Classical Post: History Silenced the Family Violin, It’s Resumed Through Virgil Boutellis-Taft
Virgil Boutellis-Taft’s playing throughout his debut orchestral album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Incantation, is brilliant, effusive and gripping. He glides above the orchestra while maintaining a core to the tone and unfolding gorgeous intricate phrases. But it is the depth of his relationship with the material, unique combination of works and history behind why he programmed this CD the way that he did that make this album exceptional. History had silenced Virgil Boutellis-Taft’s family violin. Through Incantation, the violin sings again in an unfurling of seemingly contradictory emotions which are all centered around melancholy.
Classical Post
Anna Heflin
Virgil Boutellis-Taft’s playing throughout his debut orchestral album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Incantation, is brilliant, effusive and gripping. He glides above the orchestra while maintaining a core to the tone and unfolding gorgeous intricate phrases. But it is the depth of his relationship with the material, unique combination of works and history behind why he programmed this CD the way that he did that make this album exceptional. History had silenced Virgil Boutellis-Taft’s family violin. Through Incantation, the violin sings again in an unfurling of seemingly contradictory emotions which are all centered around melancholy.
Read more here.
Classical Post: Shanghai Orchestra Academy Celebrates Fifth Anniversary With Commencement Ceremony
Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the commencement of 10 graduates on July 1. SOA is a collaboration between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), New York Philharmonic, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It provides a new approach in China to train fresh graduates from music conservatories to become professional orchestra musicians through a two-year program and international partnership.
Classical Post
Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the commencement of 10 graduates on July 1. SOA is a collaboration between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), New York Philharmonic, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It provides a new approach in China to train fresh graduates from music conservatories to become professional orchestra musicians through a two-year program and international partnership.
“The greatest thing about this academy is that we have explored a new standardized system in China to bridge between music graduates and orchestra musicians to provide high-quality professional musicians for China and even for the world,” said Long Yu, the SSO’s music director and the SOA’s founding president.
The academy’s curriculum includes vast amounts of practice and performances, and also provides courses like career planning, performance mental health, and how to best avoid fatigue.
In addition to working with academy faculty, the students are also taught by musicians from top orchestras around the world and provided with opportunities to play with them. For example, the New York Philharmonic sends musicians to Shanghai four times per year for master classes, coaching, mock auditions, and seminars.
Deborah Borda, New York Philharmonic’s President and CEO, considers SOA a “very important project and partnership.” She believes that the New York Philharmonic can also learn from the young academy musicians, such as exploring new ways in the digital era to communicate classical music.
The Shanghai Orchestra Academy resumes classes and performances in September.
History
The academy was founded after Long Yu became concerned about the lack of professional classical music performers in 2011, when he saw the classical music scene in China expanding rapidly and in urgent need of more musicians. He entered a discussion with the New York Philharmonic for a long-term partnership, and they both agreed to make the education project a priority and were later joined by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Shanghai Orchestra Academy began recruiting in September 2014 and has since recruited 75 young musicians. Approximately 90 percent of the graduates have gone straight to orchestras around China and some abroad.
For more information, visit the Shanghai Orchestra Academy’s website.
Classical Post: Grand Teton Music Festival Celebrates Nature In 58th Season
The majestic foothills of the Teton Mountain Range promise a sublime, serene backdrop for the Grand Teton Music Festival’s 58th season, July 3 to August 17. Offering inspiration, rejuvenation, and wonderment for all, the Festival honors the natural environment it calls home and those composers and works that draw inspiration from nature. The Festival’s 2019 lineup includes more than 60 events over seven weeks.
Classical Post
The majestic foothills of the Teton Mountain Range promise a sublime, serene backdrop for the Grand Teton Music Festival’s 58th season, July 3 to August 17. Offering inspiration, rejuvenation, and wonderment for all, the Festival honors the natural environment it calls home and those composers and works that draw inspiration from nature. The Festival’s 2019 lineup includes more than 60 events over seven weeks.
The heart of the Grand Teton Music Festival is the Festival Orchestra, which is led by Music Director Donald Runnicles. Performing Friday and Saturday nights, the Festival Orchestra welcomes world-famous soloists including pianists Yefim Bronfman (July 12-13) and Denis Kozhukhin (August 2-3), violinists Hilary Hahn (July 26-27) and Augustin Hadelich (August 16-17), cellist Alisa Weilerstein (July 19-20), and saxophonist Branford Marsalis (August 9-10). Nature-inspired works run throughout the seven weeks, including Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (August 9-10), Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour (August 2-3), Sibelius’ En Saga (July 12-13), and Lyadov’s Enchanted Lake (August 16-17).
Also appearing with the Festival Orchestra will be esteemed guest conductors Rafael Payare, the incoming Music Director of the San Diego Symphony (July 19-20), and Cincinnati Symphony Music Director Louis Langrée (August 16-17).
Pianist, vocalist, and nine-time Grammy Award winner Norah Jones will perform a special one-night-only concert July 21, co-presented with Live Nation. The event sold out online in five minutes. Jones’s appearance is part of the GTMF Presents lineup of showcase events that expand the Festival’s programming.
Other GTMF Presents artists include the Takács Quartet (July 31), the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (July 17), pianist Stephen Hough (July 10), and piano duo Anderson and Roe (August 17). Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth (August 15) and singer-pianist Michael Feinstein (July 3) will bring the world of theater and cabaret to the mountains.
On July 5, the annual Fundraising Gala will feature Maestro Runnicles and the Festival Orchestra in two performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Utah Symphony Chorus, the Madeleine Choir School Chorus, and soloists Meechot Marrero, Thomas Lehman, and Sunnyboy Dladla.
Read more here.
Classical Post: Shanghai Orchestra Academy Students Gain Invaluable Experience in NYC
Five Shanghai Orchestra Academy students spent more than eight action-packed days in New York City last month participating in both musical and cultural exchange.
Classical Post
(L to R) Sihong Zhao, Yanru Chiu, Fangyu Huang, Joshua Bell, Renchao Yu, and Kuan Liu \ Credit: Chris Lee
Five Shanghai Orchestra Academy students spent more than eight action-packed days in New York City last month participating in both musical and cultural exchange. In addition to performing Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade in four concerts with the New York Philharmonic as part of its annual Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, the students – called Zarin Mehta Fellows – enjoyed tours of the New York Philharmonic Archives, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and important cultural sites including the 9/11 Memorial and Freedom Tower, Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn Bridge.
The four Concerts in the Parks performances attained resounding success with the Fellows. The students – Renchao Yu, violin; Kuan Liu, viola; Fangyu Huang, flute; Yanru Chiu, clarinet; and Sihong Zhao, bassoon – met superstar violinist Joshua Bell in addition to working one-on-one with New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Frank Huang, Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples, and other Philharmonic Principals.
Read more here.