On Saturday, November 12 at the Broome County Forum Theatre, Maestro Daniel Hege led the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra in “Green Places,” a program named for a featured concerto by American composer Gary Schocker. The concert began with an unscripted reading of the National Anthem, sung heartily by the audience, followed with the brief fourth Novelette by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a work for strings and percussion.
“Green Places,” a three movement concerto for flute, featured principal flutist Karen Bogardus, whose stunning green gown helped set the tone for the fanciful piece. Bogardus’ virtuoso playing was fluid and flexible as she led the orchestra in playful calls and responses. Concertmaster Uli Speth concluded the first half of the program with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending.” Speth, dressed in an open vest and bowtie suitable for the English moors, held the audience in rapt attention as his soloistic lines soared over the muted strings.
The Philharmonic rose to the many challenges of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, one of the least known but most technically difficult of the nine. Highlights were the tight string sections, spot-on winds, and remarkably fine timpani playing.
The next event for the Binghamton Philharmonic is Winter Wonderland on December 10, featuring performances of music from Home Alone 2 (John Williams), The Polar Express (Alan Silvestri), Nightmare Before Christmas (Danny Elfman), The Snowman (Howard Blake) and many more.
Akshatha Ganesh and Ashwyn MuthukumaraswamiAmanda Green and Mark GreenAmi Titus and Barbara ReardonKimburlee Stewart and Kevin OriolPokey Crocker and Ann Scala 2Reenie Wilson, Ann Machlin, and Kathie Winckler
The Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck will host a performance by pianist Nielson Chen on December 4, as well as a quartet from the Bard Vocal Arts Program presenting vocal chamber music. Let it be Forgotten: Shades of American Identity, an anthology of works, will be presented at 4pm and touches on complicated identities and relationships in America.
The series of tracks will explore the different backgrounds of people living in the U.S., highlighting equally the good and the bad, as well as the joy and pain experienced by citizens of different cultural backgrounds. Included in the Let it be Forgotten: Shades of American Identity program will be Bard musicians, Zihao Liu, Montana Smith, Jonathan Lawlor, Neilson Chen, and Katherine Lerner Lee.
With this recital, we want to communicate how important it is for us to listen to one another. There is no amount of sharing one’s own experience that takes away space from someone else to do the same. On this program, everyone’s voices are given ample room to be heard, and my hope is that it encourages our audiences to be open and active listeners in their daily lives.
Montana Smith, soprano and co-curator for December’s vocal chamber performance
Bard Vocal Arts Program members
Zihao Liu is a Chinese tenor whose been featured in many solo appearances, including for several recitals, largely involving opera and orcherstrative concerts. His recent appearances include his tenor soloist performances in Beethoven 9th Symphony with the Bard Conservatory Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah with The Orchestra Now.
Tenor, Zihao Liu
Montana Smith is an emerging soprano musician and is currently continuing her education in graduate studies at the Bard College Conservatory of Music in the Vocal Arts Program. She has participated in a plethora of opera productions, holding a vision which emphasizes the importance for young people to be represented in world opera art, while attempting to express more effective and open communication with her audiences. Smith’s performances vary across the range of the classical genre, and she holds a focus in representing the musical expression of Black and American artists.
Soprano, Montana Smith
Baritone, Jonathan Lawlor, has built experience working with established Baroque musical groups, as well as being actively involved in the opera music scene, through collaboration with opera ensembles. Lawlor carries an interest in evolving the composition techniques utilized in classical music sound production, grounded in the intent of diversifying the musical background of the musician, hence also the performance.
Baritone, Jonathan Lawlor
Katherine Lerner Lee, a soprano living in Brooklyn, has a breadth of performing experience and a versatile repertoire. She received the 2021 Concerto Competition this past season while obtaining her Masters at Bard Conservatory, played the part of “Gold Spurs” in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and debuted in concerts at the Fisher Center and with the Broad Street Orchestra in Kinderhook. She delivered a performance in December that included Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs and Pauline Oliveros’ Silences.
Soprano, Katherine Lee Lerner
Taiwanese-born Neilson Chen is a collaborative pianist assistant at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and a music PhD candidate at Arizona State University. He has given numerous performances not only in the United States but also in countries like Germany, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The Saarburg International Music Festival in Germany, the Vianden Music Festival and School in Luxembourg, and the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Colorado are just a few of the music festivals that Neilson performs at it during the summer as a staff pianist.
Pianist, Neilson Chen
Featured in the afternoon’s performers are composers William Grant Still, Juhi Bansal, Chihchun Chi Sun Lee, Charles Ives, and Alex Weiser, delivering songs with texts included in English, Mandarin, and Yiddish. The church has provided service to the community area, being a host for an Afghan immigrant family in Spring of 2022. All proceeds from the recital event at the church will go into supporting the family.
The Cayuga Chamber Orchestra will hold its second Orchestral Series Concert of the 2022-23 season on November 19 at Ford Hall at Ithaca College, under the direction of Interim Music Director, Grant Cooper. The program will open with Rameau’s Overture from Zaïs and will feature the world premiere of local composer Sally Lamb McCune’s Spiral, a piece commissioned by the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra to honor the resilience of the orchestra, its patrons and wider community for continuing to come together in celebration of live music.
Cayuga Chamber Orchestra Special Guest Artists: Harris Andersen and Muse Ye, Piano
The second half of the program will showcase two works of Camille Saint-Saëns: the whimsical Carnival of the Animals and the powerful Symphony No. 2. Carnival of the Animals will include newly composed verses by Interim Music Director Grant Cooper and an appearance by the delightful piano duo, Muse Ye and Harris Anderson.
The CCO was founded in 1976 and is officially designated “Ithaca’s Orchestra.” Each season includes an Orchestral Series, Chamber Music Series, a Holiday concert, free Family Concerts, and the long-standing Willard Daetsch Youth Outreach Program, which earned the 2015 Yale Distinguished Music Educator award. In 2017, the CCO added a Youth Orchestra program for advanced students. In 2019, a new Diversity Career Fellowship program was established to provide opportunities for college students from communities that have been historically
Interim Music Director Grant Cooper and composer Sally Lamb McCune
The CCO will hold its Holiday Celebration concert on Saturday, December 17 at 7:30 pm, also in Ford Hall at Ithaca College.
For more information and subscriptions / single tickets visit CCOithaca.org
The Grammy-nominated Western Wind Ensemble is celebrating nearly 54 years of music with a five-part concert series called Grief: a Necessary Journey in NYC on Nov. 19.
The Western Wind Ensemble is a New York-based, internationally acclaimed a cappella sextet with a rich history in the music industry. The New York Times has called them “A kaleidoscopic tapestry of vocal hues.” They perform a variety of music, including Renaissance motets to Fifties rock’n’roll, medieval carols to Duke Ellington, and more.
Band members include William Zukof, the founding member, Eric S. Brenner (countertenor), Paul Greene-Dennis (bass), Linda Lee Jones (soprano), Christina Kay (soprano), Bradley King (tenor), David Vanderwal (tenor).
Notable performances in the United States include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, ArtPark, Ordway Theater, the Metropolitan Museum, and more. Internationally, they have appeared at the Geneva Opera, and have toured Italy, East Asia, Australia, and more. In addition to their many live performances, The Western Wind Ensemble frequently appears on radio, television, film, and CD.
On Nov. 19 they will be performing at the Church of St. John’s in the Village in Grief: a Necessary Journey, a program featuring music by Dowland, Purcell, McFerrin, Rorem, Howells, Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein, spirituals, and more. The concert program guides listeners along a journey through the five stages of grief, ultimately resulting in a place of acceptance and healing.
For most 15-year-old musicians, playing Carnegie Hall is a feat, marked by years of strife, effort, apprehension and excitement. It’s the event of a lifetime, a venue that represents decades of tradition in music and excellence. Most 15-year-olds won’t know the pressure of playing Carnegie Hall. But for bassoonist Dmytro Tishyn, playing Carnegie Hall on November 20 with the New York Youth Symphony is far from the first thing on his mind. In February 2022, Dmytro Tishyn hoisted a backpack and his bassoon onto his back and boarded a 24-hour train ride to Poland as a refugee, leaving his Ukranian home, parents, grandparents and brother behind.
Instead of looking at it as an evacuation, Tishyn looked at his three month departure from Ukraine — the days long train ride, the cab ride across Poland’s border, the three month long stay in Berlin — as an adventure.
That adventure has culminated with Tishyn taking the stage with the New York Youth Symphony, under Music Director Micahel Repper, with violinist Francisco Fullana. The concert will feature Gabrieela Lena Frank’s “Escaramuza,” Édouardo Lalo’s“Symphonie Espagnole,” featuring Fullana, Ari Sussman’s First Music Commission “I hope this finds you well” and Georges Bizet’s “L’Arlésienne Suite 1 & 2.”
The show is on Sunday, November 20 at 2 p.m. and tickets are starting at $18. Even though Carnegie Hall is a long way from Ukraine, Tishyn still manages to keep his family close. When he takes the stage on Sunday, it will be with his father’s bassoon.
The Binghamton Philharmonic will continue their 2022-23 season on Saturday, November 12 with “Green Places” a production focused on the musical themes of nature. Taking place at the Broome County Theatre, the show will begin at 7:30.
With direction from Maestro Daniel Hege, the night will feature one of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Novelettes, Gary Schocker’s eponymous Green Places featuring principal flutist Karen Bogardus, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending featuring German violinst and Binghamton Philharmonic concertmaster Uli Speth, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4.
Karen Bogardus.
Bogardus is also the principal flutist for the Binghamton Philharmonic, Berkshire Opera Festival, Martina Arroyo Foundation Opera and Phoenicia Voice Festival, and has performed with dozens of other NY and northeast-based orchestras.
November 12th’s nature-themed show is far from Uli Speth’s first gig with the Binghamton Philharmonic.
Speth, having been concertmaster with the Binghamton Philharmonic since 2005, also holds the same position with the Chappaqua Orchestra and Fenimore Chamber Orchestra. He’s also performed with New York City Opera, American Symphony Orchestra, and the Florida Orchestra, and has played under the direction of conductors such as James Levine, Kurt Masur, Gerard Schwarz, JoAnn Falletta, and Marin Alsop.
The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1955 by Fritz and Marianne Wallenberg and later merging with the BC Pops Orchestra, presents an annual series of classical, pops, and chamber music across Downtown Binghamton and Broome County.
All children 17 and under can attend the concert for free, information regarding tickets and more can be found here.
Central Park Dance will return to The Capitol Theatre with their annual production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker on Sunday, December 11th at 12:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. With more than 100 students from the school, professional dancers and young dancers from the surrounding communities, audiences will have two chances to enjoy this timeless tale.
In celebrating a legacy that has spanned across more than four decades, Central Park Dance has made its mark on the Westchester dance community. As a producer of original ballets, they invite their all levels to participate. Dancers of all ages will make up their large ensemble of performers, spanning from the littlest mouse to the blizzard of snowflakes.
This year, the production will welcome back American Ballet Theatre soloist Luciana Paris to dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, along with her Cavalier Jose Sebastian, who is currently a member of American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet as well as the director of ABT’s Incubator program.
“In our more than 40 years in Westchester, we have watched several generations of students dance through our doors,” explains Maria Bai and Mario La Strada, founder and directors of Central Park Dance Studio.
“We have made it our mission to offer students a well-rounded dance education that includes not only time in the studio, but opportunities to interact with and perform for our community. We are overwhelmed by the support we have received around our sold-out productions over the last 6 years, and we are so lucky to be able to expand the opportunity to more students and more families each year.”
One of the longest running and most respected dance studios in Westchester for 40 years, Central Park Dance offers classic and progressive styles of dance and fitness for both adults and children. Central Park Dance is also home to the Signature and Remixx performance companies as well as the Ballet Academy, which provides the aspiring dancer with pre-professional training, performance opportunities and mentorships.
The Nutcracker performances will take place on Sunday, December 11th at 12:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Ticket prices range from $45, $35 and $25 and are available by clicking the link here.
Ithaca’s Orchestra, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, will open its 46th season on Saturday, October 29. The opening night for the orchestra’s 2022-2023 will feature acclaimed pianist Max Levinson.
The Cayuga Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1976, but has come a long way since. In the past decade alone, the CCO added a Youth Orchestra and a Diversity Career Fellowship program, which creates opportunities for college-aged musicians in underserved communities. Each CCO Season promises an orchestral series, chamber music series, holiday concert and free family concerts. This season will see five orchestral concerts and three chamber music concerts in the next months. In November, March and June, be on the lookout for the CCO’s family concert and storytime programs, as well as shows from the Youth Orchestra.
Max Levinson will play Mendelssohn’s “Fingal’s Cave,” Respighi’s “The Birds,” and finish with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5: “Emperor.” Levinson is a highly awarded musician — he was the first American to win First Prize at the Guardian Dublin International Piano competition, he won the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and has been praised in such esteemed papers as the Boston Globe.
Levinson comes to the CCO under new Interim Music Director Grant Cooper. This is Cooper’s first season with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, he is also a Visiting Professor and conductor at Ithaca College.
Opening night begins at 7:30 on October 29 in Ford Hall at Ithaca College. Tickets are $10-$30 and can be purchased here.
The popular Lift Concert Series in Troy presents performances of new, independent music featuring regional performers. The lineup for the 2022 series was announced, and it features a variety of genres of performances.
The Lift Concert Series takes place at the historic Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. It is curated by Organ Colossal: Sam Torres and Sophia Subbayya Vastek. The audience is invited to take the freight elevator to the backstage area, and be seated on stage, with the musicians, creating an intimate concert experience. Concerts last about an hour, and after the show concert goers are encouraged to go to the many restaurants or breweries in Troy.
The series starts on Dec. 14 with Rajna Swaminathan and Utsav Lal. Swaminathan has has been described as “a vital new voice” (Pop Matters), creating “music of gravity and rigor… yet its overall effect is accessible and uplifting” (Wall Street Journal). She is one of only a few women who play the mrudangam professionally. Lal is recognized as one of the most talented musicians of his generation, stunning the world with his innovative handling of Indian Classical Music on a Western instrument.
For World Piano Day on March 29, the Lift Concert Series will be hosting an event featuring local and regional pianists of different musical genres. The lineup is to be announced. The final event is on April 26, where Half Waif will be performing. Singer, songwriter, and producer Nandi Rose resides in the Hudson Valley and writes and records under the name Half Waif. Over the past decade, she has built upon her classical training to create a bold and unique sound that melds pop and folk songwriting styles with experimental production and arrangements.
Tickets for the Lift Concert Series at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall can be found here.
The Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO), a prominent NY youth ensemble, has announced its 2022-23 concert season.
The first event of their upcoming run is a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, October 30 which features the orchestra in full at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall performing Beethoven’s “7th Symphony.” Other pieces on display include Gabriella Smith’s “Field Guide,” which is described as “a musical safari into the natural world,” and an original student-led “instant” composition.
Also including a three-event holiday concert series from December 10 to the 20th, the season will feature performances in the capital district up until June 4, when the ESYO will close out with a concert at Carnegie Hall.
ESYO Music Director Etienne Abelin.
This marks the first season as Empire State Youth Orchestra Music Director for Etienne Abelin, a Swiss violinist and conductor. “The season builds upon what makes the ESYO experience so unique,” said Abelin. “It challenges the most passionate young musicians in the region to see music-making as a joyful pursuit of musical excellence. This new season will carry this hallmark with a sprinkling of something new.”
As director, he’s sporting a philosophy called MusicNOW which “allows for more curiosity and risk-taking, which are at the heart of creativity and our sense of well-being,” said Abelin. As part of MusicNOW, the ESYO’s 2022-23 season will include workshops for Soundpainting, a musical sign language which uses more than 1500 gestures to compose music live, something available as early as opening day on the 30th.
The orchestra rehearses.
Information regarding tickets and more can be found on the ESYO website.
2022-2023 FALL CONCERT SCHEDULE:
Opening Day Matinee
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Sunday, October 30, 2022, 3:00pm
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
ESYO PERCUSSION ENSEMBLES
Monday, November 7, 2022, 7:30pm
Brown School, Schenectady
Three Orchestras! One Incredible Afternoon of Music
