Tag: News

PNB says multiple goodbyes Sunday

By R.M. Campbell

For some June represents weddings while others it is graduations. At Pacific Northwest Ballet, the month signifies a time to bid farewell to not only dancers but artistic directors and conductors as well. No other arts organization says goodbye quite so well. They are grand affairs with plenty of tears and flowers for everyone. The first in recent history was dedicated to Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, co-artistic directors of the company for more than 25 years. Then came Patricia Barker, one of the greatest talents PNB ever fostered, followed by the beloved Louise Nadeau a couple years later, among others. On Sunday at McCaw Hall, the company bid adieu to Stewart Kershaw, who created the PNB Orchestra 20 years ago, as well as dancers Mara Vinson and Jordan Pacitti.

Continue reading PNB says multiple goodbyes Sunday

Quarter notes: mission vs. vision

Atlanta School composer Osvaldo Golijov.

Two interesting articles courtesy of Arts Journal.

Robert Spano (who was here in April) . The four composers Spano has championed – Jennifer Higdon, Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Gandolfi, and Christopher Theofanidis — have been dubbed the “Atlanta School,” and all have seen their profiles rise as a result of Spano’s efforts. The most encouraging aspect of Spano’s work is what it has done for audience development and ticket sales. I’ve excerpted the most interesting section of article, one that should be read by every arts administrator struggling to augment audiences.

“The most significant aspect of the Atlanta School project may be the trust it is building for new music in general. A semi-staged version of the opera “Dr. Atomic” by American composer John Adams sold at 88% of paid capacity during the depths of the economic recession. In a reversal of usual box-office patterns, concerts with music by Atlanta School composers typically sell at about 84% of capacity, says marketing vice president Charles Wade, versus an average of 78% for other classical events.”

Continue reading Quarter notes: mission vs. vision

Quarter notes: Decoration Day edition

Stephen Rogers Radcliffe is adding the Thalia Symphony to his orchestra responsibilities. Radcliffe is currently music director for the Seattle Youth Symphony. Perhaps you remember his fine Mahler 2 from last weekend? Radcliffe takes over for Eric Hanson who will conduct a final concert with the Thalia June 3, 2010 at the First Free Methodist Church.

Out in New York City, Gyorgy Ligeti’s opera about the end of the world (sort of) . Alan Gilbert and the NY Phil seem headed in the right direction.

The LA Ring — a production plagued with controversies — finally . I consider myself a Wagnerite (of the non-obsessive sort) and LA’s Ring looks baffling to me. On the other hand, the looks promising — traditional, modern, with a bunch of Met flash. Love it.

The You Tube version of the trailer is now disabled. I imagine because the Met folks thought it makes more sense to drive people to the website. This is too bad because a video can’t go viral if it can’t be embedded, shared, liked, and all of the other ways media is promoted these days.

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The local Odeonquartet departs for Russia today for two concerts, one of which will include the Russian premiere of Phillip Glass’ Fifth String Quartet. Heather Bentley, the group’s violist, will be blogging from the tour. Check back for Heather’s road report.

Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic have found critics outside of LA less generous in their assessments. and whether it even matters.

In case you missed it over the weekend, the about the search for Gerard Schwarz’s replacement. There weren’t any revelations in the piece, most of the qualities sought in the new music director are obvious.  Nancy Evans says some of the requirements of the search committee are,”The musical ability of the person, the ability to conduct and the ability to understand music, to know music, know instruments. All those features of the orchestra.”

The SSO isn’t just looking for a new music director, they are also looking for a new executive director too. Earlier this year, Thomas Phillion announced he would step down at the end of his contract in June. Without much fanfare,Phillion stepped down a lot earlier than June and is now the head of

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My write up of last week’s Music of Remembrance concert and the premiere of Vedem is up at the .  I’ve generally liked the Music of Remembrance concerts I’ve attended.  This one didn’t do it for me.

A couple of events this weekend to check out: and the .  The SYSO dives into Mahler’s Second Symphony while the American String Project gives three concerts of string quartets and other chamber works, arranged for string orchestra.

From last week, an article which asks an important question: ?  Should it matter if he is?  Later today I will be posting a video interview with Christian Knapp (the former associate conductor and guest conductor this week of the SSO) where this subject came up.

Youth Symphony tackles death and resurrection in Mahler’s Second Symphony this Sunday

Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, the Seattle Youth Symphony’s music director, sat perched on a stool looking out over his orchestra. He flipped through the pages of his score to Mahler’s Second Symphony, searching for a good place in the music to start rehearsal. This was only the symphony’s second rehearsal of the symphony. Press were invited to attend to watch and hear how the orchestra was approaching the piece in advance of their May performance.

When the Second Symphony is performed this weekend (Sunday, May 23rd), it will be only the second time the orchestra has played the work in front of a paying audience and only the second time Radcliffe has conducted the piece – the previous time was with a professional orchestra in Sioux City, Iowa.
Continue reading Youth Symphony tackles death and resurrection in Mahler’s Second Symphony this Sunday

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How could those masks not be dangerous? Photo LA Times.

The LA Ring sounds like a .

Meanwhile, The Met’s new Ring gets the . Robert LePage’s ideas look promising. Will Levine be healthy enough to conduct? Can this production cement Gelb’s reputation as an innovator with the right vision for the Met?

The NY Phil has unveiled a new (and even funny) video campaign for this month’s Le Grande Macabre. Gilbert and Death share a moment over . They even face off over a game of .  Death gets brain freeze; loses a fin.

Quarter notes: Le Grand


Gyorgy Ligeti supposedly spent the last years of his life worried that when he died no one would remember him or his music. His worries weren’t entirely unjustified. The work of many, many composers has slipped into obscurity. For Ligeti, an artist on the fringes of the musical mainstream, the possibility of anonymity is even more pronounced.

Thank goodness for the NY Philharmonic then, which is preparing a concert performance of Ligeti’s opera Le Grand Macabre May 27-29. When the opera hits the concert stage later this month it will be the NY premiere of this 20th Century masterpiece. To prep listeners, the orchestras have released three new videos in their FlipCam series.

Doug Fitch, Le Grand’s director, takes the Phil’s FlipCam camera man (or woman) on a tour of his studio and reveals some of the designs that will be used.

The NY Phil has a number of other videos — non FlipCam — worth investigating too. In this video, Douglas Fitch and Edourad Getaz give an overview of the opera and the project.

In another video (a non FlipCam video) Alan Gilbert shares his own thoughts on Le Grand.

The adventurous can always download (or buy a CD version) of Sony’s EP Salonen led performance of the piece.

Closer to home, don’t forget Seattle Opera’s Amelia which will be unveiled to the concert going public for the first time tonight. Amelia, unlike the photo of Ligeti at the top of this post, is guaranteed not to frighten (that’s my own personal guarantee not Hagen’s or SO’s.) There is lots of good information about the opera (especially J. Dean’s listening guide) over at . If you don’t like to read, here is the final video is SO’s series.

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Stephane Deneve

Anne Midgette .  What will the press say about our own local world premiere? We’ll start to find out this weekend.

. He also received with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra — his original post. There were a handful of people who though Deneve might be a suitable music director for Seattle and is scheduled to return to the SSO next season. Does this announcement take him out of the running? Can the SSO still find a suitable replacement? How does the ongoing Philadelphia saga and the nascent search for MD’s in Cincinnati and Indianapolis affect the landscape?

Happy Birthday! with a concert tonight at the Chapel Performance Space. On the bill a new piece by Wayne Horowitz, violist Melia Watras, the Icicle Creek Trio, and the Pacific Rims Percussion Quartet.

Quarter notes: May Day! May Day!

I’ll be up at Town Hall tomorrow from 1 pm until 1 am co-hosting May Day! May Day’s! new music festivities along with Dave Beck (KUOW) and Gavin Borchert (Seattle Weekly). I assure you, it will be a lot of fun. In addition to being fun, it only costs $5. When was the last time you were able to hear 12 hours of new music in Seattle for $5? Probably never.

If you absolutely cannot attend, even for 2 hours, check back here through the day. I hope to be posting, doing a little live blogging, and sharing different media (photos, video, sound recordings, etc).  There will be some tweetting as well (www.twitter.com/gatheringnote).

Speaking of tweeting. The Seattle Opera is tweeting the entire libretto of their new opera Amelia (@AmeliaLibretto) in the run up to opening night on May 8th. If Twitter isn’t your thing, do check out Seattle Opera’s library of . Seattle Opera has everything (and more) you need to get the most out of Amelia. I’ve posted some of the videos here, but there are many more to see.