Backstage: CCM Blog
The Dali Trio will be performing at Music in the Loft on Sunday October 19th at 3:00PM in concert featuring music by Franck, Janáček, and Schubert. The Dali Trio came together at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2004, with the three members already having played in various pairs. Elena, Abe and Roman each enjoy a diverse career in music, and thoroughly enjoy collaborating to learn and perform the piano trio repertoire. Elena and Roman began studying at Curtis in 2003, and upon reading with Abe when he entered in 2004, it became clear that this was a group with natural chemistry. The trio has been coached by Pamela Frank, Claude Frank, Peter Wiley, and Meng-Chieh Liu.
Interview with cellist, Abe Feder:
BB: To date, what has been your most memorable musical experience with the Dali Trio?
AF: Our very first performance was the Brahms B-major trio at Field Hall at The Curtis Institute of Music. Elena and Roman were in their 2nd year, and I was in my 1st, so I was definitely the rookie in the group and it sure sounded like it. I was so scared to play that opening solo (which is the most famous solo for the cello in the piano trio repertoire), but Elena and Roman were right there with me, and I was able to get through it.
BB: What attracts you most to the piano trio genre?
AF: Chamber music is my favorite music to play. I have been working in chamber groups regularly since I was nine years old. Over the past fourteen years, I find that I've played mostly in piano trios. I've even started working on the same pieces with different groups, which makes me feel old. To me, a piano trio can be more intimate at times than a string quartet because each person is more exposed personally and musically. The Schubert and Brahms Piano Trios are the best example of this.
BB: The program for the concert at Music in the Loft includes music from Franck, Janáček, and Schubert. Can you discuss how you decided on this program and perhaps tell us what is most exciting to you about the music?
AF: The Franck represents our group very well and is fascinating in the sense that the composer employed the same thematic material through the entire piece. The Janáček is a violin sonata that will feature Elena and Roman and serves as a nice balance from the Franck to the Schubert. I think Schubert's piano trios are some of his masterpieces and his B-flat trio is no exception. It is a huge piece to tackle and requires a great amount of precision and communication in order to sound free.
BB: I understand that you have a connection to the Chicago area. Can you tell us about your ties to this area?
AF: I was born and raised in Chicago, and it will always feel like my home. I studied with Richard Hirschl of the Chicago Symphony for seven years, and I participated in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras for nine years. I graduated high-school from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in 2004. I have only performed a few times in Chicago since I left for my studies at Curtis. Last year, I played in Music In the Loft's April Fools day Concert. I am very excited to be able to share what I've learned with people who watched me grow up as a person and as a musician.
BB: You are a very young group of musicians. What are some of the interesting challenges that you have had to overcome performing as a group of young classical musicians?
AF: This is a very tough question to answer because I can go in many different directions, but I'll try to answer it the best I can. I think that the biggest challenge that every classical musician faces is to realize that there will always be someone that is better than you. It's true. What I find most interesting is that there are never any challenges as a musician that are in the past. We strive for what we believe to be perfection in our playing, and the standards that we hold ourselves to as musicians only get higher and higher as we get better. For example: I can always play more in tune, I can always be more musical, my rhythm can always be more precise, I can always be more relaxed, and I should always be listening more carefully.
BB: Do you have any advice for other aspiring young chamber musicians out there?
AF: Of course I could simply say practice. And of course practicing leads to preparation however I see three real keys to success in chamber music. 1. You should be confident in what your ideas and your playing and gain respect through this confidence. 2. You must be flexible and practice in a way that improves your ability to adapt to other performers. 3. You must always be respectful to the other musicians you work with and learn to not take things personally. This basically amounts purely to developing your "people skills."
Many thanks to Abe Feder for taking the time to give this interview! We hope you will join us for this exciting concert! Please check out our website at www.musicintheloft.org for additional information and directions to the venue.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 2:57pm.
I normally shy away from writing blatant commercials about events that the Chicago Sinfonietta is involved with. However, 
the Saturday, October 4th performance of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra at the Harris Theater at 7:30 pm is a happy exception for a couple of reasons.
First, I passionately support the mission of Sphinx, which like the Chicago Sinfonietta, works diligently to promote diversity and inclusiveness in classical music. Yes, I know this is not our field’s favorite topic – and based on the national statistics that show less than 3% of orchestral musicians being people of color – not one that most of us even want to acknowledge, much less try to do something about. Sphinx identifies and nurtures very talented young, minority musicians, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra is made up of the best of these players.
Second, you can attend this concert for $5. An evening of great music for $5? You can’t beat that with a conductor’s baton!
Finally, it’s great to see the Harris Theater taking an active role as a presenter of classical music. The Sinfonietta is proud to collaborate with them on this concert. You can get more information by visiting their website at www.harristheaterchicago.org.
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Chicago a cappella is performing an all-British program starting the first weekend in October. Music Director Patrick Sinozich has written a brief synopsis of the program, which premiered last weekend in Jacksonville, Illinois:
Welcome to The British Are Coming and to what has been described as “a musical romp in the hay!” We've taken five madrigals, a medieval love song, some tasteful tunes from the Baroque, added a British folk song, a 20th century masterwork and wrapped it up in some boppin’ Beatles arrangements for you to enjoy while you sit back and wonder "will she or won’t she?" The British Are Coming showcases the shimmering harmonies and sparkling diction of Chicago a cappella as they follow the story of "A Lover and His Lass."
Composer Paul Crabtree will be at the Chicago and Evanston performances on October 3 and 5 respectively; we are performing his music on this concert, and he is a delightful person to meet and a superb composer and arranger.
This program is part fun, part romantic and totally full of beautiful melodies and witty words. We hope you’ll join us for a fascinating tour of musical magic in The British Are Coming! This program is a cappella musical storytelling at its best. Come hear for yourself.
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This month, Cedille Records released what from a musicological
perspective is probably the most significant recording we have ever
released. Beethoven & Clement Violin Concertos
features the world premiere of the 1805 Violin Concerto in D major by
Franz Clement, the violinist-composer for whom Beethoven wrote his
revered Violin Concerto the next year. Listening to the two concertos
side by side, it becomes clear that the Beethoven is not the isolated
phenomenon it has always been considered, but was in fact significantly
influenced by Clement's concerto (which was premiered on the same 1805
concert as Beethoven's Eroica Symphony).
To introduce this
historic recording, I am reprinting violinist Rachel Barton Pine's
personal note from the CD booklet. Before I do, I want to let everyone
know that Cedille Records is hosting a Release Party to celebrate this
important recording, including a live performance by Rachel Barton
Pine, on Sunday, October 5, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM at the Union
Restaurant in Evanston, 1245 Chicago Avenue (just South of Dempster).
the event is free but space is limited, so if you'd like to come,
please RSVP to nancy@cedillerecords.org or call 773-989-2515. Please do
so by the end of this week to guarantee your spot.
Now here's Rachel Barton Pine on this very special recording project:
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CONGRATULATIONS MONICA!
Baroque Band would like to send its best wishes to Monica Huggett for her appointment, announced TODAY, as director of the Juilliard's Early-Music Graduate Program.
You can read all about it in today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/arts/music/24earl.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin
And here in Chicago you can be the first U.S. audience to hear Ms. Huggett since the announcement. Next week Ms. Huggett performs Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with Baroque Band in three concerts, September 30, October 2 and October 3.
As well as the three concerts we are delighted that Ms. Huggett will give the inaugural master class in Baroque Band's new International Master Class Series. Come and hear her guide the period-instrument performers of the future in the class at the Music Institute of Chicago, Evanston on October 1st.
Check our website for further details: www.baroqueband.org
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Submitted by Jen Glagov on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 9:51am.
Last Friday during our traditional office “jeans day,” I mentioned to one of my co-workers that I was so comfortable that I wanted to wear clothes like this every day. “But it would make Fridays less special if we always dressed like this,” she replied. As I walked back to my office, I found myself thinking about that brief interaction and its relation to a recent discussion of concert attire in Greg Sandow’s blog. Sandow argues that “formal dress for classical performances just looks weird, and ancient,” while those on the other side of the fence liked the tradition and thought it contributed to a concert’s ambience (I’m paraphrasing, of course).
What do you think? Do you like your musicians in tuxedos/all black, or would you prefer to see them in clothes they might actually wear on the El?
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Submitted by Jen Glagov on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 12:56pm.
Thanks to the personalities involved with the upcoming election, there’s been a lot of talk lately about our ingrained cultural biases about gender. And if you’re interested in historical perspectives, classical music is a great place to look for evidence about social attitudes that were prevalent in bygone times. Music of the Baroque is about to perform Handel’s Hercules, a fantastic music drama that is much more about Hercules wife, Dejanira, than the well-known hero. Without revealing too much, Dejanira—who seems a little unstable right from the beginning—becomes jealous of her husband’s connection to a beautiful prisoner, and ultimately sets off a rather unfortunate chain of events. When I was writing the program notes for the performances, I read an interesting article by David Ross Hurley entitled “Dejanira and the Physicians: Aspects of Hysteria in Handel’s Hercules” in which he discusses Dejanira’s psychological deterioration and the resemblances it bears to contemporary medical discussions of hysteria—which, of course, was considered to be the most common female malady. It’s a fascinating connection, and Handel’s musical characterization is completely riveting.
Anyone else have particularly striking examples of the way women are portrayed in music, classical or otherwise?
(Music of the Baroque is opening its 2008-09 season with Handel’s Hercules; performances take place Sunday, September 21 at 7:30 at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, and Monday, September 22 at 7:30 at the Harris Theater.)
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On October 1st Baroque Band is presenting the first of our International Baroque Master class series. This is a new initiative that we have put together for this season and we are honored that Monica Huggett, one of the foremost exponents of the modern-day period-instrument movement, has agreed to inaugurate this series.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 9:29am.
I read in a recent League of American Orchestras email that a study has just been
completed that asked people to describe their personality traits and then asked subjects to list their favorite styles of music. Apparently there is a link between heavy metal and classical music fans due to their shared “love of the grandiose” and big, loud, brash music. According to the researcher, besides their age differences, both are basically the same type of person. Hmmm. Maybe Wagner was a precursor to Metallica.
An earlier League email referenced a book, The Mating Mind, written by Evolutionary Psychologist Geoffrey Miller discussing why we find musicians and singers sexy. “Looking at things from a biological point of view,” writes MacLeod, “we would normally expect women to be attracted to men with qualities that indicate good genes that can be passed on to her children or those that show he can look after a family, like a wad of cash for instance. Music doesn’t seem to serve any practical purpose. Musical ability, along with other creative skills, are rather like a human version of the peacock’s tail; something that has no survival value, but has evolved precisely because it is found attractive by the opposite sex….
As a former professional musician, I can pretty safely say that if this is true, it unfortunately has fallen outside of my personal experience. I’m wondering if any of you would care to comment on these two interesting subjects?
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As a way of
introducing our artists to the public before their performances, Music in the Loft will be posting brief interviews
with selected performers before each concert.
The critically acclaimed Parker
String Quartet will be kicking off our 16th season with two
concerts, one at 8PM
on Saturday September 20th and one at 3PM on Sunday September 21st. The program will feature music by Antonín Dvořák,
Anton Webern, and the 08-09 Music in the Loft composer-in-residence Matthew
Tommasini. The Parker String Quartet, winners of the 2005 Concert Artists
Guild International Competition as well as the 2005 Bordeaux International
String Quartet Competition, have been praised by the New York Times as
“something extraordinary,” and by the Boston Globe for giving “fiercely
committed performances.” Enjoy the
interview below with Parker Quartet violinist, Karen Kim. 
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