Month: May 2011
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By R.M. Campbell When Angel Corella made his debut as a soloist at American Ballet Theatre some 16 years ago at the age of 20, his dancing was a sensation. A few months later he was promoted to principal and in the years to follow became a star attraction, an essential part of the company’s…
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The Detroit Symphony comes out of a damaging strike with a new outreach initiative aimed at suburban audiences. New York City Opera is on the ropes as deficits continue to mount, ticket sales drag, and musicians are calling for the company to do Carmen. By now we know the Philadelphia Orchestras has filed for bankruptcy.…
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By Philippa Kiraly The Tudor Choir has always aimed for the pure tone of an English cathedral choir with its typical sound of boys’ clear treble voices and often male altos. Its latest offering, “All the Queen’s Men,” performed at Blessed Sacrament Church Saturday night, was no exception, and the music, composed during the religious…
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With Scott Goff retiring the SSO needed a new principal flute and late last week Ludovic Morlot found his man: Demarre McGill. From the press release. Seattle Symphony announces the appointment of Principal Flute Demarre McGill, who will join the Orchestra in September. He comes to Seattle from the San Diego Symphony where he has…
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Last night it was the University of Washington Symphony conducted by Jonathan Pasternack. On Friday, it will be Julia Tai and the Seattle Modern Orchestra. Both are developing into two of the area’s more interesting orchestras. What distinguishes these two orchestra’s isn’t necessarily the precision of their playing. Neither is flawless, but both have created…
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If you made it to the Nordstrom Recital Hall last Friday you were likely part of history. Not history of the epoch altering kind, but of the musical kind. It was the first time many of the people in the audience, most with decades of experience with Seattle’s classical music scene, could recall a live…
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By Philippa Kiraly Mina Miller used these words when introducing the latest Music of Remembrance concert Monday night. Miller is artistic director of the concert series which she began thirteen years ago, and every concert has been one which leaves the listener with much to ponder after. Monday’s performance at Nordstrom Recital Hall was no…
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By R.M. Campbell Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” is a fairy-tale set in an exotic land with good and evil clearly laid out and all sorts of magic generously sprinkled throughout the piece. It has held the stage steadily since its premiere in Vienna in 1791. The production closes the company’s current season. The first two…
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Few ensembles today command the interest of modern music aficionados like the JACK quartet. The members of the quartet — violinists Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Kevin McFarland — met while studying at the Eastman school of music. They studied with the pioneering Kronos Quartet and Arditti Quartet. Though,…