Mozart Festival Texas continues this weekend. On tap are chamber works by the Salzburg master with David Renner, pianist and Richard Kilmer, violinist.
Next weekend it's an orchestral program with Rick Rowley, piano soloist and Terence Frazor, conducting Mozart's Piano Concerto #9 and the Symphony #36 "Linz".
Concerts are this Saturday, August 6 and next, August 13, 2011 starting at 8:00 p.m, Our Lady's Chapel, 4301 Broadway, San Antonio. Tickets cost $5 Students, $20 Adults and can be purchased at the door or in advance at the Music Department of University of the Incarnate Word; or by calling 210-829-3855.
There's still a chance to hear great classical music in a perfect setting at Round Top International Music Festival, it continues through July 16th. Here are some examples from last weekend at Festival Hill: JoAnn Falletta leads Strauss' Don Juan:
Middle movement of Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto with Carol Wincenc:
Summertime often finds time at the beach or at the pool and extra time to read. What have you been enjoying on your Kindle, iPad, or your "analog" book that you can't set down?
I'd like to recommend a serial online story that is being posted on Dick Strawser's blog, Thoughts on a Train, a parody of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol - his is "The Lost Chord." You can start here for the e-Table of contents. Strawser describes “The Lost Chord,” as:
a Dr. Dick 'Music Appreciation Thriller,' a novel by Dick Strawser that is, simply put, a musical parody of Dan Brown's “The Lost Symbol.” And by 'musical,' I don't mean “The Lost Symbol: The Musical,” with songs and dance numbers and lots of tits and feathers: I mean a reworking of the story within a context of classical music. Mr. Brown's novel, his third in a series of Robert Langdon mysteries, deals with the Masonic Brotherhood and its secrets, especially trying to discover the whereabouts of the “Ancient Mysteries” which, legend has it, are buried somewhere in Washington D.C. and when found will give the finder immense, unheard of powers. My parody of his novel, on the other hand, deals with Musicians – particularly composers who would seem, according to most normal people, something of a select group, a secret society with its own language and rituals and visions – and it deals with the mysteries of creativity and inspiration, among other things. These “old secrets,” handed down by masters of composition to their students over the generations, through the centuries, create a distinct link with the past no matter how new the music. In Brown's original, the clues are found on the Masonic Pyramid. In my parody, they're found on a Mozart Bobble-Head Doll (actually, a headless bobble-head doll). Though there is no legend I know of, I think anyone who's ever wanted to become a composer wished at one time there were a magic pill out there, somewhere, that would turn them into The Greatest Living Composer. And that is the focus of the mystery behind “The Lost Chord.”
Did you ever have to write a report or do a presentation about "what you did over the summer?" Elementary school, right? Maybe middle school? These days with twitter and facebook, social media pretty much answers those questions! Recently Betty White quipped on Saturday Night Live that "in her day, looking at someone's vacation slides was considered punishment!" Nonetheless, I was amused when coworkers asked me about what I did this summer...and thought, what a fun post this could be on the blog. In June, I wrapped up Classical Spotlight and went on the road with YOSA for their "Great Tour of China." It was truly amazing and fun to see young musicians perform and interact across China. The food, shopping and sights were spectacular too! On the left hand side is a picture of me on the Great Wall of China.
Here is a video montage of the trip with an appropriate soundtrack by John Adams - The Chairman Dances!
When I arrived back to San Antonio, it was time to take in some summer festivals, Round Top International Music Festival and Institute continued their 40th year - it was a real blast to see and hear old friends in Round Top. Also the Cactus Pear Music Festival got underway in July and it was great seeing Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio. I spent a morning with the Young Artist Program and heard a world premiere by Colin Sorgi. Later in July I took a leave of absence and documented the West Branch International Music Festival & Academy near Hancock, NY. It was a dreamy two weeks of solo, chamber and orchestral music. I made new friends and enjoyed catching up with old friends too - in a cooler climate surrounded by the Catskills. Pictured on the right is a photo of me with the concertmaster of the Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, Sir Lars Bjørnkjær on the deck of the West Branch Angler Resort. Here is a great example of the orchestra at WBIMF, conducted by Christian Hørbov-Meier, performing Jean Sibelius' Romance, Opus 42.
Now the dog days of August are here and I am busy preparing videos of this summer, plus practicing violin, and setting up the new season of Classical Spotlight (Thursday afternoons at 2pm, returning September 2nd!) I'll also return to Round Top on August 28th for their preview concert of the August to April seriesat Festival Hill. I would love to know what you have been doing over the summer. CEO Jack Fishman has shared what he has been up to, as well as some of the musicians of the San Antonio Symphony on his blog. Post a comment here, or send an email and photo to john@tpr.org. John Clare, afternoon announcer & Classical Spotlight host
The Sun is hot, bone warming and relaxing; Summertime brings all kinds of sensations with it. Those at extreme latitudes can't wait for the short growing season when producing and canning food for winter is so necessary. San Antonio does summer well, probably because we get so much practice at it. Some years the heat starts in February and lasts till Halloween. On the next Piano program music associated with heat, laziness and reflection.
Hear the Piano this Sunday afternoon at 5 on KPAC & KTXI
On the 4th of June, 2009, Daniel Barenboim and the Vienna Philharmonic presented a free open-air concert on the grounds of Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Over 100,000 visitors were present in the audience for this charming occasion. Recorded and filmed by Austrian Television (ORF), the concert will be broadcast world-wide in more than 50 countries and will be released on DVD tomorrow, Tuesday August 25th. The US Broadcast on PBS is currently scheduled for September 16th (KLRN in San Antonio). In the audience that evening were composer Richard Danielpour and KPAC host John Clare (seen before the concert left) who were in Vienna for the world premiere of Danielpour's Souvenirs on Philippe Entremont's 75th birthday (June 7th). The concert shared a theme: Night. So we heard Mozart's Eine kleineNachtmusik; de Falla's Nightsin the Gardens of Spain; Mussorgsky/Rimsky-Korsakov's A Night on Bald Mountain; and Strauss II's Thousand and One Nights Waltz; plus encores Josef & Johann Strauss and Mariano Mores. All in all, a wonderful 93 minutes with one of the world's greatest ensembles! Besides the concert, views of the Schoenbrunn grounds and palace are seen, as well as gorgeous shots of the moon, fireworks and eerily appropriate fog/smoke (we're sure it was artifically made via dry ice). You also get a wonderful sense of how many folks were there, and just how large the grounds are with stunning camera work. Check out this video from that night of a large robotic crane camera in action. You can even spot Danielpour & Clare in the audience, especially just after Barenboim announces the encores! Of course, the real magic comes from the Vienna Philharmonic in music they were born to play. (Danielpour is pictured in b&w with Christian Buchmann introducing him to Barenboim after the concert). You can purchase the DVD of the concert here, or here (after 8/25/09). Here's an extra bonus as well, composer Richard Danielpour set the scene at the VIP party after the concert: Next year's concert is earlier, May 20th, 2010 with Maestro Seiji Ozawa.
The Moritzburg Festival under the artistic direction of cellist Jan Vogler was founded in 1993 by Kai Vogler, Peter Bruns and Jan Vogler. All three artists had been participants in the famous Marlboro Festival in the USA several times and were looking for an opportunity to establish a similar concept in the German federal state of Saxony—Moritzburg Castle near Dresden appeared to be the ideal setting to carry out this ambitious project. The Moritzburg Castle now welcomes one of the world’s most prestigious chamber music festivals. This year John Harbison will be composer in residence and amongst others Fanfare and Reflection, Abu Ghraib and Piano Trio will be performed on August 18 and 19 2009 in the presence of the composer.
The festival takes place every year in August. During two weeks soloists from all over the world concentrate on works of chamber music and perform them in concerts at the end. The number of artists amounts to 25 every year, from countries like USA, Japan, China, Canada, Israel, England, Russia, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Covering the whole range of chamber music literature, the programmes of the festival deal with contemporary music on an extensive scale as well. Since 1997 resident composers have included Wolfgang Rihm, Thomas Adès, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Steven Stucky, Gustavo Beytelmann, Jörg Widmann, Helmut Oehring, Iris ter Schiphorst, Steffen Schleiermacher, Chen Yi and Zhou Long.
An indepth, high definition look at the International Festival-Institute at Round Top with founder James Dick, conductor JoAnn Falletta and reporter John Clare.
YOSA (Youth Orchestras of San Antonio) presents a summer camp for string players, July 5-19th. John Clare recently spoke with the executive director about the two week event. Hear the interview with Steven Payne [mp3 file]
The International Festival-Institute at Round Top continues through July 11th, in Round Top, TX. Last weekend, grammy award winning conductor JoAnn Falletta presented a concert in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Ballets Russes. John Clare spoke to her about the festival:
The festival continues this weekend with a Homage to Haydn, American music on July 4th and 5th, and ends with fireworks July 11th in a program of Tchaikovsky & Beethoven.
What would you do with a few more weeks vacation? The Philadelphia Orchestra will have more time off since they have had to cancel their European Tour this summer. While there is more finger pointing in Columbus, Ohio it may be good news for Dayton. And things are jazzier in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, the Promsare underway in England.
So what are you doing this summer? Be sure to take KPAC and KTXI with you - and here online at tpr.org!
UPDATE:Pittsburgh Symphony IS going to tour this fall, unlike their Eastern Pennsylvania counterparts.
Mozart Festival Texas continues this weekend. On tap are chamber works by the Salzburg master with David Renner, pianist and Richard Kilmer, violinist.
