Sunday, June 29, 2014

'Star-Spangled Banner' bicentennial


William Robin, writing for The New York Times, traces the history of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from its roots as John Stafford Smith’s signature tune for the Anacreontick Society, a men’s club in 18th-century London, and Francis Scott Key’s adaptation of the tune as an ode to the flag that survived the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812, to lyric permutations supporting various causes in the 19th century and, finally, adoption of the song as the US national anthem in 1931, with comments from baritone Thomas Hampson and musicologist Mark Clague:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/arts/music/the-star-spangled-banner-has-changed-a-lot-in-200-years.html?ref=music&_r=0

Hampson and Clague are among the participants in a 200th anniversary celebration of the anthem, July 3 at the Library of Congress in Washington:

http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2014/14-103.html

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Letter V Classical Radio this week


Anticipating the June 28 centenary of the assassinations in Sarajevo of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, sparking the diplomatic crisis that led to the First World War, music evoking the conflict whose aftershocks we still feel . . .

June 26
noon-4 p.m. EDT
1600-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Holst: “The Planets” – “Mars, the Bringer of War”
Philharmonia Orchestra/John Eliot Gardiner (Deutsche Grammophon)

Mahler: Symphony No. 7 – 1st movement
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/
Michael Tilson Thomas
(SFS Media)

Granados: “Goyescas” – “Love and Death”
Jean-François Heisser, piano (Apex)

George Butterworth:
“A Shropshire Lad”
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Grant Llewellyn (Argo)

Ives: “Orchestral Set” No. 2 – “From Hanover Square North, at the End of a Tragic Day, the Voices of the People Again Arose”
The Cleveland Chorus; Cleveland Orchestra/
Christoph von Dohnányi (London)

Past Masters:
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Jean Martinon (RCA Victor)
(recorded 1966)

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 (“Pastoral”) – 2nd movement
New Philharmonia Orchestra/Adrian Boult (EMI Classics)

Past Masters:
Debussy: Violin Sonata
Arthur Grumiaux, violin; István Hadju, piano (Eloquence)
(recorded 1962)

Stravinsky: “L’histoire du soldat” (“A Soldier’s Tale”)
John Gielgud, narrator; Tom Courtenay, the Soldier; Ron Moody, the Devil
Boston Symphony Chamber Players (Eloquence)

Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
Montreal Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit (Penguin Classics)

Past Masters:
Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor
Beatrice Harrison, cello
New Symphony Orchestra/Edward Elgar
(EMI Classics)
(recorded 1928)

Shostakovich: “October”
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Deutsche Grammophon)

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Symphony eyes year in the black


The Richmond Symphony anticipates finishing its fiscal year in the black after receiving $17,000 toward a $50,000 challenge grant and an additional $125,000 for debt retirement, members of the orchestra board were told at their 2013-14 annual meeting.

The challenge grant, from the Kenneth and Bettie Perry Foundation, is in honor of the symphony’s musicians. New donations made by June 30, up to a total of $50,000, will be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

The board also renewed the contract of David Fisk, the symphony’s executive director, through 2017-18, the orchestra’s 60th anniversary season.

The board was told that the Richmond Symphony Foundation’s endowment has reached a balance of $12.54 million.

Philip H. Bennett will continue as chair of the symphony board, joined on the executive committee by John W. Braymer, immediate past chair of the board; Rebecca J. Horner, vice-chair; Richard Smith, secretary; Mark Wickersham, treasurer; Fisk; and four at-large members: George Mahoney, Brian Szabo, Chet G. Wade and Dr. Elisabeth Wollan.

Six new members were elected to the board: Cheryl Goddard, Elizabeth Cabell Jennings, D. Brennen Keene, Ellen E. Spong, Richard Szucs, Ludi Webber and Susan Williams.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Letter V Classical Radio this week

June 19
noon-4 p.m. EDT
1600-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Past Masters:
Telemann: “Tafelmusik,” Book 2 – Overture and Suite in D major
Maurice André, trumpet;
Ad Mater, oboe;
Jaap Schröder, violin
Concerto Amsterdam/
Frans Brüggen (Teldec)
(recorded 1964)

Johann Joachim Quantz: Flute Concerto in G major
Patrick Gallois, flute
C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra/Peter Schreier (Deutsche Grammophon)

Poulenc: Trio for piano, oboe and bassoon
The Nash Ensemble (Hyperion)

Respighi: “Gli Ucelli”
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra/Hugh Wolff (Teldec)

J.S. Bach: “French Overture” in B minor, BWV 831
Christophe Rousset, harpsichord (Decca)

Rossini: “La scala di seta” Overture
The Hanover Band/
Roy Goodman
(Newton Classics)

Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581
Anthony McGill, clarinet; Pacifica Quartet (Cedille)

Beethoven: Sonata in D major, Op. 28 (“Pastoral”)
András Schiff, piano (ECM)

Mason Bates:
“String Band”
Claremont Trio (innova)

Barber: “Knoxville, Summer of 1915”
Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Orchestra of St. Luke’s/David Zinman (Nonesuch)

Schumann: “Waldszenen,” Op. 82
Mitsuko Uchida, piano (Decca)

Friday, June 13, 2014

Maazel cuts back


Lorin Maazel, who has canceled a number of recent conducting dates for health reasons, will give up his post as music director of the Munich Philharmonic and will not take on any professional engagements in the 2014-15 season.

The 84-year-old conductor, however, is at work with participants in the Castleton Festival, which runs from June 28 to July 20 at his estate in Rappahannock County in northwestern Virginia, and is working on plans for the 2015 edition of the festival.

In a statement posted on the Castleton Festival website, Dietlinde Turban Maazel, wife of the conductor and associate artistic director of the festival, says that medical tests her husband has undergone detected no signs of serious illness, and “he is recovering rapidly from what can best be described as a case of complete exhaustion brought on by a daunting conducting and travel schedule.”

Maazel writes that he has “been encouraged by my doctors that I should be fit as a conductor to take up my duties starting [with] the season following 2014-15,” with the possibility of “occasional appearances along the way.”

More information on the 2014 Castleton Festival:

https://www.castletonfestival.org/

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Letter V Classical Radio this week


Wednesday, June 11 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Richard Strauss. This week’s show marks the sesquicentennial with vintage and modern recordings of works by Strauss, plus several samples from his now dimly remembered parallel career as one of the most accomplished conductors of the early 20th century – and not just in his own music . . .

June 12
noon-4 p.m. EDT
1600-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Past Masters:
Strauss: “Also sprach Zarathustra” –
introduction (“Dawn”)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner (RCA Victor)
(recorded 1954)

Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1
in E flat major
Hermann Baumann, horn
Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig/
Kurt Masur
(Newton Classics)

Strauss: “Le bourgeois Gentilhomme” Suite
Berlin Philharmonic/Simon Rattle (EMI Classics)

Past Masters:
Strauss: “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks”
Staatskapelle Berlin/Richard Strauss
(Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1929)

Past Masters:
Strauss: “Ein Heldenleben”
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam/Willem Mengelberg (Dutton Laboratories)
(recorded 1941)

Past Masters:
Strauss: “Salome” – “Dance of the Seven Veils” & final scene
Inge Borkh, soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner (RCA Victor)
(recorded 1954-55)

Past Masters:
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Staatskapelle Berlin/Richard Strauss
(Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1928)

Past Masters:
Strauss: “Der Rosenkavalier” – waltzes
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner
(RCA Victor)
(recorded 1957)

Past Masters:
Wagner: “Tristan und Isolde” Prelude
Berlin Philharmonic/Richard Strauss
(Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1928)

Strauss: “Four Last Songs”
Karita Mattila, soprano
Berlin Philharmonic/Claudio Abbado
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Past Masters:
Strauss: “Death and Transfiguration”
Vienna Philharmonic/Wilhelm Furtwängler
(EMI Classics)
(recorded 1950)

Monday, June 9, 2014

Met's Gelb: two-thirds to unions


The war of words between management and unionized employees continues at the Metropolitan Opera. Peter Gelb, general manager of the Met, says the company faces “a bankruptcy situation in two or three years” because the Met’s audience is not growing and its production expenses remain high.

Interviewed by Tom Service on BBC Radio 3’s “Music Matters,” Gelb says: “What we have to do is make [productions] less expensive – not by going back to the stone ages of opera theater and having productions that no one will want to see, but by cutting down on the labor costs. . . . [I]f two-thirds of the cost structure is going to the unions, clearly that’s an area that has to be cut” . . .

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27738482

The Met’s contracts with its orchestra and chorus expire at the end of July. Gelb has proposed work-rules changes that could reduce the musicians’ pay by 16 percent. Their unions have threatened to strike over the issue.

(via www.artsjournal.com)

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Richmond Symphony taps Harada


Keitaro Harada, music director of the Phoenix Youth Symphony, associate conductor of Arizona Opera and principal guest conductor of the Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra, has been named the new associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony.

Harada will serve as primary conductor of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra and Discovery Series educational concerts, as well as working with the symphony’s music director, Steven Smith, on preparing and conducting Richmond Symphony Pops, LolliPops and Masterworks concerts.

“With a wide variety of experiences behind him, [Harada] has already established himself as someone who connects well with orchestras and audiences alike,” Smith said in a prepared statement. “Kei will bring his infectious energy and enthusiastic imagination to our entire community.”

A 29-year-old native of Tokyo, Harada studied saxophone and conducted musical theater and cabaret at the University of Illinois at Urbanna-Champaign. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Mercer University in Georgia and was the inaugural recipient of the Rogers Institute for Orchestral and Opera Conducting Fellowship at the University of Arizona. He worked with Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival in Virginia in 2009 and was Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts in 2010.

Last year, Harada was one of six young conductors in the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious showcase, the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview. This year, he received a Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

Here’s a video sampler of Harada at work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTgH8Z3_FEA

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Letter V Classical Radio this week

June 5
noon-4 p.m. EDT
1600-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Kodály: “Dances of Galánta”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

Past Masters:
Bernstein: “Fancy Free”
Columbia Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein (Sony Classical)
(recorded 1956)

György Ligeti: “Six Bagatelles” for wind quintet
Flamen (Aura)

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 (“Turkish”)
Simon Standage, violin
Academy of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood (L’Oiseau Lyre)

Past Masters:
Brahms: Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 60
Victor Aller, piano; Hollywood String Quartet (Testament)
(recorded 1956)

Massenet: “Thaïs” – “Meditation”
Nicola Benedetti, violin
London Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding (Deutsche Grammophon)

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
Claudio Arrau, piano
Staatskapelle Dresden/Colin Davis (Philips)

Bright Sheng: Quartet No. 4 (“Silent Temple”)
Shanghai Quartet (Bis)

Dan Visconti: “Black Bend”
Scharoun Ensemble (Bridge)

Past Masters:
Saint-Saëns: Symphony
No. 3 in C minor (“Organ”)
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Charles Munch; Berj Zamkochian, organ (RCA Victor)
(recorded 1959)

John Adams: “The Chairman Dances”
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle (EMI Classics)

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Review: Johnson & Kong

Karen Johnson, violin
Joanne Kong, piano
May 31, Church of the Good Shepherd

Since her departure from the concertmaster’s chair at the Richmond Symphony four years ago, violinist Karen Johnson has been a busy figure in Washington area musical circles. She also has added richness and a bronzed patina to her already clean, pure tone and technique.

That blossoming of fiddle sound was displayed to great effect and at close proximity in Johnson’s performances of Edward Elgar’s Violin Sonata in E minor and four miniatures by Frank Bridge in a program with pianist Joanne Kong, part of the Forest Hill Recital Series of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.

The Elgar sonata is one of those pieces that could make even experienced highbrows flunk a blindfold test. It bears little resemblance to his Cello Concerto, written in the same year (1918), even less to his Violin Concerto, introduced eight years earlier, and none to the grandiose, Edwardian Age compositions that made his reputation. Its first two movements sound like the work of Schumann or some other mid-19th century romantic; its finale is more identifiably Elgar, but shorn of typically Elgarian musical rhetoric.

One gets the sense that this is the voice of Elgar (himself a violinist) in private, when he wasn’t being the Great British Master.

Johnson masterfully conveyed both the lyricism and intimacy of the sonata. Kong played more than supportively, adding much warmth and textural richness to the performance.

The Bridge foursome – “Norse Legend,” “Souvenir,” “Heart’s Ease” and “Amaryllis” – posed a different kind of challenge. These parlor pieces could become sickly sweet if played too indulgently or “expressively.” Johnson, happily, played them stylishly but without excess. Kong was comparably restrained in applying the atmospheric touches of the piano accompaniments.

The University of Richmond-based pianist got a solo cameo in two nocturnes by the Irish early romantic John Field, the composer credited with introducing the nocturne as a musical form, only to find Chopin hailed as the master. Kong, tracing the evolution of Field’s invention from the rather functional Nocturne in B flat major to the more elaborate and extended Nocturne in F major, played with delicacy and just the right tone of reticent moodiness.

Johnson closed the program with selections from the “Strings and Threads” Suite of Mark O’Connor, the popular fiddler who writes folk-accented concert works for classical violinists. Describing herself as an aspiring fiddler, the violinist played with spirit and grit, especially in “Captain’s Jig” and “Road to Appalachia.” Kong, consigned mostly to playing bass lines, even in the honky tonk-flavored “Texas Dance Hall Blues,” sustained the various grooves idiomatically.

The Forest Hill Recital Series concludes on June 14 with Three Notch’d Road: The Charlottesville Baroque Ensemble playing an arrangement of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” at 7 p.m., and the Brian Jones Quartet playing John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” at 8:30 p.m., at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Forest Hill Avenue at 43rd Street. Donations requested. Details: (804) 233-2278; www.goodshepherdrichmond.org

June 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

* In and around Richmond: The Richmond Choral Society presents “A Tribute to Broadway,” June 1 at the Henrico Theater. . . . The Greater Richmond Children’s Choir’s ensembles perform on June 1 at Westover Hills United Methodist Church. . . . Three Notch’d Road: The Charlottesville Baroque Ensemble plays an arrangement of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” June 14 in the Forest Hill Recital Series of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. . . . The Richmond Philharmonic stages its Family Summer Pops Concert, June 15 at Brandermill’s Gardens at Sunday Park.

* Noteworthy elsewhere: The summer festival season continues with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, June 8-15 at Eastern Mennonite University and First Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg; the Vocal Arts & Music Festival, June 13-28 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg; Serenade! The Washington, D.C. Choral Festival, June 27-29 at various Washington area venues; and the beginning of the summer chamber-music series on June 28-29 at Garth Newel Music Center near Hot Springs in Bath County. . . . Christoph Eschenbach conducts the National Symphony Orchestra in its final classical concerts of the 2013-14 season at Washington’s Kennedy Center, with violinist Nicola Benedetti and cellist Leonard Elsenbroich featured in Brahms’ Double Concerto, June 5-7, and the orchestra performing Bruckner’s epic Eighth Symphony, June 12-14. . . . The Washington Chorus, Choral Arts Society of Washington and guests perform Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, June 11 at the Kennedy Center. . . . The American Opera Initiative of Washington National Opera presents the premiere of “An American Soldier” by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang, June 13-14 at the Kennedy Center. . . . Two Beethoven Ninths this month in the Washington area: Marin Alsop conducts the Baltimore Symphony and guests on June 7 at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, and Bramwell Tovey conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra with singers from the Wolf Trap Opera Company on June 28 at the Filene Center amphitheater of Wolf Trap in Northern Virginia. . . . The Wolf Trap Opera Company stages Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” (“Julius Caesar”), June 27 and 29 (also July 1) at The Barns of Wolf Trap.


June 1 (4 p.m.)
Henrico Theater, 305 E. Nine Mile Road, Richmond
Richmond Choral Society
Markus J. Compton directing
“A Tribute to Broadway”
music by The Gershwins, Rodgers & Hammerstein, others
$10
(804) 353-9582
www.richmondchoralsociety.org

June 1 (4 p.m.)
Westover Hills United Methodist Church, 1705 Westover Hills Boulevard, Richmond
Greater Richmond Children’s Choir
Hope Armstrong Erb directing
classical, folk, world music selections TBA
free
(804) 201-1894
www.grcchoir.com

June 1 (4 p.m.)
Royster Memorial Presbyterian Church, 6901 Newport Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Chorale
chamber orchestra
Charles Woodward conducting
Robynne Redmon, mezzo-soprano
Bradley Norris, organ
Vaughan Williams: “Serenade to Music”
Duruflé: Requiem
Jonathan Dove: “Seek him that maketh the seven stars”
$25
(757) 627-8375
www.vachorale.org

June 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kennedy Center Chamber Players
J.S. Bach: “Goldberg Variations” (string trio arrangement)
Rheinberger: Nonet in E flat major
$35
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

June 3 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Municipal Band of Charlottesville
Stephen R. Layman directing
works by Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, others
free
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

June 5 (7 p.m.)
June 6 (8 p.m.)
June 7 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Brahms: Double Concerto
Nicola Benedetti, violin
Leonard Elsenbroich, cello
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”)
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

June 7 (4 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
“Reunions Alumni Sing”
Michael Slon directing
program TBA
free
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu

June 7 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
John Adams: “On the Transmigration of Souls”
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”)
Nicole Cabell, soprano
Jennifer Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Dimitri Pittas, tenor
James Morris, bass-baritone
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Peabody Children’s Chorus
$56-$119
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

June 8 (3 p.m.)
Lehman Auditorium, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Festival Orchestra
Kenneth Nafziger conducting
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
Marvin Mills, organ
Handel: “Water Music” Suite No. 3
Rameau: “Les Indes Galantes” Suite
Telemann: Viola Concerto in G major
Diane Phoenix-Neal, viola
Zelenka: “Hipocondrie”
C.P.E. Bach: Sinfonia in F major
$25
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 9 (noon)
First Presbyterian Church, 17 Court Square, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Arthur Haas, harpsichord
Martha McGaughey, viola da gamba
Linda Quan, baroque violin
Buxtehude: Sonata à due, Op. 2, No. 3
Diego Ortiz: “Recercadas”
Geminiani: Sonata in E minor, Op. 1, No. 3
Rameau: “Pièces de Clavecin” in E minor
Rameau: “Pièces de Clavecin en Concert” No. 4
donation requested
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 10 (noon)
First Presbyterian Church, 17 Court Square, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Biber: Trumpet Duet No. 3
Giovanni Gabrieli: “Canzona per sonare” No. 2
Judith Saxton & Susan Messersmith, trumpets
David Wick, French horn
Harold van Schaik, bass trombone
Brahms: Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1 – Allegro appassionato
Karen Johnson, viola
Anne Waltner, piano
Vivaldi: Concerto in F major for 3 violins and continuo, RV 551
Maria Lorcas, Becky Hunter & Susan Black, violins
Lisa Wright, cello
Marvin Mills, organ
Gwenyth Walker: “Letters to the World”
Naoko Takao, piano
Joan Griffing, violin
Diane Phoenix-Neal, viola
Beth Vanderborgh, cello
Jay Landis, reader
William Grant Still: “Miniatures”
Mary Kay Adams, flute
Kevin Piccini, oboe
Anne Waltner, piano
donation requested
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 11 (noon)
First Presbyterian Church, 17 Court Square, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
J.S. Bach: Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003
Ralph Allen, violin
Gwenyth Walker: “When the Spirit Sings”
Joan Griffing, violin
Diane Phoenix-Neal, viola
Beth Vanderborgh, cello
Dvořák: Bagatelles, Op. 47
Amy Glick & Ralph Allen, violins
Paige Riggs, cello
Marvin Mills, organ
donation requested
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
The Washington Chorus
Julian Wachner directing
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Scott Tucker directing
Children’s Chorus of Washington
Joan Gregoryk directing
Great Noise Ensemble
Bernstein: Mass
Armando Bayolo: new work TBA
$25-$65
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

June 12 (noon)
First Presbyterian Church, 17 Court Square, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Kyle Lane: “Recessional”
Judith Saxton & Susan Messersmith, trumpets
David Wick, French horn
Harold van Schaik, bass trombone
J.S. Bach-Parente: “Jesu, joy of man’s desiring”
J.S. Bach: “The Art of the Fugue” – Contrapunctus VII
Judith Saxton & Susan Messersmith, trumpets
David Wick, French horn
Jeannie Little, trombone
Harold van Schaik, bass trombone
Dave Anderson: “Five Romances”
Fred Dole, double-bass
Anastasia Jellison, harp
Gwenyth Walker: “Vision of Hills”
Naoko Takao, piano
Joan Griffing, violin
Beth Vanderborgh, cello
Erwin Schulhoff: Flute Sonata
Emma Resmini, flute
Lise Keiter, piano
donation requested
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 12 (7 p.m.)
June 13 (8 p.m.)
June 14 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Bruckner: 4 motets
University of Maryland Chamber Singers
Edward Maclary directing
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

June 13 (noon)
First Presbyterian Church, 17 Court Square, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Richard Strauss: Serenade in E flat major, Op. 7
Mary Kay Adams & Angela Kelly, flutes
Sandra Gerster & Kevin Piccini, oboes
Leslie Nicholas & Lynda Dembowski, clarinets
Douglas Kehlenbrink & Lynda Edwards, bassoons
David Wick, Jay Chadwick, Tara Islas & Breton Nicholas, French horns
Harold van Schaik, bass trombone
Jim Stephenson: “Vignettes”
Judith Saxton, trumpet & piccolo trumpet
Ray Breakall, snare drum & tambourine
traditional: “Gypsy Medley” (Karen Johnson transcriptions)
Ralph Allen, violin
Karen Johnson, viola
Mark Hartman, guitar
Pete Spaar, bass
Ponchielli-Howey: “Il Convegno,” Op. 76
Leslie Nicholas & Lynda Dembowski, clarinets
Anne Waltner, piano
Kenny Durham: “Blue Bossa”
Ann Ronell: “Willow Weep for Me”
Jimmy McHugh: “Sunny Side of the Street”
Judith Saxton, trumpet & fluegelhorn
Mark Hartman, guitar
Pete Spaar, bass
donation requested
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Lehman Auditorium, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Festival Orchestra
Kenneth Nafziger conducting
J.S. Bach: Cantata 51, “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen”
Sharla Nafziger, soprano
Judith Saxton, trumpet
J.S. Bach: Cantata 82, “Ich habe genug”
Daniel Lichti, bass
Ibert: Flute Concerto
Emma Resmini, flute
Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
$25
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
“Opera Idol” Competition
performers TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 13 (7:30 p.m.)
June 14 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Washington National Opera American Opera Initiative
Steven Jarvi conducting
Huang Ruo & David Henry Hwang: “An American Soldier” (premiere)
Andrew Stenson (Pvt. Danny Chen)
Guang Yang (Mother Chen)
Trevor Scheunemann (Sgt. Aaron Marcum)
Soloman Howard (Judge/Pvt. Manny Davis)
Andrew McLaughlin (multiple roles)
Michael Ventura (multiple roles)
Jonathan Blalock (multiple roles)
David Paul, stage director
in English
$30
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

June 14 (7 p.m.)
Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Forest Hill Avenue at 43rd Street, Richmond
Forest Hill Recital Series:
Three Notch’d Road: The Charlottesville Baroque Ensemble
J.S. Bach: “Goldberg Variations”
donation requested
(804) 233-2278
www.goodshepherdrichmond.org

June 14 (noon)
First Presbyterian Church, 17 Court Square, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Verdi-Lane: “Aïda” – “Fanfare for Victory”
John Williams-Lane: “Star Wars” – “The Throne Room”
Judith Saxton & Susan Messersmith, trumpets
Jeannie Little, trombone
Harold van Schaik, bass trombone
Handel: Sonata in B flat major
Sandra Gerster & Kevin Piccini, oboes
Douglas Kehlenbrink, bassoon
Marvin Mills, harpsichord
Khachaturian: “Spartacus” – Grande adagio
Amy Glick, violin
Anne Waltner, piano
Anthony Plog & Ogden Nash: “Animal Ditties” VII
Judith Saxton & Susan Messersmith, trumpets
David Wick, French horn
Jeannie Little, trombone
Harold van Schaik, bass trombone
narrator TBA
Johann Strauss II-Schoenberg: “Emperor Waltz”
Joan Griffing & Jennifer Rickard, violins
Diane Phoenix-Neal, viola
Beth Vanderborgh, cello
Anne Waltner, piano
Mary Kay Adams, flute
Leslie Nicholas, clarinet
donation requested
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Lehman Auditorium, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Festival Orchestra & Choir
Kenneth Nafziger conducting
Mendelssohn: “Elijah”
Augusta Nafziger, treble
Sharla Nafziger, soprano
Barbara Rearick, mezzo-soprano
Kenneth Gayle, tenor
Daniel Lichti, bass
$25
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
Shmuel Askenazi, violin
Meng-Chieh Liu, piano
faculty artists TBA
singers TBA
Brahms: Sextet TBA
Dohnányi: Piano Quintet in C major, Op. 1
other works TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 14 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Emil de Cou conducting
“Casablanca”
film with live orchestral accompaniment
$36-$99
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

June 15 (6 p.m.)
The Gardens at Sunday Park, Brandermill, Hull Street Road (U.S. 360 west), Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Peter Wilson conducting
Family Summer Pops Concert
program TBA
free
(804) 673-7400
www.richmondphilharmonic.org

June 15 (10 a.m.)
Lehman Auditorium, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg
Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival:
Leipzig Service:
Lara Steinel, homilist
Festival Orchestra & Choir
Kenneth Nafziger conducting
J.S. Bach: Cantata 180, “Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele”
Sharla Nafziger, soprano
Barbara Rearick, mezzo-soprano
Kenneth Gayle, tenor
Daniel Lichti, bass
Marvin Mills, organ
offering taken
(540) 432-4582
www.emu.edu/bach

June 15 (2 p.m.)
Squires Recital Salon, Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
performers TBA
Dvořák: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81
works TBA by Brahms, others
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Squires Recital Salon, Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
performers TBA
“Celebration of Poetry in Song”
program TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 17 (8 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Municipal Band of Charlottesville
Stephen R. Layman & Capt. Curtis N. Kinzey directing
Randall Thompson: “A Testament of Freedom”
U.S. Army Chorus
works by Bizet, Eric Coates, Sigmund Romberg, Edwin Franko Goldman, others
free
(434) 979-1333
www.theparamount.net

June 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Squires Recital Salon, Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
performers TBA
“From Asia to the Americas”
program TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
performers TBA
“Singers with Strings: the Next Generation”
program TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Squires Recital Salon, Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
performers TBA
“Opera Divas and Heroines”
program TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 20 (8:30 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra
Emil de Cou conducting
“PIXAR in Concert”
$30-$58
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org
 
June 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
“A Night on Broadway”
works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, others
singers TBA
Shane Schag, music director
Davis M. Beris, stage director
$40
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 22 (2 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
Elizabeth Schumann, piano
faculty artists TBA
Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44
works TBA by Fauré, Mozart
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Squires Recital Salon, Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
performers TBA
“An Evening with Mozart”
arias, ensembles from “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Don Giovanni,” “The Magic Flute,” other works TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Squires Recital Salon, Center for the Arts, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
Alexander Fitelstein, clarinet
faculty artists TBA
Ljova Zhurbin: klezmer works TBA
Piazzolla: tangos TBA
Boccherini: “Fandango” Quintet
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
Bizet: “Doctor Miracle”
Bizet-Peter Brook & Jean-Claude Carrière: “La Tragédie de Carmen”
performers TBA
Josh Major, stage director
$40
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
Matthew Polenzani, tenor
Howard Watkins, piano
program TBA
$40
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 27 (7:30 p.m.)
June 29 (3 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Wolf Trap Opera Company
Anthony Walker conducting
Handel: “Giulio Cesare”
John Holiday (Julius Ceasar)
Alex Rosen (Curio)
Renée Rapier (Cornelia)
Carolyn Sproule (Sesto)
Jeongcheol Cha (Achilla)
Ying Fang (Cleopatra)
Kara Sainz (Nireno)
Eric Jurenas (Tolomeo)
Chas Rader-Shieber, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$36-$88
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

June 27 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 228 S. Pitt St., Alexandria
Serenade! Washington, D.C. Choral Festival:
Konevets Quartet
Ondrasek Czech Youth and Children’s Choir
Viva
Insingizi
program TBA
donation requested
(703) 683-6040
www.classicalmovements.com/dc

June 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Damascus United Methodist Church, 9700 New Church St., Damascus, MD
Serenade! Washington, D.C. Choral Festival:
Fairfield County Children’s Choir
Arishi
Wishful Singing
program TBA
donation requested
(703) 683-6040
www.classicalmovements.com/dc

June 27 (8 p.m.)
June 28 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
The Midtown Men, guest stars
1960s pop songs by The Beatles, The Drifters, The Four Seasons, others
$20-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

June 28 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Martinů: “Puppets” for solo piano
Stravinsky: “A Soldier’s Tale”
Dan Butterworth, puppeteer
Aaron Berofsky & Teresa Ling, violins
Evelyn Grau, viola
Isaac Melamed, cello
Anthony Manzo, double-bass
Phil Snedecor, trumpet
Bryan Bourne, trombone
Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano
narrator TBA
$25 (concert); $84 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
www.garthnewel.org

June 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Fife Theatre, Street and Davis Performance Hall, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Vocal Arts & Music Festival:
“Opera Gala Closing Concert”
program TBA
performers TBA
$20
(540) 231-5300
www.artscenter.vt.edu

June 28 (6 p.m.)
Alfred Street Baptist Church, 301 S. Alfred St., Alexandria
Serenade! Washington, D.C. Choral Festival:
Insingizi
program TBA
donation requested
(703) 683-6040
www.classicalmovements.com/dc

June 28 (7 p.m.)
Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW, Washington
Serenade! Washington, D.C. Choral Festival:
Wishful Singing
Yale Alumni Chorus
orchestra
program TBA
donation requested; proceeds benefit the Welcome Table (choir of the homeless)
(703) 683-6040
www.classicalmovements.com/dc


June 28 (8:15 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Philadelphia Orchestra
Bramwell Tovey conducting
Britten: “Four Sea Interludes”
Beethoven: “Egmont” Overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”)
Tracy Cox, soprano
Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano
Robert Watson, tenor
Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone
Choral Arts Society of Washington
$25-$65
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

June 29 (4 p.m.)
Centenary United Methodist Church, 411 E. Grace St., Richmond
Washington Cornett & Sackbutt Ensemble
“Grand Tour of European Courts”
program TBA
$15
(804) 648-8319
www.centumc.org

June 29 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Debussy: “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair” for solo piano
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581
Martinů: “La Revue de Cuisine”
Aaron Berofsky & Teresa Ling, violins
Evelyn Grau, viola
Isaac Melamed, cello
Phil Snedecor, trumpet
Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano
$25 (concert); $43 (concert & picnic)
(540) 839-5018
www.garthnewel.org

June 29 (6:30 p.m.)
West Garden Court, West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington
David Niethamer, clarinet
National Gallery Chamber Players
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581
J.S. Bach: Suite in B minor for flute and strings
Dittersdorf: work TBA
free
(202) 737-4215
www.nga.gov

June 29 (4 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Serenade! Washington, D.C. Choral Festival:
massed choir from Yale Alumni Chorus, Konevets, Fairfield County Children's Choir, Arishi, Ondrasek Czech Youth and Children's Choir, Wishful Singing, Insingizi
Grant Gershon directing
program TBA
free; tickets required from http://www.eventbrite.com/o/serenade-washington-dc-choral-festivalclassical-movements-6440251381
(703) 683-6040
www.classicalmovements.com/dc