Chamber Music
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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I'm popping in to share and interesting article about season planning with you.
How to Build A Season outlines what goes into season planning. There's more to it than you might think.
Here
at the Rembrandt Chamber Players, we nailed down most of our 2008-2009
season at the end of January at a lunch meeting with the musicians.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Mon, 02/18/2008 - 2:41pm.
As most of you know, we made some changes to this website in December. We now offer registered users free music downloads thanks to our member organizations, NAXOS, and Music Giants, access to some special offers from member organizations under the “Hot Deals” section, and a few other enhancements. We would love to hear how feel about these changes. At some point I’m sure we will ask you to provide more detailed information via a survey, but as a quick check-in, I’m hoping that some of you will share some anecdotal feedback right now.
Please hit the reply link and let us know if you like the free downloads, the “Hot Deals”, the periodic emails, and be sure to mention anything you think is missing. Thanks for the feedback!!
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Some months ago, in a moment that at a certain point I thought was one of weakness - or maybe madness, I agreed to be Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer for the benefit that Midwest Young Artists hold annually at this time of year. Well the moment arrived yesterday and the morning after I am now reporting that the whole thing was not a mistake at all - I really enjoyed myself and got through my debut in this role with people threatening to ask me to do it again. For me that is quite something! I now know first hand what it feels like for it even to be suggested that I might be asked back. Maybe in my dotage I will do this more often - it was fun. And I do it for free.Typically professional auctioneers are employed for this kind if thing. They cost real money - believe me! I have seen a number of them in action and they are really good. No doubt I was a pallid imitation - but I managed to talk the talk and the hands went up. No problem!
MYA is a remarkable institution led and inspired by a unique character Allan Dennis. He has a dedicated board and a small staff - but above all a remarkable collection of young people who populate the various ensembles, chamber groups, orchestras bands etc that provide a multiplicity of thrilling activities for young musicians of all ages and levels. The best are very good indeed as was displayed last night by a variety of chamber groups playing String Quartets in the entrace lobby as we arrived, and the Schubert Trout Quintet in the silent auction room. We then had wind and brass ensembles during the rest of the evening between speeches and delicious food and my "performance" And the grand finale was the Big Band playing through to midnight. A great evening and a successful fund raiser most certainly.
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I'm reposting this entry. It was orginally posted on Monday, 1/21, but was deleted during site maintenance.
I'm
back! Post-holidays, all of us at Rembrandt Chamber Players have been
busy preparing for the rest of our season and visiting with colleagues
at the Chamber Music America Conference held at the beginning of the
month in New York City.
Today I am very happy to have members
of the Cerberus Trio join me for a Q&A session about their
involvement in music. The talented Cerberus Trio (sponsored by the
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras) was a co-winning group of our
12th Annual High School Chamber Music Competition held last March. The trio is ending its yearlong participation in our new
Rembrandt Young Artists Program, a program that provides performance opportunities and coaching sessions for the winners of our competition.
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Thanks to everyone who logged in to ChicagoClassicalMusic.org during our relaunch for the last couple of weeks. Below is the list of randomly selected winners of our free ticket and subscription giveaway. If you are a user on this list, please expect an email from me with more information on how to claim your prize. If you haven't won a prize, keep checking back on ChicagoClassicalMusic.org for future giveaways and more!
| User |
Prize |
Donated by |
| |
|
|
| hautbois614 |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| ghalsell |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| Jeff_Turk |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| fuerzamaya |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| victor408 |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| |
|
|
| flyingpickle |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| sdixon17 |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| lmissitzis |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| joycemcgreevy |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| hwebb82 |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| Charles R Mattenson |
A Level Subscription for 2008 season |
Chicago Opera Theater |
| |
|
|
| Mary Prindiville |
Front Balcony Subscriptions (3 concerts) |
Chicago Philharmonic |
| heidilevin |
Front Balcony Subscriptions (3 concerts) |
Chicago Philharmonic |
| Frank Lee |
Front Balcony Subscriptions (3 concerts) |
Chicago Philharmonic |
| |
|
|
| debrav |
Three Concert Subscription |
Chicago Sinfonietta |
| chapulin |
Three Concert Subscription |
Chicago Sinfonietta |
| |
|
|
| Norm Raidl |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| myoirene |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| lmaloney |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| Edie Fitts |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| Impressionist |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| |
|
|
| Jeremy Kazan |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
| Natalie Holden |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
| Robbie Dee |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
| devlinm |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
| |
|
|
| JimInLoganSquare |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| tgraham |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| dontrombone |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Robert E. Zeitner |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| hrhtina |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Chicago Girl |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Boo Radley |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| bruno_fasat |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Adrianm |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| lmatnip |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| |
|
|
| Behty Harrison |
two section a seats for GIGI |
Light Opera Works |
| |
|
|
| watsons |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| Christopher.doherty@gmail.com |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| elyse |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| ebseifert |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| Carole29a |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| internalmethods |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| dennyg309 |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| tom cusick |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| Linda Rosencranz |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| KatyK |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Wed, 12/19/2007 - 9:30am.
I’m always looking for “feel good” stories at this time of year. One such story caught my eye this week. There was an article written in the Los Angeles Times by Deborah Schoch about a classical music program entitled “The Harmony Project” that provides classical music training to 500 people ages 6 – 18. The disadvantaged children who participate in this program are organized into two orchestras and two choirs, once again picking up the slack left by the devastating cuts made in our school’s music budgets. In addition, the program, which is provided free to the participants, takes the children to the Hollywood Bowl for concerts and includes the use of instruments. The Harmony Project is partnering with the L.A. Philharmonic to extend this initiative to children throughout the area.
We have some wonderful programs for low-income students in Chicago, as well. Among others, the Merit School of Music, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Sherwood Conservatory of Music all provide music instruction for low-income children. I recently met with the administrative staff of El Valor, located in Pilsen, who are also providing free music instruction for the children of that neighborhood.
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This week's guest blogger is the renowned composer Stacy Garrop, whom we have had the pleasure and privilege of commissioning to write two pieces for Chicago a cappella this season. Her very brief bio is that she's an Associate Professor in Composition at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University. Her more substantial bio is at her website, www.garrop.com. She writes below about being commissioned to write new choral music. Enjoy her eloquence! -- Jonathan Miller, Artistic Director, Chicago a cappella
Getting Back to My Roots: Adventures in Writing Jewish Music for Chicago a cappella
An Offer I Couldn't Refuse
Last spring, Jonathan Miller asked me if I'd accept a commission to write two new religious-themed works for Chicago a cappella's 2007-08 season. Busy as my composing schedule is these days, I have a distinct weakness for writing choral works and will find a way to squeeze more time out of a day to write them. And who can refuse an opportunity to work with the singers of Chicago a cappella?!
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 11/13/2007 - 11:18pm.
If you have visited chicagoclassicalmusic.org before you have probably noticed that the site looks quite different. We have made a number of changes that are now visible, and we are pre-testing the site as we speak prior to our “official” unveiling in a few weeks.
Keep an eye on this site as we will be offering a number of new functions including discounted tickets and some incredible music free to registered users through the Hot Deals section. The calendar is also evolving and we invite submissions from ALL classical music organizations. Most of all, we want your feedback on these changes and on any sections of the site that aren’t working exactly right, so PLEASE tell us what you like or don’t like either in the comments section of this blog or through comments to our webmaster and Site Manager, Angela Golden.
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The Rembrandt Chamber Players' season opening concert and benefit gala held on October 21st was a great success. It's always nice to be able to spend time with our subscribers and friends in addition to visiting with them at our Meet and Mingle receptions after performances and the gala provided this extra time.
I was so pleased to have the Cerberus Trio, co-winners of our 12th Annual High School Chamber Music Competition, perform at the gala. The Cerberus Trio, a very talented ensemble from the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, is one of the first groups to participate in the new
Rembrandt Young Artists program. This program was founded in late 2006 to offer expanded performance opportunities and coaching sessions to the winners of our
Annual High School Chamber Music Competition. Many guests at the gala commented on how wonderful it was to hear these talented young musicians- no doubt tomorrow's professional musicians- and some reminisced on the time they or their children spent playing instruments as youth.
Our 13th Annual High School Chamber Music Competition featuring top-notch young chamber ensembles from Chicagoland and beyond will be held on January 27th, 2008 at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. It's free and open to the public, so I hope you will attend. I'm sure I'll mention it again in a future post as it approaches.
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