Mixed Media

Concert Spotlight: The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra at Ithaca College

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra will conclude the yearlong Ithaca College Concerts season “Ensembles Great and Small” on Friday, March 27. The performance will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. Ford Hall will also be the venue for a free workshop at 4 p.m.

   The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is an ensemble that began as the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1966 and has performed continuously ever since. In 1966, the cornetist, composer, and arranger Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis founded a band in New York. Having settled in the city after leaving their respective touring jobs with Count Basie and Stan Kenton, Thad and Mel, along with many of their colleagues, needed an outlet for their creative energies and relief from the tedium of studio work. With a handful of arrangements they approached legendary club owner Max Gordon and were booked at the Village Vanguard for three Mondays in February. Critical acclaim, awards and international success soon followed.

The original three weeks have become a permanent gig that has survived over three decades and resulted in the group changing its name to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Several of the current key members played for Thad Jones, so the orchestra’s unique sound and swing are proudly held and displayed, while other original precepts of creativity and experimentation are nurtured and encouraged.

Here's a peak of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra performing at the Village Vanguard.

Tickets for the concert are on sale at the Ticket Center at Clinton House at (607) 273-4497 or (800) 284-8422 or at ithacaevents.com, and at the door if available.

 

Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival kicks off 10th anniversary season

The Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival will kick-off its tenth anniversary season with two evening concerts, a Family Music Fest concert, and the Festival’s first-ever Pro-Am Seminar. The Festival continues through August 19 with a mix of classical and jazz offerings performed by an engaging roster of artists.

On July 11, the concert Nature Calls, features Schubert’s popular Trout Quintet, a new arrangement of Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals and Heinrich von Biber’s Sonata Representiva, and George Crumb’s Voice of the Whale for three masked players.

“The program shows how composers from three different centuries portrayed animals in music,” says    Festival artistic director Linda Chesis, who will be performing in the concert. “The Farmers’ Museum is the ideal venue for this thematic concert. You’ll hear all sorts of animals, from cats, cuckoos, and swans to frogs, elephants and beluga whales,” says Ms. Chesis.

This concert, which will be held at The Farmers’ Museum Louis C. Jones Center at 7:30 pm, includes a pre-concert chat with the artists at 7 pm, and a post-concert reception with the artists, hosted by Brewery Ommegang. Artists include: Linda Chesis, flute; Gil Morgenstern, violin; Kathryn Lockwood, viola; Wilhelmina Smith, cello; Shirley Irek, piano; and Jeremy McCoy, double bass.

On Saturday, July 12 at 11 am, the Festival offers a kid-friendly introduction to the string quartet. Family Music Fest: What’s That Four? features the highly acclaimed Parker String Quartet. This event, which includes a post-concert instrument petting zoo, where kids can try out musical instruments, costs $15 per family.

The Parkers perform works by Haydn, Janáček, and Beethoven on Sunday, July 13 at 7:30 pm at The Farmers’ Museum. The Boston-based string quartet won both the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2005.

“The Parker String Quartet is one of the very best young quartets performing today,” says Ms. Chesis. “The concert features a great Haydn quartet, one of Beethoven’s blockbuster quartets that marked the arrival of his heroic period, and the dramatic Janáček quartet inspired by Tolstoy’s novel, The Kreutzer Sonata.

Continuing its tradition of offering free community concerts, the Festival’s first-ever Pro-Am Seminar pairs accomplished amateurs with three professional musicians. “We see this as an opportunity to celebrate chamber music as a lifelong pursuit that can be enjoyed and shared,” says Ms. Chesis, who will be leading the Pro-Am Seminar with David Geber, cello, and Shirley Irek, piano. These concerts will be held in venues throughout the Cooperstown area, July 14-16.

“The individuals joining us for the seminar are truly amazing people, who have excelled in their professional life while dedicating time and talent to their love of music,” explains Ms. Chesis. Mark Ptashne, who holds the Ludwig Chair of Molecular Biology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, is a violinist who has performed at many festivals. Bruce Harris is an attending neurosurgeon at Cooperstown’s Bassett Healthcare who is an accomplished pianist. Matt Rosen, a managed healthcare consultant with a Ph.D. in sociology, plays cello and has participated in chamber music workshops in the US and abroad along with his wife, Geraldine Van Dusen. Ms. Van Dusen, a violinist, is a managing editor at St. Martin’s Press in New York City.

Also participating in the Pro-Am Seminar are three students from the Manhattan School of Music, where Mr. Geber is Dean of the Faculty for Instrumental Performance and Ms. Chesis is a member of the flute faculty and chair of the Woodwind Department. The students are Monica Davis, violin/viola; Leat Sabbah, cello; and Emily DiAngelo, oboe, who is also serving as the Festival’s intern and production manager.

After coaching sessions and rehearsals, the artists will perform at Pathfinder Village on July 14 at 7 pm, the Fenimore Art Museum auditorium on July 15 at 12 noon and July 16 at 12 noon. These concerts are free and open to all. The group also will perform for the residents of the Thanksgiving Home in Cooperstown.

Season continues through August 19

The Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival tenth anniversary season also features a Baroque concert on July 23, the Daedalus Quartet and clarinetist David Shifrin on August 3, Flute Fest at the Otesaga (another free community concert) on August 7, Chords and Strings with The Brasil Guitar Duo on August 9, Trio Solisti and Linda Chesis on August 13, Family Music Fest: Go for Baroque on August 16, Gala 10th Anniversary Concert: The Brandenburg Concertos on August 17, and jazz with the Brubeck Brothers Quartet on August 19. Evening concerts begin at 7:30 pm. Audiences are invited to attend 7 pm pre-concert chats with the artists on the following dates: July 11, 13, 23, and August 3, 9, 13.

Tickets and Information
Evening concerts are $30 for adults. Students (6-18) tickets for evening concerts are $15. Daytime Family Music Fest events are $15 per family. Pro-Am Seminar concerts and the Flute Fest at the Otesaga concert are free and do not require a ticket or reservation. Program subject to change.

For more information, call toll-free 877- MOOSIC1 (877-666-7421), or visit the Festival’s web site.

Concert Spotlight: Hotel Cafe in Ithaca

Ever since the sweet sincerity of artists like Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver and Dan Fogelberg, singer-songwriters have been vying with elevator Muzak for the distinction of least hip in the world of music.

But at the Hotel Cafe in downtown Hollywood, singer-songwriters rule the roost. And after eight years of hard work, the small club is turning the tide of hip.

Performers have to elbow their way through the Hotel Cafe crowd to climb onto the tiny stage jammed into a nook by the front window. But since the venue opened in 2000, capacity has grown from 49 to 165.

"It was beg, borrow and steal from day one, 'cause you know initially we had no booze at all, not even beer and wine, just a coffee shop," says club co-owner Max Mamikunian. "We used to charge $5 for a bucket of ice and people could bring in their own beer. And every dime we made went back into the club in some way."

Today, the small club has sent its artists out on an international tour playing much larger venues. And on a recent night, it celebrated the first release on its fledgling record label — a CD by long-time regular performer Jim Bianco. According to Mamikunian, the club's coterie of singer-songwriters has helped put the Hotel Cafe on the map, and the success of the club has, in turn, helped launch the artists' careers.

The Hotel Cafe 2008 Tour will stop at the State Theatre in Ithaca on March 26th. Tickets for these shows are selling out all across the country so if you want to catch the Ithaca performance, get your tickets soon.

Listen as NPR's Christian Bordal visits the club where singer-songwriters still draw a crowd.

Listen Again: Pianist Kariné Poghosyan recital

Classical Pianists of the Future presents
Kariné Poghosyan in recital

Sunday, March 2, 3pm
Tri-Cities Opera Center
315 Clinton Street
Binghamton, NY  1390

Armenian born pianist Kariné Poghosyan will give a recital as part of the Classical Pianists of the Future series at the Tri-Cities Opera Center, 315 Clinton St., Binghamton.

Some of Ms. Poghosyan's performances include recitals at the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Trinity's Concerts at One series at the St. Paul's Chapel, the Beverly Hills Sundays at Two series,  a recital for the Valley Committee for the LA Philharmonic, the Bach's Lunch Recital Series in Manhattan Beach in California, the Los Angeles Liszt Competition Winners' Concert at the Nixon Library, the Young Artists International Peninsula Festival in California, and the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York. She has appeared with numerous orchestras including the New West Symphony, Musica Bella Symphony Orchestra, CSUN Symphony Orchestra, and Armenian Youth Symphony.

'Classical Pianists of the Future' is a collaboration between Alvin H. Williams III and Lance G. Hill, both of Vestal. Williams has participated for several years as co-director of the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition for Young People; Hill is a well-known piano tuner-technician, musicologist and classical music radio program host. Their intent is to provide emerging top-flight young classical pianists ongoing performance opportunities in the Greater Binghamton area and beyond.

The Tri-Cities Opera Center is home to a magnificent, fully restored 1913 Bechstein concert grand piano, which will showcase the talents of pianists such as Kariné Poghosyan.

Tickets at the door: $10. Details: Call 748-2231.

Listen to Bill Snyder's interview with Lance Hill and Alvin Williams, curators of the series.

Concert Spotlight: Ithaca College Wind Ensemble performs 'Circus Maximus'

In a performance called “monumental” by its conductor, the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble will feature John Corigliano’s “Circus Maximus,” a piece of music which literally surrounds the audience with sound. The free concert will take place in Bailey Hall on the Cornell University campus on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m.

“The music involves huge forces, including 11 surround trumpets, surround flutes, clarinets, percussionists, and a saxophone quartet,” said conductor Stephen Peterson, a professor of music performance at Ithaca College. “There will also be a small marching band, which will make its way through the hall during the climax of the 37-minute work.”

The percussion section includes two sirens and a shotgun, Peterson added.

“The only venue in the area that could accommodate this piece is Bailey Hall, and the Cornell Department of Music graciously offered the use of Bailey for this event. We’re grateful to so many people at Cornell, as well as 30 additional Ithaca College musicians, to make this program possible.”

The piece has been performed by college wind ensembles and the U.S. Marine Band, always to rave reviews that have noted the overwhelming reaction of audiences to the huge work. The “Austin Chronicle” wrote that, “What was most powerful and extraordinary about ‘Circus Maximus’ was the way it reflected those pressures and the character of our culture—the violence, the pride, the impatience, the disconnectedness, the sense of menace and of mourning—to a degree that was unnerving.”

Also on the program of music by American visionaries are works of Copland and Ives, and “Lollapalooza” by John Adams. The guest conductor for these works will be Cynthia Johnson-Turner, Cornell’s director of wind ensembles.

For more information, call (607) 274-3717.

Concert Spotlight: The Tallis Scholars perform at Ithaca College

On Thursday, Feb. 28, the Tallis Scholars — an ensemble of vocalists specializing music of the Renaissance — will perform the second of three performances in the Ithaca College Concerts year-long season “Legends.” The concert will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music.

The 2007–2008 season has been named “Legends” because it offers concerts by world renowned performers who have established themselves as popular and enduring figures. The season will conclude in April with the 30-year reunion tour of Tashi, the renowned chamber music ensemble.

Entitled “Music of Spain and Portugal,” the Tallis Scholars performance features the “Requiem” for six voices by Tomás Luis de Victoria. Music in Latin by several other Spanish and Portuguese composers rounds out the program.

The Tallis Scholars were founded in 1973 by Peter Phillips, their tireless and inspirational Oxford-educated director. Phillips has worked with the ensemble to create, through good tuning and blend, the purity and clarity of sound that he feels best serves the Renaissance repertoire, thus allowing every detail of the musical lines to be heard.

The ensemble has established itself as a leading exponent of Renaissance sacred music through its approximately 70 concerts a year and over 50 award-winning recordings on the Gimmel label. They are among the busiest ensembles in the world, with regular tours throughout Europe, North and South America, and the Far East.

Individual tickets are on sale at the Clinton House Ticket Center and at Ithacaevents.com.
For more information on Ithaca College Concerts, call (607) 274-3717.

Concert Spotlight: Alexis P. Suter Band

Alexis P. Suter Band will perform on Sunday, January 20th at 7:30 p.m. at the Blarney Stone Pub (formerly the Music Shop Pub), 26 South Broad Street, Norwich, NY. For tickets and more information, call 607-336-2630.

Concert Spotlight: Slambovia Returns to Binghamton

One of my all-time favorite groups returns to Binghamton Saturday night. Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams has been described as 'hillbilly Pink Floyd folk' and 'bohemian americana' - all I know is that they offer a potent brew of genre-smashing music and songwriting that ranges from the inspirational ("Talking to the Buddha") to plain ol' foot-stompin' fun ("Alice in Space").

While the Circus' CD releases are fine to get you through the dark times when they're not touring in your area (my particular favorite is the 2005 release, Flapjacks in the Sky,) the real magic lies in their live concerts. Walk into one of their shows and you'll come out not simply a new fan, but quite possibly a convert into this strange new religion that fans call "Slambovia."

In 1998, The Circus emerged from the misty hills of Sleepy Hollow, New York and exploded upon the Hudson Valley music scene with their stunning self-produced debut release, "A Good Thief Tips His Hat". The quirky quartet then began touring throughout the northeast and rapidly developed a fiercely loyal, all-ages following. Featured in Relix Magazine, the New York Times and on the CBS hit show, Joan of Arcadia, the band's charismatic live performances and blend of folk, rock, hillbilly and pop have made them friends all over the world.

Here's a tasty sampling of what you can expect at a show:

 

Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams is playing on Saturday, November 24th at 8 p.m. at the Night Eagle Cafe, 200 State Street, Binghamton. Visit the Night Eagle Cafe's website for more information and to order tickets for the show.

- by Crystal Sarakas

Video surveillance as art at Cornell

Visitors who came to the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art to watch monks creating a sand mandala for the recent visit of the Dalai Lama were themselves part of a new art form translating movement into sound.

As they clustered around to view the mandala or moved in or out of the room, cameras in the ceiling tracked their movements. The behavior of the crowd triggered subtle changes in the background sounds playing in the room.

The sounds were created by professional sound designer Ron Riddle, who combined monastery chants, Tibetan bowls, bells, chimes, piano and guitar, and created different tracks to reflect different audience behaviors. In some cases, as when people entered, a heartbeat sound was overlaid.

Read the full article here.

Concert Spotlight: A Musical Feast at the Forum

Songs of the Spirit will be presented in Binghamton, New York by Southern Tier Celebrates on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 7:30pm at the Broome County Forum Theatre.

Songs of the Spirit is a multicultural musical feast. From rock to gospel, jazz to sacred chant, audiences will experience a unique fusion of eastern and western styles by some of the most inspired and inspiring performers on the planet. This year’s program features performances from a remarkable ensemble of artists including: Hugh Masekela, Odetta, Craig Harris, Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg of the The Klezmatics, Haale, Tracy Grammer, The Shangilia Children’s Choir from Nairobi, Kenya and The Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery.   

The collaboration among this diverse group of artists is part of the excitement of the concert. Craig Harris’s new, original work with the Tibetan monks fuses contemporary jazz with sacred multiphonic chant. Klezmer and world beat virtuosos Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg, will perform with Iranian/American vocalist Haale, and the Shangilia Children’s Choir will join Odetta and Tracy Grammer, among a range of other musical intersections. In addition to the wide variety of music—folk, jazz, rock, klezmer, gospel, multiphonic chant and more—readings from both sacred and secular texts will weave a thematic thread throughout the program, focusing on the shared spiritual ideals of an interconnected, interdependent world.

Tickets can be purchased by phone: 607.722.7272, or online at ticketmaster.com.