Letter V

7-9 p.m. EDT
2300-0100 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Mozart: Symphony No. 23 in D major, K. 181
L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève/David Greilsammer
(Sony Classical)

Respighi: “Gli uccelli” (“The Birds”)
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra/Hugh Wolff
(Apex)

Bohuslav Martinů: Symphony No. 6 (“Fantaisies symphoniques”)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Jiří Bělohlávek
(Onyx)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: “Fantasiestücke,” Op. 5
Takács Quartet
(Hyperion)

Max Bruch: Serenade in A minor, Op. 75
Antje Weithaas, violin
NDR Radiophilharmonie/Hermann Bäumer
(cpo)

Apple is apologizing for its advertisement showing a hydraulic press crushing musical instruments, art supplies and other culturally symbolic objects, then opening to reveal its latest gizmo. Message: All creative endeavor can be compacted into our amazing little product.

The ad, aired only on its YouTube channel, has been seen more than 1 million times.

People who create things other than electronic devices were not amused, a problematic reaction in that creative types are among the prime potential purchasers of the product. A corporate officer admitted that the ad “missed the mark.”

This is hardly the first time a new product has been promoted by showing the destruction of old things. The template, to my eyes, was an ad showing a motorcyclist crashing through a wall onto the stage of a chamber-music recital – leather-clad young hipster scattering tuxedoed old guys. This aired, what, 20 years ago? I’ve forgotten what product was being touted, but I’ll bet you can find it now at thrift stores and yard sales.

The Apples of this world should know this, seeing as how they render their own new stuff obsolete every year or two.

I am medically advised to be cautious about attending crowded public events, including Richmond Symphony concerts. The orchestra is making video streams of its Symphony Series performances available to ticket-holders. The stream of this program was posted on May 8.

Anthony Parnther conducting
with Dominic Rotella, French horn
May 4-5, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center

Anthony Parnther contrasted two modes of classical expression in a guest-conducting date with the Richmond Symphony, leading the Symphony No. 3 in C minor of the long-overlooked composer Florence Price, then turning to the cheerful classicism of Mozart and Beethoven.

Parnther, the Virginia-born music director of California’s San Bernardino Symphony, proved to be a rare bird among musicians of his generation (he’s 43), in being a fine conductor who’s also a good talker. His verbal introductions of the three pieces gave useful musical perspective in vernacular language, garnished with bursts of humor. (Virginia place names, such as Tappahannock and Fluvanna, sound to him like “Lord of the Rings” destinations.)

In the Price, which opened the program, Parnther and the symphony players nicely balanced weightiness – her Third Symphony is one of this pioneering Black female composer’s largest-scaled and most ambitious works – with animated and well-accented handling of dance rhythms.

The performance sounded a bit too straightforward in its treatment of lyrical themes. Price’s music, for all its folkloric references and semi-modernist employment of percussion, celesta and harp, is very much in the romantic tradition. Brass often outweighed strings (at least in the audio of the online stream), which tended to nudge melodies out of the sonic foreground.

The symphony strings sounded warmer and weightier alongside the more limited wind and percussive forces of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat major, K. 495, featuring Dominic Rotella as the soloist, and in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F major.

Rotella, the orchestra’s principal French horn player, delivered a solidly sonorous account of the Mozart, with a suitably vocal sense of phrasing in the central romanza, and followed the concerto with an encore of Zsolt Nagy’s “Happy Blues,” a jocular piece full of challenging technical twists.

Parnther gave the Beethoven Eighth “big-band” treatment, reminding the listener that light Beethoven is still Beethoven, but lightened the tonal mass with brisk tempos and sharp accents. It was serious fun.

The stream of this program remains accessible until June 30. Access: $30. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); http://richmondsymphony.com

As the world marks today’s 200th anniversary of the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, tests of samples of the composer’s hair suggest that the deafness and other ailments that plagued Beethoven may have been the result of lead poisoning, The New York Times’ Gina Kolata reports.

Laboratory analysis at that Mayo Clinic found that “[o]ne of Beethoven’s locks had 258 micrograms of lead per gram of hair and the other had 380 micrograms. A normal level in hair is less than 4 micrograms of lead per gram.”

“These are the highest values in hair I’ve ever seen,” Mayo lab director Paul Jannetto told Kolata.

The high lead levels may be attributed to Beethoven’s heavy consumption of poor-quality wine, which was often sweetened with “lead sugar.” The toxic metal also was used in fermentation and in the corks of wine bottles. Lead also may have been present in medications that Beethoven was taking, Kolata reports:

7-9 p.m. EDT
2300-0100 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Josef Suk: “Fantastiké Scherzo”
Buffalo Philharmonic/JoAnn Falletta
(Naxos)

Rodrigo: “Concierto de Aranjuez”
Miloš Karadaglić, guitar
London Philharmonic/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Milhaud: “La création du monde”
Eduardo Hubert, piano
Dora Schwarzberg & Michael Guttman, violins
Nora Romanoff, viola
Mark Drobinsky, cello
(Warner Classics)

Lili Boulanger: “D’un matin de printemps”
Orchestre national de Lyon/Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider
(Bru Zane)

Delius: “Brigg Fair”
Welsh National Opera Orchestra/Charles Mackerras
(Decca)

Copland: “Appalachian Spring”
(original version for 13 instruments)
Columbia Chamber Ensemble/Aaron Copland
(Sony Classical)

Oboist Liang Wang and trumpeter Matthew Muckey, suspended by the New York Philharmonic after allegations of sexual misconduct, have filed suits against the orchestra and the American Federation of Musicians local representing philharmonic players, charging the orchestra with violating an arbitrator’s ruling that they should be reinstated and the union with failing to represent them in the dispute.

Wang, the philharmonic’s principal oboist, and Muckey, its associate principal trumpeter, were barred from rehearsals and performances after publication of an article in New York magazine in which Cara Kizer, a former horn player in the orchestra, said that she was sexually assaulted and possibly drugged during an evening with the two men in 2010 while the orchestra was on tour in Vail, Colorado.

The New York Times’ Javier C. Hernández reports on the lawsuits:

Previous coverage: https://letterv.blog/2024/04/17/sexual-assault-charge-roils-ny-philharmonic/

Classical performances in and around Richmond, with selected events elsewhere in Virginia and the Washington area. Program information, provided by presenters, is updated as details become available. Adult ticket prices are listed; senior, student/youth, military, group and other discounts may be offered. Service fees may be added.

May 2 (7 p.m.)
May 3 (11:30 a.m.)
May 4 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck conducting
Beethoven: “Fidelio” Overture
Beethoven: Romance No. 1 in G major
Beethoven: Romance No. 2 in F major
Nurit Bar-Josef, violin
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D minor
$15-$112
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 2 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jeannette Sorrell conducting
J.S. Bach: Oboe Concerto in F major, BWV 1053r
Katherine Needleman, oboe
Handel: “Water Music” Suite No. 1 in F major
André Grétry: “Zémire et Azor” ballet suite
Mozart: “Idomeneo” ballet music, K. 367
$21-$102
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

May 3 (7:30 p.m.)
May 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Opera Lafayette
Christophe Rousset conducting
Jean-Joseph Mouret: “Les Fêtes de Thalie”
cast TBA
Catherine Turocy, stage director
in French
$30-$135
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 4 (8 p.m.)
May 5 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Anthony Parnther conducting
Florence Price: Symphony No. 3 in C minor
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat major, K. 495
Dominic Rotella, French horn
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F major
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony Pops
Virginia Symphony Chorus
Chelsea Tipton conducting
“The Music of ‘Star Wars’ ”
$17.50-$119
(757) 891-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

May 4 (3 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Anna Wallace, violin & 7-string electric violin
Kerry Broker, violin & 5-string electric violin
Chuck Bontrager, 7-string electric violin
Rudolf Haken, 6-string electric viola
Hanna Rumora, cello
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 8 in C minor (electric string-quartet arrangement)
Metallica: “One” (Rachel Barton Pine arrangement)
Grażyna Bacewicz: Suite for 2 violins
“A Change is Gonna Come: An American Medley for Justice” (Anna Wallace arrangement of songs by Marvin Gaye, Tracy Chapman, Nina Simone, Santana, Living Colour & Sam Cooke)
free; reservation required
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 4 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Brian Ganz, piano
Chopin: Ballade in G minor, Op. 23
Chopin: Scherzo in D flat major, Op. 31
Chopin: études, Opp. 10 & 25 (selections)
Chopin: mazurkas TBA
$34-$53
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

May 5 (4 p.m.)
Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
J.S. Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, BWV 904
J.S. Bach: “French Suite” No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 815
J.S. Bach: Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E flat major, BWV 998
J.S. Bach: “English Suite” No. 3 in G minor, BWV 808
J.S. Bach: “English Suite” No. 4 in F major, BWV 809
$30
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

May 5 (3 p.m.)
Berglund Performing Arts Theatre, Orange Avenue at Williamson Road, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”)
Adelaide Trombetta, soprano
Brian Thorsett, tenor
Cecelia McKinley, contralto
Kenneth Kellogg, bass
Roanoke Symphony Chorus
other choruses TBA
$34-$58
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

May 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
May 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Takács Quartet
Olga Kern, piano
Dvořák: Quartet in E major, Op. 51
Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor
$35
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org/tickets-and-events

May 9 (7 p.m.)
May 10 (8 p.m.)
May 11 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Anja Bihlmaier conducting
Bryce Dessner: “Mari”
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique”
$17-$129
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 9 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
PUBLIQuartet
Vijay Iyer, piano
Iyer: “Dig the Say”
Fodé Lassana Diabaté & Jacob Garchik: “Sunjata’s Time” – “Sumaworo”
Henry Threadgill: “Sixfivetwo”
Diabaté & Garchik: “Sunjata’s Time” – “Sogolon”
Roscoe Mitchell: “Cards 11-11-2020”
Iyer: new work TBA for violin & piano
Diabaté & Garchik: “Sunjata’s Time” – “Nana Triban”
PUBLIQuartet: “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues: Improvisations on music by Tina Turner, Betty Davis, Alice Coltrane and Ida Cox”
Iyer: “City of Sand” – Part 3: “Cave 17”
Iyer: “City of Sand” – Part 4: “Gathering”
Iyer: “City of Sand” – Part 5: “Entrustment”
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

May 10 (8 p.m.)
May 11 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Gershwin: “Girl Crazy” Overture
Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
Russell Wilson, piano
Gershwin: “I Got Rhythm”
Gershwin: “Catfish Row” Suite
Gershwin: “Strike Up the Band”
Gershwin: “An American in Paris”
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Grisham Hall, St. Anne’s-Belfield School, 2132 Ivy Road, Charlottesville
May 12 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia & orchestra
Michael Slon conducting
Beethoven: “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage”
Beethoven: “Choral Fantasy” in C minor
Peter Henderson, piano
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”)
Christina Pier Cronin, soprano
Jamison Lee Walker, tenor
Weston Hurt, bass
mezzo-soprano TBA
$10-$40
(434) 924-3376 (UVa Music Department box office)
http://www.oratoriosociety.org

May 11 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Ingrid Keller, piano
Mary Boodell, flute,
James Wilson, cello
Christopher Johnston, actor
Angela Lehman, curator
“Tchaikovsky: Seasons 2”
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
http://cmscva.org

May 11 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in E minor, Op. 90
Chopin: Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op. 48, No. 2
Chopin: Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49
Brahms: 4 ballades, Op. 10
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 14
$45-$145
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://kennedy-center.org

May 11 (7 p.m.)
May 13 (7 p.m.)
May 17 (7:30 p.m.)
May 19 (2 p.m.)
May 22 (7:30 p.m.)
May 24 (7:30 p.m.)
May 25 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Speranza Scappucci/Aaron Breid conducting
Puccini: “Turandot” (Christopher Tin completion [premiere])
Ewa Płonka/Marjorie Owens (Turandot)
Yonghoon Lee/Jonathan Burton (Calaf)
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (Liù)
Peixin Chen (Timur)
Francesca Zambello, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$45-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 12 (4 p.m.)
Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 560 W. Olney Road, Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
The Chenaults, organ duo
Jaji Hakim: Rhapsody
Stephen Paulus: “The Triumph of the Saint” – “Saint Anthony in Meditation”
trad.: “Shenandoah”
Andrew Lloyd Webber: “Phantom of the Opera” Medley (The Chenaults arrangement)
Melinda Lee Clark: “American Suite” – “2 to Tango”
Charles Callahan: “Come Home”
David Briggs: “Variations on ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’ ”
$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 13 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program:
ensembles TBA
conductor TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Erin Morley, soprano
Gerald Martin Moore, piano
works TBA by Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Berg, Milhaud, Zemlinsky, Arthur Sullivan, Michael Head, Ricky Ian Gordon
$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 14 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra
Daniel Myssyk conducting
program TBA
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Community Chapel, 3899 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Michael Butterman conducting
George Walker: “Lyric for Strings”
Aldo López-Gavilán: “Emporium”
Aldo López-Gavilán, piano
Ginastera: “Variaciones concertantes”
Britten: “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell”
$65
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

May 15 (7 p.m.)
Seacobeck Hall, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Chamber Music Festival:
Takumi Taguchi & Leqing Wang, violins
Mark Berger, viola
Sara Stalnaker, cello
Carol Wincenc, flute
Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet
Kathleen Reynolds, bassoon
William Scharnberg, horn
Michele Levin, piano
Mozart: Flute Quartet in C major, K. 285b
Glinka: “Trio Pathétique” in D minor for clarinet, bassoon & piano
Anthony Plog: “Aesop’s Fables”
Smetana: Quartet in E minor (“From My Life”)
$35
(540) 310-0817
http://artslive.org/chamber-music-festival

May 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 400 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Jessie Montgomery, violin & composer
other artists TBA
works TBA by Montgomery, Andrea Cassarubios, James Lee III
$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 16 (7 p.m.)
May 18 (8 p.m.)
May 19 (3 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins conducting
Anna Clyne: “This Moment”
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Randall Goosby, violin
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: “Danse nègre”
Elgar: “Enigma Variations”
$17-$129
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
May 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Wilder Arts Center, 700 Park Ave., Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta conducting
Joaquín Turina: “Danzas Fantasticas”
Adolphus Hailstork: Piano Concerto No. 2 (“The Peaceable Kingdom”)
Lara Downes, piano
Scott Joplin: “Magnetic Rag” (Stephen Buck orchestration)
Joplin: “”Maple Leaf Rag” (Stephen Buck orchestration)
Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet” (selections)
$10-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

May 17 (7 p.m.)
Seacobeck Hall, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Chamber Music Festival:
Takumi Taguchi & Leqing Wang, violins
Mark Berger, viola
Sara Stalnaker, cello
Michele Levin, piano
Janáček: Quartet No. 2 (“Intimate Letters”)
Telemann: “Tafelmusik,” Book 1 – Quartet in D minor
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
$35
(540) 310-0817
http://artslive.org/chamber-music-festival

May 17 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Takt Trio
Marcos Balter: new work TBA for horn trio
Hilda Paredes: “Koan”
György Ligeti: Horn Trio
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

May 18 (7:30)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
May 19 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Dawson: “Spirituals for Brass”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
Daniel Stipe, piano
Schoenberg: “Transfigured Night”
$30-$50
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 18 (3 p.m.)
Seacobeck Hall, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Chamber Music Festival:
Takumi Taguchi & Leqing Wang, violins
Mark Berger, viola
Sara Stalnaker, cello
Carol Wincenc, flute
Kathleen Reynolds, bassoon
William Scharnberg, horn
Michele Levin, piano
Pierre Gabaye: Sonatine for flute & bassoon
Michael Haydn: Romance in A flat major for horn & strings
Dvořák: Terzetto in C major
J.S. Bach: “A Musical Offering” – Sonata in C minor, BWV 1079
$35
(540) 310-0817
http://artslive.org/chamber-music-festival

May 18 (3 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
“Viennese Café Concert”
program TBA
free; reservation required
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 18 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Prokofiev: “Overture on Hebrew Themes”
Anna Clyne: “DANCE”
Inbal Segev, cello
Stravinsky: orchestral suite TBA
Stravinsky: “Pulcinella” Suite
$40-$65
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

May 18 (2 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Takt Trio
Brahms: Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40
György Ligeti: Horn Trio
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

May 18 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Tan Dun conducting
Zhang Meng, sheng
Han Yan, pipa
Liu Wenwen, suona
Zhu Yunqi, erhu
Yang Bowen, chiba
Stravinsky: “Fireworks”
Tan Dun: “Five Muses of Dunhuang”
Stravinsky: “Song of the Nightingale”
Tan Dun: “Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds”
$21-$102
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

May 19 (7 p.m.)
Reveille United Methodist Church, 4200 Cary Street Road, Richmond
Reveille Chancel Choir
Daniel Banke directing
Tom Bailey, organ
Margaret Woods, soprano
Reveille Ringers
Mendelssohn: “Psalm 42”
Handel: “Coronation Anthem” No. 4 (“My Heart is Inditing”)
Britten: “Rejoice in the Lamb”
donations benefit Pace Center, Virginia Commonwealth University
(804) 359-6041
http://reveilleumc.org

May 22 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Emi Ferguson, flute
Graeme Steele Johnson & David Shifrin, clarinets
Rémy Taghavi, bassoon
Anni Hochhalter, horn
Bridget Kibbey, harp
Stella Chen & Siwoo Kim, violins
Matthew Lipman, viola
Samuel DeCaprio, cello
Sam Suggs, double-bass
Debussy: “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” (Graeme Steele Johnson arrangement)
Charles Loeffler: Octet
Schubert: Octet in F major, D. 803
free; tickets required via http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

May 23 (10:30 a.m.)
St. John’s Episcopal Church, 424 Washington St., Portsmouth
May 24 (10:30 a.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theatre, 515 Scotland St.
Virginia Arts Festival:
Apollo’s Fire Baroque members
“The Coffeehouses of 1610”
works TBA by Dowland, Playford, Monteverdi, others
$18.75-$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

May 24 (5 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Tasha Koontz, soprano
Brandon Morales, baritone
Brahms: 2 songs TBA
Clara Wieck Schumann: “Three Romances,” Op. 22, for violin & piano
Polina Nazayskinskaya: “Her New Home”
$25 (concert); $95 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 25 (5 p.m.)
Hickory Hill Community Center, 3000 Belt Boulevard, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
“Big Tent: a Celebration of Heroes”
program TBA
Youth Community Strings, Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra in pre-show, 5 p.m.
free
(rain date: May 26)
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

May 25 (5 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Brandon Morales, baritone
Beethoven: “An die ferne Geliebte”
Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15
$25 (concert); $95 (concert & dinner)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 26 (2 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Teresa Ling, violin
Isaac Melamed, cello
Jeannette Fang, piano
Beethoven: Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 (“Archduke”)
$25 (concert); $65 (concert & lunch)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

May 26 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Memorial Day Festival Chorus
Craig Jessup directing
U.S. Air Force Band
Col. Donald Schofield directing
“National Memorial Day Choral Festival”
program TBA
free; tickets required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

May 30 (7 p.m.)
May 31 (11:30 a.m.)
June 1 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Mahler: Symphony No. 7
$17-$129
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

June 1 (8 p.m.)
June 2 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Verdi: Requiem
Jennifer Rowley, soprano
Guadalupe Barrientos, mezzo-soprano
Rodrick Dixon, tenor
David Leigh, bass
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

June 1 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins conducting
Kodály: “Dances of Galánta”
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Jonathan Carney, violin
Florence Price: Symphony No. 1 in E minor
$21-$102
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

June 2 (4 p.m.)
Attucks Theatre, 1010 Church St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Anthony Davis, composer
Christine Jobson & Carl DuPont, vocalists
Alan Johnson, piano
Davis: works TBA
$10-$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

June 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Hixon Theater, Barr Education Center, 440 Bank St., Norfolk
Virginia Arts Festival:
Wu Han & Olga Kern, piano
David Finckel, cello
Mendelssohn: “Andante and Allegro brillante,” Op. 92, for piano 4-hands
Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata in D major, Op. 58
Grieg: Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36
$26.25-$35
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

June 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Hilary Hahn, violin
Andreas Haefliger, piano
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
$44.75-$89.75
(434) 979-1333
http://theparamount.net

June 5 (10:30 a.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Arts Festival:
Wu Han & Olga Kern, piano
David Finckel, cello
Mendelssohn: “Andante and Allegro brillante,” Op. 92, for piano 4-hands
Grieg: Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36
$25
(757) 282-2822
http://vafest.org

June 7 (8 p.m.)
June 9 (3 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Verdi: “Otello” (concert staging)
Arsen Soghomonyan (Otello)
Erika Grimaldi (Desdemona)
Roman Burdenko (Iago)
Jennifer Johnson Cano (Emilia)
Francesco Marsiglia (Cassio)
Choral Arts Society of Washington
University of Maryland Concert Choir
The Children’s Chorus of Washington
in Italian
$17-$115
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Hae Lee, who last year was second prize winner at the Sergey Kussewitzky International Conducting Competition and a finalist in the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors, has been appointed associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony and conductor of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra.

He succeeds Chia-Hsuan Lin, who has been named music director of the Rochester Symphony in Minnesota.

Lee was a participant in the Richmond Symphony Conducting Seminar in 2022. The 32-year-old is a graduate of the Korea National University of the Arts and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He will join the symphony staff in July.

The symphony also announced that Daniel Myssyk will conclude his tenure as conductor of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra at the end of this season. Myssyk, who is director of orchestral activities at Virginia Commonwealth University and conductor of the VCU Symphony, will continue as the Richmond Symphony’s assistant conductor.

Updated April 24

Chia-Hsuan Lin, associate conductor of the Richmond Symphony since 2016, has been named music director of the Rochester Symphony in Minnesota.

Lin “inspired each section and every player to perform to their full potential,” Joseph Mish, chair of the orchestra’s music director search committee, told the Post-Bulletin of Rochester. “She made an immediate connection with her ease and confidence on the podium and in front of the audience.”

In its current season, the 70-member ensemble is presenting six pairs of subscription concerts, a holiday program and other performances. It also supports a 90-member chorus.

Lin succeeds Jere Lantz, who retired in 2022 after conducting the Rochester Symphony for 42 years.

In Richmond, Lin has been primarily responsible for conducting pops and special programs; casual, children’s and tour concerts; most of the Metro chamber-orchestra series; and working with the symphony’s Young Performers Program. In recent years, she also has conducted regularly in the orchestra’s mainstage series.

She has conducted the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Ballet and other ensembles in Virginia and Taiwan, and has served as a cover (potential substitute) conductor with several major US orchestras.

Born in Taiwan, Lin initially studied piano and percussion. After being injured in an auto accident, she turned to conducting, earning a doctorate after studying with Victor Yampolsky at Northwestern University. Prior to her Richmond appointment, she was assistant conductor of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Indiana.

Lin currently divides her time between Richmond and Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is married to James Ferree, former principal horn of the Richmond Symphony, now playing that role in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

UPDATE: Following her Minnesota appointment, the Richmond Symphony has named Lin principal guest conductor. In that capacity, she will appear with the orchestra “over the next couple of years,” according to a symphony news release.

Andrew Davis, the eminent British conductor, has died at 80.

Davis was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 2000, leading 12 of its iconic Last Night at the Proms evenings in London’s Royal Albert Hall, “twice delivering the customary conductor speech in the manner of the major-general in Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance:’ ‘This is the very model of a modern music festival,’ ” Mark Brown writes in an obituary for The Guardian.

Davis also served as music director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera (1988-2000), and led the orchestras of Toronto (1975-88) and Melbourne, Australia (2012-19). In the US, he was music advisor to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2005-07) and music director of Lyric Opera of Chicago (2000-21).

Davis was a prolific recording artist, acclaimed for his discs of music by Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Michael Tippett, Harrison Birtwistle and other British composers.

Brown’s Guardian obituary:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/apr/21/sir-andrew-davis-former-chief-conductor-of-bbc-symphony-orchestra-dies-aged-80