Interchanging Idioms

Presented by the Colorado Symphony, NEWSED Community Development Corporation, the Consulate General of Mexico in Denver and the Mexican Cultural Center, this annual festive Cinco de Mayo concert features favorite traditional mariachi music, a vocal soloist and dancers. Associate Conductor Scott O’Neil leads the Colorado Symphony and guest musicians in songs like “La Negra,” “ Guadalajara ,” “Cielito lindo huasteco” and much more. Students from Bryant Webster’s Mariachi Juvenil perform along with Denver ’s premier mariachi ensemble, Mariachi Sol de Mi Tierra. Colorado’s premier Hispanic dance company, Fiesta Colorado Dance Company adds a colorful and festive flair to the celebration. Don’t miss this exciting annual Cinco de Mayo celebration featuring some of today’s most acclaimed performers in this tradition. Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. The Colorado Symphony Scott O’Neil, associate conductor Jeff Nevin, arranger and trumpet Jose Luis Duval, tenor Mariachi Sol de Mi Ti

Highlights include Performances by Musicians of the Boston Pops, The Boston Pops Gospel Choir and Project Step The Boston Pops kicks off its landmark 125th anniversary season with a festive afternoon-long musical celebration at The Shops at Prudential Center, Saturday, May 1, from noon to 4 p.m. A brass quintet made up of Boston Pops musicians opens the festivities with a performance beginning at 12:15 at the entrance to the Food Court. From 12:30 to 2 p.m., Keith Lockhart will be in the Huntington Arcade for a CD signing, with birthday cake from Paradise Bakery and ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s to mark the occasion. Performances continue at the entrance to the Food Court at 2 p.m., when the Boston Pops Gospel Choir takes the stage. The talented young instrumentalists from Project STEP, a program for gifted musicians from minority communities, give a performance at 3:15 p.m. In addition, the Huntington Avenue corridor of the Prudential Center features an archival exhibit that traces

Acclaimed actors Robert De Niro, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman give life to the words of John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy, respectively, when they join conductor Keith Lockhart, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus for the world premiere performance of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers —the centerpiece of the Boston Pops 125th anniversary season celebration—on May 18, at 8 p.m. (repeated on May 19), at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. Celebrating the legacies of these three influential and inspiring Massachusetts native sons, The Dream Lives On—composed by Peter Boyer with Tony Award-winning lyricist Lynn Ahrens—was commissioned by Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. This new multi-media work combines quotes from speeches by the Kennedy brothers with original text and video, accompanied by a dramatic orchestral and choral score. The Dream Lives On pays tribute to the towering achievements and singular spirit epitomized by the Kennedy brothers

Program includes “I Love A Piano,” “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” and more Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra SuperPops in a program celebrating the music of Irving Berlin on Thursday, May 20 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore and Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 23 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Featuring internationally acclaimed singer and pianist Tony DeSare and Broadway stars Ashley Brown, Hugh Panaro, NaTasha Yvette Williams and James T. Lane, this all-Berlin program includes hits such as “How Deep is the Ocean,” “Blue Skies,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and many more. Irving Berlin wrote more than 1,000 songs during his 60-year career including the famous “God Bless America,” which became the country’s second national anthem during World War II. He was already considered a legend before age 30, despite never learning to read or play music. Instead, he used a tra

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 was written under the darkest of clouds. The composer's ill-judged and short-lived marriage to the troubled Antonia Milyikova (who had initially threatened suicide if he refused her) had recently imploded, leaving Tchaikovsky himself in nihilistic frame. Leaving Russia to seek solace in travel and work, he completed his Fourth Symphony, a work that expressed a self confessed 'escape from reality'. From the sombre Fate motif that colours its first movement, to its ebullient folk-dance finale, it echoes the emotional fall-out and cathartic release from the greyest of winters. Beethoven - himself no stranger to turbulence and torment - premiered his Violin Concerto in 1806. It was performed by Franz Clement - principal violinist and conductor at the Theater an der Wien - with a few 'embellishments' of his own between movements including a showman-like one-string sonata played with the violin upside down! Here it is performed with less

Affairs of the heart and soul: three broadly contemporary nineteenth-century composers, whose music and outlooks were all wildly different, feature in this outstanding programme. Wagner intended to write a full symphony around the Faust legend, but soon realized he was unlikely to finish it. His one-movement overture sees all the angst and suspense of the story concentrated into a few dramatic minutes of music. While Wagner strayed across the boundaries of love, Brahms apparently missed out on romance: but his passion perhaps ran even more deeply as a result. His rhapsody for the lowest female voice and male choir is a heartfelt response to the discovery that the object of his affections was engaged elsewhere - and his feelings could go no further. Franz Liszt was a renowned virtuoso, mystic, visionary, celebrity, and architect of new musical forms. But above all, Liszt was an entertainer. In his new ‘symphonic poems’, Liszt wanted to convey, heart-on-sleeve, the full swathe of huma

The Live Recital with Daniel Barenboim is Pure Romance through the music of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky Admittedly, I have been waiting for this recording since I reviewed I Capuleti E I Montecchi featuring Ms Netrebko last July --not that this CD was even a consideration at the time, since In the Still of the Night was recorded the following month (August 2009). Still, hearing her voice created a longing to hear it again, to revel in the passion she has for both music and words. Her voice as Juliette "tore my heart out with “Eccomi in lieta vesta”." The music in her latest release is no less stirring capturing the sentiments from her mother Russia. This is Russian music of the late 19th-Century, full of emotional angst and turmoil. Track 8, from Rimsky-Korsakov's Four Songs , Op. 2 No. 2 "Plenivshis' rozoy, solovey" (Captivated by the Rose, Nightingale) is about the unrequited love of a Nightingale for a Rose. While the Rose listens to the be

For all you high-tech, in-touch, opera fans out there... I have a host of blogs I read, but haven't yet made the leap to twitter (even though many of my fans say I ought take the plunge). However, there is a new contest that may be just what I need. #Operaplot 2010 is a twitter contest run by Omniscient Mussel . The point is to twitter an opera in 140 characters or less. The above links gives the rules and guidelines - with a link to the prizes, which are tickets to operas from numerous opera houses around the world (that's right, everyone is playing this game!) There isn't a lot of time left as the contest ends April 30th. Here are some of the ones from last year: * @leboyfriend – There was a young lady called Fricka Who . . . who . . . *snore* ‘Wake up — it’s over.’ It’s good, I just wish it were quicka. [The Ring] * @wordsmusic – Here’s my castle. Are you afraid? No, I’m going to open all those damn doors! Are you afraid? No, let me in! Who’s that? Oh s

I've often thought I'd like to write a series of posts about orchestration, with the idea of eventually putting these posts into a collection and publishing them. But then I look at my book shelf and realize I already have 8 books on orchestration, with countless others on composition related material. Who am I kidding trying to compare myself with Berlioz, Rachmaninoff, Kennan or Adler??? (Ok, unless you're an orchestration geek like me, those last two names may not be that familiar). Still, there are lots of great books out there. PLUS, there are some great websites. Young Composers not only has a great forum for posting your music to get comments from other composers, but it has links to a variety of helpful resources regarding all sorts of compositional skills. MusicArrangers.com has lessons in theory, arranging and more for beginners to professional. Dr. Brian Blood created music theory & history online which is one of the most complete theory references

From Phantom to Dreamgirls Join the Colorado Symphony and four of Broadway's best singers for great moments from hit musicals including Phantom of the Opera, Tommy, Rent, The Lion King, Mamma Mia, Jekyll and Hyde, The Wiz, Hairspray, Chess, Jesus Christ Superstar and Dreamgirls . Scott O'Neil, associate conductor Starring Vocalists Susan Egan, Capathia Jenkins, Hugh Panaro and Doug LaBrecque .

Versatile Pianist Also Joins Steven Isserlis for Family Concert at NYC’s 92nd Street Y (May 23) “Doing the Stravinsky with Jeremy Denk was pure pleasure. He seems to be able to play anything, making it feel effortless and finding the essence of what the composer imagines.” — John Adams Jeremy Denk has enjoyed a high-profile spring, collaborating with composer/conductor John Adams to perform Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds on both sides of the Atlantic. After their account of the work with the London Symphony Orchestra, numerous critics singled Denk’s performance out for praise, the Daily Telegraph noting his “Chopinesque grace,” and the Arts Desk admiring his “astounding sense of fantasy.” Now, as a grand finale, Denk and Adams reunite to reprise the concerto, this time with Ensemble ACJW, at New York’s Carnegie Hall (May 10). Before the month is out, the versatile pianist also makes a second, more intimate New York appearance, joining cellist Steven Isserlis and fr

Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick , Starring Tenor Ben Heppner as Captain Ahab On April 30, The Dallas Opera presents the world premiere of Moby-Dick by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, based on Herman Melville’s iconic American novel of 1851. Tenor Ben Heppner stars as Captain Ahab. Jake Heggie has said that Melville’s book is not only operatic in scope: music virtually rises from its pages. “There is so much music with the sea and the wind and that sort of universe that Melville created, the ship floating on the ocean just as the planet floats on the universe. There were bells on the whaling ships, the whales themselves made very percussive noises.” As he and Scheer worked to distill a huge, classic book into a two-act, three-hour operatic story, the composer felt “the musical world reveal itself” with grand orchestration and a 40-voice men’s chorus. The six-performance premiere of Moby-Dick , to run from April 30 to May 16, will star Ben Heppner as Captain Ahab.

Osmo Vänskä leads Orchestra in two performances at London’s BBC Proms, as well as festival concerts in Edinburgh and Amsterdam Music Director Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra will perform at three major European music festivals this summer, including two performances at what is generally considered the world’s most famous classical music festival: the BBC Proms in London. Featuring violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Alisa Weilerstein, the tour also includes performances at the Edinburgh International Festival and in the Great Hall of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Running from August 24 through 31, the one-week Festival Tour is entirely underwritten by an anonymous donor. Tour repertoire spans the symphonic gamut from string concertos by Berg, Elgar, Mozart and Shostakovich to Bruckner’s Fourth and Beethoven’s Seventh symphonies. In the Orchestra’s final performance at the Proms, it will perform Beethoven’s Ninth, along with the BBC Symphony Chorus and vocal s

Pape Debuts as Wotan at La Scala Milan in May, in New Production of Wagner’s Rheingold under Daniel Barenboim René Pape is just settling down in his Berlin hotel room to talk about becoming King of the Gods, when he is interrupted by the Devil. The malevolent cackle gets too insistent to ignore, but luckily it’s just the ring tone of Pape’s cell phone, set to a bit of Gounod’s Méphistophélès – one of the German bass’s signature roles. Pape is a creature of the stage, so having a little ironic theatricality follow him around is only right. But the singer is also a man grounded in regular life. When not thrilling audiences the world over, he relishes time spent at home by the river in Dresden, cooking to relax. Pape has been a member of the Berlin State Opera since 1988, and – as he turns off his phone to discuss the King of the Gods, aka Wotan, his latest Wagnerian challenge – he is in the German capital for runs as Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and as King Mar

String quartet Crucible (Cornelius Dufallo and Chris Otto, violins; John King, viola; and Alex Waterman, cello) will perform music from composer John King’s new CD “10 Mysteries” at NYC’s Roulette on Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 8:30 pm. Earlier this year, John King released his second CD, “10 Mysteries” on John Zorn’s Tzadik label. King has 2 previous CD releases of music for string quartet; AllSteel (Tzadik) and Ethel (Cantaloupe). Featuring passionate and inspiring performances by the remarkable quartet Crucible with King himself on viola, the music on 10 Mysteries jumps from moment to moment with lightening speed and an organic sense of form. In his second CD on Tzadik he again embraces rock, jazz, blues and other popular styles in an energetic and colorful program for string quartet. Roulette ( www.roulette.org ) is located at 20 Greene Street, NYC, between Canal and Grand. Tickets are $15/$10 and can be reserved at 212.219.8242. Admission is free to Roulette members.

In-Depth Survey of Music by Great Viennese Modernist Alban Berg and His Contemporaries is Centerpiece of Seven-Week 2010 Bard SummerScape Festival “Part boot camp for the brain, part spa for the spirit” – New York Times Described by the Los Angeles Times as “uniquely stimulating,” the world-renowned Bard Music Festival returns for its 21st annual season, to fill the last two weekends of Bard SummerScape 2010 with a compelling and enlightening exploration of “Berg and His World.” Twelve concert programs over the two mid-August weekends, complemented by pre-concert lectures, panel discussions, expert commentaries, and a symposium, make up Bard’s examination of Alban Berg, the composer whose enduring impact on the hearts and minds of post-war audiences is unique among the modernists of his generation. The twelve concerts present Berg’s complete orchestral oeuvre, all of his published chamber, instrumental, and vocal works, and Berg’s own suites from his operas, Wozzeck and Lulu ,

The New York Art Ensemble moves its Ninth Annual Tribeca New Music Festival, a 4-concert series of cutting-edge new music, to a new location, Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street, NYC, with performances on June 5, 7, 8, 9, at 8PM. The Festival will highlight important trends and artists affecting today’s vibrant new music scene. “Since our first Tribeca New Music Festival in 2001 we have a had a great run with our good friends at The Flea Theater. But, after two sold-out seasons in a row downtown, the New York Art Ensemble wants to reach more people and will present its four-concert series at the beautifully renovated Merkin Concert Hall near Lincoln Center,” said Festival curator Preston Stahly. “Concerts one and two will single out some brilliant newcomers making their presence felt including the JACK Quartet and the Ted Hearne Band, while concert three will feature the NYAE Monsters and concert four will highlight two of the most important female composer/performers on the

Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski offers a rare opportunity to hear Myaskovsky's Symphony 6, a moving choral work of Mahlerian proportions, which alludes to the distressing circumstances surrounding the death of his aunt. Myaskovksy was great friends with Prokofiev throughout his life, and it is the latter composer's Symphony-Concerto, a large scale work for cello and orchestra, that opens the evening concert. Wednesday 28 April 2010 | Royal Festival Hall | 7.30pm Prokofiev Symphony-Concerto Myaskovsky Symphony 6 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Danjulo Ishizaka cello London Philharmonic Choir

Also the SCO Chorus joins the Orchestra for rarely performed Schumann Mass Intimate Chamber Concert of late Romantic music and Renowned pianist Maria João Pires makes a rare Scottish appearance The Scottish Chamber Orchestra pairs Sibelius’ Symphony No 3 with the world premiere performance of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Symphony No 8, a work commissioned by the SCO and conducted by Tüür’s fellow-Estonian Olari Elts in Glasgow (City Halls, 30 April) and Edinburgh (Queen’s Hall, 1 May). The Orchestra last performed a work by Tüür – Oxymoron – in November 2007 to considerable critical acclaim and audience approval. The concert opens with Concerto Romanesc, a rip-roaring work by György Ligeti which vividly evokes the world of Romanian folk music. Ticket holders will have the opportunity to hear Tüür discuss his new symphony, its themes and influences at a free pre-concert talk. The SCO Chorus will be joining the Orchestra for a rare performance of Schumann’s Mass, as part of Schumann 200 – a

Both Albums available at ArkivMusic.com Following his critically acclaimed Beethoven symphony cycle, Grammy Award®-winning conductor Paavo Järvi presents the first two installments of his Bruckner symphony cycle. Järvi leads the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, whose strong association with Bruckner was cemented with their recordings of his original scores in the 1980s. The new Super Audio CD recordings of Bruckner Symphony No. 7 and Symphony No. 9 are both available on April 20, 2010. “I love Bruckner,” says Järvi about his decision to make these recordings. “I have an affinity for his music. Every symphony is absolutely unique…long journeys that take very careful planning and pacing. You can lose yourself in this music. It can take you some place very special.” The first to receive unequivocal admiration for Bruckner as a great composer, Symphony No. 7 in E Major was also the most beloved with audiences of the time and remains popular today. Geoff Brown of the Time

Program also includes Romantic works by Brahms and Strauss Spanish Conductor Juanjo Mena will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a program celebrating the Romantic Era on Thursday, May 13 at 8 p.m. and Friday, May 14 at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Saturday, May 15 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore. The BSO will perform Schumann’s Piano Concerto featuring internationally acclaimed pianist Louis Lortie, Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 and Richard Strauss’ Don Juan . Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor features celebrated pianist Louis Lortie, who London’s Daily Telegraph praises as “one of the half a dozen pianists worth dropping everything to hear” and who is known for his interpretations of Romantic piano repertoire. The first movement’s lilting melody illustrates Schumann’s abiding love for his wife Clara Wieck Schumann. The joyfulness continues into the second movement, despite being written four years after the first movement and following Schumann’

Menzel to Step Into the Spotlight as Featured Guest Artist on May 5 and 6, Performing a Variety of Repertoire from Musical Theater Favorites to Classic Pop Broadway sensation and Tony Award-winning actress/vocalist Idina Menzel will join Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops for three performances during the first week of the orchestra’s 125th season, including a cameo appearance at the “Opening Night at Pops” gala concert on Tuesday, May 4. For the opening night program, Ms. Menzel joins Doc Severinsen and pianist Michael Chertock for a special opening night program that honors the distinctive legacies of its most famous conductors—Mr. Lockhart, John Williams, and Arthur Fiedler. Ms. Menzel, who can currently be seen on the hit television show ”Glee,” returns to the Pops stage on May 5 and 6, when she will be highlighted performing a full set list of repertoire ranging from musical theater favorites to classic pop, including new arrangements of hits from two of her most famous shows,

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra introduces Musicians’ Concierge—a new service for BSO patrons in which BSO musicians help them customize their subscription packages. Now through May 15 after each concert at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, patrons can attend BSO Fan parties to participate in the Musicians’ Concierge. BSO musicians will be present at every party to assist subscribers in selecting their subscription package for the upcoming season, based on each patron’s favorite musical styles and solo instrument. BSO Fan parties also include free drinks and desserts. Concerts held at the Music Center at Strathmore will have BSO musicians present at intermission only. For patrons unable to attend a BSO Fan party before May 15, an online version of the Musicians’ Concierge will be available. Patrons can visit BSOmusic.org , fill out a short form and within one week, a BSO musician will contact the subscriber with suggestions for selecting his or her customized subscription package

Sondra Radvanosky and Greer Grimsley capture the dark passion of Tosca Photographer: Matthew Staver   Tosca at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House –where do I begin? I rather feel like the fan watching a game that is practically hopeless only to see my team score in the final seconds and win! But the score was not just any score; it was one of those amazing feats that will be played over and over again on the late night sports recap. I don’t mean to suggest that OperaColorado is facing certain defeat, or that opera in Colorado is on the decline. But classical arts are suffering in the current economic climate. Colorado Symphony musicians, who also play for OperaColorado, is just one of many orchestras that took a voluntary pay cut to keep the books balanced. Last night OperaColorado, against the odds of current economic trends, scored not only a game winner but capped off their season with a stellar production; took home the trophy, so to speak. From the opening of the curt

The Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival announced this week that pianist Anne-Marie McDermott will be its artistic director beginning with the 2011 season, the Festival’s 24th. McDermott will assume artistic leadership in October succeeding Eugenia Zukerman who, after holding the position for 13 years, announced last fall she would step down. Zukerman will complete her stellar tenure with the Bravo! Festival this summer of 2010. "Annie-Marie McDermott is a superb pianist and a dynamic and compelling person," says Zukerman. "Having often performed with Anne-Marie, I know that her musical insights and creative ideas will be great assets to Bravo! I have complete confidence that Anne-Marie McDermott will be a remarkable artistic leader for the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival." Bravo's search committee, comprised of board members, staff and an artistic consultant, began an extensive search for a new artistic director last September. More than 80 candidat

From The Alamo to The Philadelphia Story , this program captures the very best music of Hollywood's Golden Age of Movies in a program dedicated to the musical creations of Franz Waxman and the films of John Wayne. Richard Kaufman conducts the music that made the movies you love – the movies you love! From Sunset Boulevard to The Comancheros and Bride of Frankenstein – this program has it all! Richard Kaufman, conductor Boettcher Concert Hall April 23rd

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s Debut With The Berliner Philharmoniker And Daniel Barenboim Tuesday, April 27 Webcast Live Through The Digital Concert Hall Cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker and conductor Daniel Barenboim on Tuesday, April 27 will be webcast live through the Orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall enabling audiences worldwide to watch her debut performance. Ms. Weilerstein will perform Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor at the Berlin Philharmonie. The sold-out concert will also include the Prelude to Act 3 of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 in C minor. Tickets to watch the concert live online cost 9.90 EUR (approximately $14) and are available from www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/dch . The concert begins at 8 p.m. in Berlin , which will be 2 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. CDT/11 a.m PDT. A few days after the concert, it will also become available in the video archive of the Digital Concert Hall. On Saturday, May 1s

Fans can vote online to help KeepingScore.org win the Web’s top honor The San Francisco Symphony’s Keeping Score website has been nominated for Best Education Site in the 14th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times , the Webby Award is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Web. The KeepingScore.org website was launched in 2006 and redesigned in 2009 to accompany the SF Symphony’s PBS-TV Keeping Score documentary series, hosted by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas. KeepingScore.org explores the music and stories of some of the world’s most groundbreaking composers. Designed to appeal to high school and college age students and their teachers, KeepingScore.org also appeals to music lovers of all ages who want to learn more about classical music. Composers Ludwig van Beethoven, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Hector Berlioz, Charles Ives and Dmitri Shostakovich are featured on the site. The r

...and by extension Classical Music in general. This is from the Blog of a cousin of mine. She is 30 years old. Then, I got all gussied up and went to the opera with another friend. It was a medley of opera arias. Given that it was my very first opera experience, I did enjoy it and I thought it was entertaining. It was in direct contrast to the mountain biking movie from the night before :-} It was really cool to see all the elderly people out and about enjoying life. I want to be one of those old people {someday, not right now, but someday}. Yep - the young people look at opera as something to do when they are OLD! Why you may ask? Because we constantly re-hash old music and old productions. Because the new music bears little or no relation to the rest of the 'modern' music world. Because story has changed - the average scene in a film in 1940 was 4 minutes long - it is now 40 seconds. Because the audience is old, young people may feel out of place - manners, social cust

So far this season, Susan Graham has triumphed in Berlioz’s Damnation de Faust at Lyric Opera of Chicago, in Strauss’s Rosenkavalier at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, in Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with the San Francisco Symphony, and in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas on a West Coast tour. Now the Grammy Award-winning mezzo returns to her native Texas for a climactic challenge: singing the tyrannical, flamboyant title role of Handel’s Xerxes at Houston Grand Opera, from April 30 to May 14. A renowned Handelian, Graham enjoyed tremendous success in her 2008 performances of Handel’s Ariodante in San Francisco. The Wall Street Journal wrote of her Ariodante: “There can be few living singers who can do such spellbinding justice both to Handel’s stark emotions and his heavenly music as Susan Graham… . She was totally compelling both in romantic ecstasy and in abject dismay.” The San Francisco Chronicle joined in the praise, adding that her performance “was marked by nobility and techni

Grammy Award-winning sextet also reprises two celebrated programs: “The Only Moving Thing” for Minneapolis debut at Walker Art Center (May 1) and “Meanwhile” at People’s Symphony Concert in New York City (May 8) “Given the ferocious virtuosity of the group’s members, … there seems to be nothing they can’t do, musically or otherwise.” – Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle eighth blackbird gets a flying start in May with three important new music events, reprising “The Only Moving Thing” for its Minneapolis debut at the prestigious Walker Art Center on May 1; unveiling the world premiere of Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez’s Five Memos at New York City’s innovative Look & Listen Festival on May 7; and presenting the playful “Meanwhile” program at the People’s Symphony Concert series, also in Manhattan, the following night. The Grammy-winning sextet makes its first Minneapolis appearance at the Walker Art Center, one of the nation’s “big five” modern art museums, on Saturd