Author: letterv13

Erin Freeman, director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus and director of choral activities at Virginia Commonwealth University, will leave those positions in June to become artistic director of The City Choir of Washington, beginning next season.

Chosen from a field of 49 candidates, Freeman will succeed the veteran chorusmaster Robert Shafer, who has been artistic director of the 120-voice City Choir for 14 years. He led The Washington Chorus from 1971 until 2007.

An Atlanta native who sang in choruses led by Robert Shaw, Freeman came to Richmond in 2004 as music director of the Richmond Philharmonic. She joined the Richmond Symphony in 2007, succeeding the late James Erb as director of the Symphony Chorus, and also became the orchestra’s associate conductor, serving in the latter post until 2014. She subsequently joined the VCU faculty.

She briefly directed the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, and has led choral and orchestral concerts in a number of US cities and music festivals.

Since 2015, Freeman has been artistic director of Wintergreen Music, the summer festival and educational camp in Nelson County. She will retain the Wintergreen post, as well as continuing as resident conductor of Richmond Ballet.

“Erin has nurtured and developed a truly inspiring choral tradition,” Richmond Symphony Music Director Valentina Peleggi said in a statement included in a news release on Freeman’s departure, adding that “the high numbers of singers and their absolute dedication is testimony to her kindness and talent.”

Freeman, in turn, said: “My time with the Richmond Symphony Chorus and VCU have been some of the best years of my life. I have learned so much from my singers and students – lessons of leadership, grace, humor, and empathy.”

When the threat of infection from Covid-19 forced choristers to stop rehearsing and performing in conventional group settings, Freeman kept the Symphony Chorus going with online concerts and performances in outdoor spaces such as carparks.

With the resumption of choral music in indoor concerts this season, she prepared the ensemble for the Richmond Symphony’s holiday programs, staged in recent weeks. Freeman will conduct the orchestra, chorus and soloists in Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” on April 9 and 10 – an event belatedly marking the Symphony Chorus’s 50th anniversary; a concert by the Richmond Symphony Chamber Chorus on April 28; and, in her final symphony engagement, will prepare the chorus for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on May 21 and 22.

The University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center has announced a spring-semester classical concert lineup featuring the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, joined by saxophonist Branford Marsalis; the trio of pianist Wu Han, violinist Philip Setzer and cellist David Finckel; the piano duo of Garrick Ohlsson and Kirill Gerstein; and double-bassist Edgar Meyer and The Scottish Ensemble.

UR faculty artists and student ensembles also will perform in free programs. Ticket registration in advance is required for those concerts.

The center’s Covid-19 safety protocol requires indoor masking regardless of vaccination status – masks will be provided on request at the box office – and physical distancing of six feet or more. Tickets are general admission, and seating in Camp Concert Hall is limited to 400 patrons. Program books will be available in digital versions.

Tickets are now available, and registration for free concerts may be made, by calling the Modlin Center box office at (804) 289-8980 or visiting the center’s website: http://modlin.richmond.edu

All performances are in Camp Concert Hall unless listed otherwise. Dates, times, programs (as announced to date, subject to change) and ticket prices:

Jan. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Branford Marsalis, saxophone
Rossini: “The Barber of Seville” Overture
Debussy: Rhapsodie for alto saxophone and orchestra
Ibert: “Concertino da Camera”
Turina: “La oración del torero”
Courtney Bryan: “Carmen, Jazz Suite on Themes by Bizet”
$40

Jan. 23 (3 p.m.)
Paul Hanson, piano & speaker
lecture-recital on Ives’ Piano Sonata No. 1
free; ticket registration required

Feb. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Richard Becker, piano
works TBA by Liszt, Albéniz, Chopin
readings of Becker’s poems from forthcoming collection “On Sunday Afternoon”
free; ticket registration required

Feb. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Lisa Terry, viola da gamba
Joanne Kong, harpsichord
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Telemann, Franz Xaver Chwatal, Hermann Gustav Jaeschke, David Loeb, Susan Matsui
free; ticket registration required

Feb. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Wu Han, piano
Philip Setzer, violin
David Finckel, cello
Haydn: Piano Trio in D minor, Hob XV:23
Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)
Dvořák: Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65
$35

March 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Garrick Ohlsson & Kirill Gerstein, piano duo
Thomas Adès: “Powder Her Face” Suite
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Feruccio Busoni: “Fantasia Contrappuntistica”
Ravel: “La Valse”
$35

March 20 (3 p.m.)
Doris Wylee-Becker, piano
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Schumann
free; ticket registration required

March 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Cannon Memorial Chapel
Bruce Stevens, organ
“Bach & His Friends and Successors”
works TBA by J.S. Bach, others
free; ticket registration required

April 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Ukrop Auditorium, Robins School of Business
Neumann Lecture on Music:
Robynn Stilwell, speaker
“Storyteller of the Shadowland: Marginalized Identity at the Roots of ‘Americana’ ”
free; ticket registration required

April 6 (7:30 p.m.)
UR Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Kordzaia conducting
program TBA
free; ticket registration required

April 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Edgar Meyer, double-bass & director
The Scottish Ensemble
Holst: “St. Paul’s Suite”
Meyer: Concert Duo, Movement 1
Meyer: new work TBA
Caroline Shaw: “Punctum”
J.S. Bach: viola da gamba sonata TBA
Vaughan Williams: “The Lark Ascending” (Adam Johnston arrangement)
$35

April 10 (3 p.m.)
UR Schola Cantorum & Women’s Chorale
Jeffrey Riehl directing
program TBA
free; ticket registration required

April 11 (7:30 p.m.)
UR Wind Ensemble
Steven Barton directing
works TBA by Bernstein, Barton, William Schuman, Jack Stamp, Vasily Kalinnikov, Leroy Anderson
free; ticket registration required

April 18 (7:30 p.m.)
UR Chamber Ensembles
program TBA
free; ticket registration required

(Updated Dec. 12)

RVA Baroque
PJ Freebourn directing
Dec. 3, Firehouse Theatre
(reviewed from online stream, posted Dec. 4)

“Julie, Monster: a Queer Baroque Opera” is queer in both common meanings of the word. Its principal characters are omnisexual in practice, homosexual at heart. Musically, it’s a queer mix of contrasting, colliding genres – early baroque liberally garnished with Renaissance dance, with 21st-century electronica, rave/house beats and pop/soul balladry in hot pursuit.

Composer Niccolo Seligmann hews closely to the standard format of French baroque music theater: recitatives leading into arias or duets – mostly, soliloquies of stylized emotive affect – sprinkled with dance sequences, and choruses or more dances to punctuate scenes. Unlike standard baroque opera, though, this isn’t a toga party. Instead of a figure from mythology or ancient history, this opera’s subject was a real person living in the late 1600s.

The antique theatrical chassis proves to be load-bearing and roadworthy, handling the show’s whiplash swerves in musical style and century-hopping lane changes in lingo and attitude.

Raphael Seligmann’s libretto swings from earnest to raucous and back. In his text, the decorous late-17th century and a funky/glitzy old/new day, populated by roguish party animals and brawlers, cohabit with less dissonance than might be expected. (Every era is baroque in its own way.) Issues of sexual and gender equity are addressed sincerely, at times soulfully; but a bypass into activist agitprop late in the show needlessly sticks a pin in a message already received.

In its premiere production, presented in a small playhouse on a limited budget, “Julie, Monster” was bare-bones visually, staged on a set of boxy modules and empty frames, with costumes only vaguely recalling the extravagant fashion of the Bourbon Sun King’s Versailles court, while more authentically dressing lowborn subjects in humbler haunts. Some canny lighting provided visual depth and variety.

The RVA Baroque ensemble, appearing to number about a half-dozen musicians, was similarly lean, audibly attuned to period musical style, although not always in tune. Electronic musical and sound effects overbalanced the live players, at least in the online stream’s audio mix; but the humans never quite dissolved in a sonic stew.

The singers carried the show. As Julie d’Aubigny, a combative (“monster”) vagabond singer and grifter turned scandalous, deeply troubled Parisian diva, Jaylin Brown was a commanding, brooding presence with considerable vocal flexibility – essential in a character whose voice must range from coloratura soprano to classic-R&B singer to Caribbean chanteuse.

Two other female voices stood out: Margaret Taylor-Woods as Marie-Thérèse, Julie’s later-in-life soulmate, paired with Brown in moving death-scene duets, and Libby Mullins, in the cameo role of a boy soprano.

Countertenor Ambrose Oisín Clark was impressive in voice and character as Thevenard.

James Brown’s experience in opera was parlayed into a period-stylishly affective portrayal of King Louis XIV. Keydron Dunn (as Gautier), Kenny Putnam (as Buzzy Rambutin) and Levi Meerovich (as Sérannes) wisely refrained from trying to sound baroque-operatic in their roles, instead reaching for their characters’ dramatic potential while usually standing one step back in a story that focuses on women.

In this production, a cast of 18 portrayed nearly three dozen characters. Many took on quite dissimilar roles: James Brown, for example, doubled as the king and a waiter. The supporting cast was vocally uneven but maintained physical presence and energy – even doing extra duty in passable renditions of early baroque dance.

Baroque opera was meant to be visual spectacle as much as music. Spectacle necessarily got short shrift in this production, and the music’s frequent shifts in style challenged continuity and consistency of performance.

“Julie, Monster” shows enticing promise, but would benefit from revision – common practice after a premiere. If the Seligmanns purged some dead spots (one less blackout-with-pavane, for starters), mitigated abrupt transitions (or gave them more dramatically potent abruptness), and found the resources to stage a full-dress, more consistently cast, vocally and instrumentally balanced, technically sophisticated production, the show would stand on strong legs.

A repeat performance, at 2 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Firehouse Theater, 1609 W. Broad St. in Richmond, is sold out.

(Correction: Ambrose Oisín Clark was misidentified in the initial posting of the review.)

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.

Each listing includes primary Covid-19 safety protocols for the event. Contact presenters or venues for detailed requirements.

Dec. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
UR Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Kordzaia conducting
Matthew Robinson, violin
Rilyn McKallip, flute
program TBA
free (ticket registration required)
masks required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu/events

Dec. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
William Socolof, bass-baritone
pianist TBA
Ibert: “Quatre chansons de Don Quichotte”
Robert Owens: “Die Nacht,” “Morgendämmerung”
Schubert: “Schwanengesang” (selections)
Leaha Maria Villareal: “Crossing the Rubicon”
Debussy: “Trois chansons de Bilitis”
Joel Engel: “Jewish Folksongs” (selections)
Mahler: “Urlicht”
Matthew Aucoin: “Three Whitman Songs”
$20-$40
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Dec. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Dec. 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Branford Marsalis, saxophone
Mozart: “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor (“Resurrection”) – “Urlicht”
Sally Beamish: “Under the Wing of the Rock”
Mahler: “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen”
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
Beamish: “The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone” (Dec. 5 only)
$25-$110 (Dec. 3 sold out)
masks required
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 2 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 3 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 4 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Mozart: “The Magic Flute” Overture
Mozart: Concert aria, “Per questa bella mano”
Christian Simmons, bass
Robert Oppelt, double-bass
Mozart: “La Clemenza di Tito” Overture
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622
Lin Ma, clarinet
Mozart: Cantata, “Eine kleine Freimauer”
Mozart: Requiem
Mozart: “Ave verum corpus”
Suzannah Waddington, soprano
Hannah Shea, mezzo-soprano
Duke Kim & Matthew Pearce, tenors
Christian Simmons, bass
University of Maryland Concert Choir
Bill Barclay, narrator
$29-$104
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 3 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 5 (2 p.m.)
Firehouse Theater, 1609 W. Broad St., Richmond
RVA Baroque
P.J. Freebourn directing
Niccolo & Raphael Seligmann: “Julie Monster: a Queer Baroque Opera” (premiere)
Jaylin Brown (Julie)
Bryanna Batts (Boy Soprano, Wayfarer, announcer)
James Brown (King, waiter)
Diana Carver (Priest)
Valerie Chinn (Madame Bortigali, Messenger [Jeannne], entertainer)
Ambrose Oisín Clark (Thevenard, Arrogant 3)
Keydron Dunn (Gaultier, Valmalette, Constable 2)
Earl Fleming (Christmas Snow) (Party Dowager Empress)
Jarene Fleming (Priest’s Conscience, landlady)
Erin Foster (Arrogant Man, Constable 1, Jacquet)
Tim Herrmann (Corbetta, Julie’s Maid, entertainer, Arrogant 2, bodyguard)
James Lynn (Dr. Bortigali, Entertainer 2)
Levi Meerovich (Serannes)
Lindy Porkorny (Missy)
Kenneth Putnam (Buzzy)
Paige Reisenfeld (Cecilia)
DeVonté Saunders (Luynes)
Margaret Taylor-Woods (Marie-Therese)
live performances sold out
proof of vaccination & masks required
$30 (online live stream)
(804) 355-2001 (Firehouse Theater)
http://rvabaroque.org/julie%2C-monster

Dec. 3 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Dec. 11 (8 p.m.)
University Baptist Church, 1223 W. Main St., Charlottesville
Virginia Glee Club
Frank Albinder directing
Daniel Hine, piano
81st annual Christmas Concerts
program TBA
$5-$20
masks required
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 3 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 4 (3:30 p.m.)
University Chapel, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Virginia Women’s Chorus
Katherine (“KaeRenae”) Mitchell directing
Anastasia Jellison, harp
38th annual Candlelight Concerts
Britten: “A Ceremony of Carols”
other seasonal works TBA
$7-$20
masks required
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Boulevard
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir
David Stewart Wiley conducting
other artists TBA
“Holiday Pops Spectacular”
program TBA
$32-$65
masks required
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Dec. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“A Baroque Holiday”
Handel: “Messiah” (excerpts)
Mozart: “Ave verum corpus”
Vivaldi: Gloria (excerpt)
J.S. Bach: Cantata, “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben,” BWV 147 (excerpt)
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Antonio Rosetti: Concerto for horn, trombone and orchestra
Dominic Rotella, French horn
Evan Williams, trombone
J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 (excerpts)
Handel: “Water Music” (excerpt)
Handel: “Royal Fireworks Music” (excerpt)
Gluck: “Orfeo ed Euridice” – “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” (Felix Mottl arrangement)
proof of vaccination or negative test result, photo ID & masks required
$18-$54
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://www.richmondsymphony.com

Dec. 4 (1:30 & 3 p.m.)
Dec. 5 (1:30 & 3 p.m.)
Kimball Theatre, Merchants Square, Williamsburg
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Erin Freeman conducting
Holiday Pops
program TBA
$15-$30
masks required
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

Dec. 4 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 5 (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”
works TBA by Handel, Corelli, Vaughan Williams, Leroy Anderson, others
$10-$47
masks required
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Dec. 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Academy of the Arts Historic Theater, 600 Main St., Lynchburg
Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra
David Glover conducting
guest artists TBA
“Happy Holidays”
program TBA
$6-$75
masks required
(434) 846-8499
http://lynchburgsymphony.org/events-concerts/

Dec. 4 (3:30 p.m.)
Merchant Hall, Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
Manassas Symphony Orchestra
James Villani conducting
“Family Concert: Color and Light”
Charles Tomlinson Griffes: Poem
Irina Lin, flute
Jonathan Romeo: “Light”
music and light-show finale
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
$20
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://hyltoncenter.org

Dec. 5 (2:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
Raymond & Elizabeth Chenault, organ duo
Christmas-themed program TBA
free (tickets required)
masks recommended
online live stream accessible
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org

Dec. 6 (11 a.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Forgotten Clefs: Renaissance Wind Ensemble
“Prophecy|Nativity”
texts from Part 1 (Christmas portion) of Handel’s “Messiah” with works by 16th-century composers TBA
audience sing-along of Christmas carols
free (ticket registration required)
masks recommended
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org

Dec. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Kaufman Theater, Chrysler Museum of Art, 1 Memorial Place, Norfolk
Feldman Chamber Music Society:
Horszowski Trio
Dvořák: Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 90 (“Dumky”)
Debussy: Piano Trio in G major
Arno Babajanian: Piano Trio in F sharp minor
$25
masks required
(757) 552-1630
http://feldmanchambermusic.org

Dec. 7 (8 p.m.)
Williamsburg Library Theater, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Horszowski Trio
Dvořák: Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 90 (“Dumky”)
Debussy: Piano Trio in G major
Arno Babajanian: Piano Trio in F sharp minor
$25
masks required
(757) 741-3300 (Williamsburg Regional Library)
http://chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

Dec. 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Washington National Opera Marian Anderson Vocal Award recital:
Frederick Ballentine, tenor
Kunal Lahiry, piano
program TBA
$39
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Emil de Cou conducting
Dupont Brass
“Ugly Sweater Holiday Concert”
program TBA
$15-$30
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(202) 467-4600 (Instant Charge)
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Dec. 11 (2 & 8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Ingrid Michaelson, guest star
“Notes of Honor: NSO Salutes the Military”
holiday program TBA
$29-$119
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 10 (6 p.m.)
Meadow Park, Meadow Street at Park Avenue, Richmond
Fan Grande Illumination & Garden Tour:
Greater Richmond Children’s Choirs
Crystal Jonkman directing
holiday program TBA
free
masks recommended
(804) 201-1894
http://www.grcchoir.org/performances

Dec. 10 (7 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Cathedral Schola Cantorum
Daniel Sañez, organ & direction
Advent Lessons and Carols
free (registration required)
donations benefit Ryan White Program of Capital Area Health Network
masks recommended
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org

Dec. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Grace Baptist Church, 4200 Dover Road, Richmond
Dec. 12 (3 p.m.)
Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church, Henry Street at College Avenue, Ashland
Central Virginia Masterworks Chorale
Ryan Tibbetts directing
Daniel Stipe, organ
Handel: “Messiah” – Part 1 (Christmas portion)
Cecilia McDowall: “A Winter’s Night”
$15
masks recommended
(800) 838-3006
http://cvamc.org

Dec. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Dec. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Dec. 12 (7 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Pops & Chorus
Robert Shoup conducting
Holiday Pops
program TBA
$25-$110
masks required
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 10 (7 p.m.)
Cave Spring United Methodist Church, 4205 Hazel Drive, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra brass
Jay Crone directing
“Holiday Brass”
program TBA
$35-$52
masks required
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Dec. 10 (8 p.m.)
Merchant Hall, Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
American Festival Pops Orchestra
Anthony Maiello conducting
“Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season”
program TBA
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
$41-$65
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://hyltoncenter.org

Dec. 11 (2 & 7 p.m.)
Dec. 12 (1 & 4:30 p.m.)
Dec. 18 (2 & 7 p.m.)
Dec. 19 (1 & 4:30 p.m.)
Dec. 22 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 23 (2 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Ballet
Richmond Symphony
conductor TBA
Tchaikovsky: “The Nutcracker”
$25-$125
proof of vaccination or negative test result, photo ID & masks required
(804) 334-0906
http://richmondballet.com

Dec. 11 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 12 (2 p.m.)
Forbes Arts Center, James Madison University, Harrisonburg
JMU music ensembles
“Holiday Fest: Winter Solstice”
program TBA
$23
masks required
(540) 568-7000
http://jmuforbescenter.com/events/2021/

Dec. 11 (3 p.m.)
Garth Newel Music Center, off Route 220 between Warm Springs & Hot Springs, Bath County
Jeannette Fang & Jeremy Thompson, piano duo
Mozart: Sonata in D major, K. 448
Amy Beach: “Suite Founded on Old Irish Melodies,” Op. 104
Rachmaninoff: Suite No. 2, Op. 17
$25-$80
masks recommended
$10 (online live stream)
(540) 839-5018
http://garthnewel.org

Dec. 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Merchant Hall, Hylton Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas
Manassas Chorale & orchestra
Rebecca Verner directing
“Sing Gloria!”
holiday program TBA
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
$23-$25
(888) 945-2468 (Tickets.com)
http://hyltoncenter.org

Dec. 11 (8 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
American Festival Pops Orchestra
Anthony Maiello conducting
“Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season”
program TBA
$36-$60
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Dec. 12 (4 p.m.)
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road, Richmond
Richmond Choral Society
Markus Compton directing
Christopher Martin, organ
David Schwoebel, piano
“Christmas with the Richmond Choral Society”
program TBA
$10-$15 (live attendance)
proof of vaccination or negative test result, photo ID & masks required
$10 (online stream)
(804) 353-9582
http://richmondchoralsociety.org

Dec. 12 (4 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
chamber orchestra
Anne Carr Regan conducting
Stephen Henley, organ
Zarah Brock, soprano
Ellen Brone, mezzo-soprano
Vonte Saunders, tenor
Alan Chavez, bass
Handel: “Messiah” (audience sing-in)
rehearsal, 1 p.m. Dec. 11
donation requested
masks required (singers included)
(804) 272-7514
http://bonairpc.org/wp/2021/07/31/2021-sssj-fall-season/

Dec. 12 (4 p.m.)
First Presbyterian Church, 4602 Cary Street Road, Richmond
First Presbyterian Chancel Choir
Festival Orchestra
Jason N. Brown conducting
Bruce Stevens, organ
Saint-Saëns: “Oratorio de Noël”
Christmas carol sing-along
free
masks recommended
(804) 358-2383
http://fpcrichmond.org/

Dec. 12 (4 p.m.)
Monroe Park, Franklin and Belvidere streets, Richmond
Greater Richmond Children’s Choirs
Crystal Jonkman directing
Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Choir
Elizabeth Melcher Davis directing
other choirs TBA
“Caroling in the Park”
free
masks recommended
(804) 201-1894
http://www.grcchoir.org/performances

Dec. 12 (7:15 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River and Ridge roads, Richmond
River Road Chancel Choir
Robert Gallagher directing
Service of Lessons and Carols
works TBA by Harold W. Friedell, Hugo Distler, Mary Beth Bennett, Will Todd, John Rutter, Mack Wilberg
free (tickets required)
masks recommended
online live stream accessible
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org

Dec. 12 (3 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Robert Shoup conducting
“Jingle Bell Jam”
family program TBA
$12-$22
masks required
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 12 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Tiffany Poon, piano
Robert Schumann: “Kinderszenen,” Op. 15
Robert Schumann: Arabeske, Op. 18
Clara Wieck Schumann: Sonata in G minor
Clara Wieck Schumann: “Soirées Musicales,” Op. 6, Nos. 2, 3, 5
Robert Schumann: “Davidsbündlertänze,” Op. 6
$40
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(202) 785-9727 (Washington Performing Arts)
http://washingtonperformingarts.org

Dec. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
RSO Virtuosi
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Handel: “Messiah” – Part 1 (Christmas portion) & “Hallelujah”
$28-$56
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Dec. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Bede Catholic Church, 3686 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg
Dec. 16 (7 p.m.)
Chesapeake Conference Center, 700 Conference Center Drive
Dec. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Suffolk Arts Center, 110 W. Finley Ave.
Virginia Symphony Orchestra brass & percussion
“Holiday Brass”
program TBA
$25-$54 (Dec. 16 free)
masks required
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Regent University Theater, Virginia Beach
Dec. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
First Baptist Church, 12716 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News
Dec. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Don McCullough conducting
Handel: “Messiah” – Part 1 (Christmas portion) & “Hallelujah”
Vanessa Becerra, soprano
Sarah Mesko, mezzo soprano
Jonathan Hill, tenor
Aleksey Bogdanov, baritone
$25-$110
masks required
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 16 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 17 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 18 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 19 (1 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Handel: “Messiah” – Part 1 (Christmas portion)
J.S. Bach: Magnificat in D major, BWV 243
Suzannah Waddington, soprano (Handel & Bach)
Katerina Burton, soprano (Bach)
Rehanna Thelwell, alto
Duke Kim, tenor
William Meinert, bass
University of Maryland Concert Choir
$15-$99
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 18 (8 p.m.)
Gallery 5, 200 W. Marshall St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA
“Listen Local”
works TBA by Colton Dodd, David Robbins, Curt Sydnor, Donovan Williams
donation requested
masks required
(804) 678-8863 (Gallery 5)
http://www.classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Dec. 18 (2:30 & 7:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia
Michael Slon directing
“Christmas at the Paramount”
Vivaldi: Gloria
Rachmaninoff: “All-Night Vigil”
works TBA by Adolphus Hailstork, Abbie Betinis, others
$10-$52
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
(434) 979-1333
http://theparamount.net

Dec. 18 (4 p.m.)
Dec. 19 (4 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Ballet
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Tchaikovsky: “The Nutcracker”
$54-$94
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Dec. 18 (2 p.m.)
Dec. 24 (11 a.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society
Scott Tucker directing
“A Family Christmas”
program TBA
$20-$45
proof of vaccination (negative test result for children), photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 19 (8 p.m.)
The Loft at the HofGarden, 2818 W. Broad St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA
“Classical Incarnations”
program TBA
donation requested
masks required
(804) 424-3303 (HofGarden)
http://www.classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Dec. 19 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 21 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 22 (3 & 7:30 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
The Washington Chorus
Eugene Rogers directing
“A Candlelight Christmas”
program TBA
$15-$101
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 20 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 24 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society Symphonic Chorus & Youth Choir
Scott Tucker directing
Christmas program TBA
$15-$72
proof of vaccination, photo ID & masks required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons
National Philharmonic & Chorale
Stan Engebretson conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Suzanne Karpov, soprano
Magdelena Wor, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Smith, tenor
Brandon Hendrickson, baritone
$45-$99
proof of vaccination or negative test result & masks required
(800) 653-8000 (Ticketmaster)
http://capitalonehall.com/events

(Updated Dec. 19)

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has arrived in the US. While there was little talk initially about shutdowns – President Biden came out quickly against them – uncertainty and concern have risen to the level reached in the midsummer spike of Delta-variant infections.

Delta remains the dominant strain in most of the US; but Omicron is surging in New York, Washington and other parts of the Northeast, and public-health officials anticipate the new strain soon becoming dominant across the country.

In New York, Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas production and several Broadway shows have been canceled. More cancellations, there and elsewhere, are sure to follow.

The Covid protocols currently followed by most US theaters and arts groups date from the resumption of large public gatherings in the spring and early summer, and subsequently were tightened in response to the Delta spike. As we learn more about Omicron’s potency – it is more rapidly and widely infectious, and it apparently evades some vaccine protection (especially among people who haven’t received booster shots) – we should expect tightened Covid rules for events that go on as scheduled.

What are the safety policies now in place?

Letter V covers musical events in Virginia and the Washington area, so that will be the focus of this survey.

If I were setting pandemic rules for public events – pre-Omicron, at least – this would be my model: Washington Performing Arts advises patrons that most of its venues “have announced a Covid safety policy in line with our own policy of 100% vaccination” for staff and vendors. “[P]roof of a recent, negative test [is] an acceptable alternative in some cases. All partner venues also require that audiences be masked at all times within indoor facilities.”

Covid protocols vary among the region’s other prominent performance groups and venues. Some require wearing masks, others “encourage” or “urge” the precaution. Admission policies diverge most sharply on whether patrons are required to show documents – vaccination cards, negative test readouts, photo ID in some places. That’s the safest practice, but it can create bottlenecks or produce mini-dramas at entrances. And it can sour the experience with a “show me your papers” vibe.

Here are safety policies now in effect, from advisories posted on the websites of Virginia and DC area presenters and venues:

– The Richmond Symphony requires adults and children 17 or younger to present proof of vaccination – i.e., the card – or documentation of a negative result from a test professionally administered within the past three days, before admission to its concerts at the Carpenter Theatre of Dominion Energy Center. Photo ID is required for adults. The facility “strongly encourage[s] all patrons, whether they have been vaccinated or not, to wear masks while they are in the building.” 

– The same rules apply for Virginia Opera performances in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax, and for events at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax and Hylton Arts Center in Manassas, Capital One Hall in Tysons, The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and venues at Strathmore in the DC suburb of North Bethesda, MD.

– Locally, masks are required for indoor events at Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond’s Modlin Arts Center, Perkinson Arts Center in Chester, the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, and Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia programs. Mask-wearing in other performance spaces – churches, galleries, playhouses, pubs – may be required or just recommended.

– Indoor masking is also the rule at Virginia Symphony Orchestra concerts in southeastern Virginia, concerts by the Roanoke and Williamsburg symphonies (Williamsburg requests that only fully vaccinated patrons attend), and events at the Ferguson Arts Center of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, the Academy of the Arts Historic Theater in Lynchburg, Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center in Blacksburg, and venues at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

– Richmond’s Altria Theater “strongly encourage[s]” patrons to wear masks. Currently, it allows presenters to “decide what they think is right for their fan base, and we will implement those requirements on their behalf, possibly including proof of vaccination, a negative Covid test, and face masks.” A similar policy is in effect at Norfolk’s Seven Venues, including Harrison Opera House, Chrysler Hall, Scope Arena and the Wells Theatre.

– Some college and university websites that I’ve checked detail safety requirements for students, faculty and staff, but are vague or blank about visitors. I would assume that most schools require masks at indoor events. Many campus facilities were closed to outsiders last year; presumably that would happen again if infections spike.

If you plan to attend an event outside Virginia and DC during the holidays, don’t assume that home rules are followed in the places you visit. Before making plans – certainly before buying tickets – check on safety requirements by calling box offices or checking websites of presenters and/or venues. The box office is more likely to be up-to-date than the website. (That’s true close to home as well.)

BASELINE GUIDELINE: Bring your vaccination card (I carry a copy in my wallet) or negative test documentation within the required time frame (two days before the event is optimal) and photo ID. Wear a mask indoors. Try to keep a safe distance (ideally, six feet) from people you didn’t come with. If you don’t feel well, don’t go.

As of December, Letter V’s monthly calendar includes primary Covid-19 safety protocols for each event. Check with presenters or venues for detailed requirements.

(Updating an article first posted on Nov. 21)

The stage lights are going out all over Europe. And elsewhere? Soon?

As another wave of Covid-19 rolls across the continent, theaters in Amsterdam, Vienna, Salzburg, Bratislava, Leipzig and Dresden have shut down. The Bavarian State Opera in Munich has reduced available seating, and a number of venues, including the Berlin Philharmonie and La Scala in Milan, are turning away those lacking documentation that they’re fully vaccinated. Some theaters are requiring both proof of vaccination and an onsite negative test result prior to admission. Masking is back.

Street protests against safety mandates have been proliferating – most recently a big one in Switzerland, one of the last places anyone would expect to be a flashpoint of unrest.

All that preceded the arrival of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. First identified in South Africa, it is spreading in neighboring African states and has begun to appear in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hong Kong and Australia. (The list is growing daily.) With anecdotal reports that it is more readily transmitted, and potentially infectious even to the fully vaccinated, Omicron threatens to hasten and prolong closures, not just of theaters and not just in Europe.

Nations across the world are banning flights from southern Africa and placing incoming travelers in quarantine. Israel has closed its borders to non-citizens. Morocco and Japan have suspended incoming international flights. Expect other countries to institute such measures.

“The fear factor has returned,” The Guardian’s Larry Elliott writes. He calls efforts to fend off Omicron once it has broken out “a classic case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.”

ABOUT OMICRON: The most informative, balanced and lay reader-friendly primer I’ve read on the new variant and its implications is by The Atlantic’s Katherine J. Wu, who interviews Emory University virologist Boghuma Kabisen Titanji on what we already know and what we have yet to learn about this latest Greek letter from hell. “What’s known so far absolutely warrants attention – not panic,” Wu writes:

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/11/omicron-coronavirus-variant-what-we-know/620827/

UPDATE (Dec. 7): Dresden’s Semperoper will offer vaccinations and boosters to all comers next weekend, with doctors on hand to administer the shots while the opera company’s musicians serenade them. Saxony, the state that’s home to Dresden, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Germany, Norman Lebrecht reports on his Slipped Disc blog:

Opera house offers booster jabs with free music

Stephen Crout, founder of Washington Concert Opera and longtime director of arts troupes in the DC area and Virginia, has died at 77.

A native of Elmira, NY, Crout trained as a pianist and singer, performing in both roles in New York’s Gregg Smith Singers in the 1970s. In 1980, he joined The Washington Opera (now Washington National Opera), becoming its chorus master. In 1986, he launched Washington Concert Opera to present works rarely staged in US opera houses. He cast his productions with young singers who went on to stellar careers, among them Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves and Ben Heppner.

From 1991 to 1993, Crout was artistic director at the Ash Lawn-Highland Festival, whose summer season featured operas staged in the boxwood garden of James Monroe’s hilltop estate near Charlottesville. The company subsequently evolved into Charlottesville Opera.

Crout was music director of The Washington Ballet from 1989 to 2001, and guest-conducted at Wolf Trap Opera, Virginia Opera and other opera and ballet companies.

An obituary by Francisco Salazar for Opera Wire:

Obitutary: Washington Concert Opera Founder Stephen Crout Dies at 77

Stephen Sondheim, the pre-eminent American musical-theater composer of the past 60 years, has died at 91.

Sondheim, a native New Yorker and protégé of Oscar Hammerstein II, was a pianist and songwriter from boyhood who began serious composition study in college. His first Broadway successes came in the 1950s, as the lyricist of Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and Jules Styne’s “Gypsy.” Sondheim’s first hit as both composer and lyricist was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” which opened in 1962.

Among his most acclaimed musicals were “Company” (1970), “A Little Night Music” (1973), “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (1979) and “Sunday in the Park with George” (1984). Sondheim also wrote film scores and adaptations of his stage shows for television and films. He was an advisor for Steven Spielberg’s new film of “West Side Story.”

“Send in the Clowns,” from “A Little Night Music,” is the best-known among many songs from his shows that became standards of popular music and cabaret.

Sondheim was the recipient of eight Tony Awards, an Academy Award for best original song (“Sooner or Later” from “Dick Tracy” in 1990), a Pulitzer Prize for drama (“Sunday in the Park with George” in 1985, shared with James Lapine, the show’s author and director) and, in 2015, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

An obituary by Bruce Weber for The New York Times, with a previously unreleased video interview from 2008:

In an essay for The Guardian, Anne Helen Petersen, the former senior culture writer for BuzzFeed, contemplates the consequences of spending the pandemic stuck at home, consuming an overload of television, film, music, books and more.

“Wading through the streaming menus felt akin to babysitting hundreds of small children, all of them clawing at me, desperate for my attention,” Petersen writes:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/20/overloaded-is-there-simply-too-much-culture

You can make a pretty convincing case that cultural overload has been a thing ever since the widespread dissemination of recordings, movies and broadcasts began a century ago – or, taking a longer view, since the spread of literacy, invention of movable type and opening of book shops and circulating libraries.

Culture at the click of a mouse or tap on a screen is a much newer, overwhelming thing. The quantity of culture-on-demand – highbrow, lowbrow, middlebrow, furrowed brow – has grown exponentially in recent years, and time on our hands during pandemic isolation has compounded its effects.

At the same time, guidance in consuming culture has become an all-bets-are-off proposition. The old gate-keepers are mostly gone. Everybody’s a critic, and anybody can launch a website, podcast or YouTube/TikTok/whatever’s-next channel. In time, you can find reliable guides; or you can just say, “To hell with them” (being one of them, I should say “us”), and become a do-it-yourself curator. Either way, you’ll endure cultural overload getting there.

The easy cure for overload isn’t culturally healthy. At a certain age – 40, let’s say – you know what you like and tend to stick with it, re-watching favorite TV shows and movies, re-reading favorite books, listening to the music you grew up with, tuning in to long-trusted channels. Maybe you’ll try new offerings that, according to some reliable source of guidance (or, God help us, algorithm), may resemble your old favorites. You’re in a feedback loop, comfortable but constricted. Your perspective is more then than now.

The easiest way out of this loop is to graze, to discover new things by sampling episodes, trailers, tracks and chapters. That’s time-consuming, much of the time wasted because most of what’s on offer won’t be worth your time. Young people have (or make) time to waste (or experiment, or explore), which goes a long way toward explaining why cultural innovations usually come from the young and initially appeal to the young.

The good news is that cultural overload can lead to a golden age. The European Renaissance didn’t happen until people were exposed to art and ideas that weren’t previously accessible, then built upon that newly discovered stuff. American music didn’t become distinctively “American” until recordings and radio circulated songs and dances and instruments previously heard only in isolated subcultures, and musicians began to absorb and apply those styles and techniques.

Clickable culture could usher in a renaissance. It’s going to take time, though, for creators to break through the clutter and consumers to sort through the results.

Valentina Peleggi conducting
with Katherine Needleman, oboe
Nov. 13-14, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center
(reviewed from online stream, posted Nov. 17)

Listeners long immersed in classical music, especially people like me who’ve long listened for a living, approach unfamiliar music with greater anticipation than most symphony concertgoers – a spoiler alert for what follows.

The Richmond Symphony’s latest Masterworks program featured two works by Ruth Gipps (1921-99), a British composer previously unknown to most of this audience and undoubtedly to most of these musicians, alongside the most familiar of symphonies, Beethoven’s No. 5 in C minor.

Too much appetizer, not enough main course? Not to my ears.

Gipps’ Symphony No. 2 in B major and Oboe Concerto in D minor, both dating from the 1940s, proved to be well worth hearing, and received more engaged and refined accounts than might have been expected. These were among the first performances of the two works by a professional US orchestra. The musicians played like they were glad to discover this composer and motivated to do right by her – always a good thing, whatever the music on their stands.

Throughout the concerto, Gipps ably exploits the oboe’s two prime expressive qualities, austere lyricism and witty, playful elaboration, and provides plenty of attractive interaction between soloist and orchestra.

The soloist in this performance, Katherine Needleman, onetime principal oboist of the Richmond Symphony who went on to fill the same post in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, is now the most prominent non-British advocate for this work. She has done colleagues and audiences a favor in finding something other than Mozart and Richard Strauss for oboe soloists to play with orchestras.

Needleman was consistently virtuosic and interpretively persuasive, especially in the composer’s imaginative deconstructions of Scottish/Celtic tunes and dances in the final movement.

Gipps’ Second Symphony, in one movement but with distinct, contrasting sections, is green-and-pleasant-land atmospheric in the tradition of the British “pastoral” school, but with a more colorful orchestration (tambourine shakes the shires!) and with wider expressive contrasts than heard in most such works.

Some of the symphony’s asides and transitions are awkward; others, like the English horn solo between the animated first section and the subsequent idyll – realized beautifully here by Shawn Welk – are sublime. The piece tends to ramble – the curse of late-late-romantic composers generally, Brits especially – but is far from the worst offender in wearing out its welcome.

So, what to make of Ruth Gipps from these examples of her music? A deft orchestrator (oboe fronting big band ain’t easy), a composer who audibly and agreeably manifests her national/ethnic cultural DNA, doesn’t just orchestrally gloss folky themes but only occasionally transforms or re-invents them . . . a Kodály, not a Bartók.

Then, the Fifth: Certainly a contrast with Gipps, a century and a half and a lot of stylistic evolution separating them, but not chalk to her cheese. Both composers build big edifices from small, constantly manipulated thematic bits; both rise to dramatic heights, Beethoven with greater urgency; and both fully employ all their instrumental resources.

Valentina Peleggi, the orchestra’s music director, and her forces lit into the Fifth’s first movement and finale – brisk bordering on terse, almost but not quite too fast for proper articulation and balances (except for some of the wind players). Inner movements were paced at more customary tempos, allowing for warmer, more breathing expression.

Was it a Fifth that made you hear the music as if for the first time? You’d be lucky to hear a warhorse classic played that compellingly in concert once in a lifetime, and this wasn’t such a performance. Did it do the Fifth justice? Outside of stray flubs and balance problems between strings and winds in the quietest passages, yes, it did.

The online stream’s camera work improves on past productions. Over-prominent winds and brass, whether from the performances or microphone placement and audio mix, persist.

The stream of the program remains accessible through June 30, 2022. Single-concert access: $30. Full Masterworks season access: $180. Details: (800) 514-3849 (ETIX); http://www.richmondsymphony.com