MEMETERIA

November 15, 2020 • 2:15 pm Comments Off on Tuning Up to Stockhausen’s Stimmung

Tuning Up to Stockhausen’s Stimmung

Today (Sunday November 15) at 5 p.m. PT, Voices of Silicon Valley is having a free virtual gala/album launch party on their YouTube channel to celebrate the release of their recording of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 1968 milestone Stimmung (Orpheus Classical).

Voices of Silicon Valley collaborated in 2017 with two of the original six members of the Stockhausen group Collegium Vocale, bringing this avant-garde milestone to the San Francisco Bay area for the first live performance there in three decades.

The new recording also includes works by Cyril Deaconoff. Joined by mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm and Edwin and Diane Bernbaum from Vital Arts, the launch event includes the premiere of a new video production titled Searching for a Perfect Harmony. It features interviews with the Stimmung singers and artistic director Cyril Deaconoff, whose new choral works and string quartet are also featured on the album.

They will discuss the multicultural and global impact of Stimmung with the composer, performer, and multimedia artist Pamela Z and will highlight recent VOSV projects: the Ghost Ship Memorial concert and the Sugihara Project, which honors the Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jewish refugees during WWII.

Filed under: choral music, Karlheinz Stockhausen

November 12, 2020 • 1:49 am Comments Off on Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow

Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow

On Saturday evening at 7:30pm ET, the Washington Chorus presents the world premiere of Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow, an innovative and timely work by Portland-based composer Damien Geter and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Bob Berg.

Commissioned by the Washington Chorus in response to stories of hope and the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on the Black community, Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow involves both a new score and a new film that was created as a collaboration between Geter and Berg.

The premiere will be streamed live on the Vimeo platform via TicketSpice and will thereafter be available via Vimeo+ on demand and other streaming services.

According to the ensemble’s website, this film-cantata “tells the story of one individual’s journey as he grapples with recovery from COVID-19: a journey from despair and hurt to redemption and hope” and features a score “influenced by Bach, modern music, and traditional spirituals.” Soprano Aundi Marie Moore will join the Washington Chorus as soloist, with Eugene Rogers conducting.

I wrote about Damien Geter in my cover story on “secular requiems” for the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America’s Voice Magazine.

Filed under: African-American musicians, choral music, commissions, COVID-19 Era

November 11, 2020 • 8:01 am Comments Off on A Turning-Point in the History of Recording

A Turning-Point in the History of Recording

In the history of recording , what is called the “electrical era” began in the mid-1920s. But it was on this date 100 years ago, 11 November 1920, that the first-ever experiment in the new technology was made, at Westminster Abbey–at the Burial of the Unknown Soldier.

The clip above replicates what was recorded: “Abide with Me” and “Kipling’s Recessional.”

How Do You Stage an Opera During a Pandemic?

My latest story for Seattle Times, on a new, COVID-era staging of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore by Seattle Opera:

The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Shakespeare’s observation applies as much to effective artistic strategy as to human psychology. Even the sunniest of love stories needs complications to get the audience to invest its attention. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made Seattle Opera confront some unprecedented curveballs in order to realize its new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s lighthearted, seductively tuneful opera The Elixir of Love….

continue

Filed under: directors, Donizetti, Seattle Opera

November 4, 2020 • 6:30 pm Comments Off on Ludovic Morlot Returns to Seattle Symphony

Ludovic Morlot Returns to Seattle Symphony

Watch Ludovic Morlot’s reunion with Seattle Symphony on Thursday 5 November at 7.30pm PT. You can watch the livestream on Seattle Symphony Live* here.

The program includes THOMAS ADÈS/Three Studies from Couperin; DEBUSSY: Danses sacrée et profane; MARTIN/Ballade for Flute and Orchestra; and HONEGGER/ Symphony No. 2.

*Monthly passes to Seattle Symphony Live are $12.99/month and include a free 7-day trial with no commitment required.

Filed under: Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony

November 1, 2020 • 7:57 pm Comments Off on New Artist of the Month: Liza Stepanova

New Artist of the Month: Liza Stepanova

Musical America’s New Artist of the Month for November is Liza Stepanova. Here’s my story on this fascinating pianist.

See Stepanova performing Reinaldo Moya’s Rain Outside the Church with the video she commissioned from Kevork Mourad:

Filed under: Liza Stepanova, Musical America

October 31, 2020 • 1:28 pm Comments Off on American Youth Symphony’s Virtual Gala

American Youth Symphony’s Virtual Gala

The American Youth Symphony will present its virtual gala this Sunday Nov. 1 at 7pm ET. Tickets are free.

The program includes:
Igor STRAVINSKY: Symphonies of Wind Instrument AYS Virtual Wind & Brass Ensemble
Jessie MONTGOMERY: Starburst AYS String Ensemble
Carlos IZCARAY: Bloom, WORLD PREMIERE
Percussion Trio (Carlos Izcaray is the Music Director of AYS)
Benjamin BRITTEN: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge AYS String Ensemble

Carlos Izcaray on his new piece, Bloom:
“Bloom is a piece for two percussionists and a keyboardist who operates both a synthesizer and pre-recorded electronic sounds. Wanting to highlight potent messages from the Black community, the sounds include recorded poetry readings by authors Gwendolyn Brooks (We Real Cool) and Lucille Clifton (won’t you celebrate with me), as well as extracts from George Washington Johnson’s 1890’s recording of The Laughing Song, early recordings from descendants of slaves, statements from recent student protests, and songs from Zulu singers that I recorded during a visit to South Africa. Shaped more or less as an arch, the first section, played by two marimbas, is optimistic and hopeful, but it is interrupted by a much darker synth-sounds middle section that reminds us of unresolved issues regarding equity and social justice. This middle episode erupts into a frenzy that points us towards a bright resolution.”

Filed under: music news

October 28, 2020 • 11:02 am Comments Off on Lucerne Festival Cancellation

Lucerne Festival Cancellation

Another round of bad news begins. While musical life with restrictions was continuing this fall in Europe, the coronavirus pandemic is far from over and is now causing a new round of cancellations. Today Lucerne Festival announced that it has been forced to cancel the “Beethoven Farewell” Fall Festival originally planned for late November.

From the press release:

We had been so looking forward to celebrating our “Beethoven Farewell” with you at the end of November and thus to concluding the difficult year 2020 in a spirit full of hope.

But the coronavirus pandemic has caught up with us again, and the second wave is frustrating our wonderful plans. After the latest decisions by the Swiss Federal Council, which were taken on 28 October 2020, it is unfortunately no longer possible to hold this Fall Festival. Therefore, with a heavy heart we must inform you that the five concerts we had planned cannot take place.

We are in close contact with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Igor Levit, the two protagonists of “Farewell Beethoven,” and are already discussing how we might reschedule these projects and make up for lost time. We will keep you informed about all further developments – and hopefully come back to you soon with better news.

Filed under: Lucerne Festival, music news

October 22, 2020 • 1:58 pm Comments Off on Seattle Modern Orchestra’s Season Opener

Seattle Modern Orchestra’s Season Opener

Seattle Modern Orchestra has announced a thoughtful season of online concerts, which opens Friday evening (23 October 2020) at 7.30pm PST. Tickets are priced at a highly reasonable $10 to view online.

The season-opening virtual program includes the world premiere of Simultaneously Solitary composed by Tom Baker specifically in response to our socially distant experience. There will also be pieces for solo instruments by Lou Harrison, Edison Denisov, and Cornish faculty member Jarrad Powell. The Concert conclude withs In Memoriam Muhal Richard Abrams by Tyshawn Sorey.

Whispers of an Italian-Jewish Past Fill a Composer’s Music

Here’s a link to my latest story for the New York Times, which is about the extraordinary composer Yotam Haber. He is the recipient of the 2020 Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music — one of three biannual Azrieli Music Prizes. Haber’s new piece, Estro Poetico-armonico III, will receive its world premiere on 22 October at 8pm ET via free livestream on medici.tv and the Azrieli Facebook page.

Filed under: commissions, new music, New York Times

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