Letter V

Recordings of contemporary music, mostly works by US composers, swept this year’s classical Grammy Awards.

Winning recordings featured works by the Americans Terence Blanchard, Jessie Montgomery, Caroline Shaw and Teddy Abrams, as well as pieces by the British composer Thomas Adès and the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who died last year.

Soprano Julia Bullock’s album “Walking in the Dark” was this year’s only Grammy-winning classical recording to include a standard-repertory work (Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville, Summer of 1915”).

The awards, judged by music-industry professionals, are more prestigious and publicized in popular, jazz, folk, ethnic and religious musics than in classical music, whose winners are tapped off-camera and typically acknowledged at the end of long listings of winners.

This year’s classical Grammy winners:

Best Orchestral Performance: Thomas Adès: “Dante” – Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel conducting (Deutsche Grammophon).

Best Opera Performance: Terence Blanchard: “Champion” – Metropolitan Opera, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting, et al. (Metropolitan Opera “Live in HD” transmission).

Best Choral Performance: Kaija Saariaho: “Reconaissance” – Uusinta Ensemble & Helsinki Chamber Choir, Nils Schweckendiek conducting (BIS).

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: “Rough Magic” – Roomful of Teeth (New Amsterdam).

Best Classical Instrumental Solo: “The American Project” – Yuja Wang, piano; Louisville Orchestra, Teddy Abrams conducting (Deutsche Grammophon).

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: “Walking in the Dark” – Julia Bullock, soprano; Christian Reif, piano & conductor; Philharmonia Orchestra (Nonesuch).

Best Contemporary Classical Composition: Jessie Montgomery: “Rounds” – Awadagin Pratt, piano; A Far Cry (New Amsterdam).

Best Classical Compendium Album: Jeff Scott: “Passion for Bach and Coltrane” – Imani Winds, Harlem Quartet, et al. (Imani Winds).

Best Engineered Album, Classical: David Frost & Charlie Post: “Contemporary American Composers” – Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti conducting (CSO Resound).

Producer of Year, Classical: Elaine Martone.

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

Haydn: Symphony No. 36 in E flat major
Cologne Chamber Orchestra/Helmut Müller-Bruhl
(Naxos)

Cécile Chaminade: Piano Trio No. 1 in G minor, Op. 11
Neave Trio
(Chandos)

Dag Wirén: Serenade, Op. 11, for strings
Swedish Chamber Orchestra/Petri Sakari
(Caprice)

Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat major (“Dumbarton Oaks”)
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Franz Konwitschny
(Berlin Classics)

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

Contact presenters or venues for health and safety protocols.

Feb. 1 (7 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Richard Robbins directing
Mendelssohn: “How Lovely Are the Messengers”
Randall Thompson: “Choose Something like a Star”
Bruckner: “Locus Iste”
Brittney E. Boykin: “John 3:16”
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Community Chapel, 3899 John Tyler Highway
Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra
Michael Butterman conducting
Ravel: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
Vivaldi: Concerto in C major, RV 537, for 2 trumpets
Brian Strawley & Luis Engelke, trumpets
Viet Cuong: “Extra(ordinarily) Fancy: Concerto for 2 Oboes”
Shawn Welk & Victoria Hamrick, oboes
J.S. Bach: Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043, for 2 violins
Akemi Takayama & Alana Carithers, violins
Bloch: Concerto grosso No. 1
$65
(757) 229-9857
http://williamsburgsymphony.org

Feb. 2 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Joel McNeely conductor
Seth MacFarlane & Liz Gillies, guest stars
$69-$129
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 3 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Virginia State University Concert Choir
Craig L. Robertson directing
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org/gellman-room-concerts

Feb. 3 (8 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Pops
Steve Hackman conducting
Hackman: “Notorious Big x Tupac x Mahler: The Resurrection Mixtape”
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Feb. 4 (2 p.m.)
Center for the Arts Concert Hall, George Mason University, Fairfax
Virginia Opera
Everett McCorvey conducting
Paul Moravec & Mark Campbell: “Sanctuary Road”
Damien Geter (William Still)
Laquita Mitchell, soprano
Tesia Kwarteng, mezzo-soprano
Terrence Chin-Loy, tenor
Adam Richardson, baritone
Kimille Howard, stage director
in English, English captions
$45-$115
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Feb. 3 (8 p.m.)
Harris Theater, Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Chee-Yun, violin
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons”
Astor Piazzolla: “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”
$45-$70
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Feb. 3 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Wayne Marshall conducting
Copland: “Music for the Theatre”
Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”
Wayne Marshall, piano
Bernstein: “On the Town: 3 Dance Episodes”
Ellington: “Harlem”
$35-$95
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Feb. 4 (3 p.m.)
Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, 2880 Mountain Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
conductor TBA
Shannon Gibson Brown, vocalist
“The Music of Patsy Cline”
sold out; waiting list
(804) 261-6208
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 4 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Paul Hanson, piano
Schoenberg: complete piano music, lecture & recital
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 4 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
Daniel Sender, violin
Qing Jiang, piano
Daniel Temkin: “Together, We”
Amy Beach: Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 34
Sender: “Scenes from Csenyéte” – “Three Souvenirs”
Fauré: Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 13
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Feb. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Young Concert Artists:
Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone
Damien Sneed, piano
Children of the Gospel Choir
Alistair Coleman: new work TBA (premiere)
German & Russian Lieder, spirituals TBA
$35-$60
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 7 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 8 (7 p.m.)
Feb. 9 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Berg: “Lyric Suite: Three Pieces for String Orchestra”
Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major
Hilary Hahn, violin
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (“Eroica”)
$19-$111
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 8 (6:30 p.m.)
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Overbrook Road at Ownby Lane, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
“Mozart Meets the Beatles”
Mozart: Divertimento in D major, K. 136
Lennon & McCartney: “Hello Goodbye”
Mozart: Serenade in C minor, K. 388
Lennon & McCartney: “When I’m Sixty-Four”
Lennon & McCartney: “Penny Lane”
Mozart: “Turkish March”
Lennon & McCartney: “Eleanor Rigby”
Lennon & McCartney: “Hey Jude”
$30-$35
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
The Thirteen
Jody Talbott: “Path of Miracles,” with projected images
$45-$65
(804) 288-7811
http://allsaintsrichmond.org

Feb. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Opera Lafayette
Justin Taylor conducting
“From St. Cyr to Cannons: Moreau and Handel’s ‘Esther’ ”
Elisse Albian, Jesse Darden, Kristen Dubenion-Smith, Paulina Francisco, Jacob Perry, Margot Rood & Jonathan Woody, vocalists
$30-$110
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Feb. 11 (2:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Virginia Opera
Everett McCorvey conducting
Paul Moravec & Mark Campbell: “Sanctuary Road”
Damien Geter (William Still)
Laquita Mitchell, soprano
Tesia Kwarteng, mezzo-soprano
Terrence Chin-Loy, tenor
Adam Richardson, baritone
Kimille Howard, stage director
in English, English captions
$9.35-$100
(866) 673-7282
http://vaopera.org

Feb. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Carina Brackin, organ
Dieterich Buxtehude: Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 149
Tate Pumfrey: “Prayer”
Pumfrey: “Jubilate Deo”
Naji Hakim: “Veni Creator Spiritus”
Bjarne Sløgedal: “Variations on a Norwegian Folk Tune”
Joseph Bonnet: “Variations de concert,” Op. 1
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Feb. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
Jarman Auditorium, Longwood University, Farmville
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Mozart: Divertimento in D major, K. 136
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: “Petite Suite de Concert,” Op. 77
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
free
(434) 395-2504
http://www.longwood.edu/news/2024/richmond-symphony-to-perform-at-longwood/

Feb. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Henry Panion III conducting
Dorinda Clark-Cole, vocalist
Earl Bynum & The Mount Unity Choir
Patrick Riddick & D’vyne Worship
COGIC VA First Jurisdictional Choir
“A Gospel Symphony Celebration”
program TBA
$10-$199
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org/concerts

Feb. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Feb. 11 (3:30 p.m.)
Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road
Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia
Ken Lam conducting
Debussy: “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Trombone Concerto in B flat major
Nathaniel Lee, trombone
Berlioz: “Symphonie fantastique”
$10-$46
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Feb. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Feb. 11 (3 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra
David Stewart Wiley conducting
SWVA Ballet
“Winter Romance”
Dvořák: “Carnival” Overture
Telemann: Trumpet Concerto in D major
Sammartini: Trumpet Concerto in E flat major
Jean-Baptiste Arban: “The Carnival of Venice”
Ashley Hall, trumpet
Mozart: “Winter Sleigh Ride”
Johann Strauss II: “Roses from the South”
Strauss: “Thunder and Lightning” Polka
Strauss: “On the Beautiful Blue Danube”
$34-$58
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Feb. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Jeri Lynne Johnson conducting
Valerie Coleman: “Phenomenal Women”
Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor
$19-$99
(301) 581-5100
http://strathmore.org

Feb. 11 (3:30 p.m.)
Marburg House, 3102 Bute Lane, Richmond
Belvedere Series:
Daniel McGrew, tenor
Domenic Salerni, violin
Andres Sanchez, cello
Ingrid Keller, piano
“Eros Walked Softly”
Robert Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70
Brahms: Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 100
Robert Schumann: “Liederkreis,” Op. 24
Clara Wieck Schumann: Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17
$45 (seating limited)
(804) 833-1481
http://belvedereseries.org

Feb. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Chrysler Museum of Art, 1 Memorial Place, Norfolk
Feldman Chamber Music Series:
Jupiter String Quartet
Soyeon Kate Lee, piano
Beethoven: Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (“Razumovsky”)
Elizabeth Maconchy: Quartet No. 3
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
$40
(757) 552-1630
http://feldmanchambermusic.org

Feb. 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Williamsburg Regional Library, 515 Scotland St.
Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg:
Jupiter String Quartet
Soyeon Kate Lee, piano
Beethoven: Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (“Razumovsky”)
Elizabeth Maconchy: Quartet No. 3
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
$30
(757) 259-4040 (Williamsburg Regional Library)
http://chambermusicwilliamsburg.org

Feb. 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Fortas Chamber Music Concerts:
Gateways Chamber Players
Stravinsky: “The Soldier’s Tale” Suite
Wynton Marsalis: “The Fiddler’s Tale”
$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Russell Thomas, tenor
Lucas Nogara, piano
Barber: “Knoxville, Summer of 1915”
Jasmine Barnes: “Love and Light”
works TBA by Duparc, Richard Strauss
$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 15 (5 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Julia Lougheed, clarinet
pianist TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Feb. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Feb. 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Sandler Arts Center, 201 S. Market St., Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Pops
Tony DeSare, conductor, vocalist & pianist
“Sinatra and Beyond”
$10-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org/concerts

Feb. 16 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Alexander Melnikov, piano
Isabelle Faust, violin
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
Schumann: Piano Trio in F major, Op. 80
Elliott Carter: “Epigrams”
Brahms: Piano Trio in B minor, Op. 8
free; tickets required via: http://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

Feb. 17 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Brandon Elliott, violin
James Wilson, cello
Ingrid Keller, piano
Tchaikovsky: “The Seasons” (selections)
free
(804) 646-7223
http://cmscva.org

Feb. 17 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conducting
Haydn: Symphony No. 59 in A major (“Fire”)
Kevin Puts: “Contact”
Time for Three string trio
Richard Strauss: “Don Juan”
Ravel: “Daphnis et Chloé” Suite No. 2
$21-$97
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Feb. 18 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Rennolds Chamber Concerts:
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Wind Ensemble
program TBA
$35
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Feb. 18 (7 p.m.)
Brambly Park Winery, 1708 Belleville St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA:
artists TBA
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 406-5611 (Brambly Park Winery)
http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Feb. 18 (7 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs
Theodore Thorpe III & Michele Fowlin directing
“Living the Dream . . . Singing the Dream: a Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
program TBA
$25-$75
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Tuesday Evening Concerts:
Pacifica Quartet
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73
Beethoven: Quartet in A minor, Op. 132
$12-$45
(434) 924-3376 (UVa Music box office)
http://tecs.org

Feb. 20 (7 p.m.)
Christ the King Presbyterian Church, 2335 Electric Road, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Chorus & instrumentalists
David Stewart Wiley & John Hugo directing
“Winter Voices: a Choral Celebration”
program TBA
$34-$52
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Feb. 21 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Terry Austin directing
program TBA
$5-$10
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Feb. 22 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Pops
Jack Everly conducting
Troupe Vertigo, guest stars
“Cirque Magic”
$21-$97
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

Feb. 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Debussy: “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
Alex Beyer, piano
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
$10-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org/concerts

Feb. 24 (8 p.m.)
Feb. 25 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Valentina Peleggi conducting
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor
Dinara Klinton, piano
Zachary Wadsworth: “Letter to the City” (premiere)
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Ravel: “Daphnis et Chloé” Suite No. 2
$15-$86
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Brian Ganz, piano
“Chopin the Virtuoso”
Chopin: Introduction and Rondo, Op. 16
Chopin: Polonaise in G flat major, Op. posth.
Chopin: Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major, Op. 51
Chopin: 2 nocturnes, Op. 37
Chopin: Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20
Chopin: 12 etudes, Op. 25
$29-$109
(301) 581-5100
http://strathmore.org

Feb. 25 (3 p.m.)
Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court, University of Richmond
Elizabeth Morgan, piano
works TBA by female composers
free; reservation required
(804) 289-8980 (Modlin Arts Center box office)
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 25 (7 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
E. Carl Freeman Concert Series:
The William & Mary Choir
Daniel Parks directing
program TBA
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

Feb. 25 (3 p.m.)
Music Building Concert Hall, College of William & Mary, 551 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Eric Jacobsen conducting
Dvořák: Slavonic Dance in G minor, Op. 46, No. 8
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216
Yun Zhang, violin
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major – IV: Allegro con brio
Leroy Anderson: “Irish Suite” – “The Irish Washerwoman,” “The Last Rose of Summer”
Duke Ellington: “Sophisticated Lady” (Morton Gould orchestration)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”) – II: Allegro con grazia; III: Allegro molto vivace
$10-$20
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org/concerts

Feb. 25 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Renée Fleming Voices:
Katharine McPhee, vocalist
David Foster, piano
Broadway, pop songs TBA
$39-$59
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 26 (3:30 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
UVa Chamber Music Series:
Daniel Sender, violin
Ayn Balija, viola
Adam Carter, cello
Anastasia Jellison, harp
Kelly Sulick, flute
Kelly Peral, oboe
Max McNutt, trumpet
Nathaniel Lee, trombone
Cody Halquist, French horn
Saint-Saëns: Fantaisie, Op. 124, for violin & harp
Debussy: Sonata for viola, flute and harp
Hillary Tann: “The Walls of Morlais Castle”
brass trio work TBA
$15
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Feb. 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Beatrice Rana, piano
Scriabin: Fantasie in B minor, Op. 28
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: “Cipressi,” Op. 17
Debussy: Préludes, Book 2 – “La Terrasse des audiences au clair de lune”
Debussy: Préludes, Book 1 – “Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest”
Debussy: “L’Isle joyeuse”
Liszt: Sonata in B minor
$40-$75
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Feb. 27 (8 p.m.)
Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Peter Sykes, harpsichord
J.S. Bach: “Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue” in D minor, BWV 503
works TBA by Girolamo Frescobaldi, Johann Jakob Froberger, Louis Couperin
free
(434) 924-3376
http://music.virginia.edu/events

Feb. 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Zuill Bailey, cello
Natasha Pasremski, piano
Chopin: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65
Chopin: “Introduction and Polonaise brillante” in C major, Op. 3
Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19
Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
$40-$50
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

Feb. 28 (8 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Symphony
Daniel Myssyk conducting
Gershwin: “An American in Paris”
Chris Brubeck: “Prague Concerto” for bass trombone & orchestra
soloist TBA
Brahms: “Variations on a Theme by Haydn”
$5-$10
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Feb. 28 (8 p.m.)
Ferguson Arts Center, Christopher Newpprt University, Newport News
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Peninsula Youth Orchestra
conductor TBA
“Side by Side Concert”
program TBA
free
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org/concerts

Feb. 29 (7 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Meghan Stoll directing
trad.: “Shenandoah” (James Erb arrangement)
Haydn: Te Deum in C major
Brahms: “An die Heimat”
Stephen Paulus: “The Road Home”
Shawn Kirchner: “O! What a Beautiful City”
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

Feb. 29 (8 p.m.)
Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 10 First St. SE, Washington
Le Consort
Vivaldi: Trio Sonata in G minor, RV 73
Giovanni Battista Reali: Violin Sonata in C major, Op. 2, No. 1 – Grave
Corelli: Trio Sonata in C major, Op. 4, No. 1
Rameau: “Les indes galantes” – Gavotte & 6 doubles
Jean-François Dandrieu: Trio Sonata in G minor, Op. 1, No. 3
Reali: “La Folia,” Op. 1, No. 12
Nicola Matthies Jr.: “Sarabanda amorosa”
Purcell: Sonata of four parts in G minor, Z. 807
J.S. Bach: Trio Sonata in G major, BWV 1038
J.S. Bach: Concerto in D minor, BWV 974 – II: Andante (after Alessandro Marcello)
Vivaldi: Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 63 (“Follia”)
free; tickets required via: host.nxt.blackbaud.com/
(202) 707-5507
http://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/concerts/upcoming-concerts/

March 2 (2 p.m.)
Gellman Room, Richmond Public Library, First & Franklin streets
RVA Baroque
program TBA
free
(804) 646-7223
http://rvalibrary.org/gellman-room-concerts

March 2 (3 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony
Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting
Really Inventive Stuff’s Michael Boudewyns, narrator
Prokofiev: “Peter and the Wolf”
$15-$25
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
http://richmondsymphony.com

March 2 (7 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
E. Carl Freeman Concert Series:
Furman Singers
Stephen Gusukuma directing
program TBA
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 288-1131
http://rrcb.org/e-carl-freeman-concert-series/

March 2 (7 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program
conductors TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

March 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Historic Academy Theatre, 524 Main St., Lynchburg
Lynchburg Symphony
David Glover conducting
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
Clayton Stephenson, piano
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor
$20-$100
(434) 845-6604
http://lynchburgsymphony.org

March 2 (8 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
James Conlon conducting
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor (“Unfinished”)
Wagner: “Götterdämmerung” – “Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey”
Wagner: “Götterdämmerung” – “Siegfried’s Funeral Music”
Wagner: “Götterdämmerung” – “Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene”
Christine Goerke, soprano
$21-$97
(877) 276-1444
http://strathmore.org

March 3 (3 p.m.)
Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Arts Center, University of Richmond
Doris Wylee-Becker, piano
program TBA
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980
http://modlin.richmond.edu

March 3 (4 p.m.)
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 12291 River Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Grant Houston & Abi Fayette, violins
Caleb Georges, viola
James Wilson, cello
Mary Boodell, flute
David Lemelin, clarinet
Charles Overton, harp
“Illumination”
Haydn: Quartet in B flat major, Op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”)
Zachary Wadsworth: “C/1995 O1” (premiere)
Gilad Cohen: “Firefly Elegy”
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet & string quartet
$30
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

March 3 (7 p.m.)
Center for the Arts Concert Hall, George Mason University, Fairfax
Jeffrey Siegel, piano & speaker
“Keyboard Conversations: Chopin and Liszt”
Chopin: waltzes TBA
Liszt: “Hungarian Rhapsody” TBA
$29-$50
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

March 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Perkinson Recital Hall, North Court, University of Richmond
Richmond Piano Trio:
Joanne Kong, piano
Daisuke Yamamoto, violin
Neal Cary, cello
Debussy: Piano Trio in G major
Grieg: Andante con moto in C minor
Beethoven: Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”)
free; registration required
(804) 289-8980 (Modlin Arts Center box office)
http://modlin.richmond.edu

March 7 (7 p.m.)
Ryan Recital Hall, St. Christopher’s School, 6010 Fergusson Road, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Chorus
Mark Helms directing
Alice Parker: “Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal”
Brahms: “Ein deutsches Requiem” – “Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen”
Moses Hogan: “Hear My Prayer”
Randall Thompson: “Frostiana” – “The Road Not Taken”
Elaine Hagenberg: “O Love”
Copland: “Zion’s Walls”
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

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

Jan Dismas Zelenka: “Hipocondrie à 7 concertanti” in A major
Collegium 1704/Václav Luks
(Supraphon)

Enescu: Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25
(“Dans le caractère populaire roumain”)
Amiram Ganz, violin
Alexander Paley, piano
(Saphir Productions)

Janáček: Sonata in E flat major (“1.X.1905 – from the Street”)
Ivan Moravec, piano
(Hänssler Classic)

Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
Igor Levit, piano
(Sony Classical)

Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Jean Martinon
(RCA)

I am medically advised to be cautious about attending crowded public events, including Richmond Symphony concerts. The orchestra is making video streams of its Symphony Series performances available to ticket-holders. The stream of this program was posted on Jan. 25.

Valentina Peleggi conducting
with Francesca Dego, violin
Jan. 20-21, Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center

Is Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D major the best of his four symphonies? In many ways, it’s the most characteristic of Brahms writ large: Wistfully moody tunes; duskily lyrical string writing; intricately voiced, madrigal-like wind choirs; punchy, rhythmically punctuating brass. Its melodies bloom expressively, but its accents are sharp and emphatic. The piece is tightly constructed, but seems to flow like a stream of consciousness.

Music Director Valentina Peleggi and the symphony realized all those qualities in a performance of the Brahms in the latest of the orchestra’s mainstage programs.

The ensemble maintained the essential pulse that underlies Brahms’ music; but the pulse-sustainers, the strings, favored focused sonority over lushness. In this tonescape, winds were more prominently audible. Peleggi’s moderate tempos left space for expansive lyricism from massed strings and solo winds, as well as details of articulation and voicing. It was chamber music on a symphonic scale.

The Brahms capped a program otherwise devoted to new and rarely heard music: the premiere of “Sinfonia Americana” by Damien Geter, composer-in-residence with the symphony and Virginia Opera; and violinist Francesca Dego playing Ferrucio Busoni’s Violin Concerto in D major and, in an encore, the “Polish Caprice” of Grażyna Bacewicz.

Busoni (1866-1924), an Italian who spent most of his career in Germany, is best-known as a piano virtuoso and teacher; his most widely performed work is a piano transcription of the Chaconne from J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004. His Violin Concerto, introduced in 1897, is a showcase for the instrument, seeming at times to harken back to Paganini in its effusions of fiddle filagree; but it’s also an inversion of the standard romantic dialogue between soloist and orchestra, especially in a big and (for its time) adventurous opening movement.

That opens with what amounts to a cadenza for the violin, a signal that the instrument will mostly respond to and elaborate on, rather than project, the movement’s themes – effectively making the soloist the orchestra’s accompanist. Some of that same role reversal can be heard in the concerto’s finale, a kind of amalgamation of Central European dance rhythms. A more conventionally structured and voiced central slow movement gives the violin its more familiar concerto role as a protagonist with a beautiful singing voice, in the work’s only really memorable tune.

Dego, who is known for reviving rarely heard repertory alongside playing the usual standards, played the contrasting characters that Busoni gives the violin with sensitivity, flair, a tone that glistened even in the crunchiest double-stopping, and a keen ear for collaboration with the orchestra. Her treatment of the bursts of good-humored extroversion in the concerto’s more animated moments was even more evident in the Bacewicz encore.

Geter’s “Sinfonia Americana,” a work lasting about 15 minutes, is an inversion of usual custom in its slow-fast-slow progression of movements. The composer presents the piece as a question: “What is the American sound?” His answer contrasts a quizzically lyrical, recurring main theme, sounding open-air but not big-sky, with a brightly brassy, rhythmically turbulent central section. Conspicuous by their absence, or deep sublimation, are the kind of folk-flavored or anthemic themes commonly associated with the term “Americana.”

Peleggi and the orchestra introduced Geter’s sinfonia with an attentive, expressive performance.

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

Writing for Van magazine, J.R. Patterson explores a thriving corner of amateur music-making: orchestras of medical professionals. “The overlay of music and medicine,” he writes, can be seen in various ancient and traditional cultures’ use of music as a curative, and, in our time, in the worldwide phenomenon of healthcare providers who studied music in youth and continue to play as an “antipode to the stress and pressure” of their profession.

“Doctors deal with a lot of emotions every day, with the roller coaster of life and death, disease and cure, [which] creates an atmosphere where a refuge is needed,” says the Portuguese psychiatrist/conductor Sebastião Martins. “We can internalize it, or we can channel it into an art. Music is a very accessible outlet, and that’s probably why there are more medical orchestras than, say, for lawyers or engineers.”

Healing Invisibly

(via http://artsjournal.com)

While Patterson’s article focuses on European physicians’ orchestras, there’s a fine example closer to home: The VCU Health Orchestra, composed of teachers, students and practitioners at Virginia Commonwealth University’s medical school and healthcare system. The orchestra was founded in 2017, and a wind ensemble was organized in 2023.

To find out more about VCU’s medical musicians, go here: http://www.vcuhealth.org/our-story/who-we-are/vcu-health-orchestra

P.D.Q. Bach has gone to hilarity heaven: Peter Schickele died earlier this week. America’s premier classical comedian, creator and alter-ego of the last and least of Bach’s sons, Schickele, under his own name, was a composer of seriously good-humored, often ingenious music. We’ll also revisit smiling highbrows from the past.

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

Poulenc: “Les biches” Suite
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra/Jean-Luc Tingaud
(Naxos)

Telemann: “Gulliver Suite”
Andrew Manze & Caroline Balding, violins
(Harmonia Mundi)

Haydn: Symphony No. 60 in C major (“Il distratto”)
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam/Jan Willem de Vriend
(Etcetera)

Schickele: “New Horizons in Music Appreciation”
Peter Schickele & Robert Dennis, color commentators
New York Mills Philharmonic/Heilige Dankesang
(Vanguard)

Schickele: Piano Quintet No. 1
Peter Schickele, piano
Audubon Quartet
(Centaur)

Schickele: Bassoon Concerto
George Sakakeeny, bassoon
Oberlin Orchestra/Raphael Jiménez
(Oberlin Music)

Schickele: Quodlibet
chamber orchestra/Jorge Mester
(Vanguard)

Peter Schickele, the bassoonist and composer best-known for his comedy alter-ego, P.D.Q. Bach, has died at 88.

Schickele introduced the fictional “last and by far the least” son of Johann Sebastian Bach while he was a graduate student at the Juilliard School in the 1950s, reviving a “Sanka Cantata” (spoofing Bach’s “Coffee Cantata”) that he had co-composed as a teenager and introducing a “Concerto for Horn and Hardart” (an instrument modeled after the once-popular food Automat) for a student concert.

“P.D.Q. Bach concerts soon became annual staples at Juilliard and at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, where Mr. Schickele studied during the summer,” Margalit Fox writes in an obituary for The New York Times.

The formal debut of his comic character, in 1965 at New York’s Town Hall, was recorded and released by Vanguard Records as “Peter Schickele Presents an Evening With P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)?” Subsequent recordings, four of which won Grammy awards for best comedy album, and extensive concert tours established Schickele’s brand of musical erudition cloaked in broad, slapstick foolery.

His musical satire, Fox writes, “betrayed a deeply cerebral silliness that was no less silly for being cerebral. Mr. Schickele was such a keen compositional impersonator that the mock-Mozartean music he wrote in P.D.Q.’s name sounded exactly like Mozart – or like what Mozart would have sounded like if Salieri had slipped him a tab or two of LSD.”

Schickele wound down his P.D.Q. tours in the early ’90s, but occasionally staged revivals, culminating in a 50th-anniversary performance in 2015 at Town Hall.

Along with such memorable P.D.Q. Bach creations as “The Abduction of Figaro,” “Iphigenia in Brooklyn,” “Oedipus Tex” and “Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle and Balloons,” Schickele also composed music ranging from chamber and symphonic works to arrangements for albums by Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte-Marie, tunes for the Broadway show “Oh! Calcutta!” (he played bassoon in its pit orchestra) and the soundtrack for the 1972 film “Silent Running.”

He also produced and hosted “Schickele Mix,” playing classical music alongside jazz and rock, which aired on public radio stations in the ’90s.

Fox’s Times obituary:

“Cotton,” a song cycle by Damien Geter, composer-in-residence with Virginia Opera and the Richmond Symphony, will be sung by baritone Adam Richardson and mezzo-soprano Tesia Kwarteng in the opera company’s Pride in Black Voices series in five performances from Jan. 30 through Feb. 7 at venues in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax.

Originally commissioned by LyricFest in Philadelphia, inspired by the photography of John Dowell, “Cotton” sets poems of Charlotte Blake Alston, Nikki Giovanni, Afaa Michael Weaver, Trapeta Mayson, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Lauren Alleyne, Alora Young, and Glenis Redmond. The cycle came out of Geter’s decade-long exploration of African-American life and ancestral journey as seen through the lens of the cotton industry.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, 1000 E. City Hall Ave. in Norfolk; 7 p.m. Jan. 31 at Norfolk State University; 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Singleton Arts Center, Park Avenue at Harrison Street in Richmond; 7 p.m. Feb. 6 at Old Town Hall, 3999 University Drive in Fairfax; and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Richmond Public Library’s main branch, First and Franklin streets.

The Norfolk State performance is sold out. Free tickets are available for other dates, but reservations are required.

For reservations and more information, call the Virginia Opera box office at (866) 673-7282 or visit http://vaopera.org/pride-in-black-voices

The Washington Post’s Geoff Edgers writes an elegy to the high-fidelity dream of Ken Fritz, who spent 27 years and $1 million to build a sound system in a suburban Richmond home that he had to enlarge to create a space whose acoustics lived up to the equipment.

His obsession cost him more than money: a divorce, the estrangement of a son and troubled relationships with his other children, who spent much of their youth as laborers on the project. “Nobody wanted to come to our house, because he wanted to put them to work,” his daughter told Edgers. “I think we went camping twice, never took vacation. It was just work, work, work.”

In 2018, two years after Fritz finally finished building “the world’s greatest stereo and listening room,” he was diagnosed with the fatal neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As the disease progressively weakened him, he had to use the sound system to play digital files from a iPad.

After he died in 2022, the family tried and failed to find a buyer for the house with the sound system intact. The equipment was auctioned off piece by piece, for a fraction of what Fritz spent to build it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/style/interactive/2024/ken-fritz-greatest-stereo-auction-cost/

“One Man’s Dream,” Jeremy Bircher’s 2021 documentary on Fritz’s quest for ultimate sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b2IOOhJmxw