An Ambitious Orchestra Raises Its Own Bar With Trek Across Mahler 9th
JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Symphony, typically 60 strong but expanded to 100 musicians for its first performance of the epic Ninth since 1992, met this test of virtuosity with aplomb under music director Courtney Lewis.
In Vocal Flights, Bullock Transforms New-Music Concert Into An Event
BOSTON – As soloist with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project led by artistic director Gil Rose, soprano Julia Bullock starred in works by Barber and Matthew Aucoin on a bill also featuring music by Charles Wuorinen and Anthony Paul De Ritis.
Music Director Debuts With Offbeat Dvořák, Prize-Winning Pianist
OTTAWA - John Storgårds' first program at the helm of the National Arts Centre Orchestra skipped Dvořák's famous symphonies in favor of the obscure Third and eschewed a big-name soloist for young Canadian pianist Élisabeth Pion.
SF Symphony’s New Music Director Delivers A West Coast Double
PERSPECTIVE – Elim Chan takes up her post in San Francisco in 2027, but a two-week span in October found this hugely talented, tiny, Hong Kong-born dynamo leading impressive concerts with both San Francisco and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Ukrainian Mothers’ Epic Rescue Of Kidnapped Children Now Lyric Tale
WARSAW – The Polish National Opera gave the world premiere of Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets' The Mothers of Kherson, inspired by accounts of women who ventured 3,000 circuitous miles into Russia to find their children.
In An Election Preamble, American Fare Enfolds U.S. History, Aspirations
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Oregon Symphony struck a vital chord in the premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s Every Love Song is a Protest, with the composer (right) as vocalist, grouped with Copland’s Lincoln Portrait and William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 4.
Concert For Reich, 90, Unearths Surprising, Rich Layers Of Melody
NEW YORK – Half a century ago, a Carnegie Hall audience was incensed by Steve Reich's Four Organs, a piece without melody. But the reaction at a 90th birthday fete signaled quite a different sense of melody's place in this composer's art.
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CVNA MARKS 12TH ANNIVERSARY!
Classical Voice North America has won praise for the quality of its informative reviews, articles, commentary, and occasional podcasts at a time when many newspapers have cut back or eliminated coverage. We explore the richness of the classical music scene: opera productions, leading and regional orchestras, new works and upcoming artists, plus calendar listings. But access is free, so we need your support!
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
The ASO's Nathalie Stutzmann talks opera, why Atlanta is her "main sport," and the repertoire in her blood -- by James L. Paulk at Arts Atlanta- Ileana Cotrubas, the “Traviata” of her generation - by Wilhelm Sinkovicz at Die Presse
- ‘Musical Bodies’ Review: A Human Symphony at the Met Museum - by Diane Cole at Wall Street Journal
- The crisis facing US classical music - by Douglas McLennan at Bachtrack
- The Salzburg Festival navigates uncertain times without a captain - by Markus Hihnterhauser at NY Times
- This Opera Written for Louis XIV Feels Ripped From the Headlines - by Roslyn Sulcas at NY Times
- Bach ache: The project transforming classical music into an immersive bodily experience - by Tom Almeroth-Williams at University of Cambridge
- William Kentridge’s L’Orfeo at Glyndebourne - by Denis Wendel-Poray at La Scena Musicale
- The experience that coloured everything Britten went on to write - by Philippe Sands at The Guardian
- Here’s What ‘the Most Important Mozart Discovery in Decades’ Sounds Like - by Jeffrey Arlo Brown at NYTimes
- Summer festivals are a bright spot on the classical music landscape - by Philip Kennicott at Washington Post
- When an Extravaganza, the Dudamel Era in L.A. Approaches Its End - by Adam Nagourney at NY Times
- Los Angeles Philharmonic announces Daniel Harding as next music director - by Imogen Tilden at The Guardian
- Harmonium of Texas, Kahane's new start for San Antonio – by Jack Morgan at Texas Public Radio
- Leif Ove Andsnes on Geirr Tveitt, Norway’s Lost Genius – by Qobuz at YouTube
- Six podcasts about classical music – by Emma Dibdin at NY Times
- Encore! Encore! Maybe only one. Kissin’s fans were dazzled; he was dazed by da bum’s rush - by Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle
- Elim Chan named SF Symphony's next music director - by Janos Gereben at SF Classical Voice
- The Wayward, new on CD at Bridge Records, is vivid reminder how vivid Harry Partch's music can be - by Ralph P. Locke at The Arts Fuse
- Musicians of the Old Post Road take on Graupner, Telemann, and others - by Ralph P. Locke at Boston Musical Intelligencer
- Gustavo Dudamel receives $1 million award from musician Herb Alpert: ‘We can change the world, but it starts with educating young people’ - by María Porcel at El Pais
- ‘Time to Act’ Review: Pittsburgh Opera’s Didactic Trauma Drama - by Heidi Waleson at WSJ
Around the US
At The Volatile Crossing Of Formal Music And AI, Machover Vision Arises
BOSTON – Tod Machover's already and not yet, a concerto for orchestra and electronics that engages artificial intelligence as a real-time musical partner, had its premiere by the Boston Symphony with Manaswi Mishra at the AI keypad.
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Welcome to Classical Voice North America, the online magazine of the Music Critics Association of North America. Since 2013, CVNA has been a vibrant outlet for music criticism, providing expert coverage by members and occasional guest contributors. If you are a writer with experience in classical music, please consider joining MCANA. Together, we will keep music criticism alive and well.
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DISC AND STREAM
Back To The Present: Recording Taps Old Roots Of New Music
DIGITAL REVIEW – Looking to "recorded, imagined, and personal histories as a way of finding new meaning in the present,” three creative voices bespeak their origins and inspirations in a live concert by the American Composers Orchestra.
GAIL WEIN FOR CLASSICAL GAS
ISSUES IN THE ARTS
MCANA Members Win Honors for Podcast, Mexican Music Feature
BREAKING NEWS — The 57th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards recognized Gail Wein for her CVNA podcast Classical Gas and Esteban Meneses for a bilingual story about rising Mexican composers.
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