:00pm
Where: Detrick Hall of The Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) at Oregon State University, 470 SW 15th Street, Corvallis, OR 97331
Tickets and Information: www.prax.oregonstate.edu/events/rising

Oct 8: Newport Classical Presents An Evening with GRAMMY® Award-Winning Pianist Emanuel Ax - Tickets on Sale Aug 23

Photo by Nigel Parry. Available in high resolution here.

Newport Classical Presents An Evening with Emanuel Ax

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Newport Classical Recital Hall  | 42 Dearborn St | Newport, RI
Tickets On Sale Friday, August 23, 2024 

“His greatness, his overwhelming authority as musician, technician and probing intellect emerges quickly as he plays.” – Los Angeles Times

Newport, RI – Newport Classical presents GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 7:30pm at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.). Hailed for his “thoughtful, lyrical, lustrous” playing by The Washington Post, the acclaimed American pianist will make his Newport Classical debut in a solo recital program of Beethoven and Schumann, entitled Fantasies. Paired with the intimacy of Newport Classical’s home venue, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics, Emanuel Ax brings his “youthful brio, incisive rhythm, bountiful imagination, [and] delicacy” (The New York Times) to downtown Newport for a memorable evening of music. Tickets start at $60 and go on sale on Friday, August 23.

This one-night-only performance features Beethoven’s beloved “Moonlight Sonata” and his Piano Sonata No. 13 alongside Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 and his ​​Fantasy in C, Op. 17. The program also includes John Corigliano’s Fantasia on an Ostinato, which draws inspiration from the second movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. This concert is made possible through the generous support of Joan Sweeney and Jim Godbout.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome the incomparable Emanuel Ax to our home venue for this very special one-night engagement, which promises to be an intimate evening of exceptional classical music, an experience Newport Classical is proud to be recognized for all year long,” said executive director Gillian Fox.

Born to Polish parents in what is today Lviv, Ukraine, Emanuel Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family when he was a young boy. Ax made his New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series, and in 1974 won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists, followed four years later by the Avery Fisher Prize.

His 2024-25 season begins with a continuation of the Beethoven For Three touring and recording project with partners Leonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma which takes them to European festivals including BBC Proms, Dresden, Hamburg, Vienna and Luxembourg. As guest soloist he will appear during the New York Philharmonic’s opening week which will mark his 47th annual visit to the orchestra. During the season he will return to the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, National, San Diego, Nashville, and Pittsburgh symphonies, and Rochester Philharmonic. A fall recital tour from Toronto and Boston moves west to include San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles culminating in the spring in Chicago and his annual Carnegie Hall appearance. A special project in duo with clarinetist Anthony McGill takes them from the west coast through the midwest to Georgia and Carnegie Hall and in chamber music with Itzhak Perlman and Friends to Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco. An extensive European tour will include concerts in Paris, Oslo, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Warsaw, and Israel.

Ax has been a Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987 and following the success of the Brahms Trios with Kavakos and Ma, the trio launched an ambitious, multi-year project to record all the Beethoven Trios and Symphonies arranged for trio of which the first three discs have been released. He has received GRAMMY® Awards for the second and third volumes of his cycle of Haydn’s piano sonatas. He has also made a series of GRAMMY®Award-winning recordings with Yo-Yo Ma of the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas for cello and piano. In the 2004-05 season Ax contributed to an International EMMY® Award-winning BBC documentary commemorating the Holocaust that aired on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In 2013, Ax’s recording Variations received the Echo Klassik Award for Solo Recording of the Year (19th Century Music/Piano).

Ax is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates of music from Skidmore College, New England Conservatory of Music, Yale University, and Columbia University.

More About Emanuel Ax: https://emanuelax.com/

About Newport Classical:
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 55 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

For Newport Classical’s complete concert calendar, visit www.newportclassical.org/concerts

Sept. 20: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Chamber Music Concerts Performing the Music of Rebecca Clarke, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Maurice Ravel

Photo of the Telegraph Quartet by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution here.

Telegraph Quartet Presented by Chamber Music Concerts

Performing the Music of
Rebecca Clarke, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Maurice Ravel

Friday, September 20, 2024 at 7:30pm
SOU Music Recital Hall | 450 S Mountain Ave. | ​​Ashland, OR

Tickets and More information

“full of elegance and pinpoint control” – The New York Times

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Ashland, OR – On Friday, September 20, 2024 at 7:30pm, the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group described by The Strad as having "precise tuning, textural variety and impassioned communication,” will be presented in concert by Chamber Music Concerts at Southern Oregon University at the Music Recital Hall (450 S Mountain Ave) performing Rebecca Clarke’s Poem for String Quartet, Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp”, and Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major. The Telegraph Quartet recorded the latter work as part of their newest album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths –– the first in a three volume album series exploring string quartets of the 20th century. There will be a free pre-concert lecture, one hour before the performance, presented by musicologist Ed Wight. The lecture will be held in Room 132 in the Music Building.

The Telegraph Quartet formed in 2013 with an equal passion for standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape” and “powerfully adept… with a combination of brilliance and subtlety,” the Telegraph Quartet was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

This Friday evening performance will feature works that were composed by Clarke, Beethoven, and Ravel during the early 19th and 20th centuries. Rebecca Clarke wrote her Poem for String Quartet –– a serene work rooted in rhythmic and melodic repetition –– in 1926. However, she would never see the work published and disseminated before her passing in 1979. Beethoven had begun losing his hearing by his late 20s and by the time the good-natured “Harp” Quartet was composed in 1809, its cheery quality belied the composer’s 11-year-long struggle with hearing loss that inevitably kept him from fully experiencing this work. Ravel and Debussy held a great deal of mutual respect and admiration for each other’s work. Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major is inspired by and modeled after Debussy’s own string quartet, which he composed 10 years prior. Ravel’s quartet embraces the conventional four-movement classical structure and uses the quartet medium to find a space and vibrancy; it uses clear, etched themes set against a backdrop of colorfully evocative environments.

The Telegraph Quartet’s latest album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths, was released in 2023 on Azica Records. The first in the Telegraph’s three-album series focused on string quartets of the first half of the 20th century, Divergent Paths explores the bewildering and unbridled creativity of the period through the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Maurice Ravel, whose music on this album weaves threads of great contrast and surprising similarity. The album has been met with critical acclaim, with The New York Times reporting, “[I]n the Schoenberg, they achieve something truly special, meticulously guiding its often wayward progress. At times Schoenberg makes the four strings sound almost orchestral, but the Telegraph players can also make his contrapuntal tangles radiantly clear. Every minute of their account sounds gripping and purposeful, which is one of the highest compliments you can pay the piece.”

More about Telegraph Quartet: The Telegraph Quartet has performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Masters Series, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival. They have collaborated with pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein; cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton; violinist Ian Swensen; St. Lawrence Quartet, and the Henschel Quartett. A fervent champion of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, the Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by John Harbison, Osvaldo Golijov, Robert Sirota, and Richard Festinger. In 2018 the Quartet released its debut album, Into the Light, featuring works by Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten, and Leon Kirchner on the Centaur label. The Telegraph Quartet released its new album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths––which features Ravel’s renowned quartet and Schoenberg’s first quartet––on August 25 via Azica Records.

The Telegraph Quartet begins a residency at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance in fall 2024. From 2017-2024, the Telegraph was quartet-in-residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In addition to giving regular faculty performances, the ensemble gave master classes abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Telegraph has also served as artists-in-residence at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp, SoCal Chamber Music Workshop, and Crowden Music Center Chamber Music Workshop. In November 2020, the Telegraph Quartet launched ChamberFEAST!, a chamber music workshop in Taiwan and in fall 2020, Telegraph launched an online video project called TeleLab, in which the ensemble collectively breaks down the components of a movement from various works for quartet.

For more information, visit www.telegraphquartet.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Concert details:

Who: Telegraph Quartet
Presented by Chamber Music Concerts at Southern Oregon University
What: Music by Rebecca Clarke, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Maurice Ravel
When: Friday, September 20, 2024 at 7:30pm
Where: SOU Music Recital Hall 450 S Mountain Ave Ashland, OR 97520
Tickets and information: www.chambermusicconcerts.org/concerts/telegraph-quartet

Description: The award-winning Telegraph Quartet, described by The New York Times as being “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” is presented by Chamber Music Concerts on Friday, September 20, 2024. There will be a free, pre-concert lecture, one hour before the performance, presented by musicologist Ed Wight. The lecture will be held in Room 132 in the Music Building. The ensemble will perform a concert program featuring Poem for String Quartet by Rebecca Clarke, String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp” by Ludwing van Beethoven –– works noted for never being experienced by their composers, as well as a work on the ensemble’s 2023 album, Divergent Paths: String Quartet in F Major by Maurice Ravel.

Sept 6: ECM New Series Reissues Arvo Pärt's Tabula Rasa on Vinyl

ECM New Series Announces Vinyl Reissue

Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa

Gidon Kremer: violin
Keith Jarrett: piano
Tatjana Grindenko: violin
Staatsorchester Stuttgart: orchestra
Dennis Russel Davies: conductor
The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Alfred Schnittke: prepared piano
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra
Saulius Sondeckis: conductor

ECM New Series 1275
LP: 0422 8177641 0

Vinyl Reissue Release Date: September 6, 2024

Vinyl reissue in facsimile gatefold edition, includes original liner notes in enclosed booklet

In 1984, ECM brought a new sound into the musical world with the release of Arvo Pärt’s Tabula rasa, the first album on the label’s New Series imprint.

As Paul Griffiths wrote in his liner notes for a 2010 special-edition produced in collaboration with the composer’s publisher Universal Edition: “This was the beginning, also, of an extraordinary association between composer and record producer, an example of loyalty and collegiality unique in our time. Pärt’s mature career is documented on ECM albums produced by Eicher (…) If Pärt gave ECM one of its enduring foci, ECM gave Pärt a forum he could not otherwise have found.”

Now, on the occasion of the 40th New Series anniversary, this gatefold vinyl reissue with enclosed booklet presents the record in its original guise. The record also marked the intersection of some of the most longstanding, significant musical collaborators in the label’s history: Arvo Pärt, Gidon Kremer and Keith Jarrett.

Until today the album’s enduring significance is pointed out in renowned publications:

Pärt's music reaches far beyond the conspiracy of connoisseurs who support most new classical music. He is a composer who speaks in hauntingly clear, familiar tones, yet he does not duplicate the music of the past. He has put his finger on something that is almost impossible to put into words—something to do with the power of music to obliterate the rigidities of space and time. One after the other, his chords silence the noise of the self, binding the mind to an eternal present.  – Alex Ross, The New Yorker

The album that brought Pärt’s name to the West, and to the world (…). Back in 1984 Tabula rasa helped re-educate our ears and throw open the doors of our musical sensibilities to spatial domains that had otherwise been closed to us. This is without any shadow of a doubt one of the great recordings of the last century.  – Rob Cowan, Gramophone (2023)

Sept 21 & 22: California Symphony Launches 2024-2025 Season with BEETHOVEN’S NINTH

High resolution photos available here.

California Symphony Launches its 2024-2025 Season with BEETHOVEN’S NINTH

Opening with Louise Farrenc’s Powerful Overture No. 2 

Led by Donato Cabrera, Artistic & Music Director 

Featuring Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Sidney Outlaw, baritone

With the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus
Eric Choate, Director

In Concert September 21 at 7:30pm & September 22 at 4pm
At Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts

 Free Public Pop Up Event with Amateur Music Network September 21 at 5pm
At Walnut Creek’s Water Light Public Plaza

California Symphony’s 2024-2025 Season Showcases the Crowning Achievements of
Composers at the Peak of Their Powers: Watch Donato Cabrera’s Introduction

Tickets & Information: www.californiasymphony.org

WALNUT CREEK, CA – California Symphony and Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera launch the 2024-2025 season, showcasing the crowning achievements of composers at the peak of their powers, with two thrilling concerts celebrating the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 7:30pm and Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 4pm at Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts (1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek). The concerts open with a vivacious and powerful overture by pioneering 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc, who was well known during her lifetime but whose work is only now being performed widely. Following Farrenc’s overture is Beethoven’s instantly recognizable final symphony, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces in classical music. Powerful and uplifting, the work’s final movement Ode to Joy has become an enduring anthem for unity.

Four internationally acclaimed singers with Bay Area connections – Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Sidney Outlaw, baritone – join the California Symphony and the 100-member strong San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Chorus for these performances. 

California Symphony’s Saturday performance on September 21 will be preceded by a free Pop Up event in partnership with the Amateur Music Network. From 5-5:30pm at Water Light Public Plaza (1501 Locust St., Walnut Creek), Donato Cabrera will lead an open workshop of Ode to Joy for amateur musicians. Registration (which is free, but required) is open now.

“The two works I chose to begin our 2024-25 concert series not only help define and celebrate what we’re exploring throughout the entire season, but they also represent what I believe to be a defining characteristic of the California Symphony, which is a sense of adventure,” Cabrera says. “Like the uncorking of a bottle of champagne, the incredibly elegant and exuberant overture by the 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc is an intriguing introduction to a composer unfairly neglected and rarely performed. Without intermission and with a sense of audaciousness, we will dive right into the 200th anniversary performance of one of the greatest artistic creations ever conceived, the last symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. In hearing these two works in such closeness to one another, it is my hope that both equally inform and enhance the other, giving all of us a truly unique and rewarding experience."

Louise Farrenc, largely unknown in the U.S. until recent years, is considered by some to be one of France’s most gifted 19th-century musicians. Born into an artistic family – her father and brother both being Rome Prize-winning sculptors – Farrenc lived at the Sorbonne, and at age 15 became the first woman accepted to study music composition at the Paris Conservatory. She concertized throughout France for decades, and at age 38 became the only woman until the 20th century to hold the position of Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory. Farrenc wrote many pieces for piano, as well as a significant number of chamber music and orchestral works. Her bold and dynamic Overture No. 2 in E-flat, which opens California Symphony’s season, was one of her first works for orchestra, written in 1834 when she was thirty years old and already a formidable composer.

A masterpiece that celebrates our shared humanity, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was revolutionary in its time and remains one of the most iconic pieces of music in history. Not only was it longer than most symphonies that came before it, it was also the first ever to feature vocal soloists and a full choir. Composed by Beethoven when he was almost completely deaf, the Symphony is loved around the world as a symbol of unity and happiness, particularly because of the well-known setting of Friedrich Schiller’s poem, Ode to Joy. As California Symphony program annotator Scott Foglesong puts it, “For many, that meaning is wrapped up in a hope, or even a certainty, in a future that will be better, that the human spirit will win out in the end, that if we just believe in ourselves enough, present difficulties will give way to future happiness… We are all blessed with the divine spark, Beethoven says: it is our universal, imperishable and eternal birthright. All we have to do is claim it.”

Illustrating California Symphony’s signature approach to creating vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, including works by American composers and by living composers, the 2024-2025 season features the iconic final symphonies of titans of classical music Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the unfinished masterpieces of Anton Bruckner and Franz Schubert; a Grammy-winning Disney Fantasia-esque concerto for film and orchestra by Bay Area composer Mason Bates paired with Benjamin Britten’s lively introduction to the ensemble; a world premiere by the orchestra’s 2023-2026 Young American Composer-in-Residence Saad Haddad; a recent work by Grammy-nominated composer and Kennedy Center composer-in-residence Carlos Simon; Joaquin Rodrigo’s famous tour-de-force guitar concerto Concierto de Aranjuez; and rarely performed music by 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc and 20th-century Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz.

Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Donato Cabrera since 2013. Its concert season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California serves a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area. California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through this commitment to community, imaginative programming, and its support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere.

Three, four, and five-concert subscriptions start at $120 and are available now. Single tickets start at $50 and at $25 for students 25 and under. A 30-minute pre-concert talk and Q&A led by lecturer Scott Fogelsong will begin one hour before each performance. More information is available at CaliforniaSymphony.org.

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

WHAT: California Symphony presents Beethoven’s Ninth 

California Symphony and Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera launch the 2024-2025 season with two thrilling concerts celebrating the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a monumental masterpiece that celebrates our shared humanity. The concerts open with a vivacious and powerful overture by pioneering 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc, who was well known during her lifetime but whose work is only now being performed widely. Following Farrenc’s overture is Beethoven’s instantly recognizable final symphony, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces in classical music. Four internationally acclaimed singers with Bay Area connections –  Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Sidney Outlaw, baritone – join the California Symphony and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Chorus. Powerful and uplifting, the work’s final movement Ode to Joy has become an enduring anthem for unity. 

California Symphony takes the stuffiness out of the concert experience: Take selfies at the photo booth, order a signature cocktail, and sip at your seat. Tickets include a free 30-minute pre-concert talk by award-winning instructor Scott Foglesong, starting one hour before the show.

WHEN: Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 7:30pm   
Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 4:00pm

WHERE: Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek

CONCERT:

BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
7:30pm, Saturday, September 21
4:00pm, Sunday, September 22

Donato Cabrera, conductor
California Symphony

Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Sidney Outlaw, baritone

San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus, Eric Choate, Director

PROGRAM:

Louise Farrenc: Overture No. 2 in E-flat

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 

TICKETS: Three, four, and five-concert subscriptions start at $120 and are available now. Single tickets start at $50 and at $25 for students 25 and under.

INFO: For more information or to purchase tickets, the public may visit CaliforniaSymphony.org or call the Lesher Center Ticket Office at (925) 943-7469 (open Wed – Sun, noon to 6pm). 

PHOTOS: Available here.

About the California Symphony:

Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera since 2013. It is distinguished by its vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, including works by American composers and by living composers. Its concert season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California serves a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area.

California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through this commitment to community, imaginative programming, and its support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere.

Since 1991, California Symphony's three-year Young American Composer-in-Residence program has provided a composer with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with the orchestra over three consecutive years to create, rehearse, premiere, and record three major orchestra compositions, one each season. Every Composer-in-Residence has gone on to win top honors and accolades in the field, including the Rome Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Awards, and more.

The orchestra's nationally recognized educational initiative Sound Minds impacts students' trajectories by providing instruction for violin or cello and musicianship skills. Sound Minds has proven to contribute directly to improved reading and math proficiencies and character development, as students set and achieve goals, learn communication and problem-solving skills, and gain self-confidence. Inspired by the El Sistema program of Venezuela, the program is offered completely free of charge to the students and families of Downer Elementary School in San Pablo, California.

Through its innovative adult education program Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed, California Symphony provides lifelong learners a fun-filled introduction to the orchestra and classical music. Led by celebrated educator and California Symphony program annotator Scott Foglesong, these live classes are held over four weeks in the summer annually and are available to stream online year-round.

In 2017, California Symphony became the first orchestra with a public statement of a commitment to diversity. Its website is available in both Spanish and English.

Reaching far beyond the performance hall, since 2020 the orchestra's concerts have been broadcast nationally on multiple radio series through Classical California (KUSC/KDFC) and the WFMT Radio Network, reaching over 1.5 million listeners across the country.

For more information, visit CaliforniaSymphony.org.

California Symphony’s 2024-25 season is sponsored by the Lesher Foundation.

Oct. 18: Sony Classical Presents Charles Ives – The Anniversary Edition in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the American Composer

Sony Classical Presents
Charles Ives – The Anniversary Edition
in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of
American Composer Charles Ives

The first re-issue of Columbia Masterworks legendary
Anniversary Edition from 1974
In collaboration with Yale Music Library, home of the Charles Ives papers

Album Release Date: October 18, 2024
Reviewer Rate Upon Request

On the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Ives – acclaimed by his champion Leonard Bernstein as the “first great American composer”, who, “all alone in his Connecticut barn, created his own private musical revolution” – Sony Classical presents the most authoritative recording collection ever released of works by this eccentric, prophetic genius. The 5-CD box set Charles Ives – The Anniversary Edition, which will be released by Sony Classical on October 18, 2024, is a unique and provocative introduction only released previously 50 years ago on LP by Columbia Masterworks under the art direction of Henrietta Condak to celebrate Ives’s centenary.

The first disc examines “The Many Faces of Charles Ives” through eight diverse works recorded between 1964 and 1970: Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in The Fourth of July and The Unanswered Question; General William Booth Enters into Heaven, one of Ives’s towering achievements, and The Circus Band are performed by the Gregg Smith Singers; baritone Thomas Stewart sings the moving song In Flanders Fields; organist E. Power Biggs plays Ives’s Variations on “America”; composer Gunther Schuller conducts The Pond for chamber orchestra; and the Largo cantabile Hymn is performed by the New York String Quartet and double bass player Alvin Brehm.

CD 2, “The Celestial Country”, offers Ives’s early cantata by that name, composed in 1897–99 for his conservative Yale composition teacher Horatio Parker. It is sung by the Gregg Smith Singers (accompanied by the Columbia Chamber Orchestra), who also perform arrangements of four of Ives’s most powerful patriotic songs with the American Symphony Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski conducting.

“The Things Our Fathers Loved”, CD 3, contains 25 of Ives’s songs, delivered by the soprano Helen Boatwright, who specialized in American song. She is partnered by John Kirkpatrick, who studied and worked closely with Ives and is still regarded as the most authoritative interpreter of his piano music. Gramophone in 1974 praised this famous recording as “the finest selection ever to appear” on LP of “what may well turn out to be considered his most important, characteristic and consistently inspired body of music.”

The next CD is unusually revealing: “Ives Plays Ives” features the composer himself in 1933, 1938 and 1943, thumping out snippets of his pathbreaking “Concord” Sonata and shorter piano pieces in the New York recording studio of Mary Howard, Toscanini’s recording engineer. In his performance of the “Concord” Sonata’s slow movement, “The Alcotts”, wrote a Gramophone commentator, Ives “Ives’s playing is heartfelt but objective, a yin-meets-yang quality that wise performances embrace.” During three brief extracts from “Emerson”, the sonata’s opening movement, the writer goes on to say, “Ives hands pianists a timbral blueprint for the base sound he imagined: bangy attack, boozy rhythmic freedom; this is not the time or the place for consciously refined, ‘pretty’ playing.”

The last disc in the set is called “Charles Ives Remembered”. This fascinating collage of spoken reminiscences was the first-ever documentation of a musical figure using oral history. More than 50 interviews with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues create a vivid memory portrait of this enigmatic figure in the voices of the people who knew him best. Moving from Ives’s childhood and years at Yale to his public career as an insurance executive and his private career as a composer, the memories and reflections assembled by award-winning musicologist Vivian Perlis provide a multi-faceted and humanizing view of an enigmatic American musical icon.

SET CONTENTS

DISC 1

The Many Faces Of Charles Ives
The Fourth Of July • The Unanswered Question • In Flanders Fields • Hymn (Largo Cantabile) • The Pond • Variations On "America" • The Circus Band • General William Booth Enters Into Heaven

DISC 2

The Celestial Country
They Are There! (Choral Version) • Majority (Or The Masses) • An Election • Lincoln, The Great Commoner

DISC 3

The Things Our Fathers Loved
25 Ives Songs
Helen Boatwright, soprano; John Kirkpatrick, piano

DISC 4

Ives Plays Ives
Charles Ives performs his own works at the piano

DISC 5

Charles Ives Remembered
Reminiscences Of the Composer By Relatives, Friends And Associates
With A. J. "Babe" LaPine, Bernard Herrmann, Bigelow Ives, Charles Buesing, Chester Ives, Elliott Carter, George Tyler, John Kirkpatrick, Julian Myrick, L. Parkins, Lehman Engel, Mary Howard, Mrs. George F. Roberts, Richard Ives, Watson Washburn
Interviewer: Vivian Perlis

Newport Classical Announces Free Fall Community Concerts on September 8 and October 6

Newport Classical Community Concert in 2023, featuring Kinan Azmeh CityBand, at Newport Craft Brewing. Available in high resolution here.

Newport Classical Announces Fall Community Concerts

Free, Casual, and Welcoming to All
Presented by BankNewport

Fulton Chamber Players
Sunday, September 8, 2024 at 2:30pm
Newport Craft Brewing | 293 JT Connell Highway | Newport, RI

Bridge & Wolak
Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 2:30pm
Newport Classical Recital Hall | 42 Dearborn Street | Newport, RI

Information & Registration: www.newportclassical.org

Newport, RI – Newport Classical presents two fall Community Concerts featuring Fulton Chamber Players on Sunday, September 8, 2024 at 2:30pm at Newport Craft Brewing (293 JT Connell Highway) and Bridge & Wolak on Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 2:30pm at the Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn Street). Audiences can look forward to these casual, engaging, and welcoming concerts – presented right in their own Newport neighborhoods. The performances are free and advanced registration is requested but not required for both performances.

On September 8, Fulton Chamber Players (Paul Hauer, violin; Amy Hess, viola; Addison Teng, violin) kick off the 2024-2025 Newport Classical Community Concerts Series at Newport Craft Brewing. This well-traveled, world-class ensemble aims to give back to communities while inspiring the next generation of musicians. They will bring a sweeping selection of classical music from Bach and Dvořák to Scott Joplin and George Gershwin to Newport Craft’s expansive lawn overlooking the Pell Bridge in a casual, family-friendly concert. Audiences are invited to take full advantage of this unorthodox classical concert with Newport Craft beer and bites available for purchase during the outdoor performance. 

On October 6, Newport Classical welcomes the globe-trotting musical duo Bridge & Wolak (Michael Bridge, accordion, and Kornel Wolak, clarinet) to the Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport. The Canadian duo combine their shared love for classical, jazz, and world music into life-affirming concerts full of beauty, virtuosity, and humor. Their genre-fusing programs are sure to create a passionate and engaging musical adventure. It’s fun for the whole family in Newport Classical’s newly air-conditioned home venue.

These free concerts are generously presented as part of the BankNewport Community Concerts Series with additional support from the Rhode Island Foundation Newport County Fund and a Rhode Island Foundation Community Grant.

Up next, Newport Classical presents a free Children's Concert at the Newport County YMCA on Saturday, August 17 at 4pm, featuring WindSync performing Prokofiev's famous Peter and the Wolf, complete with costumes and choreography. Newport Classical’s Chamber Series opens this fall at the Newport Classical Recital Hall on September 13 with the “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) Merz Trio in an exploration of melody. On September 27, the Ariel Quartet, distinguished by its virtuosity and fiery performances, performs a concert of catharsis featuring music written in response to loss. Finnish-Cuban pianist Anton Mejias brings the US premiere of composer Philip Lasser’s response to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier to Newport on October 18. On November 1, baritone Markel Reed, known for his appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, sings the music of Brahms, Margaret Bonds, Terence Blanchard, and more. Cellist Seth Parker Woods, celebrated by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace,” explores three centuries of music with Bach’s contemplative Sarabandes as a point of departure and return in his solo cello concert on November 15. Newport Classical’s Chamber Series continues through June 2025.

For Newport Classical’s complete concert calendar, visit www.newportclassical.org/concerts

About Newport Classical:

Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 55 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

November 1: Sony Classical Presents Emanuel Feuermann – The Complete RCA Album Collection

Sony Classical Presents
Emanuel Feuermann – The Complete RCA Album Collection

New Release Date: November 1, 2024
Reviewer Rate: $34.40

Pre-Order Available Now

“Anything he played he engraved in your memory” – Richard Taruskin

For the first time ever, Sony Classical is issuing a complete collection of the recordings made for RCA Victor by the fabled Austrian cellist Emanuel Feuermann with 11 works for the first time on CD transferred from the original master discs. The set, which will be released on September 20, 2024, comes with new liner notes by violin expert John Maltese as well as photos and facsimiles from the private archives of cellist Marika Hughes, granddaughter of Emanuel Feuermann.

In his tragically short career – mainly in Germany, until the Nazi regime dismissed him from his position at the Berlin conservatory in 1933, and in the US, where he emigrated five years later – Feuermann took the art of cello playing to new heights. Eugene Ormandy declared that his cello revealed to the conductor what music really means. In the words of American critic-pianist-composer Jed Distler, “Feuermann had everything: an intense, focused tone that sings with expressive economy, controlled warmth, centered intonation, a smooth yet variegated bow arm, one of the most adroit left hands in the business (what effortless double stops!), unswerving integrity, and impeccable taste.” “Anything he played he engraved in your memory,” wrote musicologist Richard Taruskin.

Feuermann made some celebrated recordings in Germany and England, but it is the post-emigration albums for RCA on which his iconic reputation largely rests. Produced in New York, Philadelphia and Hollywood between 1939 and 1941, the year before he died at the age of only 39 (the result of negligence during a routine operation) – they include the Brahms Double Concerto (with violinist Jascha Heifetz) and Strauss’s Don Quixote, both with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy; and Bloch’s Schelomo with the Philadelphians under Leopold Stokowski.

Feuermann’s benchmark RCA chamber music catalog comprises Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart and Brahms piano trios with Heifetz and Rubinstein; a Beethoven string duo and a Dohnányi string trio with Heifetz and viola great William Primrose; as well as a host of duo recordings – some never before issued at all – with the outstanding German-American pianist Franz Rupp (accompanist of Fritz Kreisler and singers from Lotte Lehmann and Beniamino Gigli to Marian Anderson), including Mendelssohn’s Second Cello Sonata and shorter works and transcriptions ranging from Bach and Handel to Fauré and Canteloube.

SET CONTENTS

DISC 1:

Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Op. 102 with Jascha Heifetz, violin
Bloch: Schelomo - Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello & Orchestra

DISC 2:

Schubert: Piano Trio in B-Flat Major, D. 898 with Jascha Heifetz, violin; Arthur Rubinstein, piano

DISC 3:

Beethoven: Piano Trio in B-Flat Major, Op. 97 with Jascha Heifetz, violin; Arthur Rubinstein, piano
Beethoven: Duet in E-Flat Major, WoO 32 with William Primrose, viola

DISC 4:

Mozart: Divertimento in E-Flat Major, K. 563 with Jascha Heifetz, violin; Arthur Rubinstein, piano

DISC 5:

Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8 with Jascha Heifetz, violin; Arthur Rubinstein, piano
Dohnanyi: Serenade, Op. 10 with Jascha Heifetz, violin; William Primrose, viola

DISC 6:

R. Strauss: Don Quixote, Op. 35: Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character

DISC 7:

Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 58
Canteloube de Maralet: Bourée Auvergnate in A
Fauré-Casals: Après un rêve, Op. 7, No. 1 (Transcribed for Cello by Pablo Casals)
Handel-Feuermann: Organ Concerto, Op. 4, No. 3: Movement I (Arranged for Cello and Pinao by Emanuel Feuermann)
Handel-Feuermann: Organ Concerto, Op. 4, No. 3: Movement II
Beethoven: Introduction and Polonaise brilliante, Op. 3
Chopin-Feuermann: 12 Variations from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Op. 66
Davidov: 4 Pieces, Op. 20: 2. Am Springbrunnen
J.S. Bach-Casals-Siloti: Organ Toccata in C Major, BWV 564: Adagio
Handel-Feuermann: Organ Concerto, Op.4, No.3: Movement I
Canteloube de Maralet: Bourée Auvergnate in A
Davidov: 4 Pieces, Op. 20: 2. Am Springbrunnen
Fauré-Casals: Après un rêve, Op. 7, No. 1 (Transcribed for Cello by Pablo Casals)
Ochs: Arioso -"Dank Sei Dir, Herr" with Hulda Lashanska, soprano
Schubert-Pasternack: Litanei, D. 343 with Hulda Lashanska, soprano

Sept. 5: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik & Pianist Renana Gutman Presented by the Ravinia Festival – Performing Selections from Kutik’s Celebrated Album Music from the Suitcase

Violinist Yevgeny Kutik and Pianist Renana Gutman
Presented by the Ravinia Festival

Performing Selections from Kutik’s Celebrated Album
Music from the Suitcase

Plus Major Works by Darius Milhaud, Ernest Bloch, and Felix Mendelssohn

Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 7:30pm
Bennett Gordon Hall (in the John D. Harza Building) | Highland Park, IL

Tickets and More Information

“polished dexterity and genteel, old-world charm” – WQXR

www.yevgenykutik.com

Highland Park, IL — On Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 7:30pm, longtime friends and collaborators violinist Yevgeny Kutik, known for his “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” (The New York Times) and pianist Renana Gutman, will perform at the Ravinia Festival’s Bennett Gordon Hall. The two musicians will perform selections from Kutik’s acclaimed album, Music from the Suitcase, as well as major works by Darius Milhaud, Ernest Bloch, and Felix Mendelssohn.

Recorded in 2014 on Marquis Classics, this year marks the tenth anniversary of Music from the Suitcase. The recording highlights works Kutik and his family found meaningful during their journey to the U.S. from the Soviet Union in 1990. The album’s title refers to an actual suitcase – one of only two pieces of luggage – that Kutik’s mother insisted be filled with old sheet music and brought with them to the U.S.

Most recently, Gutman, who is a Ravinia Steans Music Institute alumna, performed with Kuitk as part of the spring 2024 edition of the Birch Festival – a music and arts festival in the Berkshires of Massachusetts held twice a year* in the fall and spring, of which Kutik is the founding Artistic Director. The Birch Festival is dedicated to promoting and propelling distinct voices in music, bringing world-leading musicians for artist residencies and working in tandem with local business and cultural partnerships.

At Ravinia, Kutik and Gutman will perform an extensive and diverse concert program of selections from Music from the Suitcase, including: Preludes Nos. 10, 15, 16, and 24 from op. 34 (arr. Dmitri Tziganov) by Dmitri Shostakovich; Romance in E-flat major, Op. 44, No. 1 (arr. Henryk Wieniawski) by Anton Rubinstein; and Waltz from Cinderella, Op. 87 (arr. Mikhail Fikhtengolts) by Sergei Prokofiev. The concert will also include Le Boef sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof) by Darius Milhaud, Violin Sonata in F major by Felix Mendelssohn; and Baal Shem (Three Pictures of Chassidic Life) by Ernest Bloch.

This concert program speaks to Kutik’s appreciation for how music can connect people and cultures alike. Le Boef sur le Toit is especially meaningful for Kutik, as he was introduced to the music of Milhaud through his long time teacher and friend, Roman Totenberg: “I had spent several weeks working on the Brahms Concerto with Mr. Totenberg in painstaking detail, and he could sense I was in desperate need of a ‘fun’ distraction. He suggested the music of Milhaud, with whom Mr. Totenberg had had a particularly close working relationship, even touring South America as a violin/piano duo,” Kutik explains.

“The piece was inspired by Brazilian folk tunes and French nightclub culture. The tunes were so catchy, the extensive bitonal passages and numerous dissonant notes all so blatantly "wrong" sounding--I had never encountered a piece quite like [Le Boef sur le Toit],” Kutik says. ”It's extremely difficult for both piano and violin and I realize now that it provided me the perfect opportunity to continue my growth as a violinist and artist against the backdrop of a fun, light-hearted work.”

Kutik says of the Mendelssohn Sonata: “It is remarkable for a number of reasons but particularly so that it was unpublished for over 100 years, until Yehudi Menuhin discovered it and edited it down. It's a clear demonstration of Mendelssohn's lyric and energetic brilliance and has some very poignant moments. In my opinion, I've always seen parts of it as an exploration of his mixed background - he was baptized as a Lutheran, while his grandfather was one of the most prominent Jewish philosophers.”

Bloch composed Baal Shem Suite: ​​Three Pictures of Chassidic Life, also a tribute piece, in 1923. Dedicated to the composer's mother who passed away two years prior, the three movement work is Bloch’s deeply personal reflection on various Jewish themes.

About Yevgeny Kutik: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old-world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is also lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of both standard works and newly composed repertoire. Kutik is also ​​Artistic Director and co-founder of The Birch Festival.

A native of Minsk, Belarus, Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and immigrated to the US with his family at the age of five. An advocate for the Jewish Federations of North America, the organization that assisted his family in coming to the US, he regularly speaks and performs across the country to promote the assistance of refugees from around the world. Kutik’s discography, all on Marquis Classics, includes The Death of Juliet and Other Tales (2021), Meditations on Family (Marquis Classics 2019), Words Fail (2016), Music from the Suitcase (2014), and Sounds of Defiance (2012). Music from the Suitcase is being developed into an immersive stage and performance production for the 2024-2025 season.

Yevgeny Kutik was a featured soloist in Joseph Schwantner’s The Poet’s Hour – Soliloquy for Violin on episode six of Gerard Schwarz’s All-Star Orchestra, a made-for-television classical music concert series released on DVD by Naxos and broadcast nationally on PBS. In 2021, Kutik made his debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Leonard Slatkin, performing the world premiere of Schwantner’s Violin Concerto, an expansion of The Poet’s Hour, written specifically for Kutik. Kutik gave the world premiere of Cântico, a work for solo violin by Andreia Pinto Correia, at the Tanglewood Music Festival in August 2022. The work was co-commissioned for Kutik by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, he made his debuts at the Kennedy Center, presented by Washington Performing Arts, and at the Ravinia Festival. Kutik made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops as the First Prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. In 2006, he was awarded the Salon de Virtuosi Grant as well as the Tanglewood Music Center Jules Reiner Violin Prize.

Kutik holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and currently resides in Boston. Kutik’s violin was crafted in Italy in 1915 by Stefano Scarampella.

For more information, please visit www.yevgenykutik.com.

About Renana Gutman: Praised by The New York Times for her “passionate and insightful” playing, Renana Gutman has performed across four continents as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and collaborative artist. She played at venues like The Louvre Museum, Grenoble Museum (France), Carnegie Recital Hall, People’s Symphony Concerts, Merkin Hall (New York), St. Petersburg’s Philharmonia (Russia), Stresa Music Festival (Italy), Ravinia Rising Stars (Chicago), Jordan Hall, Gardner Museum (Boston), Herbst Theatre (St. Francisco), Menuhin Hall (UK), UNISA (South Africa), Marlboro (VT), and National Gallery, Phillips Collection, and Freer Gallery (Washington DC). Her performances are heard frequently on WQXR Young Artists Showcase, NY, WFMT Dame Myra Hess, Chicago, and MPR in Performances Today, MN.

Renana was one of four young pianists selected by the renowned Leon Fleisher to participate in his workshop on Beethoven piano sonatas hosted by Carnegie Hall, where she presented performances of “Hammerklavier” and “Appassionata” to critical acclaim. Her recording of Chopin etudes op.25 will be released soon by “The Chopin Project.” A top prize winner at Los Angeles Liszt competition, International Keyboard Festival in New York, and Tel-Hai International Master Classes, she performed concerti such as Brahms 2nd, Rachmaninoff-Paganini Variations, and Beethoven’s “Emperor” with the Jerusalem Symphony, Haifa Symphony, Belgian “I Fiamminghi”, and Mannes College Orchestra. Her festival appearances included Marlboro and Ravinia, where she collaborated with prominent musicians like pianist Richard Goode, clarinetist Anthony McGill and members of the Guarneri string quartet, to name a few.

Renana joined the piano faculty of Boston’s Longy School of Music of Bard College in the fall of 2019. She had previously been on the piano faculty of the Yehudi Menuhin Music School in the UK. A native of Israel, Renana started playing at the age of six, and soon after, garnered multiple awards and honors. She received scholarships from the America Israel Cultural Foundation, and the Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women. She completed her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at Mannes College of Music, NY, where she studied with Richard Goode. In Israel, her teachers were pianists Natasha Tadson, Viktor Derevianko, and the Israeli composer Arie Shapira. Renana became an American citizen in 2015 and makes her home in Boston, MA. She also pursues her passion for Argentinian Tango, languages, and poetry.

About Ravinia Festival: Ravinia believes in the power of shared, live-music moments to inspire ourselves and the world. Beyond presenting outstanding performances by the world’s greatest musicians, the nonprofit’s mission to develop broader, more diverse audiences and performers in the music industry can be seen through its community engagement and education programs like Reach Teach Play and the Steans Music Institute. Together, Ravinia’s initiatives serve tens of thousands of students, families, and young professional musicians.

The 36-acre park is home to North America’s longest-running outdoor music festival and serves as an enchanting place to experience concerts throughout the summer. Performances range from Yo-Yo Ma to John Legend to the annual summer residency of one of the world’s finest orchestras: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Guests can bring their own picnics, including food and liquor. A full range of dining options is available at the park, from concession carts to fine dining. Ravinia performances occur rain or shine. Audiences are invited to come early to enjoy various pre-concert activities, including the festival’s sculpture tour, the interactive musical playground KidsLawn, and the Ravinia Music Box.

Ravinia is the only private train stop in Illinois, with Metra’s Union Pacific North line stopping at the Grand Entrance. Since 2021, in collaboration with Metra, all trains on the Union Pacific Line honor Ravinia tickets as train fares; patrons can show their dated concert e-ticket for a free train ride to and from the park on the day of the event. The festival is located about 20 miles north of Chicago at Green Bay and Lake Cook Roads in Highland Park. Onsite parking is limited, and the festival operates a free park-and-ride shuttle bus service to nearby lots along the train line.

The safety of audiences, artists, staff and the community is Ravinia’s top priority. Expert advice guides our safety protocols, which are currently updated to ensure best practices; a variety of specialized programs and technology are engaged to ensure the venue is accessible and safe for all its patrons.

Visit the website for the most up-to-date programming and protocols. Tickets are on sale now.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, described by The New York Times as having a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” and pianist Renana Gutman, praised for her “passionate and insightful” performance, are presented as part of the Ravinia Festival on Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 7:30pm. Together, Kutik and Gutman will perform an extensive concert program featuring assorted selections from Music from the Suitcase. Released in 2014 on Marquis Classics, this marks the tenth anniversary of Music from the Suitcas – an album which highlights works Kutik and his family found meaningful during their journey to the U.S. from the Soviet Union in 1990. Their concert program will also include major works by Darius Milhaud, Ernest Bloch, and Felix Mendelssohn.

Concert details:

Who: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik and Pianist Renana Gutman
Presented by the Ravinia Festival
What: Performance of selections from Kutik’s 2014 release, Music from the Suitcase – an album featuring music Kutik and his family found meaningful when traveling to the U.S. from the Soviet Union in 1990.
When: Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 7:30pm
Where: Bennett Gordon Hall (in the John D. Harza Building) | Highland Park, IL 60035
Tickets and information: www.ravinia.org/Online/Article/090524-YevgenyKutik

Aug. 30: Violinist Joshua Bell Reunites with Cellist Steven Isserlis and Pianist Jeremy Denk in New Sony Classical Recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trios

Album Artwork – For Media Use (Download)

Violinist Joshua Bell Reunites with Cellist Steven Isserlis and Pianist Jeremy Denk
in a New Sony Classical Recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trios

Piano Trio No. 1 In D Minor, Op. 49: II. Andante Con Moto Tranquillo
Out Now - Listen Here

Album Release Date:
(Digital) August 30, 2024
(CD) October 25, 2024
Presave and Pre-Order Here

Violinist Joshua Bell reunites with two of his favorite collaborating artists and friends – cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Jeremy Denk – for Sony Classical’s new recording of the piano trios of Felix Mendelssohn, to be released digitally on August 30 and on CD on October 25 – presave and pre-order here. Accompanying today’s news is the release of the first track from the forthcoming recording - Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49: II. Andante con moto tranquillo – listen here.

The new recording follows a unique all-Brahms collection For the Love of Brahms – released by Sony Classical in 2018 – that was also a collaboration of Bell, Isserlis and Denk.

Of the new Mendelssohn Piano Trio recording, Joshua Bell notes: “Steven Isserlis and Jeremy Denk have been my most cherished chamber music partners for decades.  They bring seemingly limitless imaginations and uncanny musical intelligence to every work I have had the privilege of exploring with them. It is my hope that our mutual joy for playing chamber music and, in particular, our shared deep love for the genius of Felix Mendelssohn comes through in this recording of these Piano Trios. I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to make this album.”

The two Mendelssohn trios – No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49 (1839) and No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66 (1845) – are regarded as being among the composer’s masterpieces.

In his liner notes for the new recording, Isserlis quotes Robert Schumann’s belief – written shortly after the premiere of his friend’s Piano Trio No. 1 – that “Mendelssohn… has soared so high, that we may venture to say that he is the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the brightest among musicians, the one who looks most clearly of all through the contradictions of the time and reconciles us to them.”

Interestingly, the writing of the first trio tested even Mendelssohn’s genius, as the second would, as well.

With that in mind, listeners to this recording will find a revelatory bonus track – the original version of the song-like second movement (Andante con moto tranquillo) of Piano Trio No. 1.

"Of course, Mendelssohn had excellent reasons for his revisions,” Isserlis writes in the liner notes, “including the addition of the deeply expressive middle section; but there are a few touches in the original version which have a delightful freshness to them – which is why we decided to include it as an extra track on this disc. (Here I would like to offer thanks to the Israeli pianist Ron Regev, whose fascinating article about the two versions, and painstaking transcription of the original, made this possible.)"

Such insight is among the reasons Joshua Bell has enjoyed creative partnerships with Isserlis and Denk for much of his career, in concert and on recordings, as both a performing partner and as the music director of London’s Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Their collaboration has a lively history.

As Denk told Strings Magazine, after the Brahms recording was complete, “Steven loves to argue – but it’s in good humor – and is more obsessed with structure, Josh with the flow of the narrative. I love both structure and narrative and might be in the middle, moderating from this black monster with its keys. We know each other’s foibles and tendencies and have all chosen to play with each other over a long period of time.”

About Joshua Bell: With a career spanning almost four decades, GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. Bell has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world and continues to maintain engagements as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor, and Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com.
 

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Nov. 1: Sony Classical Releases Human Universe – New Album from Pianist and Composer Hayato Sumino

Sony Classical Releases Human Universe
New Album from Pianist and Composer Hayato Sumino

Album Release Date: November 1, 2024
Pre-order available now

Press downloads available upon request

Sony Classical announces the upcoming release of Human Universe by extraordinary young New York-based Japanese pianist and composer, Hayato Sumino (also known as Cateen), scheduled for release on November 1, 2024. The latest single from the album, Solari by Ryuichi Sakamoto, is out now.

Sumino is an exceptional artistic phenomenon: Known as Cateen, he has garnered over 1.5 million followers globally across his platforms and nearly 200 million views on YouTube to date. His participation at the 2021 International Chopin competition, where he reached the semifinals, caused a sensation and gained over 8.5M views on YouTube. In April 2024, he made a spectacular Royal Albert Hall debut with his performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue capturing the spotlight both online and in the concert hall.

Human Universe showcases Sumino’s multi-faceted gifts in a diverse selection of works that run the gamut from Bach, Handel, Purcell, Chopin, Fauré and Debussy to iconic film composers like Hans Zimmer and Ryuichi Sakamoto as well as Sumino’s own compositions and arrangements. The recording highlights his distinctive style, seamlessly merging his refined classical technique with the discerning ear of an arranger and exceptional improvisational talent.

A prodigious composer, Hayato Sumino possesses a unique and captivating style that effortlessly combines his diverse musical interests, ranging from classical and jazz to film music, post-classical, and electronica. He is also much in-demand for film and TV scores in Japan and is rapidly gaining a place as one of the leading members of the next generation of musicians for whom genre borders are simply no obstacle.

About Hayato Sumino: Born and raised in Japan, Sumino first gained international recognition in the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where his unique and characterful performances captured the hearts of the audience and where he progressed to the semi-finals. Recognized for his distinctive style which carefully blends a well-honed classical technique with the fine ear of an arranger and strong improvisational skills, he brings a unique and refreshing musical approach to the piano.

Sumino has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras around the world, including the Hamburg Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, with whom he made a recording under Marin Alsop. He shares his music with enthusiastic audiences both online and in his many live performances throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He won a coveted spot on the Forbes Japan 30 Under 30 list, became a Steinway Artist in 2021 and is an ambassador for CASIO electronic musical instruments.

Sept. 13: Sony Classical Presents Misha Dichter – The Complete RCA Victor Recordings

Sony Classical Presents
Misha Dichter – The Complete RCA Victor Recordings

First re-issue of the complete remastered RCA Victor recordings
Silver Medal winner at the 1966 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition

Album Release Date: September 13, 2024
Reviewer Rate: $22.51

Misha Dichter was born in 1945 in Shanghai, where his Polish parents had fled, by way of the trans-Siberian railroad, in order to wait out the war. In 1947, the Dichter family moved to Los Angeles where Misha began studying piano. His first significant teacher was Aube Tzerko, who had studied with Artur Schnabel. “He literally started me from scratch,” Dichter recalled. But the hard work finally paid off when he was accepted into Rosina Lhévinne's class at the Juilliard School.

“In the fall of 1965 I saw a poster in the Juilliard coatroom announcing the third annual Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow,” recalls Dichter. “I had just lost a few local competitions in Los Angeles, so I thought, why not just go for the big one?” The young pianist’s Silver Medal victory in 1966 led to a contract with RCA Victor, for whom he made the three acclaimed albums reissued here, and to the international career of this “most polished pianist” (High Fidelity).

It was inevitable, perhaps, that Dichter’s début release for the label would be given over to the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor Concerto, the same work that catapulted the competition’s first winner Van Cliburn to international stardom. Dichter was to perform the Tchaikovsky at Tanglewood, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Erich Leinsdorf, so RCA duly set up recording sessions.

Dichter’s second RCA Victor album juxtaposed selected Brahms piano pieces with Stravinsky’s 3 Movements from Petrushka, and with his third RCA release, the pianist devoted himself to Beethoven and Schubert. Arthur Rubinstein approved of Dichter’s Schubert, to the extent that he famously invited his younger colleague to his Paris home, where a film crew captured Dichter playing Schubert’s B-flat Sonata D 960 in Rubinstein’s presence. Dichter holds an equally special affinity for the A major Sonata D 959 – “it still represents to me what paradise looks and sounds like.” Sony Classical will release the first re-issue of Misha Dichter's complete remastered RCA Victor recordings on September 13, 2024.

SET CONTENTS

DISC 1:

Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in B-flat minor op. 23

DISC 2:

Brahms: Intermezzo in A minor op. 118/1
Brahms: Intermezzo in A major op. 118/2
Brahms: Capriccio in C-sharp minor op. 76/5
Brahms: Intermezzo in E major op. 116/4
Brahms: Rhapsody in E-flat major op. 119/4
Stravinsky: 3 Movements from Petrushka

DISC 3:

Beethoven: Andante in F major “Andante favori” WoO 57
Schubert: Piano Sonata in A major D 959

Sept. 13: Sony Classical Announces Jonas Kaufmann Puccini: Love Affairs – Six of Puccini’s Greatest Duets and Scenes Each with a Different Soprano

Sony Classical Presents
Jonas Kaufmann Puccini: Love Affairs

Album Release Date: September 13, 2024
Pre-order Available Now

The tenor’s new release presents six of Puccini’s greatest duets and scenes, each with a different soprano, celebrating the composer’s centenary this year.

with Anna Netrebko, Asmik Grigorian, Malin Byström, Maria Agresta,
Pretty Yende and Sonya Yoncheva.
Two famous tenor arias complete the program

Following on from his phenomenally successful GRAMMY-nominated first Puccini album in 2015, Nessun Dorma, Jonas Kaufmann now presents a new album of Puccini highlights to mark the composer’s 2024 anniversary year. He has selected for the new recording six great duets and scenes with six outstanding sopranos – legendary love scenes, emotionally-charged Love Affairs. Pre-order is available now.

“What really appealed to me was recording these very different duets with different partners,” says Kaufmann. “With almost all of them I’ve experienced unforgettable moments on stage.”

Manon Lescaut is sung by Anna Netrebko, with whom he has appeared many times over the course of his career. This year alone audiences have heard them together in two productions of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. Tosca is sung by Sonya Yoncheva, who recently partnered with him at the Arena di Verona. The part of Butterfly is sung by Maria Agresta, who will be touring with Kaufmann this October to mark the Puccini centenary and performing some of the repertoire on this album. In the wake of their stunning success in the new Vienna production of Turandot in December 2023, Asmik Grigorian and Jonas Kaufmann now portray the tragic lovers in Il Tabarro. And as in the performances of the opera at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Malin Byström is here once again his partner in La Fanciulla del West. The album also has a debut, with Jonas Kaufmann and Pretty Yende heard together for the first time, in the famous love duet from La Bohème.

Asher Fisch, the album’s conductor, is a regular collaborator of Kaufmann’s: “We’ve known each other for many years. This is also now our second album, after Dolce Vita, which we recorded in Palermo in 2016. This time we went to Bologna, and the brilliant orchestra of the Teatro Comunale, whom I gave a concert with a few years ago.”

The new album also features two of Puccini’s tenor hits that didn’t appear on the first album in 2015: “Che gelida manina” from La Bohème and “E lucevan le stelle” from Tosca.

For Jonas Kaufmann, Puccini’s music is and remains a unique phenomenon: “The buttons he pushes with his music still work, a hundred years after his death – and do so in a modern society that is completely jaded from an endless flood of bad news and experiences. Much has been written about Puccini, but as I see it, no one has ever yet been able to explain how he managed to evoke such unbelievably powerful emotions with just a few notes. That is a mystery that probably no AI in the world can comprehend.”

Puccini: Love Affairs will be released internationally on September 13, 2024 via Sony Classical as a limited-edition deluxe CD and on all digital platforms.

Tracklist:

Giacomo Puccini 1858–1924

LA BOHÈME (Act I, Rodolfo & Mimì)
Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica

1 “O soave fanciulla”

with Pretty Yende

MANON LESCAUT (Act II, Manon & Des Grieux)
Libretto: Domenico Oliva, Giulio Ricordi, Luigi Illica & Marco Praga

2 “Tu, tu, amore? Tu?”

with Anna Netrebko

TOSCA (Act I, Tosca & Cavaradossi)
Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica

3 “Mario!” – “Son qui!”
4 “Ah, quegli occhi!” – “Qual occhio al mondo”

with Sonya Yoncheva

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (Act I, Minnie, Johnson, Nick)
Libretto: Guelfo Civinini & Carlo Zangarini

5 “Mister Johnson, siete rimasto indietro”
6 “Quello che tacete”

with Malin Byström

IL TABARRO (Giorgetta & Luigi)
Libretto: Giuseppe Adami

7 “O Luigi! Luigi! … Dimmi: perché gli hai chiesto”

with Asmik Grigorian

MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Act I, Pinkerton & Butterfly)
Libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica

8 “Viene la sera”
9 “Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia”
10 “Vogliatemi bene”

with Maria Agresta

LA BOHÈME (Act I, Rodolfo)

11 “Che gelida manina!”

TOSCA (Act III, Cavaradossi)

12 “E lucevan le stelle”

Jonas Kaufmann tenor
Pretty Yende · Anna Netrebko · Sonya Yoncheva
Malin Byström · Asmik Grigorian · Maria Agresta sopranos
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Asher Fisch conductor 

Newport Classical Announces 2024-2025 Chamber Series - Expanded Season of Twelve Concerts - Tickets on Sale July 30

Photos available in high resolution here.

Newport Classical Announces 2024-2025 Chamber Series
Tickets on Sale July 30

Presenting an Expanded Season of Twelve Concerts from September 2024 through June 2025

“It all pointed to a thriving musical community, generously supported by locals whose love of the arts equals their pride in the town’s elegant past. And with Fox’s bold new refresh, the next 50 years of Newport Classical look set to equal the success of the last.” – BBC Music Magazine

Information & Tickets: www.newportclassical.org

Newport, RI – Following its record-breaking 55th summer festival, Newport Classical presents its fourth full-season Chamber Series held on select Fridays at 7:30pm, newly expanded to twelve concerts held between September 2024 and June 2025, at the organization’s newly air-conditioned home venue, Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.). Tickets will go on sale to the public on July 30 at www.newportclassical.org.

Newport Classical Executive Director Gillian Fox says, “This year’s Newport Classical Music Festival drew thousands of attendees, with 32.5% of audience members attending a concert for the first time and 8.4% growth in total patrons. We are so thrilled to have welcomed so many familiar faces and new patrons to experience classical music with us in an inviting and intimate atmosphere. Our Chamber Series continues this programming throughout the year, and we can’t wait to share with the community the incredible artistry of these world-class musicians who will be coming to perform from September through June in downtown Newport.”

Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. The Chamber Series reaffirms Newport Classical’s commitment to year-round classical music programming. Audiences are invited to enjoy performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with a complimentary glass of wine from Greenvale Vineyards and homemade treats by Newport Classical volunteers. Both performers and audience members alike have described these concerts as some of their favorites. “Beautiful concert, high artistry and exciting programming . . . a deeply moving and soulful experience, with a rousing and brilliant virtuosity that kept you on the edge of your seat,” raved one attendee.

As part of Newport Classical’s desire to create connections between classical music, the artists who perform it, and the Newport community, all musicians performing on the Chamber Series will also go into the Newport-area public schools to perform for and speak with students, through Newport Classical’s Music Education and Engagement Initiative. 

Newport Classical’s Chamber Series opens this fall on September 13 with the “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) Merz Trio in an exploration of melody sung into and for the night, beginning with the 12th-century chants of Hildegard von Bingen and spanning the music of Schumann, Alma Mahler, and Brahms, all the way through Thelonious Monk in the 20th-century. On September 27, the Ariel Quartet, distinguished by its virtuosity and fiery performances, performs a concert of catharsis featuring music written by composers Mendelssohn, Lera Auerbach, and Britten in response to loss. Finnish-Cuban pianist Anton Mejias brings the US premiere of composer Philip Lasser’s response to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier to Newport on October 18. On November 1, baritone Markel Reed, known for his appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, sings the music of Brahms, Margaret Bonds, Terence Blanchard, and more. Cellist Seth Parker Woods, celebrated by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace,” explores three centuries of music with Bach’s contemplative Sarabandes as a point of departure and return in his solo cello concert on November 15.

The Chamber Series continues in 2025 with the Telegraph Quartet, described as “powerfully adept, with a combination of brilliance and subtlety” by the San Francisco Chronicle, presenting music rarely experienced by its creators, the composers Rebecca Clarke, Beethoven, and Smetana, on January 24. Boyd Meets Girl comes to Newport for a performance on Valentine’s Day, February 14 – the impressive husband-and-wife guitar and cello duo has toured the world sharing their eclectic mix of music from Debussy and Bach to Radiohead and Beyoncé. On February 28, the acclaimed Trio Karénine, which has established itself in recent years as a key group on the French and international stage, pairs Schubert’s second piano trio with Dvořák’s rarely programmed second piano trio, filled with color, warmth, lively dance, and Slavic folk elements. Oboist James Austin Smith, hailed by The New York Times as “virtuosic,”and for his “dazzling” and “brilliant” performances, joins forces with acclaimed pianist Gloria Chien in music by William Grant Still, Clara Schumann, Camille Saint-Saëns, and more, on March 21. On April 25, Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova, who has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (The New York Times) presents the music of Bach and Messiaen, alongside works by Grieg and Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, with pianist Anna Polonsky. Pianist Orion Weiss, known for his “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post) returns to Newport for a solo recital of Bach’s beloved Goldberg Variations on May 16. On June 13, the GRAMMY-nominated Norwegian Trio Mediaeval, who captivate audiences with their crystalline voices, closes the 2024-2025 Newport Classical Chamber Series with an enchanting evening of Norwegian and Swedish traditional songs, hymns, fiddle tunes, and ballads.

Single tickets start at $45 and packages are available starting at $200 for five concerts. AARP members and their guests receive discounts on fall Chamber Series tickets and packages, and thanks to a generous grant from the Gruben Charitable Foundation, a limited number of free student tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

During the 2024-2025 season, Newport Classical will also present several free family-friendly Community Concerts at neighborhood-centered locations, generously sponsored by BankNewport, and two holiday programs, which will be announced later this year. The 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-22, 2025.

Newport Classical 2024-2025 Chamber Series Schedule At-A-Glance:

September 13: Merz Trio performs Schumann and Brahms

September 27: Ariel Quartet performs Mendelssohn and Britten

October 18: Anton Mejias performs US Premiere of Lasser's responses to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

November 1: Baritone Markel Reed sings Brahms, Bonds, and Blanchard

November 15: Cellist Seth Parker Woods – Bach Sarabandes and Responses

January 24: Telegraph Quartet performs Beethoven

February 14: Boyd Meets Girl

February 28: Trio Karénine performs Schubert and Dvořák

March 21: Oboist James Austin Smith and pianist Gloria Chien

April 25: Violinist Bella Hristova performs Bach and Grieg

May 16: Orion Weiss performs The Goldberg Variations

June 13: Trio Mediaeval

Complete concert details can be found at www.newportclassical.org/concerts. All Chamber Series concerts are held on select Fridays at 7:30pm at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn Street).

About Newport Classical

Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 55 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long. 

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

The Telegraph Quartet Begins Three-Year Residency at The University of Michigan

Photo of the Telegraph Quartet by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution here.

The Telegraph Quartet Begins Three-Year Residency
at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Ann Arbor, MI -- The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance is pleased to announce that the Telegraph Quartet will begin a three-year artist residency at SMTD in fall 2024. The members of the quartet – Eric Chin and Joseph Maile (violins), Pei-Ling Lin (viola), and Jeremiah Shaw (cello) – will coach student chamber music groups, conduct studio classes or seminars, and offer mentorship sessions to students interested in chamber music careers. During the residency, the quartet will also perform several times each year on campus and will have opportunities to explore collaborative performance-based projects with students and faculty across the school and the university. 

“We are so honored that the Telegraph Quartet has chosen to engage in an extended residency at the University of Michigan,” said Santa Ono, president of U-M. “For me personally, few activities provide greater joy than playing the cello. As one of the nation’s foremost public universities, we are dedicated to being as excellent in the sciences as we are exceptional in the arts. What’s more, through our Vision 2034, we have dedicated ourselves to providing a life-changing education, and the gifts of art and creativity that the members of the Telegraph Quartet offer to our students, staff, and faculty will long resonate throughout our community.”

David Gier, dean of SMTD and Paul C. Boylan Collegiate Professor of Music, described the importance of this residency for the school: “I’m delighted that the School of Music, Theatre & Dance is engaging the Telegraph Quartet for this residency, which will beautifully complement the dynamic work of our resident faculty in the Departments of Strings and Chamber Music. Our students will benefit significantly from sustained and focused interactions with this gifted professional quartet that will help them develop as chamber musicians and envision and plan for their lives as working musicians.”

Formed in 2013, the Telegraph Quartet explores standard chamber music repertoire as well as contemporary, non-standard works. They have performed in concert halls and at music festivals and academic institutions throughout the United States and internationally. They have collaborated with notable musicians, including pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein, cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton, violinist Ian Swensen, and the St. Lawrence and Henschel Quartets. The Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by numerous composers – including John Harbison, Richard Festinger, Robert Sirota, and Osvaldo Golijov – and has earned honors such as the 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

“We are excited to begin our new role as the faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Michigan and overjoyed to be calling Ann Arbor our new home!,” the quartet’s members stated. “It’s thrilling to be aligned with such a vibrant and forward-thinking university that is so dedicated to the future through creative exploration. We are looking forward to bringing with us one of the most cherished aspects of chamber music – working together synergistically – and partnering with the faculty to nurture the experience for all the students within the university and the community abroad.”

The Telegraph Quartet has garnered praise for its recordings Into the Light (Centaur, 2018), featuring the works of Leon Kirchner, Anton Webern, and Benjamin Britten, and Divergent Paths (Azica Records, 2023), the first in a series of recordings titled 20th Century Vantage Points. In addition to performing and recording, the quartet is also dedicated to education. Among many other engagements, the quartet has given master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Collegiate and Pre-College Divisions, through the Morrison Artist Series at San Francisco State University, and abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. 

Most recently, the quartet served on the chamber music faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as the quartet-in-residence. “We want to express our heartfelt thanks to our community in the Bay Area and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music who have so deeply supported us these past ten years,” the members shared. “We look forward to creating connections between our first home and our next at the University of Michigan!” 

David Halen, chair of the Department of Strings and professor of music, described the significance of the quartet’s SMTD residency, for the student body and the broader community: “The appointment of the Telegraph Quartet is truly historic in that it represents a groundbreaking opportunity for our students to learn through the mentorship of these four exemplary artists. With their broad and eclectic programming, they will bring an even greater variety of musical experiences to campus, and we predict they will magnificently represent the wealth of offerings at the University of Michigan through their wide-ranging performing career.”

Matt Albert, chair of the Department of Chamber Music and associate professor of music, shared his view of the ways the quartet will impact SMTD: “It's been so inspiring for our students, faculty, and staff to begin to see Eric's, Joseph's, Pei-Ling's, and Jeremiah's passion and commitment for string quartet playing throughout their audition process. These four people connect with one another deeply and respectfully. Their ability to help others connect in equally meaningful ways will lift up our entire chamber music community, from strings through woodwinds, brass, and piano, in music old, new, and not yet written."