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THE MAGAZINE OF

THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS

New Voices in Orchestras Summer Festivals: Musiciansâ€™ Perspectives

Building Boom for Concert Halls

Orchestras and Social Change

Detroit Rising

TRANSFORMATION in American Orchestras

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oin Your Colleagues at the League’s 72nd National Conference June 6 – 8, 2017, Detroit, Michigan Come for Leadership Development, Networking, Inspiration, and More!

Orchestras are in the throes of a great transformation: from being about what they are to who they are for. They are redefining their purpose to align with the new creative and civic opportunities arising from the profound changes in American society. Against the backdrop of Detroit’s remarkable transformation and the rapidly changing public policy landscape, Conference will explore the role of orchestras in our increasingly diverse society.

Some Reasons to Join Us in Detroit Engaging Constituency Sessions: Solve problems and share ideas. Jam-packed Pre-Conference Seminars: Come early and learn even more. Skills Development: Electives on digital marketing, audience-building, diversity strategies, etc. Cutting-edge Business Partners: Visit with exhibitors serving our field. And . . . a performance by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra!

For all the details and to register: americanorchestras.org/conference2017

VOLUME 68, NUMBER 2

S PRI NG 2 0 17

symphony THE MAGAZINE OF THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS

symphony®, the award-winning quarterly magazine of the League of American Orchestras, discusses issues critical to the orchestra community and communicates to the American public the value and importance of orchestras and the music they perform.

EDITOR IN CHIEF Robert Sandla

SENIOR EDITOR Chester Lane

MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Melick

PRODUCTION AND DESIGN Michael Rush

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PUBLISHER Jesse Rosen PRINTED BY Dartmouth Printing Co. Hanover, NH

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RUN THE SHOW NEW REALITIES: THE CHANGING BUSINESS OF THE PERFORMING ARTS A Workshop for Performing Arts Management Professionals at Fordham University in Midtown Manhattan

JUNE 8–10, 2017 Join colleagues from around the country for all this event offers: • guest speakers from renowned arts organizations • new thinking about current industry issues • marketing and fundraising insights for your institution • networking opportunities in the heart of America’s cultural capital Participants also receive discounted tickets to arts performances and access to subsidized on-campus housing. Sponsored by the Gabelli School of Business

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4 The Score Orchestra news, moves, and events 12 Critical Questions Examining the new will to confront homogeneity in American orchestras. by Jesse Rosen 16 Conference Preview Orchestras are in the throes of a great transformation, from what they are to who they are for. This and more will be covered at this year’s League Conference, June 6 to 8.

Two-Way Conversation Orchestras are increasingly using music to improve the lives of the incarcerated, the homeless, and others in need. by Steven Brown

4 Vern Evans

THE MAGAZINE OF THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS

Capital Shift The inaugural SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras lands in Washington, D.C. by Ian VanderMeulen

Rites of Summer Musicians talk about their summer festival experiences.

Summer Festivals 2017 From Alaska to Wisconsin to Singapore, a guide to what’s on this summer.

Streaming Symphonies Orchestras embrace webcasts, live streams, and more. by Marke Bieschke

Building the Future A wave of new concert halls aims to revitalize urban life while meeting the changing needs of orchestras. by Rebecca Schmid about the cover

77 Advertiser Index 78 League of American Orchestras Annual Fund 80 Coda Multi-award-winning composer Andrew Norman talks about the importance of paying it forward. Throughout this issue, text marked like this indicates a link to websites and online resources.

Musicians at work during the 2016 season of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2, which aims to attract talented students from communities underrepresented in the classical orchestral field. See Jesse Rosen’s article on page 12 for a discussion of the new will to confront homogeneity at American orchestras. In photo from left: Joseph Conyers, NYO2 faculty member and assistant principal bass at The Philadelphia Orchestra, with Ethan S. Olaguibel, NYO2 bassist from Miami, Florida. Photo by Jessica Griffin.

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SCORE News, moves, and events in the orchestra industry THE

The United States/Mexico Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, comprising musicians from El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras and Mexico’s Orquesta Sinfónica Azteca Ciudad Juárez, debuted January 28 at El Paso’s Plaza Theatre (right). Led by EPSYO Music Director James O. Welsch, the program of Verdi, Gershwin, and Mexican composer Samuel Zyman was repeated the next day at the Teatro Victor Hugo Rascón Banda in Juárez. A few weeks later, EPSYO’s parent organization, the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, looked south with a pair of “Copland in Mexico” concerts (Rodeo and El Salón México, Silvestre Revueltas’s Sensemayá and his score to Redes performed to a screening of that 1935 Mexican film), as part of “Music Unwound,” an educational project with the University of Texas-El Paso and a local high school. Produced by Joseph Horowitz for a consortium of orchestras, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, “Music Unwound” will be reprised next season at the Las Vegas Philharmonic and South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.

West to East: Deborah Borda to Head New York Philharmonic

Vern Evans

Deborah Borda has been named president and chief executive officer of the New York Philharmonic, to begin on September 15, 2017. She succeeds Matthew VanBesien, who has held the orchestra’s chief administrative post since 2012. She has served as president and CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2000, having previously served in the same capacity at the New York Philharmonic during the 1990s. New York Philharmonic Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bill Thomas will become executive director on May 1, 2017. At the LA Phil, Executive Director Gail Samuel has assumed the role of acting president and CEO while LA Phil Board Chairman Jay Rasulo leads a search committee for Borda’s permanent replacement. Commenting on the move, Borda said, “This is a homecoming for me as a native New Yorker, but, more than that, it is a key transitional moment filled with opportunity to make a difference for one of the great musical organizations of the world—the New York Philharmonic. I sincerely wish to express my deepest thanks and admiration for Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic ‘family,’ who have been courageous and loving partners over 17 years.”

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El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras

Bridging a Border

Syrian-American clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh, one of the performers at the Seattle Symphony’s “Music Beyond Borders” concert in February

MUSICAL CHAIRS KATHERINE BALCH has been named to a three-year term as Young American Composer-in-Residence at the California Symphony in Walnut Creek, effective August 1, 2017.

The Georgia Symphony Orchestra, based in Cobb County northwest of Atlanta, has appointed SHERI BRANTE development director has been appointed capital campaign manager at the Hartford (Conn.) Symphony Orchestra.

Seattle Welcome Overflow crowds turned out for Seattle Symphony’s free “Music Beyond Borders: Voices from the Seven” concert in February, which was arranged immediately following President Donald Trump’s executive order halting refugee admissions and temporarily barring people from travel to the U.S. from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. At the Seattle Symphony’s Facebook page, an additional 1.5 million people watched a live stream of the concert, which featured music by Iraqi-born Rahim AlHaj and two Iranian-born composers, Gity Razaz and Alireza Motevaseli, among others. (Iraq was later dropped from the list of banned countries.) Seattle Symphony President and CEO Simon Woods called inclusivity a “core value” of the orchestra, noting, “We hope that we can bring our community together to celebrate the freedom of expression and open exchange of ideas which the arts have always stood for, especially in times of division and conflict.”

Financial Front

As of January, musicians of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra have a new contract providing a 12.12 percent increase in compensation over four years, and keeping the orchestra at its current size of 74 musicians. The Chautauqua Symphony’s summer season at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York begins in June. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians and management reached early agreement on a new three-year agreement that goes into effect on September 1. The pact includes 2 percent salary increases in the second and third years of the contract, plus a stipend during nonworking summer weeks. At the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, musicians have a new two-year contract with 2 percent raises each year and increased rehearsal time for some programs. Two orchestras in Florida announced new five-year musicians’ contracts. The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s new contract includes 37 percent salary raises, an increase in musicians from 53 to 60, and an increase in season length from 35 to 40 weeks. The Naples Philharmonic’s new agreement raises musician pay by 3 percent in the first contract year, 5 percent in the second, 4 percent in the third, and 3 percent in the fourth and fifth years. It also calls for the addition of at least two more musicians to the ensemble. At Orchestra Iowa, based in Cedar Rapids, musicians have a new agreement that runs through June 30, 2019 and provides a 7.2 percent increase in minimum base pay over three years. In March, California’s Pacific Symphony announced a new contract for musicians that provides a wage increase of 10.4 percent over five years as well as service guarantees. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announced a new five-year contract seven months before the expiration of the current contract. The new agreement, running through August 28, 2022, includes pay increases averaging 2.8 percent per year, increases in minimum scale pay, and a .5 percent increase in pension contribution rate that will begin in year three of the contract. americanorchestras.org

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of JAMES BURTON as BSO choral director and conductor of the BSO-affiliated Tanglewood Festival Chorus. CONNER GRAY COVINGTON has been named assistant conductor of the Utah Symphony, effective in September 2017.

Burton

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has appointed KRISTIN CUTLER director of communications. California’s Santa Rosa Symphony has named NATHAN DUCKWORTH development associate and ANN HUTCHINSON marketing associate. KEITH ELDER has been named vice president and general manager at Colorado’s Aspen Music Festival and School.

Musical Chairs

Courtesy Classical Movements

THEODORE J. BRUTTOMESSO JR.

The East Texas Symphony Orchestra, based in Tyler, has appointed VANESSA GARDNER executive director.

has been named composer-in-residence with the Champaign-Urbana (Ill.) Symphony Gardner Orchestra, a new post at the orchestra created through Music Alive, a program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA.

STACY GARROP

Indiana’s Muncie Symphony Orchestra has appointed NOELLE TRETICK GOSLING concertmaster.

has been named principal cello in the Sarasota (Fla.) Orchestra. NATALIE HELM

Indiana’s Carmel Symphony Orchestra has appointed MARC HUBER development director.

The Cliburn, presenter of the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, has announced the election of JEFF KING to succeed CARLA KEMP THOMPSON as chairman of the Board of Directors in September 2017.

Ohio’s Cleveland Pops Orchestra has announced two staff appointments: LYNN KRAUSE , chief development officer; and MICHAEL DUNIEC, director of social media and executive assistant to the president/ CEO. has been named executive director of Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. BRIAN BAXTER has been promoted from director of operations to the newly created post of chief operating officer.

SUSAN LAPE

Lape

The Houston Symphony has named JIMMY LÓPEZ composer-in-residence for the 201718 and 2018-19 seasons. CHRISTOPHER MARTIN has been appointed principal trumpet at the New York Philharmonic, where he holds the Paula Levin Chair.

Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society made a splashy visit to New York City in April when it performed Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur, led by Artistic Director Harry Christophers. The performance represented H+H’s first return to New York since 1996, and featured seventeen orchestra members, plus solo singers and a 22-voice choir in the 90-minute, thirteen-movement work that encompasses sonatas, psalms, hymns, Gregorian chant, and a full Magnificat. This August, the Harry Christophers leads the Handel and Haydn Society in Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2017. 202-year-old ensemble will travel again to perform Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for the first time since 1991. That’s all in addition to its regular Boston concerts, lectures at local libraries, community centers, and museums, plus an education program that reaches more than 10,000 children.

After a FourDecade Tenure, Chester Lane Steps Down from Symphony In March, Symphony senior editor Chester Lane stepped down following a nearly 40-year tenure at the League of American Orchestras. The League’s longest-tenured staff member, Lane joined the magazine— then known as Symphony News and Chester Lane published bimonthly—in December 1979, when the League was headquartered in Northern Virginia. Beginning with the February/March 1980 issue, his writing appeared in 210 successive issues of the magazine: unsigned news reports, columns, and scores of bylined features including profiles of orchestras, musical artists, and administrators, as well as articles on such topics as repertoire, programming, education, community engagement, patron relations, and League training activities and services. He was recognized with an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award in 2002 for his article “Music Close to Home: The Vital Role of Community Orchestras in America,” which appeared in Symphony’s November/December 2001 issue. Lane will continue to write for the magazine on a freelance basis, and plans to pursue writing opportunities and personal projects in the classical music field. “Chester Lane is known and admired by all our colleagues, and has been a faithful and eloquent storyteller for orchestras for more than 35 years,” said League President and CEO Jesse Rosen. “We look forward to celebrating his magnificent tenure with the League at our national Conference this June.”

Protect Your Orchestra from Data Breaches Three orchestras recently suffered data breaches. For guidance on how to protect your orchestra, consider an IT audit, talk to your IT and risk-management consultants, and read overviews from the Center for Nonprofit Risk Management and the Better Business Bureau. Both offer basic guidance and links to other helpful resources. If you have questions, please contact James McCain at the League’s Knowledge Center at jmccain@ americanorchestras.org or 646 822 4071.

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Courtesy Handel and Haydn Society

Handel and Haydn in Egypt, via Monteverdi

Musical Chairs

MUSICAL CHAIRS

The Florida Orchestra has appointed DEREK MOSLOFF principal viola.

California’s San Diego Symphony has appointed to the newly created post of vice president of operations and general manager. CHRIS MUÑOZ

Upbeat: The Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul MacAlindin. Dufour Editions, 318 pages, $32. A Scottish conductor recounts his efforts to build and sustain a youth orchestra—overcoming deficits in local training and instrument quality, balancing the needs of Arabs and Kurds—in one of the most politically fraught environments imaginable. The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq debuted in 2009, and during its five-year lifespan had significant success, artistic and educational, in Britain, Germany, France, and the Kurdish city of Erbil. A planned U.S. tour in early 2014 was frustrated by bureaucracy, Iraqi politics, and U.S. security concerns, and the orchestra disbanded that year. As MacAlindin writes near the end of the book, “It says rather too much about me, and social entrepreneurs in general, that I never really gave up until the perfect storm … brought us down.” That the NYOI story is ultimately “upbeat” can be found in the moving testimonials from alumni, and in the dedication, camaraderie, and joy documented in many of the book’s photographs.

Violin Man

DAVID ROBERTSON will step down as music director of the St. Louis Symphony following the expiration of his current contract, which runs through the 2018-19 season.

Perez

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has named SAMUEL SCHLOSSER principal trombone.

has been appointed executive director of the Paducah Symphony Orchestra in Kentucky.

KATIE SMITH

Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival has announced the appointment of STEPHEN R. SMITH as board chair. KRISTINE SPENSIERI has been appointed executive director of the American Classical Orchestra, a period-instrument ensemble in New York City.

Canada’s Vancouver Symphony Katie Smith Orchestra has announced the appointment of OTTO TAUSK as music director, effective July 1, 2018. has been appointed executive director of Pennsylvania’s Johnstown Symphony Orchestra.

MIKE WALTHER

The American Composers Orchestra in New York City has named EDWARD YIM president. He succeeds MICHAEL GELLER , who stepped down from the post following a 20-year tenure.

Joshua Bell is one of the most recognized classical musicians in America today. And yet, Yim there is that 2007 performance at a Washington, D.C. Metro stop, where Bell—in jeans and baseball cap—went unrecognized by passersby. The incident spurred The Man with the Violin, a 2013 children’s book by Kathy Stinson with illustrations by Dušan Petričić. This February, the book took musical form during Bell’s weeklong residency at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where the violinist performed the world premiere of Anne Dudley’s The Man with the Violin: Suite for Violin and Orchestra in a family concert with the National Symphony Orchestra. (The piece is a co-commission with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, which will perform it in December, led by Alexander Shelley.) Bell’s Kennedy Center residency included conducting the NSO in Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, participating in a foodIn February, the National Symphony Orchestra premiered The Man with the Violin, a musical adaptation and-music event with the Gourmet of a children’s book about Joshua Bell’s 2007 performance in the Washington, D.C. Metro. Above, Symphony, and performing with Yo-Yo Michael Stern leads the NSO, with Bell (left) and journalist Michele Norris as narrator (right), with Ma at Bunker Hill Elementary School. animated illustrations from the book. americanorchestras.org

National Symphony Orchestra

Reading List

At the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Symphony, ABRAHAM PEREZ has been named music education director.

Is it really possible that three of contemporary music’s most renegade, downtown-vibe composers have become its elder statesmen? During the 2016-17 season Philip Glass and Steve Reich each turned 80, and John Adams turned 70. Glass—who has resisted being pigeonholed as a “minimalist”—turned out another symphony, with Dennis Russell Davies leading the Bruckner Linz Orchestra’s world premiere of his Symphony No. 11 at Carnegie Hall on the composer’s birthday on January 31. Also at Carnegie Hall, an all-Reich birthday celebration in November featured his video opera Three Tales with Beryl Korot and the world premiere of Pulse, co-commissioned The Los Angeles Opera staged a new production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten to mark the by Carnegie Hall and performed by the composer’s 80 birthday this season, featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role and J’Nai International Contemporary Ensemble con- Bridges as Nefertiti. ducted by David Robertson. Throughout the season, Reich has been curating Carnegie’s “Three Generations” series featuring composers of his generation and beyond, including Arvo Pärt, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, and Terry Riley, among others. The San Francisco Symphony devoted a week to John Adams in September, and Adams was much in evidence throughout the season, curating a weekend at SFS’s SoundBox and conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a new staging of one of his best-known works, the opera Nixon in China. The St. Louis Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra were among the many orchestras presenting concerts of Adams’s compositions during his birthday month of February.

Advocating for the Arts in Washington, D.C. In March, hundreds of cultural leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress from both political parties and make the case for federal support for the arts. The League of American Orchestras is a national co-sponsor of Arts Advocacy Day and part of the team that trained the advocates who gathered from across the country. Representatives from League-member orchestras nationwide met with their members of Congress to share their stories about the impact and transformative power of music, and to garner support for issues like arts education policy, the charitable tax deduction, and funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. With the Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and related programs, the work of arts representatives during Arts Advocacy Day took on new urgency. Left: Congressional Arts Leadership Awardee Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) spoke to arts advocates before a day spent urging Congress to support the arts during national Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.

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Craig T. Mathew / LA Opera

Birthday Trifecta: Glass, Reich, Adams

Courtesy Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra

At a Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra concert in March are dogs from Canine Companions for Independence, with their handlers.

PR ESENT S

Bellevue Youth Symphony Goes to the Dogs In the audience at Washington’s Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra’s March 12 concert were some unusual visitors: assistance dogs from the nonprofit Canine Companions for Independence. Audience members were invited to interact briefly with the dogs as part of a desensitization exercise by Canine Companions for Independence, which provides free trained assistance dogs and support to people with disabilities. The concert featured Sibelius’s Finlandia, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12, and Haydn’s Oboe Concerto with Kieran Matz, the youth orchestra’s co-principal oboist. In addition to the BYSO Youth Symphony, BYSO performing ensembles included the entrylevel Cadet String Orchsetra and Debut String Orchestra; the mid-level Sinfonia and Premiere Orchestra; and the BYSO Percussion Ensemble, Flute Choir, Flute Orchestra, and Philharmonia. The dogs got a good report card: though handlers reported that the percussion ensemble’s performance was a bit nerve-wracking for the animals, the full orchestra was less stressful, and they lapped up the attention at post-concert gatherings.

At the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra’s March 12 concert, dogs from Canine Companions for Independence mingled with audience members.

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Ellen M. Blalock

Syracuse Music Corridor Ever had a hankering to play Papilio bells, Cajon drums, a bell lyre, or Tembos—or even find out what the heck they are? Last fall, residents of Syracuse, New York had a chance to try out these and more, when Symphoria joined with the Connective Corridor and the City of Syracuse to install musical instruments for community use in three outdoor locations. The Connective Corridor is a two-mile route that cost $47 million and connects Syracuse University with downtown. The permanent music clusters are part of a larger mission to bring music into the community. The durable instruments are ADA-accessible, vandalresistant, and designed to survive outdoors. Groups of up to four people at a time can play Last fall, musicians from Symphoria introduced residents and visitors of Syracuse, New the Papilio bells, tubular suspended pipes that York to the musical possibilities of three new downtown music-instrument installations. span more than eight feet in a graceful arc. The Above: Michael Bull, principal percussionist; Victoria King, operations manager; and Melissa Bassett, operations staff member. three music clusters were funded by a $41,415 grant from the Regional Economic Development Council. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said the installations “enhance our streetscape and put music into the hands of more people.” Symphoria, a successor orchestra to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, has been in operation since 2012.

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Informative and entertaining, with accessible discussion of the music itself, as well as lively historical and cultural background information.

Sweet Land of Liberty South Carolina’s Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, serving the coastal southern tip of the state, saluted its local Gullah people, descendants of slaves from West Africa, with a pair of February concerts dubbed “Lowcountry Pops—A Gullah Celebration.” Joining the orchestra under Music Director John Morris Russell were the HHSO Chorus, the Savannah Children’s Choir from nearby Georgia, the Hilton Head Dance Theatre (pictured above dancing to Morton Gould’s arrangement of “Revival”), local TV celebrity Natalie Daise, and soprano Kisma Jordan. Daise narrated the traditional Gullah story “The People Could Fly” and “Isaiah an’ de Gatah,” an adaptation of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf rendered in the Gullahs’ own creole language. Vocal selections ranged from “Ride on King Jesus” to “My Country ’Tis of Thee.” 9/4/05, 12:21 PM

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David Bernard, music director of New York’s Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, conceived “InsideOut”—concerts performed with audience members seated among the musicians—as a way of “transforming the audience experience in ways that not only surprise and delight concertgoers, but also more solidly monetize the orchestra.” Following the first “InsideOut” concert last season one audience member commented, “When we’re sitting with the orchestra, we’re rooting for you.” Another said, “By being able to see the facial expressions of the musicians, I felt the love and energy they have for their craft.” Building on the success of that sold-out event, Bernard reprised “InsideOut” this February at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Manhattan (above). On the program: Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (the first performance of a new scholarly edition from Kalmus) and Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 (“Surprise”).

EarShot’s New Free, Online Composer Archive

Rogue Valley Symphony: 50 x 5 It’s not every day that an orchestra hits the half-century mark—and it’s not every orchestra that performs five new works in one season. But that’s exactly what the Rogue Valley Symphony in Ashland, Oregon is doing to mark its 50th birthday during the 2017-18 season. The orchestra will perform the world premiere of a commissioned piece by Jonathan Leshnoff, Rogue Sparks, as well as two works commissioned from local composers: Cantus, by I’lana Cotton, and How Can You Own The Sky, by Ethan GansMorse. Other new works, cocommissioned with a consortium of orchestras, are Love Song to the Sun, a concerto for electric violin by Tracy Silverman, who will perform with the orchestra on electric violin, and a violin concerto by David Ludwig performed by Bella Hristova. Under the direction of Music Director Martin Majkut, the orchestra is also adding one more concert to its Masterworks subscription series for a total of six concerts, each given three performances in the cities of Ashland, Medford, and Grants Pass.

americanorchestras.org

Ellen M. Blalock

Alex Wen

Rooting for You

Three of the four 2017 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WQXR on March 15. Left to right: pianist Haochen Zhang, violinist Stephen Waarts, and violinist Chad Hoopes.

Career Boost

The Avery Fisher Artist Program presented its annual Career Grants this year to the Dover Quartet; pianist Haochen Zhang, a native of Shanghai now living in Philadelphia; and American violinists Chad Hoopes and Stephen Waarts. The three soloists performed at New York’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in the awards ceremony on March 15. The quartet, a Philadelphia-based ensemble then in the midst of a European tour and performing in Salzburg, was honored in absentia.

EarShot, the National Orchestral Composition Discovery Network, has launched the EarShot Composer Archive, a new database of audio excerpts, program notes, and score samples by more than 140 composers whose works have been performed through the EarShot Network. The archive allows orchestra personnel, conductors, and artistic administrators to search easily for new repertoire and composers as they plan their concert seasons. The archive is free and accessible to the public. Founded in 2007, EarShot is a partnership between the League of American Orchestras, American Composers Orchestra, American Composers Forum, and New Music USA. EarShot is the nation’s first ongoing, systematic program for identifying emerging orchestral composers, and offers career development in the form of mentorships and counsel, and increases awareness of these composers and access to their music throughout the industry.

QUESTIONS

CRITICAL

A New Will to Confront Homogeneity in American Orchestras Orchestras and the League are embracing diversity and inclusion, onstage and off.

he League of American Orchestras’ upcoming National Conference in Detroit falls just days before the fiftieth anniversary of the 1967 Detroit uprising, the largest urban disruption in America since the Civil War. According to Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) President and CEO Anne Parsons, the 1967 riot was the context for the orchestra’s fellowship program for African American musicians. And it no doubt informed the two Michigan state legislators who made state funding to the Detroit Symphony contingent upon the hiring of an African American musician without an audition, which the DSO did in 1989 during Deborah Borda’s tenure as CEO. Overcoming decades of discrimination in orchestras is as complicated and multi dimensional as it is for any sector. Now, with the rise of white nationalism, with debates about the limits of “identity poli tics” as a galvanizing ideal, and with the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, the subjects of race, ethnicity, gender, and class are more urgent than ever and taking center stage for many orchestras, espe cially those in urban centers.

Chris Lee

by Jesse Rosen The League began to reprioritize diver sity and inclusion in 2011, beginning with a self-assessment of its board’s diversity and inclusion. The findings prompted a searching and difficult conversation among board members and staff, leading to the formation of a diversity task force, which has since become a full-fledged standing committee. With expert leader ship provided by board members Robert Wagner, principal bassoon, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; Anthony McGill,

The subjects of race, ethnicity, gender, and class are more urgent than ever and taking center stage for many orchestras, especially those in urban centers. principal clarinet, New York Philhar monic; Aaron Flagg, chair and associate director, Juilliard Jazz; and Sphinx founder Aaron Dworkin, among others, the com mittee has provided strategic direction for the League’s ensuing work internally as well as in service to its members. We are determined to elevate the issue of diversity and inclusion (and eventually

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2017 issue of the GIA Reader, a publication of Grantmakers in the Arts, and is reprinted by permission.

Jesse Rosen, President and CEO, League of American Orchestras

equity) among our members by aligning and coordinating our capacities to convene, to inform, and to generate and curate knowledge and learning. Our goals are to illuminate the issues, encourage candid conversation, introduce promising practices from in and outside the field, and catalyze action. The past several months have seen the convergence of much of this activity. In December 2015, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the League were co-conveners of a two-day meeting to attempt to understand the barriers to and lay the groundwork for action to increase participation of musicians from under represented communities. The meeting was attended by leaders in higher educa tion, community music schools, youth and adult orchestras, and many musicians of color. Among the meeting outcomes were a number of potential strategies that could help “move the needle.” In a subsequent convening of the group that kicked off the League’s 2016 Conference, the League established five working groups, each charged with creating and implementing action plans to tackle one of the strategies that emerged from the December meeting. Two of the working groups—one symphony

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[Figure 1.] Percentages of Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, and African American musicians in orchestras, 2002–2014

devoted to developing a national network of mentors; the other, a national center for resources and support for musicians audi tioning—have already found institutional homes, initial funding, and considerable traction. The other groups—on parent and family resources, the music education pipeline, and board and staff diversity— are all making progress. The League’s 2016 Conference in Baltimore, “The Richness of Difference,” was focused entirely on diversity, bringing forward numerous voices new to orches tras, including Dr. Earl Lewis, DeRay Mckesson, Andrés Tapia, and Edwin Tor res. Among the highlights was a stirring keynote by civil rights leader and congress man Elijah E. Cummings, of Maryland’s Seventh District, who described how poverty had prevented him from pursu ing his musical ambitions as a child. In his Conference address, he said, “This wonderful organization decided to have a conference and look at the whole issue of diversity, making sure all of our children— all of our people—are part of what orches tras do. I came to tell you what you already know: diversity is not a problem—it is our promise.” The Conference also provided an essential forum for learning about emerg ing designs for diversifying orchestras from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, and Houston Sym phony among others. To support the increasing momentum for action in the field, the League under took two studies to create a fact base and add insight into past efforts to diversify the orchestral workforce. The first, Racial/ Ethnic and Gender Diversity in the Orchestra Field, with research and analysis by Dr. James Doeser, provides a comprehensive picture of the demographic composition of orchestras: musicians, conductors, board members, and staff. The report looks back over nearly four decades of orchestra demographics data to present an analysis intended to promote learning among orchestra stakeholders and inform public dialogue. Not surprisingly, the data demonstrate that the proportion of African American and Hispanic/Latino musicians remains americanorchestras.org

10%

9.1%

9% 8% 7% 6%

Asian/ Pacific Islander musicians Hispanic/ Latino musicians African American musicians

5.3%

5% 4% 3% 2% 1%

2.5%

1.8%

1.7%

0% 2002

2003

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2005

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extremely low and largely unchanged. There has been a large proportional increase, though, in musicians described in our data set as being from Asian/Pacific Islander backgrounds. [See Figure 1.] It is significant to note, however, the differences between larger-budget orches tras ($2.1M and up) and smaller-budget orchestras. Specifically, the percentage of

2011

2012

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2014

the League currently holds on this topic. The most significant finding here is that the gender gap narrowed in the early 1990s, with women musicians making up between 46 percent and 49 percent of the total musician pool in the two decades since. Many attribute this improvement to the advent of screened auditions. [See Figure 2.]

[Figure 2.] Gender composition of orchestras, 1978–2014 100% 90% 80% 70% 60%

61.8%

60.1%

59.7%

53.7%

53.6%

52.7%

51.4%

52.6%

46.3%

46.4%

47.3%

48.6%

47.4%

50% 40% 30%

39.9%

38.2%

40.3%

20%

Male musicians Female musicians

10% 0% 1978

1985

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2000

musicians from African American and Hispanic/Latino backgrounds employed by smaller-budget orchestras is double the percentage of those employed by largerbudget orchestras. This finding opens up an important area for further investigation. The gender mix of instrumental musi cians has changed noticeably since 1978, the earliest year of digitized data that

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2014

Despite some recent high-profile ap pointments of women conductors, the gender mix of conductors appears to have remained unchanged from 2006 to 2016, according to data taken from the League’s annual salary survey. The ratio of male to female music directors and all other con ductors has remained constant at around 10:1 and 4:1, respectively, and it is notable

[Figure 3.] Gender composition of music directors and conductors, 2006–2016 100% 90% 80% 70%

91.5%

93.1%

88.7%

90.8% 82.8%

80.0%

77.0%

79.5%

23.0%

20.5%

Male music directors Male other conductors

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

20.0%

17.2%

11.3%

8.5%

9.2%

6.9%

Female other conductors Female music directors

0% 2006

2007

2008

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% Board members who are non-white

7.6%

7.9%

7.5%

7.8%

92.4%

92.1%

92.5%

92.2% % Board members who are white

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[Figure 4.] Percentages of nonwhite and white orchestra board members, 2010–2014

that women conductors are twice as likely to be found in “other conductor” positions than in the higher-status, higher-visibility role of music director. [See Figure 3.] Perhaps the most vexing data point is the lack of diversity on orchestra boards. Since 2010 the percentage of board mem bers described as being African American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaskan Native, or other nonwhite has hovered at just under 8 percent, including 3 to 4 percent African American and 1 to 2 percent Hispanic/ Latino representation. For comparison, a national survey by BoardSource found that the representation of nonwhite people on nonprofit boards across the United States had increased from 16 per cent in 2010 to 20 percent in 2014. [See Figure 4.] The lack of diversity on boards is no doubt related to the lack of alignment within orchestras when it comes to matters of diversity, as illustrated by the League’s second diversity study this year, Forty Years of Fellowships: A Study of Orchestras’ Efforts to Include African American and Latino Musicians. Coauthored by Nick Rabkin and Monica Hairston O’Connell, the study is an in-depth examination of orchestras’ past efforts to diversify their musician ranks with fellowships for African American and Latino musicians. These fellowships have been the principal vehicle for addressing the homogeneity of the orchestral workforce over the past forty years. With the renewed energy in the field, we believe it is essential to equip

our members with the lessons learned that could be applied to their present-day and future work in diversity and inclusion through analysis of the impact of partici pation on the lives of the fellows who un dertook them, and of the factors influenc ing their experiences. [See Figure 5.] One of the key findings of the study was that efforts fall short when all stakeholders are not aligned. Rabkin and O’Connell describe alignment as having two basic components: “consistency and

synergy across all the organization’s goals and plans and strong links between or ganizational goals and the personal goals of employees.” Many fellows reported that often the musicians, staff, board, and audience did not seem to know why they were there, encountering indifference and in some cases resentment. In the words of one alum, “I was treated definitely as a fellow—not a fellow musician. There were different dynamics going on. Some people appreciated what the orchestra was doing [with the fellowship], some did not. Some couldn’t care less about this.” Detroit Symphony President and CEO Anne Parsons, reflecting on the impor tance of alignment, commented in the study: “The fellowship must be integrated into the core of the orchestra’s program so it is not out there on the margins. It needs to be owned by the musicians and sup ported by the board and the staff.” Rabkin and O’Connell conclude that alignment is the result of struggling with the issue of diversity and that struggle should be around taking practical steps aimed at progress.

[Figure 5.] A timeline of orchestra fellowship programs for African American and Latino musicians, 1970–2016

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Fellows did, however, develop their musical skills. The following comment was typical: “The experience was equivalent to getting an advanced degree in orchestral playing. Even just sitting in the section was great. Needing to match those people! I can still draw on that! I can think of which one I want to sound like and can use that to change the way I play. Kind of intuitive . . . a tone color, or a particular style.” Reflecting on his experience running the Music Assistance Fund/New York Philharmonic fellowships from 1986 to 1992, Daniel Windham, now director of arts for the Wallace Foundation, made a fascinating observation in the study that gets at another critical challenge for mak ing fellowships work. He noticed that “orchestras’ rapid production of polished concerts week after week conflicted with the patient process of teaching and learning that are the hallmarks of good education. The volume of rep that changes weekly doesn’t allow time for reflection and refinement. A few players might be able to keep up, but more are likely to need more time. A season isn’t a curriculum.” Indeed, large performing arts produc ing organizations are designed primarily to produce art at a high level. Values, resources, and skills tend to be focused on that singular job. As orchestras have been expanding their roles to meet a variety of new needs, they have, in fact, been developing new practices to support those roles. We have seen this in their education and community engagement work, as well as in composer residencies and conductor fellowships. As funders consider sup port to any fellowship in arts-producing organizations, it is important to look beyond the on-the-job experience for the intentionality of the learning plan and the capacity and skill to carry it out. So, what was the impact of fellowships? Rabkin and O’Connell offer this nuanced assessment: Without more data, it is impos sible to quantify how much fellow ships, as opposed to other advantages, contributed to their career paths, but americanorchestras.org

the fellows themselves believe the contribution was very significant. The instruction they received and the op portunity to play with a professional orchestra and do mock auditions, in the fellows’ opinions, made them more prepared and competitive at position auditions. Fellows built their confidence and expanded their network of professional contacts. Over forty percent of the alumni of fellowship programs [we identified] have won positions in orchestras. Some, though, chose other directions for their careers, most remaining in music, where they have become musical entrepreneurs, educators, and often role models for other young people in their communities. The record clearly demonstrates that fellowships are not a “silver bul let” for orchestras that wish to come

We at the League of American Orchestras are inspired by the new will in the orchestral field to confront the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. to grips with the challenges and problems associated with becoming more diverse, inclusive, and relevant institutions. There is no silver bullet. Those problems persist on many, many levels, and orchestras ulti mately must look more systematically at their organizational and musical culture, operational and program ming practices, and relationships with the communities around them. Fellowships’ focus on access and opportunity for just a few indi viduals can divert attention from the systemic reasons the field remains homogeneous. Fellowships will not be the right choice for all orchestras, and they will not quickly change the numbers by which we most easily measure racial inclusion for any. But if they are un derstood as a step on a journey that will require dedication and practice at

the level orchestras commit to mak ing great music, fellowships can be significant contributors to building values and strategies that ultimately will make orchestras the inclusive, diverse, and relevant institutions they are striving to become. The study offers thirteen recommenda tions for orchestras, which our members have been quick to embrace. They provide great insight into the nexus of artistry, learning, and diversity in the context of organizational life that should be of interest across the performing arts, and we make them available for free, public download at http://americanorchestras. org/diversitystudies. The study concludes with this top-level overview: At the start of the 21st century, there appears to be a new will to confront the racial homogeneity of the nonprofit arts and of American orchestras in particular. Fellowships for African American and Latino musicians are the only strategy for increasing diversity of orchestras that has been time tested. This study represents the commitment of the orchestral field to thoughtful, openminded review and critique of its efforts, a willingness to think deeply and learn from its experience. We at the League of American Or chestras are inspired by the new will in the orchestral field to confront the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We pledge to continue to fuel this will—and to do so in the long term—through all our resources: our national task force, our working groups, our 2017 Conference in Detroit and those thereafter, our leader ship training, our advocacy, our research, our publications, and our dissemination channels. We approach the task with de termination and humility, with a commit ment to continuous dialogue and learning, and with an open invitation to all who wish to partner with us in making real progress.

2017 CONFERENCE

PREVIEW

Detroit Rising / Transformation in American Orchestras This year’s National Conference tackles today’s most urgent topics, while delivering insights, strategies, perspectives, and tactics. Here’s a look at just some of what’s on the slate.

rchestras are in the throes of a great transformation: from what they are to who they are for. Orchestras are redefining their purpose to align with the new creative and civic opportunities arising from the profound changes in American society. Against the backdrop of Detroit’s remarkable transformation and the rapidly changing public policy landscape in America, this year’s Conference will explore the role of orchestras in our increasingly diverse society, the nexus of creativity and community, and the culture of orchestras themselves. The Conference will venture beyond the overarching themes to connect delegates with the leading experts who will share the hands-on, detail-oriented knowledge needed to implement new ideas and strategies. Here’s a look at just some of the highlights in store for the League’s 2017 National Conference, Detroit Rising / Transformation in American Orchestras, June 6–8, 2017, hosted by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Even before the Conference officially begins on June 6, a plethora of Pre-Concert Seminars on June 4, 5, and 6 offer indepth, intensive learning and professional development. The three-day Foundations

of Collective Bargaining seminar, led by commissioners from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, is designed for orchestra musicians and administrators, and will increase participants’ ability to facilitate productive negotiations and working relationships. The three-part Leadership Seminar, will enhance orchestra executives’ ability to communicate with impact, productively navigate conflict situations, and foster quality relationships and collaboration. Other Pre-Conference seminars include Everyone Is a Fundraiser: A Fundamentals-Rich, ApplicationRobust Crash Course on Fundraising, a half day of professional development for Education and Community Engagement personnel, and Knowing Your Audience: A Step-by-Step Guide, which builds on effective methods the Wallace Foundation has identified for developing

new audiences and strengthening bonds with existing ones. Throughout the Conference, smallgroup Constituency Meetings gather delegates by peer group to focus on their most pressing concerns. Whether you’re working at an orchestra as an executive director, board member, volunteer, staff, or musician, there is learning designed specifically for you. Opening Plenary: Detroit Rising: Stories of Renewal Fueled by the emergence from the 2013 bankruptcy, the city of Detroit is now rising with neighborhood revitalization, economic development, a new light rail, and a resurgent creative community. Economics, race, immigration, urban versus suburban, arts and culture, and of course transportation—this being the Motor City—all converge in a story about transformation and how to lead in the face of adversity. In the Opening Plenary, civic, business, and cultural leaders reveal the powerful interplay of their paths and how they’ve become change agents in building a new Detroit for all.

League of American Orchestras’ 72nd National Conference Detroit Rising / Transformation in American Orchestras June 6–8, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan Hosted by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Ford Motor Company is the lead sponsor of the 2017 Conference and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is providing major support to the Conference. Visit http://americanorchestras.org/conference2017/ for complete information and to register.

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Vito Palmisano

Detroit is the host city for the League’s 2017 Conference.

At the session, Ann Hobson Pilot, former principal harpist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, will be presented with the League’s highest honor, the Gold Baton Award, which is given annually for distinguished service to America’s orchestras. The first African American woman to serve as a principal player in a major orchestra, Pilot is widely considered one of the greatest living harpists, and a pioneer in the orchestra field and beyond.

sion in fast-paced presentations, with a lively interactive discussion to follow. The session is hosted by Eric Booth, president of Everyday Arts, Inc. Those interested in presenting their diversity strategies at the session should submit a proposal before May 1; find more information here. Market Smarter: Insights and Strategy for Digital Marketing How are orchestras and other arts organizations embracing digital in order to market their offerings? For five years,

Diversity and Inclusion in Action From the performers on stage, to the audiences served, to the stakeholders in between, organizations are testing new approaches to diversifying and to including a broader cross-section of their communities. In this session, representatives from orchestras across the country will share their approaches to diversity and incluamericanorchestras.org

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Detroit Symphony Orchestra Concert Music is always central at a League Conference, and here Music Director Leonard Slatkin conducts the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in an engaging program that focuses on music from the 20th and 21st centuries. Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s satirical Seven Deadly Sins, with vocalist Shara Nova, will be performed alongside three exciting contemporary works: Ferran Cruixent’s Big Data (a DSO commission), Cindy McTee’s Double Play, and Mason Bates’ “Warehouse Medicine” from B-Sides, an homage to Detroit techno. The concert kicks off with a special performance by the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Capacity Interactive, a digital marketing firm for the cultural sector, has surveyed arts organizations to understand how they are using social media, video, analytics, mobile, digital advertising, email, and the web. Erik Gensler, the firm’s president, will present findings from the most recent survey, explaining trends and highlighting opportunities. He will also share orchestra case studies to illustrate how digital marketing can help orchestras meet marketing goals.

Led by Music Director Leonard Slatkin, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performs a program of works from the 20th and 21st centuries on June 6 during the League of American Orchestras’ Conference in Detroit.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Classical Musicians of African Descent: Perspectives, Aspirations, and Outlook This session features a performance by Ann Hobson Pilot, the trailblazing former principal harp of Boston Symphony Orchestra and recipient of the League’s 2017 Gold Baton Award, along with musicians from Gateways Music Festival, the 23-year-old organization that celebrates professional classical musicians of African descent at its six-day event in Rochester, New York. Many classical musicians of African descent have unique perspectives on their roles and the challenges and opportunities that orchestras face today.

Members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, seen here taking a bow, will discuss the orchestra’s evolving culture, how their roles in the organization have changed, and their aspirations for the future at the Changing Orchestra Culture: A Conversation with DSO Musicians session.

At this session, musicians discuss why they participate in Gateways, how support from Rochester’s African American community has enabled the festival to grow, how playing in an ensemble of musicians of African descent differs from playing in other ensembles, and their hopes for the future. In the midst of the national discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion,

Make the Case Now! Convincingly making the case for your orchestra’s impact and forging strategic alliances are crucial to advancing your orchestra’s mission. Developing the right relationships and clearly communicating your orchestra’s relevance to broader civic issues is essential, from launching community development initiatives to cultivating philanthropic support; from defending your tax-exempt status to championing public music education. Now more than ever, advocacy must become a priority. Heather Noonan, vice president for advocacy at the League of American Orchestras, leads a discussion with Lester Abberger, chairman, Collins Institute for Public Policy; Gary Ginstling, president and CEO, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; Patricia Richards, chair, board of directors, League of American Orchestras; and David Thompson, vice president of public policy, National Council of Nonprofits. Mapping the DSO Journey The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, like its hometown, has undergone a major transformation. A highly intentional effort to change its culture has led to a refocused mission and governance, four consecutive balanced budgets, and two consecutive labor contracts settled quietly and early. The DSO has also in recent years broadened access to its programs, embraced technology, and expanded its geographic footprint. In this discussion, the DSO reflects on this change and discusses the orchestra’s even higher aspirations both artistically and for its role in the community. Learn how an orchestra can make fundamental change on its journey towards sustainability. Changing Orchestra Culture: A Conversation with DSO Musicians Culture shifts at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra are multi-faceted and span the whole organization; there is widespread

Pilot, Ann Hobson

Richard Lippenholz

At the League’s annual Conference, delegates learn not only from nationally recognized experts, but from peers and colleagues who share their strategies and successes.

this is an opportunity to hear from musicians whose lived experience puts them at the center of that conversation.

Ann Hobson Pilot, former principal harpist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, will be presented with the League’s Gold Baton Award during the Opening Plenary Session of the 2017 Conference. She will also take part in the Classical Musicians of African Descent: Perspectives, Aspirations, and Outlook session.

agreement that many of the shifts are due to an active collaboration between DSO musicians and the administration that continues to facilitate harmonious discussion on how best to serve their community while fulfilling their mission of unsurpassed musical experiences. In this session, DSO musicians discuss the orchestra’s evolving culture, how their roles in the organization have changed, and their aspirations for the future. Cultural Equity Working toward greater cultural equity in our organizations has become imperative for the long-term viability of orchestras and the art form. What can orchestras do to keep up with this change of attitudes toward Euro-centric cultural institutions? The session will explore

Henry Peyrebrune, double bassist and major gifts officer at the Cleveland Orchestra, will moderate the Musicians as Organizational Leaders panel.

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Choreographed Visuals for Orchestra

Heather Noonan, vice president for advocacy at the League of American Orchestras, will lead the Make the Case Now! session.

demographic, philanthropic, and political trends in American society, and provide insight into how orchestras must and should navigate the currents. Moderator Eric Booth will lead a panel discussion with Liz Alsina, program associate, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Afa Dworkin, president and artistic director,

National thought leaders Stephen Tepper (above) and Rip Rapson will consider the new policy landscape in The Path Forward, the closing plenary session of the Conference.

Sphinx Organization; Alexander Laing, principal clarinet, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra; and María López de León, president and CEO, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures. Musicians as Organizational Leaders Throughout North America, musiciancreated and musician-led ensembles and chamber orchestras are thriving and assuming larger and larger roles in the musical lives of their cities. Are these nimble, fresh, and spontaneous ensembles disrupters of classical music concert culture? Do they challenge the position of other orchestras? Musician leaders discuss americanorchestras.org

the freedoms and tensions of artist-led ensembles and explore what they and other orchestras might learn from one another. The panel will be moderated by Henry Peyrebrune, double bassist and major gifts officer, The Cleveland Orchestra. Pricing: The Heart of the Matter What is the right strategic approach to pricing? Should it be to maximize revenue or to maximize attendance and accessibility? Is it possible to do both? What is pricing’s role in making music accessible: can pricing be a socio-economic strategy to break down class barriers to participation? Does its influence extend to the heart of why we exist, our artistic missions, and the nature of our relationships in our communities? Three experts who have grappled with these questions share lessons from their deep and varied experiences. Change Before You Have To This session offers a look at the future of orchestra leadership. Members of the League’s Emerging Leaders Program posit a distinction between leadership and management, and share their viewpoints on how to create an adaptive work culture, challenge deeply ingrained assumptions, and anticipate change before it is forced to happen. They will explore dimensions of a thriving organizational culture as they see it, characteristics of innovation and change management, and adaptive leadership as well as the responsibilities of self-leadership as key pillars of orchestra leadership of the future.

• True visual accompaniments • As seen on PBS • Perfect timing beat by beat • No click track • Holst: The Planets • Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 • Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

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Closing Plenary and Luncheon: The Path Forward America faces a dramatically new policy landscape that may pose serious threats to the arts and the values we associate with them. While the path ahead may not be clear, this is no time to stand on the sidelines. Join national thought leaders Rip Rapson, president and CEO of the Kresge Foundation, and Steven J. Tepper, dean of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Arizona State University, for a conversation on the way forward in these uncertain times.

by Steven Brown

Coffee Creek Correctional Facility

Two-Way Conversation

Josh Kulla

Oregon Symphony musicians, including percussionist Sergio Carreno (left), have performed three annual holiday concerts at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Portland, Oregon (below) for inmates who are preparing to return to society.

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Matthew Wright

The Coffee Creek Correctional Facility choir joins the Oregon Symphony for a holiday performance.

Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Holly Mulcahy performs at the Walker State Faith and Character Based Prison in Rock Spring, Georgia.

More and more orchestras are using music to improve the lives of the incarcerated, young mothers, the homeless, new immigrants, and people with developmental disabilities. The interactions bring new meaning to musicians’ own lives as well.

ergio Carreno had an idea what he would see, but he still got a jolt from actually facing it: Barbed wire. Guard towers. Concrete. Steel bars. Just as most of us might have pictured it. “You walk in, and it’s a prison,” the Oregon Symphony percussionist recalls. Carreno and some Oregon Symphony colleagues had just passed through the security checkpoints at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, a women’s prison south of Portland. They had come to play a holiday concert— their first-ever performance there. “It was a big question mark,” Carreno says. “How was this going to go? What was it going to be like?” As the musicians played holiday favorites and led a sing-along, Carreno got his answer. americanorchestras.org

“Tears were flowing,” Carreno says. “Smiles and good cheer and warm feelings. It was a reflection of how important art can be. I’ve rarely had such special experiences playing music. It truly defines for me why I’ve done what I’ve done my whole life—it’s to be able to give back. All of us musicians really felt it was a very special night. It will be with me forever.” Playing symphonic masterworks for concert-hall audiences is gratifying, Carreno says, but performing for inmates goes beyond that. And orchestras, too, are finding that their impact can reach beyond the concert hall. They can serve their communities’ needs— even needs that, on the surface, may not seem directly connected to music. Oregon Symphony musicians have now

performed three annual holiday concerts for Coffee Creek inmates who are preparing to return to society. A similar effort is underway with the Chattanooga Symphony and inmates of a nearby prison. Members of the Seattle Symphony and Maine’s Portland Symphony are helping the homeless use music to find hope. Thanks to the Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky, music is breaking through the barriers that can cut off disabled people. And via Lincoln’s Symphony in Nebraska, music is helping connect new immigrants to the community. These orchestras are far from alone: similar initiatives are underway everywhere from Chicago to Los Angeles to Kansas City. Musicians from the Chicago

Symphony Orchestra have performed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as a benefit concert for the Greater Chicago Food Depository; Kansas City Symphony musicians are regularly bringing their music to correctional facilities; and Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Vijay Gupta has taken an active role in bringing music to L.A.’s homeless community through his Street Symphony initiative. In 2005, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins founded Music Kitchen-Food for the Soul, which has, to date, brought chamber music to people in New York City homeless shelters, and for the past eight years the League of American Orchestras has operated “Orchestras Feeding America,” an annual food drive in which over 450 orchestras have collected and donated nearly 500,000 pounds of food. Colorado’s Fort Collins Symphony has an ongoing program with medical professionals to study measurable outcomes of music on people with dementia. Orchestras are adopting “a genuinely inclusive philosophy that what we do is inspirational,” Seattle Symphony President and CEO Simon Woods says. “Everybody has a right to engage with that. We’ve all begun to think very hard about, ‘How do we make what we do available to people who are on the fringes of society—the forgotten corners?’ In the Seattle Symphony’s case, the homeless. Or people living in low-income housing. People living in transitional housing. Prison populations. There

has been a very big rethink of what our role is. It’s really an existential change of philosophy.” Seattle: Dignity Through Music

The Seattle Symphony launched its Simple Gifts program, devoted to the homeless, last summer. The initiative builds on partnerships the orchestra already forged with social-services groups. Simple Gifts expands the orchestra’s existing Community Connections program, with “gifts”

“Homelessness is often transitional,” says Seattle Symphony President and CEO Simon Woods. “While people are experiencing these difficult moments in their lives, it’s very important that they retain their dignity, their inspiration. And that’s where we come in.” referring to the “simple dignity, joy, and hope that music and the creative process can bring to others.” A recent residency by the sound sculptor Trimpin, funded by the League of American Orchestras’ Music Alive program, incorporated creativity and music composition, with the Seattle innovator helping the homeless

Oregon Symphony

Inmates at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility take in an Oregon Symphony performance.

and other clients of Seattle’s Path With Art nonprofit create instruments from found objects. The orchestra intensified its focus on the homeless after Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine declared a state of emergency in the face of the crisis in November 2015. On a given night, according to All Home King County, a community partnership, about 10,000 people in the county have no roofs over their heads. “After the state of emergency was declared, we thought, ‘What is it that we might do to help?’ We didn’t want to wade into this in a way that would seem tokenistic,” Woods says. “We were very careful to have conversations with our partners in the homelessness area. We asked, ‘Do you think the work we’re doing with you is meaningful? Does it have an impact?’ What we heard back, loud and clear, is that homelessness is often something that is transitional for people. While people are experiencing these difficult moments in their lives, it’s very important that they retain their dignity, their inspiration. And that’s where we come in.” The first of Seattle’s Simple Gifts projects came to fruition in February 2017, when the orchestra’s subscription concerts combined Charles Ives’s “Holidays” Symphony with artworks that clients of three nonprofits created in response to Ives’s musical evocation of America. During the interactive workshops that yielded those illustrations, the homeless participants shared thoughts that Seattle Civic Poet Claudia Castro Luna transformed into texts that were woven into the performances. Luna read the resulting poetry before each movement, and between movements the illustrations were shown on screens. “We try very hard not to divorce our community work from our artistic thinking,” Woods says. “I give great kudos to Ludovic Morlot, our music director. Early on after we launched this homelessness program, he said, ‘I love this. This is important work. How can we connect this to what we do artistically?’ That’s a relatively new area for organizations. We’re going to have to generally get better at trying to weave this work into our artistic missions.’ ” Also under the umbrella of the Seattle Symphony’s Simple Gifts initiative is a losymphony

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Jim Holt

Brandon Patoc

Members of Seattle’s homeless population took part in an interactive workshop as part of the Seattle Symphony’s Simple Gifts initiative. Their artworks (below and on screen, left), created in response to Charles Ives’s musical evocation of America, were featured in a February 2017 concert of Ives’s “Holidays” Symphony. Participants also shared thoughts that Seattle Civic Poet Claudia Castro Luna (standing left) wove into the performances. Luna read the resulting poetry before each movement, and between movements the illustrations were shown on screens.

cal offshoot of Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute’s Lullaby Project, which enlists musicians to help pregnant women and mothers facing hardships create lullabies for their children. “The idea is, what can musicians offer a person experiencing homelessness? Music can offer comfort that they don’t have, because they don’t have the comforts of a home,” says Mary Lynch, Seattle’s principal oboist. “Music can provide that feeling of safety—particularly in a lullaby for a child.” Portland: Composing a Lullaby

When the Portland Symphony brought the Lullaby Project to Maine in 2015, French horn player Nina Allen Miller was one of several musicians who helped the mothers turn their feelings into songs. Not all the orchestra’s members live in right in americanorchestras.org

Portland, but Miller does, something she says “makes a difference. I love to go out in the community and bring the orchestra to them.” The Lullaby Project “was something I’d never done before, and I couldn’t even imagine what the project would be like. It exceeded my wildest dreams on the level it tapped the community. Some of these women looked like they had just come off the streets. They were homeless and pregnant and hungry. For them to be involved in this creative process of writing a song for their child—they couldn’t even imagine how that would happen. And they ended up with a performance to a crowd of people. It was amazing.” In the Lullaby Project, which falls under the “Musical Connections” portion of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, pregnant women and new mothers work

with professional artists to write personal lullabies for their babies, supporting maternal health, aiding child development, and strengthening the bond between parent and child. In New York City, the project reaches mothers in hospitals, homeless shelters, and at Rikers Island Correctional Facility. The Lullaby Project includes sixteen national partners, among them not just the Seattle Symphony and Portland Symphony but also the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Central Ohio Symphony, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In Portland, much of the creative work took place in a one-day session. Each mother met with a group that typically included a songwriter, orchestral musician, and orchestra staffer. Many of the mothers were hesitant, saying they weren’t musical or couldn’t sing: “There were all these negative messages” to overcome, Miller says. But the groups took the project one step at a time, beginning with what the mothers knew best: their own families and emo-

Participants in the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s Lullaby Project, in which pregnant women and young mothers write lullabies for their children: Sarah McLaughlin, Sherina Howard (and daughter Akira), Danielle Tardy, Kate McCarthy (and son Eamonn), April 2015. The lullabies were professionally recorded, with 1,000 CDs shared with the mothers as well as community partners and project backers. The lullabies were performed live at a free Portland Symphony community concert in May 2015.

tions. “Each mom would come up with words that were important to them, or something meaningful,” Miller says. “And once we got the words together, we found a melody.” Meanwhile, Tom Cabaniss—a composer and Carnegie Hall Weill Institute staffer who helped found The Lullaby Project—“went around to each group and helped us. You know, you get stuck at some point. You say, ‘Where do we go from here? I want to put in this word, but it’s not working.’ They helped us get past the stuck points.” In Seattle, the mothers brought their cultural backgrounds into the mix. “A lot of them came from Somalia, from Eritrea,” Lynch, the Seattle Symphony oboist, says. “They were able to tell us about the music from their original countries. Some of the lullabies were quite dance-like. One woman from Eritrea wrote a lullaby for her mentally handicapped son John, who loves to dance and sing. It had clapping and lots of unique rhythms she taught us.” The musicians demonstrated their instruments, Lynch said, to see what resonated with the mothers. Some liked the oboe’s low range; some enjoyed its crisp, perky articulation. Miller, who plays the ukulele as a sideline, used it to help the Portland teams try out their works-in-progress. Gradually, the songs took shape.

“I had never seen anything like it,” Miller says. One of the mothers “looked like she had really had a tough time. I’m guessing she was maybe in her 20s. She had two other boys. One was autistic, and one had ADHD. She knew she was having another son. She called her song ‘Third Time’s a Charm.’ She talked about her struggle

with her other two boys, and now the third was coming. The songs were so personal. It was just beautiful.” After the sessions, teaching artists arranged the songs with instrumental-ensemble accompaniment. As the project’s final component, the mothers, families and other supporters came together and heard Portland Symphony members play a concert including the mothers’ lullabies. Miller’s day with the Lullaby Project also brought back a bit of her own life. “I had forgotten that I wrote a song for my baby when he was born, and I sang it to him for many years,” Miller says. “It was a lullaby—just a song I would sing for him. One of the moms said, ‘Can you sing it to us?’ And I sang my Josh song. Later, I sang it again to my son. He’s 25 now. He said, ‘I remember you singing that song to me.’ So then I knew this would make a difference in their babies’ lives. And that’s what it was all about.” Nebraska and Kentucky: Musical Embraces

When Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra performed a family concert titled “Fairy Tale Fantasy” on Feb. 5, the audience included about 500 members of the city’s immigrant and refugee communities. Sitting alongside people who may have lived in Nebraska’s capital their entire lives,

At a 2015 songwriting workshop during the Portland Symphony’s Lullaby Project, left to right: Portland Symphony hornist Nina Allen Miller (with ukulele), songwriter Tom Acousti, mother Kate McCarthy and son Eamonn, Carnegie Hall’s Manuel Bagorro

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Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra’s ongoing work with Family Literacy, a collaboration between Lincoln Public Schools and community groups, helps immigrants become part of U.S. life, providing not only performance tickets but also transportation to the concert hall. Families enjoy preconcert activities such as an instrument petting zoo, face painting, and games. Right: A thank-you note to Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra Community Partnerships Manager Lindsay J. Bartlett from a participant in the orchestra’s free concerts through Family Literacy.

they saw the orchestra and a puppet-theater company bring life to “The Gingerbread Man,” “Rapunzel,” and stories from around the world. The orchestra helps newcomers become part of U.S. life through Family Literacy, a collaboration between Lincoln Public Schools and other community groups. Family Literacy focuses on about 160 children from pre-kindergarten through third grade and their families. In addition to the instruction the youngsters receive in school, the program works with the parents about ten hours a week on English as a second language, occupational training, and other topics. Since 2012, the orchestra has added a cultural literacy element to “help this community feel more connected and comfortable attending events that American families attend,” says Lindsay J. Bartlett, the orchestra’s community partnerships manager. Before each performance, orchestra staffers and translators visit Family Literacy sites. They discuss classical-music history, the program coming up, and other topics that attune the participants to what’s in store. The orchestra provides not only performance tickets, but transportation to the concert hall, something that can be an issue for newcomers. The families arrive in plenty of time to enjoy preconcert activities such as an instrument petting zoo, face americanorchestras.org

painting and games. “Our goal is to belong to the community,” Music Director Edward Polochick says in a statement. “This is just one small way in which we can offer

The Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra’s Family Literacy partnership is “just one small way in which we can offer welcome and support to new members of our Lincoln community,” says Music Director Edward Polochick. “Regardless of upbringing, faith, language, or country of origin, we believe that music can speak to the deepest parts of our human experience.” welcome and support to new members of our Lincoln community. Regardless of upbringing, faith, language, or country of ori-

gin, we believe that music can speak to the deepest parts of our human experience.” The Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky shares music’s message with people in hospitals and senior centers, as many orchestras do, but its reach goes even farther. Thanks to the orchestra’s Music On Call program, violinist Lacy Jean takes a musician or two at a time with her to Wendell Foster’s Campus, a center for people with developmental disabilities. Jean has a personal reason to connect with the audience: her own sister has mental and physical disabilities. Jean’s musical tastes range from opera and bluegrass to blues and rock, and she draws on all of that as she gauges her listeners’ reactions. “I just try to play music that I think will be fun,” Jean says. “Really varied. A little classical, a little bluegrass, a little Brian Setzer. My goal for that group has really been to take an hour, hour-anda-half, and have a really good time.” The audiences respond to music that brings rhythm, movement and energy to the fore, Jean says. She gravitates away from pieces in minor keys. Even though many of her listeners are non-verbal, she can tell that the music reaches them. “There’s a definite positive reaction that you can sense— moving and swaying or kind of hollering,” she says. “And some are able to say, ‘Yeah!’ You feel it out. At Wendell Foster, they’re just happy to hear live music. It’s obvious,

alongside the chorus “was very special—to see them smiling and singing along and getting cheered on.” Chattanooga: Preparing for Life Beyond Prison

When Chattanooga Symphony Concertmaster Holly Mulcahy visits Georgia’s Walker State Prison, about 20 miles from Chattanooga, where a faith- and character-based program prepares inmates for release, she doesn’t just stand up and play the violin. After every piece, she draws out the prisoners’ impressions and reactions. Though inmates were wary at first, they have opened up about how pieces by composers from J.S. Bach to Jennifer Higdon resonate with their personal experiences. “When you have people who are going to be released, you want to give them every tool possible,” Mulcahy says. “Sometimes the tools that are most important are what makes us human. That’s creating art and interpreting art in any form. It’s expressing human qualities and having them focus on life in a different way. We’re finding that this two-way con-

Through the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra’s Music On Call program, OSO violinist Lacy Jean takes a musician or two at a time with her to perform at Wendell Foster’s Campus, a center for people with developmental disabilities.

human, energetic reaction that’s easy to feel and reciprocate. “I’ll take a short break and talk to people,” says Jean. “They want to touch you, hold your hand—make that connection. Then I’ll do more music. And afterward, I’ll end up staying quite a while. I’ll communicate and kind of talk with everyone who wants to.” Even if the listeners never attend an Owensboro Symphony concert, Jean sees value in performances such as these. “For the time we’re together, something positive is happening—not just for them, but for me,” Jean says. “I can tell by the way I feel and they feel. How many times are you sure that everything you’re doing is a positive thing and helping somebody out?”

The Oregon Symphony’s Carreno looks at his and his colleagues’ prison performances in much the same way. He thinks back to something an inmate told him after the first concert at Coffee Creek. “They were coming up and shaking our hands and thanking us for the performance,” Carreno says. “One of the inmates said, ‘You know, it has been about 10 years since I saw a drum set in person or heard one.’ And it sunk into me—‘They don’t get to hear live music, ever.’ It makes it very real when you hear comments like that.” During the musicians’ 2016 visit, they performed with an inmates’ chorus. The rehearsal had “a nice collaborative environment,” Carreno says, and performing

Even if the listeners never attend an Owensboro Symphony concert, Owensboro Symphony violinist Lacy Jean sees value in performances such as these. “For the time we’re together, something positive is happening—not just for them, but for me.” Jean says. “I can tell by the way I feel and they feel.” versation is working. It’s not just a performance for performance’s sake. It’s an interactive experience that really works out emotions and thoughts and helps people feel good.” The comments from inmates bring up “heavy, heavy stuff,” Mulcahy says. She thinks back to playing a Bach sarabande that included tense, unsettled harmony near the beginning, but ultimately reached a resolution. An inmate said it took him back to sitting in a Red Lobster restaurant with his girlfriend. His phone rang, symphony

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Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Holly Mulcahy performs at the Walker State Faith and Character Based Prison in Rock Spring, Georgia.

and a DEA agent told him that officers were coming to pick him up. He was going to prison. At that moment, “his heart just sank,” Mulcahy says. “Life couldn’t possibly get any worse than that moment. Of course, getting to prison was worse. But at Walker (prison), he got focus. He feels relaxed. He’s got an idea what he’s going to do when he gets out. That mirrored exactly the music I had just played. And he found the connection. It was so un-prompted—to see it and share it. I’ll never play that piece the same. I’ll never hear it the same.” Chattanooga Symphony patrons who serve as mentors at the prison drew Mulcahy into this project, she says, but now she hopes to expand it to other institutions. To help her make sure that her programs meet the prisoners’ needs, she asks the inmates to fill out comment forms. They’re also powerful, she says. “It’s in their own handwriting. A person writes, ‘I had to wait until prison to experience this kind of music.’ To see that written out in their hand—it’s real. It’s real.”

roosevelt.edu/CCPA (312) 341-6735 ccpaadmissions@roosevelt.edu

929-269-4979

info@somefunnysymphony.com www.somefunnysymphony.com

Keeping kids awake at concerts since 2012 A Tour of World Flutes

STEVEN BROWN, a Houston writer specializing in classical music and the arts, is the former classical music critic of the Orlando Sentinel, Charlotte Observer, and Houston Chronicle. americanorchestras.org

CAPITAL

by Ian VanderMeulen

SHIFT

The creativity and range of American orchestras were showcased in the nation’s capital at the inaugural SHIFT Festival in March and April, which brought orchestras from across the country to Washington, D.C. In addition to the concerts, which featured innovative repertoire, the festival shone a spotlight on each orchestra’s community connections. 28

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Jeff Roffman

This spring, Robert Spano led the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Washington, D.C. premiere of Creation/ Creator in a new staging by Daniel Arsham. Shown here: Creation/Creator’s first ASO performance in 2015.

ver wondered what it would be like to hear Beethoven’s Pastorale Symphony in a National Park in the morning, then take in a new natureinspired work in a concert hall that evening? Or imagine hearing a major choral work one evening and attending a Brahms Requiem masterclass with members of the chorus the next morning? Look no further than Washington D.C.-based SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras, a week-long showcase of the creativity of North American orchestras co-sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts and presented in cooperation with the League of American Orchestras. It is inspired in part by Spring for Music, a festival highlighting adventurous programming at American orchestras with yearly events at Carnegie Hall from 2011 to 2014. Each spring from 2017 to

2019, SHIFT brings four or five North American orchestras to Washington to showcase their music, their local focus, and their work in community engagement. In the first edition, from March 27 to April 1 of this year, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Boulder Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, and Brooklyn-based The Knights descended on the nation’s capital for a packed week of programs. The orchestras represent a wide range in terms of budget size, geography, and mission, but share a deep commitment to serving their communities and programming rooted in those local connections. The festival will be reprised in 2018 and 2019 thanks to a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. And talk about accessible: concert tickets cost a mere $25, and many events are free. SHIFT is built on the twin pillars of innovative mainstage programming and

community engagement. While the first of the two has resulted in an overall festival slate featuring nine living composers and two world premieres, it is the latter that has resulted in the festival’s distinctive “residency” model. In addition to their individual full-orchestra programs on Kennedy Center’s mainstage, each of the four institutions has adapted some of their own community engagement projects for the D.C. area. The result is a celebration not only of the variety and enduring creativity of American orchestras, but also their undeniable connection and value to their local communities. “We wanted to emphasize why orchestras are unique hubs of cultural activity within their communities,” says Jenny Bilfield, president and CEO of the concert presenter Washington Performing Arts and one of the festival’s primary creative voices. SHIFT also serves as a timely

The nature connection figured prominently into the Boulder Philharmonic’s offstage offerings. A partnership between the orchestra and Boulder’s Open Space & Mountain Parks department has produced a series of guided “Musical Hikes,” in Boulder (DIRECTIONAL) led by naturalist Dave Sutherland. At SHIFT, Sutherland led Wings and Sound: Bird-watching and Music, an educational tour of D.C.’s Rock Creek Park Nature Center.

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Music Director Grant Llewellyn conducts the North Carolina Symphony’s 2015 world premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Hiraeth, a multimedia meditation on her family’s home in rural North Carolina. The orchestra performed the work at the SHIFT Festival.

celebration of American artistic creativity with the potential to bring together people from diverse backgrounds at a moment of intense political division.

North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn and musicians from the orchestra visit a North Carolina school. Community-focused events are a crucial aspect of the SHIFT festival.

ecutive Director Sandi Macdonald calls a “Symphony kid,” one of countless young people who have grown up experiencing orchestral music through the Raleighbased institution’s state-wide music education program. Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s 2015 commissioned work Hiraeth, featuring film accompaniment, “finds its creative roots in Sarah recalling her childhood visits to her grandparents SHIFT wanted programs that weren’t simply in Salisbury, North Carolina,” says Macdonald. Mason Bates’s unusual for the sake of being unusual, but Rusty Air in Carolina and two whose uniqueness was somehow rooted works by Robert Ward (19172013), an American composer in each orchestra’s institutional identity or who spent his last decades in local culture. North Carolina, rounded out the orchestra’s “Americana-style” mainthe program being put together because stage SHIFT program. they thought it would get greater interThe Atlanta Symphony’s festival itinerest or it was really authentic to the kind of work that they do in that community?” ary, meanwhile, not only showed off the orchestra’s broader programming misIn other words, SHIFT wanted programs sion, but also found close connections in that weren’t simply unusual for the sake of the festival’s D.C. environs. According to being unusual, but whose uniqueness was Vice President for Artistic Planning and somehow rooted in the orchestra’s instituOperations Evans Mirageas, the continutional identity or local culture. ity of Robert Spano’s sixteen-year music The North Carolina Symphony’s prodirectorship has allowed the Atlanta Symgram, for example, features music by five phony to develop what the organization composers with deep roots in the state. affectionately calls the “Atlanta School,” Caroline Shaw—whose composition Lo a stable of high-profile composers whom was performed during the festival—is the orchestra regularly engages for new what North Carolina Symphony Ex-

Michael Zirkle

Bilfield was so taken with the energy and programming of the 2014 iteration of the Spring for Music, she says, that she found its closure “unfathomable,” and immediately began brainstorming how to revive it at her home institution of Washington Performing Arts in D.C. She found an ally in Deborah Rutter, who was at that time set to take the reins as president of the Kennedy Center after more than a decade as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Before Rutter had even set foot in D.C., the two had begun a dialogue about how to “pick up” the Spring for Music idea “and give it a national spin and lens,” says Bilfield. By the end of their first meeting in the nation’s capital, Rutter says, “We were sort of finishing each other’s sentences.” One of the key continuities with the erstwhile Spring for Music is a commitment to adventurous programming. Once the first round of applications for SHIFT came in, Bilfield recalls, the selection committee began by asking, “Were the programs exciting, were they reflective of some unique curatorial voice.” More important, Rutter emphasizes, “was

Michael Zirkle

Music With Community Roots

commissions. Featuring one of the Atlanta School, in this case Christopher Theofanidis, was a natural choice. But the scale of Theofanidis’s Creation/Creator, which deploys vocal soloists, narrators, and the full Atlanta Symphony Chorale, also allowed the institution to show off Spano’s “theater of a concert” concept, which, Mirageas says, “takes pieces that are not necessarily theatrically composed” and emphasizes “the dramatic element that they have latent within them.” Bilfield and Rutter also wanted to highlight the work orchestras do outside their concert halls. The solution was to fashion the festival around a set of residencies, having each of the orchestras adapt some of its most distinctive community engagement activities—“transpose” them, in Bilfield’s words—for Washington, D.C. The model can be traced in some ways to the “Citizen Musician” concept Rutter helped spearhead at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Having worked previously at the Seattle Symphony and Los Angeles Philsymphony

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won’t. Why put that filter on it?’ ” SHIFT organizers agree that the decision to open applications to orchestras of all sizes has had a huge impact on the festival’s representation of American orchestras. “People tend to think of orchestras as these iconic institutions in big cities, but orchestras really come from all over,” Rosen points out. “So from “SHIFT creates an opportunity to tell a more our standpoint it creates complete story of orchestras and their breadth an opportunity to tell a across the country and the connections they more complete story of orchestras and their breadth have with their communities,”says League across the country and also of American Orchestras President and CEO the connections they have Jesse Rosen. with their communities.” Two orchestras in this year’s SHIFT festival, the Boulder tour, not only in places like New York but Philharmonic and Brooklyn-based The as far afield as Russia and Shanghai. Knights, bear out Rosen’s points about the The North Carolina and Atlanta symvitality of smaller-budget ensembles. Since phonies thus brought their own distinctive a strategic planning initiative eight years brands of community engagement work ago, the Boulder Philharmonic has carried to the festival, while adapting them to out a mission of what Executive DirecD.C.’s cultural landscape. Musicians from the North Carolina Symphony—which Macdonald says travels some 18,000 miles per year presenting educational and other community concerts throughout the state—showed off their eclecticism in “unCHAMBERed,” a program blending classical and indie rock styles at the Smithsonian Museum, and participated in some of the Kennedy Center’s educational activities. The Atlanta Symphony, meanwhile, integrated its own rich choral tradition with that of the D.C. metro area, featuring its mainstage soloists in a recital of vocal works on the theme of creation by Britten, Poulenc, Porter, and Gershwin—and one by Spano himself—and offering a masterclass led by Spano and ASO Director of Choruses Norman McKenzie for D.C. choral directors. harmonic, Rutter says she began to understand how each orchestra reflects its home community. The “Citizen Musician” initiative, responding to a wide range of social needs throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, became such a hallmark of the CSO that they started implementing it on

a composer on the faculty at the University of Colorado, was planning to write a piece about the Rocky Mountains at the same time that the Geological Society of America was making plans for a splashy 125th-anniversary celebration. The resulting co-commission, Nytch’s Symphony No. 1 (“Formations”), premiered in 2013 under Music Director Michael Butterman, set a precedent for the “Nature and Music” program the orchestra decided to bring to SHIFT. That concert featured Stephen Lias’s All the Songs that Nature Sings, commissioned by the orchestra and featuring projections of the Rocky Mountains commemorating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, rounded out by Jeff Midkiff ’s Mandolin Concerto, Steve Heitzeg’s Ghosts of the Grasslands, and Aaron Copland’s majestic Appalachian Spring. The nature connection figures prominently in the Boulder Philharmonic’s offstage offerings. One of the Boulder’s biggest sources of pride, Shuck notes, is the This spring, Robert Spano led the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Washington, D.C. premiere of Creation/ Creator in a new staging by Daniel Arsham. Shown here: Creation/Creator’s first ASO performance in 2015.

In addition to applying a residency model, Bilfield and Rutter wanted SHIFT to welcome orchestras from a wide range of budget sizes. Jesse Rosen, president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, which serves an advisory role for the festival, remembers an early phone call with Bilfield in which she wondered whether to restrict applications to orchestras of a certain budget category. Rosen recalls, “I said, ‘Why don’t you just make it open to everybody? They’ll either fit your criteria or they americanorchestras.org

Jeff Roffman

Smaller Ensembles, Too

tor Kevin Shuck calls “Boulder-centric” programming, both in terms of the content of its concerts and the organization’s community collaborations. Shuck notes that “the physical presence of the mountains and the scenic views is something that very much characterizes our community.” As fate would have it, Jeffrey Nytch,

Open Space and Mountain Parks initiative, the result of a vote in the 1960s to devote tax dollars to the maintenance of natural parks around the city. A partnership between the orchestra and the parks department has produced a series of guided “Musical Hikes,” led by Dave Sutherland, a naturalist who integrates orchestral

Michael Butterman leads the Boulder Philharmonic’s 2014 world premiere of Stephen Lias’s Gates of the Arctic. The performance was accompanied by images of Alaska’s Arctic National Park, synchronized with the music.

nium Stage prior to the professional outfit’s mainstage program. The opportunities quickly came to outweigh the challenges. “Once I learned more about the goals of the SHIFT festival, it transformed into being not just an opportunity to show off the Boulder Phil but also to add to the national conversation about how to reimagine what an orchestra can be and how it relates to its community,” Shuck says. “I think we really quickly realized that we have to take this on.”

Boulder Philharmonic Music Director Michael Butterman

excerpts—played on a portable speaker— into educational tours of Boulder’s natural surroundings. As part of the Boulder Philharmonic’s SHIFT slate, Sutherland led a similar hike, titled Wings and Sound: Birdwatching and Music, through D.C.’s Rock Creek Park Nature Center. The Knights, a chamber ensemble founded by brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen, is no stranger to such multi-venue performing, having begun as a crack outfit performing classical scores in unusual settings. The orchestra’s strong sense of community and innovative approach to programming, which Colin describes as “honoring the grand orchestral tradition going back centuries, and bringing that into the present,” shines through on the orchestra’s Kennedy Center program. The program features the San Francisco Girls Chorus in works by Brahms, Knights Artistic Director Lisa Bielawa (who is also artistic director of San Francisco Girls Chorus), Aaron Jay Kernis, and Vivaldi’s Gloria in D Major, a work that Colin notes

was originally written for girls chorus but rarely receives that treatment today. The concert closes with …the ground beneath our feet, “co-conceived by about seven members of The Knights, taking this idea of an old passacaglia or ground bassline from Baroque times and transforming it through a number of different styles into something for the present,” Colin says. The orchestra’s other activities, says Eric Jacobsen, are “really similar in style and in terms of the connection with the community to what we do in Brooklyn,” including a professional development workshop and a club show with singer-songwriter Christina Courtin at The Hamilton in downtown D.C. The Hamilton gig, featuring all Knights members, “shows the fluid, really boundary-less way that orchestral music is being presented and can be presented,” says Knights Executive Director Shruti Adhar. And, Adhar adds, “I think we’re just really excited to make our debut at the Kennedy Center, too.” For smaller-budget orchestras, SHIFT offers national exposure—and plenty of challenges. The Boulder Philharmonic, Shuck notes, is not accustomed to touring so far afield. Not only did they have the longest way to travel for the festival, but the number of “moving pieces,” as Shuck puts it, present significant logistical challenges. In addition to the musical hikes and a mainstage concert that Shuck admits is “about as complex as it gets, with aerial dancers and multimedia projections,” the organization invited its youth ensemble, the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras, to perform on the Kennedy Center’s Millen-

One thing that has changed since planning for SHIFT got underway in 2015 is the city of Washington, D.C. itself. Just before this article was published, for instance, the new administration had released its proposed budget, which aimed to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities. According to the League’s Rosen, the NEA has “broad bipartisan support.” For arts leaders, that

Nannette Bedway

Rene Palmer

A Place at the Table

Washington Performing Arts President and CEO Jenny Bilfield, Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter, League of American Orchestras President and CEO Jesse Rosen, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Program Officer Susan Feder at the 2015 announcement of the SHIFT festival at the League’s 2015 Conference.

does not diminish the ongoing importance of strong arts advocacy. Atlanta’s Mirageas notes, “It’s always appropriate, whatever the administration is in power in our country, that in our nation’s capital the arts have a place at the table.” To that end, Rosen says, the League helped broker meetings between orchestra officials and their respective elected representatives during SHIFT, and presented a panel dissymphony

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Noah Stern Weber

The Brooklyn-based ensemble The Knights, which performed at the inaugural SHIFT festival in Washington, D.C. this spring.

cussion at the Library of Congress on the role of orchestras in society. “One of our outreach events is having chamber groups perform outside during the national Cherry Blossom festival, by the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial—these icons in American history and Brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen, co-founders of the Brooklyn-based ensemble The Knights, which performed at the inaugural SHIFT festival this spring in Washington, D.C.

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American values,” says Boulder’s Shuck. “On the other hand, it’s hard to ignore the politics of today. One of the funders for our project is the National Endowment for the Arts; we received a National Parks grant to commission the first work on the program. So there is a very tangible element to this project that would not have happened without national funding for the arts. It is important as a nation to place value on the performing arts and artistic expression.” In another sense, however, the festival’s timing also gives orchestras and symphonic music an opportunity to play a unifying role after a particularly difficult national election. Colin Jacobson suggests that The Knights’ performance of Kernis’s work, originally written in response to mass shootings in San Bernardino and Paris, and the Vivaldi Gloria offer opportunity for healing and uplift. The Knights’ Adhar points out, “Orchestras and arts organizations and musicians in general are in this unique place in terms of gathering people physically together—a hub of people sitting next to each other. It’s really an opportunity for dialogue, for connection. There aren’t a lot of these kinds of places in our communities anymore.” The Kennedy Center’s Rutter says, “Each orchestra provides a service to its community, and each is incredibly valuable. This is

about orchestras serving their community and being deeply embedded in their community.” Bilfield at Washington Performing Arts agrees. “This is about people making a living in their hometowns doing what they do best and connecting with their neighbors in powerful ways to support the economy. And that creativity is worthy of celebrating at a very national level.” IAN VANDERMEULEN is a New York-based writer whose work has appeared in Symphony, Musical America, and Overtones, the alumni magazine of the Curtis Institute of Music. He is pursuing a doctorate in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University.

SHIFTING AHEAD

The second annual SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras will take place at the Kennedy Center and other locations around Washington, D.C. from April 9 to 15, 2018. Chosen from a pool of applicants from across the country, the four selected orchestras each will offer a Kennedy Center Concert Hall performance and citywide residency. The 2018 orchestras are the Albany Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra.

Summer music festivals are one of the glories of the season for any music lover. But what’s it like to perform at a summer music festival—for a musician? We ask musicians from festivals around the country to share their unique perspectives. Aspen Music Festival and School

Elle Logan

Aspen, Colorado June 29–August 20 ROBERT SPANO, music director, Aspen Music Festival and School

What scores work best in the great outdoors? Were you ever surprised that a score that might seem too quiet or challenging for the outdoors works surprisingly well? At Aspen, the Tent is such a great performing space, everything works! Can you describe the experience of performing under a night sky, or in an amphitheater in a woodland? The sounds of nature definitely become part of the music. What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at Aspen? What’s the “craziest” moment? Peter Grimes, with dreary weather and a knockout performance by Anthony Dean Griffey in the title role, was truly a highlight. What would you as a concertgoer want to experience at a summer music festival? Great music! symphony

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ROY FEMENELLA, French horn, Aspen Music Festival and School, student, 2012–17

What pieces work best in the great outdoors? I have found Richard Strauss’s orchestral tone poem Eine Alpensinfonie, which was programmed during one of my summers in Aspen, to be especially well suited to being performed at Aspen, both because of the subject matter of the piece, which depicts a mountain journey during a day in the Alps, and because of the acoustics of the Benedict Music Tent, which provide the wonderful, resonant sound of a concert hall mixed with the feeling of an open-air space. How has the Aspen Music Festival and School changed over the years? Since I’ve been at Aspen it has been wonderful to see the development and transformation of the new Bucksbaum Campus. It’s beautiful, and I really enjoy practicing there. The Benedict Music Tent is a wonderful space to play in—acoustically it’s very flattering and has a rich sound, which is unusual for an outdoor or partially outdoor venue where the sound often tends to get lost. It’s also visually a very beautiful space, and I love the feeling of playing outside in the summer. What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at the AMFS? What’s the “craziest” moment? It is so hard to pick a best moment, but I will never forget my first rehearsal in the Aspen Festival Orchestra, being completely blown away by the level of the playing— particularly that of John Zirbel, who has been my teacher and mentor at Aspen for the past six years. It is one thing to hear great musicians on recordings, but to sit three feet behind Mr. Zirbel’s bell from my position in the orchestra is another experience altogether. When he plays, it sounds like the voice of a great tenor at the opera americanorchestras.org

coming out the bell of his horn. To hear that up close was something I will never forget. As far as a “craziest” moment, one summer during a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony, someone had left the backstage coffee machine at the Benedict Music Tent plugged in for a little too long, and that ended up inadvertently setting off the fire alarm during the second movement, which led to an evacuation of the hall. After the coast was clear, the musicians and audience came back inside, and we ended up getting to play most of the second movement twice! Do you have a ritual before or after a festival performance? Is that ritual different from what you might do for a regular-season, indoor concert? I warm up before every performance, which, depending on what I have to play and how much time I have, can take anywhere from ten to 45 minutes. When I’m at Aspen, I enjoy warming up outside on the hill next to the backstage area of the Benedict Music Tent. BRIAN ALLEN, violin, Aspen Music Festival and School, student, 2012–17

What pieces work best in the great outdoors? My quartet played a lot of Mozart and early Haydn outdoors last summer. The festival provided us with some outdoor special events that were perfect for Classical-era music, and we played a little of that at Paradise Bakery’s front porch, too—alongside music by Kreisler and the Beatles, of course. How has the Aspen Music Festival and School changed and developed over the years? The most noticeable change is the addition of the new practice buildings on the Bucksbaum Campus, beautiful rehearsal halls and individual practice rooms—an amazing improvement over the mobile

homes they had before for studio class. The Benedict Music Tent has a beautiful sound, and it is best with Aspen’s big orchestra, the Aspen Festival Orchestra. The back walls open up to the outdoors during these concerts, allowing audience members to camp outside with chairs, blankets, and drinks and enjoy the soaring melodies. As performers, we know our sound will carry through the tent to the outdoors, and we can only imagine the rest of our audience listening from the grass outside. What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at the AMFS? What’s the “craziest” moment? I had the honor of accompanying two of my favorite violinists, Gil Shaham and Augustin Hadelich, while playing with the Aspen Chamber Symphony. They both had sounds that filled the Tent with pure elegance, and Gil Shaham took the time to look many of us in the eye during the rehearsals and concert. On the other hand, I remember a crazy time from just last summer: Several of my friends and I (most of us principals in the Aspen Conducting Academy) were stuck at the bus stop (normally reliable to the minute) when a bus was critically delayed before our concert. The festival sent its artist liaisons over to pick us up, and after fitting ten people and multiple cellos in two sedans, they got us to the concert five minutes before downbeat. Thank goodness! Do you have a ritual before or after a festival performance? Is that ritual different from what you might do for a regular-season, indoor concert? One of my favorite journeys in Aspen is the walk between Marolt Ranch and the Benedict Music Tent. There is a littleknown shortcut through the Physics Center that features a gentle stream before waist-high fields of grass. Nowhere else in the world can I take a walk that beautiful to an orchestra concert.

Blossom Music Festival Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio July 1–September 3 STEPHEN ROSE, principal second violin, The Cleveland Orchestra What scores work best in the great outdoors? Were you ever surprised that a score that might seem too quiet or challenging for the outdoors works surprisingly well?

Roger Mastroianni

I’ve been playing in the Cleveland Orchestra for twenty years and in that time, I’ve learned that the scores at our summer music home, Blossom Music Center, that frequently work so well are often the bigger works: Mahler and Beethoven symphonies as well as Strauss’s larger pieces. Music which evokes nature, like Beethoven’s “Pastorale” Symphony, are especially effective. Part of why they work so well is because of the amazing acoustic we have at Blossom, where the only amplification is that which pushes sound outside of the Pavilion onto the lawn. In fact, the acoustic is so great that even the more intimate, Baroque music works beautifully, too. How has Blossom changed and developed over the years? How have audiences? One of the most notable changes of recent years is even more families attending. Blossom Music Festival has always been family friendly, with lots of people coming early to picnic and enjoy the scenery of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which surrounds the Blossom grounds. Part of the reason there more families attending is because in 2011 we introduced “Under 18s Free” at Blossom. This program offers free lawn passes (two per regular-priced adult paid admission) to young people to any Blossom Music Festival concert. Can you describe the experience of performing under a night sky, or in an amphitheater in a woodland? Well, we don’t perform under the sky, as Blossom has a beautiful Pavilion. It is always great to perform at Blossom when it is a beautifully sunny and warm day and there is an enthusiastic, engaged audience. Elements of nature can certainly work their way into performances: one favorite memory is playing Beethoven 6 for an audience of about 15,000, when we could hear a thunderstorm in the distance.

The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst in performance at Blossom Music Festival

Chamber Music Northwest Portland, Oregon June 26–July 30 REBECCA ANDERSON, violin, Chamber Music Northwest

What aspect of performing at Chamber Music Northwest do you most look forward to? Performing at Chamber Music Northwest is a special experience for me because it also means coming home! I grew up in Portland, Oregon, going to CMNW concerts throughout my childhood. It means the world to be able to come back and perform on the same stages where I heard so many concerts when I was younger. What scores have worked best at Chamber Music Northwest? Does a summer-vacation atmosphere seem to alter the audience’s reaction? The summer-vacation atmosphere is one of the special aspects of a summer mu-

sic festival—many audience members at CMNW bring picnics to eat on the lawn before evening concerts. It contributes to a wonderful feeling of community and brings that special “summer-evening feeling” into the concert experience. How has this festival changed and developed over the years? How have audiences? The Protégé Project, which started in 2010, is one feature of the festival that has added a new dimension to the CMNW experience. Protégé Project artists perform alongside other musicians during the summer festival concerts, but we also perform in venues outside of the traditional concert halls—venues that often host band shows or film screenings, where you can grab an Oregon craft brew to sip while you listen to the concert. As a performer, those concerts are quite a lot of fun! The chance to interact with both new and familiar audience members in a less formal setting creates a different kind of connection between audiences and performers. What do you like most about traveling to/ staying at the festival? Does being in this setting have an impact on how rehearsals are conducted—on performances themselves? The Protégé Project artists stay in a beautiful house on Reed College’s campus. The last time that I was at the summer festival, we hosted a potluck dinner for all of the artists that were in town, and many symphony

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Tom Emerson

A concert at Chamber Music Northwest, with flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, harpist Nancy Allen, and violist Paul Neubauer.

americanorchestras.org

CMNW. Gabriella and I worked together often during our undergrad at the Curtis Institute of Music, and I’m so happy to have a chance to collaborate with her again and hear how her music has grown over the past few years.

Concerts in the Garden Fort Worth, Texas June 2–July 8 MICHAEL SHIH, concertmaster, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

Jill Johnson

of the musicians made something that reflected where we are from (or our cultural roots). Clarinetist David Shifrin decided to bring a gigantic, whole salmon to bake, as a nod to the Pacific Northwest, and it was absolutely delicious! What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at this music festival? What’s the “craziest” or most unusual moment? One of the most meaningful aspects of being a part of the classical music community is being able to perform with your teachers. My first summer as a Protégé Project artist back in 2010 included a concert with Ani and Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, and Peter Wiley, all of whom I had worked with as a college student. It was such a thrill to be able perform alongside them at CMNW. Do you have a ritual before or after a festival performance? Is that ritual different from what you might do for a regular-season concert? I don’t have a strict ritual before or after performances. When I’m in Portland, having a craft beer and winding down over charcuterie or a burger at the Higgins Bar is often a go-to, post-concert routine for CMNW artists. Any feedback on living composers whose works are being performed at the festival? Do you have opportunities to work directly with those composers? I’m very excited to be working again with Gabriella Smith this summer at

What scores work best in the great outdoors? Were you ever surprised that a score that might seem too quiet or challenging for the outdoors works surprisingly well? John Williams comes to mind: Star Wars, E.T., Superman. The music of Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, Sousa—these composers all work really well outdoors. It’s the way they’re orchestrated, the melodies carry very well and they sound majestic and heroic. With amplification by our great engi-

neers and their sound system, these pieces really come to life at the Garden. Princess Leia’s theme from Star Wars is mostly on the softer side, but it works really well. “Hymn to the Fallen” from Saving Private Ryan is both solemn and quiet, but people pay attention to it because of the beautiful music and the meaning behind it. There is a personal connection between the music and the audience. These are familiar pieces that people know and love. How have the Concerts in the Garden changed and developed over the years? How have audiences? I can only speak for the years that I have been here, since 2001. I think that we have seen an expansion of more types of concerts being offered at the Concerts in the Garden. There are more guest artists, like the all-time favorite Classical Mystery Tour, or the different Windborne tribute shows to Pink Floyd and Journey and David Bowie. And of course, we are grateful that the size of the audience has grown tremendously over the years. We’ve had record numbers of attendance these past few years. People are enthusiastic about this festival. Of course, having fireworks every night brings enthusiasm to an even higher level! Can you describe the experience of performing under a night sky, or in an amphitheater in a woodland? This has its challenges. I enjoy the opportunity to embrace nature in concerts, but on the other hand there are always insects that land on you or get on the music or crawl around onstage. Especially as it gets darker, the stage lights attract all sorts of… let’s call them little audience members. And of course it gets hot—this is Texas! No getting around it. It’s a different experience entirely compared to performing in a hall, but wonderful and enjoyable nonetheless. What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at this music festival. What’s the “craziest” moment? I remember a few years ago we were playing in the Garden, and there was this grand pause in the middle of one of our pieces, and the crickets were so loud, it was perfect. It was funny! People loved it. I love each and every performance and seeing the reactions from the audience and the camaraderie we have with them. If it’s rainy out, we get a bit wet and so do they. If it’s muddy we’re all muddy. We’re

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

A technicolor Texas sunset at the Fort Worth Symphony’s Concerts in the Garden

all braving the elements together, which makes for a real community experience. It’s quite special each night. Do you have a ritual before or after a festival performance? Is that ritual different from what you might do for a regular-season, indoor concert? Not really. However, I do play on a different violin for outdoors concerts because of the impact temperature and humidity can have on our instruments. But the violin I use for outdoor performances is still a nice violin. I’ve played many concerts and concertos on this instrument, and it’s got a really sweet sound. Most people in the orchestra have a different instrument to use outdoors. We also tend to drink more fluids before these concerts, of course, to keep ourselves hydrated. What items do you carry in your instrument case or travel bag for outdoor concerts? Clothespins for music stands, shoes that can withstand a walk through grass… We’re lucky because our librarians take very good care of us. Some people use clothespins, but our librarian has actually made these special strings out of fishing line that holds the music incredibly well, even in the most rigorous weather conditions. On the windiest days, we use these two fishing lines and they hold the music perfectly in place. It’s quite ingenious. We also have fans onstage and lots and lots of water to stay cool. What would you as a concertgoer want to experience at a summer music festival? Fun! We go to a festival to have a great time. I met two people last year who were

on their first date, and there’s always families with little kids running around. During the Star Wars show there’s some pretty epic lightsaber fights out on the lawn, and some people always dress up in costume for that concert. I want people to have a great time, and to have an experience that they’ll remember and want to come back again and again with their friends.

Music in the Vineyards Napa Valley, California August 4–27 MICHAEL ADAMS, artistic director, Music in the Vineyards

What scores work best in the great outdoors? Were you ever surprised that a score that might seem too quiet or challenging for the outdoors works surprisingly well? From day one in 1995, it was our intention that Music in the Vineyards concerts be presented in smaller, more intimate venues, in spaces that recreated the ambiance of, say, the era of Mozart, Mendelssohn or Brahms. It was our response to the way chamber music was becoming a spectator sport, played in large halls to large

crowds, whose experience was anything but intimate. We wanted to think small. Given the wealth of wonderful wineries in the Napa Valley, we’ve found some uniquely charming (and acoustically amazing!) spaces to play over the years: beautifully appointed tasting rooms, barrel rooms, production line spaces, even an amazing cave theater specifically designed for music, accessed through a long underground passage past countless barrels of that precious liquid commodity that makes the Napa world go ’round. How has this festival changed and developed over the years? How have audiences? We did play a number of memorable concerts outdoors in the early years, mostly because we were offered some remarkable outdoor venues that were too good to pass up. In spite of the popular audience appeal of hearing music actually in the vineyards, we came to the conclusion that artistically, our performances were not consistent. They were too vulnerable to factors we couldn’t control, such as heat, wind, road noise, direct sunlight on expensive instruments, the usual suspects. Not to mention that string instruments (and all the others for that matter) never sound as good without a room that enhances their natural resonance. Call it what you will—acoustical feedback, reverberation, resonance—it is the quality of a room that often defines the listener experience. What’s the “craziest” moment you’ve experienced performing at this music festival? I’d be remiss if I didn’t relate the story of our very first concert, which was outdoors in a garden setting against the backdrop of a well-known winery. In the fiasco we have dubbed “the fried chicken incident,” one enterprising concertgoer quite understandably brought a picnic to the 5 p.m. concert. Sitting as he was, in direct view of the first violinist, he proceeded to gnaw away on his fried chicken to the strains of Mozart’s String Quartet K. 157. This visible distraction so unnerved said violinist that he/she forgot to take the first repeat, resulting in not just a fumbled bar or two but a complete “crash and burn,” requiring a restart. My wife and I, playing second violin and viola respectively, were mortified that our inaugural concert had started so poorly. But it got worse. At the end of the movement our violinist took it upon himself to ask the poor consymphony

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Peninsula Music Festival Ephraim, Wisconsin August 1–19 MERRILEE ELLIOTT, flute, Peninsula Music Festival

Merrilee Elliott, flute, Peninsula Music Festival (at right, pictured with colleagues Melissa Snoza and Suzanna Self)

What aspect of performing at Chamber Music Northwest do you most look forward to? Playing in the awesome Woodwind Section. Eating and drinking with great friends. What do you like most about traveling to/ staying in northeast Wisconsin for the festival? Does being in this setting have an impact on how rehearsals are conducted—on performances themselves? Door County is like a second home, this being my 33rd year. I enjoy having only 1 job instead of 5 or 6. Rehearsals and concerts are just as intense at PMF as anywhere else I play. In your experience, what scores have worked best at Peninsula? Does a summervacation atmosphere seem to alter the audi-

PAUL LEDWON, principal cello, Peninsula Music Festival

Courtesy Peninsula Music Festival

in our instrument cases, there to greet us the next day when we open them up again!

Courtesy Merrilee Elliott

certgoer to “cease and desist” from eating, chastising him for poor concert etiquette. Horrified, I remember thinking, “We will be banished from ever performing in the Napa Valley again!” (Amazingly, that guy continued to come to future concerts!) Can you describe the experience of performing at a winery? What has made our concerts unique over the years is the ever-changing Napa Valley venues. Not only does each winery have its own unique charm and ambiance, but the wineries themselves are active partners with us in presenting each concert: wine from the host venue is poured at intermission. And of course the retail counter might just happen to be open if you are particularly fond of what’s being poured. There are two interesting side effects of featuring wine at intermission. As you might expect, our intermissions are, by necessity, just plain longer. Apparently, our audience “will drink no wine before its time,” stretching our interval to at least 30 minutes or more. Secondly, the audience that returns from intermission can be quite different from the audience we performed for on the first half; looser, shall we say. For that reason, we sometimes plan “upside-down programs” that feature the heavyweight work on the first half instead of the second, with shorter, lighter pieces after intermission. Regardless of where we play, there is one constant to Music in the Vineyards concerts: the sweet, musty smell of fine wine. We are usually surrounded by barrels or production areas where the aroma is omnipresent. We even find that it fills up the air

Chick Harrity

At Vineyards Music Festival in Napa Valley, chamber music concerts take place at wineries. Violinist Ara Gregorian and ensemble perform Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires in the Cave Theater at Clos Pegase Winery.

ence’s reaction? Playing the music well is most important, no matter what we play, and we do a very good job of doing that! I don’t notice a different audience reaction so much. Maybe they are a little more vocal at PMF. How has this festival changed and developed over the years? How have audiences? When I first came to PMF in 1984, the orchestra was much smaller and the rep. reflected that. Victor Yampolsky changed that; more players, bigger rep. What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at this music festival? What’s the “craziest” or most unusual moment? So many “best” moments. Playing Russian music with Maestro Yampolsky is an experience like no other. I enjoyed playing the Cimarosa Concerto for two flutes with Susanna Self. The most unusual moment was when we were rehearsing the Rachmaninoff Variations on a Theme by Paganini with pianist John Browning. His dog, Tyler, was in the hall with his babysitter. There was a moment when the orchestra and the soloist had a difference of opinion and Tyler started barking and ran up on to the stage and more or less told us that this was not acceptable! Broke us all up! Another unusual moment was when the audience strenuously booed after we played a relatively harsh contemporary piece. That was a first for me and I hope the last! Do you have a ritual before or after a festival performance? Is that ritual different from what you might do for a regular-season concert? No special ritual … eat dinner, make myself presentable, go to the hall, and be awesome. Afterwards it’s fun to drink a beer with our friends.

What aspect of performing at Peninsula do

Courtesy Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Courtesy Peninsula Music Festival

it is usually well-received, but there have been a few exceptions. How has this festival changed and developed over the years? How have audiences? I first started with PMF 20 years ago, and most of the group has been there at least ten years or so. Every year at the first rehearsal it seems easier for us to play together, after Among the nearby attractions at Wisconsin’s Peninsula Music spending eleven months Festival is a fish boil. apart. From my point of view on the stage, the audience seems like it has actually grown you most look forward to? over the years. A funny side note—I It is a real joy to perform with this orwatched a family grow up from my vanchestra. Everyone is a fantastic musician, tage point. They had front row seats for and they are all so happy to be there. This many years, and I watched the children is in no small part because of our conducgrow up in front of me. tor, Victor Yampolsky. He inspires all of us, What’s the “best” moment you’ve expeand makes us remember why we became rienced performing at this music festival? musicians: because of our love of music! What’s the “craziest” or most unusual moWe perform a season’s worth of symphonic ment? repertoire in three weeks; every summer The best moments have been particularfeels like we are coming home, to do what ly meaningful performances. Tchaikovsky we love with people we love. 6 was a recent one. Victor also has an What do you like most about traveling to/ amazing ability to bring out the beauty of staying in northeast Wisconsin? Does being in pieces you’ve played a hundred times bethis setting have an impact on how rehearsals fore, or of pieces you didn’t think you liked. are conducted—on performances themselves? The craziest moment was after a recepDoor County is a great escape in the tion when a group of streakers ran past us summer when the rest of the Midwest is in downtown Fish Creek. hot and humid. The people who run the festival—the board, and the volunteers and sustaining committee—are all so apTalcott Mountain Music preciative and welcoming. When I first Festival joined the orchestra, I noticed how they Simsbury, Connecticut really respected us as musicians, and now June 30-July 28 after so many years, they are really like GENE BOZZI, principal timpani, Hartfamily. At every dress rehearsal, they proford Symphony Orchestra vide us lunch, and it’s like a huge family gathering every time. I also love our hall: it has very nice acoustics, and is the perfect size. In your experience, what scores have worked best at Peninsula? Does a summervacation atmosphere seem to alter the audience’s reaction? I think our audience is really interested in the music. We have a lot of people who come back year after year. The audience has been very receptive to just about evWhat scores work best in the great outerything we’ve done. We have played quite doors? Were you ever surprised that a score a bit of 20th-century music over the years; that might seem too quiet or challenging for

the outdoors works surprisingly well? I think a good example would be a small orchestra playing Mozart. You might think that that’s too small of a sound for outdoors, but with the great sound system that we use, it really works well at our outside venue. How has this festival changed and developed over the years? How have audiences? I think over the years I’ve seen this focus shift from classical music to more pops programming. I think that our audience likes to have lighter fare at these events to go along with their wine and cheese. We also see a younger audience at these events and more children. Can you describe the experience of performing under a night sky, or in an amphitheater in a woodland? Performing at Talcott Mountain has become a really pleasurable experience now that we have our own sound shell. The weather is still a variable, but on a nice night it’s a very pleasant experience. What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at this music festival? What’s the “craziest” moment? I would say that last year’s Ray Charles concert, “A Tribute to Ray Charles, Motown and Beyond, featuring Ellis Hall,” was one of the most well-received for audience participation. They seemed really into the music, danced, and had a great time with those classic tunes. It was also fun for me because I got to play drum set with the orchestra. I can remember several years ago when my wife and daughter came to watch the concert it rained so hard they were underneath the tarp with their umbrellas holding the tarp over their head—but the show went on! What items do you carry in your instrument case or travel bag for outdoor concerts? If it’s really warm, I rehearse in shorts and T-shirts and bring my concert clothes with me. Extra water bottles are always a good idea. What would you as a concertgoer want to experience at a summer music festival? Well, I may be biased in answering this question because I play jazz music. But for me personally, I would like to see some jazz and pops artists.

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Hartford Symphony Orchestra Principal Timpanist Gene Bozzi onstage (rear left) with the orchestra at Talcott Mountain Music Festival, held at the Performing Arts Center at Simsbury Meadows

Tanglewood

that make the Boston Symphony such a special organization to be a part of.

Lenox, Massachusetts June 18–September 1 MICHAEL WINTER, horn, Boston Symphony Orchestra

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What’s the “best” moment you’ve experienced performing at Tanglewood? What’s the “craziest” moment?

Hilary Scott

Were you ever surprised that a score that might seem too quiet or challenging for the outdoors works surprisingly well? Last year in our final Tanglewood concert of the summer, Music Director Andris Nelsons led the orchestra in Aaron Copland’s Quiet City, with our own Principal Trumpet Tom Rolfs and Principal English Horn Rob Sheena as soloists. Quiet City is a gentle and lyrical gem of a piece, not flashy or loud. You wouldn’t think a Sunday afternoon concert, with families picnicking and little kids running around on the lawn, would be the most intimate setting for a piece like that, but it was perfect and the performance was serene. Tom and Rob played the piece as well if not better than it has ever been played. Copland actually composed Quiet City in a barn just a couple of miles up the road from Tanglewood in the 1940s, and with Andris Nelsons, a trumpet player himself conducting, the performance was an amazing throwback to the years of history that make Tanglewood unique and the gifted musicians

Marco Borggreve

LAWRENCE WOLFE, assistant principal bass, Boston Symphony Orchestra; principal bass, Boston Pops Orchestra

Over the years, I’ve experienced a few storms at Tanglewood—rivulets running down the aisles as Renée Fleming’s voice competes with thunderous rain, James Taylor inviting audience members on the lawn into the Shed to take shelter from the rain—but the one I always remember took place while I was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow performing an evening concert with the Boston Symphony. I believe Rudolf Serkin was performing a Beethoven piano concerto and we could see lightning and thunderstorms gathered off in the distance. A transformer must have been hit, because all of a sudden the Shed went completely dark! The orchestra and soloist didn’t miss a beat, and continued playing in absolute dark for 30 seconds until the lights finally went on and there was a roar of applause from the audience. To me, that demonstrates the deep well of experience and talent from which we all draw for these concerts. A lesser orchestra may have stopped, but the Boston Symphony did not!

At Tanglewood, Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

SUMMER

FESTIVALS 2017

A flutist at New Yorkâ€™s Lake George Music Festival, where professional musicians and emerging young artists perform chamber music and fullorchestra concerts.

AL A S KA

Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Fairbanks, AK July 16 to July 30 A unique multi-disciplinary study-performance festival offers workshops and performances with inspiring guest artists. Festival includes orchestra, string professionals and amateurs, chamber music, composer premieres, opera workshop, and string and jazz intensives. Festival Artistic Direction: Terese Kaptur Festival Conductor: Robert Franz Festival Artists: Clipper Anderson, Paul Sharpe, bass; Jess Frane, George Rydlinski, bassoon; Charley Akert, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hodges, cello; Kay DeCorso, Ted DeCorso, Mara Mayer, clarinet; Stephen Lias, composer; Katie Cox, flute; Marcia Dickstein, harp; Susan Hurley-Glowa, Cheryl Pierce, Richard Tremarello, horn; Sharman Piper, Candy Rydlinski, Mary Tesch, oboe; Joe Bergen, Zach Compston, Jim Levine, James Yoshizawa, percussion; Darin Clendenin, Lorna Eder, Teresa Harbaugh, Ian Scarfe, piano; Keith Karns, Linn Weeda, Jim Kowalsky, trumpet; Jennifer Drake, Maureen Heflinger, viola; Joseph Genualdi, Bryan Hall, Kathryn Hoffer, Lisa Ibias, Dawn Lindsay,

Andie Springer, violin; Jaunelle Celaire, Timothy Cheek, Rebecca Grimes, Greta Matassa, Chris Meerdink, vocalists Featured Groups: FSAF New Music Ensemble Orchestra Affiliation: Festival Orchestra For Information: Terese Kaptur, director Post Office Box 82510 Fairbanks, AK 99708 907 474 8869 info@fsaf.org fsaf.org Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival

@FSAFAlaska

@fairbankssummerarts

A RKA N SAS

Artosphere Festival Multiple locations, Northwest AK May 4 to May 20 Featuring music, dance, theater, visual arts, and community events, Artosphere celebrates artists who inspire us to live more sustainable lives. The Artosphere Festival Orchestra features musicians from around the world performing symphonic and chamber works.

Festival Artistic Direction: Walton Arts Center Festival Conductor: Corrado Rovaris Featured Groups: Dover Quartet, Momix, Squonk Opera, Third Coast Percussion, Trail Mix Orchestra Affiliation: Artosphere Festival Orchestra For Information: Jason Howell Smith jsmith@waltonartscenter.org waltonartscenter.org/artosphere Hot Springs Music Festival Hot Springs, AK June 4 to June 17 Casual, classical fun is at the heart of this festival, where talented young musicians play alongside gifted mentors to perform world-class music. Festival Artistic Direction: Peter Bay Festival Conductor: Peter Bay For Information: Lynn Payette, chorus and communications director Post Office Box 1857 Hot Springs, AR 71902 501 623 4763 lynn@hotmusic.org hotmusic.org Hot Springs Music Festival

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SPRING 2017

C A LIFOR NIA

Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Santa Cruz, CA July 30 to August 12 America’s foremost festival dedicated to new music for orchestra begins a new generation of artistic innovation with Music Director and Conductor Cristian Macelaru. Twelve participating composers, a roster of renowned soloists, and seven world premieres make the coastal town of Santa Cruz “a new music mecca” this August. Festival Artistic Direction: Cristian Macelaru Festival Conductor: Cristian Macelaru Featured Composers: Karim Al-Zand, Clarice Assad, Gerald Barry, William Bolcom, Gabriela Lena Frank, Michael Gandolfi, Jake Heggie, Aaron Jay Kernis, David T. Little, Cindy McTee, Chris Rountree, Gabriella Smith, James Stephenson, Jorg Widmann Guest Artists: Jonathan Lemalu, bass-baritone; Gemma New, conductor; Evelyn Glennie, Keita Ogawa, percussion; Clarice Assad, piano/vocal; Jason Hardink, piano; Cristian Macelaru, narrator/ violin; Jennifer Frautschi, violin For Information: Ellen Primack, executive director 147 South River Street, Suite 232 Santa Cruz, CA 95060 831 426 6966 info@cabrillomusic.org cabrillomusic.org Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

@CabrilloFest

Festival Mozaic San Luis Obispo, CA July 19 to July 30 Festival Mozaic presents orchestra, chamber and crossover concerts in a variety of venues large and small. Repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary to experimental, with an emphasis on audience education. Festival Artistic Direction: Scott Yoo Festival Conductor: Scott Yoo Featured Artists: Jonah Kim, cello; Romie de GuiseLanglois, clarinet; Alice Dade, flute; Maurycy Banaszek, viola; Erik Arvinder, Steven Copes, Aurelia Duca, Serena McKinney, Grace Park, Emily Daggett Smith, violin; Elizabeth Koch Tiscione, oboe; Stephen Prutsman, piano/composer; John Novacek, piano; Michael Tiscione, trumpet Featured Groups: Fire and Grace, Simply Three Orchestra Affiliation: Festival Mozaic Orchestra For Information: Bettina Swigger, executive director Post Office Box 311 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 805 781 3009 bettina@festivalmozaic.com festivalmozaic.com Festival Mozaic

@FestivalMozaic

@festivalmozaic

FOOSA Festival/Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy Fresno, CA June 11 to June 25 americanorchestras.org

@HollywoodBowl

An intensive orchestral immersion program, FOOSA offers side-by-side training for college and high school pre-professional musicians. Concerto competition (winner performs with orchestra), master classes, solo recitals, and daily private lessons. Festival Artistic Direction: Thomas Loewenheim Festival Conductor: Thomas Loewenheim Festival Artists: Catherine Marchese, bassoon; Thomas Loewenheim, Jonathan Ruck, cello; Guy Yehuda, clarinet; Bruce Bransby, double bass; Mihoko Watanabe, flute; Laura Porter, harp; Rong-Huey Liu, oboe; Matthew Darling, percussion; Luis Fred, trombone; Edmund Cord, trumpet; Michael Chang, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola; Francisco Cabán, Sharan Leventhal, Limor Toren-Immerman, violin Orchestra Affiliation: Youth Orchestras of Fresno For Information: Julia Copeland, executive director 1586 West Shaw Avenue Fresno, CA 93711 559 275 6694 cell 559 512 6694 foosamusic@gmail.com foosamusic.org

FOOSA Festival/Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy @FoosaMusic

@foosafest

Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA June 17 to September 24 One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the Hollywood Bowl has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922. Festival Artistic Direction: Gustavo Dudamel Festival Conductors: Karina Canellakis, Stéphane Denève, Gustavo Dudamel, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Ken-David Masur, Nicholas McGegan, David Newman, Rafael Payare, Vasily Petrenko, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Bramwell Tovey, Krzysztof Urbański Festival Artists: Yo-Yo Ma, Thomas Mesa, cello; Misty Copeland, Marcelo Gomes, Natalia Osipova, Sergei Polunin, dance; Behzod Abduraimov, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Inon Barnatan; Aaron Diehl, Beatrice Rana, piano; Alison Balsom, trumpet; Kristóf Baráti, Joshua Bell, Martin Chalifour, Pekka Kuusisto, Simone Porter, Gil Shaham, Elena Urioste, violin; Justine Aronson, J’Nai Bridges, Ryan Speedo Green, vocalists Featured Groups: Los Angeles Master Chorale: Grant Gershon, artistic director; Amanda Majeski, Tim Mead, vocalists; Pacific Chorale: John Alexander, artistic director, Sherezade Panthaki, Miah Persson, David Portillo, John Relyea, Issachah Savage, Christianne Stotijn, vocalists Orchestra Affiliation: Los Angeles Philharmonic For Information: Gail Samuel, executive director 323 850 2000 info@laphil.org hollywoodbowl.com Hollywood Bowl

@hollywoodbowl

Mainly Mozart Festival San Diego, CA June 2 to June 25 San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival features an orchestra of concertmasters and principal players from the nation’s premier orchestras, with world-renowned soloists. Includes chamber music, lectures on music-brain connections, and more. Festival Artistic Direction: Michael Francis Festival Conductor: Michael Francis Festival Soloists: Andrew Bain, horn; Jorge Federico Osorio, Javier Perianes, Conrad Tao, piano; Agustin Hadelich, violin For Information: Nancy Laturno Bojanic, executive director 404 Euclid Avenue, Suite 301 San Diego, CA 92114 619 239 0100 nlaturno@mainlymozart.org mainlymozart.org Music Academy of the West 2017 Summer School and Festival Santa Barbara, CA June 12 to August 5 The 70th Summer School and Festival will feature over 200 masterclasses, recitals, performances, and events in Santa Barbara, California. The Festival events will highlight the Summer School’s 140 fellows from more than twenty states and ten countries, and nearly 70 faculty and guest artists. Festival Artistic Direction: Patrick Posey Festival Conductors: Matthew Aucoin, Alan Gilbert, Larry Rachleff, Speranza Scappucci Festival Artists: 140 Fellows Academy Faculty & Guest Artists: Strings: Glenn Dicterow, violin and string leadership; Jorja Fleezanis violin, orchestral studies and chamber music; Kathleen Winkler violin and chamber music; Karen Dreyfus, viola, orchestral studies and chamber music; Richard O’Neill (’98, ’99), viola and chamber music; Cynthia Phelps (’79, ’83) viola; David Geber cello and chamber music; Alan Stepansky cello, chamber music and orchestral studies; Nico Abondolo (’87), double bass; Woodwinds: Timothy Day, flute; Jim Walker, flute; Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida, oboe; Eugene Izotov, oboe; Richie Hawley, clarinet; Benjamin Kamins (’68, ’69), bassoon; Dennis Michel, bassoon; Brass: Julie Landsman, horn; Barbara Butler, trumpet; Charlie Geyer, trumpet; Paul Merkelo, trumpet; Mark H. Lawrence, trombone and tuba; Ralph Sauer, trombone; Michael Werner (’90), percussion; Joseph Pereira, timpani; JoAnn Turovsky, harp; Solo Piano: Jeremy Denk, Jerome Lowenthal, Conor Hanick; Collaborative Piano: Jonathan Feldman, director, Natasha Kislenko (’01), Margaret McDonald (’00, ’01, ’02); Voice and Vocal Piano: Marilyn Horne (’53), voice program director; Warren Jones, vocal piano and interpretation; Fred Carama, vocal technique and performance; John Churchwell, vocal coach; Mary Blackwood Collier (’61), French coach; Martin Katz (’64), vocal piano and interpretation; Giuseppe Mentuccia, Italian coach and assistant conductor; Nils Neubert, German coach; James Darrah, director,

The Elixir of Love; Nino Sanikidze (’01, ’02), vocal coach; Tamara Sanikidze (’05, ’06, ’07), vocal coach; Bill Williams, performance coach Faculty Emeritus: Donald McInnes (’54, ’55, ’56), viola; Peter Salaff, chamber music Guest Artists: Martin Beaver, violin and chamber music; Robert deMaine (’90), cello, chamber music, and orchestral studies; Nicholas Mann, violin and chamber music; Robert McDonald, solo piano Mosher Guest Artists: Matthew Aucoin, composer; Stephen Hough, piano Guest Composers: Timo Andres, Mathew Aucoin, Jake Heggie, Stephen Hough, Caroline Shaw, James Stephenson (’88, ’91), Joseph Tompkins, Jeremy Turner Featured Groups: Academy Festival Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Takács Quartet Orchestra Affiliation: New York Philharmonic For Information: Rayna Davis, community access manager 1070 Fairway Road Santa Barbara, CA 93108 805 969 8787 ticketoffice@musicacademy.org musicacademy.org

Festival Artistic Direction: Thomas W. Morris Festival Conductor: Steven Schick Festival Artists: Stephan Crump, Chris Tordini, bass; Rubin Kodheli, cello; Gwendolyn Brown, contralto; Sean Griffin, director; Tyshawn Sorey, drums; Claire Chase, Nicole Mitchell, flute; Jen Shyu, performer/composer; Vijay Iyer, Cory Smythe, piano; Rudresh Mahanthappa, saxophone; Helga Davis, Joelle Lamarre, soprano; Zakir Hussain, tabla; Julian Otis, tenor; Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet; Kyle Armbrust, viola; Chern Hwei Fung, Jennifer Koh, violin; Aruna Sairam, vocalist Featured Groups: Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, electronic; Brentano Quartet; International Contempory Ensemble; The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, and Roscoe

Music@Menlo Atherton and Menlo Park, CA July 14 to August 5 For its fifteenth-anniversary season, Music@ Menlo focuses on one of the most versatile instruments ever created: the violin. Concert programs and artist-curated events are complemented by immersive lectures, master classes, and afternoon performances. Festival Artistic Direction: David Finckel, Wu Han Festival Artists: Scott Pingel, bass; Radovan Vlatković, brass; Dmitri Atapine, Nicholas

Left: At the Ojai Music Festival, the Calder Quartet and Davone Tines perform at the Zalk Theatre, 2016. Below: Flutist and International Contemporary Ensemble cofounder Claire Chase perform at a late-night concert at Ojai’s Libbey Bowl in 2015.

Music Academy of the West

@MusicAcademyW

Music in the Vineyards

@MITV_NapaValley

@musicinthevineyards

Canellakis, David Finckel, Clive Greensmith, Keith Robinson, cello; Aaron Boyd, Fred Child, Christopher H. Gibbs, Ray Iwazumi, Soovin Kim, encounter leaders; Gloria Chien, Peter Dugan, Gilbert Kalish, Hyeyeon Park, Juho Pohjonen, Yekwon Sunwoo, Orion Weiss, Wu Han, piano; Enrico Giannini, visual artist; Roberto Díaz, HsinYun Huang, Paul Neubauer, Richard O’Neill, viola; Benjamin Beilman, Ivan Chan, Chad Hoopes, Bella Hristova, Paul Huang, Soovin Kim, Jessica Lee, Sean Lee, Yura Lee, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Arnaud Sussmann, Danbi Um, violin Featured Groups: Escher String Quartet For Information: 50 Valparaiso Avenue Atherton, CA 94207 650 330 2030 musicatmenlo.org

Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute @musicatmenlo

@musicatmenlo

Ojai Music Festival Ojai CA June 8 to June 11 The 71st festival will celebrate diverse communities of music, artists, and collaborations in a weekend of stimulation and reflection curated by Music Director Vijay Iyer. Iyer’s programming will make connections across genres and traditions to explore how composers, performers, and improvisers make music together and update the idea of what music is today.

Mariah Tauger

Music in the Vineyards Napa Valley, California August 4 to August 27 Music in the Vineyards is a nationally-acclaimed chamber music festival held each August in the Napa Valley. The four-week festival showcases nearly 40 world-class artists-in-residence performing new and classic chamber music repertoire in stunning winery settings. Festival Artistic Direction: Daria Adams, Michael Adams Festival Artists: Scott Pingel, bass; Stephen Paulson, bassoon; Suren Bagratuni, Gregory Beaver, Joshua Roman, Nick Canellakis, Brandon Vamos, Raman Ramakrishnan, Brook Speltz, cello; Osmo Vanska, clarinet; William Langlie-Miletich, double bass; Lorna McGhee, flute; Michael Adams, host; Eric Zivian, Wei-yi Yang, Michael Brown, Rieko Aizawa, piano; Melissa Reardon, David Harding, Nicholas Chords, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Masumi Per Rostad, Pierre Lapointe, Jonah Sirota, viola; Daria Adams, Erin Keefe, Nathan Cole, Hye Jin Kim, Ara Gregorian, Violaine Melancon, Francisco Fullana, Axel Strauss, Francesca dePasquale, Kerri McDermott, Simin Ganatra, Sibbi Berhardsson, Jesse Mills, Adam Barnett-Hart, Aaron Boyd, Rebecca Fisher, Hyeyung Julie Yoon, violin Featured Groups: Chiara Quartet, Escher Quartet, Horszowski Trio, Pacifica Quartet For Information: Evie Ayers, executive director Post Office Box 6297 Napa, CA 94581 707 258 5559 evie@musicinthevineyards.org musicinthevineyards.org

Larry Dunn

@musicacademyw

Mitchell; Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble; Vijay Iyer Sextet; Vijay Iyer Trio Orchestra Affiliation: International Contemporary Ensemble For Information: Gina Gutierrez, chief operating officer Post Office Box 185 Ojai, CA 93024 805 646 2094 ggutierrez@ojaifestival.org ojaifestival.org Ojai Music Festival https://twitter.com/ - !/ MITV_NapaValley @OjaiFestivals

@ojaifestivals

Pacific Symphony SummerFest 2017

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SPRING 2017

Costa Mesa, CA July 4 to September 9 Pacific Symphony SummerFest 2017 kicks off a whole new era of sensational summer music in its new venue, the Pacific Amphitheatre at the OC Fair & Event Center. Festival Conductors: Albert-George Schram, conductor; Carl St.Clair, music director; Richard Kaufman, principal pops conductor Festival Artists: 2017 Van Cliburn Competition winner, piano; Kenny Loggins, Matt Ryan, vocals; Jurassic Park, film Featured Group: The American Dream - Bruce Springsteen Tribute Band Orchestra Affiliation: Pacific Symphony For Information: 17620 Fitch Avenue, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92614 714 755 5799 info@pacificsymphony.org pacificsymphony.org Pacific Symphony

@PacificSymphony

@pacificsymphony

C OLOR A D O

Aspen Music Festival and School Aspen, CO June 29 to August 20 The AMFS is regarded as one of the top classical music festivals in the world, noted both for its concert programming and its musical training. The summer includes more than 400 events. Festival Artistic Direction: Edward Berkeley, director, Aspen Opera Center; Alan Fletcher, president and CEO, AMFS; Robert Spano, music director, AMFS; Asadour Santourian, vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor, AMFS Festival Conductors: Christian Arming, Ingmar Beck, Andrey Boreyko, Johannes Debus, Hans Graf, George Manahan, Nicholas McGegan, Ludovic Morlot, Rafael Payare, Larry Rachleff, Robert Spano, Michael Stern, Patrick Summers, Markus Stenz, Joshua Weilerstein, Hugh Wolff, John Nelson Festival Artists: Edgar Meyer, bass; David Finckel, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Rufus Wainwright, composer; Sharon Isbin, guitar; Inon Barnatan, Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, Marc-André Hamelin, Wu Han, Martin Helmchen, Dennis Kozhukhin, Nikolai Lugansky, Conrad Tao, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Joyce Yang, piano; Renée Fleming, soprano; Sarah Chang, Veronika Eberle, Augustin Hadelich, Stefan Jackiw, Sergey Khachaturyan, Jennifer Koh, Robert McDuffie, Simone Porter, Gil Shaham, violin Featured Groups: American Brass Quintet, American String Quartet, Pacifica Quartet, Takács Quartet For Information: Box Office 225 Music School Road Aspen, CO 81611 970 925 9042 tickets@aspenmusic.org aspenmusicfestival.com/ Aspen Music Festival and School

@aspenmusic

americanorchestras.org

@aspenmusicfest Bravo! Vail Music Festival Vail, CO June 22 to August 4 Bravo! Vail hosts four world-renowned orchestras every season—the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields—along with numerous internationally acclaimed soloists and chamber ensembles. Festival Artistic Direction: Anne-Marie McDermott Festival Conductors: Stéphane Denève, Alan Gilbert, Leonidas Kavakos,Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jeff Tyzik, Bramwell Tovey, Jaap van Zweden Festival Artists: Joe Kaiser, baritone; Steven Isserlis, cello; Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano; Inon Barnatan, Yefim Bronfman, Jenny Chen, Anton Nels, Garrick Ohlsson, Chelsea Wang, Haochen Zhang, piano; Susanna Phillips, soprano; Ted Louis Levy, tap dancer/vocalist; Byron Stripling, trumpet; Joshua Bell, James Ehnes, Leonidas Kavakos, Simone Lamsma, Gil Shaham, violin; Miche Braden, vocalist Featured Groups: Aeolus Quartet, Calder Quartet, Danish Sting Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Ensemble Connect, Lyris Quartet, Zorá String Quartet Orchestra Affiliation: Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra For Information: Lisa Mallory, vice president of marketing and executive vice president 2271 North Frontage Road West, Suite C Vail, CO 81657 970 827 5700 lmallory@bravovail.org bravovail.org Bravo Vail

@BravoVail

Colorado Music Festival Boulder, CO June 29 to August 3 Now in its 40th season, the Colorado Music Festival presents a six-week summer concert season at Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder showcasing Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. Inspired programming performed by exceptional national and international musicians has earned Colorado Music Festival recognition from the League of American Orchestras and the National Endowment for the Arts. Festival Artistic Direction: Jean-Marie Zeitouni Festival Conductors: Giora Bernstein, Steve Hackman, Jean-Marie Zeitouni Festival Artists: Keith Miller, bass-baritone; Boris Allakhverdyan, clarinet; Michelle De Young, mezzo-soprano; Stewart Goodyear, Olga Kern, Benedetto Lupo, Christopher O’Riley, Pablo Ziegler, piano; Mary Wilson, soprano; Jason Baldwin, tenor; Gil Shaham, Elina Vähälä, violin Featured Groups: Time for Three

Orchestra Affiliation: Colorado Music Festival Orchestra For Information: Elizabeth Mcguire, executive director 200 East Baseline Road Lafayette, CO 80026 303 665 0599 mcguire@comusic.org coloradomusicfestival.org Colorado Music Festival

@Colomusicorg

@colomusicorg

Music in the Mountains Durango, CO July 9 to July 30 A classical music festival and conservatory, Music in the Mountains offers three weeks of world-class music in southwest Colorado. Hear the incredible Festival Orchestra and renowned soloists in a variety of unique venues at Purgatory Resort and around town in churches, concert halls, and more. Festival Artistic Direction: Gregory Hustis Festival Conductor: Guillermo Figueroa Festival Artists: Wendy Warner, cello; Inna Faliks, David Korevaar, Steven Lin, piano; Byron Stripling, trumpet; Richard White, tuba; Tessa Lark, Shannon Lee, Elmar Oliveira, violin; Lisa Vroman, vocalist Featured Groups: Cezanne Quartet, Eileen Ivers For Information: Angie Beach, executive director 1063 Main Avenue Durango, CO 81301 970 385 6820 abeach@MusicintheMountains.com MusicintheMountains.com Music in the Mountains

National Repertory Orchestra Breckenridge, CO June 10 to July 28 The National Repertory Orchestra performs two full orchestra concerts each week in beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado. This summer’s festival presents 88 talented young musicians from top music schools around the country. Join us as we celebrate artistic director Carl Topilow’s 40th anniversary season. Festival Artistic Direction: Carl Topilow Festival Conductors: Karina Canellakis, Brett Mitchell, Michael Stern, Tito Muñoz, Miguel Harth-Bedoya Festival Artists: Stephen Hough, piano; Joan Ellison, vocalist For Information: David DePeters, CEO Riverwalk Center 150 West Adams Avenue Post Office Box 6336 Breckenridge, CO 80424 970 453 5825 dave@nromusic.com nromusic.com National Repertory Orchestra

@NROmusic

@nromusic

Strings Music Festival Steamboat Springs, CO June 23 to August 20 Strings Music Festival presents music of the highest quality, performed by the world’s finest musicians. The Strings Music Pavilion showcases a terrific acoustical environment and provides an intimate setting. Festival Artistic Direction: Michael Sachs Festival Conductors: Mark Gould, Loras John Schissel Festival Artists: Joel Noyes, Sara Sant’Ambrogio, cello; Mark Nuccio, clarinet; Martin Chalifour, Nurit Bar-Josef, concertmasters; Christina Smith, flute; Jennifer Montone, horn; Elizabeth Koch Tiscione, oboe; Wendy Chen, Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; David Bilger, Michael Sachs, trumpet; Chee-Yun, violin Featured Groups: Ben Sollee and Kentucky Native, Boston Brass, Emily Bear Trio, Parker String Quartet, Gold Medalist of the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Orchestra Affiliation: Strings Festival Orchestra For Information: Elissa Greene, executive director 900 Strings Road Steamboat Springs, CO 80477 970 879 5056 elissa@stringsmusicfestival.com stringsmusicfestival.com/

Strings Music Festival Steamboat Springs, CO @StringsFestival

@stringsmusicfestival The Colorado College Summer Music Festival Colorado Springs, CO June 4 to June 24 The Colorado College Summer Music Festival is an intensive three-week program for 52 advanced student musicians who work with world-class faculty to further develop their musical talents. Festival Artistic Direction: Susan Grace Festival Conductor: Scott Yoo Festival Artists: Susan Cahill, bass; Michael Kroth, bassoon; Bion Tsang, David Ying, cello; Burt Hara, Jon Manasse, clarinet; Elizabeth Mann, Carol Wincenc, flute; Michael Thornton, horn; Jonathan Fischer, Elizabeth Koch, oboe; John Kinzie, percus-

sion; Susan Grace, Jon Nakamatsu, John Novacek, Orion Weiss, Bill Wolfram, piano; John Rojak, trombone; Kevin Cobb, trumpet; Toby Appel, Phillip Ying, viola; Steven Copes, Jonathan Crow, Mark Fewer, Stefan Hersh, Andrew Wan, violin For Information: Gina Spiers, assistant director Summer Music Festival 14 East Cache la Poudre Street Colorado Springs, CO 80903 719 389 6552 festival@coloradocollege.edu coloradocollege.edu/musicfestival Colorado College Summer Music Festival

@CCSummerMusic

C O NNECTICU T

Talcott Mountain Music Festival Simsbury, CT June 30 to July 28 Celebrate the summer season at the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s annual Talcott Mountain Music Festival in Simsbury. Pack your picnic, attend with family and friends, relax under the stars, and enjoy the music! Festival Artistic Direction: Carolyn Kuan Festival Conductor: Carolyn Kuan Orchestra Affiliation: Hartford Symphony Orchestra For Information: Colette Hall, artistic operations manager 166 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 860 987 5900 chall@hartfordsymphony.org hartfordsymphony.org Hartford Symphony Orchestra

@HSOTweets

@hartfordsymphony

F L O RI DA

Sarasota Music Festival Sarasota, FL June 5 to June 24 Sarasota Music Festival is a magical combination of 40 acclaimed faculty artists performing intriguing and dazzling pieces with 60 students from around the world, led by Music Director Jeffrey Kahane.

Festival Artistic Direction: Jeffrey Kahane Festival Conductor: Jeffrey Kahane Featured Group: yMusic Orchestra Affiliation: Sarasota Orchestra For Information: RoseAnne McCabe, SMF administrative director 709 North Tamiami Trail Sarasota, FL 34236 smf@sarasotaorchestra.org sarasotaorchestra.org/festival @SMFMusic

@sarasotaorchestra Symphony of the Americas Summerfest Fort Lauderdale, FL July 5 to August 10 Annual festival with renowned international chamber orchestra and soloists in residence joined by SOA musicians in concerts and recordings throughout Florida and selected countries of the Americas. Festival Artistic Direction: James Brooks-Bruzzese Festival Conductor: James Brooks-Bruzzese Festival Artists: Azziz Sapaev, cello; Lorenzo Turchi-Floris, composer/conductor/pianist; Marco Navarrette, oboe; Orlando Forte, Valentin Mansurov, David Pedraza, violin Featured Groups: Musicfor and Symphony of the Americas Orchestra Affiliation: Symphony of the Americas For Information: Renee LaBonte, vice president and executive director 2425 East Commercial Boulevard, #405 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 954 335 7002 im4arts@aol.com sota.org Symphony of the Americas

H AWAII

Hawaii Youth Symphony’s Pacific Music Institute Honolulu, HI July 9 to July 16 HYS’s Pacific Music Institute offers intensive instruction for intermediate and advanced students (ages 14-18) of orchestral instruments. Curriculum includes large ensembles, sectionals, chamber music, jazz band, masterclasses, and performances. For Information: Ann Doike, programs manager 1110 University Avenue, Suite 200 Honolulu, HI 96826 808 941 9706 admin@hiyouthsymphony.org HiYouthSymphony.org Hawaii Youth Symphony

@HiYouthSymphony

@hiyouthsymphony

SUSAN GRACE, MUSIC DIRECTOR SCOTT YOO, CONDUCTOR

ILLIN OIS

Grant Park Music Festival Chicago, IL June 14 to August 19 For more than 80 years, the Grant Park Music Festival has been Chicago’s summer musical sensa-

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tion, demonstrating that classical music performed by a world-class orchestra and chorus can have a transformative impact on the city. Showcased in the city’s most spectacular setting, the festival continues to be the summer gathering place for all of Chicago. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, located between Michigan and Columbus Avenues at Washington Street, is the official home of the Grant Park Music Festival, with free seats available for every concert. Festival Artistic Direction: Carlos Kalmar Festival Conductors: Christopher Bell, chorus director, Carlos Kalmar, principal conductor and artistic director Festival Artists: Grant Park Chorus, Grant Park Orchestra For Information: Jill Hurwitz, director of marketing and media relations 205 East Randolph Street Chicago, IL 60601 312 742 7638 info@gpmf.org gpmf.org Grant Park Music Festival

Festival Artists: Morris Robinson, Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone; Harriet Krijgh, cello; Alexander Bickard, double bass; Jeanne Galway, James Galway, flute; Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano; Cristina Gómez Godoy, oboe; Behzod Abduraimov, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Magda Amara, Jonathan Biss, Yefim Bronfman, Kevin Cole, Inna Faliks, Vladimir Feltsman, Martina Filjak, David Fung, Kirill Gerstein, Alon Goldstein, Angela Hewitt, Lang Lang, Nikolai Lugansky, Denis Matsuev, Phillip Moll, Kevin Murphy, Christina Naughton, Michelle Naughton, Adam Nielsen, Garrick Ohlsson, Juho Pohjonen, Daniel Schlosberg, Simon Trpčeski, Bryan Wallick, Yuja Wang, piano; Marisol Montalvo, Nadine Sierra, soprano; Matthew Polenzani, tenor; Joshua Bell, Ray Chen, Miriam Fried, Chad

and Broadway music. Festival Artistic Direction: Kirk Muspratt Festival Conductor: Kirk Muspratt Orchestra Affiliation: Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra For Information: Tammie Miller, marketing coordinator 1040 Ridge Road Munster, IN 46321 219 836 0525 info@nisorchestra.org nisorchestra.org @NWISymphony

@nwisymphony

MAIN E

Bar Harbor Music Festival Bar Harbor, ME July 2 to July 30

A performance of Don Giovanni at the 2016 Bar Harbor Music Festival

@gpmf

grantparkmusicfestival Maud Powell Music Festival Peru, IL July 16 to August 12 The Maud Powell Music Festival brings topquality performances and educational opportunities to the midwest. Special events include a children’s music theater camp and a three-state recital tour by festival staff. Festival Artistic Direction: Kevin McMahon Festival Conductors: David Leibowitz, Kevin McMahon, Shawn Weber McMahon Festival Artists: Tony Memmel, composer; Kevin McMahon, composer and violin; Li Shan Hung, Mary Schallhorn, piano; Carol Shamory, soprano; Shawn Weber McMahon, voice and stage director Featured Groups: Maud Powell Children’s Chorus, Maud Powell Trio For Information: Kevin McMahon, artistic director Post Office Box 501 Peru, IL 61354 815 638 2495 mpmf@hughes.net powellfest.com Ravinia Festival Chicago, IL June 9 to September 17 Ravinia, located north of Chicago, is North America’s oldest and most diverse music festival, presenting over 140 different events every summer, including the annual residency of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Festival Artistic Direction: Welz Kauffman Festival Conductors: Andrey Boreyko, Lionel Bringuier, Emil de Cou, Christoph Eschenbach, Edward Gardner, James Levine, Susanna Mälkki, Kent Nagano, Giandrea Noseda, Steven Reineke, Dima Slobodeniouk, Jeannette Sorrell, Krzysztof Urbański, Ludwig Wicki, Pinchas Zukerkman americanorchestras.org

Hoopes, Vadim Repin, Pinchas Zukerkman, violin; Ashley Brown, Tony DeSare, Sylvia McNair, vocalists Featured Groups: Apollo’s Fire, Calidore String Quartet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Danish String Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Fine Arts Quartet, Juilliard String Quartet, Lincoln Trio, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Orchestra Affiliation: Chicago Symphony Orchestra For Information: Allie Brightwell, media manager 200 Ravinia Park Road Highland Park, IL 60035 847 266 5014 abrightwell@ravinia.org ravinia.org Ravinia Festival

@RaviniaFestival

@raviniafestival

INDIAN A

South Shore Summer Music Festival Northwestern IN July 22 to August 12 Join us for evenings under the stars with your neighbors in communities across northwestern Indiana, featuring a mix of light classical, movie

Hailed as “…one of New England’s great music festivals,” Bar Harbor celebrates its 51st season in a breathtaking setting. Highlights will include Donizetti’s Don Pasquale; the 34th Annual New Composers Concert, “Composition and Creativity in the Tech Age”; and the world premiere of Jill Jaffe’s With Each Passing Moon for oboe and string orchestra, Gerard Reuter, oboe soloist Artistic Direction: Francis Fortier Festival Conductors: Francis Fortier, conductor, Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra; Cara Chowning, music director, Bar Harbor Music Festival Opera Theatre Featured Artists: Jimmy Mazzy, banjo; David Cushing, bass; John Clark, Eric Thomas, clarinet; Joshua Cody, Valerie Coleman, Michael Galante, Jill Jaffe, composers; Allison Kiger, flute; Christopher Ladd, guitar, Gerard Reuter, oboe; Cara Chowning, Deborah Fortier, Christopher Johnson, Max Lifchitz, Antonio Galera López, Ross Petot, Michael Shane Wittenberg, piano; Janinah Burnett, April Martin, soprano; Fenlon Lamb, stage director; Jeffrey Ellenberger, Claudia Schaer, violin Featured Groups: Ardelia Trio, Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra, Bar Harbor Music Festival Opera Theatre, Brass Venture, Wolverine Jazz Band Orchestra Affiliation: Bar Harbor Festival String Orchestra

For information: Deborah Swanger Fortier Before June 12: 741 West End Avenue, Suite 4-B New York, NY 10025 212 222 1026 After June 12: The Rodick Building 59 Cottage Street Bar Harbor, ME 04609 207 288 5744 info@barharbormusicfestival.org barharbormusicfestival.org

Canada 403 463 7374 Info@mmb.international mmb.international

Morningside Music Bridge

Bar Harbor Music Festival

M A S S A C HUS ETTS

Boston Landmarks Orchestra at DCR’s Hatch Memorial Shell Boston, MA July 19 to August 23 Boston Landmarks Orchestra offers free outdoor concerts at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Hatch Memorial Shell, frequently featuring collaborations with other performing, educational, and social service organizations. Festival Conductor: Christopher Wilkins Festival Artists: Boston Landmarks Orchestra Featured Groups: Back Bay Chorale, One City Choir, ZUMIX, and others Orchestra Affiliation: Boston Landmarks Orchestra For Information: Jo Frances Meyer, executive director 214 Lincoln Street, Suite 331 Boston, MA 02134 617 982 2000 info@landmarksorchestra.org landmarksorchestra.org Boston Landmarks Orchestra

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Morningside Music Bridge Boston, MA July 6 to August 4 Morningside Music Bridge is an international solo and chamber music festival. Resident Artist Concerts feature world-class performers, and there are numerous free performances by emerging artists. Artistic Direction: Teng Li Festival Conductor: Earl Lee Festival Artists: Andres Diaz, Paul Katz, Peter Stumpf, Tian Bonian, cello; Chen Sa, Krzysztof Jablonski, Meng-Chieh Liu, Hae-Sun Paik, Golda Vainberg-Tatz, Wang Xiaohan, piano; Hsin-Yun Huang, Yu Jin, Ori Kam, Kim Kashkashian, Teng Li, André Roy, Steve Tenenbom, viola; Noah Bendix-Balgley, Nikki Chooi, Timmi Chooi, Jonathan Crow, Midori Gotō, Ida Kavafian, Weigang Li, Mihaela Martin, Ayano Ninomiya, Agata Szymczewska, Shanshan Yao, Xiang Angelo Yu, violin Orchestra Affiliation: Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra For Information: Maimie De Silva, project manager Post Office Box 4 Kaleden, BC V0H 1K0

Tanglewood Lenox, MA June 18 to September 1 One of the most popular and acclaimed music festivals in the world, Tanglewood—the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home since 1937— is located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills between Lenox and Stockbridge, MA. Festival Artistic Direction: Andris Nelsons, Anthony Fogg Featured Conductors: David Afkham, Stefan Asbury, Thomas Adès, Charles Dutoit, Gustavo Gimeno, Moritz Gnann, Hans Graf, Giancarlo Guerrero, Håkan Hardenberger, Eric Jacobsen, Keith Lockhart, Ken-David Masur, Andris Nelsons, Lahav Shani, Jeannette Sorrell, Bramwell Tovey, John Williams, Christoph von Dohnányi Featured Artists: Joshua Bell, Pamela Frank, Colin Jacobsen, Daniel Lozakovich, violin; Carson Elrod, Will Lyman, Karen MacDonald, actors; Ain Anger, bass; Ryan Speedo Green, Thomas J. Mayer, John Relyea, Morris Robinson, bass-baritone; Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Simon Keenlyside, Ryan McKinny, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, baritone; Yo-Yo Ma, Alisa Weilerstein, cello; William R. Hudgins, clarinet; Patricia Bardon, contralto; James Sommerville, Richard Sebring, horn; Jamie Barton, Sarah Connolly, Bernarda Fink, Abigail Fischer, Catherine Martin, Tamara Mumford, Renée Tatum, mezzo-soprano; Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Paul Lewis, Nikolai Lugansky, Garrick Ohlsson, Anna Polonsky, Peter Serkin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Daniil Trifonov, piano; Malin Christensson, Kiera Duffy, Jacqueline Echols, Katie Van Kooten, Kristine Opolais, Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Kim Begley, Paul Groves, David Butt Philip, Russell Thomas, tenor; Toby Oft, trombone; Thomas Rolfs, trumpet; Mike Roylance, tuba; Anne-Sophie Mutter, Gil Shaham, Nikolaj Znaider, Pinchas Zukerman, violin Featured Ensembles: Apollo’s Fire; Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra; Boston Pops Orchestra; Boston Symphony Chamber Players: Paul Lewis, piano; Yulia Van Doren, soprano; Emerson Quartet: Jay O. Sanders, David Strathairn, actors; André Schuen, baritone; Harold Robinson, double bass; Thomas Adès, piano; James Glossman, writer and director; Lorelei Ensemble; Mark Morris Dance Group: Mark Morris, choreographer; David Sedaris; Natalie Merchant; Sondheim on Sondheim: Sarna Lapine, director; Phillip Boykin, Carmen Cusak, Gabriel Ebert, Lisa Howard, vocalists; Takács Quartet: Garrick Ohlsson, piano; Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Tanglewood Music Center Fellows; Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra; The Avett Brothers; The Handel and Haydn Society: Matthew Brook, bass-baritone; Woodrow Bynum, baritone; Harry Christophers, conductor; Robin Blaze, countertenor; Antonia Christophers, narrator; Sarah Brailey, Margot Rood, Sonja DuToit

Tengblad, sopranos; Jonas Budris, Stefan Reed, tenors; The Knights: Jennifer Koh, violin; TMC Conducting Fellows; TMC Vocal Fellows Orchestra Affiliation: Boston Symphony Orchestra For Information: Mark Volpe, managing director 888 266 1200 customerservice@bso.org tanglewood.org Tanglewood Music Festival @TanglewoodMA

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Minnesota Beethoven Festival Winona, MN July 6 to July 23 The eleventh annual Minnesota Beethoven Festival, held in the beautiful bluff country of Winona, Minnesota, includes nine different concerts showcasing orchestral, choral, and chamber music performed by some of the great artists of our time. Festival Artistic Direction: Ned Kirk Festival Conductor: Dale Warland Festival Artists: David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano; Joshua Bell, violin Featured Groups: Anderson and Roe Piano Duo, Manhattan Chamber Players, Minnesota Beethoven Festival Chorale, Dover Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Boston Brass For Information: Caroline Kirk, marketing and public relations director Post Office Box 1143 Winona, MN 55987 507 474 9055 info@mnbeethovenfestival.org mnbeethovenfestival.org Minnesota Beethoven Festival

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Big Sky Classical Festival Big Sky, MT August 11 to August 13 Three nights of classical music in scenic Big Sky, where the mountains meet the music. Two venues—the indoor Warren Miller Performing Arts Center and outdoor Town Center Park—provide a beautiful setting. Sunday culminates in a free outdoor performance by the Big Sky Festival Orchestra, featuring music by Hummel, Mozart, Williams, and Schubert. Festival Artistic Direction: Angella Ahn Festival Conductor: Peter Bay Festival Artists: Molly Morkoski, piano; Mary Bowden, trumpet; Angella Ahn, violin Orchestra Affiliation: Austin Symphony, Billings Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Bozeman Symphony, Helena Symphony, Missoula Symphony, Great Falls Symphony, Utah Symphony For Information: Brian Hurlbut, executive director Post Office Box 160308 Big Sky, MT 59716 406 995 2742 marketing@bigskyarts.org bigskyarts.org

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Festival Amadeus 2017 Whitefish, MT August 7 to August 13 The festival’s tenth-anniversary series offers a week of chamber and orchestra concerts and Mozart’s Magic Flute in concert performed by the Festival Amadeus Orchestra presented by the Glacier Symphony and Chorale. Festival Artistic Direction: John Bernard Zoltek Festival Conductor: John Bernard Zoltek Festival Artists: Ricardo Herrera, baritone; Stephen Morsheck, bass; Tanya Gabrielian, piano; Hannah Brammer, Emily Paragine, soprano; Kirk Dougherty, Andrew Surrena, tenor; Yevgeny Kutik, violin Featured Groups: Fry Street Quartet Orchestra Affiliation: Glacier Symphony and Chorale For Information: John Bernard Zoltek, artistic director and conductor Post Office Box 2491 69 North Main Street Kalispell, MT 59903 406 407 7000 johnzoltek@gscmusic.org gscmusic.org Glacier Symphony and Chorale

@GlacierMusic

Tippet Rise Art Center Fishtail, MT July 7 to September 17 The second season at Tippet Rise will feature concerts performed indoors and out, celebrating the union of land, art, architecture, and music, featuring the world premiere of a work by Aaron Jay Kernis and 30+ events. Festival Artistic Direction: Charles Hamlen Festival Artists: Frank Morelli, bassoon; Zuill Bailey, Alexander Chaushian, Matt Haimovitz, Joshua Roman, cello; Mark Nuccio, clarinet; Xavier Foley, double bass; Jessica Sindell, flute; William VerMeulen, horn; Alex Klein, oboe; Doug Perkins, percussion; Michael Brown, Jenny Chen, Vicky Chow, Adam Golka, Jeffrey Kahane, Anne-Marie McDermott, Pedja Muzijevic, Natasha Paremski, Yevgeny Sudbin, Jiacheng Xiong, piano; Caroline Goulding, Paul Huang, violin Featured Groups: Ariel String Quartet, Escher String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet For Information: Lindsey Hinmon, director of operations and logistics 96 South Grove Creek Road Fishtail, MT 59028 lindsey.hinmon@tippetrise.org tippetrise.org Tippet Rise Art Center

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Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM July 16 to August 21 Set in the natural beauty of Santa Fe, amid the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the festival presents world-renowned musicians in 45 extraordinary concerts. Countertenor David Daniels is 2017 americanorchestras.org

artist-in-residence. Festival Artistic Direction: Marc Neikrug Festival Artists: Leigh Mesh, Mark Tatum, bass; Julia Harguindey, Christopher Millard, bassoon; Mark Brandfonbrener, Alastair Eng*, Clive Greensmith, Joseph Johnson, Eric Kim, Mark Kosower, Keith Robinson, Wilhelmina Smith, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Peter Wiley, cello; Todd Levy, Anthony McGill, clarinet; John Storgårds, conductor; David Daniels, countertenor; Doug Fitch, director; Bart Feller, Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; Łukasz Kuropaczewski, guitar; Kathleen McIntosh, harpsichord; Julie Landsman, Jennifer Montone, horn; Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzosoprano; Wallace Shawn, narrator; Robert Ingliss, Liang Wang, oboe; Daniel Druckman, Robert Klieger, percussion; Greg Anderson, Inon Barnatan, Jonathan Biss, Finghin Collins, Kirill Gerstein, Stephen Gosling, Wei Luo, Anne-Marie McDermott, Jon Kimura Parker, Juho Pohjonen, Elizabeth Joy Roe, Haochen Zhang, piano; Caleb Hudson, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, trombone; Christopher Stingle, trumpet; Brett Dean, Guillermo Figueroa, Kimberly Fredenburgh, Hsin-Yun Huang, Ida Kavafian, Scott Lee, Paul Neubauer, CarlaMaria Rodrigues, Steven Tenenbom, viola; Martin Beaver, Kathleen Brauer, Owen Dalby, Jennifer Frautschi, Daniel Hope, L.P. How, Ida Kavafian, Benny Kim, Daniel Phillips, Todd Phillips, Rachel Barton Pine, William Preucil, John Storgårds, violin Featured Groups: Anderson & Roe Piano Duo, Dover Quartet, FLUX Quartet, Johannes String Quartet, Miami String Quartet, OPUS ONE, Orion String Quartet, Variation Trio For Information: Steven Ovitsky, executive director Post Office Box 2227 Santa Fe, NM 87504 505 983 2075 sovitsky@sfcmf.org santafechambermusic.com Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

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2017 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer New York City, NY June 13 to June 18 The New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks returns for its 52nd season with free outdoor concerts in all five New York City boroughs. Festival Conductor: Alan Gilbert Featured Group: New York Philharmonic Orchestra Affiliation: New York Philharmonic For Information: 10 Lincoln Center Plaza David Geffen Hall New York, NY 10023 212 875 5709 nyphil.org/parks New York Philharmonic

@nyphil

@nyphilharmonic

Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival Canandaigua, NY July 14 to July 23 The Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival brings world-class chamber music to the Finger Lakes region with exceptionally creative, intimate, and vibrant presentations, encouraging warm informative interactions between musicians and audiences, young and old. Festival Artistic Direction: Amy Sue Barston, Kevin Kumar Festival Artists: Amy Sue Barston, cello; Benito Meza, clarinet; Bridget Kibbey, harp; Samuel Torres, percussion; Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano; Kevin Kumar, violin Featured Groups: The Avalon String Quartet For Information: Alan Braun, executive director Post Office Box 717 Canandaigua, NY 14424 585 412 6353 alan@lakemusicfestival.org lakemusicfestival.org Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Katonah, NY June 17 to July 30 Caramoor’s 72nd summer season spans 90 stunning acres, celebrates 20 years of Bel Canto, welcomes numerous debuts, premieres newly commissioned works, and highlights innovation across symphonic, chamber, American roots, sound art, and jazz music genres. Festival Artistic Direction: Paul Rosenblum, managing director; Kathy Schuman, vice president, artistic programming and executive producer Festival Conductors: Will Crutchfield, Curt Ebersole, Pablo Heras-Casado, Rachelle Jonck, Bernard Labadie Festival Artists: Julien Labro, bandoneon; Harold Wilson, bass; Edward Arron, Alexis Pia Gerlach, Karen Ouzounian, Sarah Rommel, cello; Shawn Conley, Stephan Crump, double bass; Elizabeth Mann, flute; Mary Halvorson, Jason Vieaux, guitar; Emmanuel Ceysson, harp; Stewart Rose, horn; John Fullbright, Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris, Sarah Jarosz, Gabriel Kahane, multi-instrumentalist; Lucy Tucker-Yates, organ; Fernando Saci, percussion; Andrew Armstrong, Timothy Cheung, Sullivan Fortner, Derrick Goff, Jeewon Park, Roman Rabinovich, Christian Sands, Helen Sung, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Daniil Trifonov, McCoy Tyner, Xiaohui Yang, piano; Camille Thurman, saxophone; Angela Meade, soprano; Adam Gopnik, speaker; Santiago Ballerini, tenor; Amy McCabe, Riley Mulherkar, trumpet; Joseph Doubleday, Simon Moullier, vibraphonist; Ayane Kozasa, Max Mandel, viola; Krista BennionFeeney, Pamela Frank, Jennifer Frautschi, Laura Frautschi, Alexi Kenney, Jesse Mills, Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Sutton Foster, Ryan Silverman, vocalist Featured Groups: Argus Quartet, Butler, Bernstein & the Hot 9, Christian Sands Trio, Citizens of the Blues, Cole Quest and the City Pickers, Darrell Green Trio, Eddie Barbash Band, Escher String Quartet, Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra Ensembles, The Lonely Heartstring Band, The

Mammals (feat. Mike + Ruthy), Mariel Bildsten Trio, Michael Mwenso and the Shakes, Pedrito Martinez Group, River Whyless, Spuyten Duyvil, St. Lukeâ€™s Chamber Ensemble, Westchester Symphonic Winds, the Westerlies, yMusic, Zaccai Curtis Quartet Orchestra Affiliation: Orchestra of St. Lukeâ€™s For Information: Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts 149 Girdle Ridge Road Post Office Box 816 Katonah, NY 10536 914 232 5035 info@caramoor.org caramoor.org Caramoor

@caramoor

Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra at Chautauqua Institution Chautauqua, NY June 24 to August 27 Performing 24 programs in nine weeks, the CSO opens its season with Alexander Gavrylyuk and closes its season with Augustin Hadelich, offering everything from Mahler 5 to Harry Potter. Festival Artistic Direction: Deborah Sunya Moore

Orchestra Affiliation: Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Music School Festival Orchestra For Information: Deborah Sunya Moore, vice president and director of programming Post Office Box 28 Chautauqua, NY 14710 716 357 6232 dsunyamoore@ciweb.org ciweb.org

George, New York, the Lake George Music Festival is a collaborative artist retreat for emerging young professionals and celebrated artists. Festival Artistic Direction: Barbora Kolarova Festival Conductor: Roger Kalia For Information: Alexander Lombard, CEO 7 Stone Pine Lane Queensbury, NY 12804 518 791 5089 info@lakegeorgemusicfestival.com lakegeorgemusicfestival.com/ Lake George Music Festival

Chautauqua Institution

@LGMusicFestival

@chq

@lgmusicfestival

@chq1874 Gateways Music Festival Rochester, NY August 8 to August 13 Gateways Music Festival is a six-day series of more than 40 free chamber and orchestra performances by 125 professional classical musicians of African descent in Eastman Theatre and venues throughout Rochester, New York. Festival Artistic Direction: Lee Koonce Festival Conductor: Michael Morgan Festival Artists: Adolphus Hailstork, Jessie Montgomery, composers; Stewart Goodyear, piano

Lake Placid Sinfonietta Lake Placid, NY July 5 to August 13 Celebrating its centennial season in the Adirondacks, Lake Placid Sinfonietta and Lake Placid Pro Music comprise top musicians from around the country for six weeks of concerts in a spectacular mountain setting. Festival Artistic Direction: Navah Perlman, artistic director, LPS Pro Musica Chamber Music; Ron Spigelman, music director Festival Conductor: Ron Spigelman, music director Festival Artists: Gregory Quick, bassoon; Jia Kim, Areta Zhulla, Navah Perlman, chamber artists; Daniel Szasz, concertmaster; Ann Alton, Jonathan Brin, cello; Amitai Vardi, clarinet; Devin Howell, double bass; Anne Lindblom Harrow, flute; David Pandolfi, Adam Pandolfi, horn; Cynthia Watson, oboe; Tony Oliver, percussion; Denise Cridge, Julia DiGaetani, viola; Amanda Brin, Karl Braaten, Anna Gendler, Anne Pandolfi, Diana Pepelea, Marius Tabacila, violin Guest Artists: Olga Kern, Joyce Yang, piano; Hannah Harrow, Halley Gilbert, soprano; Alexander Szasz, trumpet; Soovin Kim, violin Featured Group: Cherish the Ladies Orchestra Affiliation: Lake Placid Sinfonietta For Information: Deborah Fitts, executive director Post Office Box 1303 17 Algonquin Avenue Lake Placid, NY 12946 518 523 2051 info@lakeplacidsinfonietta.org LakePlacidSinfonietta.org Lake Placid Sinfonietta

Musicians at the Lake George Music Festival in performance

@LPSinfonietta

@lpsinfonietta Festival Conductors: Rossen Milanov, music director, Timothy Muffit, MSFO music director, Stuart Chafetz, Daiana Garcia, Giancarlo Guerroro, Marcelo Lehninger, guest conductors Festival Artists: Aldo Lopez-Gavilan, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Orion Weiss, Augustin Hadelich, Bella Hristova, Steven Mackey, Anthony Marwood, Brian Reagin, Capathia Jenkins Featured Groups: Aretha Franklin, The Beach Boys, Rhiannon Giddens, Time for Three, The Hot Sardines, The Doo Wop Project, The Joey Alexander Trio, The Raleigh Ringers

For Information: Lee Koonce, president and artistic director 26 Gibbs Street, Box 58 Rochester, NY 14604 917 406 0046 lkoonce@gatewaysmusicfestival.org gatewaysmusicfestival.org Gateways Music Festival

Lake George Music Festival Lake George, NY August 11 to August 24 Set in the summer resort community of Lake

Maverick Concerts Woodstock, New York June 23 to September 10 World-class chamber music presented at the oldest continuous summer chamber music festival in America. The rustic hall, with superb acoustics, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Festival Artistic Direction: Alexander Platt Festival Conductor: Alexander Platt Festival Artists: Steve Gorn, bansuri flute; Emmanuel Feldman, cello; Ran Dank, Orion Weiss, piano; Maria Jette, soprano Featured Groups: Amernet String Quartet, Arturo

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O’Farrill Quintet, AUREA Ensemble, Bill Charlap Trio, Chiara String Quartet, Dover Quartet, Eldar Djangirov Trio, Escher String Quartet, ETHEL string quartet, Harlem Quartet, Horszowski Trio, Jasper String Quartet, Karl Berger Ensemble, Maverick Chamber Players, Miro Quartet, Nexus, Parker Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, Spektral Quartet, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen, Trio Solisti For Information:

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Classical Tahoe Incline Village, NV July 28 to August 12 Experience a virtuoso orchestra of musicians from

world-renowned guest artists and faculty. Festival Artistic Direction: Keith Lockhart Festival Conductors: Matthias Bamert, Rune Bergman, Tyson Deaton, JoAnn Falletta, Caleb Harris, Constantine Kitsopoulos, Ken Lam, Keith Lockhart, Robert Moody, Neil Thomson Festival Artists: Sidney Outlaw, baritone; Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone; Johannes Moser, cello; Ann McMahon Quintero, mezzo-soprano; Jihye Chang, Lise de la Salle, Kirill Gerstein, Norman Krieger, Nikita Mndoyants, Garrick Ohlsson, Andrew Tyson, piano; Julie Adams, soprano; Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor; Scott Rawls, viola; Liza Ferschtman, Mayuko Kamio, Anne Akiko Myers, William Preucil, Maria Sanderson, violin Featured Groups: Amernet String Quartet, International Contemporary Ensemble, Shanghai Quartet For Information: Jason Posnock, director of artistic planning and educational programs 349 Andante Lane Brevard, NC 28712 828 862 2100 jposnock@brevardmusic.org brevardmusic.org Brevard Music Center

@brevardmusic

In Woodstock, New York, Maverick Concert Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Maverick Concerts’ first festival season was in 1916.

Alexander Platt, music director Post Office Box 9 120 Maverick Road Woodstock, NY 12498 845 679 8217 alexander.platt@maverickconcerts.org maverickconcerts.org Maverick Concerts

@MaverickConcert Mostly Mozart Festival New York, NY July 25 to August 20 Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, a summertime tradition in New York, enters its sixth decade in 2017 and features concerts by the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, plus opera, chamber, and contemporary music, and intimate late-night recitals. Festival Conductor: Iván Fischer Festival Artistic Direction: Jane Moss, artistic director; Louis Langrée, music director Featured Group: Budapest Festival Orchestra Orchestra Affiliation: Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra For Information: 70 Lincoln Center Plaza New York, NY 10023 212 721 6500 mostlymozart.org Lincoln Center

@LincolnCenter americanorchestras.org

the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and more, in an intimate setting surrounded by the majesty of Lake Tahoe. Festival Artistic Direction: Joel Revzen Festival Conductor: Joel Revzen Featured Artists: Whitney Crockett, bassoon; Aldo López Gavilán, piano; Wendell Pierce, narrator; Itamar Zorman, violin; San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows, vocalists Orchestra Affiliation: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony For Information: Kirby Combs, operations manager 948 Incline Way Incline Village, NV 89451 775 298 0245 kirby@classicaltahoe.org classicaltahoe.org/ Classical Tahoe

@ClassicalTahoe

classicaltahoe

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Brevard Music Center Brevard, NC June 23 to August 6 Brevard is one of America’s premier summer training programs for exceptional young musicians. Students participate in orchestral studies, piano, opera, composition, jazz, and voice, alongside

Eastern Music Festival Greensboro, NC June 27 to July 29 The 56th annual Eastern Music Festival features Music Director Gerard Schwarz and over 65 concerts; acclaimed soloists include Anne Akiko Meyers, Midori, Awadagin Pratt, William Wolfram, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Festival Artistic Direction: Gerard Schwarz, music director Festival Conductors: Grant Cooper, José-Luis Novo, Gerard Schwarz Festival Artists: George Sakakeeny, bassoon; Neal Cary, cello; Jon Manasse, clarinet; Leonid Finkelshteyn, double bass; Jason Vieaux, guitar; Randall Ellis, oboe; Horacio Gutierrez, Awadagin Pratt, William Wolfram, piano; Nigel Anderson, Anne Akiko Meyers, Midori, Jeffrey Multer, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin For Information: Cathy Weaver, public relations specialist Post Office Box 22026 Greensboro, NC 27420 336 333 7450 cweaver@easternmusicfestival.org easternmusicfestival.org Eastern Music Festival

@emfgreensboro

UNC REX Healthcare presents North Carolina Symphony Summerfest Raleigh, NC May 27 to July 15 Thousands experience the North Carolina Symphony at its picturesque summer home: the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, North Carolina. 2017 offers classical and Broadway; bluegrass, rock, and beach music; and fireworks and family activities.

Festival Conductors: David Glover, associate conductor; Pablo Rus Broseta, Brent Havens, Nicholas Hersh, Gemma New, guest conductors Festival Artists: Steep Canyon Rangers; Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Paul Huang, violin Orchestra Affiliation: North Carolina Symphony For Information: Meredith Kimball Laing, director of communications 3700 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 130 Raleigh, NC 27612 877 627 6724 tickets@ncsymphony.org ncsymphony.org North Carolina Symphony

@ncsymphony

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May Festival Cincinnati, OH May 19 to May 27 Since 1873 the May Festival has showcased the world’s greatest choral works, advancing vibrant choral repertoire for the next generation. Featuring the May Festival Chorus, Youth Chorus, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Festival Artistic Direction: Gerard McBurney, creative partner; Robert Porco, director of choruses, May Festival Chorus; James Bagwell, director, May Festival Youth Chorus Festival Conductors: Harry Bicket, Michael Francis, Matthew Halls, Markus Stenz Festival Artists: Eric Owens, bass-baritone and artist in residence; Matthew Brook, bass-baritone; Daniel Taylor, countertenor; Meg Bragle, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Michelle DeYoung, mezzosoprano; Joelle Harvey, Carolyn Sampson, soprano; Thomas Cooley, Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor Featured Groups: May Festival Chorus, May Festival Youth Chorus Orchestra Affiliation: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra For Information: Meghan Berneking, director of communications 1241 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 mberneking@cincinnatisymphony.org mayfestival.com The May Festival @CincyMayFest

Summermusik 2017 Cincinnati, OH August 5 to August 26 Savor the sound of Cincinnati with Summermusik, offering three different concert experiences ranging from Bach to rock, each designed to provide something unique for everyone’s musical taste. Festival Conductor: Eckart Preu Festival Artists: Karen May, bagpipes; Dean Regas, commentator; Ran Dank, Alon Goldstein, piano; Roger Klug, rock guitar; Angelo Xiang Yu, violin Featured Groups: Madcap Puppets, MamLuft&Co. Dance For Information: LeAnne Anklan, general manager 4046 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 200 Cincinnati, OH 45223

513 723 1182 info@ccocincinnati.org ccocincinnati.org

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra

@CincyChamberOrc

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Britt Music & Arts Festival Jacksonville, OR June 15 to September 15 Britt is the Pacific Northwest’s premier outdoor summer performing arts festival, presenting dozens of popular summer concerts and a world-class orchestra season in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater in Jacksonville, Oregon. Festival Artistic Direction: Teddy Abrams Festival Conductor: Teddy Abrams Orchestra Affiliation: The Britt Orchestra For Information: Donna Briggs, CEO 216 West Main Street Medford, OR 97535 541 690 0847 donna.briggs@brittfest.org brittfest.org Britt Music & Arts Festival

@brittfestivals

@brittfestival

Chamber Music Northwest Summer Festival Portland, OR June 26 to July 30 Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festival is five weeks of extraordinary music in Portland, Oregon. 2017’s festival will celebrate the contribution of women to the chamber music art form with pieces by Hildegard von Bingen, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Ellen Zwilich, Caroline Shaw, and others. Festival Artistic Direction: David Shifrin Festival Artists: Monica Ellis, Julie Feves, bassoon; Dmitri Atapine, Julia Bruskin, Hamilton Cheifetz, Estelle Choi, Nina Lee, Camden Shaw, Fred Sherry, Paul Watkins, Peter Wiley, cello; David Shifrin, Mark Dover, Ashley William Smith, clarinet; Kati Agócs, William Bolcom, Valerie Coleman, Hannah Lash, Chris Rogerson, Daniel Schlosberg, Gabriella Smith, Joan Tower, composers; Curtis Daily, double bass; Valerie Coleman, Tara Helen O’Connor, Joanna Wu, flute; Hannah Lash, harp; Jeffrey Grossman, harpsichord; Jeff Scott, John Cox, horn; William Bolcom, Joan Morris, narrator; Martin Hébert, Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Allan Vogel, oboe; Jonathan Greeney, percussion; Gloria Chien, Andrea Lam, Anna Polonsky, Orion Weiss, Daniel Schlosberg, piano; Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, saxophone; Cree Carrico, soprano; Jeffrey Work, trumpet; Misha Amory, Jeremy Berry, Lawrence Dutton, Hsin-Yun Huang, Paul Neubauer, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola; Rebecca Anderson, Theodore Arm, Emily Bruskin, Serena Canin, Eugene Drucker, Bella Hristova, Ani Kavafian, Soovin Kim, Bryan Lee, Joel Link, Ryan Meehan, Jeffrey Myers, Daniel

Phillips, Philip Setzer, Mark Steinberg, Arnaud Sussmann, violin Featured Groups: Brentano Quartet, Calidore String Quartet, Claremont Trio, Dover Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Imani Winds For Information: Rachael Smith, marketing director 5125 Southwest Macadam Avenue, Suite 125 Portland, OR 97239 503 223 3202 info@cmnw.org cmnw.org Chamber Music Northwest

@chambermusicnw

Oregon Bach Festival Eugene, OR June 29 to July 15 Oregon Bach Festival has presented the masterworks of J.S. Bach to audiences in Eugene and throughout the state of Oregon for nearly five decades. Festival Artistic Direction: Matthew Halls Festival Conductors: Anton Armstrong, Matthew Halls, Lars Ulrik Mortensen Festival Artists: Paul Jacobs, organ; Monica Huggett, violin Featured Groups: Berwick Academy, On Ensemble, Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy For Information: Josh Gren, director of marketing and communications 1257 University of Oregon Eugene, OR, 97403 458 210 6631 jgren@uoregon.edu OregonBachFestival.com Oregon Bach Festival

@oregonbachfest

Sunriver Music Festival Sunriver, OR August 11 to August 23 Sunriver Music Festival Orchestra performs at the Historic Great Hall at Sunriver Resort and at the Tower Theatre in downtown Bend. The festival’s premier classical, pops, and solo concerts feature many internationally acclaimed performers. Festival Artistic Direction: George Hanson Festival Conductor: George Hanson Festival Artists: Sean Chen, piano; Steven Moeckel, violin For Information: Pam Beezley, executive director Post Office Box 4308 57100 Beaver Drive, Building 13 Sunriver, OR 97707 541 593 1084 information@sunrivermusic.org sunrivermusic.org Sunriver Music Festival

@sunrivermusic

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Endless Mountain Music Festival Wellsboro, PA

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July 21 to August 5 Surrounded by magnificent scenery and smalltown charm, the Endless Mountain Music Festival offers sixteen days of renowned musicians in world-class performances in northern Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Experience full-orchestra performances on the weekends and chamber music during the week. Festival Artistic Direction: Stephen Gunzenhauser Festival Conductor: Stephen Gunzenhauser Festival Artists: Emmanuel Trifilio, bandoneon; Asiya Korepanova, Yevgeny Yontov, Xixi Zhou, piano; Diana Seitz, violin Featured Groups: Across the Pond, EMMF Brass Section, Journey West, Terry Klinefelter Duo Orchestra Affiliation: Endless Mountain Music Festival Symphony Orchestra For Information: Cynthia Long, executive director 130 Main Street Wellsboro, PA 16901 570 787 7800 info@endlessmountain.net endlessmountain.net Endless Mountain Music Festival

@EMMusicFestival

Mann Center for the Performing Arts Philadelphia, PA May 1 to October 1 The Mann Center for the Performing Arts has served for many decades as Philadelphiaâ€™s premier outdoor performing arts summer festival, present-

ing a wide array of cultural programming and popular events. Festival Artistic Direction: Evans Mirageas, artistic advisor; Nolan Williams, Jr., festival artistic director and CEO of NEWorks Productions, collaborative artistic partner; Toby Blumenthal, vice president of artistic planning and chief innovation officer Featured Concerts: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Jurassic Park, Music Among Us, New Frontiers: The Heavens Are Telling, Peopleâ€™s Choice Concert, Tchaikovsky. Orchestra Affiliation: Curtis Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Philly POPS For Information: Toby Blumenthal, vice president of artistic planning and chief innovation officer 5201 Parkside Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19131 tblumenthal@manncenter.org MannCenter.org Music House International/Philadelphia International Music Festival Bryn Mawr, PA June 14 to June 30 Music House participants work with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra in solo performance and audition preparation, symphony and repertory orchestra rehearsals, chamber music, and mock auditions with Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Kensho Watanabe.

Festival Artistic Direction: Kimberly Fisher, principal second violin, the Philadelphia Orchestra Festival Conductors: Mark Gigliotti, Thomas Hong, Jeri Lynne Johnson, Aaron Picht, Louis Scaglione, J. Michael Stanley, Nina Wilkinson, Kensho Watanabe, Gary White Festival Artists: Marc Rovetti, assistant concertmaster; Ying Fu, associate concertmaster; Joseph Conyers, bass; Mark Gigliotti, bassoon; Hai-Ye Ni, Gloria dePasquale, Kathryn Picht Read, John Koen, Derek Barnes, Alex Veltman, cello; Boris Allakhverdyan, David Blumberg, clarinet; Loren Lind, flute; Jeffrey Lang, horn; Shelley Showers, french horn; Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, oboe; Angela Zator Nelson, percussion; Svetlana Smolina, piano; Matthew Vaughn, trombone; Anthony Prisk, trumpet; Carol Jantsch, tuba; Che-Hung Chen, Renard Edwards, Kirsten Johnson, Rachel Ku, Burchard Tang, Kerri Ryan, viola; Richard Amoroso, Madison Day, Robert dePasquale, Barbara Govatos, Daniel Han, Mei Ching Huang, Elina Kalendarova, Philip Kates, Herold Klein, Yiying Li, Mei-Chen Liao-Barnes, Dara Morales, Amy Oshiro-Morales, Charles Parker, William Polk, Booker Rowe, violin For Information: Sandy Marcucci, president 2954 East Grant Avenue Williamstown, NJ 08094 info@pimf.org MusicHouseInternational.org Music House International

@philamusicfest

2 17

OREGON BACH FESTIVAL Matthew Halls Artistic Director

JUNE 29 - JULY 15

www .O regOn B ach F estival . cOm americanorchestras.org

mydso.com/SOLUNA

TEXAS

Concerts In The Garden Fort Worth, TX June 2 to July 8 The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents seventeen nights of music under the stars with something for everyone and fireworks every night at the beautiful Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Orchestra Affiliation: Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra For Information: Jeremy Reynolds, press and publications manager 330 East 4th Street, Suite 200 Fort Worth, TX 76102 817 665 6500 jreynolds@fwsymphony.org fwsymphony.org/citg Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

@FtWorthSymphony

@ftworthsymphony

Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival Houston, TX June 5 to July 1 The Texas Music Festival is one of the premier summer orchestral training programs and festivals in the U.S. More than 100 young performers form an orchestra led by top conductors and study with some of the world’s finest faculty. The festival presents nearly 30 public concerts, master classes, and events each June. Festival Artistic Direction: Alan Austin Festival Conductors: Andres Franco, Daniel Hege, Franz Anton Krager, Brett Mitchell Festival Artists: Rian Craypo, Nancy Goeres, Elise Wagner, bassoon; Desmond Hoebig, Anthony Kitai, Jonathan Koh, Lachezar Kostov, cello; Thomas LeGrand, Mark Nuccio, Michael Webster, clarinet; Paul Ellison, Eric Larson, Dennis Whittaker, double bass; Leone Buyse, Aralee Dorough, flute; Paula Page, harp; Robert Johnson, William VerMeulen, horn; Robert Atherholt, Jonathan Fischer, oboe; Ted Atkatz, Matthew Strauss, percussion; Allen Barnhill, Phillip Freeman, trombone; Mark Hughes, Thomas Siders, trumpet; David Kirk, tuba; Wayne Brooks, Susan Dubois, James Dunham, viola; Emanuel Borok, Andrzej Grabiec, Lucie Robert, Kirsten Yon, violin Featured Group: TMF Orchestra For Information: Alan Austin, general and artistic director University of Houston Moores School of Music 3333 Cullen Boulevard, Room 120 Houston, TX 77204 713 743 3167 tmf@uh.edu tmf.uh.edu Texas Music Festival

Round Top Festival Institute Round Top, TX June 4 to July 16 A professional summer institute featuring orchestra, chamber music, and solo performances. Festival Artistic Direction: James Dick Festival Conductors: Christian Arming, Emilio Colon, Yaniv Dinur, Vladimir Kulenovic, Linus

Lerner, Perry So, Ransom Wilson Festival Artists: George Sakakeeny, Kristin Wolfe Jensen, bassoon; Stephen Balderston, Emilio Colon, cello; Daniel Gilbert, Jonathan Gunn, Jason Shafer, clarinet; Brett Shurtliffe, James VanDemark, double bass; Gretchen Pusch, Ransom Wilson, Carol Wincenc, flute; Paula Page, harp; Michelle Baker, Eric Reed, Albert Suarez, horn; Erin Hannigan, Andrew Parker, Nicholas Stovall, oboe; Thomas Burritt, Tony Edwards, percussion; Lydia Artymiw, James Dick, Francois Dumont, Vladimir Valjarevic, piano; John Kitzman, Lee Rogers, trombone; Raymond Riccomini, Marie Speziale, Micah Wilkinson, trumpet; Justin Benavidez, tuba; Brett Deubner, Susan Dubois, Roger Myers, viola; Frank Almond, Stefan Milenkovich, Felix Olshofka, Regis Pasquier, Christiano Rodriguez, Nancy Wu, violin Featured Groups: Texas Festival Orchestra For Information: Alain G. Declert, program director 248 Jaster Road Post Office Box 89 Round Top, TX 78954 979 250 3815 alaind@festoivalhill.org festivalhill.org

SOLUNA Festival

@SOLUNAFestival

@solunafestival

U TAH

Deer Valley Music Festival Park City, UT July 1 to August 5 The Deer Valley Music Festival, the Utah Symphony’s summer home, offers a variety of classical, chamber, and entertainment performances in scenic venues throughout the mountain resort town of Park City. Festival Conductors: Conner Gray Covington, Andy Einhorn, Randall Craig Fleisher, Martin Herman, Rei Hotoda, John Morris Russell, Jeannette Sorrell, Jerry Steichen Orchestra Affiliation: Utah Symphony For Information: Natalie Cope, community relations 123 West South Temple Salt Lake City, UT, 84101 801 869 9010 NCope@usuo.org DeerValleyMusicFestival.org Utah Symphony

@UtahSymphony

@utahsymphony

Round Top Festival Institute

@RTFInstitue

@rtfinstitute

Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family Soluna International Music & Arts Festival Dallas, TX May 15 to June 4 This curated three-week experience comprises contemporary art performances and mixed-media installations, alongside concerts by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director Jaap van Zweden. Festival Artistic Direction: Jaap van Zweden Festival Conductors: Ruth Reinhardt, Jaap van Zweden Festival Artists: Yefim Bronfman, Alice Coote, Rossy de Palma, Matthias Goerne, Paul Groves, Gregory Raden, S-ankh Rasa, John Relyea, Will Richey, Brianne Sargent, Henri Scars Struck, Alexander Kerr, Pia Camil, Arnold Chang, Michael Cherney, Alex Czetwertynski, Martin Back, Frank & Lee Dufour, Adam R. Levine, Jessica Mitrani, Nominoë, Joost Rekveld Featured Groups: Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy Jazz Band, Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas, Dallas Asian American Youth Orchestra, Dallas Black Dance Theater, Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center, DSO Young Strings, Helping Hand Drums, Mariachi Los Unicos, New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving, the Obscure Dignitaries Orchestra Affiliation: Dallas Symphony Orchestra For Information: Gillian Friedman, director of SOLUNA Projects 2301 Flora Street Dallas, TX, 75201 214 871 4081 SOLUNA@dalsym.com

VIR GIN IA

Virginia Arts Festival Norfolk, VA March 31 to May 28 Virginia Arts Festival, in its 21st season, blazes new trails of creativity with the Berlioz Requiem, featuring a huge orchestra, 140 singers and brass choirs: a once-in-a-life-time event for music lovers. Festival Artistic Direction: Rob Cross Festival Artists and Groups: David Russell, guitar; Joey Alexander, Olga Kern, Andre-Michel Schub, piano; Les Violons du Roy, strings; Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Itzhak Perlman, violin; Kathleen Battle, KING R&B trio, vocalists; American String Quartet; Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet with Virginia Symphony Orchestra; Chanticleer; International Bach Academy of Stuttgart; Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; Kept: a ghost story; Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble; Mariachi los Camperos; Reduced Shakespeare Company; Rob Fisher’s Coffee Club Orchestra; tenThing, brass ensemble; Urban Bush Women Orchestra Affiliation: Virginia Symphony Orchestra For Information: Cynthia Carter West, public relations director 440 Bank Street Norfolk, VA 23510 757 282 2804 ccarterwest@vaf.org vafest.org Virginia Arts Festival

Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and Academy Wintergreen, VA July 8 to August 6 Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central

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Virginia, the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and Academy features nearly 200 performances, seminars, and events by professional musicians and academy students. Festival Artistic Direction: Erin Freeman Festival Conductors: Ankush Bahl, Erin Freeman, Mark Russell Smith, Victor Yampolsky Festival Artists: Robert McDonald, baritone; Joseph Kluesener, bassoon; Wendy Warner, cello; Charles Messersmith, clarinet; Daron Hagen, Gilda Lyons, Michael White, composer; Lance Suzuki, flute; Wallace Easter III, horn; Susan Greenbaum, singer-songwriter; William Parrish, oboe; Peter Marshall, Edward Newman, Christopher O’Riley, Giovanni Reggioli, piano; Arianna Zukerman, soprano; Vale Rideout, tenor; Elizabeth Adkins, Sharan Leventhal, Elizabeth Vonderheide, violin Featured Groups: Robert Jospe Express, TFC Band, U.S. Army Chorus, Wintergreen Festival Orchestra For Information: Erin Freeman, artistic director Post Office Box 816 Wintergreen, VA 22958 434 325 8292 info@wintergreenperformingarts.org WintergreenPerformingArts.org

Festival Conductors: Paul-Elliott Cobbs, Karla Epperson, Dale Johnson, Elizabeth Ward Orchestra Affiliation: Tacoma Youth Symphony Association For Information: Anna Jensen, education specialist 901 Broadway, Suite 500 Tacoma, WA 98402 253 627 2792 education@tysamusic.org tysamusic.org Tacoma Youth Symphony

Marrowstone Music Festival Bellingham, WA July 23 to August 6

Seattle Chamber Music Society Seattle, WA July 3 to July 29 This summer, Seattle Chamber Music Society, led by Artistic Director James Ehnes, presents twelve concerts at Benaroya Hall. Each concert features a unique ensemble, and a free pre-concert recital. Festival Artistic Direction: James Ehnes Festival Artists: Jordan Anderson, Joseph Kaufman, bass; Seth Krimsky, bassoon; Julie Albers, Edward Arron, Raphael Bell, Clive Greensmith, Astrid Schween, Ronald Thomas, Bion Tsang, cello; Anthony McGill, Ricardo Morales, Sean Osborn, clarinet; Lorna McGhee, flute; Jeffrey Fair, horn; Mary Lynch, oboe; Robert Tucker, percussion; Andrew Armstrong, Inon Barnatan, Boris Giltburg, Max Levinson, George Li, Paige Roberts Molloy,

Wintergreen Performing Arts @WintergreenArts

Wolf Trap Vienna, VA May 26 to September 16 Wolf Trap’s Filene Center is a 7,028-seat outdoor amphitheater that showcases a diverse array of artists, from May to September. It has been the summer home of the National Symphony Orchestra since it opened in 1971. Festival Conductors: Amy Andersson, Emil de Cou, Grant Gershon, Gianandrea Noseda, Steve Reineke Festival Artists: Brian Mulligan, baritone; SeongJin Cho, piano; Heidi Stober, soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Sarah Chang, violin Featured Groups: Asian Youth Orchestra, Choral Arts, National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Chorus, Wolf Trap Opera Orchestra Affiliation: National Symphony Orchestra For Information: Kim Witman, senior director, Wolf Trap Opera & Classical Programming 1551 Trap Road Vienna, VA 22182 classicalprogramming@wolftrap.org wolftrap.org Wolf Trap

@Wolf_Trap

@wolf_trap

WA S H INGTON

Evergreen Music Festival Tacoma and Ellensburg, WA July 24 to August 5 Session I of EMF is a day camp for student musicians in grades 3 to 8. Session II is for music students in grades 9 up to age 21. Festival Artistic Direction: Paul-Elliott Cobbs americanorchestras.org

Fany Ducharme

@wintergreenperformingarts

At the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s OSM Classical Spree Festival, families get a close-up look at a display of woodwind instruments.

Marrowstone is a two-week intensive orchestral training program for students age 14 and up, featuring three full orchestras, full-ride fellowships, and internationally acclaimed faculty from distinguished conservatories, orchestras, and schools of music. Festival Artistic Direction: Stephen Rogers Radcliffe Festival Conductors: Dale Clevenger, Ryan Dudenbostel, Jonathan Girard, Stephen Rogers Radcliffe Festival Artists: Diana Gannett, bass; Kenneth Grant, clarinet; Jill Felber, flute; Heidi Lehwalder, harp; Dale Clevenger, horn; Roy Poper, trumpet; Hall Grossman, violin Orchestra Affiliation: Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra For Information: Robert Babs, program coordinator 11065 5th Avenue Northeast, Suite A Seattle, WA 98125 206 362 2300 marrowstone@syso.org marrowstone.org Marrowstone Music Festival

Jeewon Park, Craig Sheppard, Orion Weiss, piano; Che-Yen Chen, Beth Guterman Chu, Michael Klotz, Yura Lee, Richard O’Neill, Cynthia Phelps, Jonathan Vinocour, viola; Benjamin Beilman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, Karen Gomyo, Augustin Hadelich, Paul Huang, Jun Iwasaki, Erin Keefe, Tessa Lark, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Stephen Rose, Andrew Wan, violin For Information: Connie Cooper, executive director 10 Harrison Street, Suite 306 Seattle, WA 98109 206 283 8710 info@seattlechambermusic.org seattlechambermusic.org Seattle Chamber Music Society

@SEAChamberMusic

WISCON SIN

Peninsula Music Festival Ephraim, WI August 1 to August 19 Peninsula Music Festival’s 65th season will feature

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nine symphonic concerts over three weeks in August on Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula. The orchestra comprises musicians from all over the world, with featured guest artists on each concert. Festival Artistic Direction: Victor Yampolsky Festival Conductors: Guy Victor Bordo, guest conductor; Victor Yampolsky, music director and conductor Festival Artists: Phillip Pandolfi, bassoon; Mark Kosower, Paul Ledwon, cello; Ralph Skiano, clarinet; Richard Britsch, horn; Eric Olson, oboe; Christi Zuniga, Jon Kimura Parker, Vassily Primakov, piano; Melissa Snoza, piccolo; Terry Everson, trumpet; Joan DerHovsepian, viola; James Ehnes, Anna Lee, Desiree Ruhstrat, Dmitri Pogorelov, Amy Sims, violin For Information: Sharon Grutzmacher, executive director Post Office Box 340 10347 North Water Street, Unit B Ephraim, WI 54211 920 854 4060 sharon@musicfestival.com musicfestival.com Peninsula Music Festival

@Penmusicfest

WYO MIN G

Grand Teton Music Festival Jackson Hole, WY July 3 to August 20 See the stars at the Grand Teton Music Festival! Celebrated Music Director Donald Runnicles leads some of the world’s best musicians in seven weeks of exhilarating orchestral and chamber music. Festival Artistic Direction: Donald Runnicles, music director Festival Conductors: Fabien Gabel, Cristian Macelaru, Vasily Petrenko, Donald Runnicles Festival Artists: Maja Bogdanovic, Yo-Yo Ma, Ben Sollee, cello; Jeannette Sorrell, harpsichord; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Yefim Bronfman, Denis Kozhukhin, Garrick Ohlsson, piano; James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, violin Featured Groups: Brooklyn Rider; Sybarite5 For Information: Brittany Laughlin, marketing manager 4015 North Lake Creek Drive, #100 Wilson, WY 83014 307 733 1128 gtmf@gtmf.org gtmf.org Grand Teton Music Festival

@gtmf

@grandtetonmusic

CA NADA

The OSM Classical Spree Festival 2017 Montréal, Québec August 10 to August 13 A four-day classical music marathon in downtown Montréal, the OSM Classical Spree Festival offers more than 30 affordable 45-minute concerts showcasing international artists and animation for music lovers and the whole family.

Festival Artistic Direction: Kent Nagano Festival Conductor: Kent Nagano Festival Artists: Carlo Colombo, bassoon; Luigi Piovanno, cello; Sharon Isbin, guitar; Jean-Philippe Collard, Till Felner, Charles-Richard Hamelin, piano; Sumi Jo, soprano; Veronika Eberle, violin For Information: OSM Customer Service 1600, St-Urbain Street Montréal (QC) H2X 0S1 Canada 888 842 9951 vireeclassique.osm.ca Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

@OSMconcerts

@osmconcerts

ITALY

Rome Chamber Music Festival Rome, Italy June 4 to June 8 This season of the RCMF will feature contemporary and chamber music masterpieces from Baroque to bluegrass, played by renowned artists and participants of the festival’s De Simone Young Artist Program. Festival Artistic Direction: Robert McDuffie Festival Artists: Riccardo Rinaldi, bassoon; Daniele Bovo, cello; Alessandro Carbonare, clarinet; Edgar Meyer, double bass; Guglielmo Pellarin, horn; Ivano Zaenghi, lute; Caterina Lichtenberg, Mike Marshall, mandolin; Andreas Lucchesini, Elena Metteucci, piano; Luca Sanzo, Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; Bella Hristova, Robert McDuffie, violin For Information: Therese Heyn, administrative director 250 Park Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10177 929 266 5960 info@romechamberfestival.org romechamberfestival.org Rome Chamber Music Festival

SIN GAPOR E

Singapore International Piano Festival Singapore June 1 to June 4 The 24th Singapore International Piano Festival presents “Fantasies & Memories,” a nostalgic, emotional, and uplifting musical journey featuring four internationally-renowned virtuoso pianists. Festival Artistic Direction: Lionel Choi Festival Artists: Wong Chiyan, Stephen Kovacevich, Joseph Moog, Hüseyin Sermet Orchestra Affiliation: Singapore Symphony Orchestra For Information: Myrtle Lee, assistant manager, marketing communications Singapore Symphony Group 11 Empress Place #01-02 Victoria Concert Hall Singapore 179558 +65 6602 4200 corporate@sso.org.sg pianofestival.com.sg Singapore International Piano Festival

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Streaming Symphonies Orchestras embrace webcasts, and broaden their audiences in new ways. But are virtual concerts affecting the live experience?

Courtesy SFS

by Marke Bieschke

symphony

SPRING 2017

Nate Bourg, the San Francisco Symphony’s social media manager (above right), sets up the orchestra’s April 27, 2016 Facebook Live broadcast of Mason Bates’s Auditorium. americanorchestras.org

aves of strings announce a climactic moment of Sibelius’s beloved Symphony No. 2, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra glides into gear. The camera, firmly nestled among the clarinets with a clear view of the French horns, cuts to the thrumming violas, then pulls slowly up and back as the music begins to soar. It pans across the stage, taking in the entire orchestra. The view then slowly closes in on guest conductor Hannu Lintu, an impish, satisfied grin spreading over his face. The Sibelius performance was livestreamed on October 30 at the DSO’s sleek website as part of the orchestra’s “Live from Orchestra Hall” series, which live-streams all of its season’s classical subscription concerts. A large chunk of those streams are then archived into a section of the site called DSO Replay: a $50 contribution to the DSO’s annual fund unlocks unlimited viewing of more than 75 performances, viewable anywhere in the world. Contemporary composers like Tod Machover and Nico Muhly sit next to Rachmaninoff and Beethoven on the menu. As of October 2016, subscribers numbered 6,400. “Webcasts are part of our organization’s

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra was among the first U.S. orchestras to regularly stream concerts, with its “Live from Orchestra Hall” series launched in 2011. The DSO archives its live-streamed concerts on the DSO Replay page of its website.

identity now,” Marc Geelhoed, DSO’s director of digital initiatives, told Symphony in an email interview. “We begin with the orchestra and program for the live audience, and the webcast follows from there.” The phenomenon of webcasting orchestral performances—live-streaming them through an organization’s website, a thirdparty partner like Livestream, or, more recently, Facebook Live—has exploded recently, drawing millions of viewers to online symphonic performances, watched from laptop computers and mobile devices. More and more, orchestra fans have

More and more, orchestra fans have the ability to plug their earbuds into their iPads or hook up their immersive home entertainment system, and enjoy the sights and sounds of a full performance in the venue of their choosing.

the ability to plug their earbuds into their iPads or hook up their immersive home entertainment system, and—depending on the strength of their wi-fi connection— enjoy the sights and sounds of a full performance in the venue of their choosing. Many orchestras have been quick to jump on the opportunity, adding a dramatic visual dimension to the now familiar audiostreaming, and yielding an exciting diversity of experiences that helps broaden their organization’s audience and brand. With instant feedback via comments and demographic analysis, live-streaming offers symphony

SPRING 2017

“Webcasts are part of our organization’s identity now,” says Marc Geelhoed, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s director of digital initiatives.

more direct interaction with an audience than radio, television, or live-streamed events in movie theaters. This November, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra tried its hand at webcasting a concert for the first time. In June, the Seventh Annual Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition was live-streamed over a period of 40 hours. Carnegie Hall now streams concerts and other activity via four

performances and educational and community activities of Carnegie’s Ensemble Connect fellows; and now Facebook Live, through which Carnegie live-streams the same concerts that are live-streamed at medici.tv, on their own Facebook page. In March 2016, the New World Symphony hosted and streamed a tech conference, its 2016 Network Performing Arts and Production Workshop, on YouTube. Yamaha sponsors streaming masterclasses with global reach, and new orchestra partnerships are being forged—like that between the Cleveland Orchestra and Ideastream, an Ohio-based nonprofit broadcast company, which launched a webcast last August. When Oberlin Conservatory of Music faculty approved support for juniors and seniors to stream recitals, webcasts jumped from 70 in 2015 to 350 in 2016. Expanding Accessibility

Orchestra on Demand programs, such as the one the Philadelphia Orchestra launched in October, have become more common—and expected—and orchestras

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s DSOLive webcast crew during a concert stream.

different channels. There are “Carnegie Hall Live” radio and digital audio streams, about a dozen concerts a year in partnership with radio station WQXR; live concert streams at commercial enterprises like medici.tv that include events such as this season’s opening-night concert with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and masterclasses, viewable for 90 days after each event; a new collaboration with ABC News Digital, featuring americanorchestras.org

are finding innovative ways of addressing issues of technology, cost, outreach, staffing, and branding. And despite a few initial reservations, none of the organizations Symphony talked to for this article reported live-streaming as a drain on ticket sales. In fact, all of them were extremely enthusiastic about how many more listeners they were now able to reach. First out of the gate for orchestral online offerings was the Berlin Philharmon

In 2014, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra installed mini-cameras at various offstage locations in Orchestra Hall, for a relatively inexpensive $200,000.

ic’s Digital Concert Hall, launched in late 2008, streaming concerts that could be purchased as individual concerts or by monthly or annual subscriptions. With its user-friendliness and embrace of emerging streaming technology, the Digital Concert Hall set the bar high. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s “Live from Orchestra Hall” soon followed, inspired by Berlin, and is the streaming program many U.S. orchestras aim to emulate. “Around 2010, the DSO put together a technology task force looking at how we could position ourselves in the technology area,” Geelhoed says. “We explored a wide range of ideas, from our website to audience use of devices in the concert hall. Everyone got behind webcasting concerts.” The goal? As the orchestra states, to become the “most accessible orchestra on the planet.” Enjoying orchestra broadcasts outside the concert hall is nothing new, of course. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, for example, has been broadcasting live on the radio since 1926; the NBC Symphony Orchestra went live on television, with Arturo Toscanini conducting, in 1937. As listeners moved from traditional radio and TV formats to subscription satellite radio and online streaming, classical music has kept up: SiriusXM Radio offers an abundance of classical channels, and YouTube is a treasure chest of uploaded and archived orchestral performances. Most classical radio stations now offer online streaming options—many beat the rock and pop radio stations in their market to the punch as early adopters of technological innovation. Online visual simulcasting of orchestra performances has lagged behind theater and opera, possibly because of the art form’s more subtle visual drama. Potential

Alyona Semenov

broadcasters may not have confidence that people will sit and watch an orchestral live stream rather than simply listen to it. Another barrier could simply be cost: sophisticated cameras (and their professional operators) are expensive, and properly directing and streaming a high-quality performance takes more resources than many organizations may have. But now, as orchestra audiences adopt devices like iPads and smartphones, orchestras are quickly catching up. The millennial generation expects to find everything online, all the time, and usually for free, so orchestras are bridging the resource gap as live-streaming apps and

Music Director Ken Lam leads the Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s April 2016 performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, which was streamed live from the Gaillard Center. Below, setting up for the live stream.

Charleston Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Michael Smith produced the orchestra’s April 2016 Tchaikovsky concert. The goal: to “get more awareness out there, beyond Charleston, beyond the people who usually come, and make it easier for them to hear how great the orchestra sounds.”

technologies become cheaper and more widely available. Meanwhile, for a company like Facebook, which has directly approached orchestras to utilize its Facebook Live feature, live-streaming draws a more diverse audience to its website and increases user engagement, which then translates directly into more advertising revenue. (Facebook is currently devoting resources to virtual reality and 3-D immersive environment technology, which are considered to be live-streaming’s next innovative steps. Imagine, possibly very soon, being able to virtually walk among the members of an orchestra as it launches into a work.)

As orchestral live-streaming just begins to take off, however, it’s natural for orchestras to be focused on the impact of home-viewing on ticket revenue, as well as the potential for broad outreach and global brand expansion offered by live webcasts to translate into lasting online popularity. As this all continues to evolve, it’s worth examining the myriad ways orchestras are adopting new technology, and how, in turn, the technology is influencing the

programming and marketing approaches of the orchestras themselves. Getting Started

For the DSO’s first webcast in 2011, says the DSO’s Geelhoed, “Detroit Public TV helped us get started, and for the first few years they provided the onstage cameras, camera operators, and production staff. We knew eventually we would have to switch to remote-operated camsymphony

SPRING 2017

eras, which we did in 2014 by installing mini-cameras at various offstage locations in the hall.” Now, productions are handled remotely from a control room in the basement of Orchestra Hall with a contracted crew and an in-house webcast manager position. “Initial costs were not that high,” says Geelhoed. “We paid about $200,000 for the new remote-operated cameras, and our annual production budget is also $200,000, which covers costs for about 26 webcasts per season.” (Not every live stream is archived.) Organizations with more modest budgets or technological support may balk at those start-up numbers, but Facebook Live, launched in April 2016, has enabled a do-it-yourself approach to streaming performances over the Web. Essentially, anyone can broadcast anytime from a mobile device through their Facebook page. For an orchestra that wants to set up a rudimentary Facebook Live stream, it’s as simple as opening the Facebook app on a phone, pointing the camera toward the players, and pressing the “Live” icon. One example of how an organization can harness Facebook Live to produce a lowcost, high-quality webcast is the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, where Executive Director Michael Smith applied an ingenious approach last season. After a $50 million renovation in 2015 of the CSO’s performance hall, the Gaillard Center, Smith noticed “a whole bunch more young people attending. It’s become a place to be in Charleston,” he says. “So ostensibly my mission with livestreaming was to show off this spectacular hall even more—like, ‘Hey, here’s the brass section, and if the camera happens to swoop around the hall, [the audience can] look at that, too.’ But I also wanted to get more awareness out there, beyond Charleston, beyond the people who usually come, and make it easier for them to hear how great the orchestra sounds.” Smith dove headfirst into live-streaming last April by setting up and producing a webcast himself, including directing and live-editing a three-camera feed. “The main piece was Tchaikovsky’s americanorchestras.org

a complete blur while I was doing it.” The cost? $2,000 out of pocket. But the effect has been invaluable in terms of outreach and branding. “It got so many more people talking about us,” Smith says. “It feels like our base is expanding beyond our core longtime patron audience into new, exciting territory.” Silicon Valley

Facebook Live has enabled a do-it-yourself approach to streaming performances over the Web. Last April, the San Francisco Symphony (above) became the first ensemble to broadcast an orchestral piece on Facebook Live. Fourth Symphony, which is one I know very well from my history as a trumpet player in the orchestra,” says Smith. “When we did the live stream, we did it on relatively short notice and a shoestring budget. We needed someone in the control booth who was really familiar with this repertoire. So I spent two weeks marking up the score and planning the shots. “I’m not sure I’ll do it all again, since you can guess how unbelievably stressful it is,” Smith recalls with a laugh. Still, the webcast reached thousands, including patients at Charleston’s Medical University of South Carolina Hospital and many people who hadn’t attended the symphony in years for reasons such as distance and budget. “It was a tremendous success,” says Smith, “even though it was

Facebook Live also ushered in webcasting at the San Francisco Symphony, with the added bonus that Facebook itself is a close neighbor. Last April, with guidance from Facebook headquarters in Silicon Valley, SFS was the very first ensemble to broadcast an orchestral piece on Facebook Live: Auditorium by Bay Area composer Mason Bates, guest-conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. Although just a year old, the archived webcast looks charmingly rudimentary by today’s standards—Facebook Live had not yet opened up its platform to integrate with professional equipment and a suite of advanced editing software tools. Yet even with this no-frills setup—an iPhone fixed on a tripod, hooked up with a wi-fi audio feed—viewers witnessed something new and immediate happening with the SFS webcast. The choice of Auditorium was inspired. The piece electronically samples Baroque instruments, played alongside live musicians using modern instruments to create a techno-acoustical landscape, a good metaphor for digitizing the canon. You can watch, from your laptop, the composer working behind his own Macbook among the SFS musicians. Bates had been part of an early streaming experiment, writing for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in 2011. (That orchestra existed only as a webcast entity, with mostly amateur players from around the world.) “I like to think of the disruptive possibilities of technology on music,” Bates says. “But I was actually more concerned about finishing Auditorium before the premiere than about any implications of it being streamed live. When the San Francisco Symphony told me that it would be streamed around the world, I thought, ‘Big deal.’ I thought it was a novelty. But

when it happened, my opinion turned 180 degrees.” Ninety thousand users from more than 50 countries tuned in to the Auditorium broadcast, and the SFS tied the Facebook Live hoopla into its marketing strategy. Working with Bates was ideal, because “We knew he was always up for new ideas,” SFS Director of Communications Oliver Thiel wrote in an email. “Plus he was active on social media, as was his fan base. Around the time of the world premiere, we were releasing the first CD of his large-scale orchestral works on our in-house record label, and thought this would be a great way to galvanize energy around both his music and our artistic partnership.” Going Behind the Scenes

At a wholly different order of technological and operational magnitude was “A Day in the Life,” a daylong uninterrupted Facebook Live stream on October 7 from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and its resident organizations, plus special guests. As the day unfolded, viewers could watch a costume fitting at the Metropolitan Opera, witness rehearsals of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and American Ballet Theatre, catch a performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center, attend a Juilliard School morning drama class, see a production of Falsettos

Haghi Suka/Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

For “A Day in the Life” Facebook Live webcast last October, Lincoln Center’s Senior Vice President of Brand and Marketing Peter Duffin says, “We ran ads on Facebook for the day, as well as running a campaign to boost the number of page likes on our FB page prior to the day’s live-streaming.”

Juilliard School faculty member Moni Yakim leads a movement class with third-year drama students during “A Day in the Life,” a daylong Facebook Live stream on October 7, 2016 from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

at Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre, and more. Among the highlights was an evening outdoor solo performance by Lang Lang, backstage access before a New York Philharmonic concert, and an interview with filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. Just a few weeks before “A Day in the Life,” the New York Philharmonic also live-streamed its opening-night concert. “Our research has shown that the more

people understand the breadth of activities at Lincoln Center, the more interested they are in attending the campus,” says Peter Duffin, Lincoln Center’s senior vice president of brand and marketing. “Livestreaming a complete day from the campus seemed like a fantastic way to share our story. I’ve worked at Lincoln Center for twenty years, and even I was stunned by everything that went on behind the

Streaming By Numbers 16 hours live-streamed from Lincoln Center during its “Day in the Life” webcast 6 million people reached by “Day in the Life” 450,000 people reached by Austin Symphony Orchestra’s “Mozart Speaks” program live-streamed on September 10, 2016 $200,000 spent on new remote cameras for the inaugural live-streamed season of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s “Live from Orchestra Hall” 6,400 subscribers to the DSO Replay archive 2008 year the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall, a high-definition orchestral live-streaming channel, was launched 90,000 users tuned in to Facebook Live’s first live stream of a complete orchestral work, San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Mason Bates’s Auditorium $2,000 spent on Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s first Facebook Live stream 50,000 viewers gathered online for the Seattle Symphony’s June 17 tribute to victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando 50,000 students reached on average annually by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s “Live From Orchestra Hall: Classroom Edition” symphony

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the webcast, comments poured in from viewers in countries ranging from Colombia and Serbia to the U.K.

Haghi Suka/Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

A Matter of Scale

Director Timothy Durant at the controls during “A Day in the Life,” a daylong Facebook Live stream on October 7, 2016 from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Lincoln Center’s sprawling “A Day in the Life” live stream was a built-in headlinegrabber, and it’s worth pointing out that producing an event on this scale might not be possible for all arts groups. But more modest-sized organizations are finding ways to inject a sense of theatrical flair into their webcasts, switching things up from merely live-streaming straight performances. In September, the Austin Symphony Orchestra’s “Mozart Speaks” concert interspersed live recitation of Mozart’s letters (read by local actor Martin Burke) with performances of a selection of his works. The brainchild of ASO Music Director Peter Bay, the program aimed to draw out the cadences of Mozart’s speech and writing in his musical compositions. The resulting performance was described as sometimes charming, sometimes sublime, and, due to the often cloying writing style of the period, sometimes annoying—yet always fascinating. The “Mozart Speaks” program was streamed over Facebook Live, which allowed direct contact with viewers via comments, as well as the ability to analyze user demographics. “The stream went off without a hitch,” says Austin Symphony Marketing Direc-

staff members on the day of the webcast. “Our marketing goal was a reach goal,” Duffin says, referring to the organization’s efforts to broaden its reach beyond its dedicated ticket-buying base in New York City. “This was a front-of-the-funnel, brand-awareness exercise. The videos of the day have been watched over 3.1 million times, and reached over 6 million people from all over the world.” During

None of the organizations Symphony talked to for this article reported live-streaming as a drain on ticket sales.

In September, the Austin Symphony Orchestra live-streamed its “Mozart Speaks” program interspersing live recitation of Mozart’s letters with performances of his music, led by ASO Music Director Peter Bay.

ed by finding the perfect day that would have a broad range of activities going on. We ran ads on Facebook for the day, as well as running a page ‘like’ campaign”— getting more real-life Lincoln Center fans to become fans on Facebook—“to boost the number of page likes on our FB page prior to the day’s live-streaming.” Duffin’s team also mustered press coverage in major media outlets and released a YouTube preview “sizzle reel” that could easily be shared on social media platforms outside Facebook. Lincoln Center worked with a professional production company, Telescope, for “A Day in the Life,” but also added thirteen dedicated americanorchestras.org

John Gutierrez

travertine walls in one day. Facebook Live was the perfect vehicle—I haven’t heard of anyone else doing something this daunting on Facebook. “We started working in earnest on this a month prior to the live-streaming day,” Duffin continues. “We didn’t bring the production company on board until two weeks beforehand. Neither of these were ideal timelines, but they were necessitat-

tor Jason Nicholson. “What I wasn’t prepared for were the numerous comments, like ‘Absolutely stunning performance tonight! Had me weeping’ and ‘Chorus Austin and the 4 soloists were sublime. Magical performance.’ 99 percent were positive. I wanted to personally type comments back because as a marketer, you want to know what people are saying about you, especially during a live stream, and you want to acknowledge them. The comments came flooding in and I couldn’t keep up. My fingers were tired after the performance.”

According to Austin Symphony Orchestra Marketing Director Jason Nicholson, their recent streamed “Mozart Speaks” program reached more than 450,000 people, with 25- to 35-year-olds making up the majority of the viewers. According to Nicholson, the stream reached more than 450,000 people—but the big surprise was the number of 25- to 35-year-olds watching, who made up the majority of the viewers. “The only expense we had were camera operators, a score reader who cued the cameramen, and the software to stream it all on Facebook,” Nicholson says. Streaming with a Purpose

During the Austin Symphony’s recent live-streamed “Mozart Speaks” concert, the comments “came flooding in and I couldn’t keep up. My fingers were tired after the performance,” said Marketing Director Jason Nicholson.

Community interaction and broadening its audience were also goals of the Seattle Symphony when it began live-streaming performances. The orchestra is no stranger to streaming audio: it has enjoyed a close relationship with radio and online station King FM for many years, and last year the orchestra launched its own Seattle Symphony Channel at the station, inaugurated with a 24-hour stream of performances of Sibelius, celebrating the composer’s 150th birthday. (Sibelius lends himself well to streaming, apparently.) Last June, Seattle’s video live-streaming blossomed with purpose in a communal moment that brought people flocking to the internet, looking for solace in art. After the tragic attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, in which 49 people were killed, the orchestra quickly turned around and dedicated a streamed performance—of the symphony

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cians—allows it to stream performances at the spur of the moment. (Often, a member of the marketing team will pull out an iPhone and run into the hall to stream a particularly compelling rehearsal or performance.) Several recent American Federation of Musicians contracts at orchestras around the country have also allowed greater leeway for streaming and other emerging technology. Seattle Symphony Vice President of Marketing Rosalie Contreras balks at the notion that streaming may be encouraging people to stay home rather than ven-

The Seattle Symphony live-streamed its “Music Beyond Borders” program on February 8, 2017, featuring music from Iran, Sudan, Iraq, Somalia, and Syria. Clarinetist/composer Kinan Azmeh performed his Suite for Improvisor and Orchestra with the Seattle Symphony.

final movement of Charles Ives’s Orchestral Set No. 2, “From Hanover Square North, At the End of a Tragic Day, The Voice of the People Again Arose”—to the victims. With little advance fanfare, the live stream was a cathartic sensation, reaching 50,000 people from across the country who came together to mourn. Since then, the orchestra has become americanorchestras.org

particularly agile when streaming concerts, with recent successes including a sold-out February 8 concert entitled “Music Beyond Borders,” featuring music and musicians from Iran, Sudan, Iraq, Somalia, and Syria. The orchestra’s collective bargaining agreement with the union representing its musicians—the International Guild of Symphony, Opera and Ballet Musi-

Several recent American Federation of Musicians contracts at orchestras around the country have allowed greater leeway for streaming and other emerging technology. ture to the concert hall. “I’m surprised that’s even a question,” she says. “One of our most important missions is to embrace every technological tool at our disposal, every channel of communication, every kind of experience to reach every kind of listener with our music. Otherwise, why would we do it?” So far, the response to live-streaming from both orchestras and viewers has been encouraging. The physical orchestra is far from being completely absorbed into the virtual one, and both still offer unique, complementary experiences. As the recent explosion in the popularity of rock festivals has proved, free live-streaming options have hardly obliterated the communal live experience (or potential ticket sales). One day, a viewer may enter an immersive, live-streamed, 3-D orchestral environment and wander among a string section in full flight. Another day, that same viewer may fly with those strings into a world of imagination, from a seat among fellow music-lovers in the concert hall. MARKE BIESCHKE is publisher of 48 Hills, an online nonprofit covering culture, politics, and nightlife in San Francisco. He was formerly publisher of the alternative weekly San Francisco Bay Guardian.

BUILDING the

FUTURE Can the wave of new concert halls revitalize urban life while meeting the changing needs of orchestras? by Rebecca Schmid

The China Philharmonic plans to open a striking new hall in Beijing in January 2018.

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Opening this April, La Seine Musicale is located on an island just outside the center of Paris.

rom Lucerne to Los Angeles to Shanghai, the 21st century has seen a boom in new concert hall architecture. This season alone in Germany brought the opening of the €789 million Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Boulez Hall at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin, and the Musikforum Ruhr in Bochum. In Paris, La Seine Musicale—a €170 million building designed by Shigeru Ban in the suburbs of western Paris— opens its doors on April 22, just two years after the opening of the Philharmonie de Paris and three years after the inauguration of the Grand Auditorium at Maison de la Radio France. In China, a country undergoing a rapid period of urban development, the China Philharmonic will move into a translucent space covering 11,600 square meters in americanorchestras.org

Beijing’s central business district in January 2018. When the Detroit Symphony Orchestra embarks on its first China tour this July—to Suzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing, and Shanghai—it will perform in halls all built in the last thirteen years. In the U.S., Lincoln Center’s Geffen Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic, is preparing for a $500 million renovation to reimagine the auditorium, rework its acoustics, and include spaces for education and engagement programs. Cincinnati Music Hall, main hall for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will reopen this fall following a $135 million renovation that reduces capacity from over 3,000 to under 2,500, removing some seats and introducing terraced seating on the main floor so that listeners have

Chris Lee

The New York Philharmonic and Music Director Alan Gilbert acknowledge the ovation this April at Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie, where the audience surrounds the performers.

Chris Lee

The New York Philharmonic performed in Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie this spring. The hall, built atop a renovated mixed-used warehouse on the city’s harbor, is home to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and other musical groups.

more space and comfort. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa—after a 2008 flood did severe damage to the Paramount Theatre, home to the Cedar Rapids Symphony—a $32-million restoration respected the venue’s historic fabric while updating it with wider, more

comfortable seats, improved acoustics, enhanced stage machinery, a lounge, and more. The renovation led to more performances and community engagement—and the orchestra was rechristened Orchestra Iowa to reflect its wider scope. When the Indianabased Carmel Symphony Orchestra moved into the new Palladium concert hall at the Center for the Performing Arts in 2011, the orchestra reported increased ticket sales, a rise in average attendance per concert, and heightened public awareness and corporate sponsorship. In 2015, South Carolina’s Charleston Symphony Orchestra reopened its main concert venue, the Gaillard Center, after a transformative $142 million rebuild that updates the concert hall and provides spaces for public events as well as government offices. Tanglewood, the summer residence of the Boston Symphony, is undergoing a $30-million update to its grounds that will in 2019 introduce a concert and lecture space with seating for up to 300 as well as rehearsal studios and symphony

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The Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Reynolds Hall at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2012.

Steve Crupi

Symphony to make the new concert hall its home. Institutions of higher education have joined the fray: Stanford University in 2013 unveiled its Bing Concert Hall with vineyard-style seating, and Brown University in Rhode Island has a scheme for a new performing arts venue underway. As the architecture historian Victoria Newhouse concludes in her 2012 book Site and Sound, “costly, high-profile” classical music venues “are replacing museums as linchpins of urban expansion and tools of global politics and cultural economics” in the twenty-first century. But Newhouse also notes a “puzzling paradox”: the trend occurs “at a time of what appears to be declining attendance and aging audiences, together with the preference of many young people for less formal environments.” But is it a paradox? Halls from the New World Center in Miami to La Seine Musicale in Paris are intentionally deploying their new facilities to introduce innovative programming and attract new audiences. Some statistics also indicate a healthy en-

Architecture historian Victoria Newhouse has noted that high-profile classical music venues “are replacing museums as linchpins of urban expansion and cultural economics.” center for music education that includes the professional Orchestra of Indian Hill, has purchased land for a campus that will include studios and classrooms, community venues, and two performance halls. In Hyannis, Cape Cod, plans are afoot for a performing arts center on a 40-acre site, with a commitment from the Cape Cod

Below: The Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, is home to the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (performing below left). Gaillard reopened after a transformative renovation in 2015.

William Wright

Courtesy of Charleston Symphony Orchestra

a cafe. High-profile halls, often designed by brand-name “starchitects,” have opened over the last decade in places as different as Nashville; Las Vegas; Kansas City; Sonoma County, California; and Montreal, Canada. The growth spurt is not just in big cities with big money. In northeast Massachusetts, Indian Hill Music, a non-profit

americanorchestras.org

eles Courtesy Los Ang

vironment for classical music. Though the League of American Orchestras, in its Orchestra Facts: 2006-2014 study, noted an audience decline of 10.5 percent between 2000 and 2014, it reported 18 percent growth in the number of subscribing households. The German Orchestra Association in February revealed that the number of classical music events in 2015-16 increased by 10 percent from the previous season, attracting 40 percent more attendance than the country’s national soccer league. The Philharmonie de Paris, despite scepticism about filling a hall that seats up to 2,400 people in an outermost city district, currently boasts an attendance rate of 97 percent. No new hall is a panacea, and no one wants to get stuck with a beautiful, overbudget hall. But thoughtful planning and solid finances can lead to an outstanding performance venue—with top-notch acoustics—that meets the evolving expectations of today’s audiences. “We have an opportunity,” says Philharmonie de Paris President Laurent Bayle, “as we did nothing for 50 years to integrate the young generations. But you have to find the right strategy. And a location can

Philharmonic

Courtesy Los Angeles Philharmonic

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, opened in 2003, makes a bold statement in the city’s skyline and helped create a downtown arts district. The hall’s interior (below right) utilizes vineyard-style seating.

be part of that strategy.” Bayle cites highquality acoustics and the sense of engagement through the main hall’s vineyard-style seating; diversification of programming; hands-on activities at the educational center; and reduced ticket prices as a draw for both audiences of the Salle Pleyel—the former residence of the Orchestre de Paris, located in central Paris—and new listeners. “The debate is not just taking place in the old, tired Europe,” he says. “There are the

same questions in Asia and the U.S. We are building halls because of the stakes of developing new audiences: of decamping to less privileged neighborhoods, decreasing ticket prices, having spaces to welcome families on the weekend.” Construction Boom

In the U.S., the opening of new—and newly renovated—concert halls in the last few years has demonstrated how the combination of exciting architecture and visymphony

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Courtesy of Orchestra Iowa

Matthew Zory

Courtesy of Orchestra Iowa

Orchestra Iowa (performing above) makes its home in the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids (right), a 1920s movie palace that was renovated following a 2008 flood. In addition to Orchestra Iowa, the theater hosts concerts, fundraisers, corporate meetings, dance recitals, and a Broadway Series.

sionary artistic programming can revitalize both an orchestra and its urban landscape. The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Disney Hall and the New World Center in Miami Beach—both Frank Gehry buildings with vineyard-style seating—have won attention and audiences that persist past the excitement of the grand opening. Six years after moving into its new home in 2011, the New World Symphony—a post-graduate orchestral academy founded by Michael Tilson Thomas—reports that peramericanorchestras.org

formances in its 756-seat hall are generally sold-out, with up to 80 percent covered by subscriptions. The New World Center’s “Wallcasts”—free concert screenings on the building’s facade with high-quality video and surround-sound acoustics—now headline tourism posters under the slogan “It’s so Miami.” Each Wallcast attracts an average of 2,100 people, who mingle on the lawn of SoundScape Park. A 2014 survey revealed that 30 percent of audience members are under 45 years old and that

During the current renovation and updating of historic Music Hall, home of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Principal Bass Matthew Zory has taken behind-the-scenes photos that capture the construction process. Zory is planning to publish a book of his Music Hall documentation project. Find more of these and other photos on his Facebook page.

34 percent identify themselves as a person of color. One-quarter of attendees had not been to any classical event in the preceding year. “People in the community have come to trust New World,” says Executive Vice President and Provost John Kieser. “The building has allowed us the freedom to

Tim Hursley

The striking profile of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (above left), home of the Kansas City Symphony, created a new landmark in the orchestra’s hometown. Like many new concert halls, the lobby of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (above), welcomes visitors with a dramatic urban gathering space. A performance at Helzberg Hall (left), by the Kansas City Symphony.

Chris Lee

combining Riesling with Ellen Taafe Zwilich and Zweigelt with Schubert. An in-house carpenter created small tables for the main hall. Up next is “InsideOut,” a collaboration between six fellows and nine video art and film students from the Pratt Institute in New York to create a series of installations in the main hall and as a Wallcast. La Seine Musicale will similarly be a space in which the Insula Orchestra, founded in 2012, can introduce innovative programming. The hall is part of a redevelopment project on Seguin Island, formerly a manufacturing site of Renault automobiles to the west of Paris. Music Director Laurence Equilbey cites the inclusion of a pit in the 1,150-seat, vineyard-style auditorium as an important feature for her agenda. “The DNA of many projects will be that they are treated visually and scenically,” she says. “We will work with directors, sculptors, filmmakers, choreographers.” The orchestra specializes in repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries, performing on period instruments

create programs and experiences where people want to go.” Inside the building, alternative formats such as mini-concerts and “Pulse” events—which alternate DJ sets with live orchestral music—attract 42 percent in first-time attendees, according to a 2013 study. Concerts at New World Center include specialized lighting and visuals to set the mood before the concert, exploiting projection surfaces which double as acoustic sails. “The more we can do to make people think differently about the art form, the better off it will be,” says Kieser. “The building gives us the capacity to do the experimentation.”

The New Audience Fellow Initiative offers New World’s musicians an opportunity to develop new concert formats, making them responsible for not just programming but marketing. A “Fiesta Cubana” curated by two hornists brought in artwork from a local contemporary art gallery that lined the lobby and was reproduced as digital images in the main hall, where a concert featured 20th-century Cuban composers and contemporary composer Aurelio de la Vega. In “Heard it through the Grape Vine,” a cellist partnered with a local sommelier to explore the sensory connections between wine and music,

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In the U.S., the opening of new—and newly renovated—concert halls in the last few years has demonstrated how exciting architecture and visionary artistic programming can revitalize both an orchestra and its urban landscape.

while also seeking to explore the latest technology. This season, they collaborate with the Spanish physical-theater troupe La Fura dels Baus on Haydn’s Creation in a multi-media production in which all singers carry digital tablets. “The [classical] era is fascinating because Europe is bubbling with revolutionary ideas,” says Equilbey. “One can easily find resonance with both young people and the audience at large.” Equilbey looks forward to opening the orchestra to a wider audience by crossreferencing with other events at La Seine Musicale, which includes a hall for nonclassical music with seating for up to 6,000 people (Bob Dylan sang there on April 20). “We can create synergy with pop, rock, or even electronic programs,” says Equilbey. The program “Night and Dreams,” exploring the music of Schubert, coincided with a “Night and Rave” in the other hall.

tion time up from 1.6 to 1.8 seconds, the same as Symphony Hall in Boston, considered, along with Vienna’s Musikverein, to have some of the world’s best acoustics. “A concert hall should first and foremost provide a wonderful aural experience,” says Cleveland Orchestra Music Director

Reverb and Renewal

Courtesy Nashville Symphony

The Nashville Symphony’s Laura Turner Hall at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which opened in 2006, has a shoebox-style auditorium. The exterior of Schermerhorn Symphony Center makes a statement about the orchestra’s role in a city with a vibrant musical life.

Courtesy Nashville Symphony

Preservation, not just innovation, is key for some institutions. The Cleveland Orchestra in 2000 restored its historic Severance Hall to enhance both interior details and acoustics, bringing the reverbera-

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Franz Welser-Möst. “There are enough examples of renovations where an excellent acoustic was ruined.” Welser-Möst maintains that the vineyard-style hall, which gives the audience a sense of proximity to the stage, has no advantage over the shoebox or horseshoe. “At the Musikverein or Severance Hall, many architects today would say that those sitting at the very back are too far away. But acoustically, it’s as if they’re right next to the orchestra.” Thanks to targeted initiatives of the orchestra’s Center for New Audiences, launched in 2010, more than 20 percent of the Cleveland Orchestra audience is now under 25 years old. “We try to make it an experience from beginning to end,” says Welser-Möst. “If you are lucky enough to own such an impressive hall, then it is not so difficult.” This May, the orchestra presents Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in a semistaging by Yuval Sharon that will hang a transparent box over the orchestra and include projections and choreography. “I’ve experienced some of the most fascinating performances, both in opera and theater, in spaces which did not have sophisticated machinery,” says Welser-Möst. Architect Jack Diamond, whose firm Diamond Schmitt Architects will preside alongside Heatherwick Studio over the renovation of Geffen Hall in New York, concurs with Welser-Möst that acoustics should be the number-one priority. He calls the shoebox model “tried and true”: “You want the right reverberation time so that the last seat in the house has the same density as the first seat in the house. An even distribution of all the frequencies is

Emilio Collavino

New World Center, the New World Symphony’s home in Miami Beach, presents concerts inside and out, via “WallCasts” projected on a wall facing a public park. Inside the center, the orchestra takes advantage of new and emerging technology, including (below center) for a recent concert featuring Stravinsky’s Circus Polka with digital animation by Emily Henricks.

critical in making a successful hall.” In his design of sites such as the Marinsky Theatre and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s Maison Symphonique, which opened in 2011, Diamond has found the height of the reflective space above musicians to be a critical issue “which is often not well understood. But the most flexible thing is the conductor,” he adds. “The responsive conductor can compensate for strengths and weaknesses in a hall in a way that architects frequently cannot.” At Geffen (formerly Avery Fisher) Hall, which in 2019 will undergo its fifth renovation since opening in 1962, New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert countered the problematic acoustics by splitting the violins and moving the cellos and double basses to stage right in

Center Courtesy of the

ing Arts for the Perform

Rui Dias-Aidos

No new hall is a panacea, but thoughtful planning and solid finances can lead to an outstanding performance venue that meets the evolving expectations of today’s audiences. order to create a better balance. Meanwhile, the fortress-like exterior of Lincoln Center, reflecting the standard architectural approach to performing arts centers in the mid-20th century, lacked the inviting air of more modern complexes. Diamond says that all his firm’s projects are distinguished by the ability to reconcile exterior and interior. He cites the transparency of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, completed in 2006, as key to its success: “You see people attending pre-concert events in the aerial amphitheater. You see people in jeans at the bar. That makes it psychologically accessible. And when you’re inside, you get new views of the city.” The New World Symphony’s Kieser sees a demand for halls whose infrastructures move “beyond the presentation of music in a traditional sense” to include sophisThe home of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra in Carmel, Indiana, is the Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts, a striking multi-sided structure.

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Photographie_Patatonic

“It sends a signal to people that classical music is not only a museum program but is important to us today.” Having attracted one million visitors to its public foyer with panoramic views of the city last February, the Elbphilharmonie announced that it had already become one of Germany’s top tourist draws. The city hopes to overtake Bayreuth, Berlin, and Dresden as the country’s number-one music destination by 2025. But as Lieben-Seutter admits, “the biggest question is what happens after three years—if it is just initial curiosity, or if the house is so well-positioned that we can count on such a big audience.” REBECCA SCHMID is a music writer based in Berlin, contributing to the Financial Times, New York Times, and Berliner Morgenpost. She has moderated and written program notes for the Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, and Karajan Music Tech Conference.

INDEX

ADVERTISER

Adrian Wyard, Visual Artist.................. 19 Colorado College Summer Music Festival..................... 46 Fordham University................................. 1 Jean Buithieu

JRA Fine Arts......................................... 9 The exterior of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s Maison Symphonique (top) makes a point of being open and accessible to city life. Above, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Kent Nagano take a bow at Maison Symphonique.

ticated lighting and cross-pollination with other art forms such as video, dance, and drama. He considers more intimate venues such as National Sawdust in Brooklyn, a repurposed factory that focuses on smallensemble concerts of new music, or the San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox, a converted rehearsal space in its main hall that hosts multimedia orchestral concerts with a lounge-like atmosphere, to be adventurous. While the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam are americanorchestras.org

still considered the acoustic gold standard, much 20th-century and contemporary repertoire is arguably more at home in modern halls with a transparent, less resonant sound design. The city of Hamburg now has the luxury of dividing programming between the Laieszhalle, a traditional, shoebox hall opened in 1908, and the recently opened Elbphilharmonie, where the acoustics are so clear that you can hear a pin drop. “It is a good idea to build a new hall because it gives value to the content,” says Intendant Christoph Lieben-Seutter.

League of American Orchestras.............c2 OnStage Productions............................ 19 Orchestre Symphonique du Montreal... 56 Oregon Bach Festival............................ 53 Roosevelt University.............................. 27 Schiedmayer Celeste GmbH................... 3 Some Funny Symphony Company........ 27 Word Pros, Inc....................................... 10 Yamaha Corporation of America.......... 57 Young Concert Artists............................c3

LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS With the support of our valued donors, the League continues to have a positive impact on the future of orchestras in America by helping to develop the next generation of leaders, generating and disseminating critical knowledge and information, and advocating for the unique role of the orchestral experience in American life before an ever-widening group of stakeholders. We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the following donors who contributed gifts of $600 and above in the last year, as of February 27, 2017. For more information regarding a gift to the League, please visit us at americanorchestras.org/donate, call 212.262.5161, or write us at Annual Fund, League of American Orchestras, 33 West 60th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10023. $150,000 and above

Bruce and Martha Clinton, on behalf of The Clinton Family Fund Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sargent Family Foundation Cynthia Sargent

$50,000–$149,999

Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm McDougal Brown The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company Fund John and Marcia Goldman Philanthropic Fund National Endowment for the Arts The Negaunee Foundation Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation The Wallace Foundation

$25,000–$49,999

American Express Foundation Melanie Clarke The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Peter D. and Julie Fisher Cummings † The Edgemer Foundation, Inc. Ford Foundation Mrs. Martha R. Ingram New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Steve and Diane Parrish Foundation Patricia A. Richards Sakana Foundation $10,000–$24,999 The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Mrs. Trish Bryan † Richard and Kay Fredericks Cisek † Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation Phillip Wm. Fisher Fund The John & Marcia Goldman Foundation Douglas and Jane Hagerman Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation Lori Julian, on behalf of the Julian Family Foundation Mark Jung Dennis and Camille LaBarre † Alan and Maria McIntyre New York State Council on the Arts Lowell and Sonja Noteboom Mary Carr Patton Robert A. Peiser † Barry A. Sanders Drs. Helen S. and John P. Schaefer † Connie Steensma and Rick Prins † Penny and John Van Horn Wells Fargo Foundation

The Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation

$5,000–$9,999

Bill Achtmeyer Burton Alter Mr. and Mrs. William G. Brown Nicky B. Carpenter † The CHG Charitable Trust † John and Paula Gambs Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts Margot and Paul Grangaard, in Honor of Lowell and Sonja Noteboom James Hasler The Hyde and Watson Foundation Hugh W. Long Kjristine Lund Jim and Kay Mabie † Michael Neidorff and Noémi Neidorff M. David and Diane Paul Foundation Jesse Rosen Helen P. Shaffer Laura Street Phoebe and Bobby Tudor Judy and Steve Turner Nick and Sally Webster

$2,500–$4,999

Lester Abberger and Amanda Stringer The Amphion Foundation Alberta Arthurs Brent and Jan Assink Beracha Family Charitable Gift Fund Richard J. Bogomolny and Patricia M. Kozerefski NancyBell Coe and William Burke Martha and Herman Copan Fund of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Gloria dePasquale D.M. Edwards in honor of Pat Richards, Jesse Rosen, and Nancy Wrenn Catherine French † Joseph B. Glossberg and Madeline Condit Marian A. Godfrey Lyndia and C.Y. Harvey IMN Solutions, Inc. John A. and Catherine M. Koten Foundation † Wilfred and Joan Larson Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo † Mattlin Foundation Anthony McGill Steven Monder † Catherine and Peter Moye Anne Parsons and Donald Dietz • Princeton Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees Gayle S. Rose

LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRA’S NOTEBOOM GOVERNANCE CENTER The League of American Orchestras’ Noteboom Governance Center was created in recognition of former League Board Chair Lowell Noteboom, honoring his longstanding commitment to improving governance practice in American orchestras. We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the following donors who have made commitments to support the Center. Alberta Arthurs Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm Brown John and Janet Canning † Richard and Kay Fredericks Cisek † Melanie Clarke Bruce and Martha Clinton, on behalf of The Clinton Family Fund Gloria dePasquale Phillip Wm. Fisher Fund Marian A. Godfrey Marcia and John Goldman Margot and Paul Grangaard, in honor of Lowell and Sonja Noteboom Douglas and Jane Hagerman Daniel R. Lewis † Dr. Hugh W. Long Steve and Diane Parrish Foundation Mary Carr Patton and John Shaw Daniel Petersen † Barry A. Sanders Sakana Foundation Sargent Family Foundation Cynthia Sargent Sewell Charitable Fund Penelope and John Van Horn Tina Ward •† The Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation Anonymous (2) The Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation Deborah F. Rutter † Enea and Dave Tierno Alan D. and Janet L. Valentine Kathleen van Bergen Doris and Clark Warden † Linda and Craig Weisbruch † Simon Woods and Karin Brookes Helen Zell

$1,000–$2,499

Jeff and Keiko Alexander

symphony

SPRING 2017

Tiffany and Jim Ammerman II Eugene and Mary Arner Jennifer Barlament and Kenneth Potsic • David Beauchesne, Rhode Island Philharmonic Marie-Hélène Bernard William P. Blair III † Deborah Borda † Barbara M. Bozzuto Elaine Amacker Bridges Susan Bright Fred and Liz Bronstein • Wayne S. Brown and Brenda Kee † Charles Cagle † Janet and John Canning † Leslie and Dale Chihuly Robert Conrad The Dirk Family Susan Feder and Todd Gordon Courtney and David Filner • Drs. Aaron and Cristina Stanescu Flagg Henry and Fran Fogel † John and Michele Forsyte • James M. Franklin † Gary Ginstling and Marta Lederer Gordon Family Donor Advised Philanthropic Fund Nancy Greenbach Andre and Ginette Gremillet Dietrich M. Gross Mark and Christina Hanson • Ian Harwood • Sharon D. Hatchett John and Carolee Hayes † Dale Hedding Howard Herring The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Claire Fox Hillard Patricia Howard + Mrs. Laura Hyde † Stephen H. Judson Paul Judy Joseph P. and Nancy F. Keithely Foundation Cindy and Randy Kidwell Jill Kidwell Douglas W. Kinzey Peter Kjome Joseph H. Kluger Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett Emily and Robert Levine Sandi Macdonald and Henry Grzes Jonathan Martin Steve & Lou Mason † Shirley D. McCrary † Debbie McKinney Paul Meecham † David Alan Miller Phyllis J. Mills † Thomas Dreeze and Evans Mirageas Michael Morgan † americanorchestras.org

James B. Nicholson Andy Nunemaker Rebecca (Becky) Odland James Palermo • John Palmer † Michael Pastreich • Peter Pastreich † Daniel Petersen † Walter P. Pettipas Revocable Trust Tresa Radermacher Barbara S. Robinson Susan L. Robinson Barbara and Robert Rosoff Frederick and Gloria Sewell Pratichi Shah Rita Shapiro Richard L. Sias † R. P. Simmons Family Foundation Mi Ryung Song • Tom and Dee Stegman Linda S. Stevens Melia & Michael Tourangeau Rae Wade Trimmier † Marylou and John D.* Turner Matthew VanBesien • Jeff and Maria Vom Saal Allison Vulgamore •† Terry Ann White Camille Williams Donna M. Williams Paul Winberg and Bruce Czuchna

$600–$999

Lois H. Allen Sandra Sue Ashby Janet F. and Dr. Richard E. Barb David R. Bornemann, Board Member, Phoenix Symphony Drs. Misook Yun and James William Boyd • Doris and Michael Bronson Melinda Whiting Burrows and John Burrows Judy Christl † Scott Faulkner and Andrea Lenz † Jack Firestone The GE Foundation Michael Gehret Bill Gettys Edward B. Gill † Richard and Mary L. Gray Carrie Hammond Scott Harrison and Angela Detlor Daniel and Barbara Hart • HGA Architects and Engineers Marilyn P. and Joseph W. Hirschhorn Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation David Hastings & Ann Huntoon Helena Jackson and Doug Dunham Joia M. Johnson Donald Krause and JoAnne Krause †

HELEN M. THOMPSON HERITAGE SOCIETY The League of American Orchestras graciously recognizes those who have remembered the League in their estate plans as members of the Helen M. Thompson Heritage Society. Janet F. and Dr. Richard E. Barb Family Foundation Wayne S. Brown and Brenda E. Kee † John and Janet Canning † Richard and Kay Fredericks Cisek † Martha and Herman Copen Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Myra Janco Daniels Samuel C. Dixon • Henry and Frances Fogel † Susan Harris, Ph.D. Louise W. Kahn Endowment Fund of The Dallas Foundation The Curtis and Pamela Livingston 2000 Charitable Remainder Unitrust Steve and Lou Mason † Lowell and Sonja Noteboom Charles and Barbara Olton † Peter Pastreich † Walter P. Pettipas Revocable Trust Rodger E. Pitcairn Robert and Barbara Rosoff Robert J. Wagner Tina Ward •† Mr. and Mrs. Albert K. Webster Robert Wood Revocable Trust Anonymous (1) David Loebel Terri McDowell Julie Meredith Anne W. Miller † Alfred P. Moore Nathan Newbrough Pacific Symphony Board of Directors Gordon Leigh Petitt David Snead Trine Sorensen and Michael Jacobson Joan H. Squires • Susan Stucker Gabriel van Aalst Gus Vratsinas Robert Wagner Eddie Walker and Tim Fields † Directors Council (former League Board) • Orchestra Management Fellowship Program Alumni + Includes Corporate Matching Gift * Deceased

CODA

For composer Andrew Norman, it has been a banner year: he received the 2017 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his orchestral work Play, and he was named Musical America’s Composer of the Year. In his acceptance speech at the Musical America awards ceremony in December, Norman, 36, spoke eloquently about the importance of taking risks, and said the orchestral field should commission music from a more diverse group of composers.

we don’t already have in the concert hall. You are giving up the chance to make the canon we will pass on less white, less male, less Eurocentrically homogeneous, and more representative of the diverse, multifaceted world in which we live. The music of the past is undoubtedly transformative, powerful, and amazing; it is one of the great legacies of Western

We have a responsibility to pass on an art form that is broader, more inclusive, and more socially engaged than the one we inherited.

Andrew Norman speaks to the New York Philharmonic audience about Split, his 25-minute fantasy for piano and orchestra. James Gaffigan conducted the Philharmonic’s world premiere of Split, with pianist Jeffrey Kahane, on December 10, 2015.

civilization, and it deserves and demands to be heard for generations to come. But I wonder sometimes if we aren’t sacrificing this art form’s future in order to preserve its storied past. I believe that the most amazing masterpieces of classical music the world has ever known have yet to be written. I believe there are Mozarts and Beethovens born every day, and it is our foremost responsibility as musical citizens to find them, to cultivate them, to give them plenty of opportunities to succeed and to fail, and ultimately to let them take the art form to places we cannot yet imagine.

the next time you program another symphony or concerto or overture from the standard repertoire, consider what you are giving up by doing so. You are giving up the chance to say something meaningful, important, thought-provoking, necessary, and specific about our own time. You are giving up the chance to give voice to a person, an experience, a point of view that

ANDREW NORMAN’s works have been performed by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony, among others. He is on the faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music and is director of the Composer Fellowship Program at the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Chris Lee

have been blessed with way more than my fair share of opportunities in this field, way more chances than I deserve to cultivate my voice, to grow as a musician, and to learn from great artists and mentors. I’ve also, and perhaps most importantly, been given the opportunity to fail, to fail repeatedly, and to fail in public, and I’m so grateful for that. I want to thank all of you for allowing me to fail, for allowing me to take risks, for allowing me to push myself and for supporting me throughout the process. This means the world to me. And I can’t help but feel that this gift of failure also puts me in an incredibly privileged position. I think about all the composers who have not been granted the same good fortune that I have, composers who don’t get the chance to fail because they don’t get the chance at all, and I wonder what we as a community can do about it. We all in this room have the power to shape what classical music is and will be for future generations. We are not just the inheritors and interpreters of a tradition, we are also the definers of that tradition, and we have a responsibility to pass on an art form that is broader, more inclusive, and more socially engaged than the one we inherited. So to those of you in this room, particularly those of you involved in the highest levels of the symphony orchestra world:

Jessa Anderson

Paying It Forward

symphony

SPRING 2017

BE THE FiRST TO BOOK THE BEST

“These are the stars of the next generation.” – tHE WASHINgtON POSt

PIANO

Rémi Geniet Tomer Gewirtzman Ji Dasol Kim Daniel Lebhardt Nathan Lee Andrew Tyson Yun-Chin Zhou

DOUBLE BASS

Xavier Foley BArItONE

Samuel Hasselhorn FLUtE

Anthony Trionfo VIOLIN

Benjamin Baker Bella Hristova SooBeen Lee Aleksey Semenenko

OBOE

Olivier Stankiewicz cLArINEt

Narek Arutyunian VIOLA

Ziyu Shen cELLO

Sang-Eun Lee

Monica J. Felkel, Director of Artist Management

Vicki Margulies, Artist Manager

cOMPOSEr

Katherine Balch David Hertzberg Tonia Ko Chris Rogerson

Susan Wadsworth, Founder, Director

250 West 57 Street, New York, New York 10107 Phone: (212) 307-6657 Email: management@yca.org Website: www.yca.org Bella Hristova Photo: Lisa Marie Mazzucco

League of American Orchestras

Published on Apr 18, 2017

Symphony Spring 2017

Published on Apr 18, 2017

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