Classical Music
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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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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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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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Sun, 08/31/2008 - 9:48am.
Since we last shared this space, the Chicago Sinfonietta presented its debut performance at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion. Having attended a number of Grant Park Music Festival concerts in the past, I was familiar with the venue. But I have to confess, seeing our orchestra on stage at this magnificent venue was a blast! We had over 10,000 people in attendance despite the threat of rain all day. A few thoughts.
The sound system at the Pritzker is truly amazing. Rick Talaske’s group has created a state-of-the-art sound system for a state-of-the-art venue. Sightlines are great, the setting is dramatic, and what a fantastic centerpiece this venue provides in the heart of the city! We are grateful to Jim Palermo and the people at GPMF for their generous assistance, though we are a little envious that they get to perform there all summer long.
There are some faults, as well. There is a great deal of ambient noise, especially the sirens that seem to cut through almost anything the orchestra is playing. It also seems that some of the lawn seats might not have the greatest of sightlines. Having said that, Pritzker Pavilion is an incredible asset for the city and we were proud to have been invited to play.
One final quick plug. The Chicago Sinfonietta will broadcast its season preview on WFMT 98.7 FM on Saturday, September 6th from 10 –noon. Tune in to hear Maestro Paul Freeman and yours truly discuss the 08-09 season.
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Today's guest blog is written by Dileep Gangolli, Clarinetist with the Chicago Sinfonietta
While playing with my wife’s new computer, I stumbled on a desktop prompt for Pandora Radio which connected me to a world of streaming Classical music organized in a highly logical mathematical manner.
I was immediately taken by the way the music is presented and delivered (at no cost to the listener). I am anxious to get the thoughts of others on this method of classical music distribution.
After signing up for Pandora Radio, listeners are invited to create their “own radio stations” that feature their favorite composers. I have stations that feature Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Mahler, and Coldplay among others.
But what is so interesting is that the musical selections are not just of the selected composers but of those that compose in a similar manner either by being of the same time period or by being similar in aesthetic. So Mozart could precede a neo-classical work by Stravinsky that would then be followed by a composition by Varese or Satie. This type of musical organization is a by-product of the Musical Genome Project.
I “Googled” the MGP and this is what surfaced on Wikipedia:
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Jim Hirsch's recent Top 5 list post made me think of one I've always wanted to post: a list of obscure composers who shouldn't be:
1. Nicolai Miaskovsky (1881-1950)
The
forgotten "Soviet" composer (i.e., contemporary of Shostakovich and
Prokofiev), Miaskovsky was a prolific writer (27 symphonies, 13 string
quartets, etc.) whose music is consistently entertaining, colorful,
dramatic, and often gorgeous. He is probably best known for his lushly
romantic Cello Sonata, which is often appropriately coupled on
recordings with Rachmaninov's, as it is on the recommended recording
below and as it will be on a disc Cedille Records will record with
cellist Wendy Warner this fall for release in 2009/2010.
Representative works with recommended recordings:
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Today's guest blog was co-written by Jean Cook, Deputy Director and Casey Rae-Hunter Communications Director; both of of The Future of Music Coalition
When you think of classical music listeners, you might not picture web-savvy youth firing off blog posts about the great recital they just attended, or flitting through social networks to interact with their favorite contemporary ensemble. But according to Sidney Chen, Artistic Administrator of the avant-classical ensemble Kronos Quartet, all that and more is currently happening online, thanks to a cool little concept called net neutrality.
Net neutrality is the principle that protects the open Internet. It allows musicians to distribute their work in any way they want, without interference from gatekeepers and middlemen. It also provides fans with a plethora of legal ways to get their musical fix, often directly from the artist. But big telecommunications and cable companies want to change the fundamental structure of the internet by charging those who put content on the web — artists, filmmakers etc. — a fee for the faster delivery of their sights and sounds. If they couldn’t afford to (or didn’t want to) pay this toll, they’d be forced into in the information superhighway’s slow lane.This would be devastating to artists like Kronos Quartet, who depend on the Internet to reach potential audiences. “Our projects don’t normally fit neatly into genres,” Chen says. “The Internet allows us to reach those people who aren’t reliant solely on mainstream media and other information gatekeepers.”
Exploration celebration
According to Chen, Kronos fans come from a wide variety of backgrounds, ages, and locations. “The consistent thread that ties together all of our fans is that they’re adventurous listeners,” he relates. “The Internet has allowed us to find people who are just out there exploring and looking for new and interesting sounds. It’s allowed us to have a direct, two-way connection with our existing fans and also uncover new audiences.”
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 9:39am.
A friend sent me a link to an interesting blog written by Amanda Ameer entitled, “Someone, please just bring the water to 
the horse”. This fun-to-read, thought-provoking blog is about how orchestras can do a better job of marketing events to younger consumers. Think of it as our field’s Holy Grail.
I think you will enjoy reading this even if you are not an orchestra marketing director. I’d love to get your take on her conclusions so please return to our site and leave a comment after reading Amanda’s blog, and maybe share some ideas you might have. Enjoy!
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 12:10pm.
This morning my Google alert for Chicago classical music included a link to a blog with the title, Baroque jams: you’re new iPod playlist. This caught my eye for a number of reasons. First, my wife and son spent seven hours in line
last week waiting to buy the new Apple iPhone that incorporates all of the iPod functions with too many other things to list. I confess that I am interested in just about all things Apple-related.
But when posts combine my interest in technology and classical music, I tend to really pay attention.
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