Week of Events
Pondering War via Chamber Music
Two 20th-century anti-war works anchor the Aug. 8-10 program at Music@Menlo: George Crumb’s Black Angels and Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. The chamber concert opens with two late works by Bach. https://musicatmenlo.org/cp/?evt=1753
Dance and Music Tell Matthew Sheppard’s Tragic Story
Premiered in 2020, Echo Chamber Ensemble’s A World Transformed tells the story of Matthew Sheppard, a young gay university student who was beaten, tortured, and left to die in 1998, bringing national attention to hate crime legislation. The piece combines new choreography with pre-existing chamber music by the likes of Britten, Vaughan Williams, and Amy […]
Conlon and Chicago Symphony Offer ‘Idomeneo’
Mozart’s thrilling Idomeneo will get a lavish concert treatment on Aug. 9 at Ravinia as the Chicago Symphony joins forces with conductor James Conlon. Matthew Polenzani takes the title role, with Andrea Carrol as Ilia, Alexandria Shiner as Elettra, and Samantha Hankey as Idamante. https://ravinia.org/Online/Article/080924-CSOIdomeneo
Neale Conducts ‘Tragic’ Symphony
The Sun Valley Festival Orchestra will take on Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, which the composer himself nicknamed Tragic, saying it contained passages of “shadowy memories.” Music director Alasdair Neale conducts this Aug. 11 program. https://www.svmusicfestival.org/event/mahler-symphony-no-6/
New Song Cycle Uses Margaret Atwood Poems
Stratford Summer Music 2024 comes to an exciting conclusion on Aug. 11 when soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee performs Zombie Blizzard. In this new song cycle, poems by Margaret Atwood have been set to music by Aaron Davis. Brueggergosman-Lee will be joined by members of the Hannaford St. Silver Band, who commissioned the work. https://stratfordsummermusic.ca/event/zombie-blizzard/
Denk Presents Work by ‘Blind Tom’ Wiggins
Jeremy Denk, in an Aug. 11 solo piano recital at Tanglewood, will perform The Battle of Manassas by Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908), a pianist and composer born into slavery who became a hugely popular performer in his day. Ives’ Concord Sonata completes the program. https://www.bso.org/events/tli-presents-jeremy-denk-piano
