On Sunday 28 March at 5pm PST, Port Angeles’s Music on the Strait — the Strait of Juan de Fuca, that is — presents Tribute to Clara Schumann from the shores of Lake Sutherland. The performers include co-artistic director James Garlick (violin), Saeunn Thorsteindottir (cello), Orion Weiss (piano), and Nathan Hughes (oboe). Violist and Music on the Strait co-artistic director Richard O’Neill, who just won the Best Classical Instrumental Solo Performance Grammy Award, will introduce. The concert can be accessed for free here.
Program:
Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op 22
Robert Schumann: Three Romances for Oboe and Piano, Op 94
Johannes Brahms: Wiegenlied and Liebestreu arr. for Cello and Piano
Clara Schumann: Piano Trio, Op 17
My story for the New York Times on Clara Schumann’s 200th birthday can be read here.
Some thoughts on the wonderful and irreplaceable Paul Taub. May his memory be a blessing.
An internationally acclaimed flutist and pioneer of Seattle’s new music community, Paul Taub died at his home in Seattle on March 13 after a heart attack. He was 68.
Paul Taub’s last performances were with the organist Joseph Adam, on 26 February 2021 as well as in the video shown above, which premiered online on 28 February but was prerecorded for a program titled Solo Flute Spectacular. For the latter program, he played from Barang I (1974) by Barbara Benary (1946-2019) and the Air in G Minor (1947) by Lou Harrison (1917–2003).
His very last live performance took place on 26 February at Seattle’s St. James Cathedral. For this live concert stream, titled A Musical Prayer, Paul and Joseph Adam performed the following program:
Jehan Alain, arr. Marie-Claire Alain: Trois Mouvements for flute and organ Alan Hovhaness: Sonata for Ryūteki and Shō, or Flute and Organ Julie Mandel: Every Monday for flute alone (world premiere) Anna Bon di Venezia: Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1, No. 1 for flute and organ
Emerald City Music has announced a series of concerts and musical events through May. Every month features a new cast of musicians who perform, share about their craft, and provide insights into the music they perform. The series is filmed in collaboration with two New York City-based filmmakers, Tristan Cook and Zac Nicholson, who bring their own artistic merits to this unique experience of chamber music.
All concerts will be available on Emerald City Music’s website and Vimeo platform for one month; at which point the next performance premieres. Listeners have a choice of how to gain access: pay for each performance for $20 (which supports future listening experiences) or share it on social media to gain free access.
Currently in rotation: The Calidore String Quartetpairs two quartets recently recorded for their newest album, Babel. These two works by Robert Schumann and Dmitri Shostakovich stem from bleak periods when each composer suffered, and overcame, depression. Their music transmits what occurs when music substitutes for language. In the case of Shostakovich, words aren’t enough to fill the void of forbidden speech. Schumann uses music to sing the name of his wife, Clara.
Attention choral music fans: on Saturday evening 20 February at 5pm PSTSeattle Pro Musica, led by Karen Thomas, will inaugurate the series Choral Tapas: Bite-Size Concerts online atyoutube.com/seattlepromusica. Broadcasts available for free, donations welcome. No registration required. Each episode features two choral works (one old, one new), an appetizer demo by Erica Weisman (both a very fine SPM alto and the chef and co-owner of Seattle Cucina Cooking School), and a cocktail recipe by SPM Executive Director and cocktail aficionado Katie Skovholt. Recipes are available here so you can “play along”: Patas Bravas snackRestless Amadeus cocktail The inaugural event on February 20th features music by Marques Garrett and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
And the Orchestra Now, directed by James Bagwell, will offer a free livestreamed concert on Sunday, 21 Feb. (2pm EST). This program of works for strings includes the world premiere of Falling Together by composer Sarah Hennies, who was recently profiled in The New York Times; and the 2005 piece Popcorn Superhet Receiver by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, which was used in the film There Will Be Blood. The program also includes Grieg’s Holberg Suite and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams.
Access: RSVP at theorchestranow.org starting on January 27 to receive a direct link to the livestream on the day of the concert. This concert will be available for delayed streaming on STAY TŌNED starting on February 25.
AND
On Sunday February 21 at 7pm PST, Byron Schenkman & Friends presents Piano Songs and Fantasies: music by Mozart, Teresa Carreño, Florence Price, Johannes Brahms, Margaret Bonds, Water Hale Smith, and Franz Schubert. William Chapman Nyaho, Joseph Williams, and Byron Schenkman will perform.
With pianist Paul Sánchez, Liverman sings his first full-length recording for Cedille — “a passion project,” in his words, that gathers art songs by Black composers spanning from the early 20th century’s Henry Burleigh through Margaret Bonds, Thomas Kerr, and Robert Owens to such contemporary composers as Leslie Adams, Damien Sneed, and Shawn E. Okpebholo (in the world premiere recording of Two Black Churches, which Liverman commissioned).
Liverman also plays piano in his own arrangement of Richard Fariña’s Birmingham Sunday. The album includes two booklets: a 20-page booklet with extensive program notes and a booklet with the complete song texts.
This year marks Astor Piazzolla‘s centenary: he was born on 11 March 1921 in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The Fundación Astor Piazzolla and PARMA Recordings are honoring the occasion by collaborating to establish the Piazzolla Music Competition. This virtual competition, which will accept submissions until 18April 18 2021, is open to all musicians, professional and otherwise, soloist or ensemble, instrumentalist or singer, who have an affinity for works of this trailblazing 20th-century composer.
The jury includes Pablo Ziegler, Héctor del Curto, David Binelli, Cesere Chiacchiaretta, Arthur Gottschalk, Walther Castro, Pablo Petrocelli, and Sandra Rumolino as well as performing arts executives and arts managers. They will award the grand prize winners (solo and ensemble) with a cash prize, a recording deal with PARMA Recordings, and a performance tour through China, organized and funded by the Competition. Additional special prizes will be awarded, including concerts in the 2022-2023 season with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Grosseto Symphony Orchestra, or Athens Philharmonia Orchestra to be scheduled, booked, and funded by the orchestras.
The finalists will be announced in May, and the winners will be announced on 15 June 2021.
More on the inaugural Piazzolla Music Competition:
The Piazzolla Music Competition seeks to continue Piazzolla’s legacy as the single most influential figure in the history of tango, by identifying and celebrating highly talented musicians of any instrument or voice type with an affinity for the inimitable style and virtuosity of Astor Piazzolla’s compositions • The esteemed individuals comprising the jury include: Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Pablo Ziegler (President of the Jury); Grammy Award-winning bandoneonist Héctor del Curto; bandoneonist /composer David Binelli; Daniel Villaflor Piazzolla, grandson of Astor Piazzolla and vice president of Fundación Astor Piazzolla; tango singer, actress, and dancer Sandra Rumolino; accordionist, bandoneonist, and composer Cesere Chiacchiaretta; Professor of Music Composition at Rice University, Arthur Gottschalk; Walther Castro, bandoneonist, composer and arranger; performing arts manager Pablo Petrocelli; Croatian Music Institute President Romana Matanovac Vučković, Institution Management owner and arts consultant Masae Shiwa; and Jia Rui, Vice President of JoyTitan Entertainment • Judged through video submissions sent in by applicants, the competition winners will be announced on 15 June 2021 • Inclusive of all pre-professional and professional soloists and ensembles of 6 or fewer of any nationality, state, or country of residence, any contestant over the age of 13 (at the time of video submission) is eligible to apply • The Piazzolla Competition offers the highly coveted grand prize, in both the solo and ensemble divisions, of a cash prize ($1500 USD for soloist, $3500 USD for ensemble), a recording and release deal with PARMA Recordings’s Navona Records, as well as a concert tour throughout China arranged and funded by PARMA • Second and Third Prize winners receive Silver or Bronze medallions, respectively, to mark their outstanding talent and potential • Special Prizes include the Pablo Ziegler Award, a masterclass for the soloist or ensemble recipient and Maestro Pablo Ziegler, facilitated by PARMA Recordings; or an invitation to perform with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Grosseto Symphony Orchestra, or Athens Philharmonia Orchestra in the 2022-23 season, with concerts scheduled, booked, and funded by the respective acclaimed ensembles • The application process, designed with inclusivity of resource availability at the forefront, requires musicians to submit by video at least two pieces totaling a minimum of six minutes, performing only music of Astor Piazzolla, from any time between 18 April 2011 and the application deadline of 18 April 2021. Submission videos must show the musicians with hands and faces fully visible in one, unedited take. In order to comply with COVID-19 precautions, new ensemble videos may be recorded “frame-in-frame” in one unedited take, and must date to January 1, 2020 or later • Applications are open from today • Finalists will be listed publicly on May 18, 2021, and the Winners Announcement will take place on 15 June 2021
The music world is still reeling from Simon Rattle’s recently announced curtailment of his tenure with the London Symphony Orchestra in favor of the Symphonieorcehster des Bayerischen Radiofunks. And now we learn that the young Lithuanian star conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will step down from her post helming the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the end of the 2021-22 season. What hath Brexit wrought?
Gražinytė-Tyla stated: “I have decided to give up my position of Music Director of the CBSO at the end of the 2021-22 season and have happily accepted the orchestra’s invitation to become Principal Guest Conductor in the 2022-23 season. This is a deeply personal decision, reflecting my desire to step away from the organizational and administrative responsibilities of being a Music Director at this particular moment in my life and focusing more on my purely musical activities.”
On Tuesday 19 January at 12pm EST, the Hope & Harmony Ensemble will give alivestream performance in honor of the upcoming Inauguration. Led by Marin Alsop, they will play Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Manand Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman*.
The Hope & Harmony Ensemble brings together 14 brass and percussion players from all around the United States: one musician each from the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Peabody Institute, South Asian Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Utah Symphony.
This tribute is the brainchild of Neeta Helms, founder and president of the DC area-based tour company Classical Movements. Helms conceived the idea over a dozen years ago and sees it as an offering to unite a bitterly divided country through the power of music. The Hope & Harmony Ensemble was chosen to reflect the diversity of the American people.
“I am elated to be able to finally celebrate our first female Vice President. I am deeply inspired by Kamala Harris – and as an Indian-born American, I feel particular personal pride that her mother was Indian and in her archetypically American background,” says Neeta Helms. “In this time of difficulty and hardship, it is also fitting that we celebrate Joe Biden, an example to us all for his ideals of decency and hope and his perseverance in the face of hardship and tragedy. Filling a unique and vital role in the music industry that has been hit so hard by the pandemic, it was essential to us to create an ensemble that represented and celebrated our nation’s diversity, featuring women and men equally.”
In addition to footage of each musician, recorded in their homes and on site across the country, the presentation incorporates photographs and video illustrating “America the Beautiful” and the context of the struggle for civil rights and equality for women in the United States. Classical Movements has partnered with video and sound engineers Arts Laureate to produce these videos.
*My profile of Joan Tower starts on p. 27 here. And here’s a little background I wrote on Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1:
Tower alludes in several ways to Copland’s 1942 Fanfare for the Common Man, which had been commissioned as one of a series of fanfares to support the Allied struggle in World War Two. Tower similarly scores for a brass and percussion ensemble but uses a much more extended array of percussion instruments. With its mix of tuned and untuned instruments, this section actually resembles a miniature orchestra of its own. Tower also packs a greater variety of thematic material and textural contrast into her fanfare.
Third Coast Percussion celebrates this momentous week of change on Inauguration Day, 20 January 2021, at 8pm ET. The group will perform repertoire new to the musicians, share news about upcoming projects, engage in live Q&A with viewers after the show, and more. Watch on Facebook and YouTube. Program: “Press” by Devonté Hynes “Halo” by Joe W. Moore III “Kodama” by Rodrigo Bussad “Death Wish” by Gemma Peacocke
This afternoon at 5pm ET, tune in to the Violin Channel for the final round of the 7th annual Getting to Carnegie competition. It will be streamed live and audiences across the globe can cast their vote for the winner (after registering to vote): 50% of the vote comes from the audience, the other half from a jury of professional musicians including the past six winners (Haeji Kim, violin; Chae won Hong, cello; Emily Helenbrook, voice; Nathan Meltzer, violin; Rachel Siu, cello; Brianna Robinson, voice) and violinist Dmitri Berlinsky. The voting will be open for 48 hours and the winner will be announced Jan 14 at 5pm EST on the Violin Channel’s Facebook page.
The competition rotates annually between violin, cello, and voice. This is the year of the violin, and the four young finalists are from Spain, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the United States, respectively: Maria Dueñas (age 18), Sory Park (20), Angela Chan (23), and Sophia Stoyanovich (24).
The competition is the brainchild of pianist and composer Julian Gargiulo, whose mission is to make classical music “relevant and fun” for younger generations. For this year’s final round, Gargiulo has written a new violin sonata; each finalist will perform one movement from the sonata with him on piano via split screen, giving its world premiere performance, with commentary and interviews in between.
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 