Mei-Ann Chen is Music Director of the Memphis Symphony and the Chicago Sinfonietta.  Earlier this year she guest-conducted with the San Diego Symphony, and on May 9 she made her subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony.  This is four orchestras and their audiences to whom she has introduced the music of Florence Price.

A few weeks ago she was kind enough to take a few moments from her busy schedule and talk with me about how this all came about.

Liane Curtis:  I just recently discovered what you are doing when I saw they were going to play the “Mississippi River” Suite in Chicago. So I want to ask you about her, about Florence Price.

MEI-ANN CHEN:  I have to admit I didn’t know much of Florence Price’s music before Martha Gilmer of the Chicago Symphony approached me with her Mississippi River.  Martha has been the Vice President for Artistic Planning and Audience Development with the Chicago Symphony for a long time, and obviously Florence Price being very special to Chicago Symphony’s history, I think she has been waiting for the right conductor to come along.  …  It will kick off the Rivers Festival that was sugested by Yo-Yo Ma.  Yo-Yo has an official role as a Creative Consultant with the Chicago Symphony now.

Martha has been following my career because she has family from Memphis…her family there has been sort of the ‘spy’ [laughs] for Martha and what’s happening with Memphis.  And one thing led to another.  So when Martha approached me and said “how would you like to do this piece?”  I said “Oh my gosh, I totally don’t know this composer.” …

I just read the blog that you have—it’s wonderful that you are continuing to advocate for women composers.  So, this year, as you know I have done “The Oak” [also by Florence Price] with Chicago Sinfonietta, and there’s one more piece that I’d like to mention because it’s a hidden jewel.  We had to change one of the programs in Memphis … so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to find another piece by Florence Price for our audience to learn about her work in preparation for the Mississippi River that we’re doing to end our Masterworks season.

And so I found another piece by Florence Price, I don’t know if you know, it was originally written for piano, called “Dances in the Canebrakes.”  William Grant Still orchestrated it for her, even though she knew how to write for orchestra, but I don’t know, maybe they were such good friends that William Grant Still thought this piece really deserved an orchestral treatment. It’s so delightful!  But I can tell you when we got the parts from the publisher our librarian was a little bit horrified … It just looked like it hasn’t really been performed with an orchestra.  So we actually got permission from the publisher to create a set [of parts] that our musicians can use.  That way the publisher could continue to use this very well-made set for other orchestras.

So I’m going to do that again with Chicago Sinfonietta coming up in June for our Annual Ball, which is the largest fundraising event for the Sinfonietta … a lot of African-American community leaders will be attending.  And in the same concert we will also be previewing our next season in which we will be doing the last two movements of Florence Price’s Symphony in E, which is Symphony No. 1; it was premiered by the Chicago Symphony in 1933.

LC:  Great!  That’s good to know! So you’re doing “Dances in the Canebrakes” in Memphis?

CHEN:  We just did it in January.  And I will be doing it also with the Chicago Sinfonietta coming up in June.  And they’re such delightful pieces, and really orchestrated well, but nobody knows!  We’re also trying to spread the word to other orchestras. It might be wonderful for people to consider programming it.

LC:  I know you did some Florence Price in San Diego because I sold a lot of CDs there [The Women’s Philharmonic CDs that we sell on our website]. 

CHEN:  Oh, wonderful!  Yes, I did Mississippi River in San Diego in February this year.  I’m scared to do anything for the first time in front of the Chicago Symphony.  And so it was actually a wonderful thing that San Diego had this response when I pitched it, they said “Sure, why don’t we do it here!”  And I have to tell you the librarian there, Courtney [Cohen] was so wonderful because she compiled a 10-page errata list for the piece.  You might be able to help us to solve this mystery, because it’s been recorded by The Women’s Philharmonic, so there must be a good set somewhere where all the wrong notes were caught…because the recording has the correct pitches compared to the many misprints in the parts she received for the San Diego program.   Courtney said she couldn’t find that set used by the recording used for the recording, so she actually had to start from a brand new set.  But the wonderful thing is this 10-page errata list compiled by Courtney will go on to the Chicago Symphony for my next performances in May and to Memphis as well; it will save a lot of rehearsal time for both—and future—orchestras.

LC: The thing about The Women’s Philharmonic, when they shut down in 2004, there’s been a dispersal of their collection and their knowledge.

CHEN:  I see.  Hopefully now the piece can become mainstream and at least we have done a lot of the footwork, the hard work for it, that will make it easier for other orchestras to do it now.

LC:  Just on another subject, I know that you’re traveling so much and you go back and forth between Chicago and Memphis?

CHEN: Right. Because I’m Music Director to both Memphis Symphony and the Chicago Sinfonietta, (the latter being the most diverse orchestra in the country, founded to promote minority musicians of all kinds).  The Chicago Sinfonietta is unique with its mission.  Soloists, conductor, musicians…and it was very specific when Maestro [Paul] Freeman founded it, to promote African-American musicians and Latino musicians, so my appointment as Maestro Freeman’s successor surprised a lot of people.   However, being in such a diverse world, it’s a goal for us to embrace  more of a global diversity.  But I think Maestro Freeman has also been promoting women composers and so it’s neat that even though Florence Price was probably not a composer whose music he had come in contact with, it fits nicely in terms of in my Chicago Symphony debut that I’m able to champion for an African-American woman composer.

LC:  Great.  Wonderful.  So are both cities home for you now? 

CHEN:  Yes, Memphis is larger in budget size and so the longer season requires more of my residency.  I spend 18 weeks in Memphis, and 12 of the 18 are conducting weeks.  Now, in Chicago I spend eight to ten weeks a year and I consider myself also a Chicagoan.  Our Sinfonietta season is a lot smaller in size.  I conduct four concerts with the Chicago Sinfonietta, but there are other projects.  For example we have a program called Project Inclusion, which is about to really gain national recognition from major foundations. It’s probably the only program that creates opportunity not only in small ensembles but also in side-by-side opportunity for music students who haven’t yet garnered enough experience to land a professional position in either an orchestra or a teaching position.

And so it’s really a small orchestra, but with mighty impact in the industry.  For example, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, which is quite well known, serves the Chicago Millennium Park with free concerts in the summer. We are going to begin a partnership as part of our Project Inclusion; participants will be playing side-by-side with their professional musicians this upcoming summer season.   And so we are hoping to use my professional network, and our wonderful Executive Director Jim Hirsch’s professional network, to pitch a similar concept to other professional orchestras to encourage more presence of minority musicians among the symphonic world in our country, and to also encourage those …who don’t really grow up with classical music—it’s so important that they get exposed to it as much as possible.

LC:  That’s fantastic! 

CHEN:  And I hope you will include “Dances in the Canebrakes” on your blog because they’re really delightful pieces.  There’s a recording of the piano version but there is no commercial recording yet available of the orchestra version.  My first commercial disc is coming out very soon, featuring the Harlem Quartet [and the Chicago Sinfonietta], with one world premiere and pieces that are out of print.  I already told Jim Hirsch my hope for the next recording project: to include Florence Price, at least the “Dances in the Canebrakes” for sure.

LC:  Oh great, fantastic.  Excellent!  I’ll look forward to that and thank you so much again. 

CHEN:  Thank you for all you’re doing to advocate for women composers!

[And thanks to Susan Brown for her help in transcribing this interview.]

Acclaimed conductor Mei-Ann Chen is just completing her first year as Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta.  And Thursday she made her debut as a guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra‘s subscription series.  She made quite a  ”splash” with Florence Price’s Mississippi River Suite—the press has been filled with praise for the inspired leadership she brings to this work.

The Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein enthuses that “Chen clearly believes in the musical merits of ‘Mississippi River,’ and she succeeded in transferring her admiration to the orchestra”—and the audiences as well!  Dating from 1934, ” the suite is attractive, tuneful, nostalgic, cannily scored, direct of expression,”  and and example of   “unabashed populism.”   “Is a Florence Price renaissance upon us?”  asks von Rheim.  Clearly the answer is “yes,” if we follow Chen’s activities—she led the San Diego Symphony in the Mississippi River Suite in February, and will bring the work to her Memphis Symphony next weekend.  She already performed Price’s “Dances in the Canebreaks” (as orchestrated by Price’s friend William Grant Still) in January in Memphis, and will bring it to the Chicago Sinfonietta on June 1.

Describing the Mississippi River Suite, Wynne Delacoma  (writing in the Chicago Classical Review) was moved to write in detail:

 In the last movement, solo instruments came and went like musicians heard on a nearby shore, a moody trumpet or glowing horn or ardent cello playing snatches of such spirituals as Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen and Go Down, Moses. Spiced with bits from popular songs of the 1900s, the musical layers came together in a jaunty mashup. But in the closing bars the river once again smoothed out into a gently flowing undercurrent and the call of a lonely harp.  …  The concert was an auspicious CSO subscription concert debut for Chen … With luck, we’ll see her again on the CSO podium.

And with luck, more ensembles will be bringing Florence Price’s music to life!
 

By Laurine Celeste Fox, guest blogger.

On Sunday, April 14, 2013, The Cecilia Chorus of New York, along with members of the Long Island University Post Chorus, gave the New York premiere of Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D Major.  The 150+ voices of the choruses were joined by a 55-piece orchestra and vocal soloists Felicia Moore, soprano; Heather Johnson, mezzo-soprano; Eric Barry, tenor and Matthew Treviño, bass.  The performance was led by Mark Shapiro, music director & conductor of both choruses and, as befits the worth and importance of Smyth’s Mass, it was given a superb performance by the collected forces at Carnegie Hall.

I was unfamiliar with this Mass prior to hearing this performance, and had no idea that it is such an outstanding piece of music.  From the opening Kyrie I was struck by the power of the music, and as the work unfolded I was also struck by the highly imaginative use of the choral forces, orchestral forces and solo voices.  In addition to the sections for full chorus and orchestra there were sections of music so transparent and intimate (and used so few musicians) that they could only be described as chamber music.

Indeed, in the Credo which followed the Kyrie solo tenor Eric Barry was accompanied by solo violin (concertmistress Deborah Wong), and later in the same movement solo soprano Felicia Moore was also accompanied by solo violin.  Then, in the Crucifixus section of the Credo the tutti forces were once again employed, but were then followed by a section employing a string quartet accompanying the voices.  As we approached the end of the movement tutti forces were once again used for the fugal “Et vitam venturi seculi”  and the movement then ended with a magnificent Amen – magnificently written and magnificently performed.

It was at the end of this Credo movement, however, that I started to realize what a major work the Smyth Mass is; for not only is it an outstanding piece of music, but at approximately 16 minutes in length, the Credo movement alone is as long (or longer) than some of the complete Mozart Missa Breve.

Another imaginative and highly effective movement was the Benedictus, with its muted strings accompanying the women’s voices of the chorus and solo soprano Felicia Moore.

The Benedictus was followed by an Agnus Dei set in minor.  One was first struck by the pathos which Smyth evoked with her move to minor, but as the movement progressed the music became increasingly dramatic.  Indeed, Eric Barry’s soaring tenor voice was gripping in its intensity of expression as he gave an inspired evocation of the pathos and drama of this movement.

As befits the Anglican liturgy, the final movement of this Mass is a Gloria—and what a glorious Gloria it is.  This multi-section movement is also approximately 16 minutes in length, with its various sections contrasting in tempi, orchestration, meter and employment of vocal forces.  Smyth herself said that the movement proceeds through “splendid outbursts.”  One of those “splendid outbursts” undoubtedly has to be the “Quoniam tu solus Sanctus” which I noted during the performance with a simple “FABULOUS”—fabulously written and executed by the performers.

And as befits an outstanding setting of a Mass, this work closes with a grand Amen that was given a superb performance.

In closing, BRAVO! to conductor Mark Shapiro and the Cecilia Chorus for programming Smyth’s Mass, and all the work so many people must have done to assure that it was given a New York premiere worthy of its outstanding merits.  Shapiro is also to be lauded for the excellent preparation of the choral forces and the inspired performance he gave of this work—a work he obviously believes in very deeply.  He and the performers with whom he worked certainly convinced me of its great merits.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

An internationally lauded conductor, Laurine Celeste Fox is Music Director/Conductor of Philharmonia New York and also is widely known for her musical scholarship, which has resulted in the discovery of a number of forgotten works that she and her ensembles have premiered.
 

In anticipation of the April 14 performance of Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D Major, Liz Wood (musicologist and widely published author) gave an illuminating talk about Smyth and the origins of her Mass.  Virginia Woolf described Smyth’s vigorous character, calling her a pioneer and a courageous window-breaker (referring to her role in the Suffrage movement).  The image we get of Smyth is close to that of the dread-naught,  the largest and most-feared of the British warships.  It’s true that Smyth’s personality could be overpowering. But also her musical ability and creative powers reveal a composer of monumental stature, and her personality should not distract us from that.

Smyth, in her period of study in Leipzig, was introduced to Brahms and Clara Schumann, and became very friendly with Grieg and his wife.  But a focal point of Wood’s presentation was the role of Tchaikovsky.  He not only praised her chamber works (in particular the Violin Sonata in A Minor, Op. 7), but also he emphatically urged her to turn to writing for orchestra, so that the grand scope of her musical vision could be better realized.  “Listen to the voices of people in intelligent conversation,” he urged her, “to engage with the nuances of tone color and articulation.”  Smyth took him very seriously, and threw herself into the study of orchestration, by following that unorthodox advice, and also by the more time-honored practice of attending symphonic concerts and turning her ear to the use of the orchestra.

Ethel Smyth

Another central issue in Wood’s presentation was Smyth’s turning to religion, in the face of personal crisis.  Smyth was overwhelmed by confusion after she was rejected by a lover, and consequentially also lost  her artistic supports and mainstays—the circle who had previously encouraged and nurtured her during her study in Leipzig.   To understand the intersecting love triangles/quadrangles one would surely need some kind of chart.   Then her emotional upheaval continued as she experienced death—of her mother, and then of the love interest who had spurned her.  The turmoil left her reeling and confused.  She turned to religion and the Mass is the result.  “That’s the answer,” she wrote to a friend, with a sense of revelation, “Angus dei, qui tollis pecata mundi, dona nobis pacem.”    After writing the Mass— and its successful premiere in 1893—Smyth returned to her secular belief system and wrote no more religious music.

Concerning her placing of the Gloria movement last, this allowed her to have a conclusion that was jubilant and triumphant.  It was also is (as Wood pointed out) a feature of the Anglican liturgy.

Chatting with the Cecilia Chorus’ music director Mark Shapiro, after Prof. Wood’s presentation, he was eager to express his enthusiasm and commitment to the work.  It will be his second time to conducting it—he led the Monmouth Civic Chorus (New Jersey) in it just over 20 years ago (celebrating the centennial of its premiere), and he is thrilled to have this opportunity to bring a new level of insight and experience to this piece, which he sees as a profound expression of the human soul.   Some of the chorus members (who were excited to be able to attend the talk and learn more about Smyth) also commented on how impressed they were with the Mass, and how happy they are to bring this great work it to New York and Carnegie Hall. 

In short—looks like it’s the place to be on April 14, tickets available here!
 

The Metropolitan Opera is making preparations for the 2013-2014 season—which include Jane Glover conducting a production of The Magic Flute in December 2013.

Jane Glover, conductor

Glover is not only an internationally recognized and well-respected conductor and educator, leading the opera division of the Royal Academy of Music, she is also the author of the acclaimed book Mozart’s Women published in 2007.

Jane Glover has led the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Australia, and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice—to name a few. She will be only the third woman to ever conduct at the Met in its 120+ year history.

Sarah Caldwell was the first woman to conduct at the Met on January 13, 1976—a tidbit that made it to the very bottom of the FAQ page.  The second woman was Simone Young, as Anthony Tommasini noted in the NY Times in 2007. Tommasini was writing about Marin Alsop starting her tenure as the first female Music Director of a top-level U.S. orchestra. The article was full of optimism, but while women continue to make progress in the mid-level ensembles, we have seen no further progress at the most prestigious institutions. That Jane Glover is to conduct at the Met is obviously long overdue.

On the cusp of Black and Women’s History Months, we’re celebrating that 80 years after her orchestral debut Florence Beatrice Price is currently making a comeback on the concert stage—thanks in no small part to conductor Mei-Ann Chen.

Chen, maestro of both the Memphis Symphony and the Chicago Sinfonietta performed Price’s The Oak as part of a January tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King on the occasion of national remembrances of his birthday. Then, in February, she took the podium to guest-conduct the San Diego Symphony in a performance of Price’s 30-minute tone poem Mississippi River. The latter serves as a warm-up for what will later this spring be the biggest platform for Price (and Chen): a premiere of Mississippi River by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Returning to the Chicago Symphony stage is, of course, a homecoming of sorts for Price. The Arkansas native studied at the New England Conservatory of Music (as did Chen, coincidentally) and although she initially returned home where she taught music and composed short pieces for the piano, the racial tensions and violence in the south during the 1920s eventually precipitated a move to Chicago in 1927. There she became both teacher and student as she availed herself of the many professional opportunities to continue her musical studies with some of the era’s finest teachers.

Blossoming creatively, Price won both first and second place in the prestigious Wanamaker Music Composition Contest with her Symphony in E Minor and Piano Sonata in E Minor. As a consequence, she broke gender and racial barriers by becoming the first woman of African descent to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

Chen will guest-conduct Price’s 1934 Mississippi River for the CSO for five performances this May.

Mississippi River was composed the following year, and is subtitled “The River and the Songs of Those Dwelling Upon Its Banks.” Presaging Copland, the suite weaves together melodies of traditional folk tunes, African-American spirituals and even one Native-American chant. It will receive five performances beginning on May 9, 2013, as part of the CSO’s Rivers series.

Mississippi River, The Oak and Price’s Symphony No. 3 in C Minor can all be heard on the landmark recording of the Women’s Philharmonic under the direction of Apo Hsu, available in the WPA shop.

Price was a prolific composer, penning an estimated 300 works that range from small teaching pieces to large-scale concertos and symphonies and include chamber music and vocal compositions. Her “eloquent” arrangements were championed by both Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson, according to the New York City Opera’s Cori Ellison. Nevertheless, much of her work remains unpublished and she has rarely (with the exception of the Women’s Philharmonic) been performed since her death in 1953.

Certainly Price’s gender and race were obstacles to publication and performance, but Ellison also notes that she was branded “conservative” because her romantic, chromatic compositions eschewed the atonality that became the vogue in 20th century music. Yet despite this adherence to Western European forms and techniques Price did innovate, by suffusing her music with deeply spiritual and southern roots, in the form of African-American dance rhythms and folk melodies.

In addition to the above links, Columbia College’s Center for Black Music Research in Chicago is a fabulous resource for all things classical and African-American. Volume 3 of Recorded Music of the African Diaspora (2011), which we highlighted at this time last year, contains not only Price’s Symphony in E Minor, but her Concerto in One Movement, whose score has been partially reconstructed for this project by composer Trevor Weston. Of special note is a comprehensive discography of music by black composers compiled by the Center.

And stay tuned for more on Mei-Ann Chen, whom we hope to feature (and interview!) later this month.

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in area premiere of rare, remarkable Concerto. [update added at end after hearing second performance]

Amy Beach was 33 years old when she gave the premiere performance of her own Piano Concerto (op. 45 in C-Sharp Minor) in April 1900. Although her husband had restricted the pianist-composer to one public performance per year since their marriage in 1885, she had experience under her belt performing concertos by Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns,  Moscheles, and Chopin, mostly with the Boston Symphony. Her Concerto is a work of monumental proportions, demanding the utmost of virtuosity from  a fiery  soloist.  Would the 23-year old Saet Byeol Kim emerge not only unscathed but heroic in this vigorous battle of soloist vs. orchestra?   

She did indeed, and after the final majestic chords, the audience was on their feet in an ovation to affirm that fact.

The orchestra begins the first movement with a brooding motive (shaped insightfully by Remmereit). The soloist’s first entrance is a huge assertion—here is the 19th century concerto tradition, in all its stormy, extrovert glory.  And counterbalanced by lyricism, as the second theme—an evocative, haunting phrase, stated first by the soloist, and developed warmly by a violin solo (Concertmaster Juliana Athayde). For this theme Beach borrowed a melody from one of her own earlier songs (I’ve provided the poems for these songs in an earlier post).

Beach described the Largo as a “dark, tragic lament.”  She borrowed from her own early song “Twilight,” setting her husband’s poem about darkness setting over a dense forest scene. Beach’s re-use of her creation offered her an opportunity to place these musical ideas in a rich, multi-layered context (sculpted gorgeously by the orchestra). The melody was introduced by a poignant clarinet solo (Kenneth Grant). Here I thought Kim might have had more depth of emotion and meshed more tautly with the orchestra; her Chopinesque flourishes were brilliant emotional outbursts.

Mussorgsky’s atmospheric Introduction to Kovanschchina was a perfect concert opener, and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony —well, we know that piece, don’t we?  It was a thoughtful and well-balanced program. For me, the chance to hear a remarkable work like Beach’s concerto was well worth the travel.

For  her U.S. debut, pianist Saet Byeol Kim has made a definite mark on the artistic landscape, and I hope she will have many other opportunities to bring this work to audiences.  And Arild Remmereit and the RPO continue in their remarkable, essential mission of bringing such great—but little-known—masterworks to the ears of audiences!

–––––* * * * * * * * *

Update — after hearing the Saturday (Nov. 17) concert — Saet Byeol Kim again impressed with the energy and freshness she brought to the piece, it was not at all a carbon-copy of the Thursday performance. She reached real lyrical heights in the third movement, Largo. The first movement, with its imposing length, had moments of solo and orchestra careening into imprecision, but these were (fortunately) very brief. The overall effect was powerful and exhilarating, and the Saturday audience could not contain their applause after the first movement.  And at the conclusion Kim, Remmereit, and the  orchestra received a lengthy and insistent standing ovation!

Oh, and that Tchaikovsky—the Sixth needs both understanding of the underlying architecture, as well as fiery passion; Remmereit and the orchestra had an inspired chemistry throughout. Particularly striking was dance-like grace of the second movement, with its almost-waltz of 5-4 time. And the overwhelming power of the fade-to-nothing ending, which I heard, not as tragic resignation, but rather as a determined resolve. I certainly have not ever experienced a large audience all holding their breath for so long, so complete was the spell of the peroration, one I will not forget.

It took place a week ago—the presentation of the first ever AMY Award—and what a thrill it was.  I was so honored to give the award before the full orchestra (the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra), and the near-capacity audience (almost 2400, including the 500 violists in attendance for the International Viola Congress).  It took place just after intermission—the first half of the program was works by Margaret Brouwer and Sofia Gubaidulina (it was actually quite extraordinary to have two works by women on a single program), and after the presentation, the program concluded with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.  I thought I would share the entire text of my speech:

Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy was launched four years ago with the goal of encouraging orchestras to program more works by women. We wanted to carry on part of the mission of The Women’s Philharmonic, a professional orchestra that was based in San Francisco from 1980 to 2004. Over those 24 years, they performed more than 300 works composed by women from the 17^th century to the present.

Of course recent decades have seen considerable change, so we have, on the one hand, women who are among the most performed and recognized contemporary composers—but on the other hand, if you look at statistics provided by the League of American Orchestras, you find that the overall number of works composed by women is still only no more than 1.7 percent of the orchestral performance repertoire. That is a very tiny sliver of the composer pie.

So when we noticed what was happening here in Rochester, with Maestro Remmereit and the Philharmonic, we thought we had better come up with an award for this. This is what we want  to see as the new normal,  a model for orchestras across the country: to explore new new repertoire—commissions and works by living composers—and also new, old repertoire—that is, works from the past decades and centuries, the buried treasures that today’s audiences have never had  a chance to hear.

We decided to name our award the AMY Award, after Amy Beach. As you know, Beach was the first American woman to have a symphony performed. She published more than 300 works, yet—after her death, like every other female composer she was erased from the repertoire and from music history.

Last fall you had the exciting opportunity to hear Beach’s masterpiece, her Gaelic Symphony. This fall you will get to hear her Piano Concerto.  Perhaps in 2013 it will be time for her monumental Mass, a work which, despite its grandeur, has never been professionally recorded. And in 2014 maybe we will hear her Balkan Variations. And perhaps in 2015 her concert arias. And did I mention her Mass has never been recorded?

I hope you will agree that in embarking on this pathway of discovery, Maestro Remmereit  has not forced you to listen to a lot of crummy music. By introducing new works to our classical traditions—creating classics—the orchestral world will be strengthened and invigorated, and audiences will be excited by the discoveries that span continents, centuries, and genders.

Will Maestro Remmereit please come forward to accept the award.

The sculpture is by artist Rita Blitt.  It stands ½ inch taller than the Oscar statue, and we think it is much more beautiful!

On behalf of WPA, I am happy to present Maestro Remmereit and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra with the AMY award for excellence in orchestral programming.

Everyone was so excited by this, and Maestro Remmereit was very moved. We didn’t get any pictures, but there is this one from the reception afterwards. But I am definitely going back in the fall!

ALSO:   Our Board plans to announce the details (on June 18) of another program to encourage including more works by women to the orchestral repertoire, our WPA Performance Grants.

The Rochester Philharmonic’s concerts are encored in streaming radio broadcast—

this concert (May 7,  2012 Monday, at 8 pm) starts with Fanny Hensel’s Cantata, “Job.”   Find the WXXI Classical 91.5 Stream Player here

http://interactive.wxxi.org/listen#fmstream

Here is the schedule for the Broadcasts   http://interactive.wxxi.org/rpo/listings

The Cantata is not very long (ca. 15 minutes), and then is follow by Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. The one CD of Hensel’s Cantata is now out of print, so this a rare opportunity to hear this work.

A New York Times article explores and explains the conductors job, how “he or she makes music’s meaning clear through body motion.”

We are happy that Xian Zhang is included as one of seven conductors interviewed in the article, and featured with a photograph as well.   The article is fascinating, but I do wonder if a bit of gender bias played out in that Zhang’s professional role is not pointed out—we don’t learn about where she works or her title. The conductors were all interviewed  ”as they passed through New York in recent seasons” and in Zhang’s case it was only mentioned that she was working with a student orchestra at Julliard. Harry Bicket also does not have any position clarified, but at least he has some description, as an early-music specialist and British.

But this only really matters in the paper version (which I read first)—online the conductors get links to their websites. Zhang has been  discussed earlier on this blog; for the record, she serves as Music Director of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi and Artistic Director of the NJO / Dutch Orchestra.