Letter V

Ben Johnston, the American composer known for employing just intonation (even spacing of 12 notes within an octave) and producing works with numerous microtones (the near-infinity of tones spaced between the notes of the even-tempered scale), has died at 93.

Johnston was once described by The New York Times critic John Rockwell as “one of the best non-famous composers this country has to offer.”

Johnston, born in Macon, GA, grew up in Richmond (his father was my father’s boss at the Richmond Times-Dispatch), and earned degrees from the College of William and Mary and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He also studied with Darius Milhaud at Mills College and with American avant-gardists Harry Partch and John Cage.

Johnston taught composition, music theory and acoustics at the University of Illinois at Urbanna-Champaign for 35 years. After his retirement from the university in 1986, he continued teaching composition privately.

His most important works are 10 string quartets, in styles ranging from serial to microtonal to minimalist; the best-known of them is the Quartet No. 4, which features variations on the old hymn tune “Amazing Grace.” Among his other compositions are “Quintet for Groups,” for which he was awarded the Orchesterpreis der Donaueschingen Musiktage in Germany in 2008; “Sonnets of Desolation,” commissioned by the Swingle Singers; incidental music for Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla,” as staged by the LaMaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York; and a sonata and suite for microtonal piano.

Johnston won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1959 and an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for his book “Maximum Clarity” in 2007.

Adrian Pintea, violin
Russell Wilson, piano
July 18, Dominion Energy Center

Ardian Pintea, assistant concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony, and Russell Wilson, the orchestra’s pianist and a veteran performer and teacher at various institutions in the region, took on a succession of formidable technical and interpretive challenges in the second program of the symphony’s Summer Series, this year exploring chamber music by American composers.

The duo negotiated the almost constantly shifting terrain of John Corigliano’s Violin Sonata (1963), a work that the composer, now an esteemed elder of American music, wrote when he was 25 and audibly testing his capacities and those of performers. In introductory remarks, Pintea noted that Corigliano wrote the sonata for his father, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic (1943-66), who declined to play it unless another violinist of stature agreed to. The younger Corigliano sent the score to Jascha Heifetz, who tersely spurned it. (Corigliano Sr. relented, and recorded the piece in 1965.)

The outer movements of the Corigliano sonata are packed with vivid, elaborate displays of violin technique, often at extremes of the instrument’s register, vying with dense, angular piano accompaniment. The inner andantino and lento movements form a dark fantasy, the most expressive and musically coherent sections of the piece. Pintea and Wilson emphasized the lyricism and sonic atmospherics at the center of the sonata.

Wilson faced a comparable challenge in the first movement of George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 1, written in 1953 and revised in 1991. The long-lived (1922-2018) composer, who also was an accomplished pianist, was one of the first African-Americans to establish himself in the mainstream of classical music in the US. Wilson observed that Walker’s references to black vernacular styles such as blues and jazz were subtle elements of a generally abstract musical language.

The sonata movement, marked allegro energico, is sternly neo-classical in style, with touches of impressionism in quieter passages. Wilson’s performance, appropriately, alternated between manic energy and moody reverie.

Pintea played two movements from Max Stern’s “Bedouin Impressions” (1989), a solo-violin album of sound-pictures of the composer’s time in Israel. The featured pieces, “Pastoral” and “Lament,” are finely spun and open-textured, calling for rarified tone production and sensitivity to silence as a musical element. The violinist proved to be a convincing advocate for Stern’s work.

Pintea and Wilson opened the program with four miniatures by Samuel Barber, nicely riding the lyrical flow of arrangements of “St. Ita’s Vision” and “The Desire for Hermitage” from the “Hermit Songs” cycle of 1953, and “Canzone (Elegy)” (1959), an alternate version of an arrangement for flute and piano of the slow movement of Barber’s Piano Concerto. The duo turned up the heat in “Gypsy Dance” (1922), written by the 12-year-old Barber for an unfinished opera, “Rose Tree.”

The Richmond Symphony Summer Series continues on July 25 with French horn player Dominic Rotella and pianist Ingrid Keller playing works by Bernstein, Gershwin, Alan Hovhaness, Robert Weirich, Carol Barnett and Paul Basler. The series presents hour-long chamber-music programs at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 15 in Gottwald Playhouse of Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $20 (seating limited). Details: (804) 788-1212; http://www.richmondsymphony.com

The National Philharmonic, an orchestra of freelance professional musicians performing in Montgomery County, MD, a suburb of Washington, anticipates ceasing operations this summer. Its finances have been squeezed by decreased support from the county and increased fees at its principal venue, the Music Center at Strathmore.

The orchestra, whose annual operating budget is about $2 million, would need $150,000 to salvage its fall season, The Washington Post’s Anne Midgette reports:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/national-philharmonic-bows-out-abruptly/2019/07/16/8977dcd8-a810-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html

noon-3 p.m. EDT
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.net

Corelli: Concerto grosso in D major, Op. 6, No. 7
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra/Gottfried von der Goltz
(Aparté)

Respighi: “Concerto all’antica”
Ingolf Turban, violin
English Chamber Orchestra/Marcello Viotti
(Claves)

Martinů: Concerto grosso for two pianos and chamber orchestra
Jaroslav Šaroun & Karel Růžička, pianos
Czech Philharmonic/Jiří Bělohlávek
(Supraphon)

Franz Berwald: “Grand Septet” in B flat major
Anima Eterna
(Alpha)

Louise Farrenc: Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 30
Schubert Ensemble
(ASV)

Beethoven: Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50
Katarina Andreasson, violin
Swedish Chamber Orchestra Örebro/Thomas Dausgaard
(Simax Classics)

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488
Richard Goode, piano
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
(Nonesuch)

Brahms: String Quintet in G major, Op. 111
(string-orchestra arrangement)
Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Candida Thompson
(Channel Classics)

Ron Crutcher, cello
Joanne Kong, piano
July 11, Dominion Energy Center

Samuel Barber’s Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 6, composed when the 22-year-old Barber was concluding his studies at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, anticipates much of his later instrumental music, wavering in style between neo-classicism and romanticism, most memorable when it emphasizes the latter.

In the opening concert of the Richmond Symphony Summer Series, whose theme this year is “Exploring America,” Ron Crutcher, the cellist who serves as president of the University of Richmond (a co-presenter of the series), and his UR colleague, pianist Joanne Kong, delivered an ardent account of the Barber sonata.

Crutcher’s instrument, which has a markedly deep tone, was at times overbalanced by the piano – Barber’s piano part is busy, often brilliantly so. The cellist prevailed where it counted, though, in the succession of lyrical themes that crop up throughout the sonata.

Kong’s solo moments came in two of Philip Glass’ etudes for piano. Glass, who with several collaborators played all 20 of these pieces several years ago at UR, remarked at the time that the first 10 were written primarily for his own practice, with the second set of 10 more attuned to public performance.

Sure enough, the Etude No. 2 sounded like a technical exercise, a miniature exemplar of Glass’ “music with repetitive structures,” while the Etude No. 12 was a more elaborate and finished product, a piano rag with neo-romantic trappings. Kong played the former with disciplined clarity and the latter with freer phrasing and richer tone.

Crutcher opened the program with his signature piece, “Argoru II” for solo cello by Alvin Singleton, written for Crutcher when both were graduate students at Yale Unversity, and subsequently recorded by the cellist.

The title, from the Twi language of Ghana, translates as “play,” Crutcher explained in introductory remarks, adding that play in this context is serious business. The cellist is run through a veritable gauntlet of techniques and sonic gestures, plucking as often as bowing, frequently bending notes, and putting frequent silences into context with sound. It is decidedly uneasy listening, but compelling as one sees and hears the cellist negotiate its many challenges.

Crutcher and Kong concluded the program with an arrangement of the second of George Gershwin’s three preludes, originally for solo piano. This bluesiest and most lyrical of the preludes lends itself nicely to the songful qualities of the cello.

The Richmond Symphony Summer Series continues with violinist Adrian Pintea and pianist Russell Wilson playing works by Samuel Barber, George Walker, John Corigliano and Max Stern at 6:30 p.m. July 18 in Gottwald Playhouse of Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets. Tickets: $20 (seating limited). Details: (804) 788-1212; http://www.richmondsymphony.com

Paolo Bortolameolli, one of the six candidates vying to become the next music director of the Richmond Symphony, has withdrawn, electing to remain with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he is associate conductor.

The Masterworks series concerts he was to have conducted, on Nov. 16 and 17, will be led by Chia-Hsuan Lin, the Richmond Symphony’s associate conductor. The program remains the same: Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, with Eduardo Rojas as guest soloist; Bartók’s “Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta;” and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E minor.

Remaining candidates for Richmond Symphony music director are Roderick Cox, former associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra; Ankush Kumar Bahl, former assistant conductor of Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra; Laura Jackson, music director of the Reno (NV) Philharmonic; Valentina Peleggi, resident conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo in Brazil; and Farkhad Khudyev, music director of the Hidden Valley Orchestra Institute and Youth Music Monterey County in California.

noon-3 p.m. EDT
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.net

Haydn: Symphony No. 63 in C major (“La Roxelane”)
Heidelberger Sinfoniker/Benjamin Spillner
(Hänssler Classic)

Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor
Antonio Meneses, cello
Royal Northern Sinfonia/Claudio Cruz
(Avie)

Baldassare Galuppi: Sonata in C major, Illy 27
Aleksandar Serdar, piano
(Warner Classics)

Mozart: “Così fan tutte” Overture
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Stravinsky: Concerto for piano and wind instruments
(1950 version)
Paul Crossley, piano
London Sinfonietta/Esa-Pekka Salonen
(Sony Classical)

Past Masters:
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner
(RCA Red Seal)
(recorded 1959)

Olli Mustonen: Nonet No. 1
Tapiola Sinfonietta/Olli Mustonen
(Ondine)

Debussy: “Six épigraphes antiques”
(orchestration by Ernest Ansermet)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Kazuki Yamada
(Pentatone)

Janáček: Sinfonietta
Czech Philharmonic/Jiří Bělohlávek
(Decca)

American classical music of the 19th century, other than the works that Antonin Dvořák wrote during his 1890s sojourn in this country, is rarely explored territory. In this eve-of-Fourth of July program, we’ll hear long-neglected compositions by Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, Victor Herbert, John Knowles Paine, George Whitefield Chadwick, William Henry Fry and George Frederick Bristow.

noon-3 p.m. EDT
1700-2000 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
http://wdce.net

George Whitefield Chadwick: “Rip Van Winkle” Overture
Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi
(Chandos)

Arthur Foote: Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 5
Trio Déjà vu
(Spektral)

John Knowles Paine: “Poseiden and Amphitrite – an Ocean Fantasy”
Ulster Orchestra/JoAnn Falletta
(Naxos)

Amy Beach: Piano Concerto in C sharp minor
Danny Driver, piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Rebecca Miller
(Hyperion)

Victor Herbert: Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
New York Philharmonic/Kurt Masur
(Sony Classical)

William Henry Fry: “Niagara Symphony”
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Tony Rowe
(Naxos)

George Frederick Bristow: Symphony No. 2 in D minor (“Jullien”)
Royal Northern Sinfonia/Rebecca Miller
(New World)

Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that young people who study and perform music outpace their peers academically. That perception now receives some hard-data underpinning in a study by Martin Guhn, Scott D. Emerson, and Peter Gouzouasis of the University of British Columbia, published in the Journal of Educational Psychology.

In “A Population-Level Analysis of Associations Between School Music Participation and Academic Achievement,” the three researchers, examining the records of more than 110,000 secondary school students (grades 7-12) in British Columbia, found that students who studied music, especially performance of instrumental music, “were, on average, academically over one year ahead of the peers not engaged in school music,” scoring markedly higher in math, science and English.

“In light of this study (the largest of its kind to date), as well as supporting evidence suggesting music learning in childhood may foster competencies (e.g., executive functioning) that support academic achievement, educators may consider the potential positive influence of school music on students’ high school achievement,” the researchers write.

Teachers and parents of music students already know this – ask anyone with a child in the Suzuki program. The people who need to do the considering are school administrations deciding on curricula and teacher hiring, the local and state politicians allocating resources for the schools (and often second-guessing educators on what is and isn’t taught), and – to my mind, most importantly – the business, professional and political-donor communities who exert the strongest influence on educational policy.

When those who are directly concerned about developing a high-skill workforce absorb the findings of studies like this one, and come to understand that executive functioning, critical thinking, creative problem-solving and related skills are enhanced by the study of music and other art forms, that will dispel the currently widespread notion that arts education is an amenity or “frill.”

Here’s the study:

Click to access edu-edu0000376.pdf

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 single-ticket prices are listed; senior, student/youth, group and other discounts may be offered.

In and around Richmond: Free Fourth of July outdoor concerts feature the Richmond Symphony with a laser light show at Dorey Park in Varina and the Richmond Concert Band and Richmond Concert Jazz Band with fireworks at Dogwood Dell in Byrd Park. . . . The Richmond Symphony Summer Series of chamber music, this year themed “Exploring America,” opens on July 11 with cellist Ron Crutcher, president of the University of Richmond, and UR-based pianist Joanne Kong playing works by Samuel Barber, Alvin Singleton, Lukas Foss and Philip Glass, and will continue with members of the symphony and performers from UR and Virginia Commonwealth University on Thursdays through Aug. 15 in Gottwald Playhouse of Dominion Energy Center in downtown Richmond. . . . Tom Hall conducts the Berkshire Choral International Chorus with the Richmond Symphony in works by Morten Lauridsen and Benjamin Britten, July 13 at Dominion Energy Center. . . . Virginia Commonwealth University’s Global Summer Institute of Music opens on July 29 with a concert at Singleton Arts Center and continues through Aug. 8 with chamber-music and vocal programs by faculty and student artists at venues on the VCU campus and elsewhere in Richmond.

Noteworthy elsewhere: Charlottesville Opera’s summer season opens with “The Tragedy of Carmen,” Peter Brook’s reworking of the Bizet opera, July 3 and 5 at St. Anne’s-Belfield School, and continues with the Lerner & Loewe musical “Camelot,” July 13, 14, 17, 19 anbd 21 at the Paramount Theater. . . . The Garth Newel Music Center presents Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon chamber-music programs featuring the Garth Newel Piano Quartet, Daedalus Quartet and others throughout the month at the center’s Herter Hall in Hot Springs. . . . The Wintergreen Music Festival at the Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County, led by Erin Freeman and with pianist Orion Weiss, soprano Arianna Zukerman and conductor Victor Yampolsky among the guest artists, presents orchestral, choral and chamber-music concerts, beginning on July 9 and running through the month at the resort and nearby venues. . . . Wolf Trap Opera stages Richard Strauss’ comic opera “Ariadne auf Naxos” on July 19, 21, 24 and 27 at the Barns of Wolf Trap. . . . Two concerts on July 20 mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing: The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra playing Holst’s “The Planets,” with NASA video footage of space scenes, in a Shenandoah Valley Music Festival program at the Shrine Mont Pavilion in Orkney Springs; and the National Symphony Orchestra and guests performing a commissioned work, Michael Giacchino’s “One Small Step, One Giant Leap,” plus a previously unseen music video of David Bowie singing his “Space Oddity,” at Washington’s Kennedy Center. . . . Gianandrea Noseda conducts the National Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, with Ning Feng as soloist, and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, July 26 at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center. . . . The Richmond Symphony, performing under its Big Tent outdoor concert stage and conducted by former music director Mark Russell Smith, wraps up a free, day-long celebration of the 400th anniversary of the first legislative assembly in the New World, Colonial Virginia’s House of Burgesses, July 30 on Jamestown Island near Williamsburg.

July 3 (7:30 p.m.)
July 5 (7:30 p.m.)
St. Anne’s-Belfield School, 2132 Ivy Road, Charlottesville
Charlottesville Opera
Steven Jarvi conducting
Bizet-Peter Brook: “The Tragedy of Carmen”
cast TBA
Robert Chapel, stage director
$20
(434) 293-4500
charlottesvilleopera.org

July 4 (6 p.m.)
Dogwood Dell, Byrd Park, Richmond
Richmond Concert Jazz Band
Richmond Concert Band
“Let’s Dance”
Fourth of July program TBA, with fireworks
free
(804) 646-1437
richmondgov.com/Parks/programmingDogwoodDell.aspx

July 4 (8 p.m.)
Dorey Park, 2999 Darbytown Road, Varina
Richmond Symphony
conductor TBA
other artists TBA
“Red, White and Lights”
Fourth of July program TBA, with laser light show
free
(804) 501-7275
henrico.us/calendar/red-white-and-lights-2019

July 4 (8 p.m.)
West Lawn, U.S. Capitol, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra
Jack Everly conducting
Carole King, Vanessa Carlton, Lindsey Stirling, Keala Settle, Vanessa Williams, Lee Brice, Colbie Caillat, Yolanda Adams, Laine Hardy, Angelica Hale, Maelyn Jarmon, cast of “Sesame Street,” guest stars
“A Capitol Fourth 2019”
program TBA, with fireworks
free
(800) 444-1324
kennedy-center.org

July 5 (8:30 p.m.)
July 6 (8:30 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra
Steven Reineke conducting
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” film with live orchestral accompaniment
$40-$60
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
wolftrap.org

July 6 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Louise Héritte-Viardot: “Spanisches Quartette,’ Op. 11
Paolo Boggio: “Departures” for piano quartet
Dvořák: Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65
$25; $84 with dinner
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 7 (7:30 p.m.)
Hofheimer Loft, 2818 W. Broad St., Richmond
Classical Revolution RVA
“Classical Incarnations at the Hof”
program TBA
donation requested
(804) 342-0012
classicalrevolutionrva.com

July 7 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Alberto Colla: “Abaculi” Quartet
Harold Meltzer: Piano Quartet
Fauré: Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15
$25; $45 with picnic
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 9 (6:30 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Elizabeth Adkins, violin
Charlie Messersmith, clarinet
Peter Marshall & Eddie Newman, piano
“Classical Transformation”
works TBA influenced by jazz, klezmer and Indian music
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 11 (6:30 p.m.)
Gottwald Playhouse, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Summer Series:
Ron Crutcher, cello
Joanne Kong, piano
Barber: Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 6
Lukas Foss: Capriccio for cello and piano
Alvin Singleton: “Argoru II” for solo cello
Philip Glass: etudes nos. 2, 12 for piano
$20 (seating limited)
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
richmondsymphony.com

July 11 (7:30 p.m.)
31st Street Park, Atlantic Avenue at 31st Street, Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Gonzalo Farias conducting
“Symphony by the Sea”
program TBA
free
(757) 892-6366
virginiasymphony.org

July 11 (7 p.m.)
Bold Rock Hard Cider, 1020 Rockfish Highway (Route 151), Nellysford
Wintergreen Music Festival:
festival artists TBA
Caroline Shaw: work TBA
Haydn: Quartet in D major, Op. 64, No. 5 (“Lark”)
Mussorgsky: “Pictures at an Exhibition” (wind quintet arrangement)
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Berkshire Choral International Chorus
Richmond Symphony
Tom Hall conducting
Morten Lauridsen: “Lux Aeterna”
Britten: “Saint Nicholas”
$24
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
richmondsymphony.com

July 13 (7:30 p.m.)
July 14 (2 p.m.)
July 17 (7:30 p.m.)
July 19 (7:30 p.m.)
July 21 (2 p.m.)
Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Charlottesville
Charlottesville Opera
Andy Anderson conducting
Lerner & Loewe: “Camelot”
Barrington Lee (Arthur)
Sharin Apostolou (Guenevere)
Corey Crider (Lancelot)
John de los Santos, stage director
$25-$75
(434) 293-4500
charlottesvilleopera.org

July 13 (7:30 p.m.)
July 14 (3 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Festival Orchestra
Stephen Mulligan conducting
Respighi: “Trittico botticelliano”
Dvořák: Serenade in E major, Op. 22, for strings
Jessica Rudman: “Everything Carries Me to You”
Stravinsky: “Pulcinella” Suite
$45
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 13 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Mingzhe Wang, clarinet
David Southorn, violin
David Biedenbender: “Red Vesper” for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
Debussy: “La sérénade interrompue” for solo piano
Thea Musgrave: “Pierrot” for clarinet, violin, and piano
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581
$25; $84 with dinner
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 14 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Mingzhe Wang, clarinet
David Southorn, violin
Robert Schumann: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17, for piano
Clara Schumann: “Three Romances,” Op. 22 (arr. for clarinet and piano by Mingzhe Wang)
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
$25; $45 with picnic
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 16 (6:30 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Wintergreen Academy Strings
Victor Yampolsky conducting
works TBA by Elgar, Sibelius, Mendelssohn
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 16 (8 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
“Weird Al” Yankovic
National Symphony Orchestra
“Strings Attached: a Rock and Comedy Symphonic Experience”
$40
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
wolftrap.org

July 18 (6:30 p.m.)
Gottwald Playhouse, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Summer Series:
Adrian Pintea, violin
Russell Wilson, piano
Barber: lost work
Max Stern: “Bedouin Impressions”
George Walker: Piano Sonata No. 1 – I: Allegro energico
John Corigliano: Sonata for violin and piano
$20 (seating limited)
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
richmondsymphony.com

July 18 (6:30 p.m.)
Valley Road Vineyards, 9264 Critzers Shop Road, Afton
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Michael White: String Quintet
Festival string ensemble
jazz works TBA
Meredith Riley, violin
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 19 (7:30 p.m.)
July 21 (3 p.m.)
July 24 (7:30 p.m.)
July 27 (7:30 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna
Wolf Trap Opera
Emily Senturia conducting
Richard Strauss: “Ariadne auf Naxos”
Joshua Conyers (Music Master)
Conor McDonald (Major-domo)
Jeremy Harr (Lackey)
Bradley Bickhardt (Officer)
Lindsay Kate Brown (Composer)
Ian Koziara (Tenor)
Blake Denson (Wigmaker)
Alexandra Nowakowski (Zerbinetta)
Alexandria Shiner (Prima Donna)
Ian McEuen (Dancing Master)
Meagan Rao (Najade)
Anastasiia Sidorova (Dryade)
Ashley Marie Robillard (Echo)
Alexandria Shiner (Ariadne)
Michael Pandolfo (Harlekin)
Ron Dukes (Truffaldin)
Victor Cardamone (Scaramuccio)
Seiyoung Kim (Brighella)
Ian Koziara (Bacchus)
Tara Faircloth, stage director
in German, English captions
$36
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
wolftrap.org

July 20 (7:30 p.m.)
July 21 (3 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Festival Orchestra
Victor Yampolsky conducting
Jennifer Higdon: Concerto for Orchestra – “String”
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
Orion Weiss, piano
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 in D major
$45
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 20 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Judith Ingolfsson, violin & viola
Emerging Artists Fellows
Amy Beach: Piano Quintet in F sharp minor, Op. 67
Dvořák: String Sextet in A major, Op. 48
$25; $84 with dinner
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 20 (8 p.m.)
Pavilion, Shrine Mont, 221 Shrine Mont Circle, Orkney Springs, Shenandoah County
Shenandoah Valley Music Festival:
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Zimmerman conducting
“One Giant Leap – a Celebration of the First Moon Landing”
Holst: “The Planets,” with NASA video of space scenes
$45-$58
(540) 459-3396
musicfest.org

July 20 (9 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Pops
Emil de Cou conducting
Pharrell Williams, LeVar Burton, Natasha Bedingfield, Todd Douglas Miller, John Bernthal, Charles Fishman & Mark Armstrong, guest stars
“Apollo 11: 50th Anniversay”
Michael Giacchino: “One Small Step, One Giant Leap”
David Bowie: “Space Oddity” (music video)
$29-$149
(800) 444-1324
kennedy-center.org

July 21 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Garth Newel Piano Quartet
Judith Ingolfsson, violin & viola
Emerging Artists Fellows
Mozart: Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478
Ravel: Quartet in F major
$25; $45 with picnic
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 23 (6:30 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Orion Weiss, piano
Dior String Quartet
Michael White: new work TBA
György Ligeti: bagatelles TBA
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 23 (7:30 p.m.)
Wolf Trap Center for Education, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna
Lawrence Brownlee, tenor
master class with Wolf Trap Opera singers
free
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
wolftrap.org

July 25 (6:30 p.m.)
Gottwald Playhouse, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Summer Series:
Dominic Rotella, French horn
Ingrid Keller, piano
Robert Weirich: “Steamboat Stomp”
Alan Hovhaness: “Artik” Concerto for horn and strings (piano reduction)
Carol Barnett: Horn Sonata
Bernstein: “Elegy for Mippy I”
Paul Basler: Serenade for horn and piano
Gershwin-Joseph Turrin: “Someone to Watch over Me” (horn and piano version)
$20 (seating limited)
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
richmondsymphony.com

July 25 (7:30 p.m.)
31st Street Park, Atlantic Avenue at 31st Street, Virginia Beach
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Gonzalo Farias conducting
“Symphony by the Sea”
program TBA
free
(757) 892-6366
virginiasymphony.org

July 25 (7 p.m.)
Bold Rock Hard Cider, 1020 Rockfish Highway (Route 151), Nellysford
Wintergreen Music Festival:
J.S. Bach: gamba sonatas TBA
Kapps-Marshall Duo
J.S. Bach: “A Musical Offering” (excerpts)
artists TBA
J.S. Bach: Cantata, “Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten,” BWV 202 (“Wedding Cantata”)
Wintergreen Festival Vocal Intensive members
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 26 (7:30 p.m.)
The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna
The State Singers
Michael McCarthy directing
choral program TBA
$35
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
wolftrap.org

July 26 (8 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda conducting
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major
Ning Feng, violin
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor
$25-$80
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
wolftrap.org

July 27 (7:30 p.m.)
July 28 (3 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Festival Orchestra
Arianna Zukerman, soprano
soloists from Wintergreen Festival Vocal Intensive
Richmond Symphony Chorus & Virginia Oratorio Society members
2019 Sing with Us! Chorus
Erin Freeman conducting
Mendelssohn: “Hear My Prayer”
J.S. Bach: Cantata, “Gott ist mein König,” BWV 71
Louise Farrenc: Symphony No. 3 in G minor
$45
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 27 (5 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Daedalus Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in F major, Op. 50, No. 5
Janáček: Quartet No. 2 (“Intimate Letters”)
Dvořák: Quartet in G major, Op. 106
$25; $84 with dinner
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 27 (8:30 p.m.)
Filene Center, Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna
National Symphony Orchestra
Emil de Cou conducting
“Disney Pixar’s ‘Coco’ – in Concert Live to Film”
$40-$65
(877) 965-3872 (Tickets.com)
wolftrap.org

July 28 (7 p.m.)
Vlahcevic Concert Hall, Singleton Arts Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Park Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Global Summer Institute of Music:
artists TBA
Opening Concert
program TBA
free
(804) 828-1169
wp.vcu.edu/gsim/en/events

July 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Town Point Park, 113 Waterside Drive, Norfolk
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Gonzalo Farias conducting
“Concert in the Park”
program TBA
free
(757) 892-6366
virginiasymphony.org

July 28 (3 p.m.)
Herter Hall, Garth Newel Music Center, 403 Garth Newel Lane, Hot Springs
Daedalus Quartet
J.S. Bach: “The Art of Fugue” – 2 fugues
Laurie San Martin: “Six Cuts” for string quartet
Beethoven: Quartet in E flat major, Op. 74 (“Harp”)
$25; $45 with picnic
(540) 839-5018
garthnewel.org

July 28 (6 p.m.)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Washington
National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute Orchestra
Abel Pereira conducting
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
free
(800) 444-1324
kennedy-center.org

July 30 (7 p.m.)
Black Music Center Recital Hall, Virginia Commonwealth University, Grove Avenue at Harrison Street, Richmond
VCU Global Summer Institute of Music:
artists TBA
Participants Piano Solo Concert I
program TBA
free
(804) 828-1169
wp.vcu.edu/gsim/en/events

July 30 (8 p.m.)
Jamestown Island, 1368 Colonial Parkway, near Williamsburg
Richmond Symphony
Mark Russell Smith conducting
“Fanfare to Democracy Concert”
program TBA, marking 400th anniversary of Colonial Virginia’s House of Burgesses, the first legislative assembly in the New World
free
(804) 788-1212
americanevolution2019.com

July 30 (6:30 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Dior String Quartet
program TBA
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org

July 31 (7 p.m.)
Jefferson Hotel, Franklin and Jefferson streets, Richmond
VCU Global Summer Institute of Music:
artists TBA
Participants Piano Solo Concert II
program TBA
free
(804) 828-1169
wp.vcu.edu/gsim/en/events

Aug. 1 (6:30 p.m.)
Gottwald Playhouse, Dominion Energy Center, Sixth and Grace streets, Richmond
Richmond Symphony Summer Series:
Aleksandr Haskin, flute
Sara Reese, clarinet
Yin Zheng, piano
Bernstein: Clarinet Sonata
Robert Muczynski: “Time Pieces” for clarinet and piano
Lowell Liebermann: Flute Sonata, Op. 23
Samuel Zyman: Sonata for flute and piano
Jennifer Higdon: “Dash” for flute, clarinet and piano
$20 (seating limited)
(800) 514-3849 (ETIX)
richmondsymphony.com

Aug. 1 (6:30 p.m.)
Dunlap Pavilion, Wintergreen Resort, Nelson County
Wintergreen Music Festival:
Arianna Zukerman, soprano
Heather Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Michael Dean, bass-baritone
Wintergreen Festival Vocal Intensive members
works TBA by J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn
$32
(434) 361-0541
wintergreen-music.org