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What to Wear to the Mariinsky Orchestra

9/29/2013

Vladimir Putin pins a medal on Valery Gergiev.

The Mariinsky Orchestra, under its celebrated conductor, Valery Gergiev, is about to embark on a concert tour of North America. That’s exciting news – but what makes this tour especially appealing is that, in several cities, the Russian orchestra will play an all-Stravinsky program, including The Rite of Spring.

I’ve heard the Mariinsky (formerly Kirov) Orchestra on a number of occasions, and one of the things that’s always struck me about this ensemble is the distinctiveness each section brings to the collective sound. Whereas many North American orchestras strive for homogeneity, it seems that the Mariinsky cultivates and encourages the unique properties of each family of instruments. As a result, the brass is brassier, the reeds are reedier, the strings are stringier, etc. With this approach, the Rite should explode in vivid colour.

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Mark Oppenheimer Learns What He's Up Against

9/21/2013

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Mark Oppenheimer is a religion columnist for the New York Times. But recently, he wrote an essay in the New Republic about his thoughts on children studying classical music and ballet.

In so doing, he found himself in conflict with a religion he evidently didn’t know exists. And it’s a religion with an ugly side – self-righteous, condescending, and eager to enforce its beliefs with brute force.

In his breezy piece, Oppenheimer questions the social importance of classical music and also ballet in the year 2013. He points out that none of his friends who studied a “classical” instrument are now involved with this art as adults. And he also questions the practical value of this kind of childhood education.

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Why Minneapolis Matters (Everywhere)

9/5/2013

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The Minnesota Orchestra approaches a crossroad.

As the September 30 deadline approaches for maestro Osmo Vänskä’s threatened resignation from Minnesota Orchestra – if the board and players can’t come to an agreement – the drawn-out dispute has become a hot topic of discussion and debate. (See here, here or here.)

For the benefit of anyone who has spent the last year on the moon, the Minnesota Orchestra has been locked out since October, when the musicians rejected an offer from the board of directors for a 20- to 40-percent reduction in pay. It has turned into the ugliest union-management confrontation in recent orchestral history.

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Dover SQ Wins Big at Banff

9/4/2013

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The Dovers, onstage at the Banff International String Quartet Competition.

Here’s something I wrote for today’s Houston Chronicle.

The Dover String Quartet, which recently graduated from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, made a clean sweep at the Banff (Alberta) International String Quartet Competition on Sunday. The group walked away with the $25,000 first prize and also three special prizes.

The Dover Quartet – comprising violinists Joel Link and Bryan Lee, violist Milena Pajaro-Van de Stadt and cellist Camden Shaw – started playing together in Philadelphia in 2008. Three years later, the four musicians, who are all in their 20s, moved to Houston to enroll in a special program at Rice.

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What to Wear to the Mariinsky Orchestra

Mark Oppenheimer Learns What He's Up Against

Why Minneapolis Matters (Everywhere)

Dover SQ Wins Big at Banff

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