Tag: Seattle

Today, Stewart Kershaw, music director and conductor of Pacific Northwest Ballet announced his departure from the organization, effective immediately.

Kershaw, 68, has been PNB’s conductor for 25 years and it’s now 20 years since the orchestra began its own orchestra, last summer described in The New York Times as perhaps the best ballet orchestra in the country.

Kershaw emphasizes that he is leaving now, not because of any disagreements with PNB but the opposite. He wants to retire on a high note, and he considers the production of “Romeo et Juliette” just past was a highlight for the company and the PNB orchestra. He has just chosen a new concertmaster for the orchestra, Michael Lim, and feels he leaves the group in very good hands with Lim and, until a new music director is found, assistant conductor Allan Dameron.

Kershaw has been a ballet conductor for 43 years, directing the music for such luminaries as Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev among many others. He remains in town and will continue to conduct the Auburn Symphony, where many of the PNB orchestra also play.

PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal accepted Kershaw’s resignation with sadness, commenting that he had contributed tremendously to the company over the past quarter century. The company will begin to look for a successor immediately.

Tomorrow night, Anton Batagov emerges for his Seattle debut and first public recital in 12 years at the Good Shepherd Center in the Wallingford neighborhood. The Russian composer/pianist is famous in his country for his movie scores for television and movies. His recital will include music from some of his television and movie scores.

Also this week, the Seattle Symphony tackles what is perhaps Gustav Mahler’s most famous symphony – the Fifth. Noted classical music writer Bernard Jacobsen remarked that Gerard Schwarz, the Seattle Symphony’s music director, is “one of the finest exponents of Mahler symphonies in the world today.” For me, Schwarz’s Mahler is always enjoyable – recent performances of the Eighth, Third and Sixth come to mind – even if his interpretations don’t rise to the “best in the world,” as Jacobsen argues. Violinist Isabelle Faust is joining the orchestra in the first half for Mendelssohn’s First Violin Concerto.

This Sunday, Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers kick off their season with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. As always, Orchestra Seattle’s season looks good. There are the customary and noteworthy Bach and Mozart concerts as well as the annual Messiah performance. But, there are also performances of Handel’s “Alexander’s Feast,” Saint Saens’s “Christmas Oratorio,” and Michael Torke’s Saxaphone Concerto.

due date film downloads

After a lengthy Ring hangover, the new classical music season is upon us and I am back to blogging. The Seattle Symphony kicked off their season this weekend with a gala celebration, before that they paired three mini-concerts with wine tasting. The orchestra’s subscription season gets underway in earnest next week, with Gerard Schwarz leading the orchestra in Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with Orli Shaham and Jon Kimura Parker. The evening ends with Brahms’s evergreen First Symphony.

The Pacific Northwest Ballet also begins a run of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet the same weekend Orli Shaham and Jon Kimura Parker are dazzling Benaroya audiences.

On September 29th the acclaimed Russian pianist and composer Anton Batagov makes his Seattle debut and will give his first public performance in twelve years. Batagov’s recital will happen at the Chapel Performance Space in the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. Batagov has been described as a Russian Terry Riley. Batagov has written extensively for Russian film and television. The recital program will include film and television music as well as some of his non-soundtrack compositions for piano.

As the summer festival season winds down there are two notable concerts this weekend. The first is a benefit concert this Saturday at Green Lake Methodist Church. The program starts at 7 pm and highlights chamber music by Brahms, Schumann, and features the world premiere of a new piano quartet by local composer Anthony DiLorenzo.

DiLorenzo is both an accomplished trumpeter and composer. As a soloist he has played with the Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic to name a few. His compositions have earned him an Emmy Award. DiLorenzo’s compositions have been played by the San Francisco Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Utah Symphony, and the New World Symphony.

All of the proceeds from this concert will benefit youth at risk scholarships in memory of Daniel Gilbert who was murdered a few years ago. More information on the concert can be found here.

On the other side of Lake Washington, Lyric Opera Northwest is bringing in Eduardo Villa for a performance of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci.” Villa, a Los Angeles native, is one of the most sought after tenors singing today and performs regularly with the Metropolitan Opera. Villa’s career in opera came later than most. For a time he did stand-up comedy, sang in a synagogue, and even performed in commercials. It wasn’t until he was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1982 that he decided to pursue an opera career.

With the Ring wrapping up on Sunday, the “Cav” and “Pag” double billing are a perfect palate cleanser and a good prelude for the Seattle Opera’s upcoming Verdi heavy season.

You can find more information and buy tickets here.

There is plenty going on classical music-wise in Seattle these days.  There is, of course, the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Lakeside School festival which is heading into its third week.  Some of the highlights next week include:

• Richard Strauss’s Piano Quartet on Monday
• Jeremy Denk playing Ligeti etudes in a free recital on Wednesday
• And, Sergei Taneyev’s Piano Quartet Op. 20 on Friday

If you can’t get to a concert, you can always check out the personal websites of festival musicians.  Jeremy Denk’s website and blog is readable and interesting.  Who knew this was the life of a classical pianist?

Also, cellist Robert deMaine launched a new website.  

Also, this weekend, the Northwest Mahler Festival reconvenes for a concert this Sunday featuring the Sixth Symphony, music from “Gotterdammerung,” and the Dance of the Seven Veils from Strauss’s opera “Salome” 

If websites aren’t your thing, check out these two You Tube videos.  The first is a video of Valery Gergeiv conducting Mahler’s 6th Symphony with the LSO and the second video is chamber festival violinist Augustin Hadelich playing the last movement of Bela Bartok’s Violin Sonata.