MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Music & the Arts

August 27, 2025 • 1:43 am Comments Off on Postcard from Tippet Rise

Postcard from Tippet Rise

Melissa White, Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, Pedja Mužijević, Benjamin Beilman, Bryan Cheng, Lizzie Burns and Emma Wernig in The Four Seasons at the Olivier Music Barn; photo: Brian Langeliers

I was very grateful to have the opportunity to return to Tippet Rise this summer. Here’s my report on the opening weekend of the summer season for The Strad:

From this magical spot in south-central Montana, the horizon is ringed by mountains: the Beartooths to the south, guarding the way to Yellowstone; the Absarokas to the east; and the Crazies rising in the west. The panorama shifts as quickly – and as dramatically – as the skies above. Storms can sweep across the land like Wagnerian preludes – dark, brooding, full of menace – only to dissolve moments later into shafts of unearthly light.

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Filed under: Strad, Tippet Rise, travel

August 21, 2025 • 11:17 pm Comments Off on At the Edge of the Storm: String Quartets in a Turbulent Decade

At the Edge of the Storm: String Quartets in a Turbulent Decade

Telegraph Quartet; photo: Matthew Washburn

On its new album Edge of the Storm, the San Francisco-based Telegraph Quartet explores string quartets from 1941-51. My interview for The Strad:

Edge of the Storm, the new album by the Telegraph Quartet, is the second instalment in its ongoing 20th-Century Vantage Points series – a curatorial project that maps key string quartet works against the seismic historical forces of the last century. Where the first volume (Divergent Paths, 2023) explored the early modernist rupture through Ravel and Schoenberg, this new release turns to the years 1941–1951: a turbulent decade shaped by war, exile, and the search for renewal….

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Filed under: Britten, Strad, string quartet

August 19, 2025 • 9:43 am Comments Off on NYO-USA in Asia: Music beyond Borders

NYO-USA in Asia: Music beyond Borders

2025 NYO-USA in China; photo: Chris Lee

This summer, between 22 July and 6 August, the National Youth Orchestra of the USA (NYO-USA) embarked on a whirlwind six-city tour of Asia under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda. Nearly 100 of the nation’s most talented teenage musicians took part, representing 29 states and the District of Columbia….

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Filed under: Carnegie Hall, Strad, youth

August 14, 2025 • 7:23 am Comments Off on Where Music Meets Nature

Where Music Meets Nature

Tessa Lark in Moab; photo: Richard Bowditch

Preparing to embark on her first season as artistic director of the Moab Music Festival later this month, the amazing violinist Tessa Lark spoke with me for The Strad:

When the Moab Music Festival opens its 33rd season later this month, it will mark the first change in artistic directorship since the festival’s inception, with violinist Tessa Lark taking the helm. The Kentucky-born musician combines a distinguished classical pedigree with a curiosity that spans Appalachian fiddle tunes to contemporary premieres. …

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Filed under: festivals, Strad, violinists

May 6, 2025 • 6:41 am Comments Off on Helen Kim’s Thrilling Vivaldi

Helen Kim’s Thrilling Vivaldi

Associate Concertmaster Helen Kim conjures the seasons with Seattle Symphony colleagues. Photo: Jon Pendleton

My latest review for The Strad: Though the Seattle Symphony fielded a notably smaller ensemble for this week’s Baroque programme – some players are doubling in Seattle Opera’s Tosca, which opens on the weekend—the aesthetic impact was anything but modest…

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Filed under: review, Strad, Vivaldi

April 12, 2025 • 11:33 am Comments Off on Fiddles and Folklore: Kronos as a Hardanger Band

Fiddles and Folklore: Kronos as a Hardanger Band

Kronos Quartet’s Paul Wiancko and Ayane Kozasa playing on their new Hardanger instruments designed by Ottar Kåsa; photo (c) Ingo J. Biermann

I spoke with Kronos Quartet violinist Gabriela Díaz for The Strad about Elja, the ensemble’s new Hardanger fiddle collaboration with Benedicte Maurseth and Kristine Tjøgersen, which recently premiered at Carnegie Hall:

Few ensembles are as voracious for new experiences as the Kronos Quartet. This season has brought dramatic change for the adventure-loving American group, which launched its second half-century with two new members: violinist Gabriela Díaz and violist Ayane Kozasa, who joined founder and violinist David Harrington and cellist Paul Wiancko (a member since 2023)….
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Filed under: instruments, Kronos Quartet, Strad

April 10, 2025 • 7:11 pm Comments Off on Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin

Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin

Takács Quartet with Marc-André Hamelin; photo (c) Easel Images

A recent interview with the wonderful Richard O’Neill from Takács:

This year, the Takács Quartet celebrates its 50th anniversary with global tours, new commissions, and another opportunity to savour their artistry on disc. Their latest album — made in collaboration with a favourite partner, keyboard phenomenon Marc-André Hamelin — continues the ensemble’s commitment to expanding the chamber music repertoire by championing female composers….
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Filed under: Strad, string quartet

January 28, 2025 • 6:48 pm Comments Off on Midori in Seattle

Midori in Seattle

Midori offers a provocatively thoughtful account of the Brahms concerto, with Anja Bihlmaier making her Seattle Symphony debut on the podium. Photo (c) Jorge Gustavo Elias

My review for The Strad of Midori’s recent performance with Seattle Symphony:

In the more than 15 years since Midori last performed with Seattle Symphony,  the orchestra has undergone dramatic transformation, yet the violinist, now 53, returned with the same intense focus and uncompromising artistry that have long defined her career….
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Filed under: Brahms, review, Schumann, Strad, violinists

January 18, 2025 • 1:45 pm Comments Off on Drones and Opioid Dreams: Daniel Pioro and Manchester Camerata Reimagine Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”

Drones and Opioid Dreams: Daniel Pioro and Manchester Camerata Reimagine Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”

Daniel Pioro in rehearsal with Manchester Camerata

I spoke with the adventurous British violin virtuoso for The Strad about why he couldn’t resist adding his stamp to one of classical music’s most beloved icons.

The Four Seasons hardly lacks for representation on disc or in the concert hall. But Daniel Pioro will make you reconsider your assumptions about Vivaldi’s beloved concertos. To celebrate the release of his extraordinary new recording with Manchester Camerata, the virtuoso violinist joined the ensemble to perform the cycle on Saturday 18 January at King’s Place in London, UK….

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Filed under: Strad, violinists, Vivaldi

December 3, 2024 • 8:52 pm Comments Off on Trusting Yourself: Jessica Meyer on Her Career as a Violist-Composer

Trusting Yourself: Jessica Meyer on Her Career as a Violist-Composer

Jessica Meyer; photo (c) Ben Fingland

I got to speak with the incredible violist-composer Jessica Meyer for The Strad. Her “Spirits and Sinew” is part of Hub New Music‘s 10th-anniversary program later this week at the Kaufman Music Center:

The award-winning composer and violist Jessica Meyer is an unclassifiable phenomenon even in today’s genre-defying contemporary music sphere. Meyer has been carving a unique space through her extraordinary blend of creativity, charisma, technical mastery, educational work and innovation, all in service of an urge to share ideas and build musical communities.
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Filed under: interview, Strad

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