Calidore String Quartet: Ryan Meehan, left, Estelle Choi, Jeffrey Myers, and Jeremy Berry, Photo: Marco Borggreve
I spoke with Calidore Quartet violinist Ryan Meehan about their recording of the complete Beethoven quartets:
To accompany its ongoing release of the complete Beethoven cycle, the Calidore String Quartet has chosen Mark Rothko–like images as cover art: floating fields of color that seem suspended in time. “We’re all huge fans of Rothko’s work,” says violinist Ryan Meehan. “These colors are so bold and sometimes polarizing. Each color creates such a clear feeling on its own, but then as a collective, they also fill the viewer with an intense inner feeling. That’s very similar to Beethoven in that sections can be so contrasting from one to another, but the combination is an experience that you don’t forget.” continue
Like Starbucks rolling out its festively colored holiday cups, performances of “Messiah” make an inevitable appearance each December. For many, it’s as much a part of the season as twinkling lights and the scent of pine….
New York’s first disability-affirmative opera company OperaPraktikos.org (OPrak) presents There Will Be Cake – a matinee mono-opera concert series on Thursday-Saturday, 12-14 December 2024, at 1:30 p.m., at downtown Manhattan’s Asylum NYC.
Opera Praktikos (OPrak), established in 2021, proudly stands as New York City’s pioneering disability-affirmative opera company. Its mission is to make opera an inclusive and accessible art form for audiences and artists alike by crafting exceptional opera productions that transcend conventional barriers related to class, economic status, and physical challenges.
Through deliberate reinterpretations of classical operas and the commissioning of new works, it aims to ensure that artists and audience members can readily identify with the stories and lived experiences of People with Disabilities being portrayed on the stage. OPrak is dedicated to breaking down stereotypes about disability and fostering an inclusive and accessible opera community in the heart of New York City.
With performances by abled and disabled artists, this site-specific musical drama centers around food and its visceral memories and emotions. Bon Appetit! shares Julia Child’s words of wisdom in a light-hearted, charming masterclass in comedic character singing followed by the world premiere of Fluffernutter, an opera inspired by the delicious Fluffernutter sandwich.
“Two slices of Americana to perk up any jaded New Yorker’s palette: that ineffable cook Julia Child makes a French chocolate cake; and a tasty New England staple reminds us that aging is hard,” explains Greg Moomjy, musicologist and co-founder/artistic director of OPrak. A man who has Cerebral Palsy and is a wheelchair user, Moomjy invites New Yorkers with and without disabilities to unite over their shared interest in live music and dessert. When assembling this program, we wanted to give audiences small samplings of comic opera performed by top-notch singers at an accessible venue. And, yes, we will also serve cake!”
The program begins with Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appetit! (1989), adapted from two episodes of Julia Child’s well-loved cooking show, The French Chef. With approval and input from Child herself, a friend of the composer, the libretto narrates Child’s cooking of a chocolate cake with clever lines such as “Choc’late is much more complicated than any of us suspect.” Reflecting the television show’s format, the opera is written for a single singer, performed here by Hailey McAvoy, a “gorgeous-voiced (Broadway World)” mezzo-soprano with Cerebral Palsy. Another “sweet” mono-opera is the world premiere of Fluffernutter (2024) inspired by the New England tasty treat. Composer Spicer Carr is a queer, autistic writer who was commissioned by OPrak to write Fluffernutter with libretto by OPrak’s co-founder Marianna Mott Newirth. Fluffernutter evokes the trials of adulting and the power of nostalgia all thanks to the classic peanut butter-marshmallow crème sandwich.
Program + Ticketing Information: Thursday-Saturday, December 12-14, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. Asylum NYC, 123 East 24th Street, New York City, Subway: 4/6 to 23rd Street. Tickets: $10-$35 (ages 16+ only). Livestream (Saturday only) $10-$35. To reserve, visit AsylumTix.com or call 212.203.5435.
Cast + Crew: Hailey McAvoy – mezzo-soprano Shanley Horvitz – zwischenfach Calvin Hitchcock – piano + music director Gwynn MacDonald – stage director
Program: Bon Appetit! composed by Lee Hoiby (1926-2011) with text by Julia Child adapted by Mark Shulgasser Fluffernutter (2024) **world premiere** composed by Spicer Carr with libretto by Marianna Mott Newirth and piano arr. by Patrick Tice-Carroll
I got to speak with the incredible violist-composer Jessica Meyer for The Strad. Her “Spirits and Sinew” is part of Hub New Music‘s 10th-anniversary program later this week at the Kaufman Music Center:
The award-winning composer and violist Jessica Meyer is an unclassifiable phenomenon even in today’s genre-defying contemporary music sphere. Meyer has been carving a unique space through her extraordinary blend of creativity, charisma, technical mastery, educational work and innovation, all in service of an urge to share ideas and build musical communities. continue
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 