Music & the Arts
May 20, 2026 • 9:20 am 0
Always a pleasure to speak with cellist and composer Paul Wiancko. Looking ahead to his third season leading the chamber music series at Spoleto Festival USA, he shared some thoughts on the series and what’s in store for the 2026 edition, which opens on May 22:
Filed under: chamber music, Spoleto Festival USA, The Strad
May 13, 2026 • 12:51 pm 0
Sasha Cooke is making her role debut in Seattle Opera’s revival of its Carmen production. Some thoughts for Bachtrack:
For its season-closing revival of Paul Curran’s production of Carmen, Seattle Opera is presenting alternating casts headed by Sasha Cooke and J’Nai Bridges in the title role. Cooke’s much-anticipated role debut reveals an intelligent, tightly controlled interpretation that resists many familiar clichés surrounding the character while never fully igniting the opera’s destructive energies.
Filed under: Georges Bizet, review, Seattle Opera
May 10, 2026 • 9:41 am 0
Peter Sheppard Skaerved speaks to The Strad about his new recording of Michael Hersch’s epic Zwischen Leben und Tod cycle:
British violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved, known for his wide-ranging repertoire and interdisciplinary work, discusses the challenges and rewards of recording Hersch’s monumental cycle engaging with the paintings and drawings of Peter Weiss…
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Filed under: American music, new music, The Strad, violinists
May 2, 2026 • 10:52 am 0
Another remarkable concert during my recent New York trip: on its current 50th-anniversary tour, the Australian Chamber Orchestra stopped at Carnegie Hall with a substantial program including the world premiere of John Luther Adams’s complete Horizon for string orchestra. Here’s my review for The Strad:
For its 50th-anniversary tour stop at Carnegie Hall, the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) made a notably bold move. Rather than rely on safely familiar repertoire spiced with a token contemporary addition, the ensemble devoted half the programme to the world premiere of Horizon by John Luther Adams, a two-part composition that spans some 40 minutes, in which change registers in minute, often barely perceptible shifts….
Filed under: Australian Chamber Orchestra, John Luther Adams, review, Schubert, The Strad
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MEMETERIA by Thomas May