January 28, 2025 • 6:48 pm Comments Off on Midori in Seattle
My review for The Strad of Midori’s recent performance with Seattle Symphony:
In the more than 15 years since Midori last performed with Seattle Symphony, the orchestra has undergone dramatic transformation, yet the violinist, now 53, returned with the same intense focus and uncompromising artistry that have long defined her career….
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Filed under: Brahms, review, Schumann, Strad, violinists
January 23, 2025 • 5:14 pm Comments Off on Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Winter Festival 2025
Friday night is the opening concert of Seattle Chamber Music Society‘s Winter Festival 2025 (over this weekend and next). Some wonderful programs to look forward to: Brahms Op. 34; a fecund piano quintet by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, written when he was 18 (SCT is represented on this weekend’s Seattle Symphony program as well); Bartók’s Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion; Enescu’s Octet; Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata; Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht” in the original sextet version (with James Ehnes in the ensemble, and more.
Filed under: music news, Seattle Chamber Music Society
January 18, 2025 • 1:45 pm Comments Off on Drones and Opioid Dreams: Daniel Pioro and Manchester Camerata Reimagine Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”
I spoke with the adventurous British violin virtuoso for The Strad about why he couldn’t resist adding his stamp to one of classical music’s most beloved icons.
The Four Seasons hardly lacks for representation on disc or in the concert hall. But Daniel Pioro will make you reconsider your assumptions about Vivaldi’s beloved concertos. To celebrate the release of his extraordinary new recording with Manchester Camerata, the virtuoso violinist joined the ensemble to perform the cycle on Saturday 18 January at King’s Place in London, UK….
Filed under: Strad, violinists, Vivaldi
January 17, 2025 • 7:48 pm 1
Seattle Symphony released a bombshell announcement this afternoon:
The Seattle Symphony and Benaroya Hall today announced that Dr. Krishna Thiagarajan, President & CEO, will resign after six and a half years of dedicated service to the organization. His last day will be April 30, 2025.
“It’s been a deeply fulfilling experience to work with all the talented and dedicated people at the Seattle Symphony, Benaroya Hall and its foundation,” stated Dr. Thiagarajan. “Leading the organization through COVID, the rebuilding of audiences and the historic appointment of Xian Zhang as the first female and woman of color Music Director have been some of the highlights of my time here.”
… The Symphony board of directors is forming a search committee to launch an international search for Dr. Thiagarajan’s successor. While the Seattle Symphony begins its search for its next President & CEO, Maria Yang, Chief Development and Project Officer, will serve as Acting CEO to ensure a smooth transition.
Filed under: music news, Seattle Symphony, classical-music, music, poetry, seattle, symphony
January 14, 2025 • 2:56 pm Comments Off on Jan Lisiecki’s Year of Beethoven: All Five Concertos with the Toronto Symphony
I spoke with the pianist Jan Lisiecki about his upcoming Beethoven concerto marathon with the Toronto Symphony:
Jan Lisiecki’s immersion in the piano concertos of Ludwig van Beethoven began right at the deep end. Rather than offer his interpretation of just one work, his very first recording of music by the German composer (which appeared in 2019) encompassed nothing less than a complete concerto cycle.
January 10, 2025 • 3:47 am Comments Off on PostClassical Ensemble Presents Music by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
PostClassical Ensemble continues its Amazing Grace New Year’s tradition on Monday, 13 January, with a chamber program saluting the music of Native American composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. The concert takes place at 7:30 pm ET at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater.
“This annual event celebrates the universal expression of the human spirit through music, inviting a living composer to curate a concert designed to uplift and inspire,” says PCE artistic director Angel Gil-Ordóñez.
The program includes Tate’s Chokfi’ for strings and percussion; selections from his rhapsodic Standing Bear: A Ponca Indian Cantata (performed by baritone Javier Arrey); Hymn and Spider Brings Fire from Lowak Shoppala’ (Fire and Light), a work expressing Tate’s Chickasaw heritage through music, to texts by poet Linda Hogan. The concert will also feature the Larghetto from Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1 (“Classical”) and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (performed by Mvskoke soprano Kirsten C. Kunkle).
tickets here
Filed under: music news, PostClassical Ensemble
January 6, 2025 • 7:53 am Comments Off on Inauguration of the Seattle Bach Festival
The brilliant violinist, artistic director, and educator Tekla Cunningham has been extra-busy of late laying the groundwork for a promising new venture that launches this weekend. I had the privilege to speak with Tekla about the inspiration behind the Seattle Bach Festival:
For Tekla Cunningham, music happens in the connections — not only between the notes but between the humans who produce and experience them. …
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Filed under: Bach, early music, music news, Seattle Times
January 4, 2025 • 8:07 am Comments Off on 8 Seattle Classical Music Picks To Look Forward to in 2025
Here’s a brief list of suggestions — far from exhaustive — for Seattle area music lovers for the first months of 2025:
Stepping into a new year means embracing its promises but also facing its challenges. Fortunately, the performing arts offer a reliably inspiring source of motivation. Following are some recommendations — by no means exhaustive — of classical music events to mark on your calendar for the coming months. May you find them inspirational in the new year….
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Filed under: early music, music news, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times
Arts & Culture Stories from NPR
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 