Interchanging Idioms

DENVER, CO (November 18, 2009) – Colorado Public Radio (CPR) will conduct a one-time only on-air fundraising campaign, Bringing the Music to Life, on behalf of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO). The drive will begin November 30 and culminates on December 2 with a live broadcast of the Orchestra’s sold out performance with musical icon Yo-Yo Ma. “Colorado Public Radio recognizes the CSO’s unique role as one of Colorado’s key cultural assets and petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to conduct a one-time only, on-air fundraising drive to support its major classical music provider, the Colorado Symphony,” stated CPR President Max Wycisk, who also emphasized that the FCC has not granted permission to conduct this type of drive since 1993. Across the country, arts organizations are struggling with the effects of a difficult economy. Most recently, the Honolulu Symphony was forced to declare bankruptcy and suspend its season. The CSO is not immune to t...

Season features favorite Boston Pops Christmas-Time Classics along with Exciting New Arrangements of Holiday Favorites with New Video Images One of Boston’s greatest holiday traditions, the Holiday Pops season, under the direction of Keith Lockhart, opens on Wednesday, December 9, with a program that combines favorites of the Holiday season with exciting new arrangements of some of the most beloved Christmas-time classics, along with new video images created especially for the Boston Pops . The concerts take place at Symphony Hall, festively decorated to capture the magic of this special time of year, and feature the critically acclaimed Tanglewood Festival Chorus, which will join the orchestra for the entire season of 35 performances, December 9-27. The program opens with Sean O’Laughlin’s festive and rousing “Christmas Canticles,” followed by the magnificent Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s “Messiah,” featuring members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The 2009 Holiday Pops seas...

Yo-Yo Ma rehearses for Live Broadcast of Sold Out Concert which concludes the On-Air Fund Drive for the CSO The Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Public Radio are conducting a historic, one-time co-venture fundraising drive to support the Colorado Symphony—the major classical music and program provider for CPR. The on-air fundraising campaign, Bringing the Music to Life , benefits the Colorado Symphony Orchestra during these difficult economic times. The on-air drive begins November 30 and culminates on December 2 with a live broadcast of Yo-Yo Ma’s performance with the CSO, which sold out several months in advance. CSO subscribers who purchased tickets to Yo-Yo Ma as an add-on to their subscription, before tickets were available to the public, comprise eighty percent of the audience for this concert. Upcoming Events: Tuesday, December 1 at 2 p.m.      Yumi Hwang-Williams, concertmaster and Bil Jackson, principal clarinet, with pianist Sue Grace. ...

“No one does a better choral Christmas than the virtuoso male voices of Chanticleer.” - The New Yorker The Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer , now in its 32nd season, will give 25 holiday concerts across America this season, continuing a tradition that has made “A Chanticleer Christmas” one of the group’s most beloved programs. As well as its live concert performances, the group will also appear for the fifth consecutive year on NBC TV’s popular T oday show, singing a traditional carols in both the 8 o’clock and 10 o’clock hours (eastern time; check local listings). While on the show the group will also talk about its two most recent recording projects: Fireside Christmas with Chanticleer , a DVD featuring a virtual Yule log and glorious selections of Christmas fare, from early music to traditional carols, drawn from Chanticleer’s distinguished discography (including Biebl’s Ave Maria , by far the group’s most beloved encore); and Best of Chanticleer , a greatest hits col...

Live webcast of the Dec. 20 concert through the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus with ASO Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles and Director of Chorus Norman Mackenzie will perform with the Berliner Philharmoniker for the third time in six years in December at the Berlin Philharmonie. They will travel to Berlin for three performances of Brahms’s A German Requiem on Friday, December 18, Saturday, December 19 and Sunday, December 20, 2009. Soprano Genia Kühmeier and bass-baritone Gerald Finley will be the soloists. The concert on Sunday, December 20 will be webcast live through the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall 2PM EST / 11AM PST. Tickets for the live webcast cost 9.90 euros, approx US$15. Tickets and more information about the Digital Concert Hall are available at www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/dch . Mr. Runnicles and the ASO Chorus made their debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in December 2003 per...

Violinist joins roster of the celebrated organization and will perform in New York, Washington and Boston during 2010-11 season Interchanging Idioms couldn't be more pleased to know this outstanding young performer is getting much deserved recognition. Our review of her debut is just the prelude to even more accolades in her future. New York, NY – On Saturday, November 21st, violinist Caroline Goulding was awarded First Prize at the Finals of the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions held at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. At the age of 17, Caroline is the youngest of the four artists granted the prestigious prize this year. Other winners include 21-year-old American pianist Charlie Albright, 26-year-old Belarusian flutist Aleksandr Haskin, and 25-year-old American mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson. Winners were chosen from ten Finalists, selected out of 146 applicants hailing from 30 countries. As a First Prize Winner, Caroline will join the roster of Young...

The American Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1962 by conducting legend Leopold Stokowski and led since 1992 by its music director, Leon Botstein, will relocate back to its original home, New York’s Carnegie Hall, beginning with its 2010-11 season. Inspired by the orchestra’s mission to showcase “concerts of great music within the means of everyone,” the move back to the orchestra’s original venue complements the successful audience-development initiative instituted by the ASO this season that will continue in the orchestra’s new home: all tickets to its 2010-11 season at Carnegie Hall will remain at $25 for all seats, for all performances. With the appeal of eminently affordable tickets, the ASO’s celebrated thematically-organized programming, and Carnegie Hall’s status as the world’s pre-eminent concert hall, Botstein and the orchestra have provided music lovers with more reasons than ever to discover and explore the unjustly neglected masterpieces that define the singular ASO concer...

In recognition of World AIDS Day, Chicago Opera Vanguard will present the World Premiere of The Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook - a one-night only benefit concert by various Chicago musical artists artistically responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Monday, December 1, 2009. The concert will be held at Center on Halsted in the Hoover -Leppen Theatre located at, 3656 N. Halsted St. in Chicago . All proceeds will benefit the Center’s programs. The AIDS Quilt Songbook was started on World AIDS Day 1992 in New York by the late baritone William Parker who passed away in 1993 of AIDS-related illness. For this concert, Parker invited various composers to add a "song panel" to a musical quilt of remembrance commemorating those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. Following this tradition, a new songbook, The Chicago AIDS Quilt Songbook , created by Chicago Opera Vanguard’s Artistic Director Eric Reda has also commissioned works from a wide variety of Chicago-based and associated artists....

Donald MacDonald CBE and Louise MacDonald presented with Medal for Arts Philanthropy Arts & Business announces recipients of The Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy On November 24th 2009 HRH The Prince of Wales will present Donald MacDonald CBE and Louise MacDonald with one of only five Medals for Arts Philanthropy. The medal celebrates individuals who support the arts and recognises the contribution of the most inspiring cultural philanthropists in the UK. “In these difficult times, it is vital to honour the remarkable commitment of individuals in fighting our cultural corner and bringing in better resources to the arts. These honourees embody what we collectively need at this time. They are fearless in persuading others to support the arts. They have the passion, the commitment and the ideas to enable the arts to flourish.” “Arts & Business is honoured to have been able to create this Medal for our President, The Prince of Wales. These honourees are an inspi...

The 2010 Tanglewood season for the Boston Symphony Orchestra will include such guest artists as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. In addition to music director James Levine, the lineup of conductors includes Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Robert Spano and Shi-Yeon Sung. Concerts will run from June 26 through Sept. 5 in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, Ozawa Hall and the Music Theatre on the grounds in Lenox, Mass. Appearing in Ozawa Hall are Broadway singer Audra McDonald, early music specialist Benjamin Bagby and baritone Matthias Goerne, among others. Special concerts will also celebrate a string of anniversaries: 125 years of the Boston Pops, 70 years of the Tanglewood Music Center, 40 years of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, 30 years of John Williams at Tanglewood and 10 years of the Silk Road Ensemble. Tickets go on sale Feb. 14 and range in price from $9 to $115. Children under 17 years of age are admitted free for most events. Call (617) 638-9467 for...

Baritone Alexander Robin Baker replaces Leigh Melrose in SCO ‘Homecoming’ concert Baritone Leigh Melrose has had to pull out of his concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November in Glasgow and Edinburgh due to ill-health. The Orchestra is very grateful to Alexander Robin Baker for replacing Leigh at extremely short notice. Baker will take on the solo baritone role in the world premiere performance of the complete version of Edward Harper’s Second Symphony. The Symphony is one of three works being performed in a ‘Homecoming’-themed programme at Glasgow City Halls and Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 November. As well as paying tribute to the music of Harper, who died in April this year, the Orchestra celebrates the music of Kenneth Leighton in the 80th anniversary year of his birth with a performance of his Concerto for String Orchestra, and marks the 50th birthday of James MacMillan with his tour de force Tryst. Garry Walker...

Children and adults from across Scotland will have their music recorded by professional musicians in a new national composition competition. iCompose , the collaborative project between the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Drake Music Scotland, gives adults, teachers and pupils of any age the chance to compose music inspired by the National Galleries of Scotland Online Collection. The winning entries will be recorded and each participating school will receive 25% off a range of Roland and Boss keyboards and synthesizers. The project uses the Finnish revolutionary music notation system Figurenotes©, which helps participants read music, play an instrument and compose. The winning compositions will be recorded by Scottish Chamber Orchestra musicians in Glasgow City Halls, with award-winning Linn Records recording the sessions. The competition is split into six categories, including four different levels for schools, which directly tie in with the ne...

BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Jiří Bĕlohlávek to lead program Baltimore, Md. (November 24, 2009) – BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Jiří Bĕlohlávek will lead pianist Garrick Ohlsson and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto on Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, January 24 at 3 p.m. The performances on Friday and Sunday will be held at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and Saturday’s performance will be at The Music Center at Strathmore. Winner of the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and hailed by the New York Times as a “powerful” and “eloquent” pianist, guest artist Garrick Ohlsson will give a fresh take on Beethoven’s famous concerto. In keeping with this season’s theme of exploring cultural roots, Czech maestro Jiří Bĕlohlávek will conduct the music of two Czech composers: Dvořák’s Othello Overture and Janáček’s Taras Bulba . Also on the program is Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture. Beethoven’s compose...

The brilliant percussionists of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra star in a program celebrating music from all corners of the world. Catch the beat and experience the thrill of percussion! There are also some pre-concert activities at 1:00. Concert Details Sunday, Nov 29 · 2:30 p.m. Master Percussionists of the CSO Make sure you tune in to Colorado Public Radio November 30-December 2 to catch this one-time only, three-day on-air fund drive, which features CSO musicians giving live studio performances and talking about the orchestra, as well as prominent CSO leaders sharing many of the exciting plans for this season. At 2 p.m. on December 1, concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams and principal clarinet Bil Jackson will perform live from the studio, and violinist Larisa Fesmire and violist Catherine Beeson will perform live from the studio on December 2 at 2 p.m. New principal cellist Silver Ainomäe will also perform live from the studio on November 30 at 10 a.m.

This is a SOLD OUT event, so your ONLY chance to hear the amazing Yo-Yo Ma and the Colorado Symphony is to tune into Colorado Public Radio on December 2nd. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Public Radio are conducting an historic, one-time co-venture fundraising drive to support the Colorado Symphony—the major classical music and program provider for CPR. Our partner, Colorado Public Radio, is graciously conducting an on-air fundraising campaign, Bringing the Music to Life , on behalf of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The on-air drive begins November 30 and culminates on December 2 with a live broadcast of the Orchestra's sold out performance featuring musical icon Yo-Yo Ma. Julian Kuerti will conduct the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in a night of Dvořák, with In Nature’s Realm , Carnival Overture , Othello Overture and the Cello Concerto featuring Yo-Yo Ma. The program starts at 7:30pm on Wednesday, December 2nd. CPR and the CSO ask all who care about music an...

eighth blackbird ’s third consecutive season in residence at Chicago’s downtown Harris Theater is its most ambitious to date. On December 8, the Grammy-winning sextet presents the first of two concerts in its hometown series: Arnold Schoenberg’s 1912 numerological masterpiece Pierrot lunaire , in a new production conceived and directed by Mark DeChiazza that was first shown to audiences at the Ojai Music Festival this summer. DeChiazza is a New York dancer and choreographer with whom the ensemble has forged a strong working relationship. eighth blackbird performs almost all of its extensive repertoire from memory, and the players often move about the stage in an almost choreographed way. The new Pierrot lunaire – presented in a program with works by contemporaries and pupils of Schoenberg – will be no exception. Tim Munro, eighth blackbird’s flutist, says of the ensemble’s newest performance piece: “Mark DeChiazza uses movement and gesture to connect to the human core of this re...

Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher’s new production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann , starring Anna Netrebko as Antonia and Joseph Calleja in the title role, begins its run at the Metropolitan Opera on December 3, 2009. Before taking the stage at the Met, however, Netrebko will make a special appearance across Lincoln Center Plaza at Avery Fisher Hall, in this year’s Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala. The November 22 gala will mark the Russian soprano’s debut in the venue and will be the first time she has performed at the foundation’s annual event, which features many of the world’s leading singers. When Anna Netrebko sang Antonia at the Mariinsky Theatre, a critic for the St. Petersburg Times wrote: “Her captivating performance was the genuine highlight of the production. Her tormented Antonia, suffering over the paths she had to choose, was pierced with despair.” The Russian soprano returns to the Met for the first time this season for Sher’s new production of Ho...

New Production of Wagner’s Rheingold under Daniel Barenboim German bass René Pape impressed Chicago recently with his Lyric Opera portrayal of Méphistophélès in Gounod’s Faust (his only U.S. engagements this season); he now returns home to the Berlin State Opera for holiday performances as Sarastro in Mozart’s Magic Flute . Meanwhile, he prepares for his fourth recital, scheduled for January 24, 2010 in Seville, Spain, and for the role he was destined to perform: Wotan in Wagner’s Das Rheingold , in a new production under Daniel Barenboim at La Scala Milan, which opens on May 13, 2010. Pape honored Carnegie Hall and his U.S. audiences with the first solo recital of his career in April 2009, earning accolades like a New York Times review that read, in part, “For pure, soul-wrenching introspection, nothing on the program – not even in Dichterliebe – quite matched Mr. Pape’s rendering of the Wolf Michelangelo songs, particularly the central meditation on mortality, ‘Alles endet, was...

LONDON, NOVEMBER 16 — Sir Simon Rattle has signed a new contract with EMI Classics, extending their exclusive and productive relationship well into a fourth decade. Over the next four years, Sir Simon Rattle will make twelve CDs with EMI Classics; the agreement ensures that he, the label and the Berliner Philharmoniker will continue to build on their previous notable successes, which have included three Grammy Awards in the US, three Classical Brit and three Gramophone Awards in the UK, and two Echo Klassik Awards in Germany. Project highlights in the next year include Tchaikovsky’s complete Nutcracker ballet; a program of American music, headlined with a new commission by Wynton Marsalis; and a program of works by Schoenberg, including the rare Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene (Music for a Cinematographic Scene). “In a time when recording contracts are rare enough to be an endangered species, I feel both lucky and privileged to be working further with EMI Classics, my lo...

December’s Opera News dedicates most of its pages to Jacques Offenbach’s masterpiece, Les Contes d’Hoffmann , which is receiving a new production this month at the Met. First is the cover story on tenor Joseph Calleja, who takes on his first career role debut at the Met this month in the vocally- and psychologically-demanding part of the title character. Calleja, who just turned 31, has made headlines in the opera world since his debut a dozen years ago. In a review of his 2006 Met debut as the Duke in Rigoletto , Opera News wrote: “From his first notes, it was clear that we were in the presence of a star tenor. With its idiosyncratic fast vibrato, Calleja’s is a distinctive voice, but also quite beautiful. It has uncommon carrying power, almost as if Calleja had a megaphone in his throat. ... In his ability to send a lyric sound ringing throughout the house, though, as well as in his crystalline diction, Calleja was reminiscent of the young Luciano Pavarotti.” Features Editor Br...

Every year my wife and add a new Christmas CD to our (already huge) collection. We have everything from Renaissance albums by chamber choirs to Classical collections from know and unknown performers. There are also the "pop" collections whether these are by an individual artist (like Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby) to the assorted artists which may or may not help some cause. Some of these CD's fall in the favorite category, such as Vanessa Williams Christmas Collection and are played several times each year. Others don't fare so well and may just fill a space in the collection but not actually get any playtime one year to the next. With such a large collection you might think it would be impossible to find new CD's to add to it - and sometimes it is. This year, however, we have been blessed with the newest Yo-Yo Ma CD Songs of Joy & Peace . It really is wonderful. It features Yo-Yo Ma, but also a host of other notable artists, such as Diana Krall, Dave ...

The Nash Ensemble is joined by mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill on Saturday 5 December for a programme of music by Fauré, Falla, Ravel, Debussy and Franck at the Wigmore Hall. The concert is part the Ensemble’s Wigmore Hall 2009/10 season, L’Invitation au Voyage , exploring the music of France and Spain. In the first half, domestic duets by Fauré and Ravel’s intense duo Sonata frame Cargill’s performance of Manuel de Falla’s rarely heard set of French songs and his elegant period piece Psyché . In the second, Debussy’s atmospheric harp showpiece Danse sacrée et danse profane precedes one of the masterpieces of French Romanticism, the passionate Piano Quintet by César Franck. Saturday December 5th 2009, Wigmore Hall NASH ENSEMBLE Karen Cargill soprano Ian Brown piano Charles Owen piano Marianne Thorsen violin Paul Watkins cello Lucy Wakeford harp Fauré Dolly Suite for piano...

Subscribe to Interchanging Idioms and post a comment and you would win this fabulous CD featuring the amazing Yo-Yo Ma This is your chance to get this wonderful holiday album completely free, and in time for the holidays. The contest will end December 1st so SUBSCRIBE today! The contest rules are simple. Once you have subscribed to Interchanging Idioms, find a post featuring Yo-Yo Ma and post a comment. Send me an email with your Name and Address AND the text of your comment so I can verify you are the person making the comment. (I need your name and address so I know where to send the CD if you win). IF you just can't wait for the CD you can purchase it online at iTunes or at Amazon . Either way, don't miss out on the Classical Holiday CD for 2009.

“America's Orchestra" to perform in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island with Concerts on Dec 5-6, 12-13, 17 & 19 The Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart launch their ever-popular Holiday concert series throughout the Northeast on December 5, sharing a cherished New England holiday tradition with audiences throughout the region. The series begins on Saturday, December 5 at the Jorgenson Center for the Performing Arts in Storrs, Connecticut, and continues to the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on the C.W. Post Campus, Long Island University, in Brookville, New York, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey, on December 6. The series continues the following weekend with performances at Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, in Massachusetts on December 12 and the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire on December 13. The series concludes with performances at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasvil...

Bielawa will contribute from Rome for “Lend Me Your Ears,” her new series on WQXR.org’s “Do You Q2” blog New York, NY, November 17, 2009 —Composer and vocalist Lisa Bielawa is a 2009 Rome Prize Winner in Musical Composition. She is currently spending a year composing at the American Academy in Rome , situated on the Janiculum, Rome 's highest hill. Bielawa will chronicle her residency in Rome for WQXR as a guest blogger for “Do You Q2,” the music blog of Q2, WQXR’s music stream dedicated to contemporary composers. “Do You Q2” shares insights and exclusive multimedia features from musicians, composers, critics, producers and artists working in the field of contemporary classical music. Bielawa’s posts, under the header “Lend Me Your Ears,” will describe her musical and daily life with 27 other fellows in the Academy’s multi-disciplinary, collegial environment. Her personal commentary will give the inside scoop about performances she’s preparing, new works she’s composing, and ...

Composer Howard Moody has been shortlisted for a British Composer Award for his groundbreaking work, Moving Music , which was commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Drake Music Scotland. Moody has been nominated in the Community or Educational Project category for Moving Music , which gave eight secondary school pupils with physical or visual impairment from Ashcraig School in Glasgow the chance to perform alongside orchestral musicians, by using the latest music technology. The piece was written for Soundbeam technology – a movement sensor system connected to a computer, programmed with thousands of live instrument samples. It was adapted to react to the slightest movements and allowed those unable to use conventional instruments to take part in a live performance. Howard Moody said he took inspiration both from the pupils themselves, and some of the feelings they experienced, as well as birdsong and the words of 13th century poet Rumi. It was divided into six distinct ...

Colorado Public Radio (CPR) will conduct a one-time only on-air fundraising campaign, Bringing the Music to Life, on behalf of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO). The drive will begin November 30th and culminates on December 2nd with a live broadcast of the Orchestra's sold out performance with musical icon Yo-Yo Ma. "Colorado Public Radio recognizes the CSO's unique role as one of Colorado's key cultural assets and petitioned the Federal Communications Corporation (FCC) for permission to conduct a one-time only, on-air fundraising drive to support its major classical music provider, the Colorado Symphony," stated CPR President Max Wycisk, who also emphasized that the FCC has not granted permission to conduct this type of drive since 1993. Across the country, arts organizations are struggling with the effects of a difficult economy. Most recently, the Honolulu Symphony was forced to declare bankruptcy and suspend its season. The CSO is not immune to the...

Monumental Works Written in Remarkable Times Featured Composer Benjamin Britten Plus a Star Turn for the East Neuk itself “You can hear the swing of the sea….East Neuk Festival is special because it’s not in the city, not in concert halls, not in tents – it uses the local living landscape.” (Dr Richard Holloway at the East Neuk Festival 2009) Despite leaner budgets this year the East Neuk Festival’s persistently ambitious artistic director, Svend Brown, has again engaged a host of world class musicians for five days of music-making in the Kingdom of Fife, including the Belcea and Elias Quartets, Tallis Scholars, London Winds, Russian virtuoso pianist Alexander Romanovsky, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, French jazz star Renaud Garcia Fons, and pianist Malcolm Martineau with young singers Katherine Broderick and Robin Tritschler. Monumental works such as the Victoria Requiem and Spem in Alium for 40 voices anchor the ‘ancient’ programme, while a central strand of Benjamin Britten’s them...

Read my review of this CD on Interchanging Idioms ... We loved it first! International Piano magazine has announced that twenty-two year old pianist Yuja Wang’s recording Sonatas & Etudes has been selected as the International Piano Awards Best Debut Album of 2009. Now in its fourth year, the 2009 International Piano Awards celebrate the best piano recordings, sheet music, books and DVDs released between October 2008 and November 2009. The complete list of winners will be published in the November/December 2009 issue of International Piano and can be found online at www.rhinegold.co.uk and www.international-piano.com . Yuja Wang is an exclusive artist for Deutsche Grammophon. Her debut album, Sonatas & Etudes , released in the spring of 2009 “suggests a combination of blazing technique and a rare instinct for poetry.” [Gramophone] The recording includes works by Chopin, Ligeti, Scriabin and Liszt. “What marks out the playing of Yuja Wang is the mix of superb technique,...

My sincere apologies for all my loyal readers who have been wondering what's up with the last week - and a serious lack of anything new. I am currently studying for my Masters in Music Composition at Denver University and this week (Nov 16-23) is the final week of the quarter. So, everything is due NOW and there was a lot of it. Add to this a number of concerts, recitals and other events to attend and I've been a bit distracted. The week isn't over, but I am finished with most of the work so I should be able to get back to regular posts and updates as to what's happening in the classical music world. I've been reading my inbox and there are only 50 or so messages. Hopefully that will be caught up by the end of the weekend. On a side note, I do have a concert of my music coming January 28th. For those of you in Denver look for updates on this blog. If you're not in Denver at that time I'll try and post a few highlight mp3's here in the week o...

World-Premiere Recordings of 18th Century Italian Violin Concertos available Nov 24 For his sixth album on Archiv Produktion/Deutsche Grammophon, Giuliano Carmignola continues to explore the virtuoso Italian violin repertoire of the 18th-century with selections by little-known contemporaries of Vivaldi. Three of the four concertos featured on this album are presented in world-premiere recordings; yet, this was no archaeological dig for Carmignola, rather he “was struck by the sheer quality of these works.” Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra once again partner Carmignola for their fourth recording project together on Archiv Produktion. Though all four composers presented on this album are not well-known, Antonio Lolli is perhaps the least obscure. Lolli’s concerto, his op. 2, was dedicated to the famous violin virtuoso Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The 19th-century music critic Eduard Hanslick called Lolli “the forerunner and prototype of Paganini and the spiritual fath...

WQXR Introduces “Q2”: a New Web Stream Providing a Multiplatform Destination for Adventurous Music WNYC, with its proud 85-year history of championing new music, complements the new Classical 105.9 WQXR with the launch of Q2, a vibrant 24/7 music stream presenting contemporary classical fare. Q2 , available at http://www.wqxr.org , offers recordings by some of the most passionate and plugged-in musical minds of today, as well as notable live events from venues around New York, including WNYC’s newly-opened broadcast studio and performance venue, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, and the hugely popular Le Poisson Rouge. The first live stream event, the American choral premiere of David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Little Match Girl Passion, took place on November 8 at The Greene Space. The audio of this performance was webcast live on Q2 , and the event was (video) streamed live at http://www.wnyc.org/thegreenspace . Also on November 8, a record release party...