Review by Michael Cameron of the Chicago Tribune.

This past Sunday at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston, Midwest Young Artists took the venue by storm, armed with three concerts from an assortment of groups with varied programs. The concert I attended bore the title “Future Virtuosos”, and featured winners of the Walgreens Concerto Competition.  It was a prime opportunity to not only measure the continuing growth of two MYA orchestras under the leadership of Allan Dennis, but also to hear a sample of young soloists primed to try their hands in the highly competitive world of the concert soloist.

This article was written by Mark McGowan.

Despite the word “Woman” in the title, the story is told from the perspective of a man.

Well, the original story bore that viewpoint, at least.

But the tale of a man who escapes his bland existence only to find himself trapped by the alternative will enjoy a decidedly female outlook when it’s reinterpreted at 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, and Monday, Sept. 21, on the stage of the NIU Music Building’s Recital Hall.

Four artists, including Greg Beyer, assistant professor of percussion studies in the School of Music, will present “Woman of the Dunes” as the culmination of a week-long guest artist series and artistic collaboration that revolves around Japanese composer Akemi Naito’s new – and musical – look at the 1960s novel and movie from her homeland.

Today's review is from Chicago Tribune writer, Michael Cameron.

Given the sterling reputation he’s earned in music education circles, it’s no wonder Midwest Young Artist’s director Allan Dennis occasionally submits evidence of the value of his program and methodology through the accomplishments of former students.  Saturday night at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall he presented exhibit A: his daughter and violist extraordinaire, Carrie Dennis.

Today's blog is written by Jeffrey Levine, Marketing and Events Coordinator at DePaul Community Music Division.

I spent last weekend far away from my valentine as I hit the road for my now monthly journey to Peoria to play for the symphony. The program was mostly American music (whatever that nebulous distinction conveys)  but what surprised me the most was not what we played but who we played with: the Central Illinois Youth Symphony.

Growing up in Buffalo, I was fortunate to be a  member of the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra - the Western New York equivalent of the CSYO - and play a side by side with the Buffalo Philharmonic. Now, many years later, I found myself on stage at the Peoria Civic Center struck by how much more that experience meant to me then I had realized.

Today's guest blog is written by Stefan Lano who will conduct the Chicago Sinfonietta during the upcoming performances of the opera Margaret Garner at the Auditorium Theater beginning November 1st.

As we prepare for the production of Margaret Garner at the Auditorium Theater, I am pleased to share some thoughts with you about this important opera. 
 
Although, the commissioning venues of Michigan Opera Theater,  the Cincinnati Opera and The Opera Company of Philadelphia were most generous in alotting ample time and funding for workshops prior to the world premiere here in Detroit, both hindsight and the experience gained through repeated performances will inevitably color subsequent re- visitations to this score.  That this is now the case, became evident at our first rehearsals and run-throughs of the
opera this past week.   The goals and priorities set by production teams of most any opera, play  or film are pretty
much the same:  1.  tell the story clearly and with dramatic efficiency; 2.  entertain the public while, hopefully, simultaneously edifying them;  3.  try to achieve a sense of closure at evening's end such that the public feels that they have been 'taken somewhere.'

An example of point number 3, would be the ambience in the public when the reprise of the Aria is reached in Bach's Goldberg Variations; or the sense of tragic inevitability at the end of Verdi's Otello as opposed to the comic inevitabiltiy at the end of his Falstaff.  Point number 2 is a bit more subtle.  In some opera, such as Mozart's Magic Flute, the moral of a given scene is presented as an aside in the form of the ensembles  where the characters address the public more directly rather than each other.  In an opera such as Margaret Garner, the message of Toni Morrison is, as one would expect from a literary national treasure, inherent in her story.    Thus do we arrive at the conundrum articulated by Madeleine in the final scene of Richard Strauss'  Capriccio: do the words or the music take precedence?  

Rather than argue for one or the other, I have always found that if the notion of effective theater is well-served, then both words and music are better clarified.  In the case of this run of Margaret Garner, this notion dictates our modus operandi perhaps moreso than the first time around. The care taken in the preparation of any first performance  is, more often than not, devoted to 'getting it right', especially when composer and librettist may be present.  There is, however, more to theater than merely getting it right.  One can get the words and the notes right while missing their element of dramatic marriage.  From the resonance of the opening productions of Margaret Garner, it seems that most would agree that we 'got it right.'  

It bespeaks the vision of David Di Chiera in his mounting a reprise of Margaret Garner relatively soon after the premier.  His decision is now the more felicitous as we approach an historic Presidential election in which an African-American could well become our next President.  That our country evolve as to embrace change. 

In the spirit of opera being an art form in perpetual evolution, Kenny Leon and I intend to greatly expand upon that which we presented some years ago and are especially thrilled that we will do so in the architectural landmark of the Roosevelt Theatre about which one can only echo George Ballanchine's comment: 'Why don't they build them like this any more...?"  Amen.

All best wishes to you,

Stefan Lano