Author: letterv13

Valentina Peleggi conducting
Oct. 4, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center

Since the days of Franz Liszt and Niccolò Paganini, classical virtuoso-superstars generally have given audiences what they crave, with extra helpings of showmanship. For the past generation, Yo-Yo Ma has been a pre-eminent cello virtuoso and media-savvy superstar; but what he offers, in addition to masterful playing and a sunny personality, is respect for listeners’ comprehension and taste.

Performing with the Richmond Symphony to a capacity crowd, Ma played Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, one of the major concertos for the instrument but one that’s too somber and subtle to rank high on the list of crowd-pleasers. The piece requires intense concentration to play and to hear.

Ma did not succumb to any of the expressive temptations that this late-romantic work might present – no sighing or groaning in its dark main theme, no extra-crunchy double-stops, no rhetorical flourishes beyond those that Elgar scored. Where the composer wanted very quiet playing from the soloist, Ma played very quietly. And the audience, which greeted him and then rewarded his performance with roaring ovations, listened very quietly.

Charisma exercised at low volume is a rare gift.

This was Ma’s second appearance with the Richmond Symphony, and in both he played the Elgar concerto. My memory of his 1981 performance is hazy, to put it mildly; but I believe this one was more measured in pacing, more darkly lyrical, more atmospheric and more collaborative with the orchestra.

Valentina Peleggi, the symphony’s music director, kept the orchestra firmly on Ma’s wavelength, both interpretively and in collective sonority.

The sound of the symphony, especially its string sections, was quite different in the program’s first half. A more assertive, dynamic and at times angular sound was required in three of the selections, Maurice Ravel’s “La valse,” Manuel de Falla’s “The Three-Cornered Hat” Suite No. 2 and Gabriela Ortiz’s “Kauyumari,” all of which received surging, highly colorful performances.

Peleggi’s treatment of Johann Strauss II’s “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” was rather mannered, exaggerating the delayed beats and tempo fluctuations of traditional Viennese style, while lacking the plush string tone characteristic of that style.

The orchestra’s relatively lean string sound enhanced the colors and ominous atmospherics of “La valse” and contributed to the energy of the Falla suite, but rendered the fiddles barely audible through most of the Ortiz piece, a rhythmically propulsive, brassy and percussive dance inspired by the “blue deer” ceremony of the Huichol people of Mexico.

Writing in The Observer, James Tapper examines an unlikely but increasingly lucrative branch of the music industry: Recordings of non-musical noise, promoted as enhancing concentration, relaxation, sleep and other desirable outcomes.

The Sleep Foundation identifies three types of potentially beneficial noise: white noise, “containing all frequencies across the spectrum of audible sound,” comparable to static; pink noise, having “sounds within each octave, but the power of its frequencies decreases by three decibels with each higher octave,” as heard from a waterfall; and brown noise, which “contains sounds from every octave of the sound spectrum, but the power behind frequencies decreases with each octave,” resembling the sound of rainfall.

“Noise fans say that studying, sleeping and meditation are all enhanced by listening to these sounds at modest levels,” Tapper writes. He notes that an audio track called “Clean White Noise – Loopable with No Fade” has been played more than 830 million times, “worth an estimated $2.5 million in royalties.” (Playing it on a continuous loop for seven hours wracks up 280 plays.)

“This just drains the money away from things that have cultural value,” says Tom Gray, guitarist of the rock band Gomez. “There are amazing artists working in sound design, but a lot of the stuff we’re talking about isn’t that, it’s just someone sticking a [microphone] out of the window.”

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/02/no-tune-no-words-no-dancing-why-white-noise-is-the-music-industrys-newest-hit

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 to online ticket purchases.

Contact presenters or venues for Covid-19 safety protocols.

Oct. 1 (7 p.m.)
Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 8 N. Laurel St., Richmond
Capitol Opera Richmond:
artists TBA
“Spooktacular”
art-songs & poems TBA
$15
(804) 840-7878
http://capitoloperarichmond.com

Oct. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Oct. 2 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Wagner: “The Valkyrie” (adaptation of “Die Walküre” by Jonathan Dove & Graham Vick)
Kyle Albertson (Wotan)
Alexandra Loutsion (Brünnhilde)
Richard Trey Smagur (Siegmund)
Meghan Kasanders (Sieglinde)
Claudia Chapa (Fricka/Waltraute)
Ricardo L. Lugo (Hunding)
Lesley Anne Friend (Helmwige)
Adriane S. Kerr (Rossweisse)
Courtney Johnson (Grimgerde)
Joachim Schamberger, stage director
in German, English captions
$20-$110
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Oct. 1 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
John Storgårds conducting
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major (“Classical”)
John Adams: Violin Concerto
Leila Josefowicz, violin
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 in A minor
$15-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 1 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Peter Oundjian conducting
Carlos Simon: “Fate Now Conquers”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491
Tom Borrow, piano
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”)
$35-$90
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Gabriela Ortiz: “Kauyumari”
Falla: “The Three-Cornered Hat” Suite No. 2
Johann Strauss II: “On the Beautiful Blue Danube”
Ravel: “La valse”
Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
$65-$200
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 5 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 6 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 8 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 9 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Bobby Wier & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack, guest stars
Grateful Dead songs TBA
$69-$139
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 7 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
James Conlon conducting
Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”), with spoken text by Samual Pisar
Judith and Leah Pisar, speakers
Erica Petrocelli, soprano
University of Maryland Concert Choir
Jason Ferdinand directing
Maryland State Boychoir
Stephen Holmes directing
$35-$90
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Academy Center for the Arts, 600 Main St., Lynchburg
Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra
David Glover conducting
Florence Price: “Canebreaks”
Copland: “A Lincoln Portrait”
Leland Melvin, narrator
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$30-$100
(434) 846-8499
http://lynchburgsymphony.org

Oct. 8 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 9 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Wagner: “The Valkyrie” (adaptation of “Die Walküre” by Jonathan Dove & Graham Vick)
Kyle Albertson (Wotan)
Alexandra Loutsion (Brünnhilde)
Richard Trey Smagur (Siegmund)
Meghan Kasanders (Sieglinde)
Claudia Chapa (Fricka/Waltraute)
Ricardo L. Lugo (Hunding)
Lesley Anne Friend (Helmwige)
Adriane S. Kerr (Rossweisse)
Courtney Johnson (Grimgerde)
Joachim Schamberger, stage director
in German, English captions
$40-$110
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Oct. 9 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
Randall Thompson: Suite for clarinet, oboe & viola
Jiyeon Choi, clarinet
Kelly Peral, oboe
Ayn Balija, viola
Maurice Wright: “Grand Duo” for viola & percussion
Ayn Balija, viola
I-Jen Fang, percussion
Ingrid Stölzel: “The Voice of the Rain”
Kelly Sulick, flute
Adam Carter, cello
I-Jen Fang, percussion
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: Sonata No. 19
Max McNutt, trumpet
Nate Lee, trombone
Malcolm Arnold: Divertimento
Kelly Sulick, flute
Kelly Peral, oboe
Jiyeon Choi, clarinet
Telemann: “Fantaisies pour le clavessin” – Fantasia No. 9
Telemann: “Six Canonic Studies” – Sonata No. 5
Max McNutt, trumpet
Nate Lee, trombone
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

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

Oct. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Michael Spyres, tenor
Mathieu Pordoy, piano
Beethoven: “An die ferne Geliebte”
Berlioz: “Les nuits d’étè”
Liszt: “Three Petrarch Sonatas”
other works TBA
$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Alexander Malofeev, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
Beethoven: Sonata in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 (“Tempest”)
Nikolai Medtner: Sonata in G minor, Op. 22
Rachmaninoff: Études-tableaux, Op. 33
$12-$39
(434) 924-3376
http://tecs.org

Oct. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Ying Li, piano
QiGang Chen: “Homage to Peking opera”
Stravinsky: “The Firebird” Suite
Haydn: sonata TBA
Schumann: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
$20-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 12 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Clarice Assad: “Nhanderú”
Edino Krieger: “Canticum Naturale” (excerpt)
Villa-Lobos: Choros No. 3 (“Pica-pau”)
Villa-Lobos: Choros No. 5 (“Alma Brasileira”)
José Antonio Almeida Prado: “Sinfonia dos Orixás” (selection)
Villa-Lobos: “A Floresta do Amazonas” – “Cair da Tarde”
Marco Antônio Guimarães: “Onze”
Philip Glass: “Águas da Amazônia” (selection)
Tom Jobim: “Boto e Passarim” (Tiago Costa arrangement)
Villa-Lobos: “Bachianas Brasileiras” No. 4 (selection)
Villa-Lobos: Choros No. 10 (“Rasga o Coração”) (excerpt)
$48-$98
(301) 581-5100
http://strathmore.org

Oct. 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Oct. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Pops
conductor TBA
“Never Break the Chain – the Music of Fleetwood Mac”
$25-$79
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Oct. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
Nathaniel Gumbs, organ
works TBA by Rossini, Franck, Florence Price, Alfred Hollins, John Stoddard, Carl Haywood
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org

Oct. 14 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 16 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Wagner: “The Valkyrie” (adaptation of “Die Walküre” by Jonathan Dove & Graham Vick)
Kyle Albertson (Wotan)
Alexandra Loutsion (Brünnhilde)
Richard Trey Smagur (Siegmund)
Meghan Kasanders (Sieglinde)
Claudia Chapa (Fricka/Waltraute)
Ricardo L. Lugo (Hunding)
Lesley Anne Friend (Helmwige)
Adriane S. Kerr (Rossweisse)
Courtney Johnson (Grimgerde)
Joachim Schamberger, stage director
in German, English captions
$20-$110
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Oct. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Berglund Performing Arts Theater, Williamson Road at Orange Avenue, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Kinga Augustine, violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
$34-$56
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Oct. 15 (8 p.m.)
Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major
Jeremy Denk, piano
Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 in E minor
$45-$65
(703) 343-7651
http://capitalonehall.com

Oct. 15 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, First and East Capitol streets, Washington
Apollon Musagète Quartet
Schubert: Quartet in D major, D. 94
Penderecki: Quartet No. 3 (“Leaves of an Unwritten Diary”)
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
free; reservations via http://blackbaud.com
(202) 707-5502
http://loc.gov/concerts

Oct. 16 (4 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Sonia Vlahcevic, piano
program TBA
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 16 (7 p.m.)
Gallery5, 200 W. Marshall St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA:
artists TBA
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 678-8863
http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Oct. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Jaime Laredo, violin
Sharon Robinson, cello
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola
Anna Polonsky, piano
Mozart: Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478
Ngwenyama: Elegy
Dvořák: Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 87
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
New Era Orchestra of Kyiv
Tatiana Kalinichenko conducting
“Benefit Concert for Ukraine”
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major
Valentyn Silvestrov: “Silent Music” – “Evening Serenade”
Myroslav Skoryk: Melody
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Joshua Bell, violin
$79-$135
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Community Chapel, 3899 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Michael Butterman conducting
Wagner: “Die Meistersinger” – Act 1 Prelude
Alexander Arutiunian: Trumpet Concerto in A flat major
Rex Richardson, trumpet
Tchaikovsky: “Eugene Onegin” – Polonaise
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor (“Little Russian”)
$60 (live attendance); $25 (online stream)
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

Oct. 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Symphony No. 1 in G major
Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor
Gil Shaham, violin
Louise Farrenc: Symphony No. 3 in G minor
$82
(703) 343-7651
http://capitalonehall.com

Oct. 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Igor Levit, piano
Schumann: “Waldszenen,” Op. 82
Fred Hersch: “Variations on a Folksong”
Wagner: “Tristan und Isolde” – Prelude (Zoltán Kocsis arrangement)
Liszt: Sonata in B minor
$50
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

Oct. 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Oct. 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Oct. 23 (2:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins conducting
Berlioz: “Roman Carnival” Overture
André Previn: “Honey and Rue”
Katherine Jolly, soprano
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”)
$25-$79
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Oct. 21 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducting
Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello
Thomas Adès: “The Exterminating Angel” Symphony
Debussy: “La Mer”
$30-$110
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

Oct. 22 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 23 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Carlos Simon: “The Block”
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Jennifer Koh, violin
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6 in E minor
$15-$85
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
Manassas Symphony Orchestra
James Villani conducting
Wagner: “Tannhäuser” Overture
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
Thomas Pandolfi, piano
Johann Strauss II: “Wine, Women and Song”
Borodin: Symphony No. 2 in B minor
$25
(703) 993-7759
http://hyltoncenter.org

Oct. 22 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Oct. 30 (2 p.m.)
Nov. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 5 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 7 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Michele Gamba conducting
Verdi: “Il Trovatore”
Latonia Moore (Leonora)
Raehann Bryce-Davis (Azucena)
Gwyn Hughes Jones (Manrico)
Christopher Maltman (Count Di Luna)
Ryan Speedo Green (Ferrando)
Brenna Corner, stage director
in Italian, English captions
$45-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 22 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 23 (3 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Britten: “Cello Symphony”
David Hardy, cello
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 in E flat minor
$15-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 23 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Emerson String Quartet
Mendelssohn: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 12
Ravel: Quartet in F major
George Walker: “Lyric for Strings”
Dvořák: Quartet in A flat major, Op. 105
$35
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/academics/departments/music/concerts-and-events/rennolds-series/

Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richnond
Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier directing
“Sacro Monteverdi”
Monteverdi: Gloria
Monteverdi: “Dixit Dominus” II
Monteverdi: “Beatus vir” I
Monteverdi: “O bone Jesu o piissime Jesu” (instrumental version)
Monteverdi: “Adoramus te Christe”
Monteverdi: “Cruxifixus”
Monteverdi: “Laetaniae della Beata Vergine”
Monteverdi: “O bone Jesu o piissime Jesu” (vocal version)
Monteverdi: Magnificat I
free; ticket reservation required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org

Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Takács Quartet
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: Quartet in E flat major
Bartók: Quartet No. 6
Dvořák: Quartet in G major, Op. 106
$12-$39
(434) 924-3376
http://tecs.org

Oct. 26 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Tabatha Easley, flute
Magda Adamek, piano
Justin Alexander, marimba & vibraphone
Anamarie Diaz & Kayla Hanvey, flutes
Alyssa McKeithen, oboe
Rex Richardson, flugelhorn
Daniel Stipe, piano
works TBA by Nicole Chamberlain, Valerie Coleman, Daniel Dorff, Katherine Hoover, Libby Larsen, Robert Morris
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Oct. 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Susanna Philllips, soprano
Craig Terry, piano
program TBA
$35
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Oct. 27 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 28 (8 p.m.)
Oct. 29 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Respighi: “Burlesca”
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Julian Rachlin, violin
Alfredo Casella: Symphony No. 3
$15-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series:
Johann Vexo, organ
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV 552
J.S. Bach: “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” BWV 645
Franck: Choral No. 3 in A minor
Alexandre Guilmant: “March upon Handel’s ‘Lift up your heads,’ ” Op. 15
Saint-Saëns: “Danse macabre” (Edwin Lemare transcription)
Louis Vierne: Symphony No. 6 – Aria, scherzo & final
free; donation requested
(804) 288-1131
http://richmondago.org

Oct. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
conductor TBA
“The Magical Music of Harry Potter”
$25-$79
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Oct. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra
Peter Wilson conducting
“An Evening on the American Frontier”
Cooland: “Rodeo” – “Hoe Down”
John Stafford Smith & Francis Scott Key: “The Star-Spangled Banner”
Copland: “Appalachian Spring”
Peter Meechan: “Land of the Living Skies”
Jay Ungar: “Ashokan Farewell”
Peter Wilson, violin
Elmer Bernstein: “The Magnificent Seven”
James Newton Howard: “Grand Canyon Fanfare”
John Barry: “Dances with Wolves”
John Williams: “The Cowboys” Overture
Sousa: “Black Horse Troop”
$25-$90
(434) 979-1333
http://theparamount.net

Oct. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center:
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano
Stella Chen & Arnaud Sussmann, violins
Paul Neubauer, viola
Nicholas Canellakis, cello
Dvořák: Sonatina in G major, Op. 100, for violin & piano
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 1
Ysaÿe: “Rêve d’enfant,” Op. 14, for violin & piano
Dvořák: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81
$50
(703) 255-1868
http://wolftrap.org

Oct. 29 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Gellman Room Concerts:
Lisa Ruth, piano
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org/events/gellman-concerts/

Oct. 29 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 30 (3:30 p.m.)
Marburg House, 3102 Bute Lane, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
Domenic Salerni, violin & composer
Danielle Wiebe Burke, viola
Schuyler Slack, cello
Sam Suggs, double-bass & composer
Mary Boodell, flute
Ingrid Keller, piano
Paul Wiancko, composer
“Distant Lands”
Wiancko: “American Haiku”
Erwin Schulhoff: Concertino for flute, viola & double-bass
Salerni: Piano Trio No. 1
Suggs: “Postlude”
Dvořák: Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 90 (“Dumky”)
$33 (Oct. 29 sold out)
(804) 604-0689
http://belvedereseries.org/concerts-and-tickets

Oct. 29 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“The Music of Danny Elfman from the Films of Tim Burton”
$15-$85
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 29 (3 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
conductor TBA
“Halloween Spooktacular”
$12-$22
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Oct. 29 (7 p.m.)
Oct. 31 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 6 (2 p.m.)
Nov. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Nov. 12 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington
Washington National Opera
Evan Rogister conducting
Richard Strauss: “Elektra”
Christine Goerke (Elektra)
Sara Jakubiak (Chrysothemis)
Katarina Dalayman (Klytämnestra)
Štefan Margita (Aegisth)
Ryan Speedo Green (Orest)
Francesca Zambello, stage director
in German, English captions
$45-$299
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Oct. 30 (3 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 711 St. Christopher Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“Around the World”
family program TBA
$15-$25
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Oct. 30 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale
Jeffrey Riehl & David Pedersen directing
program TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Oct. 30 (4 p.m.)
Second Presbyterian Church, 5 N. Fifth St., Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
“Bach and His Inspirations”
works TBA by Buxtehude, Pachelbel, others
$30
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

Oct. 30 (4 p.m.)
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon, Richmond
Christoph Wagner, cello
Joanne Kong, piano
“Strands of Compassion”
works TBA by Chopin, Dvořák, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Arvo Pärt, others, with poetry, video and imagery on themes of compassion, sustainability, the natural world, planetary healing and spirituality
donation requested; proceeds benefit Porchlight Animal Sanctuary
(804) 355-0777
http://richmonduu.org

Oct. 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Midori, violin
J.S. Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001
Jessie Montgomery: Rhapsody No. 1
J.S. Bach: Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002
John Zorn: “Passagen”
J.S. Bach: Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006
$30
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

Nov. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Dover Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”)
Mason Bates: Suite for string quartet
Dvořák: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 51
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 3 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets
Gellman Room Concerts:
Sigma Alpha Iota artists TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org/events/gellman-concerts/

Nov. 3 (7 p.m.)
Nov. 4 (11:30 a.m.)
Nov. 5 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
“Symphonic Surprise!”
program TBA (selections announced from stage)
$15-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Nov. 4 (various times)
Nov. 5 (various times)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival
Benjamin Bruening directing
programs TBA
free
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Nov. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richnond
Crystal Jonkman, organ
Denis Bédard: “Suite du premiere ton”
J.S. Bach: Pastorella, BWV 950
Gwenyth Walker: “Sanctuary”
Franck: Pastorale, Op. 19
Craig Phillips: “Archangel Suite”
free; ticket reservation required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org

Nov. 4 (8 p.m.)
Nov. 5 (2:30 p.m.)
Nov. 6 (2:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Opera
Adam Turner conducting
Gilbert & Sullivan: “The Pirates of Penzance”
Troy Cook (Major-General Stanley)
Aubrey Allicock (The Pirate King)
Martin Bakari (Frederic)
Amy Owens (Mabel)
Lucy Schaufer (Ruth)
Jeremy Harr (Sergeant of Police)
Kyle White (Samuel)
Katherine Sanford (Edith)
Taylor-Alexis DuPont (Kate)
Kaileigh Riess (Isabel)
Kyle Lang, stage director
in English, English captions
$12.51-$130
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Nov. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverly St., Staunton
Nov. 5 (7:30 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
Nov. 6 (4 p.m.)
Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Road, Keswick
Three Notch’d Road: the Virginia Baroque Ensemble:
Matvey Lapin & Fiona Hughes, baroque violins
Sam Suggs, double-bass
Christa Patton, harp
Jennifer Streeter, harpsichord
Christopher Short, bass-baritone
“Eastern Exotic: Slavic, Romanian & Hungarian”
Arvo Pärt: “Spiegel im Spiegel” (baroque ensemble arrangement)
works TBA by Ivan Khandoshkin, Maxim Berezovsky
Hungarian Csárdás TBA
$25
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org

Nov. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Danish String Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3
Schubert: Quartet in A minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”)
traditional folk music TBA (Danish String Quartet arrangements)
$25-$55
(540) 231-5300
http://artscenter.vt.edu

Nov. 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Sipe Center, 100 N. Main St., Bridgewater
Richmond Symphony String Quartet
Damien Geter: “Neo Soul”
other works TBA
$20
(540) 908-4208
http://sipecenter.com/calendar

Nov. 6 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Israeli Chamber Project
Saint-Saëns: Fantaisie, Op. 124, for harp & violin
Stravinsky: “L’histoire du soldat” Suite
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet & string quartet
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1 (Anton Webern arrangement)
Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin” (Yuval Shapiro arrangement)
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Updated Oct. 13

Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times’ architecture critic, reviews the troubled physical and acoustical history of the New York Philharmonic’s home venue in Lincoln Center, opened in 1962 as Philharmonic Hall, renamed Avery Fisher Hall following a 1976 renovation, now David Geffen Hall, reopening on Oct. 12 after a $550 million reconfiguration of the building and its concert hall. (Geffen, a Hollywood film and music mogul, contributed $100 million for the project.)

The orchestra “is hoping that it has finally seen the last of its star-crossed auditorium’s notoriously troublesome acoustics and that it has devised a world-class hall enticing to new generations of concertgoers,” Kimmelman writes. “The question is whether new architecture – more welcoming, transparent, and, fingers crossed, acoustically improved – can alter [the hall’s] karma.”

An encouraging sign, he finds, is that the project’s acousticians “got to set the specifications for the hall, recommended the layout and signed off on everything,” in contrast to the original design and 1976 renovation, when acousticians were “just expected to sign off on an architect’s plans,” as Paul Scarbrough, one of Geffen Hall’s lead acoustical consultants, put it:

Justin Davidson, music and architecture critic of New York magazine, offers a preliminary assessment of Geffen Hall’s acoustics, and walks readers through the sights and amenities of a transformed building:

http://www.vulture.com/2022/10/new-geffen-hall-lincoln-center-acoustics-concert-philharmonic.html

The Times’ music critic, Zachary Woolfe, is provisionally reassured about the hall’s acoustics and versatility in several musical genres. He’s less enamored of some decorative choices:

The Cleveland Orchestra now owns the manuscript score of Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony (“Resurrection”), donated by the Austrian media magnate Herbert G. Kloiber, who serves on the orchestra’s European board.

The score, with the composer’s handwritten edits, was purchased by Kloiber from the estate of Gilbert Kaplan, the New York financier whose fixation on the Mahler Second turned into a second career of widely conducting and leading several recordings of the symphony.

The Cleveland Orchestra opens its current season on Sept. 29 and 30 with performances of the work, led by Franz Welser-Möst, its music director. (The Richmond Symphony’s music director, Valentina Peleggi, will conduct the orchestra, Richmond Symphony Chorus and soloists in the “Resurrection” on April 1 and 2.)

The Mahler manuscript will be housed and displayed at the Cleveland Museum of Art, The New York Times’ David Allen reports:

Natalie Kress, violin
Danielle Wiebe Burke, viola
Jonathan Ruck, cello
Ingrid Keller, piano
Sept. 25, Marburg House

The Belvedere Series of chamber-music concerts launched its first full season in a program that overlapped the baroque and romantic, with J.S. Bach’s Suite in D major, BWV 1012, for solo cello, Johan Halvorsen’s set of variations on a sarabande by George Frideric Handel, and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47.

The music was made in the parlor of the Marburg House, the oldest residence (vintage 1889) in Richmond’s Carillon neighborhood. The room is much the same size as the spaces in which chamber music usually was played in the 19th century. These performances sounded bigger, though, thanks to the louder, richer tone of modern fiddles and piano. The sound of the Schumann was about as much as could be heard comfortably in this space.

Cellist Jonathan Ruck, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, emphasized melody and tonal warmth in the Bach suite, pacing its dance movements moderately and rarely letting elaborate figurations and expressive asides interrupt the lyrical flow of the suite’s allemande and sarabande. By today’s historically informed standards, it was an old-fashioned reading, but interpretively satisfying and cognizant of baroque style.

Halvorsen’s 1897 set of variations on the sarabande from Handel’s Harpsichord Suite in D minor is one of the staples of the repertory for violin-and-viola duos. Its primary source is even older: the Portuguese-Spanish tune “La Folía,” borrowed by hundreds of composers, from Corelli to Rachmaninoff.

The piece received robust, rhythmically acute treatment from the Washington-based violinist Natalie Kress and Danielle Wiebe Burke, principal violist of the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, both audibly attuned to Halvorsen’s romantic style and the music’s antique source.

Pianist Ingrid Keller, the artistic director of the Belvedere Series, a member of the music faculty at the College of William and Mary and rehearsal pianist of the Richmond Symphony Chorus, joined the three string musicians in a well-balanced and echt-Romantisch account of the Schumann, who was near the high tide of his early 1840s flood of chamber music in this piece, written within weeks of his better-known Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44.

The four musicians took care to make their instrumental voices both complementary and differentiated, helped substantially by the space in which they played.

Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
with Alexis Seminario, soprano
Dashon Burton, baritone
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Anthony Blake Clark directing
Sept. 18, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was 19th-century Europe’s greatest composer of ballet music, and one of its major composers of symphonies. His Symphony No. 4 in F minor, completed in 1878, two years after “Swan Lake,” is built of tunes and dance rhythms that might have pirouetted out of a ballet score.

That’s the work’s allure, and its greatest challenge to interpreters. A ballet is composed of episodes, its music presented in the context of narrative, physical movement and the visual trappings of theater. A symphony is “abstract” – sound on its own, usually without any guide to its meaning – and its themes complement and contrast with one another in larger, longer, more complex musical constructs. When a symphony dances or tells a story, it does so in the listener’s imagination.

In the opening program of the Richmond Symphony’s 2022-23 mainstage season, Chia-Hsuan Lin, the orchestra’s associate conductor, substituting for its music director, Valentina Peleggi, who fell ill before the weekend concerts, crafted a Tchaikovsky Fourth that dancers could have danced to. Lin set steady, measured tempos and saw to it that discrete themes and instrumental voices, dramatic pronouncements and colorful asides, sounded clearly.

Her meticulous yet unfussy treatment of the score made for a rewarding listening experience, but not, to my ears, a completely compelling Tchaikovsky experience. Exposition of fine details, tone-painting of moody atmospherics, rhythmic fluidity and abundant lyricism came through almost flawlessly; but the music’s buildup of passion and sonic intensity was too gradual, too moderated, to provoke the emotional rush that Tchaikovsky uniquely provides.

The Tchaikovsky concluded a program otherwise devoted to American works of different vintages and stylistic strains: William Grant Still’s “Festive” Overture, Antonín Dvořák’s Te Deum and Zachary Wadsworth’s “Beyond the Years,” the latter two featuring the Richmond Symphony Chorus.

“Beyond the Years,” the Richmond-born Wadsworth’s setting of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, receiving its premiere in this symphony program, casts its elegiac words (“Beyond the years the soul shall find / That endless peace for which it pined”) in vaguely old-English liturgical harmonies, filtered through a pastoral-cum-impressionistic orchestration recalling the scores of Frederick Delius or Frank Bridge – an evocation of solace and peace on several dimensions.

The Symphony Chorus, directed by Anthony Blake Clark, gave Wadsworth’s brief work a warm, affectionate reading, nicely contrasting with the more declamatory choral voicing of the Dvořák Te Deum.

The Dvořák, written in 1892 to launch the Czech composer’s three-year teaching and composing residence in the US, is an extroverted setting of the Latin hymn “Te Deum laudamus” (“God, We Praise You”), mixing celebratory, borderline-martial choral-orchestral sections with more devotionally expressive solos, sung here by soprano Alexis Seminario and baritone Dashon Burton.

Like the Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, Dvořák’s Te Deum is more operatic than liturgical in tone, and was projected in that quasi-theatrical mode in this performance. Slavic-folk echoes – ever-present in most of Dvořák’s music – are less explicit in this piece, mostly sensed in its exclamatory choral writing.

The Symphony Chorus sang with rustic gusto, but with recessed presence when Dvořák’s orchestration was at its brassiest.

Still’s curtain-raiser, winner of a “best overture” competition staged in 1944 by conductor Eugene Goosens and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (a year earlier, a similar Cincinnati project introduced Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”), is a miniature showpiece of orchestration, vividly colorful, tuneful and rhythmically propulsive. Lin and the orchestra gave it the brash yet suave tone of a golden-age Hollywood musical.

Alexander Paley, piano
Amiram Ganz, violin
Sept. 17, St. Luke Lutheran Church

Franz Schubert wrote a number of works for violin and piano, but few of them are heard as often as, say, the violin sonatas of Beethoven or Brahms. In the first two programs of this fall’s Alexander Paley Music Festival, pianist Paley and violinist Amiram Ganz, a longtime performance partner of Paley’s, surveyed this neglected aspect of Schubert’s music.

On the second night, they concluded with the Fantasy in C major, D. 934, perhaps the least frequently performed of Schubert’s late masterpieces. Why so? Partly because Schubert is not commonly rated as a major violin composer, but more likely because the piece is very challenging technically for both instrumentalists, with the extra challenge of maintaining balance between the instruments – especially when this work is played on a modern piano.

The balance issue arose a few times in this performance, mainly in the inner movements – the decorous figurations of the allegretto and the andantino’s theme and variations; but Ganz and Paley were consistently complementary voices in the soulful, echt-Schubertian theme of the opening andante and its reprise in the finale.

The duo also made finely balanced and highly lyrical work of Schubert’s Violin Sonata in A major, D. 574, known as the “Grand Duo,” arguably the most familiar of the composer’s violin-and-piano works and rather similar in structure and treatment of thematic material to the best-known of Schubert’s string sonatas, the “Arpeggione.”

Paley followed the sonata and fantasy with the piano sonatas in A minor, D. 537, and A major, D. 664, both products of Schubert’s early maturity (dating, respectively, from 1817 and 1819), the former one of his more emotionally turbulent big keyboard works, the latter boasting an early example of Schubert at his most expansive.

The theme of the A minor’s central allegretto is a “Name That Tune” exercise for listeners: It turns up again, more familiarly, in the finale of Schubert’s penultimate piano sonata, the A major, D. 959.

In this contrasting pair of sonatas, Paley nicely balanced the works’ substantial, rather Beethovenian themes with Schubert’s decorative asides, and put extra and constructive effort into thoughtful phrasing and carefully graded dynamics.

The Paley Music Festival concludes with Paley and his spouse and four-hands piano partner, Peiwen Chen, playing Otto Singer’s arrangement of Richard Strauss’ “Symphonia Domestica” and Paley playing Ernő Dohnányi’s suite of themes from Johann Strauss II’s “Die Fledermaus,” at 3 p.m. Sept. 18 at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway. Tickets: $20. Details: (804) 665-9516; http://paleymusicfestival.org

Time once again for Letter V’s thumbnail overview of the coming classical season in Central Virginia.

Preparing this list, I’m reminded that reports of classical music’s demise are premature, at least in these parts. The Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area, population 1.3 million, 45th largest in the US, has more classical performances on offer than many more populous places. That’s due mainly to a continuing proliferation of chamber-music and chamber-orchestra concerts in smaller venues, where music-making has more intimacy, immediacy and impact. (Also, lower ticket prices.)

The following listings include most performances for which tickets must be purchased or online reservations must be made. A number of likely events, such as concerts in churches, choral series and programs in or around holy days, are yet to be announced. Summer series aren’t set until spring at the earliest. As with the monthly events calendar, student recitals and private or invitational performances are not listed.

Time permitting, I’ll update the listings as other fall-to-spring series or events are announced.

The season has the usual clusters of events on weekends, but not as many conflicts or hasty trips from matinees to evening performances as we’ve had in the past.

Addresses and contact information for presenting organizations and venues follow the monthly listings. Their websites list concert programs, if and when available, as will Letter V’s monthly calendars as the season progresses.

Here goes . . .

* Indicates free concerts. (Registration may be required; donations may be requested.)

SEPTEMBER
*10 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Heritage Amphitheater, Pocahontas State Park)
11 – Rennolds Chamber Concerts: George Li, piano (Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University)
16 – Paley Music Festival: Amiram Ganz, violin; Alexander Paley, piano (St. Luke Lutheran Church)
17-18 – Richmond Symphony, Symphony Chorus & soloists/Valentina Peleggi (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
17 – Paley Music Festival: Amiram Ganz, violin; Alexander Paley, piano (St. Luke Lutheran Church)
18 – Paley Music Festival: Alexander Paley & Peiwen Chen, piano four-hands (St. Luke Lutheran Church)
*18 – Joanne Kong, harpsichord (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
22 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
*23 – Bruce Stevens, organ (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
24 – Richmond Symphony Pops/Steve Hackman (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*24 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
24-25 – Belvedere Series ensemble (Marburg House)
25 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (St. Mary’s Episcopal Church)
*30 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

OCTOBER
4 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi; Yo-Yo Ma, cello (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
14/16 – Virginia Opera/Adam Turner: “The Valkyrie” (“Die Walküre”) (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*14 – Nathaniel Gumbs, organ (River Road Church, Baptist)
22-23 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi; Jennifer Koh, violin (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
23 – Rennolds Chamber Concerts: Emerson String Quartet (Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University)
*25 – Vox Luminis (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
27 – Susanna Phillips, soprano; Craig Terry, piano (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
*28 – Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series: Johann Vexo, organ (River Road Church, Baptist)
29-30 – Belvedere Series ensembles (Marburg House)
29 – Richmond Symphony Pops/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Altria Theater)
*29 – Lisa Ruth, piano (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
30 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
30 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia: Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord (Second Presbyterian Church)
*30 – University of Richmond Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale/Jeffrey Riehl & David Pedersen (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)

NOVEMBER
*3 – Sigma Alpha Iota artists (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
*4 – Crystal Jonkman, organ (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
*4-5 – Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
*11 – Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series: Nicole Keller, organ (All Saints Episcopal Church)
12-13 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi; Inbal Segev, cello (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*13 – Richmond Philharmonic/Peter Wilson; Kevin Newton, French horn (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
17 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
18/20 – Virginia Opera/Adam Turner: “The Pirates of Penzance” (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*19 – RVA Baroque (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
*20 – Vox Humana (River Road Church, Baptist)
*21 – University of Richmond Wind Ensemble/Steven Barton (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
26-27 – Richmond Symphony Pops & Symphony Chorus/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
28 – “Holiday Festival of Music” with Richmond Symphony, others (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
*28 – University of Richmond Chamber Ensembles (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
*30 – University of Richmond Symphony Orchestra/Alexander Kordzaia (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)

DECEMBER
2 – Richmond Symphony & Symphony Chorus/Anthony Blake Clark: “Messiah” (River Road Church, Baptist)
3 – Richmond Symphony Brass Ensemble/Chia Hsuan Lin (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
4 – Richmond Choral Society/Markus Compton (Trinity Lutheran Church)
4 – Richmond Symphony Brass Ensemble/Chia Hsuan Lin (Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College)
*4 – University of Richmond Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale/Jeffrey Riehl: Festival of Lessons & Carols (Cannon Memorial Chapel, University of Richmond)
*5 – Three Notch’d Road (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
*10-11 – Scott Detra, organ (St. James’s Episcopal Church)
*11 – River Road Church Chancel Choir/Robert Gallagher (River Road Church, Baptist)
*16 – Cathedral Choir: Advent Lessons and Carols (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
19 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (Church of the Holy Comforter, Episcopal)

JANUARY
*7 – Richmond Music Teachers Association artists (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
14 – Richmond Symphony Pops/Chia-Hsuan Lin; Butcher Brown (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
15 – Richmond Symphony/Daniel Myssyk (Perkinson Arts Center)
20 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi; Schuyler Slack, cello (Perkinson Arts Center)
21 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi; Schuyler Slack, cello (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
21 – Kronos Quartet; vocal ensemble; Nicky Finney, narrator; Valérie Sainte-Agathe, conductor (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
22 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi; Schuyler Slack, cello (Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College)
*28 – Quatuor Cent Cordes (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)

FEBRUARY
*1 – Richard Becker, piano (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
2 – Richmond Symphony Chorus/Valentina Peleggi (First Baptist Church)
3 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (Church of the Holy Comforter, Episcopal)
*4 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
4 – Richmond Symphony Pops/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
5 – Anthony McGill, clarinet; Gloria Chen, piano (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
9-10 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
10/12 – Virginia Opera/Adam Turner: “Fellow Travelers” (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
11 – Rennolds Chamber Concerts: Xavier Foley, double-bass (Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University)
11-12 – Belvedere Series ensemble (Marburg House)
19 – Third Coast Percussion & Flutronix (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
22 – Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
*25 – Greater Richmond Children’s Choir/Crystal Jonkman (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
25-26 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi; Maria Deuñas, violin (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*26 – Washington & Lee University Singers (River Road Church, Baptist)

MARCH
9 – Richmond Symphony, Daisuke Yamamoto, violin & leader (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)
*11 – Capitol Opera Richmond (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
*12 – Richmond Philharmonic/Peter Wilson (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
*17 – Isabelle Demers, organ (River Road Church, Baptist)
17/19 – Virginia Opera/Adam Turner: “La Traviata” (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
19 – Richmond Choral Society/Markus Compton; VCU Health Orchestra/Will Pattie (Grace Baptist Church)
*19 – Doris Wylee-Becker, piano (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
*25 – Magdalena Adamek, piano (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
25 – Rennolds Chamber Concerts: Neave Trio (Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University)
25 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin; Adrian Pintea & Ellen Cockerham Riccio, violins (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
26 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin; Adrian Pintea & Ellen Cockerham Riccio, violins (Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College)
26 – Belvedere Series: Jonathan Stinson, baritone & composer; Ingrid Keller, piano (Marburg House)
*27 – Bruce Stevens, organ (Cannon Memorial Chapel, University of Richmond)

APRIL
1-2 – Richmond Symphony & Symphony Chorus/Valentina Peleggi (Carpenter Theatre, (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*10 – University of Richmond Wind Ensemble/Steven Barton (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
*14 – Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series: Caroline Robinson, organ (St. Mary’s Episcopal Church)
*15 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
15 – Richmond Symphony Pops/Chia-Hsuan Lin; Hector Del Curto Quintet (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
16 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (First Unitarian Universalist Church)
*16 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)
*16 – University of Richmond Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale/Jeffrey Riehl & David Pedersen (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
*17 – University of Richmond Chamber Ensembles (Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond)
22-23 – Richmond Symphony/Tito Muñoz; Michelle Cann, piano (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
28 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi (Perkinson Arts Center)
*28 – Robert Brooks Carlson, piano (River Road Church, Baptist)
*29 – Megan Slay, piano (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
29 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
30 – Richmond Symphony/Valentina Peleggi (Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College)

MAY
*5 – Music & Medicine Orchestra (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
6 – Richmond Symphony Pops/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Altria Theater)
*12 – Joel Kumro, organ (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
13 – Belvedere Series: Jessica Xylina Osborne, piano (Marburg House)
*13 – Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia ensemble (Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library)
13 – Richmond Symphony Pops/Chia-Hsuan Lin; N’Kenge (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*14 – Richmond Philharmonic/Peter Wilson; Karen Johnson, violin; Jennifer Kloetzel, cello (Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School)
14 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Perkinson Arts Center)
*19 – Jaylin Brown, mezzo-soprano (River Road Church, Baptist)
20-21 – Richmond Symphony/Lidiya Yankovskaya (Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center)
*26 – Cathedral Schola Cantorum & Forgotten Clefs (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)
*28 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

JUNE
*10 – Richmond Symphony/Chia-Hsuan Lin (Heritage Amphitheater, Pocahontas State Park)
*11 – River Road Church Chancel Choir & orchestra/Robert Gallagher; Daniel Stipe, piano (River Road Church, Baptist)
*16 – Daniel Sañez, organ (Cathedral of the Sacred Heart)

PRESENTERS
Richmond Symphony: (804) 788-1212; http://richmondsymphony.com
Virginia Opera: (804) 644-8168; http://vaopera.org
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia: (804) 304-6312; http://cmscva.org
Belvedere Series: http://belvedereseries.org
Alexander Paley Music Festival: (804) 665-9516; http://paleymusicfestival.org
Richmond chapter, American Guild of Organists’ Repertoire Recital Series: http://richmondago.org

VENUES (all in Richmond unless listed otherwise)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets:
(804) 592-3330; http://www.dominionenenergycenter.com
Altria Theater, Main and Laurel streets:
(804) 592-3384; http://www.altriatheater.com
Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond, 453 Westhampton Way:
(804) 289-8980; http://modlin.richmond.edu
Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street:
(804) 828-1166; http://arts.vcu.edu/events
Blackwell Auditorium, Randolph-Macon College, 205 Henry St., Ashland:
(804) 752-7200; http://rmc.edu
Perkinson Arts Center, 11810 Centre St., Chester:
(804) 748-5555; http://www.perkinsoncenter.org
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 711 St. Christopher’s Road:
(804) 282-3185; http://www.stchristophers.com
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arthur Ashe Boulevard at Grove Avenue:
(804) 340-1400; http://vmfa.museum
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Overbrook Road at Ownby Lane:
(804) 420-2420; http://hardywood.com
Marburg House, 3102 Bute Lane:
(804) 604-0689
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First and Franklin streets:
(804) 646-7223; http://rvalibrary.org
Pocahontas State Park, 10301 State Park Road, Chesterfield County:
(804) 796-4255; http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/pocahontas
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue:
(804) 359-5651; http://richmondcathedral.org
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads:
(804) 288-1131; http://rrcb.org
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road:
(804) 270-4626; http://tlcrva.org
Grace Baptist Church, 4200 Dover Road:
(804) 353-0134; http://rvagrace.org
St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway:
(804) 272-0486; http://stlukerichmond.org
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 12291 River Road, Goochland County:
(804) 784-5678; http://stmarysgoochland.org
Church of the Holy Comforter, Episcopal, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road:
(804) 355-3251; http://www.hoco.org
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1000 Blanton Ave. at the Carillon:
(804) 355-0777; http://richmonduu.org
Second Presbyterian Church, 5 N. Fifth St.:
(804) 649-9148; http://www.2presrichmond.org
First Baptist Church, Monument Avenue at Arthur Ashe Boulevard:
(804) 355-8637; http://www.fbcrichmond.org

The Richmond Choral Society, directed by Markus Compton, will hold an “open rehearsal,” welcoming prospective new members, at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Scores will be provided. A reception with refreshments will follow the rehearsal.

Those who did not sing with the chorus last season are asked to bring proof of Covid-19 vaccination.

For more information, call (804) 353-9582 or visit http://richmondchoralsociety.org