"....a performance of unusual depth..."
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Comings and Goings
November 13, 2021
No one plays like Lucia. Of course, there are many great violinists who provide spectacular renderings of the repertoire, but there is something fresh, unique and deeply personal in what Lucia Micarelli brought to Sibelius last night in our concert with the Lansing Symphony. She is a musician who works in a broad range of styles, and I think that experience informs her approach to the masterworks. Aside from her ability to dispatch this monster of a work with flawless execution, among her other many wonderful attributes in a remarkable ability to connect with the audience, to draw them in to her world, and that is exactly what she did last night. I have had the pleasure of conducting the Sibelius concerto many times, all wonderful, but none like this one.
We opened the program with one of the “Top 40” in classical music right now, Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum.” This work is enjoying huge success in the US right now and for good reason. The players love it, the audience loves it. It is wonderful American music of today.
Schumann Symphony 4 brought the concert to a close. Schumann’s orchestral music is among the most difficult because of the degree of nuance needed to make the music come alive. I was so impressed with the way the LSO players found the spirit and style of this work and delivered a performance full of life, grace, drama and joy. What a pleasure it was to share the stage with them. Bravo!
Back in the 1990’s I had the pleasure of conducting several performances of Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” with Ballet Austin, in Austin, Texas. After that, I didn’t conduct the work as a ballet again until 2019 when the Flint Symphony invited me to do it with them. I was thrilled for that opportunity as I love this score. It is a masterpiece of musical storytelling and characterization. I find also that taking a deep dive into Tchaikovsky’s ballet scores provides a lot of insight in how we answer questions about performing the symphonies. Well, I’m very happy to say that FSO has invited me back for Nutcracker again, and I can’t wait!
NEXT UP
FLINT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
With dancers from Flint School of Performing Arts, the Washington Ballet, and Collage Dance Collective of Memphis
December 4 and 5
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
The Whiting, Flint Michigan
November 7, 2021
What a thrill it was to once again share the stage with my long-time friends and colleagues of the Baton Rouge Symphony, joined by the brilliant pianist Jon Nakamatsu and a cameo appearance from the Louisiana Youth Orchestra!
The occasion was a sold-out concert celebration the BRSO’s 75th anniversary. We chose a program that highlighted some of the musical legacy of the orchestra including the work they played to open their Carnegie Hall concert in the 1980’s (Chadwick’s Jubilee), two works the orchestra had commissioned for their 40th and 50th anniversaries by Kenton Coe and Stephen Paulus, and a work from the orchestra’s first concert in 1947 (Borodin, Polovtsian Dances). Members of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra joined us for some music from Carmen to celebrate the wonderful contributions of that very successful program. Mr. Nakamatsu, a frequent guest of the orchestra over the years, joined us in Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto to bring the concert to a close (although he did add a very poetic Chopin encore to round out the evening).
BRSO also announced the much-anticipated Pennington Great Performer for 2022. Emanuel Ax will be joining the orchestra for Chopin’s Second Concerto…very exciting!
The concert was originally scheduled to be held in Baton Rouge’s newly remodeled River Center Theater. The work has not been completed though (imagine that…a construction project that’s behind schedule, who knew??). Instead, we held the program in a ballroom of the River Center, and it worked surprisingly well, even acoustically. Kudos to the River Center crew who made all that happen and exceeded expectations.
This week is an exciting one for me as well back in Lansing. The Lansing Symphony presents our second masterworks program of the season, joined by the fabulous violinist Lucia Micarelli. Lucia will be playing Sibelius with us (the whole thing…not morphing into Kashmir this time, although I must say I’m a big fan of that version too!! If you don’t know of what I speak, it’s on YouTube. Check it out). I have been trying to get Lucia in the concerto slot for years. We had her on board for 2019-20, and well we all know how that turned out. So we are thrilled to have her this season as we return to live music. Also on the program, “Strum” of America’s new classical rock-star composer Jessie Montgomery and Schumann’s wonderful Fourth Symphony. It’s going to be a great week.
NEXT UP
Lansing Symphony Orchestra
November 12, 2021
Lucia Micarelli, violin
MONTGOMERY. Strum
SIBELIUS. Violin Concerto
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4
#jonnakmatsu #batonrouge #batonrougesymphony #stephenpaulus #kentoncoe #emanuelax #luciamicarelli #jessiemontgomery
October 27, 2021
I just came off two exciting concert weeks. For starters, the Lansing Symphony opened its season this month with our first indoor performance since things shut down. It was beyond beautiful to share the stage with my fabulous colleagues and share music with our wonderful audience.
Pianist Michael Brown brought elegance, grace, (and power when needed) to Tchaikovsky’s 1st Concerto. Is was a great pleasure to have him with us. The other highlight of the program was Roger Brigg’s work “Gathering Together.” It was written in 1996, but perfect in every way for the occasion of our first gathering since early 2020.
From there I was off to Baton Rouge for the fifth annual installment of “Bachtoberfest.” The name says it all, beer, brats, and Bach (with a few friends added for good measure). It is exciting to see this new series be so successful, selling beyond capacity, and it was great to make music again with my long-time friends in the orchestra.
I head back to BR next week for a concert celebrating the orchestra’s 75th anniversary. We have a great program exploring some of the ensemble’s musical legacy including a work from it’s very first program in 1947 (Polovstian Dances), the work with which they opened their concert in Carnegie Hall (Chadwick Jubilee), and two works the orchestra had commissioned from composers Kenton Coe and Stephen Paulus. Also joining the program will be members of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra for a side-by-side performance of some music from Carmen, and the great Jon Nakamatsu closes the program with Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto. It promises to be a wonderful night!
No one plays like Lucia. Of course, there are many great violinists who provide spectacular renderings of the repertoire, but there is something fresh, unique and deeply personal in what Lucia Micarelli brought to Sibelius last night in our concert with the Lansing Symphony. She is a musician who works in a broad range of styles, and I think that experience informs her approach to the masterworks. Aside from her ability to dispatch this monster of a work with flawless execution, among her other many wonderful attributes in a remarkable ability to connect with the audience, to draw them in to her world, and that is exactly what she did last night. I have had the pleasure of conducting the Sibelius concerto many times, all wonderful, but none like this one.
We opened the program with one of the “Top 40” in classical music right now, Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum.” This work is enjoying huge success in the US right now and for good reason. The players love it, the audience loves it. It is wonderful American music of today.
Schumann Symphony 4 brought the concert to a close. Schumann’s orchestral music is among the most difficult because of the degree of nuance needed to make the music come alive. I was so impressed with the way the LSO players found the spirit and style of this work and delivered a performance full of life, grace, drama and joy. What a pleasure it was to share the stage with them. Bravo!
Back in the 1990’s I had the pleasure of conducting several performances of Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” with Ballet Austin, in Austin, Texas. After that, I didn’t conduct the work as a ballet again until 2019 when the Flint Symphony invited me to do it with them. I was thrilled for that opportunity as I love this score. It is a masterpiece of musical storytelling and characterization. I find also that taking a deep dive into Tchaikovsky’s ballet scores provides a lot of insight in how we answer questions about performing the symphonies. Well, I’m very happy to say that FSO has invited me back for Nutcracker again, and I can’t wait!
NEXT UP
FLINT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
With dancers from Flint School of Performing Arts, the Washington Ballet, and Collage Dance Collective of Memphis
December 4 and 5
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
The Whiting, Flint Michigan
November 7, 2021
What a thrill it was to once again share the stage with my long-time friends and colleagues of the Baton Rouge Symphony, joined by the brilliant pianist Jon Nakamatsu and a cameo appearance from the Louisiana Youth Orchestra!
The occasion was a sold-out concert celebration the BRSO’s 75th anniversary. We chose a program that highlighted some of the musical legacy of the orchestra including the work they played to open their Carnegie Hall concert in the 1980’s (Chadwick’s Jubilee), two works the orchestra had commissioned for their 40th and 50th anniversaries by Kenton Coe and Stephen Paulus, and a work from the orchestra’s first concert in 1947 (Borodin, Polovtsian Dances). Members of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra joined us for some music from Carmen to celebrate the wonderful contributions of that very successful program. Mr. Nakamatsu, a frequent guest of the orchestra over the years, joined us in Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto to bring the concert to a close (although he did add a very poetic Chopin encore to round out the evening).
BRSO also announced the much-anticipated Pennington Great Performer for 2022. Emanuel Ax will be joining the orchestra for Chopin’s Second Concerto…very exciting!
The concert was originally scheduled to be held in Baton Rouge’s newly remodeled River Center Theater. The work has not been completed though (imagine that…a construction project that’s behind schedule, who knew??). Instead, we held the program in a ballroom of the River Center, and it worked surprisingly well, even acoustically. Kudos to the River Center crew who made all that happen and exceeded expectations.
This week is an exciting one for me as well back in Lansing. The Lansing Symphony presents our second masterworks program of the season, joined by the fabulous violinist Lucia Micarelli. Lucia will be playing Sibelius with us (the whole thing…not morphing into Kashmir this time, although I must say I’m a big fan of that version too!! If you don’t know of what I speak, it’s on YouTube. Check it out). I have been trying to get Lucia in the concerto slot for years. We had her on board for 2019-20, and well we all know how that turned out. So we are thrilled to have her this season as we return to live music. Also on the program, “Strum” of America’s new classical rock-star composer Jessie Montgomery and Schumann’s wonderful Fourth Symphony. It’s going to be a great week.
NEXT UP
Lansing Symphony Orchestra
November 12, 2021
Lucia Micarelli, violin
MONTGOMERY. Strum
SIBELIUS. Violin Concerto
SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4
#jonnakmatsu #batonrouge #batonrougesymphony #stephenpaulus #kentoncoe #emanuelax #luciamicarelli #jessiemontgomery
October 27, 2021
I just came off two exciting concert weeks. For starters, the Lansing Symphony opened its season this month with our first indoor performance since things shut down. It was beyond beautiful to share the stage with my fabulous colleagues and share music with our wonderful audience.
Pianist Michael Brown brought elegance, grace, (and power when needed) to Tchaikovsky’s 1st Concerto. Is was a great pleasure to have him with us. The other highlight of the program was Roger Brigg’s work “Gathering Together.” It was written in 1996, but perfect in every way for the occasion of our first gathering since early 2020.
From there I was off to Baton Rouge for the fifth annual installment of “Bachtoberfest.” The name says it all, beer, brats, and Bach (with a few friends added for good measure). It is exciting to see this new series be so successful, selling beyond capacity, and it was great to make music again with my long-time friends in the orchestra.
I head back to BR next week for a concert celebrating the orchestra’s 75th anniversary. We have a great program exploring some of the ensemble’s musical legacy including a work from it’s very first program in 1947 (Polovstian Dances), the work with which they opened their concert in Carnegie Hall (Chadwick Jubilee), and two works the orchestra had commissioned from composers Kenton Coe and Stephen Paulus. Also joining the program will be members of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra for a side-by-side performance of some music from Carmen, and the great Jon Nakamatsu closes the program with Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto. It promises to be a wonderful night!
NEXT UP
Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
November 5, 2021
CHADWICK Jubilee
KOE Ischiana
PAULUS Age of American Passions
BORDIN Polovtsian Dances
BIZET Selections from Carmen (with LYO)
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
#lansingsymphony #batonrougesymphony #rogerbriggs #michealbrownpianist #jonnakamatsu #lansingmichigan #batonrouge #kentoncoe #stephenpaulus #michaelbrownpiano
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