Bayreuth's fourth generation

The Guardian's Kate Connolly profiles Katharina Wagner, who with her half-sister, Eva Pasquier-Wagner, now runs the Richard Wagner shrine and festival at Bayreuth:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/aug/23/katharina-wagner-bayreuth

Vibrato: how little is too much?

Pianist Stephen Hough, in his blog for the British newspaper The Telegraph, takes on the issue of vibrato in string playing. He notes that this practice of slightly wavering pitch to produce a more rounded, rich tone became prevalent when musicians stopped using gut strings, which have an "internal quiver due to the irregularity of the natural material," and began using steel strings, which are "naturally clean and 'cold' and in need of vibrato" to flesh out their sound:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/stephenhough/100046034/quaver-or-not-should-orchestras-use-vibrato/

String vibrato vs. its minimization – not its absence: Fiddlers rarely play with absolutely no vibrato – has been one of the hottest points of contention between adherents to historically informed performance (HIP) practices and non-HIP ("modern") musicians.

I spent many fruitful hours discussing the issue with the late Frederick Neumann, the musicologist and violinist who in the years after his retirement from the University of Richmond faculty was one of the most articulate foes of low-vibrato playing. (He was kind enough to acknowledge my interlocutor’s role in his book "New Essays on Performance Practice.")

Neumann (1908-94) lived through the transition from gut to steel strings, and would endorse Hough’s point that high-tension steel strings are more reliable in pitch and produce a more brilliant tone that projects better in large, modern concert spaces. I chuckle to think how Neumann might have responded to Hough’s observation that the unsteadier pitch of gut strings "simulate a vibrato" when played in ensembles.

If he were around today, Neumann would probably say he lost his battles against reduced vibrato and other HIP practices, such as double-dotted rhythms and the note-swelling technique called messa di voce. They are employed routinely in baroque and classical music, and have been used selectively in much of the 19th-century romantic repertory.

Neumann, though, planted a question about vibrato: How little is too much, making string sound too thin and weak, and denaturing musical tone and expression? The answer that HIP and HIP-aware fiddlers have settled on might gratify him.

String players today, whether playing modern or period-style instruments (more and more play both), naturally produce a leaner tone and articulate more crisply in Bach, Mozart and Beethoven than they do in Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Puccini. And because they do, they tend to play the earlier composers at faster tempos and with sharper accents. (Perhaps not coincidentally, they seem to play the later composers more broadly.)

Vibrato – hardly lush, but perceptible and sometimes quite pronounced – has returned to baroque and classical string performance, especially in slow movements and passages meant to impart emotional affect. In the quest for affectus, historically informed specialists sometimes apply more vibrato than a modern violinist would think seemly.

The battle that Neumann joined, and Hough revisits, sounds to have been resolved sensibly. Strings, gut and steel, are played with vibrato, but with differing quantities and qualities, depending on the composer, the music’s period and its pace and expressive demands.

Bad timing, badly timed

Central Virginia has four principal classical-music presenters: the Richmond Symphony, the Virginia Opera, the Modlin Arts Center at the University of Richmond, and the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Music, which stages the Rennolds Chamber Concerts. They frequently use one another’s spaces and/or talent, collaborate on projects, share administrative and logistical support.

One would think that coordinating performance schedules might be part of the interactive package. Not this season, though.

Assembling the 2010-11 overview of classical performances in Richmond, which I’ll post here in early September, I count eight conflicting dates among the four frontline presenters. Two of the conflicts cannot be resolved by switching to an alternate symphony or opera date; a third requires a choice of two attractions from three options; a fourth requires sprinting from an opera matinee to an evening concert.

Figuring in these conflicts are some of the season’s prime atttractions: both of the Shanghai Quartet’s University of Richmond concerts, the Virginia Opera’s "Rigoletto" and "Valkyrie," the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at UR, three of the six Rennolds Concerts, eight of the symphony’s 15 classical programs. You may hear percussionist Evelyn Glennie or cellist Zuill Bailey, not both.

Add festivals, college faculty and church concerts, choir performances and so on, and we may be looking at the most conflict-heavy Richmond season in memory.

This is not just bad timing, but badly timed bad timing.

Classical presenters are financially stressed – the Virginia Opera is seriously in the red, the Richmond Symphony more modestly so; and with the recession driving down contributions, grants and earnings from endowments, keeping up ticket-sales income is crucial.

Season-subscription packages are the base of this income, as well as being the most convenient and cost-effective way for patrons to buy tickets. The season’s multiple conflicts discourage potential subscribers. Those who do subscribe must count on liberal and efficient ticket-exchange policies, and plan to spend some time making exchanges.

The alternative, buying single tickets, is more expensive and more labor-intensive, on the part of both buyers and sellers.

The box-office lines are going to be longer this season. No-shows – tickets purchased but not used or turned in for resale of the seat – will be more numerous.

Some conflicts are inevitable. The audience prefers weekend dates, and presenters have obliged. Touring artists’ schedules are often inflexible, especially for choice weekend dates. This leads to clusters of performances – overloads of music – followed by days or weeks of inactivity, even when it doesn’t produce conflicting events.

Whatever the cause of these conflicts, the result is likely to be depressed attendance, and missed ticket sales that will cost these groups especially dearly.

Symphony Metro Collection 2010-11

Metro Collection, the Richmond Symphony’s chamber-orchestra series, will present four programs in five suburban venues in the coming season.

Friday concerts, at 8 p.m., will be staged in Goochland, Midlothian, Bon Air and western Henrico County. Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. will continue at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.

Steven Smith, the symphony’s new music director, will conduct three of the programs. Erin R. Freeman, the orchestra’s associate conductor, will lead the first pair of concerts in the series.

Three symphony musicians, piccolo player Ann Choomack, clarinetist Jared Davis and bassoonist Martin Gordon, will be featured soloists.

Tickets for the series are $68, $40 for youths. For information, call the symphony’s box office at (804) 788-1212, or visit http://www.richmondsymphony.com/

The 2010-11 Metro Collection programs:

Oct. 1 (8 p.m.)
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 12291 River Road, Goochland
Oct. 3 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Erin R. Freeman conducting
Honegger: "Pastorale d’été"
Dvořák: Serenade in D minor, Op. 44
Ives: "Tone Roads" No. 1
Tchaikovsky: Serenade in C major

Nov. 5 (8 p.m.)
Robins Theatre, Steward School, 11600 Gayton Road
Nov. 7 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Steven Smith conducting
Brahms-Hermann: "Liebeslieder Waltzes"
Copland: "Music for the Theater"
Michael Torke: "Lucent Variations"
Haydn: Symphony No. 82 in C major ("The Bear")

Jan. 28 (8 p.m.)
KingsWay Community Church, 14111 Sovereign Grace Drive, Midlothian
Jan. 30 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Steven Smith conducting
Purcell: Fantasia
Vivaldi: Concerto in A minor for piccolo and orchestra
Ann Choomack, piccolo
Respighi: "Gli uccelli" ("The Birds")
Ravel: "Pavane pour une infante défunte"
Ginastera: "Variaciones concertantes"

Feb. 25 (8 p.m.)
Bon Air Baptist Church, Forest Hill Avenue at Buford Road
Feb. 27 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Steven Smith conducting
Elgar: Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47
Franz Shreker: Intermezzo, Op. 8
Richard Strauss: "Duett-Concertino" for clarinet, bassoon and string orchestra with harp
Jared Davis, clarinet
Martin Gordon, bassoon
Poulenc: Sinfonietta

Review: Richmond Chamber Players

Aug. 8, Bon Air Presbyterian Church

The Richmond Chamber Players launched their 32th season with a program devoted entirely to music of English composers, which is to say obscure music.

Anglophilia is widespread among Americans who listen to classical music; but their tastes in neckties and interior décor haven’t extended to English music. There’s no good reason for this. I suspect it’s just habit on the part of programmers.

So, all hail John Walter and friends for picking fruit from the English tree, even if some of it wasn’t fully ripe.

The program contrasted one of the last works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, "Ten Blake Songs" (1957), with one of his earliest surviving pieces, the Piano Quintet in C minor (1903-05). Between them, there was the Viola Sonata (1919) by Rebecca Clarke, one of the first prominent female composers in Britain (although she wrote the sonata during an extended stay in America).

Vaughan Williams pared musical materials, texture and instrumentation to the essentials in "Ten Blake Songs." This setting of poems by William Blake is scored minimally, for voice and oboe; yet those two voices produce the same melodic and harmonic currents, the same pastoral atmospherics and spatial qualities, as his most lavishly orchestrated music.

Tenor Tracey Welborn and oboist Gustav Highstein captured just the right balance between the intimacy of Blake’s poems and the expansiveness of Vaughan Williams’ settings. Welborn effectively conveyed the introspection and sense of wonder in these verses, and Highstein phrased and colored the oboe’s micro-orchestration masterfully. They treated "Ten Blake Songs" as a neglected masterpiece, which it is.

(By happy coincidence, if you missed this performance, there's another chance to hear the song cycle, performed by soprano Ilana Davidson, tenor Derek Chester and oboist Roger Roe in an Aug. 25 Staunton Music Festival program.)

The Vaughan Williams piano quintet is not a neglected masterpiece. Its string instrumentation (violin, viola, cello, double-bass) is modeled after that of Schubert’s "Trout" Quintet; but Vaughan Williams’ texture is much thinker and his timbres much darker. The piano’s hard, bright chords flash rather aggressively through the fiddle murk. The concluding theme-and-variations Fantasia, the lightest-textured section of the piece, is the most successful.

Walter, playing piano, and violinist Susy Yim, violist Stephen Schmidt, cellist Neal Cary and double-bassist Fred Dole played gamely, and with rich expressiveness in solo passages.

The Clarke sonata is a reminder of how effectively British composers can balance modernity and antiquity, intellect and sensuality. The three-movement piece is impressionistic in its colors, verging on jazzy in its rhythmic character, and a very fine showcase for the range and tonal character of the viola. Violist Schmidt played it expertly and lovingly, with sonorous and stylish accompaniment by Walter.

(And what do you know, Clarke’s Viola Sonata will be played on Aug. 22 at the Garth Newel Music Center in Bath County.)

The Richmond Chamber Players’ Interlude series continues with concerts at 3 p.m. Aug. 15, 22 and 29 at Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road. Tickets: $18. Details: (804) 272-7514, ext. 312.

Cleveland critic loses

Donald Rosenberg, who was removed from covering and reviewing the Cleveland Orchestra after the orchestra complained to his newspaper, The Plain Dealer, about his negative reviews of conductor Franz Welser-Möst, has lost his lawsuit against the paper and orchestra.

Rosenberg had sued The Plain Dealer and its editor for age discrimination (the critic is 58) and the Cleveland Orchestra's parent organization and its officers for interference and defamation, Daniel J. Wakin reports in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/arts/music/07critic.html

Rosenberg's suit "was a brave and worthy battle to fight on behalf of those who were hired to offer our opinions about artistic quality," writes The Baltimore Sun's Tim Smith:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/classicalmusic/2010/08/music_critic_loses_case_agains.html

(Disclosure: I was among the critics who signed a letter of protest to The Plain Dealer after Rosenberg's reassignment in 2008.)

Seattle lauds Lindsey

Kate Lindsey, the Richmond-bred mezzo-soprano, has received an artist of the year award from the Seattle Opera, for her preparation and performance of the title role of Darin Aric Hagen's "Amelia," introduced by the company in May. "Her performance as Amelia, including her intense preparation, represents an ideal for young American artists," said Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera.

The company gave an artist of the year award to Stephen Wadsworth, who was stage director of both "Amelia" and an August 2009 production of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde."

Iran minus music

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, says that studying and performing music is "not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic. . . . It's better that our dear youth spend their valuable time in learning science and essential and useful skills and fill their time with sport and healthy recreations instead of music."

The Guardian's Saeed Kamali Dehghan reports that the cleric's aversion to music goes back decades:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/iran-supreme-leader-music-islam

ADDENDUM: "[S]trictures limiting musical possibilities have been a favorite form of oppression from the days of the Council of Trent to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. Ironically the people who dislike music the most are the ones who are most aware of how powerful a force it is," Frank J. Oteri writes at NewMusicBox:

http://www.newmusicbox.org/chatter/chatter.nmbx?id=6513

Mitch Miller (1911-2010)

Mitch Miller, the recording producer and host of the popular "Sing Along with Mitch" television show in the early 1960s, has died at the age of 99.

Long before his sing-along stardom, he was Mitchell Miller, an orchestral and solo oboist with a penchant for performing contemporary scores. He played in the orchestra for Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" and the pit orchestra that played in the first Broadway run of The Gershwins' "Porgy and Bess."

An obituary by Richard Severo in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/music/03miller.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Chamber Players' Interlude 2010

The Richmond Chamber Players’ Interlude series returns this month with Sunday afternoon concerts at 3 p.m. Aug. 8, 15, 22 and 29 at Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road.

Joining pianist and artistic director John Walter are violinists Catherine Cary and Susy Yim, violist Stephen Schmidt, cellist Neal Cary, flutist Mary Boodell, oboist Gustav Highstein, clarinetist David Niethamer, bassoonist Jonathan Friedman and tenor Tracey Welborn.

Series tickets are $64, or $56 for seniors and students. Single tickets are $18, or $16 for seniors and students. For reservations or details, call (804) 272-7514, ext. 312.

Interlude 2010 programs:

Aug. 8 – Vaughan Williams: "Ten Blake Songs" for tenor and oboe; Rebecca Clark: Viola Sonata; Vaughan Williams: Piano Quintet.

Aug. 15 – Milhaud: "Le Cheminée du Roi René" for woodwind quintet; Poulenc: Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano; Debussy: String Quartet.

Aug. 22 – Schumann: String Quartet in A major, Op. 41, No. 3; Brahms: Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1; Chopin: Piano Trio in G minor.

Aug. 29 – William Grant Still: “Lyric” String Quartet; Randall Thompson: Suite for oboe, clarinet and viola; Jennifer Higdon: Piano Trio; Dvořák: String Quartet in F major, Op. 96 (“American”).

August calendar

Classical performances in and around Richmond, with selected events elsewhere in Virginia and the Washington area. Program information, provided by presenters, is updated as details become available. Adult single-ticket prices are listed; senior, student/youth, group and other discounts may be offered.

SCOUTING REPORT

Dog Days: More like Happy Puppy Days, musically: The Richmond Chamber Players’ Interlude 2010 series runs on four Sunday afternoons from Aug. 8 to 29 at Bon Air Presbyterian Church. . . . The Staunton Music Festival samples chamber and vocal music from Handel and Bach to Barber and Britten, Aug. 20-28 at various venues. . . . The Garth Newel Music Center in Bath County continues its summer chamber-music programs on Fridays and Sundays, with appearances by the JACK Quartet, the much-lauded contemporary music group, on Aug. 14 and 15. . . . Ash Lawn Opera continues its runs of Mozart’s "Don Giovanni" and Lerner & Loewe’s "Brigadoon" at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville. . . . George Daugherty conducts the National Symphony in his "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony," Aug. 6-7 at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center. . . . The Wolf Trap Opera Company stages Britten’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," Aug. 13, 15 and 17 at the Barns at Wolf Trap.


Aug. 1 (2 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Ash Lawn Opera
Christopher Larkin conducting
Mozart: "Don Giovanni"
Christopher Burchett (Don Giovanni)
Seth Mease Carico (Leporello)
Aundi Marie Moore (Donna Elvira)
Liam Moran (Masetto/Commendatore)
Janette Zilioli (Donna Anna)
other cast members TBA
Nick Olcott, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$35-$40
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

Aug. 1 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Rick Faria, clarinet
Aaron Berofsky, violin
Kathryn Votapek, violin & viola
Jan Müller-Szeraws, cello
Korngold: "Kleine fröhlicher Walzer"
Richard Strauss: String Sextet from "Carpiccio"
Berg: "Four Pieces," Op. 5, for clarinet and piano
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
$10-$22
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org

Aug. 1 (3 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Wolf Trap Opera Company members
Steven Blier, piano & commentator
"Invitation to the Dance," works by Brahms, Respighi, Gershwin, others
$38
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

Aug. 1 (4 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Opera International
Edward Roberts conducting
Verdi: "La Traviata" (semi-staged production)
Jessica Stecklein (Violetta)
Michael Fabiano (Alfredo)
Gary Simpson (Germont)
Muriel von Villas, stage direction
in Italian, English captions
$20-$50
(301) 581-5100
www.strathmore.org

Aug. 3 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Municipal Band
Steve Layman directing
Malcolm Arnold: "Four Scottish Dances"
Clare Grundman: "Irish Rhapsody"
Robert W. Smith: "Irish Songs"
other works TBA
Free
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

Aug. 5 (8:15 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra
Carl Davis conducting
Mary Carewe, vocalist
"The Music of James Bond"
$20-$52
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

Aug. 6 (8:30 p.m.)
Aug. 7 (8:30 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra
George Daugherty conducting
"Bugs Bunny at the Symphony," cartoons with orchestral accompaniment
$20-$52
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

Aug. 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Aug. 8 (2 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Ash Lawn Opera
Christopher Larkin conducting
Lerner & Loewe: "Brigadoon"
David Barron (Mr. Lundie)
Alicia Berneche (Fiona MacLaren)
Christopher Burchett (Tommy Albright)
Seth Mease Carico (Jeff Douglas)
Jonathan Smucker (Charlie Dalrymple)
Lynn Summerall (Mr. MacLaren)
Dan Stern (Archie Beaton)
other cast members TBA
Dorothy Danner, stage direction
in English
$35-$40
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

Aug. 7 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Aaron Berofsky, violin
Edward Parmentier, harpsichord
Bach: Sonata No. 4 in C minor for violin and bass continuo
Vivaldi: Sonata in B flat major cello and bass continuo
Corelli: Trio Sonata in G major, Op. 1, No. 12, for two violins
Purcell: Chancony in G minor for two violins, viola and bass continuo
Couperin: Sonata in D major ("La Sultane")
$10-$22 (concert only)
$53-$75 (concert with dinner following)
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org

Aug. 8 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Richmond Chamber Players
Vaughan Williams: "Ten Blake Songs"
Tracey Welborn, tenor
Gustav Highstein, oboe
Rebecca Clarke: Viola Sonata
Stephen Schmidt, viola
John Walter, piano
Vaughan Williams: Piano Quintet
John Walter, piano
Catherine Cary & Susy Yim, violins
Stephen Schmidt, viola
Neal Cary, cello
$18
(804) 272-7514, ext. 312

Aug. 13 (8 p.m.)
Aug. 15 (3 p.m.)
Aug. 17 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Wolf Trap Opera Company
Steven Osgood conducting
Britten: "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"
Ryan Belongie (Oberon)
Ashlyn Rust (Titania)
Paul Appleby (Lysander)
Catherine Martin (Hermia)
Rena Harms (Helena)
Chad Sloan (Demetrius)
Nicholas Masters (Bottom)
Kenneth Kellogg (Quince)
David Portillo (Flute)
Nathaniel Peake (Snout)
Daniel Billings (Starveling)
Michael Anthony McGee (Snug)
Eve Gigliotti (Hippolyta)
Michael Surmuel (Theseus)
Alexander Strain (Puck)
Arlington Children’s Chorus, Kevin Carr directing
Patrick Diamond, stage direction
in English, English captions
$32-$72
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

Aug. 14 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
JACK Quartet
Machaut: "Three Pieces"
Wuorinen: "Josquiniana"
Bach: "The Art of the Fugue" (excerpt)
Webern: "Six Bagatelles," Op. 9
Wolfgang Rihm: String Quartet No. 3 ("Im Innersten")
$10-$22 (concert only)
$53-$75 (concert with dinner following)
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org

Aug. 15 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Richmond Chamber Players
Milhaud: "La Cheminée du Roi René"
Mary Ann Archer, flute
Gustav Highstein, oboe
David Niethamer, clarinet
Jonathan Friedman, bassoon
Rachel Velvikis, French horn
Poulenc: Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano
Gustav Highstein, oboe
Jonathan Friedman, bassoon
John Walter, piano
Debussy: String Quartet
Susy Yim & Catherine Cary, violins
Stephen Schmidt, viola
Neal Cary, cello
$18
(804) 272-7514, ext. 312

Aug. 15 (6 p.m.)
Walkerton Tavern, Mountain Road, Glen Allen
Capital City Wind Band
Mike Goldberg directing
Tracee Prillaman, soprano
Jeff Prillaman, tenor
Works by Gershwin, John Williams, others
Free
(804) 261-6898

Aug. 15 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
JACK Quartet
Hosakawa: "Blossoming"
Glass: String Quartet No. 5
Burhans: "Contritus"
Browning: String Quartet
$10-$22
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org

Aug. 17 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Municipal Band
Steve Layman directing
program TBA
Free
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

Aug. 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Johann Strauss II-Berg: "Wine, Women and Song"
Diane Pascal & Anna Gebert, violins
Vladimir Mendelssohn, viola
James Wilson, cello
Carsten Schmidt, piano
Gabriel Dobner, harmonium
Wolf: four songs
Kevin McMillan, bass
Gabriel Dobner, piano
Schumann-Bizet: "Four Canonic Studies for Pedal Piano"
David Shrader & Edward Janning, piano
Dvořák: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81
Carsten Schmidt, piano
Dianre Pascal & Anna Gebert, violins
Vladimir Mendelssohn, viola
James Wilson, cello
$20
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 20 (8 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
The Irish Tenors
program TBA
$22-$52
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

Aug. 21 (noon)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 300 W. Frederick St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Mira Vocal Ensemble
Medieval works TBA
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 21 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano
Brahms: Sonata in D minor, Op. 108, for violin and piano
Brahms: Sonata F major, Op. 99, for cello and piano
Brahms: Piano Trio in C major, Op. 87
$10-$22 (concert only)
$53-$75 (concert with dinner following)
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org

Aug. 21 (7 p.m.)
President’s House, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton
Staunton Music Festival gala:
Brahms: "Sonatensatz" in C minor
Anna Gebert, violin
Edward Janning, piano
Biscardi: "Traverso"
Mary Boodell, flute
Gabriel Dobner, piano
Poulenc: Sonata for piano four hands
Carsten Schmidt & Edward Janning, piano
Vaughan Williams: "On Wenlock Edge"
Derek Chester, tenor
Anna Gebert & Gesa Kordes, violins
Vladimir Mendelssohn, viola
James Wilson, cello
Gabriel Dobner, piano
$75
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 22 (2 p.m.)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 300 W. Frederick St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
David Shrader & Lou Dolive, harpsichord
"Temperamental Music," lecture-demonstration on baroque tuning systems
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 22 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Richmond Chamber Players
Schumann: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 3
Catherine Cary & Susy Yim, violins
Stephen Schmidt, viola
Neal Cary, cello
Brahms: Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1, for clarinet and piano
David Niethamer, clarinet
John Walter, piano
Chopin: Piano Trio in G minor
John Walter, piano
Catherine Cary, violin
Neal Cary, cello
$18
(804) 272-7514, ext. 312

Aug. 22 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano
Rebecca Clarke: Sonata for viola and piano
Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor
Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor
$10-$22
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org

Aug. 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Barber: "Dover Beach"
Kevin McMillan, baritone
Anna Gebert & Martin Davids, violins
Vladimir Mendelssohn, viola
James Wilson, cello
Beethoven: Piano Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight")
David Shrader, fortepiano
Boccherini: "Cello Quintet in C major ("Night Music in the Streets of Madrid")
Diane Pascal & Gesa Kordes, violins
Vladimir Mendelssohn, viola
James Wilson & Carl Donakowski, cellos
Dvořák: Serenade in E major, Op. 22
Diane Pascal, Anna Gebert, Gesa Kordes, Martin Davids, Wanchi Huang, others TBA, violins
Vladimir Mendelssohn & Amadi Azikiwe, violas
James Wilson & Carl Donakowski, cellos
Tony Manzo, double-bass
$20
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 23 (noon)
Christ Lutheran Church, 2807 N. Augusta St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
David Shrader, organ
Sweelinck: Toccata
Cabezon: "Tiento del octavo tono"
Arauxo: "Tiento del cuarto tono"
Jimenez: "Tiento del medio registro"
Johnson: Rondo in F major
Boehm: "Vater unser in Himmelreich"
Bach: Toccata in F major, BWV 540
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Telemann: Concerto in C major for four violins without bass
Antii Tikkanen, Gesa Kordes, Martin Davids & Minna Pensola, baroque violins
Bach: "Contrapunctus XIII" from "The Art of the Fugue" for two harpsichords
David Shrader & Carsten Schmidt, harpsichords
Pisendel: Sonata in E minor
Gesa Kordes, baroque violin
Mark Shulainer, harpsichord
Fasch: Quartet in B flat major
Aleksander Fester & Washington McClain, baroque oboes
Stephanie Corwin, baroque bassoon
Mark Shulainer, harpsichord
Tony Manzo, double-bass
$20
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 24 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Britten: "Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac"
Derek Chester, tenor
Ian Howell, counter-tenor
Gabriel Dobner, piano
Yannelli: "Solo Flight for Oboe"
Roger Roe, oboe
Rachmaninoff: three pieces from Op. 11, for piano four hands
Edward Janning & Carsten Schmidt, piano
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Yannelli: "Solo Flight for Flute"
Mary Boodell, flute
Hilliard: "Two Songs"
vocalist TBA
Gabriel Dobner, piano
Vladimir Mendelssohn: "Three Arrangements after Chopin"
Brenda Witmer, soprano
TBA, mezzo-soprano
Derek Chester, tenor
David Newman, baritone
Vladimir Mendelssohn, viola
Carl Donakowski & James Wilson, cellos
Tony Manzo, double-bass
Allan Blank: work TBA
Carrie Stevens, mezzo-soprano
Tony Manzo, double-bass
Gabriel Dobner, piano
Chiayu: work TBA
James Wilson, cello
Carsten Schmidt, piano
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 25 (noon)
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 118 N. New St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Allan Blank: works TBA
Diane Pascal, violin
Vaughan Williams: "Ten Blake Songs"
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Derek Chester, tenor
Roger Roe, oboe
Philidor: Sonata in G minor
Washington McClain & Aleksander Fester, baroque oboes
Debussy: "Syrinx"
Mary Boodell, flute
Prokofiev: Sonata in C major, Op. 56
Antii Tikkanen & Minna Pensola, violins
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Schumann: "Liederkreis," Op. 39
Kevin McMillan, bass
Gabriel Dobner, piano
John Hilliard: Concerto (2003) for piano and chamber orchestra
Carsten Schmidt, piano
chamber orchestra
Mendelssohn: Octet in E flat, Op. 20
Minna Pensola, Anna Gebert, Antii Tikkanen & Diane Pascal, violins
Vladimir Mendelssohn & Amadi Azikiwe, viola
Carl Donakowski & James Wilson, cellos
$20
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 26 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Robert Schumann: "Romanzen," Op. 94
Roger Roe, oboe
Edward Janning, piano
Clara Schumann: three songs
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Gabriel Dobner, piano
Brahms: "Variations on a Theme by Schumann," Op. 23
Edward Janning & Carsten Schmidt, piano four hands
Brahms: Five "Liebeslieder Waltzes" from Op. 52
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Ian Howell, countertenor
Derek Chester, tenor
Frank Mavilia, bass
Gabriel Dobner, piano
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Britten: "Hymn to St. Cecilia"
UVa Chamber Singers, Michel Slon directing
Ligeti: "Two Studies for Organ"
David Shrader, organ
Handel: Organ Concerto in B flat major
David Shrader, organ
Minna Pensola & Martin Davids, baroque violins
Gesa Kordes, baroque viola
James Wilson, baroque cello
Tony Manzo, baroque double-bass
Monteverdi: "Zefiro torna"
Derek Chester & Scott Mello, tenors
Mark Shulainer, harpsichord
Mahler-Schoenberg: "Abschied" from "Das Lied von der Erde"
Kevin McMillan, baritone
ensemble, Carsten Schmidt conducting
$20
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 27 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Simon Fink: works TBA
Zhou Juan: works TBA
Chester Biscardi, moderator
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Ian Howell, countertenor
Derek Chester, tenor
Kevin McMillan, baritone
David Newman, bass
Gabriel Dobner & Ednaldo Borba, piano
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Zelenka: "Hipochondrie"
Washington McClain & Aleksander Fester, baroque oboes
Anna Gebert & Martin Davids, baroque violins
Gesa Kordes, baroque viola
James Wilson, baroque cello
Stephanie Corwin, baroque bassoon
Tony Manzo, baroque double-bass
Mark Shulainer, harpsichord
J.M. Bach: "Das Blute Jesu Christi," "Sei, lieber Tag"
Madison Singers
David Shrader, organ
J.S. Bach: Cantata 131, "Aus der Tiefe"
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Ian Howell, countertenor
Derek Chester, tenor
David Newman, bass
Washington McClain, baroque oboe
Martin Davids, Anna Gebert & Antii Tikkanen, baroque violins
Gesa Kordes, baroque viola
James Wilson, baroque cello
Tony Manzo, baroque double-bass
David Shrader, harpsichord
Goldberg: Trio Sonata in C major
Antii Tikkanen & Minna Pensola, baroque violins
James Wilson, baroque cello
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
J.C. Bach: Passacaglia from "Meine Freunden, du bist schön"
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Martin Davids, Anna Gebert & Minna Pensola, baroque violins
Gesa Kordes, baroque viola
James Wilson, baroque cello
Tony Manzo, baroque double-bass
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
J.S. Bach: Concerto in A minor for four harpsichords
David Shrader, Carsten Schmidt, Lynne Mackey & TBA, harpsichords
Antii Tikkanen & Minna Pensola, baroque violins
Gesa Kordes, baroque viola
James Wilson, baroque cello
Tony Manzo, baroque double-bass
$20
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 28 (noon)
Central United Methodist Church, 14 N. Lewis St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
Ednaldo Borba, piano
"SMF Music Story Project," stories by children read during works by Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Schumann
Free
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 28 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
Garth Newel Chamber Players
3rd Coast Percussion
Lou Harrison: "Varied Trio" for violin, piano and percussion
Tan Dun: "Snow in June" for cello and percussion
$10-$22 (concert only)
$53-$75 (concert with dinner following)
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org

Aug. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton
Staunton Music Festival:
SMF Baroque Players
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord & conducting
Ilana Davidson, soprano
Ian Howell, countertenor
Derek Chester, tenor
Madison Singers
"Handel Extravaganza," selections from operas and oratorios
$26
(540) 569-0627
www.stauntonmusicfestival.com

Aug. 29 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Richmond Chamber Players
William Grant Still: "Lyric" Quartet
Susy Yim & Catherine Cary, violins
Stephen Schmidt, viola
Neal Cary, cello
Randall Thompson: Suite for oboe, clarinet and viola
Gustav Highstein, oboe
David Niethamer, clarinet
Stephen Schmidt, viola
Jennifer Higdon: Piano Trio
John Walter, piano
Susy Yim, violin
Neal Cary, cello
Dvořák: String Quartet in F major, Op. 96 ("American")
Catherine Cary & Susy Yim, violins
Stephen Schmidt, viola
Neal Cary, cello
$18
(804) 272-7514, ext. 312

Aug. 29 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, Route 220 between Warm Springs and Hot Springs, Bath County
Garth Newel Chamber Players
3rd Coast Percussion
Genevieve Feiwen Lee & Gideon Rubin, pianos
Mellits: "Tight Sweater" for cello, marimba and piano
Lutoslawski: "Paganini Variations" for two pianos
Bartók: Sonata for two pianos and percussion
$10-$22
(877) 558-1689
www.garthnewel.org