Month: November 2023

The Washington Post’s María Luisa Paúl reports on the work of Leo Geyer, a British composer and conductor who has spent the past eight years reconstructing music created by prisoners at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in Poland. On a visit to the site in 2015, Geyer was shown a collection of scores by members of the orchestras organized at the camp.

“Prisoners at Auschwitz and other camps were made to march to forced-labor sites or gas chambers to the beat of the orchestras’ music,” Paúl writes. “The sound would drown out the noise of executions, according to ORT, the global Jewish education network. Nazi officers also assembled prisoner orchestras for their own entertainment.”

The Auschwitz collection had “fragments of different songs, each with ‘varying levels of completion,’ Geyer said. Some were unfinished. Much of the sheet music had burn marks along the edges. Most scores were incomplete.”

Geyer was especially taken by “Futile Regrets,” a piece composed in secret by an unknown composer, which he reconstructed as the centerpiece of a Nov. 27 concert organized by his publisher to raise funds for an opera-ballet on the camp’s orchestras.

“I’m not Jewish, Romani, Polish, Russian or disabled, or descended from any person from Auschwitz, but I do stand by those who are persecuted for no reason other than who they are,” Geyer told Paúl. “And I hope to live in a world where no evil could rise again.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/11/29/sheet-music-holocaust-auschwitz-composer/

The second of two samplers of the season’s new classical recordings, this time featuring a number of discoveries from the baroque period – including music of “Mrs Philarmonica,” an anonymous composer, presumed to be a woman, writing in early 18th-century London – along with more familiar classical and romantic works.

7-9 p.m. EST
2200-0000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Johann Hermann Schein: Suite No. 2 in D minor
Lautten Compagney Berlin/Wolfgang Katschner
(Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)

anonymous (“Mrs Philarmonica”): Trio Sonata No. 5 in C minor
Le Consort
(Alpha)

Giuseppe Brescianello: Violin Concerto No. 6 in E flat major
Adrian Chandler, violin & direction
La Serenissima
(Signum Classics)

Beethoven: Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
Alice Sara Ott, piano
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Schubert: Impromptu in F minor, D. 935, No. 1
Ronald Brautigam, fortepiano
(BIS)

Rameau: “In convertendo Dominus”
Marie Perbost, soprano
Samuel Boden, countertenor
Victor Sicard, baritone
Concert d’Astrée/Emmanuelle Haïm
(Erato)

Haydn: Symphony No. 97 in C major
Danish Chamber Orchestra/Ádám Fischer
(Naxos)

Charles-Valentin Alkan: “Le festin d’Ésope,” Op. 39, No. 12
Bruce Liu, piano
(Deutsche Grammophon)

The first of two samplers of the season’s new classical recordings, this time featuring novel arrangements of Bach and Handel, and works by Boccherini, Schubert and Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

7-9 p.m. EST
2200-0000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

J.S. Bach: Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825
(Thomas Oehler orchestration)
Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble/Trevor Pinnock
(Linn)

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges:
Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 5, No. 2
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin & director
Mutter’s Virtuosi
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Handel: Harp Concerto in B flat major, Op. 4, No. 6
(Margret Köll arrangement)
Margret Köll, triple harp
Michele Pasotti, archlute
Sławomir Zubrzycki, lyrichord
Ensemble between the strings
(Accent)

Boccherini: String Quintet in F minor, G. 348
Karski Quartet
Raphaël Feye, cello
(Evil Penguin)

Schubert: Quartet in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)
Sacconi Quartet
(Orchid Classics)

I am medically advised to be cautious about attending crowded public events, including Richmond Symphony concerts. The orchestra is making video streams of its mainstage Symphony Series performances available to ticket-holders. The stream of this program became accessible on Nov. 15.

Valentina Peleggi & Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
with Lara Downes, piano
& Richmond Symphony Chorus
Nov. 11-12, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center

In its latest mainstage concerts, the Richmond Symphony presented music of struggle and aspiration, bringing African-American and South Asian accents to European symphonic and choral forms, and forming a compelling spiritual narrative out of three works as distinct as they were complementary.

Singling out a highlight is impossible, so I’ll address the three pieces in reverse chronological order, starting with the premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (“The Peaceable Kingdom”).

Hailstork, a longtime Virginia resident and professor at Old Dominion University, is perhaps the most prominent living Black American composer, certainly among the most prolific. He has been on a roll in the past few years, introducing, among other works, a Fourth Symphony; “A Knee on the Neck,” a requiem cantata on the 2020 murder of George Floyd; and “JFK: the Last Speech” for soprano, narrator and orchestra, which recently received one of its first airings by Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra.

The 82-year-old composer has described himself as a “cultural hybrid” – a boy chorister at an Episcopal cathedral who went on to study European classical composition (Nadia Boulanger was one of his teachers). During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, he began to absorb influences from African-American folk and vernacular music. His works have sometimes gravitated toward one or the other tradition, but more often have reflected both. “I think some future musicologist will be pulling his hair out trying to figure out who this Hailstork guy was, and that’s OK,” he told San Francisco Classical Voice’s Michael Zwiebach in a 2020 interview.

Hailstork was induced by pianist Lara Downes to write a Second Piano Concerto (his First was written three decades ago); what he calls her “gentle style” brought to mind the painting by the early 19th-century American folk artist and Quaker minister Edward Hicks after which the concerto is titled.

Hicks’ iconic painting (housed at Washington’s National Gallery of Art) depicts a cluster of animals, predators and prey peaceably assembled by angels, while in the background a group of American Indians and European colonists exchange greetings and gifts. Hailstork’s concerto is a somewhat comparable sonic encounter, in which formerly colonized and/or enslaved cultures express themselves within a European classical format – the rondo, fast-slow-fast with interpolations.

A recurring rhythmic-tonal figure, rising from a vibraphone, bathes the orchestration in a resonant sound recalling Indonesian gamelan music. Dance rhythms, as well as melodies and harmonies, recall Black American and other African-diaspora styles. This combination is unusual, if not unique. The orchestra is modestly scaled – strings, single woodwinds, tuned percussion – and the piano is less a solo protagonist than a participant in the ensemble.

Hailstork’s future musicologist, between hair pulls, might liken “The Peaceable Kingdom” to the decorously festive and tuneful sinfonia concertante, a popular form among the early classical composers of 18th-century Europe.

That was the spirit of the performers in this premiere. Pianist Downes, aside from some harmonically crunchy solo passages, was a discreet presence alongside or within the orchestra, and the symphony, led by Valentina Peleggi, its music director, maintained a balance between animation and lyricism, as agreeable as the music itself.

Peleggi was joined by Chia-Hsuan Lin, the symphony’s associate conductor, on pairs of podiums as they led the orchestra and Richmond Symphony Chorus in Roxanna Panufnik’s “Across the Line of Dreams.” The work was introduced in 2019 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and University of Maryland Concert Choir, conducted by Marin Alsop and Peleggi. Edward Maclary, the chorusmaster in the premiere, prepared the Symphony Chorus for these performances.

With a text by Jessica Duchen, Panufnik’s cantata-like work celebrates of the lives of Harriet Tubman, a leading figure in the Underground Railroad that rescued Black Americans from enslavement before the American Civil War, and a contemporary of Tubman’s, Rani Lakshmibai (Rani of Jhansi), an Indian princess who was killed while leading an 1857 rebellion against the British East India Company. (Victorian Brits called the conflict the Sepoy Mutiny; Indians call it the First War of Independence.)

The two women are represented by separate orchestras, Tubman by winds, brass and percussion (conducted here by Lin), Rani by strings, harp and piano (led by Peleggi), with separate choirs joining each instrumental group. The orchestras and choruses combine in a dialogue in an assertively triumphant finale. Panufnik’s score echoes melodies from Rani’s India (including a lament on her death) and the spirituals that Tubman would have known.

Peleggi and Lin managed their forces expertly, finely attuned to contrasts of sounds and styles as well as the tricky cross-rhythms of the final section. The singers, declaratively songful in the portraits of Tubman and Rani, rhythmically pointed and energetic in the finale, sounded fully conversant with styles that symphonic choruses rarely encounter. (Having a director who took part in the premiere no doubt helped.)

Among the many ”freedom” works composed during the sexual and racial reckoning movements of recent years, “Across the Line of Dreams” stands out, both for its challenging stylistic contrasts and combinations of instruments and voices and for its treatment of conflict and resolution.

The program opened with William Levi Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony,” introduced in 1934 by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in a concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall that was broadcast on the CBS radio network. Acclaimed at the time, the work soon disappeared from concert programs, heard mainly on a 1963 recording by Stokowski, which used Dawson’s revised version heard today. Only in the last 20 years has it been played with any frequency.

Dawson created what may be the most explicit “answer” to Antonín Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony (No. 9 in E minor), the manifestation of the Czech composer’s belief that the music of African-Americans could be the wellspring of a distinctively American classical style. Black composers – Dawson, James P. Johnson, William Grant Still, Florence Price – and a few Whites, notably George Gershwin, realized Dvořák’s prophecy; but for most listeners, it found its voice mainly in blues, jazz and more recent popular styles.

The “Negro Folk Symphony” represents the Black American experience in three movements titled “The Bond of Africa,” “Hope in the Night” and “O, Le’ Me Shine, Shine Like a Morning Star!” Dawson’s themes evoke spirituals, work and play songs, and the rhythms of the piece reflect his exploration of traditional African music.

Peleggi led a reading that was soulfully lyrical and rich, at times sultry, in atmosphere, the tone established at the outset by Dominic Rotella’s French horn solo, and subsequently by Lucian Avalon on English horn, playing a melody in “Hope in the Night” reminiscent of the “Goin’ Home” theme of the largo in Dvořák’s “New World.” Flutist Jennifer Debiec Lawson was a key voice in all three works on the program, and the orchestra’s percussionists audibly relished their essential roles.

The stream of this program remains accessible until June 30, 2024. Access: $30. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); http://richmondsymphony.com

Writing in The Atlantic, Vann R. Newkirk II recounts the history of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the ensemble organized in 1871 to support Fisk University in Nashville, one of the institutions founded in the wake of the Civil War to educate newly freed Black Americans.

“For their early performances – in Nashville, Memphis, and Cincinnati – the singers mostly pulled from a repertoire of standard popular songs designed to showcase their equality with white choirs and to impress any sophisticates in the audience,” Newkirk writes.

Meanwhile, “[m]ostly in private, the singers had been practicing a new repertoire, songs that the majority of [W]hite people had never heard. They cobbled together snatches of work songs and ‘sorrow songs’ that many of the students, or their parents, had learned in the fields while enslaved.”

The impact of these songs was immediate and lasting. The Fisk Jubilee Singers toured internationally, raising $100,000 for the struggling Tennessee school, and their performances made the Negro spirituals, formally arranged and notated for the first time by the Fisk ensemble, “a national art form,” Newkirk writes. “Spirituals such as ‘Steal Away’ became the core of the Jubilee Singers’ performances, and this expanding repertoire became the basis for the songbook of standards that still graces Black churches today.”

The spirituals resonate through all the music we now hear as “American.” The songs that Mark Twain called “the perfectest flower of the ages” became a musical template. The spirituals “prefigured the rise of the blues – a direct successor – as the first truly national popular music.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/12/fisk-university-jubilee-singers-choir-history/675813/

As US clocks are wound back to standard time, the show moves from the twilight hours to nighttime, when music stimulates the imagination more than it might in daylight. To mark that seasonal transition, varied musical impressions and evocations of the night.

7-9 p.m. EST
2200-0000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.org

Johann Joseph Fux: Concerto in D major
(“The Gentleness and Bitterness of the Night”)
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/Gottfried von der Goltz
(Carus)

Mozart: Serenade in C minor, K. 388 (“Nachtmusik”)
Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble
(Warner Classics)

Louis Moreau Gottschalk: “Symphonie romantique: a Night in the Tropics”
Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra/Richard Rosenberg
(Naxos)

Debussy: Nocturnes
Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus/Pierre Boulez
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Schoenberg: “Verklärte Nacht” (“Transfigured Night”)
Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Candida Thompson
(Channel Classics)

Dvořák: “Rusalka” – “O Silver Moon”
Renée Fleming, soprano
London Symphony Orchestra/Georg Solti
(Decca)

Pianist Yuja Wang recently detoured from playing big music in big venues – remember her Rachmaninoff marathon in January at Carnegie Hall? – to present a solo program, of music ranging from Bach to Boulez, at “Bigger and Closer,” an exhibition of works by the British artist David Hockney, in which images of his paintings are projected onto the walls of the King’s Cross Lightroom in London.

Music critics were admitted to the show on condition that they not review what was described as an experimental performance. Among those admitted was Norman Lebrecht, the veteran classical critic/reporter/gadfly, who has broken the no-review pledge because “I felt that what I was witnessing . . . might actually be the future of concerts for the rest of the century.”

Writing in the UK magazine The Critic, Lebrecht reports that the audience’s “[c]oncentration was intense and, since no word was printed about the music, each successive piece was greeted with an audible gasp of curiosity, appreciation or perplexity,” the latter perhaps provoked by “two-cam video of Yuja’s hands on the keyboards, legs on the pedals. Her presence was projected in this way as part of the artwork but, rather than distracting from Hockney or the music she played, it enhanced them both with further associations.”

Wang’s experiment “harnesses visual technology to play music in three dimensions for all five senses,” Lebrecht writes. “We have reached a point in the performing arts where concerts are half-deserted while art shows sell out years in advance. Fuse them and see what happens.”

http://thecritic.co.uk/issues/november-2023/have-i-seen-the-future-of-music/

Music-making in visual-art spaces is not new – museum concerts have been staged for more than a century. Music made to complement visual art is not new; examples range from Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” (1874) to Morton Feldman’s “Rothko Chapel” (1971). Collaborations between visual artists and musicians, from album covers to multimedia shows, are also old news.

Wang’s production was something else. According to Lebrecht, the pianist, after seeing the exhibition, “decided that Hockney could be even more effective with music” and assembled a playlist for it. Hockney apparently was not consulted or otherwise involved. Have the two ever met? What might he think of images of her playing projected onto images of his paintings?

Instead of a collaboration, this was more like an appreciation, or maybe akin to a critique by analogy rather than technical appraisal, a common practice among critics writing for non-specialist readers. The analogies in this case were couched not in words but in sounds. Wang responded to Hockney’s images with music, most of it by composers who died long before the artist was born.

Did Lebrecht witness “the future” of the classical recital? A future, perhaps, promising only if musicians are competent curators, demonstrating a real appreciation of the art they mean to reflect in sound.

I’m reminded of an old saw about my trade: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” In today’s no-limits cultural climate, I’m sure there are dances about architecture; but do they do justice to the two very different art forms?

I discussed the relationships (or not) of music and other art forms in a 2006 article for New Music Box:

The Impossible Case of Seeing Music

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.

Contact presenters or venues for health and safety protocols.

Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 5 (2 p.m.)
Nov. 11 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 13 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Daniela Candillari conducting
Jeanine Tesori & George Brant: “Grounded”
Emily D’Angelo (Jess)
Morris Robinson (Commander)
Frederick Ballentine (Trainer)
Joseph Dennis (Eric)
Michael Meyer, stage director
in English, English captions
$45-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Harmony Zhu, piano
Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Chopin: Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1
Chopin: Sonata in B minor, Op. 58
Scriabin: Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, Op. 19 (“Sonata-Fantasy”)
Camille Pepin: “Iridescence-Glace”
Nikolai Kapustin: Theme and Variations, Op. 41
$20-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 2 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 3 (11:30 a.m.)
Nov. 4 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gustavo Gimeno conducting
Tania León: “Pasajes”
Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor
Camille Thomas, cello
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor
$15-$112
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 5 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Brandon Eldredge conducting
Rossini: “The Barber of Seville”
Markel Reed/Erik Grendahl (Figaro)
Hilary Ginther/Lauren Cook (Rosina)
Aaron Crouch/Jordan Costa (Count Almaviva)
Adelmo Guidarelli (Dr. Bartolo)
Christian Pursell (Don Basilio)
Emily Harmon (Berta)
Alexander Kapp (Fiorello/an officer)
Nora Winsler, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$21.25-$150
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Nov. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra
Peter Wilson conducting
“Symphonic Masquerade: an Evening of Specters, Spirits, and Spies”
Andrew Lloyd Webber: “Phantom of the Opera” (selections)
Franck: “Le chasseur maudit” (“The Accursed Huntsman”)
Shostakovich: “The Gadfly” Suite – Romance
Peter Wilson, violin
Mussorgsky: “Night on Bald Mountain”
Lalo Schifrin: “Mission Impossible” theme
Henry Mancini: “The Pink Panther” theme
James Horner: “The Rocketeer” (selections)
Quincy Jones: “Soul Bossa Nova”
James Bond film themes
$25-$90
(434) 979-1333
http://theparamount.net

Nov. 3 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
University Singers
UVa Chamber Singers
Michael Slon directing
Virginia Glee Club
Frank Albinder directing
Virginia Women’s Chorus
KaeRenae Mitchell directing
“Family Weekend Choral Showcase”
program TBA
$10
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Nov. 4 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Commonwealth Concert Opera
works TBA by Wagner, Kurt Weill, Sigmund Romberg, Stephen Sondheim
readings by Kahil Gibran, J.R.R. Tolkien
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org/gellman-room-concerts

Nov. 4 (3 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Michael Butterman conducting
Cirque de la Symphonie
“Cirque de la Symphonie at the Movies”
program TBA
$55-$75
(757) 594-8752
http://fergusoncenter.org

Nov. 4 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 6 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 12 (2 p.m.)
Nov. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 18 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Evan Rogister conducting
Gounod: “Romeo et Juliette”
Rosa Feola (Juliet)
Adam Smith (Romeo)
Justin Austin (Mercutio)
Duke Kim (Tybalt)
Hunter Enoch (Grégorio)
Simon Godwin, stage director
in French, English captions
$45-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 4 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Rune Bergmann conducting
Mozart: Concerto No. 10 in E flat major, K. 365, for 2 pianos
Christina & Michelle Naughton, pianos
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E major
$19-$95
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://strathmore.org

Nov. 5 (2:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
E. Carl Freeman Concert Series:
Stefan Palm, organ
program TBA
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

Nov. 5 (4 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Peter Wilson conducting
Mozart: “Don Giovanni” Overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major
Respighi: “The Pines of Rome”
free
(804) 556-1039
http://richmondphilharmonic.org

Nov. 5 (3 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183
Kodály: “Dances of Galanta”
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor
Akemi Takayama, violin
$34-$58
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Nov. 5 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Kennedy Center Chamber Players
Mozart: String Quintet in B flat major, K. 174
Lili Boulanger: Nocturne
Boulanger: Cortège
Boulanger: “D’un matin de printemps”
Nate Heyder: “Ahead of Time”
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44
$39
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Christopher O’Riley, piano
Radiohead: “Airbag,” “Subterranean Homesick Alien,” “Black Star,” “Exit Music (for a film),” “All I Need,” “Glass Eyes,” “Let Down,” “True Love Waits,” “Paranoid Android” (O’Riley arrangements)
J.S. Bach: “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” Book I – preludes & fugues Nos. 1-12, BWV 846-857
$40
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington & orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Handel: “Zadok the Priest”
Walton: “Coronation Te Deum”
Britten: “Suite on English Folk Tunes”
Roxanna Panufnik: “Coronation Sanctus”
Walton: “Belshazzar’s Feast”
$15-$79
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Mark Markham, piano
Brahms: “Dein blaues Auges,” Op. 59, No. 8
Brahms: “Die Mainacht,” Op. 43, No. 2
Brahms: “Von ewiger Liebe,” Op. 43, No. 1
Ravel: “Shéhérazade”
De Falla: “Siete canciones populares españolas”
John Carter: Cantata for voice & piano
$30-$50
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Nov. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Nov. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins conducting
Ravel: “Ma Mère l’Oye” (“Mother Goose”) Suite
Brahms: “Schicksalslied” (“Song of Destiny”)
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor
$10-$199
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Nov. 9 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 11 (8 p.m.)
Nov. 12 (3 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Tarmo Peltokoski conducting
Wagner: “Die Meistersinger” Prelude
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2
Yuja Wang, piano
Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 in E minor
$19-$121
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Benedict Catholic Church, 300 N. Sheppard St., Richmond
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists Repertoire Recital Series:
Anne Laver, organ
Buxtehude: Praeludium in C major, BuxWV 137
J.S. Bach: Chorale Partita on “O Gott, du frommer Gott,” BWV 767
Natalie Draper: “A Study in Breathing: ‘Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ’ ”
Buxtehude: Cantata, “Nun freut euch, ihr Frommen,” BuxWV 80
Lauren Clay, soprano
Nerissa Thompson, mezzo-soprano
Sor María Clara del Santísimo Sacramento: “Psalm Tones for Matins” – Psalm tone and 6 versets
Buxtehude: Passacaglia in D minor, BuxWV 161
Lionel Rogg: “Partita sopra ‘Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein’ ”
donation requested
(804) 254-8810
http://richmondago.org

Nov. 11 (5 p.m.)
Nov. 12 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Opera
Kenneth Woods directing
“Opera on the D List, Part Deux: Scenes of Death, Deception, and Debauchery”
works TBA by Bizet, Cimarosa, Delibes, Mozart, Nicolai, Verdi
$10
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Nov. 11 (8 p.m.)
Nov. 12 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi & Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Roxanna Panufnik: “Across the Line of Dreams”
Adolphus Hailstork: Piano Concerto No. 2 (“The Peaceable Kingdom”) (premiere)
Lara Downes, piano
William Levi Dawson: “Negro Folk Symphony”
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Nov. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Nov. 12 (3:30 p.m.)
Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
Benjamin Rous & Michael Slon conducting
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major (“Emperor”)
Arunesh Nadgir, piano
Copland: “Canticle of Freedom” – finale
Eric Whitacre: “Equus”
Jennifer Higdon: “O magnum mysterium”
Adolphus Hailstork: “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes”
UVa University Singers
$10-$46
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Nov. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 12 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Brandon Eldredge conducting
Rossini: “The Barber of Seville”
Markel Reed/Erik Grendahl (Figaro)
Hilary Ginther/Lauren Cook (Rosina)
Aaron Crouch/Jordan Costa (Count Almaviva)
Adelmo Guidarelli (Dr. Bartolo)
Christian Pursell (Don Basilio)
Emily Harmon (Berta)
Alexander Kapp (Fiorello/an officer)
Nora Winsler, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$40-$110
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Nov. 12 (6 p.m.)
St. Giles Presbyterian Church, 5200 Grove Ave., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA:
artists TBA
11th anniversary celebration
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 282-9763 (St. Giles)
http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Nov. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Terence Blanchard, trumpet, keyboards & composer
Adrienne Danrich, mezzo-soprano
Nicholas Newton, bass-baritone
Andrew F. Scott, visual artist
E-Collective
Turtle Island Quartet
Blanchard: “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” (concert version) (David Balakrishnan arrangement)
$30-$50
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Nov. 13 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Dominic Salerni Piano Trio
Salerni: “Seven Meditations”
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

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

Nov. 14 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Maxim Vengerov, violin
Polina Osetinskaya, piano
Clara Schumann: “3 Romances,” Op. 22
Brahms: Scherzo from “F-A-E” Sonata
Robert Schumann: Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor
Prokofiev: “5 Melodies,” Op. 35
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 94
$19-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphonic Wind Ensemble & University Band
Terry Austin directing
Tabatha Easley & Jonathan Borja, flutes
Marcus Grant, trumpet
program TBA
$10
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Nov. 16 (6:30 p.m.)
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Overbrook Road at Ownby Lane, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Bernstein: “Wonderful Town” – “The Wrong Note Rag”
Copland: “Two Pieces for String Quartet”
Stravinsky: Octet for winds
Bernstein: “Dance Suite”
William Schuman: String Quartet No. 3
Bernstein: “West Side Story” Suite
$30-$35
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Nov. 16 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 18 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Ken-David Masur conducting
Olly Wilson: “Shango Memory”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414
Orion Weiss, piano
Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 (Arnold Schoenberg orchestration)
$15-$112
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 19 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Virginia Opera
Brandon Eldredge conducting
Rossini: “The Barber of Seville”
Markel Reed/Erik Grendahl (Figaro)
Hilary Ginther/Lauren Cook (Rosina)
Aaron Crouch/Jordan Costa (Count Almaviva)
Adelmo Guidarelli (Dr. Bartolo)
Christian Pursell (Don Basilio)
Emily Harmon (Berta)
Alexander Kapp (Fiorello/an officer)
Nora Winsler, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$19.75-$130
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Nov. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Cathedral Choir
Three Notch’d Road
Daniel Sáñez conducting
Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K. 626
soloists TBA
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Nov. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Paul’s Memorial Church, 1701 University Ave., Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Singers
Parish Choir of St. Paul’s
Michael Slon directing
Deke Polifka, organ
Cecilia McDowall: “O Sing Unto the Lord”
Edgar Bainton: “And I Saw a New Heaven”
Hubert Parry: “I was Glad”
Britten: “Rejoice in the Lamb”
Slon: works TBA
organ works TBA
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Nov. 18 (7 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 4602 Cary Street Road, Richmond
First Presbyterian Choir & orchestra
Jason Brown conducting
Josef Rheinberger: Organ Concerto No. 2 in G minor
Bruce Stevens, organ
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Mendelssohn, René Clausen, Morten Lauridsen
Margaret Taylor Woods, soprano
Daniel Stipe, harpsichord & piano
free
(804) 358-2383
http://fpcrichmond.org

Nov. 18 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Renée Fleming, soprano
Wagner: “Tristan und Isolde” – Prelude & “Liebestod”
Richard Strauss: “Four Last Songs”
Leoncavallo: “La Bohème” – “Musette svaria sulla bocca viva”
Puccini: “Gianni Schicchi” – “O mio babbino caro”
Meredith Willson: “The Music Man” – “Till There Was You”
Lerner & Loewe: “My Fair Lady” – “I Could Have Danced All Night”
$50-$100
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Nov. 18 (5 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
New Orchestra of Washington
Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez conducting
Victoria Polevá: “Turn the River” (premiere)
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
Benedict Kloeckner, cello
Holst: “The Planets”
Towson University Treble Voices
$30-$59
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 18 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conducting
Unsuk Chin: “subito con forza”
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B flat major
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Emanuel Ax, piano
$19-$95
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://strathmore.org

Nov. 19 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
Elizabeth Roberts, bassoon
Kelly Peral, oboe
Shelby Sender, piano
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: Bassoon Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 50
Gordon Jacob: Partita for solo bassoon
James Waterson: Concertpiece (“Souvenir de Donizetti”)
Oleg Miroshnikov: Scherzo
Philipp Friedrich Boddecker: Sonata sopra (“la Monica”)
Henri Büsser: “Portuguesa,” Op. 106
William Grant Still: “Songs for Bassoon and Piano” (Alexa Still arrangement)
Anna Clyne: “Evening Light” for solo bassoon
Poulenc: Trio for piano, oboe and bassoon
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu

Nov. 19 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone
Annabel Thwaite, piano
Hannah Stone, harp
Gerald Finzi: “Let Us Garlands Bring,” Op. 18
John Thomas: “Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn”
Ivor Novello: songs TBA
folk songs from Wales
Schubert: songs TBA
Jesus Guridi: “Viejo Zortzico”
other songs TBA
$19-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Wind Ensemble
Steven Barton directing
works TBA by Rimsky-Korsakov, Berlioz, Wagner, Leroy Anderson, others
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Nov. 20 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Baroque Orchestra
David Sariti, violin & direction
program TBA
$10
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Nov. 25 (8 p.m.)
Nov. 26 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Desirée Roots, vocalist
“Let It Snow!”
holiday program TBA
$10-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Nov. 25 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Chanticleer
“A Chanticleer Christmas”
$34-$58
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Nov. 26 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano & speaker
“Keyboard Conversations: Festive French Fare”
Debussy: “Clair de lune”
Ravel: Sonatine
Saint-Saëns: “Danse macabre”
Poulenc: 2 novelettes
$29-$50
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Nov. 27 (7 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
conductor TBA
“Holiday Festival of Music”
Samuel Coleridge Taylor: “Christmas” Overture
Bob Wendel: “Classical Christmas Suite”
Vaughan Williams: “Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’ ”
Bruckner: “Etude für das Tiefe Blech”
trad.: “Adeste fidelis”
Jeremiah Clarke: “Trumpet Voluntary”
Michael Praetorius: “In dulci jubilo”
Mozart: 3 German dances
Leon Jessel: “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers”
Leroy Anderson: “Bugler’s Holiday”
David Willcocks: sing-along carols
Quinn Mason: “Christmas Eve Festivities”
$55-$70; proceeds benefit Commonwealth Catholic Charities
(804) 359-5651
http://www.cccofva.org/tickets

Nov. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Behzod Abduraimov, piano
Franck: Prélude, Fugue and Variations, Op. 18 (Harold Bauer transcription)
Dilorom Saidaminova: “The Wall of Ancient Bukhara”
Ravel: “Gaspard de la Nuit”
Florence Price: “Fantasie nègre” No. 1 in E minor
Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet: 10 Pieces for Piano,” Op. 75
$12-$45
(434) 924-3376
http://tecs.org

Nov. 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Canadian Brass
Holiday Show
program TBA
$35-$65
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Nov. 30 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 1 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 2 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk conducting
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor
$15-$112
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 30 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conducting
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Simone Lamsma, violin
Lera Auerbach: “Icarus”
Stravinsky: “The Firebird” Suite
$19-$95
(877) 276-1444 (Baltimore Symphony box office)
http://strathmore.org

Dec. 1 (7 p.m.)
Altria Theater, Main & Laurel streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Norman Huynh conducting
“Elf,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$60-$85
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Dec. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Trio Mediaeval
program TBA
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Dec. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Arts Center, 11810 Centre St., Chester
Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Dec. 3 (3 p.m.)
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland
Richmond Symphony Brass Ensemble
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“Holiday Brass”
program TBA
$20-$50
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Dec. 1 (6 p.m.)
Dec. 2 (3:30 p.m.)
University Baptist Church, 1223 W. Main St., Charlottesville
Virginia Women’s Chorus
Katherine (KaeRenae) Mitchell directing
Anastasia Jellison, harp
40th annual Candlelight Concert
Britten: “A Ceremony of Carols” (selections)
Holst: “Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda”
Christmas carols TBA
$10-$25
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard
Roanoke Symphony Pops
Roanoke Symphony Chorus
Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir
other choirs TBA
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Emme Cannon, vocalist
“Holiday Pops Spectacular”
program TBA
$32-$67
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Dec. 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Dec. 10 (7 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Pops
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Truetone Honeys
Joanne White & Evelyn White, flutes
Robert Shoup conducting
“Holiday Pops”
program TBA
$10-$199
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Dec. 3 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
UVa University Singers
Michael Slon conducting
Family Holiday Concerts
program TBA
$11-$48
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 3 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Guitar & Community Guitar Ensemble
program TBA
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Dec. 3 (5 & 8 p.m.)
Cannon Memorial Chapel, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale
Jeffrey Riehl & Timothy Drummond directing
50th annual Festival of Lessons and Carols
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Dec. 3 (7 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
River Road Chancel Choir & orchestra
Robert Gallagher conducting
Handel: “Messiah” – Advent/Christmas portion
soloists TBA
sold out; waiting list
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

Dec. 4 (11 a.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Three Notch’d Road
Anne Timberlake, recorders
Cameron Welke, lute & theorbo
“Sacred Harp: an English, Irish & American Christmas”
free; tickets required bia http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Dec. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Chamber Ensembles
Joanne Kong directing
program TBA
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Dec. 5 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
University Singers
UVA Chamber Singers
Virginia Glee Club
Virginia Women’s Chorus
audience members
Michael Slon directing
“Messiah” Sing-in
$10
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
University Symphony Orchestra
Naima Burrs conducting
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor – I: Moderato
Ben Nguyen, piano
other works TBA
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Dec. 6 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
program TBA
$10
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Dec. 7 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Heritage Signature Chorale
Steven Reineke conducting
“Notes of Honor: NSO Salutes the Military”
program TBA
free; registration required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org