Sam Dixon's Spivey Hall Blog

Notable book signing in Atlanta this Wednesday, June 24

2009-06-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

An Atlanta resident, musician, and Spivey Hall patron, Zhanna Dawson, is the focus of a recent book by her son, journalist Greg Dawson, entitled Hiding in the Spotlight. Her story is truly extraordinary. As described in a review by Publisher's Weekly:

In this remarkable recreation of the WWII years, Dawson, a columnist at the Orlando Sentinel, writes about his mother, pianist Zhanna Arshanskaya in an account reminiscent of Wladyslaw Szpilman's The Pianist. As a child in the Ukraine, Zhanna was offered a scholarship to the Moscow State Conservatory.

Her life changed in 1941 when Nazis grouped her Jewish family with thousands to be executed; Zhanna and her sister, Frina, escaped to roam the countryside as fugitives, hiding and surviving. With a new name and a non-Jewish identity, Zhanna performed for unsuspecting Nazis. Arriving in New York in 1946, the sisters enrolled at Juilliard on scholarships. Zhanna married violist David Dawson, and the couple moved in 1948 to Bloomington, Ind., joining the music faculty at Indiana University.

To research his mother's homeland, Dawson traveled to Ukraine, including Dorbitsky Yar, where 15,000 Jews were murdered, among them Zhanna and Frina's parents. On a memorial listing the dead, Dawson was shocked to find his mother's name: “I had come that close to nonexistence.” With italicized selections from his mother's own writing, Dawson skillfully weaves the story of her life and music into a vibrant tapestry, tattered and torn, yet triumphant.

Greg and Zhanna Dawson will be at the Buckhead Barnes & Noble (2900 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30305, 404-261-7747) this Wednesday, June 24, at 7:00 PM for a special booksigning event. I imagine not a few of Spivey Hall's pianophile patrons will recognize Zhanna; she was also featured recently in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in relation to the book's release. I look forward to seeing them there, and encourage you to attend as well!

More about Greg, Zhanna, and Hiding in the Spotlight: http://www.hidinginthespotlight.com/

mezzo Magdalena Kozena...and violinist Julia Fischer

2009-05-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

The extraordinary Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena returns to Spivey Hall Friday night (May 8 at 8:15 PM), an event I've long awaited. In her last appearance, she sang operatic arias by Gluck and Rameau with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie. This time, she performs a recital of songs by Purcell, Schumann, Duparc, and Berg.

The Robert Schumann songs are his cycle Frauenliebe und -Leben, the centerpiece of her 2006 New York recital. Here are excerpts of what Anthony Tommasini had to say in his New York Times review, "Clear Views on Life and Love" (Nov 21 '06):

You might think that for an important New York recital a noted mezzo-soprano would be wary of performing a chestnut like Schumann’s “Frauenliebe und Leben.” This classic song cycle tells the story of a young woman in love, from first crush to wedded bliss to motherhood and, in its despairing final song, widowhood.

On Sunday afternoon at Alice Tully Hall, the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena. . .made this cycle the major work on her much-anticipated recital. Her vocally elegant, emotionally direct and stylistically aware performance recaptured the poignancy and originality of this inspired Schumann work. [. . .]

She brought Mozartean clarity to her account of the Schumann, a refreshing break from the weighty, overly emotive performances this intense cycle often receives. Ms. Kozena boasts a true lyric mezzo-soprano voice, with dusky colorings that stem from her low register yet carry through into her shimmering high notes.

She sang the first song, “Seit ich ihn gesehen,” in which the protagonist tells of being blinded to everything but the image of her beloved, almost as a confessional. The tenderness she conveyed as the character’s progress through womanhood continued was undercut by intimations of tragedy. . . .

Her Purcell set (in Benjamin Britten's edition) includes favorites such as "Music for awhile." I'm also looking forward to the colorfully atmospheric French songs by Duparc (more familiar music that retains its freshness when sung with spirit), as well a work that will be an important discovery for some: Alban Berg's amazing Seven Early Songs, which close her formal program with Czech pianist Karel Kosarek. I last heard the Seven Early Songs last September in Milano -- they require "active listening" (attention and energy) from the listener, but can evoke an incredibly beautiful, soulful, ethereal yet deeply personal world -- as an artist the stature of Kozena can summon up. Come hear Kurt Zeller's pre-concert talk at 7:15 PM and you'll gain a great understanding of what to expect. I predict the effect will be magical.

The last of our visiting guest artists for the 2008/09 season is the phenomenal young violinist, Julia Fischer, who makes her Spivey Hall debut on Saturday, May 9 at 8:15 PM. For someone still in her 20s, she is exceptionally accompished. Her recordings wins prize internationally (she's now exclusive to Decca). She's a faculty member of a distinguished music school in Frankfurt -- one of the youngest ever to be so appointed. She enjoys huge popularity worldwide. She's invited to perform with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. She's an avid chamber musician. And if this weren't enough, she also made her concerto debut in Frankfurt as a pianist in the Grieg Concerto. The mind boggles....

Atlanta audiences applauded her performances of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto a few seasons back. Spivey Hall audiences will hear her perform Mozart, Prokofiev, Beethoven, and Martinu sonatas for violin and piano with her recital partner, Milana Chernyavska (also making her debut). We may expect to be dazzled.

Sunday at 3 PM, we welcome the Georgian Chamber Players for their spring Spivey Hall concert (a late addition to our season), featuring two heady Russian Romantic works: the lyrical Arensky Piano Trio in D minor, and Taneyev's G-minor Piano Quintet (Taneyev was the soloist who premiered Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1). Ukraine-born pianist and GCP member Valentina Lisitsa takes the spotlight in both pieces, and the GCP members are joined by guest violinist Maria Bachmann, a highly accomplished soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist. Tickets are $30 (not $40 as our postcard erroneously stated -- apologies!). If mom likes chamber music, come celebrate Mother's Day at Spivey Hall.

Next weekend: the Spivey Hall Children's Choir annual spring concerts...and the season will draw to a close. It's been a great one, with immensely rewarding performances, several of which will stay with me for years to come.

More soon on other topics, including next season, already announced, with subscriptions coming in steadily. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, loyal Spivey Hall patrons!

Springtime chamber music...and ducklings

2009-04-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Spring is truly here and the weekend weather will be wonderfully sunny and warm. Our Spring Bach Festival continues on Sunday (April 23) at 3 PM, when three outstanding instrumentalists -- Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord) and Jonathan Manson (cello) -- perform Bach Flute Sonatas; their EMI recording of these works was released back in October. Each musician takes a solo turn as well, so we'll also have the pleasure of hearing Bach's First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, Telemann's flute Fantaisie in D major, and a Purcell Suite in A minor for Harpsichord. (It's been long time since we've heard solo harpsichord in recital at Spivey Hall. ) I love the program's mix of works. This promises to be an utterly delightful performance.

Mr. Pahud, an EMI recording artist and principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic, has performed at Spivey Hall to critical and popular acclaim in past seasons. We gladly welcome him back. Mr. Pinnock -- a leading figure in historically-informed performance, as well as founder and long-time conductor of The English Concert, with which he made many superb recordings -- makes his Spivey Hall debut, as does Mr. Manson, who is principal cellist of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and active in other early-music circles and ensembles. Clayton State University Music Department faculty member Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller gives the pre-concert talk at 2 PM, which never fails to give patrons effective ways of enhancing their appreciation and understanding of the music to be performed.

I do believe this Bach Festival program will suit the mood of our springtime Sunday afternoon very well. As much as I love Mahler's Sixth Symphony, which the Atlanta Symphony is performing with Donald Runnicles this week, I confess that I'm just not ready to contend with its anguish, darkness and angst when the weather's this fine and my mood is up.

Weather was an issue for the Atlanta Chamber Players earlier this season -- their March 1st Spivey Hall concert got SNOWED out...! Thankfully, schedules in April somehow meshed, so the rescheduled performance takes place tomorrow (as I write), Saturday, April 25, at 8:15 PM. Theirs is a program of three beautiful works. Beethoven's Serenade for Flute, Violin, and Viola features ASO principal flute Christina Smith, with her ASO colleagues violinist Justin Bruns and violist Catherine Lynn; more woodwinds in the spotlight, with Poulenc's delightful and very effective Trio for Piano, Oboe, and Bassoon, in which ACP artistic director and pianist Paula Peace is joined by ASO principal oboe Elizabeth Koch and principal bassoon Carl Nitchie. After intermission, and with the participation of ASO players John Meisner (violin) and Brad Ritchie (cello), the program concludes with the Piano Quintet in E major, Op. 15, of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, known for his fabulous film scores from the golden days of Hollywood, but also the opera "Die tote Stadt." His musical language is richly Romantic, his textures embrace the voluptuous, and his melodies can be very shapely indeed. I've only ever heard the Korngold Piano Quintet on CD, so I'm looking forward to hearing it performed live.

Another sign of spring: the waterfowl around Spivey Hall who call Swan Lake home have been nesting, and ducklings are in evidence! I know I'm something of a broken record on this topic (and I guess that phaseology dates me a bit), but the ducklings are my favorites. They always make me smile. One of the swans on the lake has been especially aggressive in chasing away the Canada geese from a specific area, so it's likely they're expecting, too. Cygnets always draw special ooohs and aaahs from Spivey Hall patrons, who enjoy strolling lakeside before performances and during intermission, particularly on bright afternoons. So perhaps a ballet of the newly-hatched chicks (pace Mussorgsky and Pictures at an Exhibition) may also entertain us on Sunday.

Welcoming back Chanticleer

2009-04-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

Some of Spivey Hall's happiest days are when Chanticleer sings here. The twelve talented men of Chanticleer are tremendous audience favorites everywhere they perform -- based in San Francisco, they travel the world -- but they are especially welcome at Spivey Hall, where they sing frequently, to our great delight.

Chanticleer's a cappella artistry is ideally suited to the intimate size and acoustical wonders of Spivey Hall -- we can see the singers easily, we can hear them beautifully. Our connection to their music-making is complete, and thus immensely satisfying. In this magnificent setting, we can appreciate every nuance of what they sing, be it a 17th-century sacred Mexican work, a favorite American shape-note song, a new work written especially for Chanticleer, or a rousing spiritual.

Such a variety of music as this awaits us this Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18.

Friday's program is "Wondrous Free," which traces interlacing traditions of American song. The title is taken from the first line of what may be the earliest surviving American secular composition, "My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free" -- with words by Doctor Parnell, and music by a friend of George Washington and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Francis Hopkinson. Craig Russell writes poetically in his introduction to this program:

American song reflects its geography and its histories; it is not a singular path nor a story of a single people, but instead is a flowing, ever-evolving stream of peoples and stories that weave together much like the tributaries of the Mississippi. And like that river, it is broad, awe-inspiring, and always changing in its course. American song, too, is like the American landscape: it can be rugged like the Rockies, contemplative and reverent like the swatch of colors painted across the Blue Ridge, kinetically rhythmic like the trains on their rails as they run into Chicago, or serenely introspective like the waves that wash ashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Like Montana's "big sky," American song has a breadth of horizon that seems to have no limiting boundary.

The program is in eight sections, spanning a group of early American songs; Mexican works of the 1600s; two humorous madrigals by P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)?, "edited with feeling by Professor Schickele," namely, "The Queen to Me a Royal Pain Doth Give" and "My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth," guaranteed to lighten the mood of the evening, incite some smirking and laughter, and linger in your memory (whether you want them to or not!); and the three gorgeous songs of the young Samuel Barber's Reincarnations, inspired by Irish poetry.

Plus there's a work by the celebrated Native American composer Brent Michael Davids (b.1959), Night Chant, a prelude to love-making set to a movingly simple and direct text in Mohican words and Native American "vocables," the evocative translation of which I can't help but transcribe:

I have something I want to say to you.
It's night. Let's sleep together.
We're beautiful. We're beautiful.
It's right. It's right. It's right. It's right.
My heart is at peace.
My heart is at peace.

The program continues with two other contemporary American works: The Homecoming (In Memoriam Martin Luther King, Jr.) by David Conte to text by John Stirling Walker (composed for Chanticleer) and "Sleep, My Child" from Eric Whitacre's musical/opera Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings (specially transcribed for Chanticleer). Following a set of Stephen Foster songs (which no program surveying American song could be without), Chanticleer will close the program with a selection of folk songs, popular songs and spirituals to be announced.

And that's just the FIRST program. On Saturday, we have "Divine Tapestry," which includes the early American and Mexican works that open Friday's program, but then explores connections between plainsong (Gregorian chant) and historically important composers Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) and Josquin Desprez (ca. 1450-1521), going on to embrace three very different Russian, English and German sacred works by Pavel Chesnoskov, John Tavener, and Franz Biebel, and concluding with three American spirituals -- "Rock a My Soul," "Deep River," and "Hold On!" -- sung as only Chanticleer can sing them, the first and last in arrangements by Chanticleer's esteemed artistic advisor (and Georgia native), Joseph Jennings.

This extraordinary program is performed without intermission, which I believe is done to heighten the intensity of the musical experience in store for us. Spivey Hall dedicates this program to the memory of Dorothy ("Dotty") Davis -- like her husband, Wilkes (now living in Florida), a passionate fan of Chanticleer, an ardent Spivey Hall subscriber, and a Charter Member of The Friends of Spivey Hall. Dotty, herself a singer, who passed away in October 2007, truly cherished Chanticleer. We'll be thinking of her this Saturday night, and I'm sure she'll be with us in spirit.

As if you couldn't tell, I'm also an enthusiastic member of the Chanticleer fan club. What an incredible range of musicianship these two programs require. What fascinating juxtapositions of works they contain. And what phenomenal stylistic versatility Chanticleer commands! These singers are simply amazing.

When first I received the two programs' repertoire details, I got very excited. Perhaps too excited...because in response to earlier versions of our promotion of these concerts, I received some feedback indicating we might be dwelling too heavily on the historical and musicological aspects of the programs -- to put it bluntly, "too much information" -- which may have been a bit hard for people to digest.

That was hardly my objective! Don't get me wrong, and don't let the details distract you. The main attraction is -- and always is -- CHANTICLEER! And Chanticleer delivers the musical goods in deeply gratifying ways! Still, I'm sure I'm not alone among music-lovers who hunger for interesting repertoire, so carefully chosen and prepared, that feeds our imaginations and sense of discovery, with fantastic programs like these.

What Chanticleer brings us is unique. Their visits to Spivey Hall are memorable because their musicianship is great, they sing with plenty of heart, WHAT they sing is so interesting, and the feeling they create in the hall with the audience is so palpable, so strong, and so rewarding. It's a feeling that reminds me of a patron's comment after he heard the Academy of Ancient Music perform the six Brandenburg Concertos with such success a few weeks ago: "THIS is what Spivey Hall is all about." Amen!

I'm personally grateful that Chanticleer is including in this visit to Atlanta a session with three high school men's choruses. On Friday, they're going to Starr's Mill High School in Fayetteville to lead a master class. The ensembles performing are Sandy Creek High School (Millie Turek, director); McIntosh High School (Amy Foster, director); Starr’s Mill High School (John Odom, director).

Chanticleer makes a practice of reaching out to young musicians to enhance their understanding of the art of a cappella singing. This is how important musical traditions are carried forward. Much great music-making unquestionably starts with the notes and the score, but goes far beyond it in ways that aren't always written down -- instead, the insights of great artists are passed from one generation to the next through performance, by teaching one-on-one, and by conveying ideas that can best be understood through sound, as musicians give them to each other. We're hoping that the young singers will be as enthralled by Chanticleer as audiences are, and that their time together will reap valuable musical benefits for everyone.

Friday's concert is getting close to selling out (UPDATE on Friday afternoon: only a very few tickets remain!). Saturday's is not far behind, but there are a still few more seats available for Saturday.

Don't hesitate! Chanticleer can recharge your musical batteries and give you a sense of well-being like few ensembles can. Come listen, and be inspired.

(A note to my friend and blog reader, Greg: I hope this font size makes for easier reading. Sometime this summer, I'm going to find a way to change the blue background of my blog, to enhance the general legibility of my posts.)

Bach Festival Opener: The Brandenburg Concertos

2009-03-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Spivey Hall 2009 Spring Bach Festival opens this Sunday with a feast of Johann Sebastian's most popular instrumental works: all six of the Brandenburg Concertos, performed by London's Academy of Ancient Music under the direction of harpsichordist Richard Egarr, who's featured as a soloist in the Fifth Brandenburg.

The timing is perfect for our Spring Bach Festival. The flowering trees on the Clayton State University campus are resplendently in bloom. And the ducks, geese and swans are nesting (there are five large duck eggs in the grass outside the box office entrance that we're watching carefully) -- so life is renewed once again, and we can celebrate with some glorious music by Bach.

The Brandenburg Concertos are such buoyant, high-spirited pieces. They're all in major keys, with outer movements either Allegro or livelier, and the writing for the instruments is full of character.

The Academy of Ancient Music is on a nationwide tour this month performing the Brandenburgs, and yesterday there was a review in The New York Times of their Carnegie Hall performance in Zankel Hall. I don't entirely understand Allan Kozinn's choice to dedicate one-third of the review to the shortest of all movements (two chords) in the Third Concerto, but he wrapped it up by writing, "But the Sixth, for low strings; the Fourth, with its bright recorder lines; and the Fifth, in which Mr. Egarr brought a dramatic flair to the harpsichord solo, were all as shapely and energizing as you’ll hear them."

The AAM and Egarr have recorded the Brandenburgs, and these are zesty performances. I confess to a preference for the even-number concertos, partially because I was a recorder player and loved playing bits of the Second and the Fourth (the opening themes of the Second have been buzzing my head for days now), and also because, as a teenager at music camp in The Hague, campers and faculty performed the Sixth, and I was enhralled by the sonorities of the strings, especially in the first movement; I hadn't heard such impressive string playing up close before.

The Brandenburgs also played a role in my formative experiences as a collector of recordings. Growing up in the northern Italian city of Monza, outside of Milano, I would spend time in a good record store (more about that later in another blog post), but also a discount department store that still operates 40 years later (I visited it again last September): UPIM. At the time, UPIM sold inexpensive LPs with performances by lesser-known European ensembles, featuring mostly Baroque and Classical works, with a strong representation of Italian composers (a bonanza of Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Albinoni, etc. -- UPIM knew its market).

One of my very first recording purchases were two LPs of complete Brandenburg Concertos at UPIM, for about $6 -- such a bargain! I listened to them over and over again. Like so much of sturdy, well-conceived Baroque music, even if the performances aren't (ahem) superlative, the essential spirit of the music can still come through. I played those LPs so much, the grooves pretty much disappeared, but I had them for years.

So I'm excited about getting a first-rate period-instrument ensemble to make its Spivey Hall debut with this great music. To celebrate the opening of the Bach Festival our bonanza of Brandenburgs, we're taking a slightly longer intermission to enjoy a mini-reception with free food and beverages following Concertos 1, 6, and 2, which will give us energy to savor Concertos 5, 3, and 4 in the second half.

Because the AAM is a period-instrument band, the sound will be unlike that of a modern symphony orchestra. The textures of strings, winds, and brass, with harpsichord, theorbo and guitar among the continuo instruments, reveal this music in a different light. So, even if you're familiar with these magnificent works, here's an oportunity to rediscover them. The AAM's recording of the Brandenburgs has certainly opened my ears and (especially with some choices of tempos) made me reconsider my understanding of them. Such is the glory of great music -- there's always more to appreciate, especially when performed by outstanding artists.

We also have a special pre-concert talk speaker: Predrag Gosta, who's music director of Atlanta's New Trinity Baroque and a harpischordist and organist himself, intimately familiar with the Brandenburgs and period-instrument practice. His talk is at 2 PM, and the concert starts this Sunday, March 29, 2009, at 3 PM. A few dozen tickets are (at time of writing) still available.

Patron feedback methods, old and new

2009-03-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

We've reinstituted the Feedback Box at Spivey Hall. It's amazingly low-tech. It's a paper box on a table on the upper level near the entrance to the Box Office, with comments cards and a pen. The Feedback Box is there for patrons to bring to our attention any comments, suggestions, questions, and/or words of concern or praise. Patrons may also complete the cards later and send them to us via snail-mail.

And the first comment card is in! I found it in the Feedback Box just now.

It seems to have been submitted by one of our younger patrons who attended Monday's Young People's Concert by the Swiss Wind Quintet. I was out of town on Monday, but Sunday's Swiss Wind Quintet performance with CSU music faculty pianist Michiko Otaki was utterly delightful, and word has it that the YPC was also wonderful.

So, Mikayle's Feedback Box comment card about the Swiss Winds Quintet reads, "That was awesome!" Mikayle even added a pronunciation guide to her name: "ma-ka-lee."

Thanks, Mikayle -- I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Soon we shall embrace a 21st-century method of receiving feedback from patrons -- an email address. (What a concept, eh??) A feedback link is now available.

From Spivey Hall's website's home page, www.spiveyhall.org, click "About Spivey Hall" at the top, then "Contact Us," and in the drop-down box, click "Feedback" at the bottom of the list.

Patrons "vote" and give us feedback with their attendance, ticket purchases, and donations, but we love to know more about what they experience before, during and after a visit to Spivey Hall. We often receive very valuable observations, comments, and suggestions from patrons we see at concerts, and I hope the email address will both facilitate and encourage their feedback.

Of course, patrons may always call the Box Office at (678) 466-4200 and speak with us during business hours, Tuesday through Friday. Now, that's a time-honored tradition using good old-fashioned 19th-century technology -- the telephone, and talking to another human being. (I think Emilie Spivey would approve.)

If we can help, please let us know!

Celtic music from The Boys of the Lough -- and Swiss winds

2009-03-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

We're getting a jump on St. Patrick's Day celebrations with the BOYS OF THE LOUGH on Saturday night. A good time will be had by all. The Boys are great fun. They spin terrific tunes and tell tales in their charmingly low-key way. Dave Richardson, from Northumberland, plays mandolin, cittern, English concertina, and button accordion; he also composes. Kevin Henderson is a prize-winning fiddler from the Shetland Islands. Cathal McConnell, who hails from County Fermanagh, plays flute and whistle and performs vocals, and is a truly legendary figure in traditional Irish music. Brandon Begley, "a genial giant from the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry," plays button accordion and melodeon and supplies vocals. Malcolm Stitt, originally from the Scottish Highlands, is a guitarist barely out of his 20s who adds to the Boys (according to one reviewer) "youthful rhythmical fizz."

What's amazing to realize is that the Boys (the first full-time professional Celtic band to arise on the international scene) have toured in the USA more than 70 (!!) times, and their performances and recordings have been spread over five decades. "True originals coming directly from the tradition," reads their bio, "the Boys have earned respect on both sides of the Atlantic and continue to act as role models for countless younger musicians. Their concerts, recordings, and compositions have been crucial in bringing about the current explosion of interest in all facets of Celtic music."

The Boys are no strangers to Spivey Hall. I really enjoyed them last time there were here and invited them back. I hope their many fans, throughout metro Atlanta and beyond, will abandon their television sets, rise from their couches, head to our beautiful jewel of a hall where superb acoustics and close proximity to the stage enable artists and audiences to really connect, and enjoy excellent Celtic music in the congenial company of the Boys Saturday night (March 14) at 8:15 PM. Or, in simple terms, "Y'all come!"

Sunday afternoon at 3 PM, the focus shifts to Switzerland, when we welcome the SWISS WIND QUINTET. Two of these musicians are native Swiss, and the other three have made Switzerland their home working as professional musicians in leading Swiss ensembles. They're going to perform a 1967 Wind Quintet by Swiss composer Jost Meier (whose opera The Dreyfus Affair was performed by New York City Opera in 1996) -- and it just so happens that Sunday is Mr. Meier's 70th birthday. Also on the program are Ligeti's Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet, one of the best 20th-century works for this combination of instruments and always intriguing to hear.

The Swiss Wind Quintet is joined by Clayton State University's faculty pianist and Director of Keyboard Activities, MICHIKO OTAKI, for a work of German Romanticism by Ludwig Thuille -- his Sextet for Piano and Winds, Op. 6, which will be a happy discovery if you've never heard it -- very gratifying; and, to open the program, Mozart's Quintet in E-flat major for Piano and Winds.

I have a special fondness for the Mozart Quintet. My mother wanted me play the French horn, so I took up the instrument as a third grader in my public elementary school's music program, with free prviate lessons (not such a common opportunity these days). To give me an idea of how the French horn could really sound, she sat me down next to our Magnavox stereo console and made me listen to Dennis Brain's Angel recording of the Mozart Quintet, an LP that included Mozart's D-major Horn Concerto. At first, the Quintet didn't make much sense to me, but I always admired the warm, rounded, elegant horn playing of Dennis Brain. Ultimately, it took root.

The Mozart Quintet and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite both had a major influence on my earliest classical-music consciousness, followed by my teenaged discoveries of recordings of the Bach Brandenburg Concertos, the Schubert C-major String Quintet with Pablo Casals, and Brahms' Double Concerto, which (still as a horn player) I performed with our community orchestra and members of the Guarneri String Quartet. If I can point to any one single event that led me to a career in music, it was this Brahms Double Concerto experience. I was hooked.

So -- back to the future -- Mozart and much more on Sunday, when we also welcome the new Consul General of Switzerland, Mr. Claudio Leoncavallo, for his first Spivey Hall concert. (I'm curious to learn if he's related to Verismo composer Ruggiero Leoncavallo, whose one-act opera, Pagliacci, ranks high in my pantheon of Italian operas.) The Swiss Consulate General in Atlanta is very generously hosting a post-concert reception in honor of the Swiss Wind Quintet, whose US tour is supported by the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia (which graciously welcomed me to Switzerland last summer for a study tour of the Swiss music scene -- a wonderful experience I have yet to blog, all my good intentions notwithstanding). Prior to the 3 PM concert, Dr. Otaki and her Dept. of Music colleague, Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller, are giving a free talk at 2 PM about the program. I expect Dr. Otaki will illustrate some of the highlights of the Mozart and/or and Thuille at the piano, which is a great way to appreciate some musical moments of interest in the performance that follows.

Next weekend: Guitarist John Williams (March 21 at 8:15) - sold out. Pianist Murray Perahia (March 22 at 3 PM) - sold out. If you want to attend but don't have tickets, call the box office to put your name on the wait list, since tickets do sometimes become available closer to the day of the performance.

Terell Stafford, Belcea Quartet, Yevgeny Sudbin this weekend

2009-03-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

With all the dire economic news pummelling us this week, I, for one, am ready for some excellent music this weekend.

Terell Stafford is an amazing jazz trumpeter who works with the best in the business. I had the pleasure of hearing him again in January in New York City, where he performed with the Grammy Award-winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. A year earlier, I was wowed by his playing with the Clayton Brothers at Dizzy's Club. For his Spivey Hall debut, Terell will be joined by Tim Warfield on saxophone, Gerald Clayton on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass, and Dana Hall on drums. Their performance tonight is also Spivey Hall's 2009 Teacher Appreciation Night. As our way of saying thanks to the important people who make a critical difference in the lives of young people both inside and outside the classroom, teachers and administrators can attend for free (call the Box Office for details, or just show up at about 7:30 PM -- tickets still available). We'll also have a reception afterwards for everyone. It's going to be a great night, so come listen if you can.

There is such good buzz in the music business right now about the recently refurbished Alice Tully Hall at in New York's Lincoln Center for the Arts. Not only is the exterior architecture stunning and elegant -- I couldn't believe my eyes when my taxi drove past it a few months ago -- the best part is, the acoustics of this hall are, by all accounts, demonstrably improved -- which is VERY good news for the world of chamber music.

I'll be eager to hear what the musicians of Belcea Quartet have to tell me on Saturday when they're here. They've just performed at Alice Tully Hall. Steve Smith in The New York Times calls them "a group that thrives on works that demand vigor, quick reflexes and a keen sensitivity to matters of balance and nuance." What's more: "In “Death and the Maiden” the quartet emphasized clarity and poise over raw, nervy power, producing an account of potent concentration, even during a Presto taken at a breathless clip. One final note of approval goes to the revitalized hall, which allowed this ensemble’s most intricate detailing to register and resound."

As in New York, the Belcea Quartet will perform Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" String Quartet at Spivey Hall, plus there are beautiful Haydn and Britten quartets to begin, and a pre-concert talk given by Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller at 7:15 PM.

In this three-debut triple-whammy weekend, Russian pianist Yevgeny Sudbin takes the stage on Sunday at 3 PM. He, too, offers us Haydn, plus sonatas by Scarlatti, mazukas by Chopin, two "Fairy Tales" by Russian Nikolai Mednter (whom Rachmaninov called "the greatest composer of our time"), and Prokofiev's powerful Sonata No. 7 in B-flat. Subdin's also been in the news. Earlier this winter, he gave a recital at Washington's Kennedy Center, which Anne Midgette covered for The Washington Post. Only in our national's capital would a music review make reference to a member of the new Obama administration!

With the insouciance born of ability and success, Yevgeny Sudbin, looking not unlike a young Rahm Emanuel -- dark-ringed eyes in a thin and handsome face -- sat at the piano at the Terrace Theater on Saturday afternoon and produced some formidable music.

The sound he made was thick and dark and rich: Russian-school virtuosity, but without cloying heaviness. In the first movement of Haydn's Sonata in B Minor, which opened the program, it also had a springy elasticity that conveyed the spirit of the music, as if the sound were informed by the lighter twang of Haydn's fortepiano, like a shadow on the wall behind him.

The Russian-born Sudbin, 28, projects a wunderkind persona: able to fling out technical fireworks, offer insightful and intimate Scarlatti, write articulate program notes that give an insight into what he thinks about what he is playing (something too often absent from the classical-music equation). He has been garnering critical raves, particularly in England, where he now lives; and his string of recordings on the Bis label (Scarlatti, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff) have picked up a slew of accolades and awards.

Mr. Sudbin has indeed writtten insightful program notes for this concert, and as is virtually always the case at Spivey Hall, you can meet him afterwards in the reception room to speak with him. Just remember, though, we "Spring Ahead" on Sunday with the time change, so you need to set your clocks ahead by an hour on Saturday night if you don't want to miss the first half!

Patrons please note, it's also a triple-event weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the fourth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season on Sunday; this can sometimes slow down traffic here on the Southside, and construction continues on I-75 South around Morrow's exit 233, so do yourself a favor and give yourself a little extra time getting here.

The snow that fell so heavily on Sunday is now 99% gone (the Atlanta Chamber Players' concert planned for that afternoon has been rescheduled to Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 8:15 PM -- more on this soon). The temperture will be in the mid 70s, with sun and bright skies. The geese, ducks and swans are nesting in the bushes around the lake adjacent to Spivey Hall -- no signs of offspring yet, however. (My favorites are the ducklings. I can't help but smile when I see them on my way to lunch.) Spring must be on its way.

A postscript: Spivey Hall's 2009/10 season of concerts will be announced soon -- anyone who's bought a ticket here in the last five years or so should look for our new season book in their mailboxes in early April. I'm glad to say there's plenty of great music in store for us.

A heavenly program from The Hilliard Ensemble

2009-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

Yes...MORE great singing. Hilary Hahn's eagerly anticipated recital on Sunday is sold-out, and the waiting list for tickets continues to grow. But there's much more this weekend. The four male singers of The Hilliard Ensemble (which takes its name from the British miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard) are, simply put, extraordinary artists, and they're back with us tomorrow (Saturday, February 14th).

There's always much to learn and enjoy from The Hilliard Ensemble. Connoisseurs of vocal programming know that The Hilliards' programs are masterfully conceived. I'm most fond of the ones that juxtapose early and contemporary music, since the stylistic contrasts among the works, as experienced in performance, tend to heighten the expressiveness of the music synergistically, which in turn heightens my sense of discovery.

Thus when I saw their program Arkhangelos, which combines early chant and sacred music from several centuries of Christian tradition with works by excellent living composers such as James Macmillan, Arvo Paert, Ivan Moody and Jonathan Wild, I was intrigued. The highly informative program notes provided by The Hilliards are another valuable dimension their performances. These are intrepid music historians and researchers who enrich the repertoire by commissioning new works, consistently finding miraculous ways of interweaving the old with the new. There is a deeply satisfying meaning to their music-making that is altogether too rare.

So...we are promised a mystical musical journey with The Hilliards as our expert guides. Beyond appreciating the religious significance of the works and their texts, I also look forward to sitting back and basking in the glorious and gratifying sound they make (a hedonistc response to a sacred program that cannot be denied).

In retrospect, I suppose I could have requested an earthier or more romantic program for Valentine's Day -- but this is love of a transcendent sort....sustenance for the soul. Let love and chocolate abound, however. We'll have complimentary chocolates for everyone. Endorphins can boost the appreciation of music, surely one of life's greatest pleasures. (My colleagues at Spivey Hall are very familiar with one of my favorite mottos: "A little bit of chocolate goes a long way, and more goes farther.")

And of course, the acoustics of Spivey Hall provide an ideal showcase for the music they make. The Hilliard Ensemble deserves all the critical praise accorded them for their far-flung concert tours and first-rate recordings. If you're remotely inclined to come, don't hesitate, join us -- you will be glad you did.

Singers' Corner

2009-02-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee sang superbly in his January Spivey Hall recital debut. He had a great night, as did we in the audience! Next up among our singers: this Saturday, February 7, Dutch mezzo Christianne Stotijn gives us jewels from the song literature, with an abundance of Brahms in the first half of her program, which ends with what is probably my favorite Brahms song, "Die Mainacht" (May Night). This song, like others in this program, invokes the singing of the nightingale, beloved of Romantic poets. It makes me wish I were a mezzo (in my next life, I want to come back as Erda). The closing measures of the song, for piano alone, is more proof of Brahms' musical genius. Ms. Stotijn is joined by distinguished pianist Joseph Breinl. The second half opens with six gorgeous songs by Grieg (Op. 48) set to German poetry, and closes with a selection of Tchaikovsky songs (a recording project for Ms. Stotijn), including "None But the Lonely Heart" and others whose soulful tunes will tug with sentiment and wistful melancholy at heartstrings in the true Russian fashion.

Christianne Stotijn would seem to be conductor Bernard Haitink's favorite Mahler mezzo at the moment (artistically, that says a great deal) -- and hearing her Brahms Alto Rhapsody in a freebie CD that arrived with one of the British music magazines in the fall, I can safely predict this will be one of those Spivey Hall recitals after which people tell me, "I didn't know her at all, but she's fabulous!" -- and those people who didn't attend, but heard about it later, will chastise me, "Why didn't you tell me she would be that good?!?"

There are still tickets for her Saturday recital, so don't hesitate...treat yourself. (Go hear Christine Brewer sing Strauss opera arias with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony TONIGHT, so you can savor both! I'm heading out the door myself to Symphony Hall shortly....) Another Saturday singing pleasure will be the Met Opera's HD broadcast of Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti. The incomparable Anna Netrebko sings Lucia, but -- this just in -- her tenor will NOT be Rolando Villazon, as planned -- he's ill and has pulled out, which of course saddens many...we at Spivey Hall (who have heard him sing resplendently in recital) can feel the disappointment acutely.

However, the tenor who WILL sing Edgardo amazed me at Marilyn Horne's 75th Birthday Celebration at Carnegie Hall a few weeks ago -- a Polish tenor by the name of Piotr Beczala, who sang Donizetti's "Una furtiva lagrima" from L'elisir d'amore, splendidly, with warm tone, excellent intonation, big round stylish expressive phrases, and a very attractive personality that reached across the footlights. Beczala is also singing Lensky in the Met's Eugene Onegin at the moment, and is slated for even bigger roles in future seasons. So, Met HD fans, I believe you're in for a real treat, if Mr. Beczala rises to the occasion -- and I expect he will.

The Horne birthday bash was a concert I'll remember for years to come. Such a line-up of incredible talent. There was a fairly comprehensive New York Times review, so I won't rehash everything, but suffice it to say that the singers who performed who also have given recitals at Spivey Hall -- Nicole Cabell, Isabel Leonard, Susan Graham, David Daniels, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Thomas Quasthoff, Karita Mattila, Thomas Hampson, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, and Joyce DiDonato -- were all magnificent, each in his or her uniquely personal way. The pianists -- Carrie-Ann Matheson, Martin Katz, Brian Zeger, and Warren Jones (all Spivey Hall artists except, I think, for Carrie-Ann, but I hope that won't be for long) -- brought their invaluable support and inspiring musicianship to this party as well, yielding consistently gratifying results.

There were so many highlights to these memorable performances. Each of these superb artists is deservedly celebrated and commands huge respect. Still, there were some especially notable moments. Martin Katz, in addition to collaborating with so many of these stars, also joined composer William Bolcom for four-hand piano accompaniment of "A Song of Praise" which Bill wrote for Marilyn (musically very clever, and good fun); plus, as a special tribute to a song near and dear to the honoree, he played a solo rendition of Stephen Foster's "I Dream of Jeannie," which was truly touching. Hvorostovsky was his elegant, charismatic self; Mattila projected her aura of incredible artistry; Graham sounded fantastic, luxuriating in her French aria, and was utterly delightful; Quasthoff never fails to amaze me for his humanity and spirit as a singer and a human being; Daniels radiated irresistibly stylish coloratura and virile charm; Hampson confirmed his ability to summon the spirit of Mahler like few singers can, with Warren Jones extracting all possible expression from the piano in a truly profound interpretation (playing all selections from memory); and DiDonato joyously nailed "Tanti affetti" from Rossini's La donna del lago, which took pride of place to close the program ingeniously devised by Marty Katz and Matthew Epstein, both close personal friends and professional colleagues of Marilyn Horne.

Having Marilyn Horne in the house, these singers put their best foot forward to honor a living legend who knows a thing or two (or two million) about great singing. It brought out the best from everyone, which was exhilarating. There was a lot of love coming from the stage, in addition to exceptionally beautiful music-making.

One of the great pleasures of my life was working two summers in California with Marilyn Horne at the Music Academy of the West. Jackie, as she is lovingly known by her family, colleagues, and the untold number of young singers she continues to mentor, support and develop through the Marilyn Horne Foundation (dedicated to sustaining the art of song), is truly one of my idols. The consummate professional, the supreme artist, the inspiring teacher, the dedicated mentor, she also has one of the biggest and most giving hearts of anyone I've had the privilege to know, combined with a robust sense of humor and phenomenal strength of spirit. As you can imagine, when she finally took the stage of Carnegie Hall, the audience roared with love and praise. She gave (as the Times reported) "motherly hugs" to all the celebrated artists gathered to honor her. She reminds me why I love music, why I love the music business, why music matters, and what incredibly precious gifts musicians make to enrich our lives. Happy 75th, Jackie, and many, many more. I'm among your millions of fans around the world who revere you, thank you, and wish you only the best.

A plethora of great pianists

2009-02-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

We had no concerts this past weekend (a rare occurence during the regular season), but Spivey Hall's valiant and dedicated piano technicians, Craig Miller and Chuck Cook, were giving our two Steinways, Emilie and Walter, lots of special care and attention in anticipation of recitals by pianists Radu Lupu, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Yevgeny Sudbin in the next five weeks. Later in March, Murray Perahia gives the 2009 Spivey Memorial Concert and a piano master class; and in May, capping off the Spivey Hall 2009 Spring Bach Festival, Angela Hewitt will appear in duo recital and present a master class focusing on interpreting Bach at the piano. (More on these last two artists, plus pianist Jenny Lin, in a future post.)

These outstanding artists will perform some of the most magnificent works of the solo piano repertoire. Among the three Beethoven sonatas he's chosen for his recital this Friday, February 6, Radu Lupu will perform the dramatic "Pathetique" Sonata; after intermission, he will guide us into the other-worldly beauties of Schubert's last piano sonata, the B-flat Sonata, D.960. Mr. Lupu is renowned for his affinity with Schubert's works, and his Decca recording of this sonata won him a Grammy Award. He collaborates with the most distinguisihed orchestras and conductors internationally, and his recitals are always major musical events.

We are honored to be welcoming him back. "No pianist gets a lovelier tone out of the instrument. It glows from within," praises The New Yorker. I first met Mr. Lupu some 15 years ago when he performed a Mozart piano concerto with David Zinman and the Minnesota Orchestra. I've since heard him perform in Chicago, Amsterdam, New York and other cities. His understanding of his chosen repertoire seems to grow ever richer and more profound. I fully expect to be enthalled by hearing him reveal aspects of these familiar sonatas that I've never heard before. Such is the eloquence of great music intepreted by a truly distinguished artist.

Another internationally celebrated pianist and Decca recording artist, Jean-Yves Thibaudet is very well known to Atlanta, having performed many times with the Atlanta Symphony. He makes his Spivey Hall debut (at last!) on Saturday, February 21. A versatile artist who performs works by Chopin, Liszt, Brahms and Rachamaninov but also George Gershwin, Aram Khachaturian, Duke Ellington, virtuosic transcriptions of opera arias, and new works by contemporary composers such as Iranian-born Behzad Ranjbaran, he has also participated in creating music for films, including the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning film, Atonement.

Mr. Thibaudet has consistently won superlatives for his interpretations of the music of French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, whose immensely colorful and imaginative works are pillars of the solo piano repertoire. His program offers a feast of them. Book II of Debussy's Preludes, which explore wonderfully subtle and varied characters ending with the spectacular"Feux d'artifice" ("Fireworks"), comprises the first half of the program, followed by Ravel's wistfully exquisite Pavane for a Dead Princess, and culminating with Miroirs ("Mirrors"), including the popular "Alborada del gracioso" ("The Jester's Dawn Song"). If you've never heard this music before, you would want Jean-Yves Thibaudet to introduce you to it, for you are unlikely to hear more vivid, beautiful, insightful or persuasive performances of these Impressionist masterworks.

We're grateful to long-time subscribers, donors, and avid concert-goers Jeff Adams and Susan Hunter for being The Friends of Spivey Hall Concert Sponsors of this auspicious debut, and sincerely appreciate the assistance and collaboration of the French Consulate General in Atlanta in helping us welcome Mr. Thibaudet to Spivey Hall. A reception in his honor for the entire audience will follow the recital.

New to Atlanta and Spivey Hall is the brilliant young pianist Yevgeny Sudbin, who makes his debut on Sunday, March 8. Ten days ago, he gave a solo recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Anne Midgette, writing for The Washington Post, started her review with the following words:

With the insouciance born of ability and success, Yevgeny Sudbin, looking not unlike a young Rahm Emanuel -- dark-ringed eyes in a thin and handsome face -- sat at the piano at the Terrace Theater on Saturday afternoon and produced some formidable music.
The sound he made was thick and dark and rich: Russian-school virtuosity, but without cloying heaviness. In the first movement of Haydn's Sonata in B Minor, which opened the program, it also had a springy elasticity that conveyed the spirit of the music, as if the sound were informed by the lighter twang of Haydn's fortepiano, like a shadow on the wall behind him.
The Russian-born Sudbin, 28, projects a wunderkind persona: able to fling out technical fireworks, offer insightful and intimate Scarlatti, write articulate program notes that give an insight into what he thinks about what he is playing (something too often absent from the classical-music equation). He has been garnering critical raves, particularly in England, where he now lives; and his string of recordings on the Bis label (Scarlatti, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff) have picked up a slew of accolades and awards.

We, too, shall hear him perform a Haydn sonata (in E minor), preceded by two Domenico Scarlatti sonatas, followed by Chopin Mazurkas, two Fairy Tales by Nikolai Medtner, and to close the program, Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7, subtitled "War Sonata No. 2: Stalingrad" -- an emotional powerhouse that combines massive sonorities and incisive brilliance with delicacy and quicksilver changes of mood. As such, it's an excellent vehicle for Mr. Sudbin's impressive virtuosity.

Mr. Sudbin has been an especially popular guest artist at the BBC Proms in London. I first came to know his music-making through his CDs of Russian music; however, he's also in the process of recording all the Beethoven piano concertos. I'm proud to introduce him to Atlanta, and eagerly await the experience of hearing him in person.

Met Opera National Council Auditions winners

2009-01-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

Each year Spivey Hall proudly hosts the Southeast Region Finals of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The panel of three distinguished judges -- Mikael Eliasen of The Curtis Institute of Music, Metropolitan Opera tenor and opera director Antholny Laciura, and prominent New York City vocal coach Jonathan Dudley -- named the following winners today (Sunday, January 25, 2009) from among the 12 contestants:

The Ryan Smith First Place Award ($4300) - Jodi Burns, soprano, age 21, of North Carolina, who sang "V'adoro, pupille" from Handel's Giulio Cesare and Juliette's Waltz ("Je veux vivre") from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.

Second Place ($1,600) - Katherine Blumenthal, soprano, age 29, of Georgia, who sang "A vos jeux, mes amis" from Thomas' Hamlet and "Tornami a vagheggiar" from Handel's Alcina.

Third Place ($1,000) - Janette Zilioli, soprano, age 30, of Florida, who sang "Ah! non credea mirarti...Ah! Non giunge" from Bellini's La sonnambula and "Ain't it a pretty night" from Floyd's Susannah.

The $500 Peg Gary Encouragement Award was given to baritone Daniel Scofield, age 22, of Georgia, who sang "Hai gia vinta la causa" from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and "Ah! per sempre" from Bellini's I puritani.

And The Atlanta Opera Guild Encouragement Award (augmented today by the Met Opera National Council) of $500 went to soprano Bethany Hoerst, age 25, of Florida, who sang "Da tempeste" from Handel's Giulio Cesare and "O waer' ich schon" from Beethoven's Fidelio.

Congratulations to the winners and to all the contestants from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina!

If you couldn't be at Spivey Hall to hear these young talents in person, tune in to WABE 90.1 FM on Monday, February 16 at 9:00 PM to hear their performances aired on Atlanta Music Scene, also streamed on WABE's Public Broadcasting Atlanta website, http://www.pba.org/.

Interview with tenor Lawrence Brownlee

2009-01-21T14:15:00.000-08:00

Celebrated bel canto tenor and Atlanta resident Lawrence Brownlee recently gave an interview to WABE 90.1 FM's Wanda Yang Temko -- listen here for their conversation with recorded excerpts of his singing -- which is gorgeous.

http://publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/.artsmain/article/2/51/1459955/Classical/Bel.canto.at.its.best.comes.to.Atlanta/

He makes his recital debut at Spivey Hall this Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 8:15 PM with pianist Martin Katz, whom I heard play beautifully at Carnegie Hall last Sunday at Marilyn Horne's 75th birthday celebration concert (an unbelievable event! more on this soon). Tickets are still available. This performance is likely to be one of the great highlights of the season, so if you love great singing, don't miss it!

More good news: tenor Lawrence Brownlee's program

2008-12-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

Following yesterday's receipt of Murray Perahia's program details, I have the happy news today of what star tenor Lawrence Brownlee will sing for his Spivey Hall debut on Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 8:15 PM -- news made happier still in that the excellent Martin Katz, who performed at Spivey Hall twice last season with David Daniels and Christine Schaefer, will be Mr. Brownlee's pianist.

I
MOZART
Misero, o sogno o son desto?
Concert aria, K.431

II
DUPARC
Chanson triste
Extase
Le manoir de Rosemonde
Soupir
Phidylé

III
ROSSINI
Languir per una bella,
from L’italiana in Algeri

INTERMISSION

IV
LISZT
Three Sonnets by Petrarch
Pace non trovo
Benedetto sia ’l giorno
I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi

V
DONIZETTI
Ah, mes amis, quel jour de fête,
from La Fille du regiment

VI
JOHN CARTER
Cantata (1964)
Prelude
Rondo
Recitative
Air
Toccata

This promises to be a great recital. An elegant Mozart concert aria to open, with an interesting variety of songs. I love the Duparc and Liszt, and I'm eager to hear the Carter Cantata, which I understand combines elements of African-American spirituals and classical forms in an expressive modern style. PLUS...we'll hear two wonderful bel canto opera arias by Rossini and Donizetti, complete with vocal bravura, and not a few high notes! (Check out http://www.youtube.com/ or the New York Times on the web and you'll get the idea.) And perhaps some encores...?

Performing in the company of some very illustrious "big names," Lawrence Brownlee would seem to have taken pride of place at the most recent Richard Tucker Foundation Awards gala, in October. Vivien Schweizter wrote in The New York Times:

Artists supported by the foundation, created in 1975 to assist emerging singers with awards, grants and performance opportunities, include Lawrence Brownlee. This impressive tenor, the recipient of the 2006 Richard Tucker Award, is earning recognition for his prowess in bel canto roles. Here he sang "Languir per una bella" from Rossini's "Italiana in Algeri" with aplomb, easily navigating the coloratura hurdles with a warm, sweet timbre."

So, Atlanta will hear this same aria...in the glorious acoustics of Spivey Hall. Obligatory avviso: programs (but not, I hope, artists) subject to change.

Mr. Brownlee stays busy at major opera houses in Europe, and returns to the Met Opera in May for Rossini's La cenerentola. When not performing hither and yon, he calls Atlanta home, and I'm proud that Atlanta area music-lovers -- and all our loyal vocal recital fans who travel from afar, including Savannah, Florida, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Alabama -- will have a chance to hear him sing in January. In his free pre-concert talk at 7:15 PM, Clayton State University's Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller (himself a tenor) will give informative historical and musical insights into the program.

The day after Lawrence Brownlee and Martin Katz perform, Spivey Hall hosts the Southeast Regional Finals of the Metropolian Opera National Council Auditions, on Sunday, January 25 at 2:00 PM. This is traditonally one of the season's most popular and highly-anticipated events. It'll be an exciting weekend for singing.

Murray Perahia program announced

2008-12-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

The blog is back! It actually never went away, but I did -- extensive travels over the summer and into the fall (more on that later).

The great news of Murray Perahia's recital program has broken my blog log-jam.

Just today I've learned that for his Sunday, March 22 '09 recital program, he'll perform Bach's Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830; Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, "Pastoral"; and Brahms's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 -- a beautiful program which I'm tremendously eager to hear him play.

Mr. Perahia also is giving a master class at Spivey Hall on Saturday, March 21 '09, and we're receiving applications of pianists who wish to participate (deadline for receipt of applications: Friday, Feb. 20 '09). Music-lovers, piano teachers, aspiring pianists, and people who just wish to come, listen and learn may also attend -- see the Spivey Hall website for details.

We are immensely proud to be welcoming Murray Perahia back to Spivey Hall. His master class and recital promise to be great highlights of the season.

US recital debut: English soprano Kate Royal

2008-03-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

English soprano Kate Royal makes her US recital debut this Friday night (March 28, 2008) at Spivey Hall. Ms. Royal has generated significant excitement among fans of great singing, principally through her appearances in opera at the Glyndebourne Festival, the Paris Opera, the Royal Opera Covent Garden and the English National Opera, as well as in concert appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic and at the BBC Proms in London. She's given recitals in London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Cologne. I first knew of her from her Hyperion recording of Schumann Lieder with Graham Johnson, and then received from her London management an early copy of her debut CD for EMI Classics, for which she now records exclusively.

After listening to the EMI sessions for about 20 minutes, I picked up the phone, called the UK and invited her to sing in recital here. It's rare that I act so directly (almost impulsively) to engage a new artist, but such artful, gorgeous, beautifully intelligent, nuanced and expressive singing is not commonplace!

Thus I'm proud her North American recital tour begins here at Spivey Hall. Ms. Royal will perform with the excellent pianist Roger Vignoles. From Atlanta they go cross-continent via the Northeast (New York's Frick Collection, Middlebury College and Montreal) to Vancouver, British Columbia and Berkeley, California.

Their program focuses on Spanish songs of Rodrigo and Granados, selections from Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne, three of Debussy's exquisite Cinq poemes de Baudelaire, and to close, a generous offering of Lieder by Richard Strauss, including the Mädchenblumen (Maiden-Flowers), Opus 22, as well as "Einerlei," "Ich wollt ein Sträusslein binden" and "Als mir dein Lied erklang."

One of my duties at Spivey Hall is proofing every program book we publish. There is a vast amount of detailed information presented in program books, especially in those of vocal recitals, for which we always strive to include the original texts and translations (and for chamber music and piano recitals, program notes). Plus there are always the bios of the artists, which artists and managements submit in various degrees of correctness and consistency when it comes to spellings of institutions, musicians and work names, presented in about a dozen languages, for which legitimate variants exist.

This is detailed and highly time-consuming work. Thankfully I don't do it alone -- Sue Volkert and Nick Jones are my valiant comrades in preparing the books, shepherding them through their various versions of edits and more edits, week after week -- but ultimately I have to sign off on them...which is why, on a Sunday afternoon (Easter Sunday, no less), I've just spent three hours poring over four program books.

I do this -- we do this -- because reading the program books is a significant dimension of our audiences' experience when they come here to listen, and making that connection between artist and audience through the performance of fine music is what Spivey Hall is all about. And I tend to read and edit best when it's quiet, people are gone and the phone isn't ringing.

There are times I rant and rave about editing program books, and curse it as an onerous obligation -- there's always so much in addition to this work I could be doing. But more often, reading the material and thinking about the program selections gets me in the mood for the music we're about to hear.

I've just had such an experience, both in recalling and eagerly anticipating the beauty of the Strauss songs. I applaud Ms. Royal for her selections -- not only are they likely to illustrate her artisty to great effect, but the Mädchenblumen, in particular, are to my way of thinking perfectly appropriate for springtime. The German poetry is by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn, and Ms. Royal's management has kindly supplied (and secured rights to) translations by Emily Ezust, which read naturally, easily, clearly and invitingly...like fresh air.

The songs and their texts are wonderfully evocative -- and indeed timely, since now in Atlanta, even after damaging tornados last weekend and the ferociously heavy rains, it's getting warm, and the trees, the bushes and the flowers are starting to bloom. Spring really is in the air, so these songs, even though they're not about spring flowers, per se, will nonetheless be sung at an opportune moment. Alas, my blog program apparently won't cooperate in listing parallel columns of original texts and translations, but here, at least, is the English. Read for yourself, and see if this doesn't get you in the mood for spring.

Richard Strauss
Mädchenblumen
Op. 22 (Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn)

Kornblumen (1888)
Cornflowers

Cornflowers I call these figures
that gently, with blue eyes,
preside quietly and modestly,
placidly drinking the dew of peace
from their own pure souls,
communicating with everything that is near,
unconscious of the precious sensitivity
that they have received from
the hand of God.
We felt so close to you,
as if you were going through a field of crops
through which the breath of evening blew,
full of pious quietude and full of mildness.

Mohnblumen (1888)
Poppies

They are poppies, those round,
red-blooming, healthy ones
that bloom and bake in the summer
and are always in a cheery mood,
good and happy as a king,
their souls never tired of dancing;
they weep beneath their smiles
and seem born only
to tease the cornflowers;
yet nevertheless,
the softest, best hearts often hide
among the climbing ivy of jests;
God knows one would wish to
suffocate them with kisses
were one not so afraid
that, embracing the hoyden,
would spring up into a full blaze
and go up in flames.

Epheu (1886–8)
Ivy

But ivy is what I call that maiden
with soft words,
with the simple, bright hair,
gently waving brown about her,
with brown, soulful doe’s eyes,
who so often stands in tears,
in her tears simply
irresistible;
without strength and
self-consciousness,
unadorned with secret
blossoms,
yet with an inexhaustible, deep
true inner sentience
that under her own power she can
never yank herself up by the roots;
such are born to twine
lovingly about another life:
upon her first love
she rests her entire life’s fate,
for she is counted among those
rare flowers,
those that only blossom once.

Wasserrose (1886–8)
Water Lily

Do you know the Water Lily,
fairy-like and celebrated in legend?
It waves its colourless,
transparent head
on an ethereal, slender stem,
and it blooms on a reedy pond in a wood;
protected by the lonely swan
that circles round it,
Sit opens only to the
moonlight
whose silver gleam it
shares.
Thus it blooms, the magical
sister of the stars,
desired by the dreamy,
dark moth
which yearns for it from afar on
the edge of the pond,
and never reaches it for all its
yearning.
Water Lily is my name for the
slim,
raven-haired maiden with
alabaster cheeks,
with deep foreboding thoughts
in her eyes,
as if she were a ghost
imprisoned on earth.
Her speech is like the silver
rippling of water,
her silence like the foreboding
stillness of a moonlit night;
she seems to exchange glances
with the stars
who she understands because
their natures are the same;
you can never tire of looking
into her eyes
surrounded by long, silken
lashes,
and, as if bewitched by their
blessed grey,
you believe all fanciful dreams
about fairies to be true.

Dahn's poetry inspired Strauss to write some glorious music. I have high hopes for this Friday, and urge everyone who loves great singing to hear Kate Royal, either here at Spivey Hall, or elsewhere on her Spring 2008 Recital Tour, for I expect it will be a most memorable experience.

The building's shaking, and we're happy

2008-03-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

When the organ's being played at Spivey Hall, everyone here knows it. The three-manual, 77-rank, 4,413-pipe Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ, built by Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy, sets the whole building shaking. In the back offices of the Hall (a space no longer given over to dimly lit storage and a lonely marketing manager's desk after this year's refurbishment), conversations are covered by the constant whoosh of air through the adjacent blowers and wind chambers. In other offices next to the recording control booth, closest to the auditorium itself, it's hard sometimes to hear yourself think, far less talk. The roar of the organ pipes comes straight through my walls, too, particularly the lowest notes that make lots of ordinarily quiet objects (including the windows) shudder. In big climaxes, it feels as if Spivey Hall is about to launch into outer space.

I'm not complaining -- it's magnificent! And this week, the forces are even mightier, since the organ is augmented by more musical star-power: the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet. As I type, the brass players -- trumpets Tom Hooten and Michael Tiscione, horn Richard Deane, trombone George Curran and tuba Michael Moore -- are rehearsing with Spivey Hall's organist-in-residence Richard Morris. Truly, I have not heard a more robust or glorious sound in this hall!

The six will be playing together in such varied works as Salvum fac populum tuum by Charles Widor, Rolf Smedvig's arrangement of "Sheep May Safely Graze" from Bach's Cantata BWV 208, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" as arranged by Vaclav Nelhybel (a book fell from one my shelves just a minute ago during that one), Gary Olson's setting of "Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee," Brahms' Op. 30 (of a quieter, more contemplative nature, comparatively speaking), and the Grand Choeur Dialogue by Eugene Gigout, in Rich Mays' arrangement. Plus there's the sprightly Voluntary No. 1 by William Boyce for two trumpets and organ, with all its buoyant ceremonial splendor.

Talk about BIG! This is a larger-than-life experience that will have music surging through every member of the audience, and may actually lift some of them off their seats. (And in a strange way, it's somewhat consoling to know that the acute annoyance of any errant and disruptive @#&$ 7$*&! cell phone left on by its inattentive and inconsiderate owner, should this wretched device happen to ring during the performance [unpublishable invective from the Executive & Artistic Director deleted], may be utterly swallowed up by the sound of what people REALLY want to hear.)

In addition to the arrangements, there are works for solo brass (Anthony DiLorenzo's Fire Dance and "Londonderry Air" in Robert Hepple's setting) as well as for solo organ (Bach's G-major Prelude and Fugue, BWV 550 and the lovely Aria by Charles Callahan, which highlights the diverse tonal character of Spivey Hall's organ so attractively).

Richard Morris and the ASBQ perform this Saturday, March 15th at 3 PM. The organ also gets another workout this weekend when the Southern Crescent Symphony gives an afternoon concert featuring three local organists -- Ann Manuel, Rick Massengale, and Jackie Reed -- performing highlights of the repertoire for organ and orchestra, including the third movement of Copland's Organ Symphony, the Poulenc Organ Concerto for String Orchestra and Timpani, and the very popular concluding Maestoso from the Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony, all under the direction of conductor Richard Bell. Concert time on Sunday, March 16th is 3 PM.

Of distinctively different character (and not requiring the organ) will be our kick-off of St. Patrick's Day festivities with the all-star Irish instrumental quintet, Lunasa. Throughout the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Europe and beyond they win accolades as one of the finest, freshest Irish bands to reach international prominence in recent years, taking traditional Irish music in new directions to new audiences. Inspired by Ireland's great 1970s group, the Bothy Band, Lunasa uses melodic interweaving of wind and string instruments, pairing flutes, fiddle, whistle and pipes. Check out their website, http://www.lunasa.ie/. The boys in the band are celebrating their 10th anniversary as Lunasa, and we'll be having a good time with them this Friday (March 14th, 8:15 PM) -- hope you can join us.

This weekend: Brentano Quartet & pianist Imogen Cooper

2008-03-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

It's another weekend of extraordinary artists performing great music at Spivey Hall. Since announcing the 2007/08 season more than a year ago, I've long been awaiting this pair of performances.

We're honored to have the Brentano String Quartet back to Spivey Hall tomorrow (Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 8:15 PM). Their program opens with Mendelssohn's F-minor Quartet Op. 80 (among his final works before his premature death, following the loss of his beloved sister, Fanny) and closes with Beethoven's incomparable Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 127 -- a work that astonishes me every time I encounter its power and eloquence --
Beethoven at his best. Brentano first violinist Mark Steinberg has written extensive and very revealing program notes for both quartets, which will certainly inform listeners' understanding of the Brentano Quartet's interpretation of these masterworks.

So, serious works to start and finish. We may expect full-blooded, passionate performances from the Brentanos, who win accolades everywhere they go. In between the Mendelssohn and Beethoven, we'll hear the Southeast premiere of a recent work, commissioned by Music Accord (a consortium of music organizations dedicated to enriching the repertoire with new music) expressly for the Brentano String Quartet, written by Bay-Area composer Gabriela Lena Frank. It's entitled Quijotadas, and is inspired by Cervantes' tales of Don Quixote (or in alternative orthography, Don Quijote). Ms. Frank writes of her quartet:

Quijotadas (2007) for string quartet is inspired by El Ingenioso Hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616). Widely considered the birth of the modern novel, this tale satirizes post-Conquest Spain by relating the story of a middle-aged lesser nobleman who undertakes absurd adventures in pursuit of romantic — and seriously outdated — knightly ideals. Cervantes’ brilliant and colorful social commentary still reverberates for us today.

Quijotadas, which is Spanish for extravagant delusions wrought in the Quixotic spirit, is in five movements. They are:

I. Alborada: Traditionally a Spanish song of welcome or beginnings, this is in the style of music for the chifro, a small high-pitched wooden panpipe played with one hand. It is often employed by a traveling guild worker to announce his services as he walks through the streets of town.

II. Seguidilla: This free interpretation of the spirited dance rhythms of Don Quijote’s homeland of La Mancha also evokes two typical instruments – the six-stringed guitar, and its older cousin, the bandurria, which finds its origins in Renaissance Spain.

III. Moto Perpetuo: La Locura de Quijote: This movement is inspired by an early chapter in the novel that describes Don Quixote sequestering himself in his hacienda, reading nothing but novels of chivalry, the pulp fiction of his time. The teasing promises of grandeur make him dizzy and he eventually goes mad.

IV. Asturianada: La Cueva: The style of this traditional mountain song (whereby a young male singer issues forth calls that rise and fall with great emotion and strength) is used to paint a portrait of the Cave of Montesinos. In an important episode of the novel, Don Quijote fantasizes about the legendary hero Montesinos trapped under enchantment in a highland cave.

V. La Danza de los Arrieros: Throughout the tale, Don Quijote constantly rubs up against arrieros (muleteers) who, for Cervantes, are the embodiment of reality in contrast to Don Quijote’s fantasy world. The encounters with these roughnecks are always abrupt and physical, usually resulting in a sound thrashing for Quijote. Each beating brings him closer to reality, and in the end, he must poignantly reconcile himself to the fact that his noble ideals do not find a hospitable home in the contemporary world.

I look forward to hearing this work with great interest, and expect that Quijotadas, heard after the Mendelssohn and before the Beethoven, will make this program both expansive and rewarding listening.

Coincidentally, Spivey Hall audiences will hear another new work by Gabriela Lena Frank later this season: renowned guitarist Manuel Barrueco and the celebrated Cuarteto Latinoamericano will give the Georgia premiere of her Inca Dances on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 8:15 PM. This work was commissioned by the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society in honor of its 20th Anniversary. Mr. Barrueco lives and teaches in Baltimore, and the piece will be heard there on April 19th, so I'll be keen to learn more about it (we are again promised a program note by Ms. Frank).

Gabriela Lena Frank is a remarkable person as well as a highly accomplished and successful composer -- learn more about her life and her music at http://www.schirmer.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&composerId_2872=2388

Also tomorrow (Saturday, March 8, 2008), at 11:00 AM, the wonderful British pianist Imogen Cooper gives a master class here, working with three pianists on matters of technique and interpretation in music of Schubert, Mozart and Beethoven, prior to her Spivey Hall recital debut on Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 3 PM. (I believe this is also her Atlanta debut.) She offers us a beautiful program devoted principally to Viennese Classical composer Franz Schubert: his four Impromptus, D.935, and his magnificent Sonata in A major, D.959 (another final work from a composer who died tragically young), both favorites for those who love the piano repertoire.

Imogen Cooper has earned consistent praise for her deeply considered and insightful interpretations of Schubert. Recording enthusiasts prize her critically-acclaimed six CDs on the Ottavo label dedicated to all the piano sonatas of Schubert's last six years, for which the pianist has also written superb CD-booklet essays.

I first knew of Imogen Cooper from Sir Neville Marriner (music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in the early days of my career in orchestra management) and finally heard her perform a decade ago in Australia, where she is a regular and welcome guest. Like Richard Goode and Christian Zacharias (both of whom we've heard here in recent seasons), she is an immensely thoughtful pianist who loves the central European repertoire (Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schubert, Brahms). She appears as soloist with the best international orchestras, and is an avid recitalist in leading music venues around the world, including, of course, Wigmore Hall; she is also well known to people who love good singing for her marvelous Lieder collaborations (in concert and recording) with baritone Wolfgang Holzmair (who has previously performed at Spivey Hall with a different pianist).

Imogen Cooper is without question a virtuoso -- not in flashy, extravagant or grandiose ways, but in masterful, musical, strong, subtly expressive, deeply satisfying ways that faithfully evoke the spirit of the composer, as I'm sure we will hear in her master class and her recital. We're delighted to welcome her to Spivey Hall, and grateful for the kind cooperation of one of our international consular partners, the British Consulate-General in Atlanta, to celebrate her debut. With The Friends of Spivey Hall, the Consulate-General is graciously co-hosting a post-concert reception in her honor. The reception will be held in the Spivey Hall lobby, and the entire audience is cordially invited to attend.

A forthcoming Spivey Hall debut: pianist Joyce Yang

2008-03-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

The wonderful young Korean pianist Joyce Yang makes her Atlanta debut at Spivey Hall on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 3 PM. She's just given a recital in Houston which includes several of the works she'll perform here, including Schumann's Carnaval, Brahms' Piano Pieces Op. 119, and Bach's Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor, BWV 903.

Here's what the critic of the Houston Chronicle had to say:

So, Yang's playing of the Fantasy and Fugue on the Steinway rather than a harpsichord had little effect on the brilliance of the work. Indeed, the joyous energy she brought to the fugue and the meticulous distinction between the fugue theme and its counter melody were exhilarating.

Both the Brahms and Schumann sets were character pieces — Brahms' abstract, Schumann's laden with extra-musical connections through the titles of the 21 movements. Yang stressed the dreamy side of Brahms and the sometimes quixotic, quick-cut changes of character in the Schumann pieces. She delivered both sets with authority, superb musicianship and, above all, a simplicity that was beguiling.

All this rings true to me. I first encountered Joyce Yang in concert when I attended the final rounds of the most recent Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, where she was honored with the Silver Medal. Her connection with the audience was unmistakable, and I was very taken by the musicianship she revealed in all of her performances. She also was enthusiastically recommended by the Takacs Quartet (also performing at Spivey Hall this spring -- Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 3 PM), with which all the Cliburn Competition finalists performed chamber music, and this endorsement strenghened my resolve to invite her to Spivey Hall. She was already enjoying a very promising career before becoming a Cliburn Competition winner, and since then has moved from strength to strength.

In Fort Worth and in Houston, Joyce played the Piano Sonata No. 1 by Australian composer Carl Vine with special success. I know Carl Vine and his work from my days of managing artists and repertoire for the national network of the six Symphony Australia orchestras, for which he has written several symphonies, well-received by musicians and audiences alike. Alas, Joyce won't be playing Carl's Sonata for us in May (I believe this has to do with repertoire she must prepare and perform later this spring; her Spivey Hall program will close with Brahms' bracingly virtuosic Variations on a Theme by Paganini). It's an extremely effective piece, one that I've enjoyed hearing time and again over the years (I last heard it in concert at the Aspen Music Festival in 2001). Pianists continue to program and perform it, and I'm delighted it seems to be finding a permanent place in the repertoire. I encourage anyone who loves solo piano music to hunt down a CD and give it a listen -- or better yet, hear Joyce or another solo pianist perform it if you have the opportunity. It's a fantastic piece.

Spivey Hall 2008-2009 Season Announcement

2008-02-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

Spivey Hall Announces Eighteenth Season of Concerts

Acclaimed international artists include pianist Murray Perahia, violinist Hilary Hahn, guitarist John Williams, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena, organist Dame Gillian Weir, and the Kenny Barron Trio; Spivey Hall favorite Chanticleer returns with two programs

Auspicious Spivey Hall debut artists include pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, violinist Julia Fischer, the Belcea and Tetzlaff string quartets, and tenor Lawrence Brownlee

The Spivey Hall 2009 Spring Bach Festival opens in March with the complete Brandenburg Concertos performed by London’s renowned Academy of Ancient Music

Season opening celebration Saturday, September 20, 2008 showcases the Daedalus Quartet and friends in Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet

Morrow, Ga. (February 16, 2008): Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall made the first announcement of its 2008-2009 concert season this evening, prior to the annual Spivey Memorial Concert featuring distinguished brother-and-sister duo, violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Orli Shaham.

At the 7:15 PM pre-concert announcement event for donors and subscribers, Executive & Artistic Director Samuel C. Dixon revealed the line-up of international artists for Spivey Hall’s Eighteenth Season, which includes celebrated soloists as well as important emerging artists and ensembles in the genres of classical, jazz and world music. The February 16th event marked one of Spivey Hall’s earliest announcements of the new season, and the culmination of more than two years’ planning.

“Spivey Hall is an extraordinary place where excellent international artists connect with audiences through the shared experience of great music,” stated Dixon. “Great music thrives at Spivey Hall. The Hall’s superb acoustics inspire artists and audiences alike, and the deeply-appreciated support we receive from our subscribers and single-ticket buyers, The Walter & Emilie Spivey Foundation, and our individual donors, The Friends of Spivey Hall, makes it possible for us to present an abundant diversity of world-renowned musicians each season.”

With the announcement, the Spivey Hall Box Office begins taking subscription orders for the 2008-2009 season. Subscribers – patrons who buy four or more Spivey Series concerts at a single time – receive discounts of up to 20%. Subscribers who submit their orders before May 31, 2008 receive priority seating before single ticket sales begin. Tickets to Spivey Series guest artist performances are priced from $20 to $75; tickets to performances by regional ensembles range from $12 to $30. Clayton State University Opera tickets are $10, and all other CSU Department of Music concerts at Spivey Hall are free.

Details of the season are presented in the newly published 2008-2009 Season Book, made available at the announcement event. The Season Book will soon be arriving in the mailboxes of Spivey Hall patrons throughout Georgia and in six other states. Subscriptions may be ordered by mail by completing the order form in the 2008-2009 Season Book, by phoning the Box Office at (678) 466-4200 during regular weekday business hours, or by fax (credit card orders only) to (678) 466-4494. More information about the 2008-2009 season will available at http://www.spiveyhall.org/ beginning the week of February 18.

Single ticket sales (including online sales via Spivey Hall’s website) will start in mid-August. As programming details and other events are added to Spivey Hall’s 2008-2009 season, they will be published on Spivey Hall’s website, http://www.spiveyhall.org/, where patrons may elect to join Spivey Hall’s mailing list and receive monthly programming updates via email. Programming information will also be made available in subsequent fall, winter and spring brochures. To obtain these documents in an alternate format or to request accommodations for a disability other than wheelchair seating, patrons may call Clayton State University Disability Services at (678) 466-4554. Programs and artists are subject to change.

Spivey Hall gratefully acknowledges The Walter & Emilie Spivey Foundation for its generous ongoing support of Spivey Hall in each season since its inaugural concerts in 1991. Spivey Hall is proud to thank its 2008-2009 season sponsors: the Georgia Council for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, and Jazz 91.9 FM WCLK. Spivey Hall also deeply appreciates the loyalty and generosity of The Friends of Spivey Hall, whose annual donations sustain the artistic excellence of Spivey Hall’s renowned concert series and award-winning educational programs.

CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLES

Spivey Hall’s 2008-2009 Season Opening Celebration on Saturday, September 20, 2008 showcases the Daedalus Quartet, winner of the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and former resident quartet of Columbia University and Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two. The Daedalus Quartet (Min-Young Kim and Kyu-Young Kim, violins; Jessica Thompson, viola; and Raman Ramakrishnan, cello) takes its name from the mythical Greek inventor, artist, and architect who created the art of sculpture, designed the Labyrinth, and (above all) regained his freedom by devising wings that enabled him to fly. A Washington Post concert review declared: “The Daedalus Quartet seemed it was flying...not on wings of waxy feathers, but rather on jet-propelled rockets of blistering virtuosity....The music rang gloriously, and the audience emerged wowed and grateful.” In their Spivey Hall debut, the musicians perform string quartets by Mozart and Janacek, and the program concludes with Schubert’s ebullient “Trout” Quintet featuring the outstanding young Jerusalem-born pianist Benjamin Hochman and Hawaii-native double-bassist Kurt Muroki. A post-concert reception for the entire audience, hosted by the Spivey Foundation, adds to the pleasure of the evening’s festivities.

The extraordinary Trio Jean Paul (Sunday, October 19, 2008) is named after the influential French writer who greatly inspired Robert Schumann as a young composer. Pianist Eckart Heiligers leads special classes in chamber music and piano at Zurich’s Musikhochschüle; violinist Ulf Schneider is professor at Hanover’s Hochschule für Musik und Theater; cellist Martin Löhr is both principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic and professor at the Universität für Kunste Berlin. All enjoy extensive performance careers in chamber music, and the Trio Jean Paul has won critical accolades for its recordings and performances, including at the Frick Collection in New York. “The Jean Paul players unashamedly held nothing back,” reported The New York Times. “These are acutely musical and sophisticated players, and they deserve an audience.” The Trio’s Spivey Hall debut program offers masterworks of the Germanic repertoire, with a Haydn piano trio as well as the C-minor Mendelssohn Trio and the B-minor Brahms Trio.

Following his memorable Spivey Hall debut performing solo sonatas and partitas in the Spivey Hall 2007 Spring Bach Festival, violinist Christian Tetzlaff returns with his sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, violinist Elisabeth Kufferath and violist Hanna Weinmeister for the Atlanta debut of the Tetzlaff Quartet (Sunday, November 9, 2008). Noted for its highly expressive, probing and passionate performances, the Tetzlaff Quartet’s program features a quartet by Mozart; the supremely eloquent Lyric Suite by Second Viennese School composer, Alban Berg; and the D-minor Quartet by Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius, subtitled “Voces intimae” (“Intimate Voices”).

Spivey Hall welcomes back the outstanding American violinist Hilary Hahn on Sunday, February 15, 2009, with pianist Valentina Lisitsa. Hahn’s remarkable international career continues to flourish, with the release of critically-acclaimed recordings, soloist engagements with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, and appearances at the most prestigious concert venues and festivals. In the words of the Los Angeles Times, “Hahn is one of those performers who can dazzle you with the warmth of her personality and knock you dead with the dexterity of technique and the emotional depth of her interpretations.” With impeccable technical execution, unwavering confidence and a powerful stage presence, she embraces a far-ranging repertoire revealed in consistently compelling performances. Lisitsa, well known to Spivey Hall audiences as a member of the Georgian Chamber Players, enjoys a multifaceted career as concerto soloist, duo pianist, chamber musician and recital partner, having performed with Hilary Hahn at London’s Wigmore Hall and other distinguished venues to great acclaim.

Resident quartet of London’s illustrious Wigmore Hall from 2001 to 2006, the Belcea Quartet (Saturday, March 7, 2009) wins fervent praise for its high-energy performances throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the US, as well as for its acclaimed EMI recordings. Romanian native and violinist Corina Belcea-Fisher, English violinist Laura Samuel, Warsaw-born violist Krzysztof Chorzelski and French cellist Antoine Lederlin are the musicians of the Belcea Quartet, whose playing the Los Angeles Times described as “gutsy and mellifluous, delicate and bold, balancing deep concentration and easy intuition, ever bearing down while ever letting go. For their consistency, strength, virtuosity and single-mindedness, one cannot admire these young players overmuch.” Their Spivey Hall debut program features the First String Quartet by English composer, Benjamin Britten, as well as a Haydn quartet and Schubert’s emotionally-charged D-minor Quartet, “Death and the Maiden.”

Clayton State University faculty pianist Michiko Otaki combines forces with the Swiss Wind Quintet (Sunday, March 15, 2009) for Mozart’s popular Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat major, as well as the Sextet for Piano and Winds by German Romantic composer, Ludwig Thuille. The talents of the Swiss musicians (Stéphane Réty, flute; Urs Brügger, clarinet; Christian Schmitt, oboe; David Schneebeli, bassoon; and Henryk Kalinski, French horn – all current or former members of Switzerland’s largest orchestra, the Sinfonieorchester Basel) will be showcased in a 1967 wind quintet by their countryman, composer Jost Meier.

Saturday, May 9, 2009 brings the Atlanta recital debut of the phenomenal young German violinist, Julia Fischer. Atlanta Symphony audiences will recall the excitement of her February 2006 performances of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Since then, as the result of her worldwide concert tours and critically acclaimed recordings, 14 million music fans voted the 24-year-old Julia Fischer – in the company of such distinguished nominees as Bryn Terfel, Rolando Villazón and Claudio Abbado – the Classic FM Gramophone 2007 Artist of the Year. (Astonishingly, this remarkably gifted musician recently made her concerto debut – as a pianist! – performing the Grieg Concerto in Germany.) Her Spivey Hall recital program will feature sonatas by Mozart, Prokofiev, Beethoven and Martinu.

PIANISTS

The brilliant British pianist Stephen Hough, recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award and a prolific recording artist with more than two dozen releases on the Hyperion label, gives the first solo piano recital of Spivey Hall’s 2008-2009 season on Saturday November 15, with a program of works by Bach/Cortot and Fauré, plus Franck’s Prélude, Choral et Fugue, Copland’s Piano Variations, and Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor. “Stephen Hough has the most remarkable range of color and sound at the piano,” writes the Sydney Morning Herald, “but the dominant impression from his playing is the simple clarity of the musical idea he is trying to present and the directness with which he communicates it.” Concurs ClassicalSource.com: “Hough's quiet playing is remarkable in its personal declaration – every note hangs in the air with meaning.”

Saturday, February 21, 2009 marks the first appearance at Spivey Hall by French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, a welcome guest artist of the world’s finest orchestras, festivals and recital halls, whose career embraces a wide range of collaborations with distinguished artists. In addition to his many critically-acclaimed recordings for the Decca label, he has a continuing interest in film music, and his playing is featured in the soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated film, Atonement. “Even without his formidable technical flair and interpretative depth, Jean-Yves Thibaudet would still be an extraordinary pianist, if only for his touch. Cushiony but clear, expressive but understated, the sound of Thibaudet’s playing is like no one else’s” (San Francisco Chronicle).

The phenomenal young Russian pianist Yevgeny Sudbin makes his Atlanta debut at Spivey Hall on Sunday, March 8, 2009. His concerts and recordings reveal a formidable technique, fresh interpretations and remarkable virtuosity. Yevgeny Sudbin has been hailed by the UK’s Daily Telegraph as “potentially one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century.” His 2005 debut recording of Scarlatti sonatas for BIS Records met with overwhelming critical acclaim. Upon hearing his next BIS release, a Rachmaninov recital, the International Record Review stated that the recording “confirms him as one of the most important pianistic talents of our time.” The 2007 release of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 coupled with Medtner's First Piano Concerto received a similar reaction and was Gramophone’s “Disc of the Month.” His most recent recording, of works by Scriabin, has been chosen “CD of the Year” by The Daily Telegraph, “CD of the Month” by BBC Music Magazine, and was awarded the MIDEM Classical Award for best solo instrument CD at Cannes. Noted by The New York Times for his “volcanic pianism,” Sudbin will perform works by Scarlatti, Haydn, Medtner and Chopin.

Pianophiles will rejoice on Sunday, March 22, 2009, when pre-eminent American pianist Murray Perahia returns to Spivey Hall for the annual Spivey Memorial Concert, honoring Spivey Hall’s visionary philanthropists, Dr. Walter & Emilie Spivey. Patrons warmly recall his earlier visits to Spivey Hall – most recently in April 2003, when he gave sublime interpretations of works by Bach, Schubert and Beethoven. Indisputably one of the world’s greatest living pianists, Perahia was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to music, and unfailingly enthralls audiences with his inspiring and richly expressive performances. Glowed The Seattle Times, “The soul of a poet, the mind of a thinker, the hands of a virtuoso: No wonder audiences love this guy.” Perahia will also give a Spivey Hall piano master class on Saturday, March 21 at 11 AM.

VOCALISTS

German baritone Christian Gerhaher, whose performances and recordings of Lieder by Schubert have won critical acclaim, including Gramophone magazine’s 2006 “Best Solo Vocal Recording” award, makes his Spivey Hall debut on Sunday, November 16, 2008. “One of today’s most accomplished, inspiring and moving Lieder singers” (Gramophone), Gerhaher commands a voice that is “lustrous and deeply penetrating” (The Washington Post). His program of Lieder by a seminal figure of German Romanticism, Robert Schumann, includes the song cycle Liederkreis, Op. 39, a passionate outpouring of the composer’s love for his young wife, Clara.

American tenor, Atlanta resident and international star Lawrence Brownlee makes his Spivey Hall debut on Saturday, January 24, 2009. His triumphant 2007 Metropolitan Opera debut in Rossini’s Barber of Seville came as no surprise to those who heard his winning performances earning him the coveted Marian Anderson Award as well as the Richard Tucker Award. The Washington Post calls him a “dazzling young tenor,” adding, “If you haven’t heard Lawrence Brownlee yet, you have a delight in store.”

The third debut vocalist of Spivey Hall’s 2008-2009 season is the young Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, an avid recitalist and protégée of the legendary mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker. Praised by the London Times for her “lyrical radiance,” this rising star commands a richly-colored voice and a lively intelligence, as vocal fans from throughout the Southeast will hear in her Saturday, February 7, 2009 program of songs by Brahms, Grieg (the wonderful Six Songs, Op. 48, set to texts by German poets Heine and Goethe, among others), and Sibelius.

Friday, May 8, 2009 marks the return of Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená to Spivey Hall, where in 2006 she sang arias by Gluck and Rameau with Les Violons du Roy in performances The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described as “ravishing.” A highly sought-after recitalist with many superb recordings to her credit, Kožená was named 2004 “Artist of the Year” by Gramophone, with two different CDs winning “Best Recital” and “Best Vocalist” awards. In addition to appearing regularly at distinguished opera houses such as Milan’s La Scala, London’s Covent Garden and Berlin’s Deutsche Staatsoper, she is a frequent guest artist of the world’s greatest orchestras, and this summer opens one of Europe’s most prestigious music festivals, in Lucerne, as featured soloist in Ravel’s Shéhérazade under the baton of Claudio Abbado.

VOCAL ENSEMBLES

Extending a time-honored choral tradition of more than 500 years, the Vienna Boys Choir performs music both serious and light-hearted to the delight of audiences everywhere. Highly popular at Spivey Hall, whose superb acoustics enhance the boys’ unique sound, the Choir’s performances regularly sell out. Special half-price children’s tickets for the Vienna Boys Choir’s Sunday, November 2, 2008 concert enable the entire family to enjoy a wonderful afternoon of musical entertainment.

On Saturday, February 14, 2009, the four outstanding male vocalists of The Hilliard Ensemble blend seamlessly as one to perform Arkhangelos, a fascinating and far-ranging program of early and modern Christian music from the Roman, English, Greek, Russian and Armenian traditions. Toronto’s Globe and Mail writes of their artistry: “The astounding melding of the voices of David James, Rogers Covey-Crump, Steven Harrold and Gordon Jones is simply that – astounding, other-worldly. The Hilliard Ensemble [is] without a doubt one of the finest vocal ensembles in the world.”

Chanticleer loves Spivey Hall, and Spivey Hall audiences adore Chanticleer. The superlative San Francisco-based, 12-member male vocal ensemble was honored as Musical America’s 2008 “Ensemble of the Year.” This incomparable “Orchestra of Voices” guided by artistic director Joseph Jennings performs a rich diversity of music in two different programs: on Friday, April 17, 2009, Wondrous Free, a celebration of 300 years of American song, from early hymns and shape-note singing to madrigals, part songs, folk songs, and a newly commissioned work by an American composer to be confirmed; and on Saturday, April 18, 2009, Divine Tapestry: A Mass For All Time – a kaleidoscopic Latin mass interweaving compositional voices old and new, from Tallis, Gabrieli, Dufay and Desprez to John Tavener, Augusta Read Thomas, William Albright and Olivier Messiaen.

SPIVEY HALL 2009 SPRING BACH FESTIVAL

Following the popular and artistic success of its inaugural festival in 2007, Spivey Hall proudly presents the 2009 Spring Bach Festival. As an ideal venue for chamber music performances and organ recitals, Spivey Hall is a natural showcase for the works of the great German baroque master, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), whose magnificent body of works remains central to the Western art music tradition and continues to inspire musicians and audiences throughout the world. Bach Festival performances will again be enhanced by free pre-concert talks for all four performances, and a special program book with extensive program notes, artist biographies and essays.

The Spivey Hall 2009 Spring Bach Festival kicks off on Sunday, March 29, 2009 with the complete Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046 – 1051, performed by London’s top-notch 22-member period-instrument ensemble, the Academy of Ancient Music, under the direction of harpsichordist Richard Egarr. One of the world’s first early-music ensembles, the Academy of Ancient Music is now in its fourth decade as one of the world’s finest, and “with Richard Egarr’s brilliance as its music director,” reports The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “this orchestra is playing better than ever.” Complimentary intermission refreshments will complete the afternoon’s musical feast.

The Festival spirit continues with the arrival of the superb flutist Emmanuel Pahud, renowned harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock and eminent cellist Jonathan Manson on Sunday, April 26, 2009 to perform four of Bach’s Sonatas for Flute and Continuo. Rounding out the program, each musician will also perform a solo work: Telemann’s Fantaisie in D major for flute, Purcell’s Suite in A minor for harpsichord, and a cello suite by Bach.

No Spivey Hall Bach Festival could be complete without an organ recital. The three-manual, 77-rank, 4,413-pipe Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ built by Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy, will resound gloriously when French organist Vincent Dubois returns to Spivey Hall on Saturday, May 2, 2009 for a program of works by Bach and other composers. Winner of the Recital Gold Medal at the 2002 Calgary International Organ Competition, “Dubois set a new standard for Bach performance,” reported The Calgary Herald, “the freedom and accuracy of his playing captivating from start to finish.”

Later that day, celebrated Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt gives a public master class on interpreting Bach keyboard works on the piano. She is joined the following afternoon (Sunday, May 3, 2009) for the final performance of the 2009 Spring Bach Festival by the charismatic German cellist, Daniel Müller-Schott, featuring Bach’s three gamba suites. Their 2007 recording of these works on the Orfeo label has won considerable critical acclaim, including Gramophone’s “Editor’s Choice” award. The Guardian hails Hewitt (who will also perform a Bach solo partita) as “the pre-eminent Bach pianist of our time.” The New York Times calls Müller-Schott “magnetic...a fearless player,” praising his “meticulous attention to expression,” which will also be on display in his performance of a Bach suite for solo cello.

ORGANISTS

In addition to Vincent Dubois’ 2009 Spring Bach Festival recital (Saturday, May 2, 2009), the 2008-2009 organ series features Alan Morrison, head of organ studies at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, who joins forces with pianist and Clayton State University professor emerita of music, Jeannine Morrison, for a mother-and-son duo recital on Sunday, September 28, 2008. Both are Atlanta-area favorites, having frequently performed and recorded in Spivey Hall. Alan Morrison will shine both as organist and pianist.

Master organist Dame Gillian Weir, who dedicated Spivey Hall’s Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ with memorable flair and virtuosity in 1992, makes a welcome return for her Saturday, January 10, 2009 recital. Her extensive schedule of concerts is augmented by critically-acclaimed recordings and master classes at leading conservatories and schools of music. “There is only one Dame Gillian Weir,” admires The American Organist. “She is without peer in her ability to do everything right, and make it all sound so effortless, spontaneous, and joyful.”

Philadelphia native and London resident Ann Elise Smoot makes her Spivey Hall debut on Saturday, February 28, 2009. Smoot, who graduated with two honors degrees from Yale and is now one of Britain’s most sought-after teachers, won The American Guild of Organists’ 1998 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Playing, and has since released a JAV recording of French works – including her own arrangement of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin – performed at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The American Organist commended her “deep musical maturity.... she communicated her musical intentions with a rare clarity. She led the listener to know in advance her every rhythmic nuance, each of which was supremely tasteful and satisfying.”

Spivey Hall organist-in-residence Richard Morris commands a vast knowledge of the organ repertoire as well as a quick wit; his commentary from the stage is both informative and entertaining. A brilliant performer, Morris gives his annual Spivey Hall recital on Saturday, April 4, 2009. He is a renowned concert organist who has performed extensively throughout the United States, and is one of the few organists ever to give a solo recital at Carnegie Hall. Morris presently serves as organist at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Mableton, Georgia. World Magazine described his recent MSR Classics CD, The Grand Tradition, featuring the A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ at Savannah’s First Presbyterian Church, as “an awe-inspiring program resulting from a skillful blend of virtuosity and reverence.”

GUITARISTS

Sole winner of the 2001 Young Concert Artists European Auditions in Leipzig, and the first guitarist ever to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, Croatian guitarist Robert Belinic is “a genius, a poet, a super-sensitive musician” (SanDiego.com). Belinic has given recitals in New York at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall and in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. As concerto soloist, he has appeared with the Phoenix Symphony, and makes his New York concerto debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in April 2008. He makes his Spivey Hall debut on Saturday, October 18, 2008.

From his live performances and noteworthy recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Swedish guitarist Göran Söllscher has earned resounding praise for his exceptional musicality as well as his dedication to expanding the solo guitar repertoire. Since winning the 1978 Paris International Guitar Competition, he has performed worldwide in recital, and as soloist with such eminent conductors as Claudio Abbado and Esa-Pekka Salonen. London’s International Record Review wrote glowingly of his playing in February 2006: “A smooth, relaxed playing style, crisp articulation and a tone balancing sweet and dry (perfect for this repertoire) ensures a clarity of projection that allows the listener to grasp the essentials of each piece while ensuring ample space for fantasy to work its magic.” For his Spivey Hall debut on Saturday, November 22, 2008, Söllscher performs a fascinating mix of music, including his own arrangements of Suites Nos. 1 and 2 by J.S. Bach (originally for solo cello), which book-end early music by English composer John Dowland as well as three pieces by John Lennon and Paul McCartney: “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Eleanor Rigby,” and “The Long and Winding Road.”

“After 30 years,” declares The Times of London, “John Williams is still the undisputed king of the classical guitar.” His millions of fans around the world agree. An inspiring interpreter, prolific recording artist, and celebrated master of his instrument, John Williams enthralls audiences with the uncommon beauty of his playing. Last heard at Spivey Hall in duo recital with John Etheridge in April 2006, Australian native John Williams returns for an eagerly anticipated solo recital on Saturday, March 21, 2009.

“An artist of formidable technical accomplishment and wonderfully sophisticated musicianship” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Englishman David Russell is a supremely accomplished guitarist who “possesses a talent of extraordinary dimension” (The New York Times). A Grammy Award winner, Russell has enjoyed a long and prolific relationship with the Telarc label; his latest CD, released in March 2007, is Art of the Guitar. “A phrase played by [David Russell] is a thing of such clarity and direction that it seems almost physically palpable,” observes the American Record Guide. “It is an object of such polish, perfect curvature, and ineluctable sweep that one feels as though one could pick it up and examine it as if it were a sculpture." Russell returns to Spivey Hall for a guitar master class on Friday, April 3, and his solo recital on Saturday, April 4, 2009.

JAZZ & SWING

Spivey Hall proudly opens its 2008-2009 Jazz Series on Friday, October 17, 2008 with the Kenny Barron Trio. Lauded as “one of the top jazz pianists in the world” (Los Angeles Times) and “the most lyrical pianist of our time” (Jazz Weekly), Kenny Barron is a master poet of jazz piano with an unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences. A major headliner appearing at leading jazz venues and festivals internationally, he has been named “Best Jazz Pianist” by the Jazz Journalists Association four years in a row. His outstanding recordings have been showered with honors, including eight Grammy nominations for his featured recordings on the Verve label.

The Brad Mehldau Trio makes its long-awaited return to Spivey Hall on Friday, November 14, 2008. “Universally admired as one of the most adventurous pianists to arrive on the jazz scene in years” (Los Angeles Times), American jazz pianist Brad Mehldau has performed and recorded extensively since the early 1990s. In addition to his trio and solo projects, Mehldau has collaborated with numerous great jazz musicians: playing with saxophonist Joshua Redman’s band for two years, making recordings and performing with Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden and Lee Konitz, and recording as a sideman with the likes of Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, John Scofield, and Charles Lloyd. In 2005, soprano superstar Renée Fleming performed and recorded two works by Mehldau commissioned by Carnegie Hall, and in 2006, Nonesuch released his jazz trio CD, House on the Hill, to critical acclaim. “The elliptical lines, volatile rhythmic figures and unexpected bursts of color and dissonance... prove that Mehldau writes as cleverly as he plays” (Chicago Tribune).

Jazziz magazine proclaims Paula West to be “the model of a modern jazz vocalist.... She’s class.” “Some voices are astringent like gin, some sweet like sherry,” muses the San Francisco Chronicle. “West has a red wine voice – a deep, mellow, Cabernet voice.” The New York Times praises her “mischievous sexiness” and “acute musical intelligence,” and assessing her most recent annual engagement at the Algonquin Hotel’s famous Oak Room in October 2007, the Times concluded, “For all her stylistic wanderings, Ms. West always returns to home base, a place where blues and jazz songs are inflected with a sly, humorous appreciation of the absurd and the naughty.” San Francisco-based Paula West and her Quartet make their Spivey Hall debut on Saturday, December 6, 2008.

A perennial favorite of Spivey Hall audiences, the world-famous Glenn Miller Orchestra returns for its third consecutive season with two performances (3 PM and 7 PM) on Sunday, January 11, 2009. With such timeless tunes as “In the Mood,” “Tuxedo Junction,” “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” and “Moonlight Serenade,” the Glenn Miller Orchestra recalls the glories of one of America’s most popular swing bands. Under the direction of Larry O’Brien, the Orchestra plays hits from the original Glenn Miller charts, reveling in the classic arrangements popularized by Miller while also exploring new works in the style of the great American swing band tradition. The Miller sound lives forever!

At the pinnacle of his career, English bassist Dave Holland has settled into the unassuming role of jazz master. “The commander-in-chief of a first-rate, cutting-edge group has to be everything: creative genius and effective entrepreneur, power player and diplomat, steeped in experience but fresh and unjaded. Few leaders exemplify the role as well as bassist Dave Holland” (Downbeat). A onetime sideman with two titans of jazz (Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis), Holland made his debut as a leader in the early 1970s. With outstanding recordings to its credit, including the 2006 release Critical Mass, the Dave Holland Quintet continues to tour the world, enjoying a fervent following, for “When the Dave Holland Quintet puts it all together, there isn’t a band alive that can touch them” (Downbeat). Spivey Hall welcomes the Dave Holland Quintet back for a one-night-only appearance on Friday, January 23, 2009.

Jazz legend McCoy Tyner calls him “one of the great players of our time – a fabulous trumpet player.” A gifted and versatile player with a voice all his own, jazz trumpeter Terell Stafford combines lyricism and a deep love of melody with a spirited, adventurous edge. This uniquely expressive, well-defined musical talent allows Stafford to dance in and around the rich trumpet tradition of his predecessors while making his own inroads. Since the mid-1990s, Stafford has performed with such groups as Benny Golson’s Sextet, McCoy Tyner’s Sextet, the Kenny Barron Sextet, and the Jon Faddis Orchestra; currently he is a member of the Grammy-nominated Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. An educator as well as a performer, Stafford is professor of music and director of jazz studies at Temple University in Philadelphia and highly in demand as a clinician. He is heard on more than 40 albums as a sideman, and has recorded five albums as a leader, including his superb 2007 MaxJazz release, Taking Chances: Live from the Dakota, featuring the Terell Stafford Quintet, which makes its Spivey Hall debut on Friday, March 6, 2009.

HOLIDAY CONCERTS

One of America’s leading brass quintets, the Empire Brass enjoys an international reputation for its stylistic excellence and the unparalleled diversity of its repertoire. Giving more than 100 concerts each year and adding to their discography on the Telarc label, the five musicians of the Empire Brass – Rolf Smedvig (trumpet), Marc Reese (trumpet), Michelle Perry (French horn), Mark Hetzler (trombone) and Kenneth Amis (tuba) – “simply have no competition when it comes to the beauty and clarity and accuracy and balance and interaction of their playing – the first phrase of any Empire Brass performance live or on recording sends a thrill of pleasure through your nervous system” (The Boston Globe). In its Spivey Hall debut on Sunday, December 7, 2008, the Empire Brass celebrates Christmas through the ages with glorious music from the Renaissance to the present day.

Spivey Hall’s most cherished holiday tradition is the beautiful sound of superb young singers joyously evoking the spirit of Christmas. The three choirs of the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program welcome Christmas with concerts on Friday, December 12, 2008 featuring the Spivey Hall Young Artists and the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, and on Sunday and Sunday, December 13 and 14, 2008, showcasing the Children’s Choir and its most advanced singers, the Spivey Hall Tour Choir (see “Spivey Hall Educational Programs” below for more details).

“The first real Celtic folk group,” boasts The Irish Times. “One of the finest bands in Celtic traditional music,” proclaims The New York Times. When The Boys of the Lough return to Spivey Hall on Saturday, March 14, 2009, leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, they bring their unique warmth and wit, expert musicianship, technical brilliance, lively tunes and clever yarns. The Boys have earned a loyal following through their spirited performances, acclaimed recordings and regular public radio appearances on A Prairie Home Companion. With their roots planted firmly in the heritage of the British Isles’ Celtic regions, the Boys have remained true to their musical vision of traditional instrumentals complimented by occasional songs, winning them friends from the village halls of Scotland and Ireland to international concert and festival stages.

REGIONAL ENSEMBLES AT SPIVEY HALL

Since opening its doors in 1991, Spivey Hall has served as an important concert venue to support and showcase the musical achievements of the best regional ensembles throughout metro Atlanta and the Southeast. The 2008-2009 season features the Spivey Hall debut of the Piedmont College Chamber Singers with conductor C. Wallace Hinson (Friday, November 7, 2008) as well as return engagements for other popular ensembles and events: the Georgia State University Singers with conductor Randall Hooper (Sunday, October 26, 2008); The Atlanta Singers with conductor David Morrow, performing their annual Christmas program (Sunday, December 14, 2008); the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Southeast Regional Finals (Sunday, January 25, 2009); the Southern Crescent Chorale with conductor Janice Folsom (Saturday, February 28, 2009); the Atlanta Chamber Players with their pianist and artistic director, Paula Peace (Sunday, March 1, 2009); and the Southern Crescent Symphony with conductor Richard Bell (Friday, March 13, 2009). Program details, as well as information on other regional ensemble performances still to be confirmed, will be posted on Spivey Hall’s website, http://www.spiveyhall.org/, and in Spivey Hall’s fall, winter and spring brochures.

CSU DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC CONCERTS

Spivey Hall serves as the primary performance venue for Clayton State University’s Department of Music, which presents faculty, students, ensembles and guest artists in concert throughout the academic year. Except for the Clayton State Opera, these performances are free, and tickets are not required.

Faculty recitals in the 2008-2009 season will include organist Daniel Pyle on Saturday, September 13, 2008, plus tenor Kurt-Alexander Zeller and pianist Michiko Otaki on Sunday, February 22, 2009. The Maharlika Trio (trombonist David Springfield, pianist Maila Gutierrez Springfield and saxophonist Joren Cain) make their Spivey Hall debut on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. Clayton State Opera performances, under the direction of Kurt-Alexander Zeller, will be given on Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28, 2009. Major ensembles will also give fall and spring performances: the CSU Wind Ensemble conducted by Patrick Carney (Wednesday, November 5, 2008 and Wednesday, April 15, 2009), the CSU Jazz Combo under the direction of Stacey Houghton (Wednesday, November 19, 2008 and Wednesday, April 22, 2009), the CSU Chorale conducted by Shaun Amos (Sunday, November 23, 2008 and Sunday, April 19, 2009), and the Clayton Community Big Band under the direction of Stacey Houghton (Monday, December 1, 2008 and Monday, April 27, 2009).

During the year, additional CSU Department of Music concerts are given and some may occasionally change. For the most up-to-date listing of CSU Department of Music concerts, visit www.a-s.clayton.edu/music.

SPIVEY HALL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Each year, Spivey Hall welcomes approximately 15,000 K-12 students and adults from 18 counties to participate in educational activities.

Treble and High School Choral Workshops are intensive programs for advanced middle and high school singers. Founded at Spivey Hall by the legendary choral conductor Robert Shaw, the workshops enable participants to work with a nationally-respected clinician and to give a culminating public performance that showcases the students’ musical growth. The Spivey Hall Treble Honor Choir concert will be given on Saturday, October 4, 2008, and the Spivey Hall High School Honor Choir concert will take place on Saturday, October 25, 2008. Spivey Hall’s annual Chamber Orchestra Workshop, featuring high school string players from various school systems under the direction of a an expert conductor in orchestral music, will conclude with the Spivey Hall Honor Chamber Orchestra concert on Friday, November 21, 2008. Spivey Jam is a celebration of middle and high school jazz programs. Clinicians visit schools to work with metro-Atlanta ensembles, and in the spring (2009 date to be announced), all participants unite to perform in Spivey Hall.

The award-winning Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program, under the direction of Dr. Martha Shaw, consists of 170 students in three treble choirs: the Spivey Hall Young Artists led by conductor Craig Hurley and accompanist Steven Wooddell; and the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, which includes the most advanced of the three choirs, the Spivey Hall Tour Choir, both led by Dr. Shaw and accompanist/assistant director Judy Mason. Students are chosen by audition and rehearse each Monday during the academic year. As the musical ambassadors of Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall, the Spivey Hall Tour Choir performs regionally, nationally and internationally, undertaking a major tour each summer. The Tour Choir has recently released its third commercial recording on the ACA Digital label, I’ll Be Seeing You, a CD of sacred music, traditional tunes, popular songs, and works by outstanding choral composers including Morten Lauridsen (“Dirait-on” from Les Chansons des Roses) and David L. Brunner (“A Song for Every Child,” commissioned by the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir).

All three choirs perform fall and spring concerts at Spivey Hall. Their annual December concerts are among Spivey Hall’s most joyous performances of the year, featuring a wonderful variety of music for the holidays that is immensely popular with audiences. The Friday, December 12, 2008 concert features the Young Artists and the Children’s Choir, performing separately and together, with Craig Hurley and Martha Shaw conducting; the Saturday/Sunday performances, December 13/14, 2008, showcase the Children’s Choir and the Tour Choir under the baton of Martha Shaw. The spring concerts, given in two programs (Friday, May 15, and Saturday/Sunday May 16/17, 2009), celebrate the high point of the choirs’ work at the end of the academic year.

Auditions for the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program are held each spring, with need-based scholarship assistance available. Audition, rehearsal and concert information may be obtained by calling (770) 946-9072 or by emailing info@shcc-tc.com.

Each season, several of Spivey Hall’s visiting guest artists also give Master Classes, open to music lovers of all abilities who wish to learn more about technique and interpretation. Auditors may attend for a fee of $10; students who perform in master classes are chosen by application. Master classes in the 2008-2009 season will be given by three distinguished artists and teachers: guitarist David Russell (Friday, April 3, 2009), pianist Murray Perahia (Saturday, March 21, 2009) and pianist Angela Hewitt (Saturday, May 2, 2009). Master classes are sponsored by Spivey Hall’s generous donors, The Friends of Spivey Hall.

Other Spivey Hall Education Programs in 2008-2009 include Professional Development for Teachers and Spivey Hall’s major series of weekday educational Young People’s Concerts. Details will be announced with the publication of the Education Program brochure in mid-summer 2008. For more information about Spivey Hall’s education programs or to request a brochure, call (678) 466-4481, visit www.spiveyhall.org/education, or email educationmanager@spiveyhall.org.

PRE-CONCERT TALKS

To enhance patrons’ listening experiences, Spivey Hall offers free pre-concert talks before vocal recitals, organ recitals, most performances by chamber music ensembles, and all four of the Spivey Hall 2009 Spring Bach Festival concerts. These popular pre-concert talks are given principally by Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller, Clayton State University’s Director of Vocal Activities and Opera, with pre-concert talks for organ recitals given by Richard Morris, Spivey Hall’s organist-in-residence. All pre-concert talks begin one hour prior to the scheduled concert time. Pre-concert talks are scheduled for the following 2008-2009 season performances:

Daedalus Quartet (Saturday, September 20, 2008)
Alan Morrison, organ & piano; Jeannine Morrison, piano (Sunday, September 28, 2008)
Trio Jean Paul (Sunday, October 19, 2008)
Tetzlaff Quartet (Sunday, November 9, 2008)
Christian Gerhaher, baritone (Sunday, November 16, 2008)
Dame Gillian Weir, organ (Saturday, January 10, 2009)
Lawrence Brownlee, tenor (Saturday, January 24, 2009)
Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano (Saturday, February 7, 2009)
Ann Elise Smoot, organ (Saturday, February 28, 2009)
Belcea Quartet (Saturday, March 7, 2009)
Swiss Wind Quintet and Michiko Otaki, piano (Sunday, March 15, 2009)
Academy of Ancient Music (Sunday, March 29, 2009)
Emmanuel Pahud, flute; Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord; Jonathan Manson, cello (Sunday, April 26, 2009)
Vincent Dubois, organ (Saturday, May 2, 2009)
Daniel Müller-Schott, cello and Angela Hewitt, piano (Sunday, May 3, 2009)
Magdalena Kožená, mezzo-soprano (Friday, May 8, 2009)

PUBLIC RADIO BROADCASTS

Many Spivey Hall performances are recorded for tape-delayed radio broadcast. Each fall, WABE 90.1 FM airs complete concerts from recent Spivey Hall seasons in its multi-week Spivey Soirée series. Spivey Hall concerts are also heard in WABE’s Atlanta Music Scene broadcasts. Selections from performances by most of the distinguished international recitalists and chamber music ensembles appearing in the Spivey Series are also heard by about 1.4 million people each week on 250 public radio stations carrying American Public Media’s Performance Today, a program accessible to music-lovers worldwide via the Internet at http://www.performancetoday.publicradio.org/. The recording of Spivey Hall concerts is generously funded by The Walter & Emilie Spivey Foundation.

THE FRIENDS OF SPIVEY HALL

With their annual donations, The Friends of Spivey Hall play a critical role in achieving the artistic mission of Spivey Hall. Friends receive priority seating when purchasing a Spivey Hall subscription of four or more concerts before single tickets go on sale to the public. Friends also receive invitations to special events, including receptions hosted by international consulates; recognition in all Spivey Hall program books for a period of 12 months from receipt of donation; and complimentary companion tickets through the Ambassadors Program, which enables donors of $250 and above to introduce first-time patrons to the joys of hearing fine music at Spivey Hall.

New for the 2008-2009 season are opportunities to sponsor individual Spivey Hall concerts, starting with donations of $2500. Concert sponsorship benefits include complimentary tickets, greeting the artists backstage, plus special recognition in Spivey Hall program books and publications, in the lobby, and on Spivey Hall’s website.

Donations to The Friends of Spivey Hall are managed by the Clayton State University Foundation on behalf of Spivey Hall and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. To join The Friends of Spivey Hall or to inquire about a concert sponsorship, call the Spivey Hall Box Office at (678) 466-4200.

SPIVEY HALL

Clayton State University
2000 Clayton State Boulevard
Morrow, GA 30260
http://www.spiveyhall.org/
Tel (678) 466-4200
Fax (678) 466-4494

Spivey Hall is located on the campus of CLAYTON STATE UNIVERSITY, a unit of the University System of Georgia and an outstanding metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta. Clayton State provides an intellectually challenging, culturally rich learning environment, encouraging residential and commuter students from a diverse range of ethnic, socioeconomic, experiential and geographical backgrounds to achieve their educational and career goals. The university offers undergraduate and graduate programs of superior quality taught by a professionally active teaching faculty committed to promoting academic excellence. http://www.clayton.edu/

Mega-Friday...three sold out houses in a single day

2008-02-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

Not everyone knows that Spivey Hall draws as many people (sometimes more!) to Young People's Concerts for children in grades K through 12 from public, private and homeschools in more than 12 counties as it does to its Spivey Series concert presentations. Today the Jose White String Quartet (hailing from Mexico) plays to two entirely sold-out houses (ca. 800 listeners) between the hours of 9:45 AM and 12:00 PM.

I was grateful to the sea of kids waiting in the lobby before the second concert who kindly let me through to get into my office...! We've just had the "changing of the guard" -- with dozens of school busses dropping off the 11:15 AM audience and picking up the 9:45 AM audience -- which can be quite a commotion!

But a truly happy one, since the students (which today are from grades 6 through 12) seem really excited to be here. For many of them, hearing a Spivey Hall Young People's Concert is their first introduction to fine music in a concert-hall setting. Because of Spivey Hall's renowned acoustics and intimate size, it's a fantastic place for such an introduction, because the students (like the adults) can feel truly connected to what's happening on stage. What better way to discover chamber music? Tickets for these concerts are only $1 each; we also have senior citizens who like to attend, and admission is free to Clayton State University students.

Working in close consultation with the Spivey Hall Education Committee chaired by Jay Wucher, Spivey Hall Education Manager Amber Dimkoff leads the booking, promotion, ticketing and front-of-house operations for Young People's Concerts, with the help of Education Assistant Bonita Clark, our wonderful volunteer ushers, and our backstage crew headed by Production Manager Lorenzo Callahan. Hats off and our sincere thanks to them all; with the YPC artists, they make great music happen -- music that enhances the learning and lives of young people from throughout metro Atlanta.

Tomorrow night (Saturday, February 2nd), the Jose White String Quartet teams up with CSU faculty pianist Michiko Otaki for the Brahms F-minor Piano Quintet, plus two great works for string quartet by Mozart and Schulhoff. We're grateful to the Jose White Quartet for their commitment to music education and for collaborating with us in this way. The Quartet has won numerous international awards and garnered warm praise from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. For more information and online tickets, visit http://www.spiveyhall.org/ or call the box office, (678) 466-4200.

Spivey Hall's partners in welcoming the Quartet to Atlanta are the Mexican Consulate General and the Instituto de Mexico, and they join The Friends of Spivey Hall in hosting a post-concert reception in honor of the artists, with the entire audience cordially invited to attend. Dr. Otaki joins her CSU Dept. of Music colleague Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller for a pre-concert talk at 7:15 PM, in which Dr. Otaki will give musical illustrations into the glories of the Brahms Quintet from the pianist's point of view.

This evening, Ladysmith Black Mambazo makes its Spivey Hall debut. These phenomenal cultural emissaries from South Africa have a strong following in Atlanta, and have also sold out Spivey Hall (even after adding pit seats, we have a wait list of more than 30 names). CNN is scheduled to do a feature on them today at Spivey Hall. We're delighted to welcome them for one the most highly-anticipated world-music events ever here. Their bus has already pulled up to the loading dock...and we look forward to a tremendously high-energy communion of artists and audience tonight.

And Sunday afternoon (February 3 at 3 PM) brings the Atlanta debut of the superb German soprano, Christine Schaefer, lately of the Metropolitan Opera and the Lincoln Center's Rose Theatre, who's singing a beautiful program of songs by Henry Purcell, Charles Ives, and a second half of Lieder by Richard Strauss. Her pianist is the renowned Martin Katz, no stranger to Spivey Hall, who played exquisitely in recital with David Daniels last weekend. We may expect our ears to be be amply rewarded! Good seats are still available for this performance, which includes an informative pre-concert talk by Dr. Zeller at 2 PM.

Okay...I'm going to go catch the end of the Jose White String Quartet's second YPC. No matter how many concerts I attend, it always inspires me see how great music continues to speak to people of all ages. In addition to the exuberant applause, you can see it on the kids' faces. It's amazing.

Metropolitan Opera Auditions results

2008-01-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

Once again Spivey Hall has had the pleasure of hosting the Southeast Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Twelve young singers from Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida took part, each singing two (and in some cases three) arias for a panel of expert judges: Paul Kilmer, Director of Artistic Administration, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Felicity Jackson, Associate Director, Chicago Opera Theater; and George Darden, the long-time pianist, coach and assistant conductor of The Metropolitan Opera who has also performed in recital with many celebrated vocalists.

This year's winners were announced by Dr. John C. LaForge, Southeast Regional Auditions Director (also Coordinator of Music for Fulton County Schools and a member of the Spivey Hall Education Committee):

+ The Atlanta Opera Guild Encouragement Award ($300): mezzo-soprano Sarah Limper, age 26, Florida

+ The Peg Gary Encouragement Award ($300): mezzo-soprano Kaitlyn Costello, age 22, Georgia

+ Third Place Winner ($400 Metropolian Opera National Council Award; $600 Southeast Regional Fund Award): baritone Nimrod Weisbrod, age 27, Florida

+ This year there are two First Place Winners, each of which will receive $4000 and will travel to New York to sing at The Met National Audition Semi-finals on Sunday, February 17. (The National Grand Finals Concert is Sunday, February 24.)

These prizes are generously funded by numerous donors:

> The MRS. EDWARD TOBIN AWARD ($800) - An annual national award given to the First Place Winner in each of the 15 Regions
> The W.K. LOMASON MEMORIAL AWARD ($1000)
> The CROSS FOUNDATION in honor of Mrs. John (Margaret) Talmadge, Chairman of the Southeast Region Auditions ($1000)
> An anonymous award given in honor of Mrs. Gilbert W. Humphrey ($720)
> The ATLANTA OPERA GUILD AWARD from the HELEN RILEY SMITH MEMORIAL FUND ($350)
> The SOUTHEAST REGIONAL FUND AWARD ($350)

FIRST PRIZE WINNERS:

soprano Carolina Castells, age 25, of Florida

and

tenor Rene Barbera, age 23, of North Carolina

Congratulations to all the contestants! Thanks are also due to David D'Ambrosio, staff accompanist for all of the contestants save tenor Martin Nusspaumer, whose accompanist was Benny John Plasencia; and to J. Barry Schrenk, Director of Membership and Finance for the Southeast Region.

An aside about pianos: We had a little on-stage drama with our pianos today. As many of our patrons know (and as was amply reported in Pierre Ruhe's feature that ran in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the Sunday after Thanksgiving), Spivey Hall has two magnificent New York Steinway "D" concert grand pianos. One was the instrument that Emilie Spivey had in her home. Here at Spivey Hall, this instrument very naturally goes by the name of "Emilie." Our second Steinway grand, selected for us by outstanding American pianist Richard Goode, is named "Walter" -- since of course Dr. Walter & Emilie Spivey were the visionary philanthropists who led the creation of Spivey Hall, and whose Foundation generously funds our operations.

"Emilie" was the instrument of choice at today's auditions -- until she developed a problem with a buzzing string. About two weeks ago a string snapped on Emilie, and the new string (which stretches and takes some time to acclimate) apparently hasn't quite settled down. It was fine Friday night when Martin Katz performed with countertenor David Daniels (a very rewarding recital indeed), but today it created a very noticeable noise that distracted the artists and the audience.

So, after Rene Barbera's selections in the second half of the program, "Emilie" got to take a nap in her storage area (our piano technicians will pay a visit to her shortly), and out came "Walter" for his moment in the Met auditions spotlight.

"Walter" was Emanuel Ax's instrument of choice for his December 2nd recital, and I expect we'll be seeing (and hearing) more of him in the coming months, since over the summer and into the early fall he's had lots of TLC from our two first-rate piano technicians, Craig Miller and Chuck Cook.

Curious to know which is which? You can tell when "Walter" is on stage, because "Steinway & Sons" is visible on the side of the piano facing the audience; "Emile," appropriately discreet, has no such emblem.

A weekend of great singing

2008-01-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

We've got just a handful a tickets left for this Friday's January 25th recital by countertenor David Daniels and pianist Martin Katz. They performed on Saturday in Boston, and the Boston Globe critic heard much to his liking.

Take a look:
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2008/01/21/drawing_vocal_lines_across_centuries/

David Daniels makes his Santa Fe Opera debut this summer in Handel's Radamisto -- another performance I greatly look forward to hearing.

More great singing this weekend comes by way of the virtuostic Dutch vocal ensemble, Quink, on Saturday evening, January 26th. Their far-ranging program featuring works of several centuries includes a wildly imaginative contemporary piece by Simeon ten Holt, Bi-Ba-Bo -- the likes of which you probably haven't heard before.

I knew Quink had sung in an earlier Spivey Hall season, but I didn't know their work from first-hand experience, so about 18 months ago I put on a sampler CD in my office that their manager had supplied. I listened happily to the first several selections that music of the Renaissance. I had my office door open; the music wafted into the box office. When Bi-Ba-Bo came on, suddenly I had several people at my door, asking "WHAT is that?" It's an astonishing piece, and Quink performs it brilliantly. Tickets are still available -- come and let your ears be amazed.

Great singing continues on Sunday with the Metropolitan Opera National Council Southeast Regional Final Auditions -- always an exciting occasion when we get to hear the most promising vocal talents from throughout the Southeast. Each singer performs two selections with piano accompaniment, and the winner goes on to sing in the Grand Finals on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (if I'm not mistaken, David Daniels was once such a winner -- he hails from South Carolina). This highly popular and eagerly anticipated event has just a few tickets left, in pit the seating area, close to the stage. Get 'em while you can, and catch a rising star.

Deep listening

2008-01-20T17:07:00.001-08:00

I spent six days in New York this month, visiting with artist managers, meeting musicians and attending performances. A highlight of my trip was hearing Wagner's Die Walkuere at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Lorin Maazel.

Since Maazel has been long absent from the Met podium, his return was newsworthy, and I was eager to attend. I greatly admire his technique -- there are few conductors I know who can communicate to an orchestra with such masterful economy of gesture -- and I had a third-row orchestra seat, with Maazel just to my left, from which to observe him readily.

I'm in awe of Wagner's Die Walkuere, and the cast was strong. Vocally resplendent mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe was most impressive -- a commanding Flicka whose admonitions any Wotan would be compelled to obey!

But what astounded me most was the playing of the Met Orchestra. With Maazel in control at their helm, quiet and attentive audience members around me, the singers so close in front of me, enough room so that I didn't feel cramped, and (critically) with enough energy and presence of mind to give myself fully to the performance, I had what I call a "deep listening" experience. I felt fully engrossed in the performance, and intimately connected to Wagner. Extraneous thoughts rarely entered my consciousness. I was totally "in the moment."

Performances that inspire experiences of this nature are incredibly moving, and the source of tremendous joy in my life.

They're not everyday occurrences. At any performance, there are threats to full attention that deep listening requires. Some are environmental and external -- what's happening around the listener; some are personal and internal -- distraction, fatigue, an unreadiness to engage with the performance.

In the course of the Met performance, a cell phone went off -- the unmistakably cheerful opening of "Spring" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons in chirpy electronic tones -- and it didn't come from the audience, it came from the pit! Maestro Maazel had a very special glance to offer one of the sections of the orchestra at that moment... Thankfully, it didn't ruin a rapturous moment.

Deep listening does ask us to give ourselves entirely to what's happening on stage. Unlike the superabundance of entertainment options available to us these days, live performance of great music wants our undivided attention in order for the music to work its magic. This isn't always easy, but when it happens, it's memorable and wonderfully rewarding.

When creating each new concert season, I aspire to these moments that deep listening brings: when everything comes together to enable the artists on stage to connect through great music to the people in the audience. This Met Walkuere was a powerful reminder to me of how exhilarating such listening can be.

At Spivey Hall, we're privileged to enjoy performances by excellent international musicians who are inspired by the hall's superb acoustics and the connection they feel with the audience. As a result, we probably get more than our average share of deep listening opportunities. I certainly feel that way, and suspect it's one of the reasons our most loyal patrons feel so passionately what happens here.

As the second half of the 2007/08 season begins in earnest, even though we'll never have the Met Orchestra in the pit and eight mighty Valkyries singing lustily from the Spivey Hall stage, I'm confident we can look forward to plenty of deep listening experiences and all the pleasures they afford.

Back to Bolivia...no, back to blogging

2007-12-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome back...yes, the blog hasn't died altogether. Of course I'm mortified that I've not made a new blog post since July, but I'm not alone among people who start a blog site only to learn they've created something of a monster that constantly lurks in your mental list of things needing attention. The blog wants time pretty much all of the time, and keeping a blog current is no small feat. But it's also somewhat addictive and I truly have been longing to get back to it.

Since my last blog entry, I've been spending time hiring Spivey Hall staff and am delighted that we've welcomed two senior managers here in production and marketing...with one more hire to go before we're back at full strength (a new staff portrait soon to come -- watch this space). I and my co-workers took on the extra work created by the vacancies, and my "To Do" list grew steadily while we interviewed candidates and identified our new colleagues. Then the concert season started up in October -- always a welcome moment in my life, but then we also returned to working most weekends, and time seems to become even more scarce.

Most importantly, however, I did some traveling and lots of listening over the summer and into the fall, and have now completed booking of Spivey Hall's 2008/09 main series -- quite a bit earlier than in prior years. We plan to announce the new season in February or March. In reality, the artistic planning cycle never completely ends; already I'm making commitments and invitations to artists for 2009/10.

Musically we've had a very rewarding autumn, and some good results at the box office, too, with sell-outs of The Romeros, The King's Singers, Emanuel Ax, and Irish tenor Ronan Tynan. And the Spivey Hall Children's Choir holiday concerts under the direction of Dr. Martha Shaw, and the Young Artists led by Craig Hurley, were again beautifully sung and joyously received (in addition to being sell-outs, too). Their artistic achievements are extraordinary and we are immensely proud of them of all.

For those of you who hear American Public Media's Performance Today, broadcast nationwide on public radio stations, the Christmas Day edition of the show will include the Children's Choir's a cappella performance of "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" by Elizabeth Poston, and The King's Singers in "Resonet in laudibus" by Orlando di Lassus, plus a medley of Catalonian Christmas songs ("La Pastoreta" - "Maria Rosa" - "La Caterineta") arranged by Goff Richards. Tune in, and your ears and spirit will be rewarded.

Another reason (of "the-dog-ate-my-homework" variety) for not blogging recently: comments made to me about the focus and content of my blog. Although many people have urged me to make my blog entries shorter (helpful advice, since it might be easier to read, and also make frequent blogging easier), two people whose opinions I respect said that the blog shouldn't be solely about the artists and programs we're presenting at Spivey Hall -- instead, it should be more about what I'm thinking/hearing/feeling/reading on musical topics of various sorts. Which made me stop and think quite a bit. And then of course, the more I thought, the longer my prospective blog entries became in my head.

Should more people care to voice opinions about the focus of content, I'll be very curious and grateful to read them. One of my New Year's resolutions is to visit my blog daily, just as I do several other websites, and chime in with shorter entries more frequently -- regardless of what the content focus might be. I'll embrace this resolution starting January 7, when I'm back from a break.

Closing comment: I trust many of you reading this will understand the somewhat arcane "Back to Bolivia" reference in the post title. If not, visit a library and check out the spines of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. One of things I love to do over the holidays is randomly select a volume of this extraordinary reference work and read at leisure. It reminds me of how vast the world of music is, and how much there is to discover.

Joyous and peaceful holidays to all!