MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Music & the Arts

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

February 7, 2026 • 3:54 pm 0

Seattle Symphony’s ‘Iris Unveiled’ Shows New Music Director’s Vision

Xian Zhang, Seattle Symphony’s new music director, conducts during a Seattle Symphony rehearsal in September. Next up, Zhang will lead the Symphony in “Iris Unveiled” Feb. 12-15. (Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times, 2025)

For my latest story in The Seattle Times, I spoke with Xian Zhang about this week’s program featuring Iris dévoilé by Qigang Chen:

As her first season at the helm of the Seattle Symphony moves into its second half, what Music Director Xian Zhang is hoping to achieve with the orchestra — and with the local audience — is beginning to crystallize….

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Filed under: Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times, Xian Zhang

December 19, 2025 • 10:17 pm Comments Off on Seattle Bach Festival’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’ Offers ‘Messiah’ alternative

Seattle Bach Festival’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’ Offers ‘Messiah’ alternative

Seattle Bach Festival orchestra and Evergreen Ensemble (choir), with SBF founder Tekla Cunningham (in blue), during their concert of Bach cantatas at St. Mark’s Cathedral in May. They will perform Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” this year and next. (Dennis Browne)

For some, Handel’s “Messiah” remains a cherished ritual.

For others, it has become so predictable as to feel almost unavoidable — a seasonal monument polished smooth by repetition.

This season, the Seattle Bach Festival is offering a different way into the Christmas story — one that trades “Messiah’s” grand sweep for a more kaleidoscopic, scene-by-scene celebration of the Nativity: Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio.”…

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Filed under: Bach, Seattle Bach Festival, Seattle Times

October 30, 2025 • 11:39 am Comments Off on Matthew Aucoin and a New Generation of Composers Are Giving 21st-century Music a Body Again

Matthew Aucoin and a New Generation of Composers Are Giving 21st-century Music a Body Again

The New York premiere of “Music for New Bodies” at Lincoln Center as part of the Run AMOC* Festival at Summer for the City. (Lawrence Sumulong / Courtesy of Lincoln Center)

On November 1, Meany Center for the Performing Arts presents Matthew Aucoin’s Music for New Bodies, a “vocal symphony” based on the poetry of Jorie Graham and staged by Peter Sellars — in other words, not to be missed. I spoke with Aucoin about New Bodies for The Seattle Times:

“The voice of the bottom of the ocean. The voice of the medicines moving through your veins. The voice of the core of the Earth.”

Composer Matthew Aucoin names them like a spell — presences that inhabit “Music for New Bodies,” his 70-minute vocal symphony that will receive its West Coast premiere at the University of Washington’s Meany Center on Nov. 1. ..

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Peter Sellars on Music for New Bodies

Filed under: American music, American opera, Meany Center for the Performing Arts, Peter Sellars, Seattle Times

October 21, 2025 • 4:33 am Comments Off on Gabriella Smith’s “Lost Coast” at Seattle Symphony

Gabriella Smith’s “Lost Coast” at Seattle Symphony

Gabriella Smith recording “Lost Coast” with cellist Gabriel Cabezas at Greenhouse Studios in Iceland. (Sandro Manzon)

Here’s my Seattle Times profile of the remarkable young composer Gabriella Smith. This week’s Seattle Symphony concerts will feature her innovative cello concerto Lost Coast, with Gabriel Cabezas as the soloist:

Her official bio reads like a manifesto: “Gabriella Smith is a composer whose work invites listeners to find joy in climate action.” The 33-year-old has built a creative world around that idea — one where music and environmentalism are inseparable…

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Filed under: American music, cellists, cello, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times

July 21, 2025 • 10:07 pm Comments Off on Yes, Chef – With Strings Attached

Yes, Chef – With Strings Attached

Violinist James Ehnes, Seattle Chamber Music Society artistic director, with cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt have cooked up another music-and-food evening called Tasting Notes II on July 25. (Chona Kasinger)

My story on Seattle Chamber Music Society’s upcoming second edition of the Tasting Notes program:

Before they ever shared a stage, James Beard media award-winning cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt and violinist James Ehnes had already discovered a mutual obsession with the art of cooking and Beethoven string quartets. ..

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Filed under: James Ehnes, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Seattle Times

July 10, 2025 • 10:34 pm Comments Off on Bach’s Lost ‘Markus-Passion’ Imagined Anew – with a Dramatic Twist

Bach’s Lost ‘Markus-Passion’ Imagined Anew – with a Dramatic Twist

A recent performance of Bach’s “Markus Passion” in New York City featured Chatham Baroque and soloists (left to right, front row) Cody Bowers, Pascale Beaudin, Joseph Marcell, James Reese and… (Tatiana Daubek)

Sacred music lay at the heart of Johann Sebastian Bach’s creative life. His vast output includes hundreds of choral works written for the principal churches in Leipzig, Germany, where he oversaw musical programming….

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Filed under: Bach, early music, Early Music America, Seattle Times

May 1, 2025 • 9:32 am Comments Off on Third Coast Percussion with Jessie Montgomery

Third Coast Percussion with Jessie Montgomery

Third Coast Percussion with guest artist violinist Jessie Montgomery. (Marc Perlish)

I spoke with Third Coast Percussion’s David Skidmore about their upcoming program on 3 May at Meany:

Think percussion is just about hitting things? Think again. 

With instruments that shimmer, thrum, ping and even gurgle underwater, Third Coast Percussion has spent the past 20 years expanding horizons for what a percussion ensemble can do. The Chicago-based quartet returns to the University of Washington’s Meany Center for the Performing Arts on May 3 as part of a milestone anniversary tour….

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Filed under: new music, percussion, Seattle Times, Third Coast Percussion

January 6, 2025 • 7:53 am Comments Off on Inauguration of the Seattle Bach Festival

Inauguration of the Seattle Bach Festival

From left: Debra Nagy, Tekla Cunningham, Danielle Reutter-Harrah, David Morris, Tyler Duncan and Ross Gilliland perform at the Whidbey Island Music Festival, founded and directed by Cunningham. Cunningham is also founder and director of the new… (Dennis Browne)

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

8 Seattle Classical Music Picks To Look Forward to in 2025

In March, Xian Zhang will conduct Seattle Symphony in Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” — her first program with the orchestra since she was announced as its next music director. (Courtesy Seattle Symphony)

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

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