Stories » Yo-Yo Ma brings 'Bach Project' to San Antonio & Laredo / San Antonio Express-News

Stories for December 13, 2019

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    'Christmas Carols with Libera' goes #1 on billboard: Traditional Classical Albums chart
     
    Posted At : December 13, 2019 9:44 AM

    The  boys  who  make  up  the  choral  group  Libera  are  normal  South  London  kids  aged  7  to  16  years.  The  music  they  produce  is  truly  extraordinary.  Their  new album ‘Christmas Carols With Libera' through Invisible Hands Music, takes on both mellow and upbeat holiday songs in this collection including; ‘Ding Dong Merrily On High' which requires real precision, as well as purity. Many of the tracks were recorded during a group ‘retreat' to a rehearsal space in an old school, this allowed a true live feel to the process. The boy who took the lead vocal on ‘The Snowman' had just turned 9 years old, whilst the introductions to the French ‘Noël Nouvelet' and the Irish ‘Wexford Carol' are both handled by native French and Gaelic speakers, Libera is as polyglot as ever. 'Christmas Carols with Libera' goes #1 on billboard - Traditional Classical Albums. See cover image

  • Jenny Lewis, Jackson Browne, Jonathan Wilson team for 'Lape Lanmou' from Haiti benefit album, 'Let the Rhythm Lead' / RollingStone
     
    Posted At : December 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    Jenny Lewis and producer/songwriter Jonathan Wilson have teamed with Sanba Zao, Paul Beaubrun and Jackson Browne for a new song, "Lapé Lanmou (Peace and Love)." The track will appear on the upcoming benefit album, Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit, Vol. 1, out January 31st, 2020 from Artists for Peace and Justice via Arts Music. The bustling song, whose title means "Peace and Love" in Creole, arrived with an equally lively video in which the musicians perform the song in Haiti alongside a crowd of revelers, dancers and singers. The clip captures the mood of the song, which Beaubrun described as "a spiritual awakening." "Haitians along with many others across the globe have been saying [‘Lapé Lanmou'] for a long time," Beaubrun added. "It's about peace, love and unity amongst us all and how we will never collectively move forward as one without it." Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) is a non-profit organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world. Our immediate goal is to serve the poorest communities in Haiti with programs in education, healthcare and dignity. We are committed to long-term, sustainable development in direct partnership with the Haitian people. Our model is simple: we believe in empowering local communities, fostering economic growth, and the power of education to change a nation. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL RollingStone ARTICLE & WATCH THE VIDEO

  • The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery makes Treble '10 Best Jazz Albums of 2019'
     
    Posted At : December 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    Comparing the year in jazz to that of 2018 is a little like comparing this year in metal to its predecessor-on the surface it seems hard to compete with 12 months of obvious ringers. After all, last year revealed the first set of unheard John Coltrane music in decades. I mean, this year also yielded a set of unheard Coltrane pieces, which was pretty cool as well, but they were still essentially alternate versions of pieces we'd already heard, and the novelty wasn't quite as strong. But if the strength of a jazz year can only be measured by the freshness of its rare Coltrane recordings, well, most years would be pretty disappointing. And honestly, to focus on 50-year-old outtakes when so much great new material is being recorded feels at best shortsighted and at worst intransigent. Jazz this year was dominated not by headline-grabbing archival music but by the sheer strength of new artists honing their craft. Some of them have made this list before (Yazz Ahmed, Shabaka Hutchings). Some of them are best known in other genres (Cochemea). And some arrived well out of left-field (Paisiel). But the one thing they have in common is that they all reveal something new about a 100-year-old style. Here are the best jazz albums of 2019. I've always been somewhat skeptical of anything described as "nu-jazz," as more often than not it's less jazz and more downtempo electronic music to pulse through the lobby of a trendy, high-end boutique hotel. The Comet Is Coming, however, are a proper jazz outfit who just so happen to sound like they're prepped to launch into hyperspace, thanks in large part to Danalogue's synth-heavy atmospheres. Yet saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and drummer Betamax are what bring the project back down to earth with both an emotionally powerful presence and grooves that never relent. One need only give one spin to standout jam "Summon the Fire" to understand that this group is simply not fucking around-they're certainly headed for the cosmos, but they're getting asses shaking on the ascent. Trust In the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery is the group's Impulse! debut, putting them in the league of giants like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane (and Hutchings' other group, Sons of Kemet), and while those might be big shoes to fill, it's to the iconic label's credit that groundbreaking talent like this-making something truly innovative from an electronic/jazz combo that's been stuck in M.O.R. range for too long-is carrying their its forward into the 21st century. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} SEE THE Treble '10 Best Jazz Albums of 2019' PAGE

  • Rachel Barton Pine is back for day 2 with classical radio
     
    Posted At : December 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    Chart-topping, international violin soloist Rachel Barton Pine, joined by multi-faceted conductor Teddy Abrams and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, released Dvořák and Khachaturian Violin Concertos, on AVIE on November 1.  The album features Dvořák's Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 53 and Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in D minor, highlights each composer's prominent use of his own traditional ethnic music. The Dvořák and Khachaturian Violin Concertos marks Pine's 39th recording and fifth album on AVIE records (AV 2375).  In conjunction with the new release, RBP has made herself available for radio interviews on 2 consecutive days. Yesterday and today December 11 & 12. Watch for our tweeths throughout the day.

  • LACO concertmaster Margaret Batjer chats with All Classical Portland
     
    Posted At : December 11, 2019 12:00 AM

    Violinist Margaret Batjer has been associated with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for a number of years. In their first CD for the Swedish BIS label, Batjer and the LACO begin with a new violin concerto by Quebec-born composer, Pierre Jalbert. With movements titled "Soulful, mysterious", and "With great energy", Jalbert's concerto is in good hands with Ms. Batjer, no stranger to contemporary music.  She ties this newest work to established, mystical pieces by Estonian Arvo Pärt (one of his Fratres pieces), and Latvian Peteris Vasks (Lonely Angel). Completing the circle among these spiritualistic composers, J.S. Bach's Concerto in A Minor reminds us that whether sacred or secular, Bach approached composition with equal seriousness. LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

  • Sung-Won Yang discusses the J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites with Spokane Public Radio
     
    Posted At : December 11, 2019 12:00 AM

    After the releasing the Bach album with EMI in 2005, Decca releases; Sung-Won Yang's J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites recorded at 19th century's catholic church, Notre Dame de Bon Secours, Paris. In order to contain the natural sounds of the recording from the catholic church, this album specifically minimized the post production including the mixing process. You can experience the maturity and depth of Sung-Won Yang's cello sound of time compared to the recording 13 years ago. Sung-Won Yang's have said that Bach's music provides beyond happiness, yet intellectual and spiritual pieces which makes J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites holy grail for the cellists. Sung-Won Yang was recently interviewed by Spokane Public Radio's Jim Tevenan. Listen to the interview via the attached file.

  • The Stan Getz Quartet 'Getz at The Gate' makes npr: best reissues and archival albums of 2019'
     
    Posted At : December 11, 2019 12:00 AM

    And now, a moment of appreciation for the under-assistant recording engineers and studio gofers who toiled in anonymity in the dimly lit studios of the past. They didn't just get coffee - they were on site, taking notes about who played what instrument on which track, writing down the dates of sessions, and making sure that those dates were clearly marked on the tape boxes. They did this for albums that became classics. And singles that never left the garage. We know what happened on countless sessions that later became "important" because these anonymous workers took the time to notate the details as they happened. They trusted that someday, somebody out there would care. Through streaming, a curious listener who wouldn't spend $80 on a boxed set can graze through its contents, cherry picking whatever seems interesting - but finding any certain version of any certain track usually involves more than a straightforward search. Scroll through an established artist's list of songs and you encounter "original" versions, live versions, edited-for-radio versions and demo versions of the same tune. Often, the quickest way to distinguish between them is to know who played on a particular version, or when or where it was recorded - the kind of information streaming services don't like to share. This year, record labels and sleuthing researchers leaned on those scrawled morsels of information on tape boxes to bring out an astonishing array of music from the vaults. These include massive hauls of demo recordings, odd never-released curiosities and well known works that have been restored to the artist's original vision. Here are the best of them from this year. This was an excellent year for newly discovered music from legendary jazz tenor saxophonists, in part thanks to this nicely recorded 1961 date from New York's Village Gate. Here, the bewitchingly lyrical Stan Getz darts through uptempo barnburners ("It's All Right With Me"), then muses, in a sullen, disconsolate way, over a gorgeous "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most." This set is notable for the personnel – Getz' little-recorded Boston-based band of pianist Steve Kuhn and drummer Roy Haynes – and also for its date, capturing the saxophonist just before he began his commercially lucrative flirtations with bossa nova. SEE npr PAGE

Top 10 for Dec

  • Alexandre Desplat :

    Little Women OMPS

     Sony Music announces the release of LITTLE WOMEN (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) with music by Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and GRAMMY® Award-winning composer ALEXANDRE DESPLAT.
  • Bing Crosby :

    Bing at Christmas

     On the anniversary of the untimely death of the world's first ‘multimedia' star Bing Crosby, October 14th sees his longtime record label, Decca, together with his widow Kathryn and their children, Harry, Mary, and Nathaniel Crosby, announce the release of the brand new album, Bing at Christmas, via Decca/UMe.
  • Jon Batiste :

    Chronology Of A Dream - Live@The Village Vanguard

     The inimitable musician and bandleader, Jon Batiste, sets to release Chronology Of A Dream: Live At The Village Vanguard on November 1.
  • Libera :

    Christmas Carols with Libera

     The  boys  who  make  up  the  choral  group  Libera  are  normal  South  London  kids  aged  7  to  16  years.
  • Ola Onabule :

    POINT LESS

     Socially conscious singer/songwriter Ola Onabule has built an enviable career as an international touring performer and has now turned his attention to the North American market with a newly recorded collection of original songs.
  • Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra :

    I Shouldn't Be Telling You This

     JEFF GOLDBLUM WITH BRAND NEW ALBUM  FEATURING - SHARON VAN ETTEN • FIONA APPLE • ANNA CALVI • INARA GEORGE • GINA SAPUTO In DUETS WITH JEFF GOLDBLUM  - OUT NOVEMBER 1 ON DECCA RECORDS "I'm crying with ecstasy over this new album.
  • Sultans Of String :

    Christmas Caravan

     Celebrate the season AGAIN!! with 2015 JUNO Award nominees Sultans of String, for an adventurous musical trip around the world! SOS deliver an exuberant performance featuring originals, world-music inspired classics, and seasonal favourites to warm your heart on a cold winter's night.
  • Cally Banham :

    Cor Christmas

     "Intimate, Warm, Plaintive, Whimsical, Fresh, And Full Of Heart, You'll Feel It To The Cor - " Los Angeles Stage And Cinema "The English horn is an instrument known for it's eloquent voice-like quality, perfect to express joyful lyrical lines, as well as peaceful and reverent emotions.
  • Ludovico Einaudi :

    Seven Days Walking - Day Seven

     Following his sold-out, seven-night residency at the Barbican in early August, Decca announces the release of ‘Seven Days Walking: Day Seven', and the climactic seven-volume collection from composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi – his most ambitious album project yet, with seven albums released over as many months.
  • Third Coast Percussion :

    Fields

     Grammy Award-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion plays music by international R&B and pop music star Devonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange) on their newest album, Fields, marking Hynes's recording debut as a classical composer.

Yo-Yo Ma brings 'Bach Project' to San Antonio & Laredo / San Antonio Express-News

Posted: April 10, 2019 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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Just under 3,000 people wil pack Trinity University's Laurie Auditorium on Friday for internationally renowned musician Yo-Yo Ma's sold out performance of Bach solo cello suites, but many, many more will get to experience the performance. That's because it will be simulcast at both the Mission Marquee Plaza, the community space on the former site of Mission Drive-In, and at Texas A&M International University in Laredo.

The concert is part of the Bach Project series that Ma launched in August: 36 concerts of the cello suites performed across the globe over the course of two years. Each performance will be coupled with a Day of Action devoted to cultural engagement and exploring the impact of the arts on communities.

The plan for the evening is for the Mission Marquee show to kick off an hour before Ma is slated to take the stage at Trinity. Urban-15's Carnaval de Santo will perform, as will the winners of the music portion of KPAC's annual Sounds Like KPAC teen talent competition: violinist Nicholas Garcia-Hettinger, who is a student at Brandeis High School; and the Saxalorian Quartet, a saxophone ensemble based at Churchill High School that includes Ian Weidman on soprano sax; Craig Jaffe on alto sax; Ricky Dixon on tenor sax; and Abbi Stewart on baritone sax.

Nathan Cone, vice president of cultural and community engagement for Texas Public Radio, will be master of ceremonies.

READ THE FULL San Antonio Express - News ARTICLE

Crossover Media Projects with Yo-Yo Ma

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Salonen Cello Concerto w/Los Angeles Philharmonic

    On March 8, Sony Classical will release a recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen's cello concerto featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Salonen's baton. Co-commissioned for Ma by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Barbican Centre, and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Salonen's cello concerto premiered on March 9, 2017 with Salonen himself conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ma and the concerto then came to the New York Philharmonic on March 17, 2017, with then-Music Director Alan Gilbert conducting; Ma and Gilbert continued the premiere season with performances at London's Barbican Centre and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. This recording captures the live performance in Los Angeles on February 8, 2018.

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Six Evolutions - Bach Cello Suites

    YO-YO MA releases Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites today.  The new album from Sony Classical marks Ma's third and final recording of the works and celebrates his nearly six-decade-long relationship with the music.  Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites is available to stream and download now on all digital service providers and for purchase as a 3-LP 180-gram vinyl set.

    As Ma's "constant musical companions" for almost 60 years, Bach's Cello Suites first entered the cellist's life at the age of four, when he learned the first measure of the Prélude to Suite No. 1 under his father's instruction.  His Grammy Award-winning first complete recording of the suites was made in his late twenties. His second, Inspired by Bach, was released in his early forties and recorded alongside a multi-genre, collaborative exploration of the works. Both previous recordings of the Cello Suites, also on Sony Classical, became landmarks in classical discography, as well as milestones in Ma's musical life.  Since then these works have been a through line in his life, guiding him through times of happiness as well as hardship, prompting Ma to ask, "What power does this music possess that even today, after three hundred years, it continues to help us navigate through troubled times?"

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach

    CBS/Sony Classical has been accompanying superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma for decades on his journey through the unsurpassed works written for his instrument by Johann Sebastian Bach. The label is now pleased to announce the release of important landmarks from that journey, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach, on a single CD. Ma's first recording of Bach's six Solo Suites, which went on to win the Grammy? for "Best Classical Instrumental Performance" and is represented here by the Sarabande from the Sixth Suite, took place in 1982. In the same year, Yo-Yo Ma recorded Bach's complete sonatas for viola da gamba with harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper which was hailed by Gramophone as "intelligent and expressive."

    24 NEW  53 TOTAL
    SYND:     Classical 24, CBC
    Direct: SiriusXM, MOOD, AccuRadio 
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Seattle, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Portland, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Austin, Denver, Memphis, AL(Statewide), NE(Statewide), MN(Statewide), MI(Statewide)
    INTER: Canada, UK
    Online: Bradenton Herald, BroadwayWorld

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Songs Of Joy & Peace

    Imagine a party, a musical party inspired by the holiday season. A party that celebrates the universal hopes, dreams and joy animating seasonal festivals the world over Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, Yule and New Year's Day. That is what brought Yo-Yo Ma together with a remarkable group of friends to create Yo-Yo Ma & Friends Songs of Joy & Peace, a new album of songs from Sony Masterworks.

    3 New 'ON' this week: 291
    SYND:     NPR/Hearts of Space, APM/Prairie Home Companion & Performance Today, PRI/Jazz After Hours & Classical 24, WFMT Network/Jazz with Bob Parlocha, UnderCurrents, Folkscene, Music Of Your Life, Acoustic Cafe, Radio DeLuxe
    Direct: XM/Fine Tuning, Music Choice/Jazz & Soundscapes
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Wash DC, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Cleveland, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, San Diego, Denver, Portland, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Berkeley CA, Nashville, Memphis, Albuquerque, Honolulu, Austin, Louisville, San Antonio, Columbus OH, Madison WI, Puerto Rico, Canada

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    The Essential Yo-Yo Ma

    An Essential Collection From Yo-Yo Ma. One Of The Most Popular Musicians Of Our Time! 34 Incredible tracks spanning Yo-Yo Ma's entire career - From his Academy Award winning performance on: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and his Grammy Winning Soul Of The Tango: to his latest Silk Road Ensemble recording: Beyond the Horizon.

    8 ADD's this week: 68 Stations now "ON"
    Markets include:     New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Cleveland, St. Louis, Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Houston, New Orleans, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Buffalo

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    30 Years Outside the Box

    Comprising ninety discs, Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside the Box is a salute to Yo-Yo Ma's monumental musical achievements and to his 30-year legacy with Sony Masterworks. The exciting story of his life and work is eloquently told in a quality hard bound book of over 312 pages, lavishly illustrated with more than 150 color and black-and-white archival photos, original album artwork, liner notes and credits. Further enriching the story of this musical giant is a warm and insightful foreword by his longtime friend and esteemed fellow artist, pianist Emanuel Ax, as well as a lengthy, insightful essay by noted critic Richard Dyer.

    40 New ON this week   53 Total
    Synd: Virtuoso Voices
    Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Portland, Baltimore, New Orleans, Berkeley CA
    Online: Taintradio, Dr. Music

  • Yo-Yo Ma

    Appassionato

    Yo-Yo Ma's latest recording for Sony Classical, Appassionato, is a journey through some of the world's most romantic music-from Mendelssohn to Gershwin to John Williams. An exclusive Sony Classical artist, and with a CD catalogue of astonishing breadth and depth, Yo-Yo Ma has consistently been one of the top-selling classical artists in the world. His recordings have earned him a total of fifteen Grammy Awards.

    7 New 'ON' this week: 63 Total "Stations/Shows"
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinatti, Baltimore, Salt Lake, New Orleans