by CMNW guest blogger Bob King
In my previous post I talked about my dream of small form classical concerts in relaxed, night club-type environments. This final Protégé Project concert (7/18) at The Woods reminded me of the other important element of the idea—capturing that elusive, younger 20’s and 30’s audience. I actually wrote some of this during the performance from the back of the hall (an interesting side benefit of this kind of venue) and looking out I would guess that at least a third of the attendance were in the late 20s through early 40s. If I may borrow the phrase from Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe, "build it and they will come;" this younger audience attraction is part of what I presumed would happen if this great music were performed where they are familiar with the milieu if not the exact location. I absolutely do think this takes a bit of an intimidation and/or resistance factor down a few notches for people who may never have been to a chamber music concert before. And I think they will find, possibly to their surprise, that live music is great whether it's Curtis Salgado singing the blues, U2, a local jazz artist, or, in this case, Beethoven, Bartók and Berg chamber pieces played by a host of highly dedicated twenty-something rising stars of the classical world. In Kinsella's book, "they" were long forgotten ghosts of ball players looking for one more chance to play baseball together; in a way that imagery fits here. These protégés are also looking for venues to play in, an opportunity to share their love of the music, an invocation of magic if you will allow it.
One side benefit for us in the audience derives, at least somewhat, from theses young artists' relative exposure in their field. It's been my pleasure over the past weeks to get to know the artists that make up the Atria Trio, Sospiro Winds and finally the Jasper String Quartet. This has been possible, in part, because they have all stayed in Portland since their arrival over the four- week duration of the series, thereby also giving us the opportunity to hear them play in the other CMNW Summer Festival concerts. If I were writing about the Emerson Quartet, or the Takács Quartet, they would surely have had only a few days in town before other concert obligations intervened. Of course, there is no doubt that in the coming years these tremendous talents will have that same pleasant dilemma, trading less travel for more work. And we will be introduced to other dedicated rising stars, but I know they would agree that their weeks in Portland have been good and they also have enjoyed getting to know some of their audience here over these weeks.
This last concert of this year’s Protégé series, in part because the artists were still all here then, was somewhat of an "all-star" concert. They even brought in one of their favorite sound engineers from NY, David Merrill, who I can tell you is a major baseball fan (I think this is the end of my little baseball theme). In any case, the groups have been able to program some of their favorite pieces, rather than conforming to a particular theme or compositional period. It would be hard to pick out a favorite work from the concert. All the performances were top shelf, beginning with Beethoven's second Cello Sonata, played by Hyeyeon Park and Aleksey Klyushnik. I enjoyed Aleksiy's story about Beethoven enthusiastically hearing the piece played on a bass, thus heading off any audience protests both then and now. This was followed by a much lighter but equally well-executed selection of Bartók violin duos performed by Portland native Rebecca Anderson and the violinist third of the Atria Ensemble, Sunmi Chang. The crowd favorite of the night may have been the “Opus Zoo for Wind Quintet” by Luciano Berio. Sospiro Winds, it turns out, are a full service musical theatre group, excepting maybe animal costumes. While the barnyard cast of characters in this four movement, modern, but neo-classically based, suite seems at first to remind one of Peter and the Wolf, the undercurrent of the horrors of war and violent, abrupt death make this no children’s tale. After the break, the final piece of the Protégé series was a beautiful performance by the Jasper String Quartet of Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite. This work offers fascinating avenues of study, in both musical and biographical directions. It is written more or less entirely in twelve-tone technique and in sonata form over six movements—it’s difficult but fun to follow the sonata form due to the nature of twelve tone structure where everything ends up sounding like development. Programmatically the Lyric Suite quotes—and was dedicated to—von Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony; but there is much, much more underlying this wonderful piece. Even if you have not heard this work, I would direct you to this 2003 NY Times article, by Reed College’s David Schiff, from which I will just briefly quote to tease you into it: “In 1977, hints in the score and from Berg's intimate circle led Mr. Perle to a copy of the score that Berg had given to his mistress, Hanna Fuchs-Robettin, whom he had met on a visit to Prague in 1925. In Fuchs-Robettin's copy, Berg explained in detail how the work's arcane procedures symbolized their love, in a coded form made necessary by the fact that both were married.”
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
By popular demand: 7/18 program from The Woods, published
Beethoven: Cello Sonata
Klyushnik, Park
Bela Bartok: Duos
Anderson, Chang
Luciano Berio: Opus Number Zoo
Sospiro Winds*
Alban Berg: Lyric Suite
Jasper String Quartet
*A video of this performance was added to YouTube!
Klyushnik, Park
Bela Bartok: Duos
Anderson, Chang
Luciano Berio: Opus Number Zoo
Sospiro Winds*
Alban Berg: Lyric Suite
Jasper String Quartet
*A video of this performance was added to YouTube!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Viva L'Arte! Sospiro Winds perform at Someday Lounge
by CMNW guest blogger Lars Campbell
For those of you reading this, I’m going to assume you’re already aware of CMNW’s latest concert series that presents young(ish) professional artists in less conventional venues, so I’ll dispense with any further program synopsis and move along to my take on the concert experience itself—the experience of hearing ensembles who rehearse together all the time, and the difference that makes in a performance.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the many great artists CMNW brings to Portland year-round, but sometimes the short duration of the festival necessitates that artists fly in, rehearse for a couple of days, and on with the show. As a professional musician, I understand this is often the name of the game, and that the ability to perform and play well together on little rehearsal time is a valued commodity. But the magic that comes from hearing an ensemble that lives the music together is something different. What is that difference, you may ask? Are great musicians just great musicians, regardless of how much time they get to play together? Not necessarily.
Sunday at the Someday Lounge, Sospiro Winds gave a concert spanning a good portion of the 20th century wind quintet repertoire to an enthusiastic crowd, everyone enjoying the old adage “not a bad seat in the house.” (Leather couches and the entire audience within one hundred feet of the stage will do that for you.) The group emceed the concert from the stage with each member of the quintet introducing one piece from the concert.
The first piece on the program was “Quintet for Winds” by Pavel Haas, a piece that, reminiscent of Janacek in its soundscape, utilizes the colors of the winds brilliantly. A piece like this really lends itself well to the luxury of endless rehearsal time that pre-established ensembles enjoy! The blend and careful preparation of even the smallest melodic ideas clearly shone through the young quintet’s performance. The only detraction from a truly beautiful performance was the overbalancing of the horn in the mix. (Through some sneaky investigation, I discovered the ensemble had felt the horn was buried in the sound check, and thus asked the sound engineer put up a box to reflect the sound back out to the audience—they overcompensated a bit.)
Next up on the program was Samuel Barber’s “Summer Music,” a beautiful work that Barber wrote for the Chamber Music Society of Detroit in 1953. Again, the subtle clarity achieved through careful preparation is evident, as the dramatic moments for which they aimed were arrived at stunningly, demonstrating thoughtful care for the music itself, highlighting particular passages while giving sheen and color to others. Perhaps the technical finesse of a seasoned professional was slightly lacking in the quick moving triplets near the end, but the feel of the performance trumped these small details.
The last piece on the first half, Elliott Carter’s “Quintet for Woodwinds,” was the highlight of the concert. During its introduction, the Sospiros told the audience it was the first piece they’d performed together as a group, and it certainly showed. The care they granted the passing of themes between instruments was flawless, always an exact balance of the melodic and accompanimental material presented. Moments of the music that required technique felt easy and comfortable, like they’d been playing this work for quite some time.
The second half consisted of two works: György Kurtag’s “Quintet for Winds” and Paquito D’Rivera’s Aires Tropicales. The Kurtag was introduced as a piece about space. I tried to pick up on that vibe while listening, but I didn’t find it. The sonorities were interesting and the playing was quite good, but I didn’t find space. The instrumental control however, was beautiful. One particular moment which stuck out to me was a trill shared by the flute, clarinet and oboe, which was so brilliantly crafted, it created a brand new color—I’ll call it the flariboe.
The final piece of the evening, Aires Tropicales, based on Latin American dances, was written by a jazz saxophonist/clarinetist. Requiring experience in jazz articulations and groove, here the “youth” of the ensemble—and by youth I talk not of the ensemble’s age, but rather its room for growth—revealed itself. The playing of the piece was actually lovely, but the urge to get up and dance never really hit, as it should with properly executed Latin music. The highlight of this work came during the habanera, in a moment of oboe melody over a beautifully balanced bassoon-clarinet accompaniment, in which the lilt of the dance’s rhythm (made most famously known by an aria in Bizet's “Carmen”) was well-achieved. The oboe just floated above, with a striking sense of melody and direction.
The palpable magic of preformed ensembles is one of the benefits of CMNW's new Protege Project, with a vast sense of musicianship on display that’s highly enjoyable. The reflection and precision Sospiro Winds—and Jasper Quartet and Atria Ensemble —can develop and implement through long-term togetherness is something special, and not to be missed.
For those of you reading this, I’m going to assume you’re already aware of CMNW’s latest concert series that presents young(ish) professional artists in less conventional venues, so I’ll dispense with any further program synopsis and move along to my take on the concert experience itself—the experience of hearing ensembles who rehearse together all the time, and the difference that makes in a performance.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the many great artists CMNW brings to Portland year-round, but sometimes the short duration of the festival necessitates that artists fly in, rehearse for a couple of days, and on with the show. As a professional musician, I understand this is often the name of the game, and that the ability to perform and play well together on little rehearsal time is a valued commodity. But the magic that comes from hearing an ensemble that lives the music together is something different. What is that difference, you may ask? Are great musicians just great musicians, regardless of how much time they get to play together? Not necessarily.
Sunday at the Someday Lounge, Sospiro Winds gave a concert spanning a good portion of the 20th century wind quintet repertoire to an enthusiastic crowd, everyone enjoying the old adage “not a bad seat in the house.” (Leather couches and the entire audience within one hundred feet of the stage will do that for you.) The group emceed the concert from the stage with each member of the quintet introducing one piece from the concert.
The first piece on the program was “Quintet for Winds” by Pavel Haas, a piece that, reminiscent of Janacek in its soundscape, utilizes the colors of the winds brilliantly. A piece like this really lends itself well to the luxury of endless rehearsal time that pre-established ensembles enjoy! The blend and careful preparation of even the smallest melodic ideas clearly shone through the young quintet’s performance. The only detraction from a truly beautiful performance was the overbalancing of the horn in the mix. (Through some sneaky investigation, I discovered the ensemble had felt the horn was buried in the sound check, and thus asked the sound engineer put up a box to reflect the sound back out to the audience—they overcompensated a bit.)
Next up on the program was Samuel Barber’s “Summer Music,” a beautiful work that Barber wrote for the Chamber Music Society of Detroit in 1953. Again, the subtle clarity achieved through careful preparation is evident, as the dramatic moments for which they aimed were arrived at stunningly, demonstrating thoughtful care for the music itself, highlighting particular passages while giving sheen and color to others. Perhaps the technical finesse of a seasoned professional was slightly lacking in the quick moving triplets near the end, but the feel of the performance trumped these small details.
The last piece on the first half, Elliott Carter’s “Quintet for Woodwinds,” was the highlight of the concert. During its introduction, the Sospiros told the audience it was the first piece they’d performed together as a group, and it certainly showed. The care they granted the passing of themes between instruments was flawless, always an exact balance of the melodic and accompanimental material presented. Moments of the music that required technique felt easy and comfortable, like they’d been playing this work for quite some time.
The second half consisted of two works: György Kurtag’s “Quintet for Winds” and Paquito D’Rivera’s Aires Tropicales. The Kurtag was introduced as a piece about space. I tried to pick up on that vibe while listening, but I didn’t find it. The sonorities were interesting and the playing was quite good, but I didn’t find space. The instrumental control however, was beautiful. One particular moment which stuck out to me was a trill shared by the flute, clarinet and oboe, which was so brilliantly crafted, it created a brand new color—I’ll call it the flariboe.
The final piece of the evening, Aires Tropicales, based on Latin American dances, was written by a jazz saxophonist/clarinetist. Requiring experience in jazz articulations and groove, here the “youth” of the ensemble—and by youth I talk not of the ensemble’s age, but rather its room for growth—revealed itself. The playing of the piece was actually lovely, but the urge to get up and dance never really hit, as it should with properly executed Latin music. The highlight of this work came during the habanera, in a moment of oboe melody over a beautifully balanced bassoon-clarinet accompaniment, in which the lilt of the dance’s rhythm (made most famously known by an aria in Bizet's “Carmen”) was well-achieved. The oboe just floated above, with a striking sense of melody and direction.
The palpable magic of preformed ensembles is one of the benefits of CMNW's new Protege Project, with a vast sense of musicianship on display that’s highly enjoyable. The reflection and precision Sospiro Winds—and Jasper Quartet and Atria Ensemble —can develop and implement through long-term togetherness is something special, and not to be missed.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Chamber Music in NW PDX: The Future is Now
by CMNW guest blogger Bob King
This past Sunday evening, in NW Portland on the edge of The Pearl, and while sitting at the bar (!) at The Someday Lounge, a long held dream of mine came true. Specifically, if one can be so about a dream, that we could simultaneously take in the magical experience of live chamber music and nurse our vodka tonic (or wine - or fizzy water if you must.) And while I've heard all sorts of great music outside of the concert hall, (Bach Solo Suite for Cello #2 at a Red Line subway station underneath Boston's Beacon Hill comes to mind), for me the dream leads to some kind of nightclub and a soloist, or duet, or trio—in short, a band—playing great music. Like many "dreams" we have, this one formed slowly and over time - little swirling idea 'planetoids' coalescing around a star like central theme - to get out of the confining concert hall and into an comfortable space with a happier feel. Since I am not a performing musician, I won't attempt to try inhabiting their psyches to imagine what the more relaxed environment feels like for them—you can get a bit of that from portions of the earlier post by Hyeyeon Park. But speaking as someone whose audience patronage divides almost equally between classical and jazz venues, I will take the more casual, the more spirited and more lively spaces every time. Now please don't misunderstand, I have a fine appreciation for the concert hall and the large form symphonic music that really would not work - psychically or physically—at say—The Doug Fir. We absolutely need the great halls (even better halls would be nicer) for Bruckner and Brahms, and I love to get dressed up for those events like a kid going to his first dance. But when it comes to the small forms - solo piano, and string or wind ensembles being the most common— is it really necessary to maintain the silence of the library in the confinement of what feels more than anything like an evening mass? Must we maintain a repression of appetites, in the more general sense, simply because our grandparents or more distant ancestors decided to turn the auditorium into a sacred place during the late 19th and early 20th centuries? For me, I would prefer a nice drink with my Mozart and the freedom to stand in the back if I want to.
And stand in the back I did for portions of the wonderful Sospiro Winds' performance at the aforementioned Someday Lounge. Their beautiful blend of five voices was just perfect for this fairly intimate club - and beautifully enhanced by some of the best acoustics I've heard in our fair city. The performance of five 20th century pieces moved more or less through the past 100 years of modern wind repertoire from the Czech Pavel Haas' 'Quintet for Winds' to commissioned pieces by Barber and Paquito d'Rivera. Admittedly, my knowledge and experience with ensemble music for winds is skimpy enough that I won't attempt to critique, for better or worse, the quality of the pieces or the programming. However I will emphatically say that the performances were top shelf - beautifully done. One side benefit, in my opinion, of the more interactive and intimate setting of the club is the performers’ proclivity towards explanation and exposition of the music they've prepared. Something I learned as the Sospiros each introduced pieces in turn was that the 'Quintet for Woodwinds' by Elliott Carter was the very first piece the group had performed together. I believe this little biographical trivia was relayed by either Kelli (flute) or Alana (French horn.) Speaking of Alana, and I have no shame in telling you she asked me to mention this, she is a one of a soon to be white hot famous group, Genghis Barbie, four fabulous and self-styled temptress horn players. A music video will be going viral online any day now apparently. Getting back to Sunday evening's performance, after the group had a chance to get their own drinks - and how great is it to get to chill with the band in the middle of a concert? - the second half of the show moved into even more modern pieces from the always evocative Kurtag and a crossover suite from the incredibly prolific Cuban jazz master Paquito D'Rivera (54 albums and he's only 62!) Ironically, I found d'Rivera's 1994 Aires Tropicales to be the most accessible piece of the evening, especially the lively concluding Contradanza with its echoes of Ragtime. All said, a wonderfully dynamic evening - in the sense of being vigorously active and energetic - in a nice relaxed environment from a quintet of players who are the future of modern music. Come see them again, along with all the rest of the Protégé Project players, at the concluding concert of the first annual Protégé series this Sunday afternoon at The Woods.
This past Sunday evening, in NW Portland on the edge of The Pearl, and while sitting at the bar (!) at The Someday Lounge, a long held dream of mine came true. Specifically, if one can be so about a dream, that we could simultaneously take in the magical experience of live chamber music and nurse our vodka tonic (or wine - or fizzy water if you must.) And while I've heard all sorts of great music outside of the concert hall, (Bach Solo Suite for Cello #2 at a Red Line subway station underneath Boston's Beacon Hill comes to mind), for me the dream leads to some kind of nightclub and a soloist, or duet, or trio—in short, a band—playing great music. Like many "dreams" we have, this one formed slowly and over time - little swirling idea 'planetoids' coalescing around a star like central theme - to get out of the confining concert hall and into an comfortable space with a happier feel. Since I am not a performing musician, I won't attempt to try inhabiting their psyches to imagine what the more relaxed environment feels like for them—you can get a bit of that from portions of the earlier post by Hyeyeon Park. But speaking as someone whose audience patronage divides almost equally between classical and jazz venues, I will take the more casual, the more spirited and more lively spaces every time. Now please don't misunderstand, I have a fine appreciation for the concert hall and the large form symphonic music that really would not work - psychically or physically—at say—The Doug Fir. We absolutely need the great halls (even better halls would be nicer) for Bruckner and Brahms, and I love to get dressed up for those events like a kid going to his first dance. But when it comes to the small forms - solo piano, and string or wind ensembles being the most common— is it really necessary to maintain the silence of the library in the confinement of what feels more than anything like an evening mass? Must we maintain a repression of appetites, in the more general sense, simply because our grandparents or more distant ancestors decided to turn the auditorium into a sacred place during the late 19th and early 20th centuries? For me, I would prefer a nice drink with my Mozart and the freedom to stand in the back if I want to.
And stand in the back I did for portions of the wonderful Sospiro Winds' performance at the aforementioned Someday Lounge. Their beautiful blend of five voices was just perfect for this fairly intimate club - and beautifully enhanced by some of the best acoustics I've heard in our fair city. The performance of five 20th century pieces moved more or less through the past 100 years of modern wind repertoire from the Czech Pavel Haas' 'Quintet for Winds' to commissioned pieces by Barber and Paquito d'Rivera. Admittedly, my knowledge and experience with ensemble music for winds is skimpy enough that I won't attempt to critique, for better or worse, the quality of the pieces or the programming. However I will emphatically say that the performances were top shelf - beautifully done. One side benefit, in my opinion, of the more interactive and intimate setting of the club is the performers’ proclivity towards explanation and exposition of the music they've prepared. Something I learned as the Sospiros each introduced pieces in turn was that the 'Quintet for Woodwinds' by Elliott Carter was the very first piece the group had performed together. I believe this little biographical trivia was relayed by either Kelli (flute) or Alana (French horn.) Speaking of Alana, and I have no shame in telling you she asked me to mention this, she is a one of a soon to be white hot famous group, Genghis Barbie, four fabulous and self-styled temptress horn players. A music video will be going viral online any day now apparently. Getting back to Sunday evening's performance, after the group had a chance to get their own drinks - and how great is it to get to chill with the band in the middle of a concert? - the second half of the show moved into even more modern pieces from the always evocative Kurtag and a crossover suite from the incredibly prolific Cuban jazz master Paquito D'Rivera (54 albums and he's only 62!) Ironically, I found d'Rivera's 1994 Aires Tropicales to be the most accessible piece of the evening, especially the lively concluding Contradanza with its echoes of Ragtime. All said, a wonderfully dynamic evening - in the sense of being vigorously active and energetic - in a nice relaxed environment from a quintet of players who are the future of modern music. Come see them again, along with all the rest of the Protégé Project players, at the concluding concert of the first annual Protégé series this Sunday afternoon at The Woods.
Friday, July 9, 2010
CMNW Protégé Project in the news
by Rebekah Phillips, CMNW staff
If you're new to our blog, you may not have noticed that in addition to our posts by guest bloggers, we've also gathered links to Protégé Project press in the right-hand column. Articles are posted in chronological order, with the most recent at the top.
Be sure to read Barry Johnson's latest blog post, "Chamber Music Northwest goes clubbing," in which he goes behind the scenes of the Protégé Project to create a detailed synopsis of the program overall. With interviews with David Shifrin, tons of background information, artists' perspectives, plus observations of the Protégés in rehearsal, coaching and performance, Barry's piece is thorough and complete, and should clear up remaining audience uncertainties about the nature of this new program.
As always, we invite you to comment on all our blog posts, and hope to see you this Sunday, 7/11, at the Someday Lounge (125 NW 5th) for the Sospiro Winds at 5. And if you missed last night's concert of Protégés alongside Jennifer Frautschi, Philip Setzer, Paul Neubauer, Anna Polonksy, Fred Sherry and other festival veterans, I recommend you RUN, not walk, to the Gerding for tonight's repeat performance! Because if you saw it, you're probably beginning to understand how "CMNW Protégé" is really just another term for "chamber music rock star."
If you're new to our blog, you may not have noticed that in addition to our posts by guest bloggers, we've also gathered links to Protégé Project press in the right-hand column. Articles are posted in chronological order, with the most recent at the top.
Be sure to read Barry Johnson's latest blog post, "Chamber Music Northwest goes clubbing," in which he goes behind the scenes of the Protégé Project to create a detailed synopsis of the program overall. With interviews with David Shifrin, tons of background information, artists' perspectives, plus observations of the Protégés in rehearsal, coaching and performance, Barry's piece is thorough and complete, and should clear up remaining audience uncertainties about the nature of this new program.
As always, we invite you to comment on all our blog posts, and hope to see you this Sunday, 7/11, at the Someday Lounge (125 NW 5th) for the Sospiro Winds at 5. And if you missed last night's concert of Protégés alongside Jennifer Frautschi, Philip Setzer, Paul Neubauer, Anna Polonksy, Fred Sherry and other festival veterans, I recommend you RUN, not walk, to the Gerding for tonight's repeat performance! Because if you saw it, you're probably beginning to understand how "CMNW Protégé" is really just another term for "chamber music rock star."
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
CMNW's Protégé Project: one artist's experience
by Hyeyeon Park, Atria Ensemble
"Come Celebrate the Fourth of July with the Atria Ensemble!"
How wonderful it is to celebrate the Fourth of July with all the works written by American composers!
We were so excited to see our group's name written on the bulletin board outside The Woods that we even took a picture of it! How remarkable and wonderfully strange the venue and setting was: a hall which used to be a funeral house now turned into a bar. Some might have thought, “What kind of classical concert was that?!” Yet somehow the reduced space magically became a perfect fit for a beautiful nine-foot concert piano, a professional recording engineer doubling as stage crew, the best page-turner ever (thank you, Elizabeth!), and, most importantly, the numerous and passionate audience, full of anticipation. Our pre-concert worries had been gently lifted during the sound check, when the recording engineer assured us that the balance between the violin, clarinet and piano—always a tricky combination—was superb. With a sigh of relief, we realized we couldn't ask for more!
We began the concert by briefly talking about both ourselves and the first piece—you would be surprised how this little bit of communication makes us feel both closer to the audience and more at ease with the music. Romie's humorous remark was a true icebreaker: “Did you ever expect to be celebrating Independence Day with two Korean girls and a Canadian girl?" After this we let the music speak for itself: after all, music is a truly international language and, no matter where a person is from, one can always identify with the values of the American Soul, which are embedded in these American composers' masterpieces.
Libby Larsen's Slang was a perfect concert opener—its bits and pieces of Americana (wittily pastiched by the composer) range from Boogie Woogie to Hard Funk, and are a true crowd pleaser. The second piece we performed was the Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Paul Schoenfield, a piece commissioned by CMNW artistic director David Shifrin himself. A beautiful example of Klezmer music on classical stage, the work demanded every bit of Jewishness that we could muster. All three parts are full of individual technical difficulties, yet the greatest challenge for us was to fit them all together. We spent most of our rehearsal time on this piece to portray the free-flowing natural patterns of Jewish folk improvisational character throughout the movements—the humorous and brilliant first movement; the slow, grotesque march; the lamenting third movement; and the complex and exuberant final movement.
After the intensely programmed first half and intermission (when many of the audience members enjoyed the grilled sausage and we enjoyed an obligatory respite), we needed to cool off the heat a bit. A work conveying a meditative mood, spiced up with clashing dissonances, would be ideal to open the second half. The answer was Largo, by American music pioneer, Charles Ives. After the Ives, our trio held a brief Q&A, when we truly felt the connection and communication with the audience. William Bolcom's Afternoon Cakewalk, six movements in Ragtime, was the last piece we prepared. While performing, we saw a few audience members humming and dancing along with our music and we joined them in cheering for the Independence Day—what a great feeling!
The audience seemed to have enjoyed the performance, as many people approached us to show their appreciation and enthusiasm. What else does a musician need?
Just one last remark—Sunmi’s answer to the question posed by Ronni Lacroute, who supported the festival’s Protégé Project: How does it feel to play in a bar setting, not in the traditional concert hall? WE LOVE IT!
"Come Celebrate the Fourth of July with the Atria Ensemble!"
How wonderful it is to celebrate the Fourth of July with all the works written by American composers!
We were so excited to see our group's name written on the bulletin board outside The Woods that we even took a picture of it! How remarkable and wonderfully strange the venue and setting was: a hall which used to be a funeral house now turned into a bar. Some might have thought, “What kind of classical concert was that?!” Yet somehow the reduced space magically became a perfect fit for a beautiful nine-foot concert piano, a professional recording engineer doubling as stage crew, the best page-turner ever (thank you, Elizabeth!), and, most importantly, the numerous and passionate audience, full of anticipation. Our pre-concert worries had been gently lifted during the sound check, when the recording engineer assured us that the balance between the violin, clarinet and piano—always a tricky combination—was superb. With a sigh of relief, we realized we couldn't ask for more!
We began the concert by briefly talking about both ourselves and the first piece—you would be surprised how this little bit of communication makes us feel both closer to the audience and more at ease with the music. Romie's humorous remark was a true icebreaker: “Did you ever expect to be celebrating Independence Day with two Korean girls and a Canadian girl?" After this we let the music speak for itself: after all, music is a truly international language and, no matter where a person is from, one can always identify with the values of the American Soul, which are embedded in these American composers' masterpieces.
Libby Larsen's Slang was a perfect concert opener—its bits and pieces of Americana (wittily pastiched by the composer) range from Boogie Woogie to Hard Funk, and are a true crowd pleaser. The second piece we performed was the Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Paul Schoenfield, a piece commissioned by CMNW artistic director David Shifrin himself. A beautiful example of Klezmer music on classical stage, the work demanded every bit of Jewishness that we could muster. All three parts are full of individual technical difficulties, yet the greatest challenge for us was to fit them all together. We spent most of our rehearsal time on this piece to portray the free-flowing natural patterns of Jewish folk improvisational character throughout the movements—the humorous and brilliant first movement; the slow, grotesque march; the lamenting third movement; and the complex and exuberant final movement.
After the intensely programmed first half and intermission (when many of the audience members enjoyed the grilled sausage and we enjoyed an obligatory respite), we needed to cool off the heat a bit. A work conveying a meditative mood, spiced up with clashing dissonances, would be ideal to open the second half. The answer was Largo, by American music pioneer, Charles Ives. After the Ives, our trio held a brief Q&A, when we truly felt the connection and communication with the audience. William Bolcom's Afternoon Cakewalk, six movements in Ragtime, was the last piece we prepared. While performing, we saw a few audience members humming and dancing along with our music and we joined them in cheering for the Independence Day—what a great feeling!
The audience seemed to have enjoyed the performance, as many people approached us to show their appreciation and enthusiasm. What else does a musician need?
Just one last remark—Sunmi’s answer to the question posed by Ronni Lacroute, who supported the festival’s Protégé Project: How does it feel to play in a bar setting, not in the traditional concert hall? WE LOVE IT!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Mississippi Studios—I'd heard of that.
by CMNW guest blogger Madelyn Villano
Mississippi Studios—I'd heard of that. Having gone to as many shows in PDX as I could as a minor (which is not too many—but enough to familiarize myself with the scene around town), I'd heard you could catch good ones there, quality ones. How much would my experience that first Sunday differ from those other shows I'd been to, I wondered, being that the Jasper String Quartet was performing? Being the first Protégé performance of the festival? The evaluation, as it should have, started before I'd walked through the door.
It seemed a cool area to chill in, Mississippi Avenue. Local, fresh, a newer, progressive part of Portland, and one I'd been meaning to explore more of, since I'm usually confined as a music student at Reed to more South-Easterly parts of Portland. Branded a minor by a blue astronaut, my stamp granted access to the balcony. The rest (21+) got a guitar—black, electric—and, as per usual, were let in below. On the performance docket was Haydn, Weber, and Schumann. The space, tall and dreamily lit, revealed the stage, just big enough for the four members—J Freivogel (1st violin), Sae Niwa, (2nd violin), Rachel Henderson Freivogel (cello) and Sam Quintal (viola).
They started with the Haydn String Quartet No. 66 in G Major, Op. 77, No. 1 ("Lobkowitz"). The smallness of the space complimented the quartet's precise and controlled delicacies, making them crisp and potent. The fluctuations of their facial expressions were clear and matched those of their bodies and of the music. Such closeness exposed the guts of their communication: synced with mechanical precision but rendered with piercing emotional sensitivity, with the swells, growths, dissonances, and resolutions of the piece woven tightly into the performance. It all enhanced, even the most sparse and soft parts, as an amplified intimacy.
Then, a change of pace, and a more direct taking-advantage of that intimacy, with the Webern. They played the first three of the Five Movements for String Quartet, with an active demonstration of Sonata Form, and a brief introduction to 12 tone music and the applicability of old structure to newer harmonic ideas. I appreciated this education very much, as it aimed to broaden the listening capacities of CMNW's audience, who, if not immediately captured by its sound, could at least not help but be rapt by the performative elements of the piece—its rhythms are varied, difficult to predict, and exciting to watch. I could feel everyone in the room stretch their ears to listen against what J called our cultural "inundation of tonality," and seek the development and recapitulation. Important to a listener's experience is a knowledge or effort to understand how a piece was written, I firmly believe, and the efforts made to help us understand the Webern appropriately commanded such active thinking that I could feel horizons broadening around me. I loved to bask in the piece's eeriness, and to feel the sounds dart from performer to performer.
Our involvement was further punctuated by a Q & A session, revealing, among other things, when each artist began to play (from left to right, 2, 3, 4, and 6 years of age). And after a short intermission came Schumann's String Quartet in A Major, Op. 41 No. 5, rounding out the concert in lovely proportion.
In all, the experience was progressive, bringing classical music and making it accessible to Portland in a way it knows best—harmonizing, quite literally, the causal accessibility of Mississippi Studios (and soon the Woods and Someday Lounge) with classical music; pumping it deeper through the musical veins of Portland.
Mississippi Studios—I'd heard of that. Having gone to as many shows in PDX as I could as a minor (which is not too many—but enough to familiarize myself with the scene around town), I'd heard you could catch good ones there, quality ones. How much would my experience that first Sunday differ from those other shows I'd been to, I wondered, being that the Jasper String Quartet was performing? Being the first Protégé performance of the festival? The evaluation, as it should have, started before I'd walked through the door.
It seemed a cool area to chill in, Mississippi Avenue. Local, fresh, a newer, progressive part of Portland, and one I'd been meaning to explore more of, since I'm usually confined as a music student at Reed to more South-Easterly parts of Portland. Branded a minor by a blue astronaut, my stamp granted access to the balcony. The rest (21+) got a guitar—black, electric—and, as per usual, were let in below. On the performance docket was Haydn, Weber, and Schumann. The space, tall and dreamily lit, revealed the stage, just big enough for the four members—J Freivogel (1st violin), Sae Niwa, (2nd violin), Rachel Henderson Freivogel (cello) and Sam Quintal (viola).
They started with the Haydn String Quartet No. 66 in G Major, Op. 77, No. 1 ("Lobkowitz"). The smallness of the space complimented the quartet's precise and controlled delicacies, making them crisp and potent. The fluctuations of their facial expressions were clear and matched those of their bodies and of the music. Such closeness exposed the guts of their communication: synced with mechanical precision but rendered with piercing emotional sensitivity, with the swells, growths, dissonances, and resolutions of the piece woven tightly into the performance. It all enhanced, even the most sparse and soft parts, as an amplified intimacy.
Then, a change of pace, and a more direct taking-advantage of that intimacy, with the Webern. They played the first three of the Five Movements for String Quartet, with an active demonstration of Sonata Form, and a brief introduction to 12 tone music and the applicability of old structure to newer harmonic ideas. I appreciated this education very much, as it aimed to broaden the listening capacities of CMNW's audience, who, if not immediately captured by its sound, could at least not help but be rapt by the performative elements of the piece—its rhythms are varied, difficult to predict, and exciting to watch. I could feel everyone in the room stretch their ears to listen against what J called our cultural "inundation of tonality," and seek the development and recapitulation. Important to a listener's experience is a knowledge or effort to understand how a piece was written, I firmly believe, and the efforts made to help us understand the Webern appropriately commanded such active thinking that I could feel horizons broadening around me. I loved to bask in the piece's eeriness, and to feel the sounds dart from performer to performer.
Our involvement was further punctuated by a Q & A session, revealing, among other things, when each artist began to play (from left to right, 2, 3, 4, and 6 years of age). And after a short intermission came Schumann's String Quartet in A Major, Op. 41 No. 5, rounding out the concert in lovely proportion.
In all, the experience was progressive, bringing classical music and making it accessible to Portland in a way it knows best—harmonizing, quite literally, the causal accessibility of Mississippi Studios (and soon the Woods and Someday Lounge) with classical music; pumping it deeper through the musical veins of Portland.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
CMNW's first Protégé Project concert
by CMNW guest blogger Becky Anderson
I don’t believe I’ve ever had my right hand stamped to show I’m under 21 at a classical music concert, but I guess there’s a first time for everything! And the CMNW Jasper Quartet concert at Mississippi studios on Sunday was definitely a break from the strictly formal setting in which classical music is often performed. With posters of various bands lining the stairway up to the small balcony, wooden guitar cutouts hanging from the walls, and drinks available at the bar downstairs (for those of us without hand stamps), the venue was so different from the typical CMNW venues of Kaul Auditorium and Catlin Gabel that I was rather curious and honestly wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
The Jasper quartet prepared a varied program including Haydn, Webern, and Schumann. The performance was very interactive with the audience, and all four members of the quartet were very personable and engaging when introducing themselves and talking about the music they were playing. This connection with the audience was especially evident in the Webern “Five Movements for String Quartet.” After performing one of the short movements of the piece and playing a guessing game of “name that composer” (during which one enthusiastic audience member shouted “Zappa!!”), the quartet proceeded to explain the concept of Serialism in Webern’s music (using all twelve notes of the Western music scale absolutely equally without tonal emphasis), how he used Sonata form in a particular movement the same way that Haydn used the form in the previous piece they played, and personally why they were attracted to Webern’s music. The quartet seemed encouraged (and I was excited) when most of the audience members raised their hands in response to the question, “did you enjoy the Webern more after hearing it a second time?” The audience members were encouraged by the quartet members not to think of this particular music in terms of “I like it” or “I don’t like it,” but simply to experience it as it is. Webern’s music is often (and unfortunately) considered intellectually fascinating but not terribly pleasant to listen to, so it was encouraging to see a connection being built not just between the Jasper quartet and the audience, but also between a particular kind of classical music (which is considered by many as bizarre at best) and the audience. The quartet opened the floor to a question-and-answer session before closing the first half.
The second half of the concert had more musical continuity without as much verbal interaction with the audience, as the quartet played through the entire Schumann A Major quartet without interruption between the movements. The enthusiastic applause at the end of the concert showed that audience members seemed to enjoy the performance as much as I did. I’m looking forward to the rest of the Sunday series!
I don’t believe I’ve ever had my right hand stamped to show I’m under 21 at a classical music concert, but I guess there’s a first time for everything! And the CMNW Jasper Quartet concert at Mississippi studios on Sunday was definitely a break from the strictly formal setting in which classical music is often performed. With posters of various bands lining the stairway up to the small balcony, wooden guitar cutouts hanging from the walls, and drinks available at the bar downstairs (for those of us without hand stamps), the venue was so different from the typical CMNW venues of Kaul Auditorium and Catlin Gabel that I was rather curious and honestly wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
The Jasper quartet prepared a varied program including Haydn, Webern, and Schumann. The performance was very interactive with the audience, and all four members of the quartet were very personable and engaging when introducing themselves and talking about the music they were playing. This connection with the audience was especially evident in the Webern “Five Movements for String Quartet.” After performing one of the short movements of the piece and playing a guessing game of “name that composer” (during which one enthusiastic audience member shouted “Zappa!!”), the quartet proceeded to explain the concept of Serialism in Webern’s music (using all twelve notes of the Western music scale absolutely equally without tonal emphasis), how he used Sonata form in a particular movement the same way that Haydn used the form in the previous piece they played, and personally why they were attracted to Webern’s music. The quartet seemed encouraged (and I was excited) when most of the audience members raised their hands in response to the question, “did you enjoy the Webern more after hearing it a second time?” The audience members were encouraged by the quartet members not to think of this particular music in terms of “I like it” or “I don’t like it,” but simply to experience it as it is. Webern’s music is often (and unfortunately) considered intellectually fascinating but not terribly pleasant to listen to, so it was encouraging to see a connection being built not just between the Jasper quartet and the audience, but also between a particular kind of classical music (which is considered by many as bizarre at best) and the audience. The quartet opened the floor to a question-and-answer session before closing the first half.
The second half of the concert had more musical continuity without as much verbal interaction with the audience, as the quartet played through the entire Schumann A Major quartet without interruption between the movements. The enthusiastic applause at the end of the concert showed that audience members seemed to enjoy the performance as much as I did. I’m looking forward to the rest of the Sunday series!
Monday, June 7, 2010
June 4-5 "Clarinet Kaleidoscope" program
Upon request, the program information from David Shifrin's June 4 - 5 recitals:
MOZART "Voi che sapete," from Marriage of Figaro
MOZART Polonaise from Divertimento No. 5
MOZART Menuetto from Divertimento No. 1
MOZART "Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso," from Marriage of Figaro
David Shifrin, David Hattner, Keith Buncke
DEBUSSY Premiere Rhapsodie
GOODMAN "A Smooth One"
GOODMAN "Rachel's Dream"
KOVACS Sholem-alekhem, rov Feidman!
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
[INTERMISSION]
TRAD. "Midnight on the Water"
BACH Aria from Cantata No. 156
LENNON/McCARTNEY "Hey Jude"
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
VERDI Sempre libera, from La Traviata
PUCCINI E lucevan le stelle, from Tosca
ROSSINI Una voce poco fa, from Barber of Seville
David Shifrin, David Hattner, Keith Buncke
ROSSINI Introduction, Theme and Variations for Clarinet and Piano
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
ENCORE:
JOSEPH LAMB "Frog Legs Rag" (arr. William Bolcom)
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
MOZART "Voi che sapete," from Marriage of Figaro
MOZART Polonaise from Divertimento No. 5
MOZART Menuetto from Divertimento No. 1
MOZART "Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso," from Marriage of Figaro
David Shifrin, David Hattner, Keith Buncke
DEBUSSY Premiere Rhapsodie
GOODMAN "A Smooth One"
GOODMAN "Rachel's Dream"
KOVACS Sholem-alekhem, rov Feidman!
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
[INTERMISSION]
TRAD. "Midnight on the Water"
BACH Aria from Cantata No. 156
LENNON/McCARTNEY "Hey Jude"
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
VERDI Sempre libera, from La Traviata
PUCCINI E lucevan le stelle, from Tosca
ROSSINI Una voce poco fa, from Barber of Seville
David Shifrin, David Hattner, Keith Buncke
ROSSINI Introduction, Theme and Variations for Clarinet and Piano
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
ENCORE:
JOSEPH LAMB "Frog Legs Rag" (arr. William Bolcom)
David Shifrin, Elizabeth Harcombe
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