YOSA: Copland

YOSA (Youth Orchestas San Antonio) is performing Rodrigo, Moncayo and Copland Sunday, November 9th at 4pm at Laurie Auditorium.
On the program is the orchestra suite to Billy the Kid by Aaron Copland - which was an influential work for the young composer John Corigliano. Watch and listen to a podcast about it from Classical Spotlight host John Clare (seen with the composer in the final scene of the podcast).


(Download this mp4 for your iPod here)
We'll have another podcast for YOSA featuring harpist Rachel Ferris talking about the concerto she'll play with YOSA that day as well!

Dia De Los Muertos

At the end of October it was once believed that the barrier between life and death dissolved with the changing of the seasons. Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) takes advantage of that opening to remember and pray for friends that have past on and to comfort the souls on their journey. There is a music tradition of remembrance, the French Le Tombeau or at the graveside. Here friends are remembered with musical tributes.

This Sunday we celebrate Dia de los Muertos with music for the dead, on the Piano.

Sunday afternoon at 5 here on KPAC and KTXI

host Randy Anderson

Classical Spotlight: Death Mass, Death Mass, Hey-O!

We asked the "Carnac the Magnificent" about a card from the mayo jar on the KPAC/KTXI board, that had "Death Mass, Death Mass, Hey-O!" written on it.

Carnac replied: "What is Classical Spotlight?"

Yes! You are correct sir!

This week we feature performances right here in San Antonio with two requiems and Doc Severinsen (not all on one stage or together!) on Classical Spotlight!

The San Antonio Symphony Pops feature Doc Severinsen and El Ritmo de la Vida tomorrow and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at the Majestic Theater.

Christ Episcopal Church performs Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem this Saturday evening at 7:30, led by Ken-David Masur.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church celebrates their 150th Anniversary with Faure's Requiem Sunday night at 5pm, conducted by Ed Rieke.

Can "O soave fanciulla" be far away?

From New Scientist via ArtJournal:
Sperm whales may take as much pleasure in singing well-timed duets as humans do.
New underwater recordings have shown that the whales carefully coordinate their song to match the calls of their singing partner. The animals appear to enjoy singing to each other, possibly to strengthen relationships among females within the group.
Till now biologists had assumed that the sounds with which whales communicate are mainly intended to scout out other members of their group. But humpback males are thought to woo females with solo love songs, and male killer whales whistle to each other, perhaps to help social bonding.
To investigate whether sperm whale song is also social, a team from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and the University of St Andrews in the UK followed a group of nine sperm whales in the Pacific Ocean near the Galapagos Islands, and seven in the Caribbean. They recorded the whales' characteristic clicking sounds using a series of underwater hydrophones.
Listen to the whales' songs here and here
The team found that on 15 of the 19 occasions when they could identify the position of each whale, the animals were close enough to see one another. This suggests that the song was not simply being used to locate another whale.
Coordinated duets
More detailed analysis of the recordings showed that the whales seemed to be synchronising their calls. More often than not, each animal would respond to another whale’s song within 2 seconds, for example. They also tended to copy the phrases that their partners were using – with the same timing of pauses between their clicks. The result was a duet in which the clicks of the two singers were in unison.
"There's a real rhythm to the sounds they are producing," says Luke Rendell from the University of St Andrews, who worked on the project. "They tend to copy the last coda used by the duet partner, until both converge on one choice that dominates their repertoire."
Rendell compares this to the behaviour of gelada monkeys and some tropical wrens, which sing tightly coordinated duets in a similar way. With the monkeys the duets appear to help cement the bonds between individuals within a social group.
Rendell believes it would make sense if sperm whale duets served the same purpose. The whales are also highly social creatures that stay in tight-knit groups for 10 or more years, and mothers typically rely on other adults to look after their young.
Whales are also known to possess the brain cells that allow us to process emotions, suggesting that they too may experience emotions such as love.

Pledge Drive: Final Day

Thanks for stopping by this great resource for your classical music needs in San Antonio and south central Texas...while you read about The Piano, watch interviews with Maestros and Chris O'Riley, read about new releases and classical music history and news - won't you become a member?

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It's that Time of Year Again!

Samhain was one of the four seasons of the ancient Celts. They would prepare for winter and thought that the change of year would allow the ghosts of the dead to enter into the world of the living. There were sacrifices and great bonfires to replace the diminishing sun and to light the way for the dead on their journeys into the afterlife. It was a time of fear and change.

We know this holiday as Halloween and on the Piano this Sunday music to prepare you for ghosts or other trick-or-treaters!

The Piano this Sunday afternoon on KPAC and KTXI.

host Randy Anderson

Maestro Interview - Alondra de la Parra

Texas Public Radio will speak with all the candidates for the San Antonio Symphony Music Director Search and have them on Classical Spotlight. You'll get a chance to learn more about the maestros - don't forget to attend the symphony and fill out the questionaire as well!

(See a larger version here)
This week we talk with Alondra de la Parra. John Clare asked about the program, music, musicians and what makes a concert a success.

Pledge Drive: Day 6

Thanks for your support of Texas Public Radio! You may have called 1 800-622-8977 or gone online to tpr.org to make your pledge for the great classical music on KPAC and KTXI.
(Seen on right: Dan Skinner, TPR General Manager; on the left, Announcer and host James Baker)

If you haven't, there's still plenty of time to renew, give a gift membership, or join us for the very first time!

Memberships begin at $60 and your business can support the great classical music starting at $500. Physicians can join the 180 Group.

Again, thank you very much!

Pledge Drive: Have you done your part?

It's Tuesday morning and just a few days left of our Fall 2008 Membership Campaign. You can make your financial contribution here online, and enjoy all the great benefits of being a member of KPAC and KTXI!

Or if you would rather speak to a volunteer, just call 1-800-622-8977. It takes about 88.3 or 89.1 seconds and will make you feel good over the next year as you enjoy all the programs on KPAC and KTXI.

Thanks so much!

From the tip top

There was a wonderful recital last night at Travis Park United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Carter Brey played three cello sonatas with pianist Christopher O'Riley.

The program of Richard Strauss, Francis Poulenc and Frederic Chopin was well attended, and showcased great music and friendship. O'Riley quipped after the Strauss that despite Brey being over the age of 18, he did pretty well (a joke referencing O'Riley's NPR and PBS show From The Top that features young musicians under the age of 18, heard on KPAC and KTXI Saturday mornings at 10am)

There was also an encore, Astor Piazzolla's Grand Tango, which Brey explained had been sent to him from the composer after their interaction at a music festival in Santa Fe as well as time spent together in New York, a piece originally written for the great Mstislav Rostropovich. A friend in the audience commented it was so appropriate as Brey's playing evoked the late Russian cellist, and I have to agree.

See an interview with O'Riley at the TPR studios here.

The recital was presented by the Tuesday Music Club, one of the oldest musical organizations, and continues next month with “OPERA TO BROADWAY” at Laurel Heights United Methodist Church on November 18 at 2pm. They'll also feature the Zephyr Trio (Lady Jeanne Galway, flute; Jonathan Feldman, piano; Darrett Adkins, cello) and also pianist Jon Nakamatsu next year.

Pledge Drive: Phone Center

May I take your pledge?

Thanks for your pledge online

https://secure.nameservers.com/~texaspub/pledge.html

or

by calling

1-800-622-8977.

Pledge Drive: Day 1

Thanks for everyone making a contribution to San Antonio's Classical Oasis! And thank you for giving of your time to KPAC and KTXI - your help with phones, pledges and everything makes a difference.

Click here to make your pledge, and send an email to Toni Murgo if you would like to volunteer.

Thanks!

The Father of all Piano Virtuosi?

Love him and his music or hate him, Franz Liszt had a great impact on music in his time and ours. It is mind boggling to trace his many tours across Europe, Russia and bits of Asia. In England he coined the term "recital" and turned the piano to better project the sound in to a concert hall. When he was young and strong and pianos were flimsy, the strings broke in great profusion. When he was older he could reduce an audience, including his fellow pianists to tears.

When he retired from touring at the age of 38 he turned to composing and teaching and never charged his pupils. Genius is obliged he would say. And when he died in 1886 a courtier said, "I know royalty, and Liszt is what a prince should be".
An amazing man, Franz Liszt is celebrated and remembered this Sunday afternoon at 5 on the Piano.

host, Randy Anderson

Classical Spotlight: Interviews of Destiny

We have a busy weekend of great classical music to shine the spotlight on this week!
Tomorrow night Christopher Guzman plays a piano recital with music by Beethoven, Ravel and Frederic Rzewski, at the Musical Arts Center San Antonio at 7:00pm in the Recital Hall, free and open to the public. Find more info here.

Tomorrow night also marks the start of the San Antonio Symphony’s music director search. The first candidate is Christoph Campestrini (seen left with host John Clare) from Vienna, Austria. He’ll conduct Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and Brahms’ Song of Destiny tomorrow and Saturday night with the San Antonio Symphony, San Antonio Mastersingers at the Majestic Theater. You can also see more of the interview with Campestrini. Tickets and information is available here. We’ll have all 11 music director candidates for the San Antonio Symphony Music Director Search!

The Texas Bach Choir, led by Daniel Long (right) rescheduled their season opener because of Hurricane Ike, they’ll perform Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and Woodland Baptist Church. On the program is Leopold Mozart, Guiseppe Torelli, and their namesake, Johann Sebastian Bach. Saturday night at 5pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and Sunday afternoon at 3 at Woodland Baptist Church with discounts for TPR members. Find out more on their website.
Sunday afternoon the Alamo Chapter of the AGO, American Guild of Organists present a Spectacular in celebration of “The International Year of the Organ” at Coker United Methodist Church. The concert starts at 3pm and is free and open to the public.
Also Sunday afternoon at 3pm is the Camerata Recital of flutist Tal Perkes (left). He’ll play a French recital of Leclair, Couperin, Rameau, Gaubert and Dutilleux. This Camerata San Antonio concert takes place this Sunday afternoon at 3pm in Travis Park United Methodist Church. More info and tickets are available here.

Pianist Christopher O’Riley (with host John Clare right) and Cellist Carter Brey play next Monday night Sonatas by Richard Strauss, Francis Poulenc and Frederic Chopin. It starts at 7:30pm at Travis Park United Methodist Church. Tickets are available here. Watch the entire interview with O'Riley and Clare here.
Next week we’ll invite you to become a member of KPAC and KTXI, and hear from the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio and the Olmos Ensemble.

Maestro Interview - Christoph Campestrini

Texas Public Radio will speak with all the candidates for the San Antonio Symphony Music Director Search and have them on Classical Spotlight. You'll get a chance to learn more about the maestros - don't forget to attend the symphony and fill out the questionaire as well!


(See a larger version here)
This week we talk with Christoph Campestrini. John Clare asked about the program, music, musicians and what makes a concert a success.

Artist Interview: Sir James Galway

There's a new release with flutist James Galway and Tiempo Libre called O'Reilly Street. Host John Clare recently had a chance to speak with Galway about Cuban music, jazz, crossover and playing in Austin this next year.

Listen to their conversation

Windows Media File MP3 File

You can also see an interview here with Galway and the musicians of Tiempo Libre.

New Releases - One Cellist

Matt Haimovitz is one the brilliant musicians of our time. A child prodigy, Matt played with the Wichita Symphony while I was high school. Later our paths would cross in Las Vegas a couple of times, he played at one of my favorite clubs, The Ice House; and performed as a guest of ASCAP at a radio conference as well. Now a good friend of mine is studying at McGill University with Matt. His dedication to music of our time is almost without peer, and now I am not surprised to find not one, but two new releases from his label, Oxingale Records.

Odd Couple is a collaboration with pianist Geoffrey Burleson in music by Barber, Carter, David Sanford and Augusta Read Thomas. You can listen to an interview with Matt and Geoff on All Things Considered here.
The music is sublime, well recorded and worth every minute of your time. Balance is fabulous and the approach is as if the musician's life depended on every note.



The Goldberg Variations in string trio form is one of the great transcriptions of Bach's music by Dmitri Sitkovetsky. Here violinist Jonathan Crow and violist Douglas McNabney join Haimovitz in a thoughtful and tasteful reading of the music. I've enjoyed this piece in the original harpsichord, piano, string orchestra and trio forms, and this is one of the finest interpretations on disc.


As with his past releases, Haimovitz continues to dazzle and amaze me. Thanks for your musicianship!
John Clare, Classical Spotlight and afternoon host on KPAC/KTXI

Orchestra Hero

Dial-a-concert? Japan software turns mobiles musical
By Chika Osaka

Making music just got easier. A Japanese game maker has teamed up with the nation's leading mobile phone network carrier to enable users to play an orchestra with their fingertips.
Game manufacturer Taito has created the "Chokkan Classic" software for NTT DoCoMo's i-mode Internet service that lets users to pick their instruments and the melody they want to play.
To activate the sounds, users must either rub or move a finger infront of their phone's infrared sensor. The sensor can also be used to sync several users' phones to create the myriad sounds of an orchestra.
A Taito performer, who called himself "Tricky," directed a full performance of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" recently at the annual Tokyo Game Show as baffled viewers looked on.
"Sound is triggered once the sensor on the mobile phone captures any kind of movement in front of it," explained Tricky.
"If you stop the movement and let's say you're playing a flute, then the sound of a flute will completely stop.
"Whether you're playing a flute, violin or cello doesn't really matter because anyone can join and play as long as you're in sync during the session," he added.
Playing games and paying for goods electronically using mobile phones is common in Japan, the world's biggest market of 3G mobile users, where phones are swiped at ticket gates or vending machines to pay for train fares or drinks.
Taito says the new software was created to make classical music more accessible for younger mobile phone users.
With the interactive software, the company also hopes to survive the competitive mobile gaming market, which had suffered an unexpected slump last year, with many game developers and analysts pointing to weak distribution channels.
The number of mobile phones sold in Japan by NTT DoCoMo, which controls half the country's mobile market of 100 million users, dropped 21 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier.
According to Taito, tech-savvy consumers are no longer impressed by new applications that once drove sales such as music distribution, TV phones and camera phones.
Japan was the world's fourth-largest market for mobile phone sales in 2007, after the United States, China and India.

New Release: Mr. Tambourine Man

The latest release of the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta is music by John Corigliano, Hallucinations from the film Altered States, and his songs for soprano and orchestra, Mr. Tambourine Man. Yes, that Mr. Tambourine Man. You know, Bob Dylan.

But it's not what you think.

Corigliano says: A colleague suggested that I look into the poetry of the songs of Bob Dylan. Having not yet listened to the songs, I decided to send away for the texts only … and found many of them to be every bit as beautiful and as immediate as I had heard – and surprisingly well-suited to my own musical language … these would be in no way arrangements, or variations, or in any way derivations of the music of the original songs, which I decided to not hear before the cycle was complete … I intended to treat the Dylan lyrics as the poems I found them to be. Nor would their settings make any attempt at pop or rock writing. I wanted to take poetry I knew to be strongly associated with popular art and readdress it in terms of concert art – crossover in the opposite direction, one might say. Dylan granted his permission, and I set to work.

John Clare recently spoke to Falletta about this new release

Windows Media File MP3 file

Read more about what Falletta has been up to lately!

Behind the Scenes: CCSA

Classical Spotlight host John Clare recent spent a morning with the Children's Chorus of San Antonio. Here's a video he took of them rehearsing Mairi's Wedding, with Irma Taute conducting.

(See the video in a larger window here)
Coming up next week, the CCSA's training choirs, the Junior Chorus and Choristers, will make their season debut along with their youngest singers, the seven- and eight-year old members of the Prelude Choir.
Date: Tuesday, October 14
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Alamo Heights United Methodist Church , 825 East Basse Road, San Antonio, TX 78209
Admission: Free

Ms. Taute and Founder/Artistic Director Marguerite McCormick will be featured on Thursday's Classical Spotlight along with pianist/radio host Christopher O'Riley, flutist Tal Perkes from Camerata San Antonio, and maestro Christoph Campestrini with the San Antonio Symphony. Classical Spotlight airs at 2pm Thursday on KPAC and KTXI.

Deathless Art

Schubert was much more experienced than his 31 years would suggest. Classical composers are sophisticated, that goes without saying, but how advanced were the greats at 28 years of age? Schubert was gifted as a child and writing with charm and his unique voice at age twelve, at the end of his short life he was a giant.

Yes he was striving to be an opera composer and with Rossini and Mozart's operas there wasn't room for more, but Schubert is a great composer that had limited access to orchestras. In the last year of life, which Benjamin Britten described "miraculous", Schubert's compositions are sublime. His interplay between light and dark, major and minor are more than techniques but a subtext to our inner selves.

On the piano this Sunday the last of Franz Schubert's Impromptus. In the hands of a great interpreter, these works are transcendental art. When you have a pianist of the caliber of Edwin Fischer you have music of the highest order.

The Piano, this Sunday afternoon at 5 here on KPAC and KTXI.

host Randy Anderson

Sleeping Beauty waltzes onto DVD & Blu-Ray

“Sleeping Beauty” is celebrating 50 years this fall with a new DVD release featuring an incredible restoration of this animated classic. It was unlike any Disney movie before or since. Tchaikovsky’s balletic setting of the classic fairy tale inspired the whole production. George Bruns adapted the Tchaikovsky ballet score for the film, and the popular song “Once Upon a Dream” was written to the tune of the waltz from the ballet. It’s impossible now to divorce Tchaikovsky’s music and the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty.

Filmed widescreen in 70mm, the striking, stylized images and backgrounds in “Sleeping Beauty” are among the richest and most colorful the studio ever produced. From the magnificent castle interiors to the final showdown between Prince Phillip and the evil Maleficent in her dragon form, Sleeping Beauty is a joy to experience.

The DVD is of course chock full of special features like documentaries and art galleries, but again for classical music fans, one of them stands out. “Grand Canyon” is a 35-minute long CinemaScope widescreen film that utilizes Ferde Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite” as its soundtrack. Never mind that the movements are played out of order. The music is a splendid accompaniment to footage of the canyon and the Colorado river below, and the various animals that inhabit the area, from big cats, to birds, snakes and spiders, but shockingly – no mules!

Sleeping Beauty is available on standard DVD, and also in high definition, on a Blu-Ray disc. If you have a Blu-Ray player, high def is the way to go. This DVD is a most welcome treat for animation fans, lovers of classical music, and kids of all ages.

Classical Spotlight: Many voices

We'll shine the spotlight on several vocal groups this afternoon and hear from a composer, violinist and a new dvd!

Voci di Sorelle performs this Sunday, afternoon October 12, at 3:00 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. We'll talk with Artistic Director Ruth Moreland and member Amy Phipps about their program Kaleidoscope: Music from Around the Globe.

Another group, the San Antonio Choral Society and artistic director Aaron Hufty present Song Cycles Sunday afternoon at 4pm at Covenant Presbyterian Church. The program contains Vaughan Williams, Effinger and Pfautsch.

Sunday at 4pm is also the appearance of organist Olivier Latry at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Latry is Organist at Notre Dame, Paris and Professor of Music at the Paris Conservatory. In addition to his recital repertoire, Latry’s performances include improvisations.

Christ Church Friends of Music present soprano Deborah Bussineau-King and pianist Ruth Friedberg in a recital entitled, A Judeo-Christian Musical Journey, Tuesday, October 14 at 7:30 PM at Christ Episcopal Church. The program includes Bernstein, Ravel, Bradbury and others.

Next week we’ll hear from Tal Perkes about the Camerata San Antonio, but one of my first assignments moving to San Antonio was talking with composer Miguel del Aguila (seen right with host John Clare)– who has a cd coming out with Camerata San Antonio.

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter (left) has a brand new cd out on Deutsche Grammophon – music by Gubaidulina and Bach, and spoke to me by phone in Munich, Germany about her disc, In Tempus Praesens.

Finally, we'll hear from Nathan Cone about a new release on DVD from Disney of Sleeping Beauty which uses Tchaikovsky's music for the ballet extremely well.

Listen for Classical Spotlight Thursday afternoons at 2pm on KPAC and KTXI and hear the interviews on the TPR website.

Latin Grammys

The 9th annual Latin Grammy Awards take place November 13 in Houston, here are the classical nominees:

Best Classical Album
Mejor Album de Música Clásica
Melhor Álbum de Música Clássica
(Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) if other than the artist.
Premio al /los Artista(s) y Productor(es).
Prêmio ao(s) Artista(s), Produtor(es).

Fiesta
Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela; Sid McLauchlan, producer
[Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music]

Jardim Abandonado
Sérgio y Odair Assad; Françoise-Emmanuelle Denis, producer
[Nonesuch]

Pasión Española
Plácido Domingo; Sid McLauchlan, producer
[Deutsche Grammophon]

Violão Sinfônico
Sílvio Barbato & Turíbio Santos; Maria Clara Barbosa & Sérgio Barboza, producers
[Rob Digital]


Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Mejor Obra/Composición Clásica Contemporánea
Melhor Obra/ Composição Clássica Conteporânea
(A Composer's Award. For a newly recorded contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility year.
Premio al Compositor(es). Para las grabaciones nuevas de obras o composiciones originales que hayan sido compuestas dentro de los pasados 25 años y que hayan sido lanzadas pro primera vez dentro del Periodo de Elegibilidad.
Prêmio para os Compositor(es). Para as gravações novas de obra ou composição original que tenham sido compostas nos últimos 25 anos, é que tenham sido lançadas pela primera vez dentro do Período de Elegibilidade.)

Barcelonazo
Jorge Liderman, composer (Jorge Liderman)
Track from: Barcelonazo
[Bridge Records]

Concierto Del Sol
Carlos José Castro, composer (Orquesta Filarmónica De Costa Rica)
Track from: Orquesta Filarmónica De Costa Rica
[Orquesta Filarmónica]

Non Divisi
Roberto Valera, composer (Camerata Romeu)
Track from: Non Divisi
[Colibri]

Tahhiyya Li Ossoulina
Sérgio Assad, composer (Sérgio y Odair Assad)
Track from: Jardim Abandonado
[Nonesuch]

Variación Del Recuerdo
Aurelio De La Vega, composer (The North/South Chamber Orchestra)
Track from: Remembrances-Recuerdos
[North/South Recordings]

And tune in Sunday nights at 7 for music and musicians throughout Latin America on Itinerarios with James Baker on KPAC and KTXI.

Classical Video: Interview with Chris O'Riley

While pianist Chrisopher O'Riley was in San Antonio, he stopped by the Texas Public Radio studios to talk with host John Clare.
The two discussed many things, including From the Top, Radiohead and his upcoming performance with cellist Carter Brey for the Tuesday Music Club on October 20th.

(See the video in a larger window here)
Listen for the music and interview for Classical Spotlight on Thursday, October 16th on KPAC and KTXI.

Recording

Some information for recorder players:


San Antonio Recorder Society (SARS)
Membership in the San Antonio Recorder Society is currently open to everyone, with no membership fee required, allows participation in all SARS meetings and activities, and provides monthly meeting information and other announcements.
To make sure that those who wish to receive SARS announcements will receive them, and those who don't won't, please register for membership (below) by 10/31/08. A new SARS mailing list will be activated on 11/1/08.
Reminder to our most recently active members:
All SARS memberships expired on 8/31/08. New and renewing/former members, please supply the following information. Omit any information you do not want made public.

Registration for SARS Membership:

Name
Address (with Zip Code)
Phone (home, work, cell)
E-mail:
I prefer to receive e-mail announcements privately (BCC).
YES NO
I would like to be listed in the Recorder Players Directory (below). YES NO

* * * *

SARS is also compiling information for a San Antonio Area Recorder Players Directory. If you have not registered as a member of SARS but you would like to be included in this directory, please supply information about yourself and/or your ensemble, organization, broadcast or website below. You may omit any information you do not want made public. You may add whatever other information you feel is pertinent with the understanding that it will be included on a space-available basis.
NOTE: You need not be a member of SARS to be included in this directory. Please reply by 10/31/08.

Information for Recorder Players Directory:

INDIVIDUAL RECORDER PLAYER:
Name
Address (with Zip Code)
Phone (home, work, cell)
E-mail:

RECORDER TEACHER:
Name
Address (with Zip Code)
Phone (home, work, cell)
E-Mail:

RECORDER/EARLY MUSIC ENSEMBLE
Name of ensemble:
Contact information:

SAN ANTONIO AREA
RECORDER/EARLY MUSIC ORGANIZATIONS, BROADCASTS AND WEBSITES
Name of organization/program:
Contact information:
URL :

Respond via reply e-mail, by phone, or to:
Cathie Rodriguez
219 One Oak Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78228
(210) 732-7048
oldmusic@sbcglobal.net


And of course fans of early music should tune in Wednesdays to Musica Antiqua with Gerald Self, at 9 p.m. on KPAC and KTXI.

Falletta to NCA

American conductor JoAnn Falletta has been appointed to be a Member of the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts. The United States Senate confirmed President George W. Bush's nomination of JoAnn Falletta to serve on the NCA on October 3, 2008 for a term extending through September 3, 2012.

Ms. Falletta joins a list of distinguished artists and arts advocates who have served on the National Council on the Arts since its establishment in 1964, including Leonard Bernstein and Isaac Stern. The National Council on the Arts advises the NEA Chairman on programs and policies. Council members review and make recommendations to the Chairman on grant applications, funding program guidelines, and national initiatives. Members are chosen for their widely recognized knowledge of the arts, their expertise or profound interest in the arts, and their established record of distinguished service or achievement in the arts. "I am very excited to have been appointed to serve on the NCA, and look forward to having the opportunity to promote the importance of the arts in America", says JoAnn.

Last week, Naxos released Falletta's ninth contribution to its label, the world premiere recording of John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poem of Bob Dylan with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Hailing her as a "leading force for the music of our time", the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored her this past Spring with her 10th ASCAP award. Falletta, who studied with Leonard Bernstein while she was a student at the Juilliard School, is the host of the nationally broadcast PBS television special, The Berlin Celebration Concert, which celebrates Bernstein's historic performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony marking the fall of the Berlin Wall, on Christmas Day 1989. The program can currently be seen on multiple dates through December 2008.

JoAnn currently serves as Music Director of both the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Virginia Symphony, and guest conducts many of the world's great symphony orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony.

More information on Maestro Falletta may be found at JoAnnFalletta.com. For more information on the National Council on the Arts appointment, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080926-20.html

When is an Impromptu not an impromptu?

The invention of piano Impromptu is generally credited to the Bohemian composer Jan Hugo Vorisek. It genre became a hit in Vienna and when Franz Schubert wrote four short piano pieces for his new publisher Tobias Haslinger. Being a businessman and wanting in on the "Impromptu" fever Haslinger re-titled the pieces Impromptus and the sales were quite respectable for a little known composer like Schubert.

What is interesting is that Haslinger pegged the works exactly. Schubert may not have intended to write Impromptus, but that is what they are, delicate ruminative flowers that are as fresh today as they were when penned in 1827.

Tune in to the Piano this Sunday afternoon at 5 for Schubert's Impromptus (part 1) on KPAC and KXTI.

host Randy Anderson

Classical Spotlight: Debating which concert

There's lots to choose from this week on Classical Spotlight, and as one of our guests suggests, you can TiVo the VP Debate tonight and hear live classical music instead!

The UT New Music Ensemble, under the direction of Professor Dan Welcher performs The Tyrant by Paul Dresher; and Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies tonight at 8:00 PM in the McCullough Theatre on the UT campus in Austin. It marks the 30th anniversary of the ensemble, and features tenor John Duykers.

The UTSA Orchestra plays tonight as well, starting at 7:30pm. On the program is Brahms 1st Symphony and Mozart’s 3rd Horn concerto with soloist, faculty member Drew Stephen (right). Eugene Dowdy directs.

Conspirare, led by Craig Hella Johnson, opens their seventeenth season with Home, a collage-style concert featuring past favorites and new works by composers as diverse as J.S. Bach, Dolly Parton, Ennio Morricone, Samuel Barber, Annie Lennox, Tarik O’Regan and more. Three performances on October 3, 4 and 5. Tickets at 512 476-5775.

This weekend you won't want to miss the opening concerts of the San Antonio Symphony on October 3 and 4, 8:00 pm at the Majestic Theatre. Christopher Seaman (left), conducts with Orli Shaham, piano in Mozart's Piano Concerto #21, Brahms' Symphony #2 and Britten's Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra.

The Walden Chamber Players, from Boston, visit Ruth Taylor Hall at 7:30pm, Saturday night. The Trinity University event is free and open to the public, featuring Mozart's Piano quartet in E flat Major, KV 493; Stephen Paulus' Dramatic Suite for flute, violin, viola, ‘cello and piano; Virgil Thomson's Serenade for flute and violin; Faure's Piano quartet in c minor op. 15. Find out more at http://www.waldenchamberplayers.org/.

The San Antonio Chamber Choir with Artistic Director/Conductor Scott MacPherson perform this Sunday, October 5th at 4 p.m. at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church. They'll sing Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G minor; motets and anthems of William Byrd; and music of Johannes Brahms and Claudio Monteverdi.

Also October 5, at Civic Center, New Braunfels starting at 4:00 p.m., Conductor David Mairs is joined by Charles Yang, Violin with the Mid Texas Symphony. The program, Scary Virtuosity, includes Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre Op. 40; Sibelius' Valse Triste Op. 44, No. 1; Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice; and Sibelius' Violin Concerto Op. 47.

“Fantasia for Organ” is the next San Fernando Cathedral performance from Musical Bridges Around the World (director Anya Grohkovsky, left). It's 7:00 pm, Sunday, October 5th, with Svetlana Berezhnaya, organ and soprano Annalisa Mendiola. The program features organ favorites by Bach and arias for soprano from the Baroque era. One hour before there are demonstrations and celebrations out front including fencing, dancing and music.

Finally, Heinavanker, a vocal group from Estonian sings at the Parker Chapel on the campus of Trinity University, Wednesday, October 8th at 7:30pm. Learn more about them at http://www.heinavanker.ee/index.php?go=index&lang=eng