September 8, 2017 • 6:18 am Comments Off on John Luther Adams World Premiere at Emerald City Music
My latest Seattle Times story:
Emerald City Music is an innovative series that presents chamber music in a relaxed, intimate South Lake Union venue as well as around the region. Fresh off its inaugural season, Emerald City landed an opportunity to present a world premiere from one of today’s hottest composers.
Filed under: John Luther Adams, Seattle Times
June 12, 2017 • 2:40 pm 1
Opera star Joyce DiDonato is shown with Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony last September. Morlot and DiDonato will appear together in Berlin later this week. (Carlin Ma)
The Seattle Symphony’s music director has been asked to replace an ailing colleague as guest conductor of this week’s concerts with Berlin Philharmonic — one of the world’s most prestigious orchestras.
Filed under: Ludovic Morlot, music news, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times
May 16, 2017 • 1:19 pm Comments Off on Music of Remembrance’s Latest Program Is Also Music of Our Time
Stojka, Ceija. “Hiding”. Courtesy of Pat and Marcus Meier
My story for The Seattle Times on Music of Remembrance’s latest commission (details on the concert here):
Mary Kouyoumdjian’s to open myself, to scream, inspired by Roma artist and Holocaust survivor Ceija Stojka, is at the center of MOR’s May 21 program. “Our mission is to speak out for oppressed people,” says MOR founder Mina Miller.
Filed under: commissions, Music of Remembrance, new music, Seattle Times
March 22, 2017 • 4:16 pm Comments Off on Chasing Victory with Beethoven’s Fifth at Seattle Symphony
My Seattle Times preview of this week’s Seattle Symphony program:
Three shorts and a long.
It’s the musical equivalent of E =mc 2 : on the surface, a deceptively simple formula that yields previously unimaginable results — including many Ludwig van Beethoven himself couldn’t have possibly foreseen. In World War II, the Allies equated the Fifth Symphony’s famous motto with the dot-dot-dot-dash denoting “V” in Morse code. The BBC regularly included this “V for Victory” message of hope in broadcasts to Nazi-occupied Europe.
Filed under: Beethoven, Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times
March 12, 2017 • 7:59 am 1
My latest for The Seattle Times: a preview of Aaron Jay Kernis’s new Violin Concerto for James Ehnes and the Seattle Symphony:
How is the current political environment affecting the work of American artists?
This week’s Seattle Symphony concerts offer one very recent example. The orchestra will give the U.S. premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Violin Concerto, conducted by music director Ludovic Morlot and featuring James Ehnes as the soloist.
Filed under: commissions, James Ehnes, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times
February 9, 2017 • 7:23 pm Comments Off on Kavakos and Wang on Tour
On Friday Leonidas Kavakos and Yuja Wang come to Seattle as part of their current tour. My interview with the Greek violinist for The Seattle Times:
Forget about art for art’s sake.
The virtuoso violinist Leonidas Kavakos staunchly believes that artistic creativity is vital for a fully human life — and even for our survival.
Filed under: pianists, Seattle Times, violinists
January 22, 2017 • 9:06 am Comments Off on Voices Uplifted: Cappella Romana Performs Rautavaara’s Vigilia
My Seattle Times story on Cappella Romana’s upcoming Rautavaara program:
It’s the oldest instrument we’ve got.
Yet the musical possibilities of the human voice remain inexhaustible. And when a group of singers joins together a cappella — without the “props” of any other instruments for accompaniment — they can produce soundscapes as vivid and enveloping as what you might hear from the most sophisticated orchestra.
Filed under: choral music, Seattle Times
January 17, 2017 • 8:00 am Comments Off on New Take on Old Favorite: La traviata at Seattle Opera
La traviata director Mika Blauensteiner, in rehearsal at Seattle Opera
This familiar story of Violetta, her love, and death is the world’s most-performed opera. With new staging that marks the North American debut of the German director Peter Konwitschny, Seattle Opera hopes to shed fresh light on Verdi’s 1853 masterpiece.
Filed under: directors, Seattle Opera, Seattle Times, Verdi
January 6, 2017 • 2:08 pm Comments Off on At Seattle Symphony, Cosmic Radiation from Beethoven and Messiaen
The Seattle Symphony, with guest musicians and vocalists, perform works by Messiaen and Beethoven this weekend. (Brandon Patoc)
My Seattle Times review:
In their first program of the new year, Ludovic Morlot, the Seattle Symphony and guests offer an inspired pairing of Beethoven’s immortal Ninth and the spiritually attuned music of Olivier Messiaen.
Filed under: Beethoven, Olivier Messiaen, review, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times
January 1, 2017 • 12:00 am Comments Off on Revolution No. 9
It was premiered almost two centuries ago. And Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 still feels as urgently needed today as ever.
Filed under: Beethoven, Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times
Arts & Culture Stories from NPR
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 