Kennedy Center taps Bates

Mason Bates, the Richmond-bred composer whose works have been performed by many of this country’s leading orchestras and ensembles, has been named composer-in-residence of the Kennedy Center in Washington for a three-year period beginning in the 2015-16 season.

Bates, now in his sixth year as a composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will compose works for various groups that perform at the Kennedy Center. Performing groups and series affiliated with the center include the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Kennedy Center Chamber Players and Fortas Chamber Music Series.

No specific commissions have been announced yet.

The 38-year-old composer, who doubles as a DJ in dance clubs and other spaces (in that guise, he’s known as DJ Masonic), also will curate a contemporary music series and work on various projects intended to enhance the Kennedy Center’s presence in the surrounding community.

An alumnus of Richmond’s St. Christopher’s School, Bates went on to study at New York’s Juilliard School and Columbia University, and subsequently earned his doctorate in composition at the University of California at Berkeley. John Corigliano and David Del Tredici were Bates’ principal composition teachers.

Now living near San Francisco, Bates is perhaps best known for works, such as “Rusty Air in Carolina” and “Liquid Interface,” that incorporate electronica (computer-generated electronic sounds) in symphonic orchestrations.

He also has written many chamber and orchestral works with standard instrumentation, including the Violin Concerto that Anne Akiko Meyers has performed with several orchestras, including the Richmond Symphony, since its premiere in 2012, and a Cello Concerto, recently introduced by Joshua Roman with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

In recent years, Bates’ music has been among the most frequently programmed of any living American composer’s.

The Washington Post’s Anne Midgette reports on Bates’ Kennedy Center appointment:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2015/01/28/kennedy-center-names-first-composer-in-residence/

Letter V Classical Radio this week

A grand tour of piano music in the 19th century, featuring one the preeminent virtuosos of the romantic era, Ferruccio Busoni, playing his transcription of the Chaconne from J.S. Bach’s Partita in D minor, and performances on early concert grands built by Érard and Chickering – plus, a royal visitation by Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, the most musically gifted blue-blood in European history, a pianist and composer much admired by Beethoven and Schumann.

Jan. 29
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EST
1600-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Chopin: Scherzo in B minor, Op. 20
Alexander Paley, piano (Blüthner)

Chopin: Ballade in G minor, Op. 23
Bella Davidovich, piano (Newton Classics)

Grieg: “Lyric Pieces” – 
“Cradle Song,” Op. 68, No. 5
“Wedding Day at Troldhaugen,” Op. 65, No. 6
“Evening in the Mountains,” Op. 68, No. 4
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano (EMI Classics)

Past Masters:
Bach: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Chaconne
(transcription by Ferruccio Busoni)
Ferruccio Busoni,
Duo-Art piano roll
(Nimbus)
(first issued 1925)

Schumann: “Fantasiestücke”
Marc-André Hamelin, piano (Hyperion)

Beethoven: Piano Concerto
No. 3 in C minor
Fazil Say, piano
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra/
Gianandrea Noseda (Naïve)

Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia: Piano Quartet
in F minor, Op. 6
Horst Göbel, piano
Camerata Quartet members (Thorofon)

Liszt: “Les Années de Pèlerinage” (Book 1: Switzerland) – 
“Vallée d’Obermann”
Carole Carniel, piano (Érard, 1840)
(Ligia)

Louis Moreau Gottschalk: “La Brise (Valse de Concert)”
Lambert Orkis, piano (Chickering, 1865)
(Smithsonian Institution)

Review: Shanghai Quartet

with Michael Tree, viola
Jan. 25, University of Richmond

This season’s visit by the Shanghai Quartet to the University of Richmond, played to near-full house in the Modlin Arts Center’s Camp Concert Hall, proved to be meatier, both in content and execution, than most of the programs that the ensemble has presented here in recent years.

This program was framed by two works of near-epic proportions: Beethoven’s Quartet in E flat major, Op. 127, and Brahms’ Quintet in F major, Op. 88, the latter with Michael Tree, formerly of the Guarneri Quartet, playing second viola.

The first, and in some ways the most elusive, of Beethoven’s late quartets, Op. 127 is at times as tumultuous as the composer’s most in-your-face orchestral music, and at other times rarified to the point of other-worldiness. These two modes of expression sometimes coexist in uneasy proximity, notably in the finale. Throughout the work, string sound see-saws from highly refined to earthy, even (ideally) gritty.

The Shanghai rode this musical bronco mostly in the saddle (there were a couple of minor spills), and with considerable assertiveness. The foursome – violinists Weigang Li and Yi-Wen Jiang, violist Honggang Li and cellist Nicholas Tzavaras – produced a robust collective sound, rooted in Tzavaras’ massively sonorous bass lines, that served to heighten contrasts with quieter or more finely drawn passages.

Their one interpretive misstep in the Beethoven was a scherzo whose tempo was so speedy that string figurations inevitably sounded smeared. 

The Brahms quintet, while not as long as the Beethoven, is at least as grand-scaled. Its opening allegro is one of the longest movements that Brahms composed, all but daring interpreters to maintain continuity through an eventful but rather meandering development section. Its slow movement, a soulfully lyrical adagio interrupted twice by a trio section from a missing scherzo, may be the most episodic music of the mature Brahms.

The Shanghai and Tree – he playing what must be one of the largest violas in captivity – rose to Brahms’ various challenges in a performance of enveloping warmth and carefully calibrated passion.

Between those two behemoths, the Shanghai reprised one of its mainstay miniatures, Joaquín Turina’s “La oración del torero” (“The Toreador’s Prayer”), colorful and cannily dramatized music that the group played with spontaneity and go-for-broke expressiveness, but without a hint of coarseness.

Review: Rachel Barton Pine

Jan. 24, Virginia Commonwealth University

Rachel Barton Pine’s performance in VCU’s Rennolds Chamber Music Series series was as much a reunion with an old friend as it was a violin recital. (Of course, not many old friends come calling with a 1742 Guarneri in hand.)

In her fifth appearance here since 1999, Pine ranged pretty widely across the repertory, from Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 1 in F minor, a stark and portentous evocation of wartime violence and suffering, to Antonio Bazzini’s comically frenzied “Dance of the Goblins.” The 40-year-old, Chicago-born violinist also was a personable and informative tour guide in her comments between selections.

Pianist Matthew Hagle was a more than supportive accompanist, adding depth and atmosphere to the Prokofiev and a full palette of tone color to Franck’s Sonata in A major and a set of lullabies.

The Franck was the program’s musical highlight. Pine essayed this familiar sonata with authority and sensitivity to French high-romantic style and expressive rhetoric. She also summoned the richest array of tone and color from her violin in this piece.

The instrument’s subtler qualities were not much called for in the Prokofiev sonata (except in its muted “wind in the graveyard” effects) or in Schubert’s Duo in A major, and the fiddle’s brilliance at high volume was not showcased in the lullabies.

Pine began collecting lullabies for violin after the birth of her daughter; she’s up to about 150 by now. The pieces she chose for this program – Brahms’ familiar “Wegenlied” in Albert Spalding’s arrangement, Eugène Ysaÿe’s “Rêve d’Enfant” (“Child’s Dream”), Rebecca Clarke’s Lullaby (1918) and “Mother and Child” from William Grant Still’s Suite for violin and piano (1943) – were, for the most part, moodily wistful in expression and nuanced in voicing.

Two of Pine’s selections were directly linked to her Guarneri. The instrument was formerly owned by one of the first women to achieve prominence as a violinist, Marie Soldat-Roeger (1863-1955), who performed for and with Brahms; and earlier by Bazzini, who may well have devised the tonal and technical pyrotechnics of “Dance of the Goblins” on this fiddle.

City Opera redux?

The New York Times’ Michael Cooper reports on the ongoing bidding war for the remaining assets of the now-defunct New York City Opera – principally, it seems, the company’s name and stellar history. Two bidders offer $1.25 million and $1.5 million. Questions arise about both:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/nyregion/potential-buyers-of-new-york-city-opera-hold-a-bidding-war-in-court.html

The 'other' Steinway arrives

A new Hamburg Steinway concert grand piano is scheduled for delivery to the University of Richmond this week. It is believed to be the first instrument by the German maker that will be in regular use in a Richmond concert venue.

The piano, which cost $213,196, was purchased with funds from the university’s dean of arts and sciences.

“The tone of the Hamburg was well suited to Camp Concert Hall” in the Modlin Arts Center, says Jeffrey Riehl, interim chair of the UR music department. He characterizes the piano’s tone as “clear, resonant, and ringing[,] with an excellent balance between the bass and treble,” adding that its sound is compatible with that of an American-made Steinway already owned by the university.

Faculty pianists Richard Becker and Joanne Kong, members of a piano selection committee, “had sterling experiences with Hamburgs in the past that made them quite eager to have one,” Riehl says. The group also wanted performers to have an alternative to a Steinway D, the concert grand in widest use in major U.S. concert halls.

Another consideration was the contractual obligation of many touring pianists to perform on Steinways.

While the Hamburg Steinway will be new to the Richmond concert scene, audiences in the area have had considerable exposure to other German-made pianos. Bon Air Presbyterian Church owns a Bechstein, which has been used regularly in concerts by the Richmond Chamber Players, Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia and other performers. Alexander Paley frequently plays a Blüthner piano in his Richmond festival.

UR’s Hamburg Steinway is scheduled for its public christening in a recital by Becker at 3 p.m. Feb. 1 – assuming, Riehl says, that the pianist believes the instrument has “settled in enough” in its new environment. It also will be played in recitals by Paul Hanson, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23; Barry Hannigan, 7:30 p.m. March 2; and by Kong in a trio performance with violinist Daisuke Yamamoto and cellist Neal Cary, 7:30 p.m. March 23. All four will be in Camp Concert Hall, without admission charge.

It’s not known whether Hélène Grimaud, the celebrated French pianist performing in a ticketed Modlin Arts Presents program at 7:30 p.m. April 22, will choose to play the instrument.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

Sampling the latest crop of classical recordings, including well-loved and reimagined Mozart, a radical new Vivaldi “Four Seasons,” and generous helpings of music from and about France. 

Jan. 22
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EST
1600-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/
Neville Marriner
(Avie)

Fauré: Piano Trio
in D minor, Op. 120
Horszowski Trio
(Bridge)

Bruce Mahin: “Préludes de Paris” – Nos. 6-8
Martin Jones, piano
(PnOVA)

Ricardo Castro Herrera: “Vals Capricho”
Joel Fan, piano
Northwest Sinfonietta/Christophe Chagnard
(Reference Recordings)

Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (“Trout”)
Menahem Pressler, piano
Ebène Quartet members
Benjamin Berlioz, double-bass
(Erato)

Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons” – “Summer”
Midori Seiler, violin
Akademie für alte Musik Berlin (Harmonia Mundi)

Chausson: Piano Trio
in G minor, Op. 3
Trio Solisti
(Bridge)

Mozart: Sinfonia concertante in D major for two flutes and orchestra
(arrangement of Sonata for two pianos, K. 448,
by Stephen Dodgson)
Robert Stallman, flutes
Czech Chamber Orchestra/Ondřej Kukal
(Bogner’s Cafe)

* * * 

If you think the Seiler-Akademie für alte Musik recording of “The Four Seasons” goes where no Vivaldi has gone before, wait till you see and hear it performed in this “choreographed concert,” staged by Juan Cruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWHLZ8sLTdA 

Musical chairs

The time has come, I think, for a round of musical chairs at the Richmond Symphony: Repositioning its string sections with an ear toward boosting and enriching bass sound.

The usual full-sized complement of strings in this orchestra is 12 first violins, 10 second violins, eight violas, eight cellos and six double-basses. However balanced that may appear in principle, it is not balanced in practice – at least not in the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, where the full symphony currently stages all of its local concerts.

As I remarked in reviewing the weekend’s Masterworks program (see previous post), low strings sound weaker than high strings in this hall, even when the fiddles are played within the acoustical shell behind the stage’s proscenium arch. When the strings are moved beyond the arch on the extended stage, as they are for music that requires enlarged woodwind, brass and percussion sections, or for works performed with the Richmond Symphony Chorus, the relative weakness of bass string sound is more pronounced.

When this was observed during orchestra sound checks prior to the reopening of the renovated hall in 2009, the theater’s acoustical consultants said that adjusting the overhead “clouds” and/or tweaking the hall’s acoustical enhancement system would ease or solve the problem.

Five and a half years later, the problem persists. So does the issue of deficient projection and tone quality in piano sound when the instrument occupies the standard front-and-center position with the orchestra on the extended stage – the usual layout in large-scale, late-romantic/early modern piano concertos.

Adam Golka’s sometimes inaudible playing in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto was the latest instance of a pianist being overbalanced by the orchestra in this hall. Previous victims include Jon Nakamatsu, Jeremy Denk, Awadagin Pratt and Dmitri Shteinberg, all of whom are high-powered, assertive performers.

Perhaps there is as yet untried adjusting and tweaking to be done; but I wouldn’t count on it. I’m pretty sure that, by now, what we hear is what we get as long as the symphony performs in the Carpenter Theatre.

So, sound-adjustment duty falls to the orchestra.

The standard seating arrangement for strings in the Richmond Symphony, like most American orchestras (but not all – see photo), places the violins to the left of the conductor, and violas, cellos and double-basses to the right.


Leading Central European ensembles – the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Czech Philharmonic – regularly use “classical” string placement: first violins to the left, second violins to the right, violas and cellos behind the violin sections, with double-basses behind the cellos or on risers at the back of the orchestra (standard practice in Vienna).

That arrangement serves to clarify the musical exchanges between first and second violins that figure prominently in the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven – that’s why it’s termed classical. It also puts low-string sound at the aural center or heart of the ensemble, which contributes to the richness and body of string sound so prized in the Vienna Phil and other European orchestras.

I don’t know whether such placement would enhance lower-register fiddle sound with the Richmond Symphony in the Carpenter Theatre; but I think it’s well worth trying – especially as the present arrangement is so chronically prone to imbalance.

And the piano problem?

The symphony may have solved that, at least short-term, by having gone through most of the biggest, loudest concertos in recent years. The popular piano concertos it hasn’t played lately – Mozart, the first three Beethovens, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Saint-Saëns, the Brahms Second – as well as the modern ones likely to be programmed here, are scored for chamber- to standard-scaled orchestras, and so shouldn’t necessitate extending the stage.

Just steer piano concertos away from programs with space-consuming music, such as big choral works and pieces that call for lots of percussion or oversized wind and brass sections requiring enlarged string sections to balance them.

Want a concerto alongside “Ein Heldenleben” or “Carmina burana?” Book a violinist.

Review: Richmond Symphony

Steven Smith conducting
with Adam Golka, piano
Jan. 17, Richmond CenterStage

The acoustical quirks and deficiencies of the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage, where the Richmond Symphony presents most of its concerts, have been known since the renovated hall reopened in 2009.

Bass string sound projects weakly, more so when strings are moved out from under the stage’s orchestra shell and beyond the proscenium arch. A piano placed front and center on the stage extended into the hall loses volume relative to the orchestra, and its tone tends to sound brittle or hollow.

These shortcomings were on glaring display in the weekend’s symphony program, at least from my listening vantage – front row center, first dress circle, which ought to be a prime location acoustically.

Pianist Adam Golka, the soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, was frequently barely audible when the orchestra was playing full tilt, which is to say through much of the first and last movements, most unfortunately during stretches when the solo piano plays important accompanying and contrapuntal roles.

His virtuosity and musical fluency came through in more exposed, less heavily orchestrated passages, and his lyrical gifts were gratifyingly displayed in the memorable tune at the heart of the concerto’s adagio, as well as in his encore, Schumann’s “Des Abends,” Op. 12, No. 1, which Golka played in memory of his teacher, José Feghali, who died last month at 53.

The other major work on the program, Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F major, was sapped of warmth by the weak bass string sound. That would have been bad enough – what is Brahms without sufficient warmth? – but the performance also was sapped of momentum by conductor Steven Smith’s variable, often sluggish tempos and emphasis on lyricism at the expense of the “pulse” that is essential in this composer’s music.

In the third movement, an allegretto that here was paced more like a fatigued andante, the pulse was so weak that it all but flat-lined. Some resuscitation was effected in an energetic finale.

The imbalance of high and low string sound was less pronounced in the program’s opening work, Jennifer Higdon’s tone poem “blue cathedral,” in which string sound is generally thin and rarified; its bass lines are rooted in the brass section. But this performance’s rather primary-colored string tone – seemingly at odds with the impressionistic intentions stated by the composer in her program note – sounded to be at least partly a consequence of the strings’ placement and imbalance.

And the large percussion-and-keyboard array called for in Higdon’s score, taking up nearly a quarter of the space onstage and remaining in place although mostly not in use for the rest of the concert, effectively shoved the orchestra forward into sonically unfriendly territory for the Brahms and Rachmaninoff.

The program repeats at 3 p.m. Jan. 18 in the Carpenter Theatre of Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $10-$78. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); www.richmondsymphony.com

Paris' Philharmonie: first impressions

The 2,400-seat Philharmonie de Paris, designed by Jean Nouvel, is the world’s newest concert hall – and certainly its most visually intriguing, inside and out.

You can take a virtual tour of the space here: http://www.philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/

Reviews from its inaugural concert on Jan. 14 range from guardedly positive to borderline-rapturous. Here’s a sampling:

From The New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/arts/music/in-paris-a-music-hall-built-for-unity-offers-stirring-first-act.html?ref=music&_r=0

From The Guardian’s Tom Service:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2015/jan/15/la-philharmonie-de-paris-new-musical-social-future-paris

And (via www.slippedisc.com) from British arts administrator/blogger Marshall Marcus:

https://marshallmarcus.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/ce-soir-nous-sommes-tous-la-philharmonie/

Christopher Falzone memorial service

A memorial service celebrating the life of Christopher Falzone will be held at 11 a.m. Jan. 26 at the Catholic Church of the Epiphany, 11000 Smoketree Drive in Chesterfield County.

Falzone, the Richmond-bred pianist and composer who studied locally with Joanne Kong and subsequently with Leon Fleisher and Claude Frank at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, went on to win the Gilmore Young Artist Award, the gold medal of the Gilels Competition in Odessa, the Martha Argerich Les Virtuoses du Future competition in Switzerland, and other major prizes. A burgeoning international career was cut short by his death at age 29 on Oct. 21 in Geneva.

Falzone’s death is among the notable losses to classical music in 2014 cited in an article on National Public Radio’s Deceptive Cadence blog:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2015/01/09/375630332/swan-songs-classical-musicians-we-lost-in-2014

The family advises that memorial contributions in Christopher Falzone’s name may be made to the chamber music programs at the Academy of Music, 4200 Dover Road, Richmond, VA 23221; Midwest Young Artists, 878 Lyster Road, Highwood, IL 60040; or the Levine School of Music, 2801 Upton St. NW, Washington, DC 20008.

Russell Stanger (1924-2015)

Russell Stanger, former music director of the Norfolk-based orchestra now called the Virginia Symphony, has died at 90.

An assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic (1960-62) during Leonard Bernstein’s tenure, Stanger in 1966 assumed artistic direction of what was then the Norfolk Symphony and led the orchestra for 14 years. He also guest-conducted internationally and was a composer and teacher.

An obituary by Lorraine Eaton for The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk:

http://hamptonroads.com/2015/01/conductor-stanger-was-thankful-friends-talents

Stanger conducts London’s Royal Philharmonic, accompanying pianist Earl Wild, in this excerpt from Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini:”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ANl6ilOv4

Letter V Classical Radio this week

The second of the New Year anniversary shows, this one marking even-numbered anniversaries of a remarkable variety of memorable and influential compositions – none more so than Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” introduced 150 years ago. The “Tristan chord” of its Prelude (notation at right) resonates powerfully in the harmonic language of late-romantic and modern music.

Prélude: In a week when the civilized world rallies around France as she mourns her dead and defies terrorists, we’ll open with longtime Boston Symphony flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer playing Claude Debussy’s haunting “Syrinx.”

Jan. 15
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EST
1600-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Past Masters:
Debussy: “Syrinx”
Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flute
(Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1970)

Haydn: Symphony
No. 31 in D major (“Hornsignal”) –
I: Allegro (1765)
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra/Dennis Russell Davies
(Sony Classical)

Schubert: Symphony No. 3 in D major (1815)
Vienna Philharmonic/
Carlos Kleiber (Deutsche Grammophon)

Frescobaldi: “Toccata undécima” (1615)
Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord (Philips)

Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 (“Concord, Mass.,
1840-1860”) – IV: “Thoreau” (1915)
Marc-André Hamelin, piano; Jamie Martin, flute (Hyperion)

Frescobaldi: “Partite sopra Folia” (1615)
Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord (Philips)

Past Masters:
De Falla: “El amor brujo” (1915)
Shirley Verrett,
mezzo-soprano
Philadelphia Orchestra/
Leopold Stokowski (Sony Classical)
(recorded 1960)

Weber: Concertino in E minor, Op. 45 (1815)
Hermann Baumann, French horn
Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig/Kurt Masur (Newton Classics)

Past Masters:
Wagner: “Tristan und Isolde” – Prelude & “Liebestod” (1865)
Berlin Philharmonic/
Wilhelm Furtwängler (Biddulph)
(recorded 1938)

Schubert: “Der Erlkönig” (1815)
(Max Reger orchestration)
Thomas Quasthoff, baritone
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)

Brahms: Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40 (1865)
William Purvis, French horn
Daniel Phillips, violin
Richard Goode, piano
(Bridge)

Bernstein: “Chichester Psalms” (1965)
Thomas Kelly, treble
Elizabeth Franklin-Kitchen, soprano
Victoria Nayler, alto
Jeremy Budd, tenor
Paul Charrier, bass
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop (Naxos)

Sick daze

Plenty of enticing music in concerts this weekend in Richmond. (See January calendar for details.) Alas, I won’t be hearing any of it. I’ve come down with a bug that definitely isn’t for sharing.

Letter V Classical Radio this week

In the new year, the show expands to three hours, beginning an hour earlier. The first two installments mark the year’s anniversaries of musicians and compositions – in this program, the sesquicentennial of the births of Jean Sibelius, Carl Nielsen, Paul Dukas and Alexander Glazunov.

Jan. 8
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EST
1600-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Sibelius: “Finlandia”
Boston Symphony Orchestra/
Colin Davis (Philips)

Past Masters:
Glazunov: Violin Concerto
in A minor
Nathan Milstein, violin
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/
William Steinberg
(EMI Classics)
(recorded 1957)

Nielsen: “Hymnus amoris”
Barbara Bonney, soprano
John Mark Ainsley, tenor
Lars Pedersen, tenor
Michael W. Hansen, baritone
Bo Anker Hansen, bass
Copenhagen Boys’ Choir
Danish National Radio Choir
Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra/
Ulf Schirmer
(Decca)

Past Masters:
Dukas: “Villanelle”
Dennis Brain, French horn
Wilfrid Parry, piano
(BBC Music)
(recorded 1957)

Past Masters:
Glazunov: “The Seasons” – “Winter”
studio orchestra/
Alexander Glazunov
(EMI Classics)
(recorded 1929)

Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Colin Davis
(Philips)

Dukas: “La Peri” Suite
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/
Jesús López-Cobos
(Telarc)

Sibelius: “The Swan of Tuonela”
Philadelphia Orchestra/
Eugene Ormandy
(EMI Classics)

Nielsen: Symphony No. 5
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/Sakari Oramo
(Bis)

Dukas: “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy
(RCA Victor)

January 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.

* In and around Richmond: The Richmond Symphony, with guest conductor Victor Yampolsky, plays Stravinsky, Mozart and J.C. Bach in a Rush-Hour program on Jan. 8 at Richmond CenterStage, with J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3 added for concerts on Jan. 10 at Southside Church of the Nazrene in Chesterfield County and Jan. 11 at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland. . . . French flutist Nicholas Duchamp joins the Eckhardt Ensemble in a program of Bach and Italian Renaissance dances, Jan. 10 at St. Luke Lutheran Church. . . . The Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia presents three programs of baroque music, a free lecture-recital on the trio sonata, Jan. 10 in the Richmond Public Library’s Gellman Room, and ticketed concerts on Jan. 10 (featuring soprano Jessica Petrus) and Jan. 12 at First Unitarian Universalist Church. . . . Steven Smith conducts a Richmond Symphony program of Brahms, Jennifer Higdon and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Adam Golka as soloist, Jan. 17-18 at Richmond CenterStage. . . . Violinist Rachel Barton Pine plays Schubert, Prokofiev, Franck and more in a Rennolds Chamber Concerts program, Jan. 24 at Virginia Commonwealth University’ Singleton Arts Center. . . . The Shanghai Quartet, joined by former Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree, plays Brahms, Turina and more, Jan. 25 at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center. . . . Steven Smith and the Richmond Symphony, joined by the Symphony Chorus and choristers from eight Virginia colleges and universities, perform in “Voices of Survival,” a Holocaust remembrance program, Jan. 27 at Richmond CenterStage.

* Noteworthy elsewhere: Two Beethoven Ninths to ring in the new year: Nicholas McGegan conducting the Baltimore Symphony, Jan. 3 at Strathmore in the DC suburbs, and JoAnn Falletta conducting the Virginia Symphony, Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at venues in Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. . . . Marin Alsop conducts the Baltimore Symphony in Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” and Osvaldo Golijov’s “Rose of the Wind,” featuring a multi-ethnic, multi-genre quartet of instruments, Jan. 11 at Strathmore.
. . . Gil Shaham plays Bach’s six sonatas and partitas for solo violin, Jan. 16 at Strathmore, while Jennifer Koh, performing on Jan. 22 at Strathmore in the third installment of her “Bach Project,” plays two of the sonatas alongside solo-violin works by Luciano Berio and John Zorn. . . . Pianist Tzimon Barto joins Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony for the U.S. premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Jan. 17 and 19 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. . . . The St. Lawrence String Quartet plays Haydn, Dvořák and John Adams, Jan. 23 at the Library of Congress in Washington. . . . Virginia Opera opens its new production of Richard Strauss’ “Salome” with performances on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1 and 3 at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk (February dates follow in Richmond and Fairfax). . . . The State Symphony of Mexico performs on Jan. 30 at the Virginia Tech Arts Center in Blacksburg and Jan. 31 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax. . . . Marin Alsop conducts the Baltimore Symphony in Mahler’s epic Third Symphony, Jan. 31 at Strathmore.


Jan. 3 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Nicholas McGegan conducting
Beethoven: “King Stefan” Overture
Haydn: “The Storm”
Beethoven: “Opferlied”
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”)
Katie Van Kooten, soprano
Mary Phillips, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Cooley, tenor
Andrew Foster-Williams, baritone
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
$50-$110 
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office) 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 4 (3 p.m.) 
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
Strauss Symphony Orchestra of America 
András Deák conducting
Sera Gösch, soprano 
Michael Heim, tenor 
Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine 
International Champion Ballroom Dancers 
“Salute to Vienna” 
works by Johann Strauss II, others 
$49-$89 
(301) 581-5100 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 8 (6:30 p.m.)
Gottwald Playhouse, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Jan. 10 (1 p.m.)
Southside Church of the Nazarene, 6851 Courthouse Road, Chesterfield County
Jan. 11 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony
Victor Yampolsky conducting
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3 (not on
Jan. 8 program)
J.C. Bach: Sinfonia in D major, Op. 18, No. 4
Mozart: Serenade in C minor, K. 388
Stravinsky: “Pulcinella” Suite
$20 (includes drink on Jan. 8)
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 9 (8 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, Trap Road, Vienna
Ying Quartet
Schumann: Quartet in F major, Op. 41, No. 2 
Webern: “Five Pieces for String Quartet” 
Brahms: Quartet in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 
$35 
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
www.wolftrap.org

Jan. 9 (8:15 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
“Off the Cuff: Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ ”
talk followed by performance
$40-$100
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 10 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Fiona Hughes & Martin Davids, violins
Kyle Miller, viola
James Wilson, cello
David Walker, lute
Mark Shuldiner, harpsichord
“3=4 (or More)” 
lecture-recital on the baroque trio sonata
free
(804) 519-2098
www.cmscva.org

Jan. 10 (7 p.m.)
St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway, Richmond 
Eckhardt Ensemble 
Nicholas Duchamp, flute 
baritone TBA 
J.S. Bach: Cantata 82, “Ich habe genug” 
J.S. Bach: Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 
Italian Renaissance dance suite 
$20 
(804) 272-0486 
www.stlukerichmond.org

Jan. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Jessica Petrus, soprano 
Anne Timberlake, recorder 
Fiona Hughes & Martin Davids, violins 
James Wilson, cello
David Walker, lute 
Mark Shuldiner, harpsichord 
“Dido and Other Heroines” 
Monteclair: cantatas TBA 
Barbara Strozzi: vocal works TBA 
Purcell: trio sonatas TBA
$25 
(804) 519-2098 
www.cmscva.org

Jan. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Cornell University Glee Club 
Robert Isaacs directing 
popular, folk, classical works 
$25 
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 10 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
National Philharmonic 
Piotr Gajewski conducting 
Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 (“Prague”) 
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major 
Zuill Bailey, cello 
Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G major (“Surprise”) 
$28-$84 
(301) 581-5100 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 11 (4 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road
Second Sunday South of the James:
Charles Lindsey Jr., organ
Howells: Rhapsody No. 3
Franck: Chorale No. 3
Messiaen: “Transport de joie”
Wagner: “Tannhäuser” – “Pilgrims’ Chorus”
J.S. Bach: “O Mensch, bewein”
French Noëls by Balbastre, Dandrieu
improvisations, congregational hymns
donation requested
(804) 272-7514
www.bonairpc.org

Jan. 11 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington 
Kennedy Center Chamber Players 
Bartók: Duos for two violins (excerpts)
Ravel: Sonata for violin and cello 
York Bowen: Fantasia, Op. 41, No. 1, for four violas
Arensky: Quartet in A minor for violin, viola and two cellos 
$36 
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 11 (3 p.m.) 
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 
Marin Alsop conducting 
Barber: “Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Revenge” 
Golijov: “Rose of the Winds” 
Cristina Pato, Galician bagpipes 
Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh (Persian bowed lute) 
David Krakauer, klezmer clarinet 
Michael Ward-Bergeman, hyper-accordion 
Stravinsky: “Le sacre du printemps” (“The Rite of Spring”) 
$32-$95 
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office) 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 12 (7:30 p.m.) 
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon, Richmond 
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia: 
Mary Boodell, traverso flute 
Fiona Hughes & Martin Davids, violins 
Kyle Miller, viola 
James Wilson, cello
David Walker, lute
Mark Shuldiner, harpsichord 
“Concerti Barocchi” 
concertos by Vivaldi, Locatelli, Telemann 
$25 
(804) 519-2098 
www.cmscva.org

Jan. 14 (7:30 p.m.) 
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington 
Vocal Arts DC: 
Matthew Polenzani, tenor 
Julius Drake, piano 
works by Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel, Satie, Barber 
$50 
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 15 (7 p.m.)
Jan. 17 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra 
Christoph Eschenbach conducting 
Dvořák: “Carnival” Overture
Wolfgang Rihm: Piano Concerto No. 2 (U.S. premiere)
Tzimon Barto, piano
Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique” 
$10-$85 
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 16 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington 
National Symphony Orchestra 
Christoph Eschenbach conducting 
“Beyond the Score: Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie
fantastique’ ” 
talk followed by performance 
$10-$50 
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 16 (8 p.m.) 
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
Gil Shaham, violin
J.S. Bach: sonatas and partitas for solo violin,
BWV 1001-1006 
$30-$75 
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society) 
www.wpas.org

Jan. 17 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 18 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting 
Jennifer Higdon: “Blue Cathedral”
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor 
Adam Golka, piano
pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. 
$10-$78 
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX) 
www.richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 17 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 
Günther Herbig conducting 
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467
Alon Goldstein, piano
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 
$32-$95 
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office) 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 18 (7 p.m.)
Calvary Revival Church, 5833 Poplar Hall Drive, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony
Benjamin Rous conducting
Justine Elliott, violin
Virginia State University Jazz Ensemble
Frank Elliott directing 
“Songs for a Dreamer – a Tribute to Martin Luthrer King Jr.”
program TBA
free 
(757) 892-6366 
www.virginiasymphony.org

Jan. 18 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Metropolitan Opera National Council’s Middle Atlantic Regional Auditions 2015
artists TBA
program TBA
$32
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 20 (8 p.m.) 
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg
Henschel Quartet
Mozart: Quartet in B flat major, K. 589
Beethoven: Quartet in F major, Op. 59, No. 1 (“Razumovsky”)
Janáček: Quartet No.1 (“Kreutzer Sonata”) 
$15 (waiting list) 
(757) 229-0385 
www.chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

Jan. 22 (8 p.m.)
Crosswalk Community Church, 7575 Richmond Road, Williamsburg
Jan. 24 (8 p.m.) 
Regent University Theater, 1000 Regent University Drive, Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony 
JoAnn Falletta conducting 
Hamilton Harty: “In Ireland” 
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor 
Tamas Kocsis, violin
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor (“Scottish”)
$23-$63
(757) 892-6366 
www.virginiasymphony.org

Jan. 22 (7 p.m.)
Jan. 23 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 24 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Tchaikovsky: “Hamlet”
Tchaikovsky: “Sérénade mélancolique” 
Tchaikovsky: “Valse-Scherzo” 
Nurit Bar-Josef, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in G minor (“Winter Dreams”)
$10-$85 
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Mansion at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
Jennifer Koh, violin 
J.S. Bach: Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 
Berio: “Sequenza” for solo violin 
John Zorn: “Passagen” 
J.S. Bach: Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005 
$32 
(301) 581-5100 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 22 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops 
Jack Everly conducting 
Jason Alexander, guest star 
program TBA
$60-$120 
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office) 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Jan. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative:
Anne Manson conducting
Douglas Pew & Dara Weinberg: “Penny”
Deborah Nansteel (Penelope “Penny” Rutherford)
Kerrian Otaño (Katherine Tate)
Trevor Scheunemann (Gary Tate)
Wei Wu (Jaeson Shaw)
James Shaffran (Raymond Fasten) 
Patrick O’Halloran (Martin Halstrom) 
Alan Paul, stage director
in English
artists Q&A follows Jan. 23 performance
$32
(800) 444-1324 
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 23 (8 p.m.) 
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First Street at Independence Avenue N.E., Washington
St. Lawrence String Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 33, No. 2 (“Joke”)
John Adams: String Quartet No. 2
Dvořák: Quartet in C major, Op. 61
free; tickets required 
(703) 573-7328 (Ticketmaster) 
www.loc.gov/concerts

Jan. 23 (8 p.m.) 
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Iván Fischer conducting
Mozart: “The Magic Flute” Overture 
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 
Pinchas Zukerman, violin 
Mendelssohn: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – Overture & incidental music 
Anna Lucia Richter, soprano
Barbara Kozelj, mezzo-soprano
$35-$95
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts Society)
www.wpas.org

Jan. 24 (11 a.m.) 
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony LolliPops
Keitaro Harada conductor
Charlotte Blake Austin, narrator
Michael Gandolfi: “Pinocchio’s Adventures in Funland”
pre-concert activities at 10 a.m.
$10-$12 
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX) 
www.richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 24 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Matthew Hagle, piano
Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 574 (“Duo”)
Prokofiev: Sonata in F Minor
Brahms: “Wiegenlied” (“Lullaby”)
Ysaÿe: “Reve d’enfant” (“Child’s Dream”)
Rebecca Clarke: Lullaby
William Grant Still: “Mother and Child”
Franck: Sonata in A major
(804) 828-6776
www.arts.vcu.edu/music

Jan. 24 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 25 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
National Philharmonic 
Piotr Gajewski conducting 
J.S. Bach: “Brandenburg” concertos Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6
Justine Lamb-Budge, violin
Victoria Chiang & Julius Wirth, violas
David Whiteside & Nicolette Oppelt, flutes 
Mark Hill, oboe 
Chris Gekker, trumpet 
$28-$84 
(301) 581-5100 
www.strathmore.org

Jan. 25 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond 
Robinson Guitar Duo 
program TBA 
$15 
free masterclass at 2 p.m. Jan. 24, Room B-15, Singleton Center 
(804) 828-6776 
www.arts.vcu.edu/music

Jan. 25 (7:30 p.m.) 
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond 
Shanghai Quartet 
Michel Tree, viola 
Brahms: Quintet in F major, Op. 88
Turina: “La Oración del Torero” (“The Matador’s Prayer”)
other works TBA 
$36
(804) 289-8980
www.modlin.richmond.edu

Jan. 25 (4 p.m.)
Performing Arts Theatre, Berglund Center, Williamson Road at Orange Avenue, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony 
David Stewart Wiley conducting 
Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra 
James Glazebrook directing
Handel: “Water Music” (excerpts)
Duke Ellington: “The River”
Richard Rodgers: “Victory at Sea” Suite
Britten: “A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”
$4-$14
(540) 343-9127 
www.rso.com

Jan. 26 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Kelly Sulick, flute 
Adam Carter, cello 
John Mayhood, piano 
Halsey Stevens: Sonatina for flute and piano 
James DeMars: “Seventh Healing Song of John Joseph (Blue)”
Jennifer Higdon: “Flute Poetic” 
Philippe Gaubert: “Pièce romantique” for flute, cello and piano 
Christopher Caliendo: Flute Sonata No. 8 (“Ghost”)
$15
(434) 924-3376
www.music.virginia.edu

Jan. 27 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony
Steven Smith conducting 
Richmond Symphony Chorus &
Statewide Combined Chorus, singers from College of William and Mary, Hampden-Sydney College, Longwood University, Old Dominion University, Sweet Briar College, Union Presbyterian Seminary, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University
Erin R. Freeman directing
James A. Grymes, speaker
“Voices of Survival” – Holocaust Remembrance Concert
John Williams: “Schindler’s List” (excerpts)
Erwin Schulhoff: Symphony No. 5 – Scherzo
Michael Tippett: “A Child of Our Time” – “Go Down, Moses”
Pavel Haas: Study for strings
Bernstein: “Chichester Psalms” – Psalms 131, 133
Hans Krasa: Overture for small orchestra
Viktor Ullmann: Symphony No.2 – Adagio
Samuel Adler: “Transfiguration: an Ecumenical Mass” – Agnus Dei/“Prayer for Peace”
Schulhoff: “Jazz Suite” (excerpts)
Verdi: Requiem – Sanctus
U.S. and Israeli national anthems 
with video interviews with Richmond Holocaust survivors
co-sponsored by symphony, Virginia Holocaust Museum, Carol and Marcus Weinstein Jewish Community Center
$20-$75 
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX) 
www.richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 29 (7 p.m.)
Jan. 30 (8 p.m.)
Jan. 31 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach conducting
Tchaikovsky: “Fatum” (“Fate”)
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Arabella Steinbacher, violin
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor
$10-$85
(800) 444-1324
www.kennedy-center.org

Jan. 30 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Jan. 31 (8 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Feb. 1 (2:30 p.m.) Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony 
JoAnn Falletta conducting 
Rouusel: “Bacchus et Ariane” Suite 
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”) 
Aundi Moore, soprano 
Stacey Rishoi, mezzo-soprano 
Vale Rideout, tenor 
Kevin Deas, baritone 
Virginia Symphony Chorus 
Robert Shoup directing 
$25-$107 
(757) 892-6366 
www.virginiasymphony.org

Jan. 30 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 1 (2:30 p.m.) 
Feb. 3 (7:30 p.m.) 
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Ari Pelto conducting 
Richard Strauss: “Salome” 
Kelly Cae Hogan (Salome) 
Alan Woodrow (Herod) 
Katharine Goeldner (Herodias) 
Michael Chioldi (Jochanaan) 
Samuel Levine (Narraboth) 
Stephen Lawless, stage director 
in German, English captions 
$19-$99 
(866) 673-7282 
www.vaopera.org

Jan. 30 (7:30 p.m.) 
Fife Theatre, Davis Performance Hall, Virginia Tech Arts Center, Blacksburg 
State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico
Enrique Bátiz conducting
Granados: “Three Spanish Dances” 
Rodrigo: “Concierto de Aranjuez” 
Alfonso Morena, guitar 
Ponce: Piano Concerto (“Romantic”)
De Falla: “Nights in the Gardens of Spain”
Irina Chistiakova, piano
$20-$45 
(540) 231-5300 
www.artscenter.vt.edu

Jan. 31 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, Sixth and Grace streets
Richmond Symphony Pops 
Keitaro Harada conducting 
Dukes of Dixieland & 
No BS Brass Band, guest stars
New Orleans jazz program
$10-$78
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
www.richmondsymphony.com

Jan. 31 (3 and 6 p.m.)
Mill Mountain Theatre, 1 Market St. SE, Roanoke
Adelaide Muir Trombetta & Wendy Muior, sopranos
David Stewart Wiley, piano
“Sister Duo – to Broadway and Beyond” 
program TBA 
$32-$52 
(540) 343-9127 
www.rso.com

Jan. 31 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico
Enrique Bátiz conducting
Granados: “Three Spanish Dances”
Rodrigo: “Concierto de Aranjuez”
Alfonso Morena, guitar
Ponce: Piano Concerto (“Romantic”) 
De Falla: “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” 
Irina Chistiakova, piano
$30-$50
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
www.cfa.gmu.edu

Jan. 31 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 
Marin Alsop conducting 
Mahler: Symphony No. 3 
Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano 
Baltimore Choral Arts Society Women’s Chorus 
Peabody Children’s Chorus 
$32-$95 
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
www.strathmore.org