a virtual journal and essential blog of the classical music scene in greater Boston

 Pianist James D’Leon tells BMInt readers:  When pianists prepare a recital, they usually begin by selecting repertoire. This summer, Duo Fuerza—James D’Leon and Alwen Yeung—began with an instrument.

Our invitation to open the Fredericks Historical Collection concert season on August 30^th [details for entire Ashburnham series HERE], asked us to reverse the usual artistic process. Rather than asking which piano would best serve our program, we first explored the remarkable collection and selected a 19^th-century instrument whose unique voice would shape our musical decisions. Only then did we consider how repertoire, interpretation, and performance might emerge from the character of the piano itself. [continued]

On Wednesday at 7:00 on the Boston Esplanade, we partner with the Esplanade Association in a concert marking the 25^th anniversary of both organizations. Together with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, they steward this remarkable stretch of public parkland. Since the beginning, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra has presented nature-inspired programs that our founder, Charles Ansbacher, called Green Concerts. Beautiful places and great music enrich one another, and Boston is blessed with both. [continued]

Throughout the musical world, Randall Thompson is known for his choral masterpiece, Alleluia, composed for the very first Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood in 1940. Intended for the whole community to sing together during opening ceremonies, it is still performed every year at Tanglewood’s first session.

Thompson was born in New York City in 1899 but spent much of his career in Boston, where he died in 1984. Throughout his life, he balanced composition with teaching. Harvard University, Wellesley College, and the Curtis Institute of Music all benefited from his extraordinary gifts as a teacher and mentor. Prior to coming to Harvard, Thompson headed the music department of the University of Virginia, serving from 1941–1945. [continued]

The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival enters its 47^th season this summer with a characteristically ambitious three‑week schedule, reaffirming its identity as one of New England’s most thoughtfully curated chamber series. What distinguishes the festival—beyond its longevity—is its commitment to mobility: rather than anchoring itself in a single hall, it brings music to communities across the Cape, from Wellfleet and Chatham to Falmouth, Cotuit, and Hyannis. Get the details HERE. [continued]

The Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts returns to New England Conservatory for its sixth annual summer concert series, running from August 6^th through August 22^nd  at Williams Hall and culminating in a grand finale at Jordan Hall. During a season when many of Boston’s classical stages fall quiet, the Foundation once again offers audiences over two weeks of performances by internationally acclaimed artists, distinguished faculty, rising young musicians, and exciting chamber ensembles. See the full roster HERE.

Since its founding in 1989, the Foundation has championed Asian musicians while fostering cultural dialogue through music, while presenting more than 160 concerts at venues including Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Sanders Theater, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Carnegie Hall. Alongside many of today’s leading performers, the Foundation has also nurtured generations of emerging artists through its long-running music festival, making its summer concert series one of Boston’s most distinctive musical events. [continued]

NOTE: Due to weather, Boston Landmarks Orchestra will move the Wednesday, July 29th Hatch Shell concert indoors to Emmanuel Church at 15 Newbury Street, Boston. The concert begins at 7:00pm with a prelude concert at 6:30pm by Four Strings Academy. Doors will open at 6:00 pm. Seating will not be reserved.

Classical music is a dialogue across generations and cultures. Composers hear the music of the past and respond in their own voices. American artists, in particular, have inherited an astonishing range of musical traditions—Viennese operetta, Irish fiddle tunes, Southern blues, Yiddish theater, Caribbean dance, and the European avant-garde. [continued]

The Boston Camerata Music Director Emeritus Joel Cohen died Sunday in Haverhill. A charismatic leader, he directed the Camerata from 1963 to 2008.

His talents as a musician, conductor, composer and musicologist, along with his unique programming style, brought the Camerata renown in the United States, as well as in Europe and Asia. Throughout his career he promoted the performance of earlier styles and historically informed performance practices. As a lutenist, he accompanied numerous artists, ranging from Hugues Cuénod, Christiane Jacottet to Anne Azéma, his long time partner and collaborator. He appeared as a guest conductor at La Monnaie in Brussels, at Tanglewood, in Aix-en-Provence as well as at numerous international Festivals.

Joel’s immense talent brought Medieval and Renaissance music to a wide, non-specialist audience. He created fresh, energetic approaches to the performance of Medieval French, Provençal, and Iberian monody, with particular attention to the relationship between text and music. His forays into Baroque repertoire have been more episodic, but attracted widespread comment and attention, especially the first early-instruments recording of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” (Harmonia Mundi, 1980), “Jewish Baroque Music” (Harmonia Mundi, 1978) and a well-received recording of Jean Gilles’ “Requiem” (Erato, 1990), among others. From 1986 forward, many of his new Eurocentric projects dealt with music of the Middle Ages and narratives, including a medieval retelling of the “Tristan and Iseult” legend (Erato, Grand Prix du Disque, 1987),  “Le Roman de Fauvel” (1990),  and “Le Voir-Dit” (2011). [continued]

There are as many sides to American music as there are to the American people—our great, varied, many-sided democracy… We’ve taken it all in… and learned it from one another, borrowed it, stolen it, cooked it all up in a melting pot.      Leonard Bernstein, What is American Music? CBS Television, February 1958

This year, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra celebrates its 25^th anniversary by reaffirming our mission: performing great orchestral music for all Bostonians, free of charge. We celebrate the symphonic canon alongside music that reflects the “many-sidedness” of American culture, to use Bernstein’s term. And we make it a priority to collaborate with artists who are making vital contributions to Boston’s musical life. [continued]

The composer who is frightened of losing his audience through contact with a mass audience is no longer aware of the meaning of art.   Aaron Copland

The most important word in our lexicon is access. In planning programs, we always ask how we can bring people from every walk of life closer to symphonic music. Familiar repertoire is part of the answer, but so is performing music beyond the traditional canon that non-classical audiences might more readily connect with. Our goal is to capture the imagination, regardless of musical background. We recognize that most first-time concertgoers don’t know what to expect, but that they catch on quickly if they can latch onto something familiar.

This season marks three important milestones. The Boston Landmarks Orchestra turns twenty-five this year, an occasion we observe by reaffirming our mission: providing great orchestral music for all Bostonians. It is also the 25^th anniversary of the Esplanade Association—our partners in the season finale—whose year-round stewardship shapes everything that happens at the Hatch Shell. Finally, we celebrate America’s 250^th with programs that explore different answers to the question, “What is American music?” [continued]

For 30 years, Morningside Music Bridge (MMB) has been changing the lives of exceptional young musicians from around the world. The internationally renowned summer program, whose alumni include superstar pianist Yuja Wang in a Jordan Hall recital on July 12^th, is celebrating its milestone anniversary while continuing its mission of making world-class musical training accessible to talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances.

Founded in Calgary, Canada, in 1997, MMB has welcomed more than 1,000 outstanding violinists, violists, cellists, pianists, and, more recently, young composers and creative artists between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. Today, the program has found a permanent home in Boston through its partnership with the New England Conservatory, where it continues to nurture the next generation of musical leaders. [continued]