Letter V

Music for Christmas, ranging from Renaissance dances, French Noëls, early American carols and the original version of “Silent Night” (in waltz time) to Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” Suite and one of the loveliest Christmas works of the 20th century, Ottorino Respighi’s “Laud for the Nativity.”

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

Michael Praetorius: “Terpsichore” (selections)
Doron Sherwin, cornetto
Julien Martin, recorder
Capriccio Stravagante Renaissance Orchestra/Skip Sempé
(Paradizio)

Michel Corrette: “Symphonie de Noël” No. 6 in A major
La Fantasia/Rien Voskulien
(Brilliant Classics)

Tchaikovsky: “The Nutcracker” Suite
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko
(Avie)

18th- & 19th-century American carols:
traditional: “Fulfillment”
traditional: “A Christmas Hymn”
traditional: “Shepherds, rejoice” (”Auld Lang Syne”)
traditional: “The Star of Bethlehem” (“Bonnie Doone”)
traditional: “A Virgin most pure”
traditional: “Lullay, thou little tiny child”
traditional: “Hush! my babe, lie still and slumber”
William Billings: “Boston”
traditional: “Adeste fidelis”
traditional: “Lovely Vine”
Lowell Mason: “Joy to the World”
Boston Camerata/Joël Cohen
(Erato)

Franz Gruber: “Stille Nacht”
Charles Daniels, tenor
Stephen Charlesworth, bass-baritone
Jakob Lindberg, guitar
Taverner Consort/Andrew Parrott
(Warner Classics)

Ottorino Respighi: “Lauda per la nativitá del Signore”
Yeree Suh, soprano
Kristine Larissa Funkhauser, mezzo-soprano
Krystian Adam, tenor
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Polyphonia Ensemble Berlin/Māris Sirmais
(Carus)

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

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 16 in D major, K. 451
Claire Huangci, piano
Mozarteumorchester Salzburg/Howard Griffiths
(Alpha)

Guillaume Connesson: Sextet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, double-bass & piano
Atlantic Chamber Ensemble
(Imaginary Animals)

Debussy: “Danses sacrée et profane”
Alice Chalifoux, harp
Cleveland Orchestra/Pierre Boulez
(Sony Classical)

Vaughan Williams: “Norfolk Rhapsody” No. 1
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Paul Daniel
(Naxos)

Rodrigo: “Concierto en modo galante”
Robert Cohen, cello
London Symphony Orchestra/Enrique Bátiz
(Warner Classics)

Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 (“The Four Temperaments”)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/Sakari Oramo
(BIS)

The English National Opera, which last year was threatened with loss of government support unless it left London, has chosen Manchester as its new home. The move to the city in the north of England is expected to be completed by 2029, The Guardian’s Mark Brown reports:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/05/english-national-opera-announces-greater-manchester-will-be-its-new-home

In hailing the move, Bev Craig, leader of the Manchester city council, claimed that the city boasted “the largest creative economy in Europe after London.” Larger than Paris’ or Berlin’s? Really?

The past and the future collide in the early romantic period – music of Schubert, Berlioz, Wagner, Mendelssohn, and a long-overlooked English composer of the period, Alice Mary Smith.

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

Berlioz: “Rob-Roy Macgregor” Overture
Montreal Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit
(Decca)

Alice Mary Smith: Symphony in C minor
London Mozart Players/Howard Shelley
(Chandos)

Wagner: “Lohengrin” – Act 1 Prelude
Orchestre du Théâtre national de l’Opéra/André Cluytens
(Erato)

Mendelssohn: Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
(Decca)

Schubert: String Quintet in C major, D. 956
Alban Berg Quartet
Heinrich Schiff, cello
(Warner 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.

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

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

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

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

Dec. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
Christ Lutheran Church, 2807 N. Augusta St., Staunton
Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 7599 Rockfish Gap, Greenwood
Dec. 3 (4 p.m.)
Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Road, Keswick
Three Notch’d Road:
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Ryan Lowe, baroque cello
Anne Timberlake, recorders
Cameron Welke, theorbo & lute
Sheila Dietrich, soprano
Benjamin Geier, tenor
Jared Swope, bass
“Sacred Harp: English, Irish & American Christmas”
$30 (Keswick sold out)
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org

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

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

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

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

Dec. 2 (7:30 p.m.)
Historic Academy Theater, 600 Main St., Lynchburg
Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra
David Glover conducting
“Happy Holidays with the LSO”
$20-$100
(434) 528-3256
http://lynchburgsymphony.org

Dec. 3 (4 p.m.)
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2315 N. Parham Road, Richmond
Richmond Choral Society
Markus J. Compton directing
“Christmas with the Richmond Choral Society”
$10-$15
(804) 353-9582
http://richmondchoralsociety.org

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

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

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

Dec. 3 (5 p.m.)
Walnut Hills Baptist Church, 1014 Jamestown Road, Williamsburg
Cantori Choral Ensemble
Agnes French directing
Anastasia Jellison, harp
Britten: “A Ceremony of Carols”
Christmas carols TBA
$20
(757) 220-5900
http://whbconline.org

Dec. 3 (3 p.m.)
St. Anne’s Belfield School, 2132 Ivy Road, Charlottesville
Cavalier Symphony Orchestra
conductors TBA
“Gothic Slay”
Bizet: “Carmen” Suite
Saint-Saëns: “Danse macabre”
Rimsky-Korsakov: “Scheherazade” – III: “The Young Prince and the Young Princess”
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor – I: Allegro con brio
Vivaldi: “The Four Seasons” – “Winter”
violinist TBA
Khachaturian: “Spartacus and Phrygia” – adagio
$10
(434) 295-0106
http://cavalierso.com

Dec. 4 (11 a.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Three Notch’d Road:
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Ryan Lowe, baroque cello
Anne Timberlake, recorders
Cameron Welke, theorbo & lute
Sheila Dietrich, soprano
Benjamin Geier, tenor
Jared Swope, bass
“Sacred Harp: English, Irish & American Christmas”
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

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

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

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

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

Dec. 6 (7:30 p.m.)
The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Steven Reineke conducting
“Ugly Sweater Holiday Concert”
$25-$40
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

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

Dec. 8 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 9 (2 & 7 p.m.)
Dec. 10 (1 & 5:30 p.m.)
Dec. 15 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 16 (2 & 7 p.m.)
Dec. 17 (1 & 5:30 p.m.)
Dec. 20 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 21 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 22 (2 & 7 p.m.)
Dec. 23 (2 & 7 p.m.)
Dec. 24 (1 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth & Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Ballet
Richmond Symphony
Erin Freeman conducting
Tchaikovsky: “The Nutcracker”
$25-$150
(804) 592-3330
http://richmondballet.com

Dec. 8 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Music artists & ensembles
“Holiday Gala”
$10; proceeds benefit The Doorways
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Dec. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Church of the Holy Comforter, Episcopal, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Dec. 9 (7:30 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
James River Singers
David Pedersen directing
“Light of the World”
works TBA by Mozart, Cristobal de Morales, Gerd-Peter Münden, Dan Forrest, Reena Esmail
$15
(757) 814-5446
http://jamesriversingers.org

Dec. 8 (7:30 p.m.)
Grace Baptist Church, 4200 Dover Road, Richmond
Dec. 10 (3 p.m.)
Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church, 201 Henry St., Ashland
Central Virginia Masterworks Chorale & orchestra
Ryan Tibbetts conducting
Daniel Stipe, organ
John Rutter: Magnificat
Elaine Hagenberg: “Illuminare”
$15
http://cvamc.org

Dec. 8 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 9 (2 p.m.)
Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
conductor TBA
“Elf,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$28-$80
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 8 (7 p.m.)
Cave Spring United Methodist Church, 4505 Hazel Drive, Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Brass
Jay Crone directing
“Holiday Brass”
$34-$52
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Dec. 8 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 9 (noon & 5 p.m.)
Dec. 10 (2 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Washington National Opera
conductor TBA
Jeanine Tesori: “The Lion, the Unicorn and Me”
Cafritz Young Artist Program singers TBA
WNO Children’s Chorus
in English, English captions
$25-$59
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 8 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 9 (2 & 8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Steven Reineke conducting
Norm Lewis & Nova Y. Payton, vocals
Heritage Signature Chorale
Rishab Jain, drums
“A Holiday Pops!”
$29-$109
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 9 (4 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
American Festival Pops Orchestra
Peter Wilson conducting
Darden Purcell & Courtney Williams, vocals
Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble
Tchaikovsky: “The Nutcracker” (excerpts)
Tchaikovsky: “The Nutcracker” (Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn arrangement)
holiday film music TBA
Christmas carols TBA
$36-$60
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Dec. 10 (3 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Second Sunday South of the James:
instrumental ensemble
Naima Burrs conducting
“Messiah” sing-along
Zara Brock, soprano
Catherine Pelletier, mezzo-soprano
DeVonté Saunders, tenor
Will Conn, bass
scores available
donation requested
(804) 272-7514
http://bonairpc.org

Dec. 10 (3 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Neave Piano Trio
Reena Esmail: Piano Trio
Debussy: “La Mer” (piano trio arrangement)
Astor Piazzolla: “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” (piano trio arrangement)
$10
(804) 828-1166
http://arts.vcu.edu/events

Dec. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, 2700 Dolfield Drive, North Chesterfield
St. Edward choirs
Alicia Romeo directing
Lisa Edwards-Burrs, soprano
Susanna Klein, violin
“Candlelight Carol Sing”
free
(804) 272-2948
http://stedchurch.com

Dec. 10 (7:30 p.m.)
Abingdon Episcopal Church, 4645 George Washington Memorial Highway, Hayes
Cantori Choral Ensemble
Agnes French directing
Anastasia Jellison, harp
Britten: “A Ceremony of Carols”
Christmas carols TBA
$20
(804) 693-3035
http://abingdonchurch.org

Dec. 11 (7 p.m.)
Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Arthur Ashe Boulevard at Kensington Avenue, Richmond
Dec. 18 (7 p.m.)
Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, Richmond
Richmond Philharmonic
Peter Wilson conducting
“Holiday Pops”
free
(804) 556-1039
http://richmondphilharmonic.org

Dec. 11 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra
conductor TBA
program TBA
free
(804) 788-1212
http://richmondsymphony.com

Dec. 12 (7 p.m.)
Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave., Roanoke
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra Chorus & Baroque Virtuosi
David Stewart Wiley conducting
Handel: “Messiah” – Part 1 & “Hallelujah” Chorus
soloists TBA
$28-$56
(540) 343-9127
http://rso.com

Dec. 12 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Marian Anderson Vocal Award Recital:
Justin Austin, baritone
Howard Watkins, piano
program TBA
$39
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 13 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Bede Catholic Church, 3686 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg
Dec. 14 (7 p.m.)
Chesapeake Conference Center, 700 Conference Center Drive
Dec. 15 (7 p.m.)
Birdsong Theater, Suffolk Center, 110 W. Finney Ave.
Dec. 16 (7 p.m.)
Palace Theater, 305 Mason Ave., Cape Charles
Virginia Symphony Brass Ensemble
Paul Bhasin directing
“Holiday Brass”
$10-$79 (Williamsburg)
free (Chesapeake)
$18-$40 (Suffolk)
$30 (Cape Charles)
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center, Washington
Vocal Arts DC:
Jonah Hoskins, tenor
William Woodard, piano
works TBA by Satie, Jake Heggie, Lee Hoiby
$50
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 14 (7:30 p.m.)
Regent University Theater, 1000 Regent University Drive, Virginia Beach
Dec. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
First Baptist Church, 12716 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News
Dec. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Harrison Opera House, 160 E. Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Allen conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Zoe Allen, soprano
Sun-Ly Pierce, mezzo-soprano
Alek Shrader, tenor
Levi Hernandez, baritone
Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus
$10-$119
(757) 892-6366
http://virginiasymphony.org

Dec. 14 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 15 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 16 (8 p.m.)
Dec. 17 (1 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Laurence Equilbey conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Robin Johannsen, soprano
Christopher Lowrey, countertenor
Aaron Sheehan, tenor
Jonathon Adams, baritone
University of Maryland Concert Choir
$19-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Laurel Street at Floyd Avenue, Richmond
Choir of Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
Daniel Sañez directing
Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols
free; tickets required via http://eventbrite.com
(804) 359-5651
http://richmondcathedral.org/concerts

Dec. 15 (8 p.m.)
Cosby High School, 14300 Fox Club Parkway, Midlothian
Central Virginia Wind Symphony
Mike Goldberg directing
“Holiday Spectacular”
free
(804) 342-8797
http://www.thewindsymphony.com

Dec. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
River Road Church, Baptist, River & Ridge roads, Richmond
The King’s Singers
“When You Wish upon a Star: a King’s Singers Christmas”
$41.25-$55
(757) 282-2822 (Virginia Arts Festival)
http://vafest.org

Dec. 16 (2:30 & 7:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Oratorio Society of Virginia
Michael Slon directing
“Christmas at the Paramount”
John Rutter: Gloria
other works TBA
$10-$54
(434) 979-1333
http://theparamount.net

Dec. 16 (4 p.m.)
Dec. 17 (4 p.m.)
Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax
Fairfax Ballet
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
Tchaikovsky: “The Nutcracker”
$54-$94
(703) 993-2787
http://cfa.gmu.edu

Dec. 16 (11 a.m.)
Dec. 24 (11 a.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Choral Arts Brass Ensemble
Michele Fowlin conducting
“A Family Christmas”
$20-$45
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 16 (3 p.m.)
Dec. 20 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 21 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 22 (8 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
The Washington Chorus
Side-by-Side High School Choirs
National Capital Brass and Percussion
Eugene Rogers conducting
Paul Byssainthe, Jr., organ and piano
“A Candlelight Christmas”
$15-$99
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 16 (7:30 p.m.)
Dec. 17 (3 p.m.)
Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD
National Philharmonic
Piotr Gajewski conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Aundi Marie Moore, soprano
Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano
Norman Shankle, tenor
Jorell William, baritone
National Philharmonic Chorale
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
$19-$99
(301) 581-5100
http://strathmore.org

Dec. 17 (5 p.m.)
All Saints Episcopal Church, 8787 River Road, Richmond
All Saints Choir of Men and Boys
All Saints Girls Choir
Scott G. Hayes directing
Daniel Stipe, organ
Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
free
(804) 288-7811
http://allsaintsrvamusic.com

Dec. 17 (7 p.m.)
Gallery5, 200 W. Marshall St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA:
artists TBA
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 678-8863 (Gallery5)
http://classicalrevolutionrva.com/events

Dec. 17 (4 p.m.)
Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Blacksburg Master Chorale & orchestra
Dwight Bigler conducting
Handel: “Messiah”
Alison Wahl, soprano
Kayla Brotherton, mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Bunsold, tenor
Markel Williams, bass-baritone
$25-$65
(540) 231-5300
http://artscenter.vt.edu

Dec. 18 (7 p.m.)
Church of the Holy Comforter. Episcopal, Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road, Richmond
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia:
Nicholas DiEugenio, Natalie Kress, Nurit Pacht & Emily Monroe, violins
Celia Hatton, viola
James Wilson, cello
Jessica Eig, double-bass
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord
Cameron Welke, lute
“Fifth Season”
Vivaldi: Concerto in D minor, RV 565
Vivaldi: Concerto in A major, RV 552 (“Echo”)
Vivaldi: Concerto in D minor, RV 540, for lute & viola d’amore
Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in E flat major, RV 253 (“La Tempesta di Mare”)
Vivaldi: Concerto in B flat major, RV 362 (“The Hunt”)
Kenyon Duncan: new work TBA
$30
(804) 304-6312
http://cmscva.org

Dec. 18 (7 p.m.)
Dec. 24 (2 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington & orchestra
Marie Bucoy-Calavan conducting
“O Night Divine!”
$15-$94
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 20 (7 p.m.)
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Grove Avenue at Three Chopt Road, Richmond
Sanctuary Choristers
St. Stephen’s Choristers
Chris Edwards directing
Peter Greydanus, cello
Anastasia Jellison, harp
“Winter Solstice Concert”
works TBA by Peter Hallock, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Joanna Marsh, Sally Beamish, Marcel Tournier, Owain Park, June Collin, Patrick Hawes, others
$20
(804) 288-2867
http://www.ststephensrva.org/music/

Dec. 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Vienna Boys Choir
“Christmas in Vienna”
$34.75-$44.75
(434) 979-1333
http://theparamount.net

Dec. 23 (6 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra
Evan Rogister conducting
College Park Chorale
Congressional Chorus
Fairfax Choral Society
Rockville Chorus
Nancia DAlimonte directing
Angeli Ferrette, soprano
Jeanie Adkins, mezzo-soprano
Antonio Chase, tenor
V. Savoy McIlwain, bass-baritone
“Messiah” sing-along
free; online advance order required
(800) 444-1324
http://kennedy-center.org

Dec. 24 (5 p.m.)
Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 8 N. Laurel St., Richmond
Grace & Holy Trinity Parish Choir
Elizabeth Melcher Davis directing
Festival of Lessons and Carols
free
(804) 359-5628
http://ghtc.org

Dec. 29 (5:30 p.m.)
The Greencroft Club, 575 Rodes Drive, Charlottesville
Three Notch’d Road:
Benjamin Geier, tenor
Fiona Hughes, baroque violin
Christa Patton, harp and recorders
folk and seasonal music TBA
$100; includes dinner
(434) 409-3424
http://tnrbaroque.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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