MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Music & the Arts

March 2, 2026 • 8:29 am 0

Private Passions, Public Peril in Seattle Opera’s “Fellow Travelers” 

Colin Aikins as Timothy Laughlin, left, and Jarrett Ott as Hawkins Fuller in “Fellow Travelers” at Seattle Opera. (Sunny Martini)

The production of Gregory Spears’ and Greg Pierce’s opera Fellow Travelers presented by Seattle Opera has launched a U.S. tour. Here’s my review of opening. night for the Seattle Times:

Desire unfolds under watchful eyes in “Fellow Travelers.”

Set during the McCarthy-era Lavender Scare of the 1950s, the opera by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce opened Saturday at McCaw Hall, marking the first time a production centered on openly gay subject matter has appeared on Seattle Opera’s mainstage. 

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Filed under: American opera, culture news, review, Seattle Opera, Seattle Times

February 23, 2026 • 7:19 pm 0

New Signals and Canonical Surprises: Xian Zhang and Seattle Symphony

Jan Vogler was soloist in Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and music direcctor Xian Zhang. (Photos by James Holt/The Seattle Symphony

Some thoughts on the recent Seattle Symphony program featuring music by Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Schumann, and Beethoven, now posted on Classical Voice North America:

SEATTLE — The Seattle Symphony’s subscription program on Feb. 20 found the orchestra in leaner formation than usual. About half the musicians were on duty across town preparing for Seattle Opera’s opening of Fellow Travelers by Gregory Spears. That left a more compact ensemble onstage at Benaroya Hall, lending the performance a more exposed, chamber-like profile.

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Filed under: Classical Voice North America, review, Seattle Symphony, Xian Zhang

February 15, 2026 • 11:23 am 0

Seattle Symphony’s ‘Iris Unveiled’ Offers Rich Immersion in Sonic World

The Seattle Symphony performs “Iris Unveiled” Feb. 12. (Jonathan Pendleton)

My Seattle Times review of this week’s Seattle Symphony concerts, marking music director Xian Zhang’s first with the orchestra in 2026:

On Thursday night, for the first time since early October, Seattle Symphony Music Director Xian Zhang returned to the Benaroya Hall podium, this time with a program of striking contrasts. The first half ventured into unfamiliar territory with a contemporary work for which she has been a leading advocate, while the second turned to one of the 20th century’s blockbuster symphonies….
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Filed under: review, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times, Shostakovich, Xian Zhang

January 29, 2026 • 11:07 am Comments Off on Tracing the Wheel of Time, Thomas Adès Leads the NY Philharmonic

Tracing the Wheel of Time, Thomas Adès Leads the NY Philharmonic

Thomas Adès conducting the New York Philharmonic, with soprano Anna Dennis; photo credit: Chris Lee

Last week’s New York Philharmonic program under Thomas Adès, anchored in the newly expanded version of his America: A Prophecy, was one of the most thought-provoking, unusual, and compelling programs I’ve encountered in ages. My review for Musical America (sorry for the paywall):


NEW YORK—Thomas Adès was 28 when the New York Philharmonic first programmed his music on a major subscription concert. America: A Prophecy was commissioned as part of a series marking the threshold of a new millennium and received its premiere in November 1999 under Kurt Masur. At last week’s concerts, a new, expanded version of America anchored the program, this time with Adès himself on the podium. …

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Filed under: Charles Ives, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Musical America, New York Philharmonic, review, Saariaho, Thomas Adès

January 26, 2026 • 8:33 pm Comments Off on ‘The American Revolution: Music From The PBS Documentary’

‘The American Revolution: Music From The PBS Documentary’

I reviewed the The American Revolution: Music From The PBS Documentary, produced by Johnny Gandelsman for the excellent Ken Burns documentary series on PBS, in the February issue of Gramophone:

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, providing the soundtrack to The American Revolution – a 12-hour documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt – is no ordinary assignment, especially at a moment when the public institutions responsible for airing such work are themselves under attack …

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Filed under: Gramophone, review

January 23, 2026 • 5:44 am Comments Off on Seong-Jin Cho in Seattle: A Flair for Freedom at the Keyboard

Seong-Jin Cho in Seattle: A Flair for Freedom at the Keyboard

Seong-Jin Cho; (c)James Holt / Seattle Symphony

Some thoughts on Seong-Jin Cho’s recent Seattle recital:

The self-effacing persona Seong-Jin Cho projected from the Benaroya Hall stage throughout his solo recital stood in striking contrast to his musical confidence – a confidence grounded not only in extraordinary technical security but in an evident willingness to take risks. Cho’s sense of interpretive freedom made itself felt from the outset, in a program that invited close attention and repaid it generously…

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Filed under: Bartók, Beethoven, Chopin, Franz Liszt, pianists, review

January 20, 2026 • 10:11 am Comments Off on A Rite of Spring Turned Inward: Strauss’s ‘Daphne’ at Seattle Opera

A Rite of Spring Turned Inward: Strauss’s ‘Daphne’ at Seattle Opera

Daphne in concert at Seattle Opera; photo: Sunny Martini

My Bachtrack review:

Richard Strauss’ Daphne is among the works most plausibly suited to Seattle Opera’s recent turn toward including concert performances as part of its main-stage season. Written late in the composer’s career, Daphne belongs to the turbulent political and cultural climate of 1930s Germany….

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Filed under: review, Richard Strauss, Seattle Opera

January 12, 2026 • 8:36 am 4

Ioffe Conducts the Seattle Symphony in Varied Faces of Romanticism

Alevtina Ioffe conducts the Seattle Symphony; © James Holt | Seattle Symphony

A fine start to the new year at Seattle Symphony:

Romanticism has proved more adaptable than its obituaries suggested. Across the 20th century, composers continued to return to music grounded in subjective expression, even when critical fashion leaned elsewhere….

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Filed under: Leonard Bernstein, Rachmaninoff, review, Romanticism, Seattle Symphony

December 30, 2025 • 10:51 am Comments Off on Esa-Pekka Salonen’s SF Symphony Farewell

Esa-Pekka Salonen’s SF Symphony Farewell

An especially memorable performance in 2025: Mahler’s Second with the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen, which concluded his tenure as the orchestra’s music director:

SFS-June 2025-Salonen’s Powerful FarewellDownload

Filed under: Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mahler, review, San Francisco Symphony

November 26, 2025 • 3:32 pm Comments Off on Richard O’Neill and Jeremy Denk in Recital

Richard O’Neill and Jeremy Denk in Recital

Jeremy Denk and Richard O’Neill; photo: Jorge Gustavo Elias

Seattle Chamber Music Society presented Richard O’Neill and Jeremy Denk in a sold-out recital Sunday. Here’s my review for The Strad:

Seattle Chamber Music Society brought the inaugural season of its new Signature Series to a compelling close with this sold-out recital by violist Richard O’Neill – best known as a member of the Takács Quartet – and pianist Jeremy Denk.

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Filed under: Beethoven, review, Seattle Chamber Music Society, The Strad, viola

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