Trippin'

It was a nice trip on Sunday to Wilmington, DE to see Awadagin Pratt and Zuill Bailey. WITF'ers were fun to hang with and really enjoyed the concert of Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Messiaen and Brahms.

And the Italian dinner afterwards was a blast, a prelude for Awadagin's birthday. I had a quick cigar in between dinner and dessert and gave a couple to the guys.

Looking forward to this June and the Next Generation Festival!

Sir James

In an Interview with John Clare.
Here's my talk with Sir James Galway about his ongoing tour with Lady Jeanne Galway and the Polish Chamber Orchestra across the United States.





Part 1 (about 2 minutes)
MP3 file

Part 2 (about 6 minutes)
Mp3 file

Part 3 (about 2 minutes)
MP3 file

Another Busy Weekend!

Well, I've been very blessed to sleep 10 to 12 hours lately, recovering from my vacation in Las Vegas and travelling to Philadelphia Tuesday night to hear Gil Shaham. Thank goodness, because this weekend I don't stop! eighth blackbird and Lucy Shelton play Schoenberg and more in Gettysburg Saturday night.
I'll catch Awadagin Pratt and Zuill Bailey on Sunday in Delaware.

More music, less talk

What a wonderful day. I started my Tuesday speaking with Steven Stucky, a composer I respect and enjoy very much. (Yes, last year's Pulitzer Prize winner - wait til you hear the interview!)

Then I spoke with Karen Gomyo who is the next violin soloist with the Harrisburg Symphony on April 1st.

After work I drove to Philadelphia to hear Gil Shaham and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at Kimmel Center.

It was fine, fine playing - and in fact the most authentic and idiomatic Mozart I've heard. More on that in a minute.

First though...I have to start a rant. You should not talk during a concert.
Let me reinterate. (or is that re-enter rant? hahaha)
DO NOT TALK WHILE MUSICIANS ARE PLAYING MUSIC.
DO NOT TALK DURING A CONCERT WHILE MUSIC IS BEING PLAYED!
It is highly rude to the musicians and to the performers to talk during a piece of music. Gosh, it's so rude it's not funny. If you have something to say to your friend, spouse, child, et al wait until the next movement or better yet, after the piece has finished to talk to them. It can wait, really.

Ok, back to Tuesday evening's performance. Lovely. Just right. Vital music making with gifted musicians. Gil sat as concertmaster for the Arensky. He left the stage, the wind players came in, they tuned and we were off for Mozart's "Turkish" Concerto (Number 5). Tempos were brisk, articulation was astounding and it seemed that the joy and humor of Mozart really shone. I've never heard such an original interpretation in my life of this. It felt like it was the way it should have been, what Mozart was really saying in the work. Accents came to life and had some "guffaw" to them. Gil was masterful in cuing players/parts, and the balance was just right. He remains the most gifted violinist alive. The second half brought Tchaikovsky with flair and joy. They encored a Mozart Divertimento.

I slipped back and got to say hi briefly (and loan Gil a sharpie for some other patrons/fans) - he went to school with my mentor David Perry. I hope Gil takes my offer to play in Las Vegas for the Chamber Music Society!

Leaving Las Vegas

I had dinner with Cheryl and her family Sunday before I flew out...yummy italian!


The Boumans.
Cheryl and John.

With Friends

At the Palms with Hammer

Maggie and Tunie

Chuck and John

John and Blair
Suzanne and Maggie

Konzert

Thomas Leander, piano and Suzanne Storck-Leander performed the melodram, Enoch Arden by Richard Strauss for the Las Vegas Chamber Music Society and Northern Trust Bank. Thomas also played Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit and Liszt trancriptions of Wagner opera themes.

Final Dress rehearsal, Thursday afternoon...
Backstage afterwards at Northern Trust Bank with Thomas Leander and his wife Suzanne Storck-Leander.

Lance Davis and Lorelle Nelson with the cute couple, after the concert.

Maggie, John and Elizabeth pose afterwards.

Another charming trio, Elizabeth, Winn, and Maggie strike a pose...

Live Taping, Playing Favorites

Thomas and Suzanne were interviewed and performed a special Playing Favorites for KUNV while in Las Vegas!

Ginger setting up the microphones.

Getting ready. (Is Ginger quoting the "Fonz" there?!)

Performing Strauss' Enoch Arden.

"Backstage" recording...

Looking at photos.

Grabbing a quick bite to eat.

The gang...Back row (l to r: Nate, John, Ginger, Thomas, Suzanne, Bob.)

Front row (Guy, Lorelle, and Lance.)

Party

At the clubhouse Friday, February 24th, the evening was just right...great weather...hot bbq, sweet dessert, and awesome company!
Before the party...

Elizabeth by the cake...



Maggie and the Tannenbaums.

Great dinner and conversation!
Winn, Maggie and Chuck poolside. (the smoking section)
Thomas, Suzanne, Bob and Robert chatting.

Jerry and John. Adam and John.
Thomas, John, Suzanne and Bob.
Elizabeth (hostess), John and Jan.

A good time was had by all and all were had by the good time!

Lunch

At the Crown & Anchor, Las Vegas, Friday, February 24th...a beautiful afternoon with friends Ginger Bruner, Maggie Winn-Jones, and Satomi Hofmann.

Invite in Vegas

FRIDAY, February 24th
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
cocktails and light buffet
a chance to see & enjoy

JOHN CLARE
previous classical guru at Nevada Public Radio
and this year’s ASCAP Deems Taylor Award winner

Flute interview

One of the great musicians of our time is Sir James Galway, the "man with the golden flute." I've met and heard Sir James many times, since Wichita in 1992 when I was the stage manager driving them around in a rented Cadillac, to a party after a performance which KCNV hosted in Las Vegas at UNLV in 2003, and even this last summer at the Mann Music Center.

He's going to perform in Central PA in March at Penn State with his wife, Lady Jeanne (that's pronounced JEAN-nee) and the Polish Chamber Orchestra. One of the neat things is Galway is not only playing but conducting.
I had a chance to speak with Sir James before the tour started...

Listen to the interview via mp3 files:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Quartet Interview

[photo by John Clare at a rehearsal right after the interview]

Backstage with the Parisii Quartet at Gretna Music's final Beethoven String Quartet performance...a discussion with first violinist Arnaud Vallin and WITF's John Clare.

Listen to the mp3 files:
Part 1 (about Beethoven)
Part 2 (about Quartet life)
Part 3 (about audiences)

quick update/preview

This weekend is Shostakovich-rific with the 5th and 10th symphonies being performed in the midstate.
I also have a social engagement at Penn State to attend on Saturday.
However, in the can are some wonderful interviews with James Galway, Maria Bachmann, the first violinist of the Parisii 4tet, Joyce DiDonato, George Crumb and Joan Tower that I need to edit and post...or at least produce a little.
I wish I could make it to the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Trombone Concerto this weekend, but can't fit it in with everything else (it's in Pittburgh.)
I'm also gearing up to take some vacation in Las Vegas this next week.
So there it is. More to come, as they used to say on the Tonight Show.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, it's St. Valentine's Day, and I thought I'd give you a vocal valentine, an excerpt of an interview with today's top mezzo, Joyce DiDonato. We start with Vivaldi
- with Mozart, Handel and Berlioz in between -
and end with Rossini.
[MP2 File]

Also, another dose of Paul Zavinsky and I:
[MP2 file]
"Red Roses for a Blue Lady"

Click here to

Send roses to your loved one
AND
support WITF at the same time!