Classical Music
It has been all over the news since Monday, but the CSO is still buzzing with excitement after the announcement that Riccardo Muti will take over as Music Director in 2010/11. Andrew Patner was on WTTW talking about the appointment. Steve Lester from the CSO's bass section and chair of the Members Committee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra also discussed the partnership on NPR's Performance Today. Steve also talked about how fortunate we've been to also have established such a wonderful connection with Bernard Haitink. His leadership has been and continues to be rewarding and enriching for the orchestra and institution overall and the recordings we've made with Mr. Haitink document that great legacy. The CSO goes on tour with Mr. Haitink to Carnegie Hall next week and he will also take them to China for the first time in early 2009.
While great things are on the horizon, great things are happening right now.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 04/29/2008 - 7:19am.
A couple of strange things have crossed my computer screen this week and I would really love to get your opinion about them.
Earlier this week a friend emailed me an article about a robot conducting an orchestra. Okay, hold the jokes about conductors for a second. Honda’s ASIMO humanoid robot will take command of the baton in Detroit on May 13 and will conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as it performs Impossible Dream to open a concert performance featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
I think we can all agree that robots are unlikely to replace humans on the podium anytime soon. What’s interesting about this is that Honda is a major donor to DSO, and one gets the feeling that putting ASIMO on the podium might somehow be tied to the sponsorship. I’m all for acknowledging the wonderful corporate partners who support our work, but does this go too far?
Another item that caught my eye was from the League of American Orchestra’s newsletter. Apparently classical composers and folk musicians are collaborating on creating new music for orchestras. Not exactly a new idea given the use of folk music themes throughout classical music history, but up until recently, using folk influences was considered déclassé. How do you feel about this renewed interest in vernacular music?
Finally, speaking of traditional music, the Chicago Sinfonietta will be presenting the world premiere of Three Songs for Blues Singer and Orchestra created by composer/arranger Larry Hoffman on May 11th and 12th featuring Muddy Water’s long-time guitarist, John Primer. We are pleased to offer registered users of this site a “hot deal” to attend this concert that will also feature pianist Leon Bates performing Rhapsody in Blue and Pictures at an Exhibition performed with a never-before-seen video created by astronomer and video artist José Francisco Salgado.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 11:13am.
I haven’t posted for a while but I do have a good excuse. In the last few weeks the Chicago Sinfonietta presented it’s Celebration of Women in Classical Music concerts that generated one of the best reviews we’ve ever received, Paul Freeman and I traveled to San Francisco to participate in a meeting convened by the Wallace Foundation, and last weekend, we hosted our Annual Ball that featured a scintillating performance by international superstar, Denyce Graves. Today feels like the first time I’ve been able to take a breath for weeks!
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Last Saturday (April 5) marked the premiere of Introductions, a brand-new weekly program on 98.7 WFMT (Saturdays from 11:00am-12:00pm) which features Chicago-area pre-collegiate musicians doing what they love most; playing classical music.
"It's important to reach out specifically to this younger audience which is enthusiastic about classical music, that we hadn't tried to explicitly attract until now," said David Polk, the show's producer. "I'm excited that I get to expand WFMT's reach and pioneer new ways to connect with audiences via the airwaves and also the internet."
Read more about Introductions and Polk in this article in the recent TimeOut! Magazine.
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In my previous post,
Where to Record, I discussed the factors to be weighed in choosing a place to record. Today, I will introduce the members of the recording team.
The person who oversees the whole process of making the recording from beginning to end is the recording producer. This is usually the person (or people – you'll sometimes see two people credited as co-producers of a disc) who runs the recording sessions, although sometimes a separate "session director" may be employed for this purpose. For Cedille Records, I act as producer for the great majority of our recordings. Even for the discs where we use an outside producer – usually Grammy-winning producer Judith Sherman – I act as an uncredited "executive producer," attending the recording sessions when possible and personally weighing in during the various stages of the post-recording process to maintain the quality for which Cedille Records is known.
The other key person at a recording session is the recording engineer. Sometimes the producer and engineer are the same person (Judith Sherman usually engineers the recordings she produces, for example). The engineer is the person who achieves the sound at the sessions – including choosing and positioning the microphones (and often the players around the microphones) and balancing the levels to achieve the ultimate sound "mix." For almost all of Cedille's recordings, veteran engineer Bill Maylone performs this function.
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Okay, the annual ritual of program selection is done. Another year is set for Chicago a cappella. Woo hoo!
What are we going to sing? I want to tell you about the research part, and I'll give you a sneak peek in the process.
In the fall of 2008, we're doing a new program called The British are Coming! -- a celebration of the finest English a cappella choral music, reaching all the way back to the 15th century and going to the present day. Actually, we'll start with recent music, work our way backwards in time, and then return to the present.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 4:10pm.
I was driving to work one morning a few weeks ago and NPR ran a story about violinist Tasmin Little. The story was about a 
series of recordings she has made that feature solo, or naked violin, if you will, that she is offering as free downloads on her website. Check out the NPR broadcast and then hit Tasmin’s site for some wonderful music – at no charge!
Speaking of wonderful music made by talented women, the Sinfonietta’s March 30-31 concerts are dedicated to music made, conducted, and composed by women. Chicagoclassicalmusic.org has a “hot deal” listed for this concert that you can access if you are a registered user of this site.
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In my previous post, I raised this topic as a question - What do young artists and ensembles need to know about recording? - since I was scheduled to give a talk on that subject to a young chamber group. Having now given that talk, I return with some answers, which I will present over my next several posts.
One of the first decisions that must be made before recording can begin is where to record. There are many considerations that come into play when choosing a recording venue. These include:
Acoustics
Noise issues (both internal and external)
Availability
Degree of control
Available Equipment
Price
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 11:10am.
I have a favor to ask of you. In November 2008 The Chicago Sinfonietta will partner with the Chicago Humanities Festival in musically exploring the year’s Festival theme, “THINK BIG”. We invite you to help us realize our 'big idea" for a concert by joining us in selecting the most transformative classical music compositions ever written -- works from various eras that truly changed the rules and affected everything that came after. We will perform two of the selections at Chicago's Symphony Center on Monday, November 10th at 7:30 p.m. And to "change the game" even more, we hope to either present a live streaming broadcast that evening (so you can hear the winning selections regardless of where you are) or post the performance as a downloadable video file on our website.
Let your voice be heard! A panel of experts has shared its ideas for “game-changing” nominees and you can vote right now at the
Chicago Sinfonietta’s website. Make your selection from the experts' list, or if you disagree, feel free to write in your own.
Thanks for voting – and please pass this link on to others!
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Regarding Jim's blog on Dudamel's appearance on 60 Minutes (which agreed is a good piece), I'd like to link to Andrew Patner's
Critical Thinking interview with Dudamel which took place just days before he flew to California (mid-stint with the CSO!) to make his announcement with the LA Philharmonic. Contrary to the last line of the 60 Minutes piece, we in fact heard all about Dudamel on WFMT first.
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