Mozaic Moment: Bach Sonata for English Horn and
Harpsichord
In this week's Mozaic Moment, Festival Mozaic looks back
to the Bach
English Horn Sonata, performed by Robert Walters of the
Cleveland Orchestra and harpsichordist Noam Elkies at Mozaic’s 2015 Summer
Festival. Originally composed for the viola da gamba, this sonata (like many of
Bach's works) is performed frequently on other instruments. We hope you enjoy!
Watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcM9Sq-szNI&feature=youtu.be&linkNum=3&campaignID=395890&patronID=1231585051&memberID=0f7e312e9448e6fed7cbc52ad891b3d9
In this season of giving, on behalf of all of us at
Festival Mozaic, thank you for your support and generosity. Consider any gift
to Festival Mozaic today and help ensure our future of bringing music to San
Luis Obispo County year after year:
https://tickets.vendini.com/donation-software.html?t=donation&d=f956bff3869da21f1b600b2fe5a41a87&linkNum=4&campaignID=395890&patronID=1231585051&memberID=0f7e312e9448e6fed7cbc52ad891b3d9&vqitq=2f476484-deca-4538-9b98-62fc2e2cfda1&vqitp=9ae9d049-9e
--Festival Mozaic
Sphinx Organization Digitally Presents Two of Its
Flagship Programs
The Sphinx Organization, dedicated to transforming lives
through the power of diversity in the arts, is presenting its fifth annual and
first ever digital SphinxConnect convening, SphinxConnect 2021: UNITY!, from
January 28 to 30, 2021. SphinxConnect is the annual epicenter where artists and
leaders in diversity meet, and this year’s convening features over 70 speakers
exploring topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion in the arts.
Conference highlights include an opening session with
Elizabeth Alexander, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation President, interviewed by
American public radio host and journalist Jenn White, and a closing session with
pianist and 2014 Sphinx Medalist Damien Sneed. Other panels include: Artful
Resilience: How Musicians Innovate in Crisis, Socially Vocal: a Discussion on
Race and Identity in the Arts, This is Everyone's Fight: How Philanthropic
Institutions Stepped Forth to Support Artists and BIPOC Institutions, and The
ABCs of DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and EDIB (Equity, Diversity,
Inclusion & Belonging): Best Practices in Implicit Bias and Anti-Racist
Training with speakers including Jenny Bilfield, Clive Gillinson, and Deborah
Rutter. The digital sessions are interactive and participants will have
opportunities for one on one networking with panelists during the course of the
three day conference.
Tickets for the conference are priced at $150 for the full
series of events, as well as a “Pay What You Are Able” option to minimize
attendance barriers. SphinxConnect Virtual Fellowships provide free access to
the conference and $75 towards internet costs. An application for a
SphinxConnect Fellowship is available here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScPO3XCkSSq21r4ncA9Z-96jUZAjeleiw_-4wOhxFX5Zv6ySg/viewform
In conjunction with the convening, the Sphinx Organization
also hosts its prestigious competition recognizing the outstanding achievements
of young Black and Latinx classical string players, offering them the
opportunity to compete under the guidance of an internationally renowned panel of
judges, and receive mentorship from established professional musicians. The
organization’s founding program, now in its 24th year, includes both a Senior
Division (ages 18 to 30) and a Junior Division (ages 17 and under).
The Sphinx Competition Junior and Senior Division Finals
will feature the three Finalists from both the Senior and Junior Divisions.
Presented by DTE Energy Foundation, the concert will be available to watch on
Saturday, January 30 at 7pm ET on Sphinx’s YouTube Channel and website:
https://www.sphinxmusic.org/sphinx-competition/
--Katlyn Morahan, Morahan Arts and Media
MNM Festival: Our 10th Edition Goes “Beyond Borders”
With a few months to go before the start of its Montreal/New
Musics festival (MNM), the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ)
announces the theme of its 10th edition, to be held from February 18 to 28,
2021. The MNM festival is reinventing itself to offer an unprecedented sound
odyssey with the theme Au-delà des frontières (“Beyond Borders”). MNM 2021 will
stand out for the global aspect that webcast now offers, and through its
programming, tinged with openness and discovery.
Thus for 10 days musical and artistic frontiers will open
up to reveal new and unprecedented sounds with universal accents. "I have
always wanted to program music without limits and without concessions. We don't
as yet know if we'll be able to go back to the concert hall, but we'll
certainly be able to present concerts that will go over and above musical
limits!” says Walter Boudreau, the festival's Artistic Director, known for his
willingness to go beyond conventional rules.
For further information, visit
http://smcq.qc.ca/
--France Gaignard, Publicist
Peoples’ Symphony Concerts
On Sunday, we had our fourth concert of our 120th
Anniversary Season - dedicated to Isaac Stern on his centenary - with one of
today's premier violinists Gil Shaham. We not only had some beautiful Bach and
three delightful short pieces by living composers, we also had conductor
Michael Stern join Gil for a fascinating post-concert chat about his father.
You can still buy a single ticket this week ($12 + a
contribution, if you are able), or, even better,
buy a 5-concert series ticket (available through the end of
January) for less than $10 per concert, per person + a contribution, if
possible, and hear: Dover Qt. & Shai Wosner (Dvorak
Piano Qnt.) -
Gil Shaham (Bach) - Schubertiade (“Trout” Qnt.) - Calidore Qt
-
Marc-Andre Hamelin.
By purchasing a series ticket for yourself or for family
and friends (anywhere in the country) and by contributing to Peoples' Symphony
Concerts,
you are doing a mitzvah (good
deed) bringing inspiring music to the recipient as well as contributing, in
this critical time, to PSC, which has been bringing great and affordable
concerts to New Yorkers on a limited budget since 1900.
For complete information, visit
https://www.pscny.org/
--Frank Salomon Associates
Pianist Orli Shaham's MidWeek Mozart Celebrates
Beethoven at 250
This week, music-lovers everywhere are celebrating the
250th anniversary of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s birth, and Orli Shaham couldn't
resist joining the party. So, head over to Midweek Mozart to enjoy Ms. Shaham's
recital presented by Kaufman Music Center at Merkin Hall this fall. In this
program, Ms. Shaham reveals the connections between Mozart’s intense
Sonata
No. 14 in C minor and Beethoven’s moving “Pathétique."
Watch this performance at
https://orlishahammozart.com/
Gail Wein, Classical Communications
New Century Announces Cancellation of Spring
Performances
In accordance with directives from the San Francisco
Department of Public Health, New Century Chamber Orchestra announces the
cancellation of its February and April 2021 performances. Cancellations include
Mozart Birthday Celebration concerts in Berkeley (February 5), San Francisco
(February 6) and Belvedere Tiburon (February 7) as well as Call of Destiny
concerts in Berkeley (April 22), San Francisco (April 24) and Belvedere Tiburon
(April 25).
Please visit respective venue websites for updates on
additional appearances presented by Stanford Live at Bing Concert Hall (April
20) and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (April 23).
--Brenden Guy Media
What's Streaming: Classical – Beethoven 250th Birthday
Edition
Jonathan Biss’s all-Beethoven NPR Music Tiny Desk (home)
concert:
NPR.org:
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/14/945451489/jonathan-biss-tiny-desk-home-concert
And NPR Music’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99jaKJvtRBY
Thursday, December 17:
Jonathan Biss’s audio memoir,
UNQUIET: My Life with
Beethoven, recorded for Audible.
https://www.audible.com/ep/upcomingoriginals
Tuesday, December 22 at 10:00 a.m. PT:
Coffee with Conlon: Happy Birthday Beethoven &
Puccini!
https://www.laopera.org/discover/la-opera-on-now/
Saturday, December 26:
NPR Music’s AMPLIFY with Lara Downes features Jon Batiste.
https://www.npr.org/series/922438111/amplify-with-lara-downes
Thursday, December 31 at 8:00 p.m. CT:
Vänskä Conducts a New Year's Celebration with Minnesota
Orchestra.
https://minnesotaorchestra.org/
Sunday, January 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET (available for 30 days):
The Gilmore presents Emmet Cohen Trio.
https://www.thegilmore.org/event/jazz-club-emmet-cohen-trio/
--Shuman Associates
American Baritone Quinn Kelsey's Opera Kanikapila
Session
American baritone Quinn Kamakanalani Kelsey on January
29th returns to his Hawaiian roots in Hawai’i Opera Theatre's inaugural Opera
Kanikapila session. In this series, HOT’s newest digital offering, opera
singers are paired with a local musician from different cultures to let them
explore ways to combine their art.
Quinn, who came up with HOT, is paired with the virtuoso
ukulele player, Taimane Tauiliili Bobbie Gardner. These two artists seem
destined to collaborate. Quinn has long been talking about undertaking a
project of Hawaiian music, so this is a terrific entry into a genre that he certainly
grew up with, but his career took him on a different journey. Taimane has
already infused her music with classical repertoire, including opera.
Hawai'i Opera Theatre was forced to postpone their 20-21
season due to the pandemic.
All is not
lost though as they have been developing HOT Digital to ‘opera different’ and
appeal to a broader base. One such offering is a multi-year project called Hapa
Opera, which houses, among other ‘programs’, Opera Kanikapila. Kanikapila is a
style of Hawaiian music produced by an impromptu jam session. Usually it is
folk-influenced, but for Opera Kanikapila, opera artists are brought together
with local musicians combining their art. The series speaks to the aloha spirit
that imbues HOT.
Pricing: $25
Purchase tickets:
https://hotdigital.vhx.tv/products/opera-kanikapila-quinn-kelsey-taimane-gardner
Telephone: 1.808.596.7858
For more information, visit:
http://hawaiiopera.org/
--Maria DiSalvo, Two Sheps That Pass...
Bang on a Can Offers Performances from All Four 2020
Online Marathons
Bang on a Can Announces performances from all four 2020
online Marathons available on-demand from December 24, 2020 - January 1, 2021
at
https://marathon2020.bangonacan.org/.
Each online Marathon in 2020 (May 3, June 14, August 16,
and October 18) featured performances from musicians' homes around the country
and across the world -
a total of 95
performances including 31 world premieres of new commissions and over 130
composers and performers. All Marathon performers and composers participating
live have been compensated by Bang on a Can. In all, Bang on a Can signed more
than 150 paychecks to working artists to create and play the music on these
marathons. The online collection also includes dozens of artist conversations
with Bang on a Can Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Michael Gordon, David Lang,
and Julia Wolfe, who interviewed many of the composers throughout the 24 hours
of Marathon concert streams.
All videos will be free to stream. But as the entire
ecosystem of composers and performers still needs assistance, viewers are
encouraged to consider purchasing a ticket as doing so will enable Bang on a
Can to do more performances, pay more players, commission more composers, and
share more music worldwide. Bang on a Can plans to continue presenting online
performances as long as the closure of presenting venues continues, and perhaps
beyond.
For more information, visit
https://bangonacan.org/.
--Maggie Stapleton, Jensen Artists
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Announces
Winter Season
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS)
announces its Winter 2021 Digital Season, with 26 new digital offerings,
available for free, from January 14 to March 26, 2021.
CMS introduces a new online schedule in
January, with concerts premiering Thursday evenings and educational and
conversational programs premiering on Monday evenings. The series of weekly
family programming continues on Friday mornings.
On Thursdays, CMS presents new digital concerts:
newly-curated concerts drawn from the vast CMS HD-video archive and
newly-recorded performances created for CMS. On Monday evenings, CMS offers
seminars and hybrid performance-and-discussion programs, live from (or recently
taped in) the Rose Studio on the Lincoln Center campus. CMS’s online series for
families, Inspector Pulse at Home, continues airing Friday mornings at 11 am.
CMS continues to emphasize creativity and flexibility as it develops new
approaches to programming, with the goal of bringing music, musicians,
composers and audiences closer, even while the pandemic keeps concert halls
from serving as a gathering place for musicians and music lovers.
For complete information, visit
https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/
--Beverly Greenfield, Kirshbaum Associates
New York String Orchestra Seminar
Every year, since I started the New York String Orchestra
Seminar in 1969,
we've brought some of
the country's most exceptional young musicians to New York for ten days of
chamber music coaching, orchestral rehearsals and Carnegie Hall performances
that, happily, have become a treasured holiday and professional training
tradition.
The idea of the Seminar was
to go beyond technical proficiency, open new musical worlds and emphasize
expressivity and using chamber music tenets in orchestral performance.
Although Covid-19 isn’t allowing us to have concerts this
year, we’re very excited about having over 30 of today’s most respected
musicians (most drawn from our distinguished alumni)
join Jaime Laredo & Manny Ax to inspire our 2020
participating young artists in a five-day virtual Seminar starting
tomorrow, Saturday, December 19th.
The mastermind for this imaginative
re-imaging of the SemInar is our wonderful Director Rohana Elias-Reyes, who has
been an integral part of all of our activities at The New School's
Mannes School of Music for over twenty
years.
She's reachable at
EliasReR@newschool.edu or 646-221-5608 and happy to answer any questions that
you might have.