Stories » Yo-Yo Ma with CSO in world premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's 'Cello Concerto' / Chicago Tribune review

Stories for September 18, 2019

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    Nicola Benedetti - Marsalis: VC, FDS is the WRTI: 'Classical Album of the Week'
     
    Posted At : September 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    Jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis writes about reconnecting with the Anglo-Celtic roots of Afro-American music in his Violin Concerto in D, written for Scottish violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti, and recorded with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Macelaru. The celebration of community and joining of different musical traditions also enriches his Fiddle Dance Suite for solo violin.  The WRTI: Philadelphia 'Classical Album of the Week' is Marsalis Violin Concerto and Fiddle Dance Suite. Nicola Benedetti talks with WRTI's Susan Lewis about how the Marsalis Violin Concerto came to be and what it means to her. LISTEN

  • Women Warriors: The Voices of Change  releases; Chapter 10: Parkland
     
    Posted At : September 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    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} Women Warriors: The Voices of Change multimedia concert performed by Orchestra Moderne NYC, under the direction of Amy Andersson, features the music of eight renowned female film composers and presents 800 years of women fighting for human rights and equality. This 80-minute interactive experience is a socially and culturally relevant world premiere concert which includes historical visuals from the past to present day. Women Warriors: The Voices of Change celebrates the strength and heroism of female global activists fighting for human, civil, and minority rights, environmental causes, and gender equality. Orchestra Moderne NYC and Conductor/Producer Amy Andersson team with composers Nathalie Bonin, Miriam Cutler, Anne-Kathrin Dern, Sharon Farber, Mandy Hoffman, Penka Kouneva, Starr Parodi, and Lolita Ritmanis, who together have created a rich and cinematic orchestral experience in seventeen world premiere pieces that inspire hope and courage for women and girls around the world. Special guest artists include; Afghan rapper/songwriter Sonita Alizadeh, fifteen year old singer/songwriter Isolde Fair, and violinist Nathalie Bonin. Iranian human rights activist and author Masih Alinejad is the honored guest speaker. Featured Podcast for today 9.18.2019 is ‘Chapter 10: ‘Parkland' with music by Isolde Fair Chapter Ten "Parkland" Honors 3 activists who survived the Parkland shooting. Featuring fifteen year old singer/songwriter Isolde Fair, the song is a memoriam for those who were murdered. Isolde Fair has been writing and performing music since she can remember. She plays electric bass, has studied the violin since 5 years of age, and has played piano since she was a baby, thanks in part, to her mother, Starr Parodi. Isolde draws her inspiration from every day living like school and her peers as well as world events. Join us at New York's Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center - September 20 2019 at 8:00pm for this historical and stunning concert experience which celebrates the strength and heroism of female global activists fighting for human and civil rights, environmental causes, and gender equality. Narration for this podcast by Max Horowitz. The opening theme music was provided by Penka Kouneva. This content, as well as the related podcast, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) for redistribution and adaptation.

  • PRI: Echoes screens Rob Simonsen's solo debut, Reveries, and talks with the veteran film composer
     
    Posted At : September 16, 2019 12:00 AM

    Sometimes, if you want to live the dream, you need to let the dream come to you. Just ask composer Rob Simonsen, who began playing the piano at a young age, picking out melodies he heard in his parents' record collection, before he began composing for himself. "I daydreamed a lot when I was young," he remembers. "I'd sit at the piano, and it was very much about escape: letting my mind wander, exploring." Nonetheless, Simonsen's deep habit of daydreaming is at last gratifyingly indulged on his long-awaited solo debut RÊVERIES, announced today for a September 6th release date on Sony Music Masterworks. It's an elegant, affecting collection which puts the piano – though not just any piano – in the spotlight, furnishing it with blissful embellishments, both electronic and analogue. The announcement of the album comes along with the new video for the album track "Coeur", directed by Simonsen himself and premiered via Stationary Travels. "It's quite the return to my roots," Simonsen says, "sitting and improvising, having it be emotive and cathartic. I didn't sketch anything in advance, nor come at it from an intellectual perspective. It started by chasing a feeling while recording." The album is now available for preorder.  Watch the new video for "Coeur" here. Simonsen recorded RÊVERIES with what he calls "this magical beast of a piano" in four 2-3-week sessions over the course of a year, letting his mind drift for up to an hour at a time, just as he had as a child, before using the most rewarding excursions as the foundations for more formal, complex pieces. As he composed for brass, for strings, for choir, he reveled simultaneously in Paris' picturesque winter or marveled at the studio's old school recording methodology, one Neff suggested had occasionally been "forgotten" amid the contemporary shift to digital recording. Nonetheless, Simonsen kept things simple: he stuck largely to traditional song forms and simple melodies, "but," he says, "rendered in a – hopefully – more unique, processed way. I wanted to keep it classic but forward-thinking."  That said, RÊVERIES' title is indicative of something more profound: of allowing things to unfold in their own time, and of their own nature. Not that Simonsen lacks ambition: since the early 2000s, he's worked on an expansive list of film soundtracks, among them Foxcatcher, Nerve, The Way, Way Back and most recently Jason Reitman's The Front Runner and Rupert Wyatt's Captive State. There have been collaborations, too, notably with Mychael Danna – including 500 Days Of Summer – and contributions to Life Of Pi and Moneyball, as well as, earlier, outings under the name Frozen Light, encouraged by Keith Kenniff (Helios, Goldmund). But Simonsen's been biding his time since an early age, quietly nursing the artistic flights of fancy in which he'd step out from behind the screen. When the stars finally aligned, he knew, these would seem rather less fanciful. CLICK HER FOR Echoes PAGE

  • Women Warriors, The Voices of Change: Chapter 9: Seeking Justice and Equality
     
    Posted At : September 16, 2019 12:00 AM

    Women Warriors: The Voices of Change multimedia concert performed by Orchestra Moderne NYC, under the direction of Amy Andersson, features the music of eight renowned female film composers and presents 800 years of women fighting for human rights and equality. This 80-minute interactive experience is a socially and culturally relevant world premiere concert which includes historical visuals from the past to present day. Women Warriors: The Voices of Change celebrates the strength and heroism of female global activists fighting for human, civil, and minority rights, environmental causes, and gender equality. Orchestra Moderne NYC and Conductor/Producer Amy Andersson team with composers Nathalie Bonin, Miriam Cutler, Anne-Kathrin Dern, Sharon Farber, Mandy Hoffman, Penka Kouneva, Starr Parodi, and Lolita Ritmanis, who together have created a rich and cinematic orchestral experience in seventeen world premiere pieces that inspire hope and courage for women and girls around the world. Special guest artists include; Afghan rapper/songwriter Sonita Alizadeh, fifteen year old singer/songwriter Isolde Fair, and violinist Nathalie Bonin. Iranian human rights activist and author Masih Alinejad is the honored guest speaker. CLICK HERE for today's 9.16.2019 featured Podcast via PRX ‘Chapter 9: ‘Seeking Justice and Equality' with music by Sharon Farber and Anne-Kathrin Dern. The opening theme music for this podcast was provided by Penka Kouneva Sharon Farber is a four time Emmy Award Nominated Film, TV and concert music composer. Farber is a true believer in Hans Christian Andersen's quote; "When words fail, music speaks" and she is honored to be a part of the Women Warriors, Voices of Change concert. Always drawn to human stories, she feels privileged to be able to musically communicate the teaching and moral of these narratives and shine light on the human experience. For Chapter Nine - ‘Seeking Justice and Equality, Farber wrote - "Say Their Names", which highlights the three founders of Black Lives Matter. Farber says that she cannot imagine the heartache of losing a child, and says from this experience, a new, strong and determined voice of change will emerge, with a call for human dignity and respect for all life. Join us at New York's Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center - September 20 2019 at 8:00pm for this historical and stunning concert experience which celebrates the strength and heroism of female global activists fighting for human and civil rights, environmental causes, and gender equality. Narration for this podcast by Max Horowitz. This content, as well as the related podcast, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) for redistribution and adaptation. CLICK HERE FOR Medium

  • Nicola Benedetti talks 'Marsalis' with Radio Purdue
     
    Posted At : September 11, 2019 12:00 AM

    New sounds and releases featuring Zuill Bailey, Nicola Benedetti, and Arcomusical in Brahms, Marsalis, and Eric Cole! 
    Listen via PRX Released on Decca, Nicola Benedetti's new album, featuring the violin concertos of Glazunov and Shostakovich is a journey between two different, yet connected, concertos for the violin. Glazunov's glittering 1904 work is separated from his pupil Shostakovich's 1947 concerto, not only by 40 years, but also by several landmark events in history: the Russian Revolution, Stalin's Terror and the Second World War. Benedetti performs these two works with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Kirill Karabits. This is the second album that Nicola Benedetti has recorded with BSO and Kirill Karabits and follows the hugely successful The Silver Violin. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

  • Camila Meza's 'Awaken' makes Pisa's Punto Radio - animajazz
     
    Posted At : September 10, 2019 12:00 AM

    In the episode n ° 882 of "ANIMAJAZZ", conceived and conducted by BRUNO POLLACCI , aired TUESDAY 10th September at 20.30, on PUNTORADIO, also in streaming on www.puntoradio.fm and in immediate podcast is Camila Meza's 'Awaken' from her album Ambar. We remind you that "ANIMAJAZZ" can be heard TUESDAY at 8.30 pm in an immediate podcast on http://animajazz.eu and in streaming on www.puntoradio.fmand the "DOWNLOAD" of the episode can be made, free of charge, from the "ANIMAJAZZ" website, podcasts area. Good listening. "ANIMAJAZZ" is in collaboration with the PISA ACADEMY OF ART , Pisa.    SEE Punto Radio - animajazz PLAYLIST

  • Ola Onabule's 'Dark Matter' from 'The Peace That Deafens' makes Pisa's Punto Radio - animajazz
     
    Posted At : September 10, 2019 12:00 AM

    In the episode n ° 882 of "ANIMAJAZZ", conceived and conducted by BRUNO POLLACCI , aired TUESDAY 10th September at 20.30, on PUNTORADIO, also in streaming on www.puntoradio.fm and in immediate podcast is Ola Onabule's 'Dark Matter' from 'The Peace That Deafens.' We remind you that "ANIMAJAZZ" can be heard TUESDAY at 8.30 pm in an immediate podcast on http://animajazz.eu and in streaming on www.puntoradio.fmand the "DOWNLOAD" of the episode can be made, free of charge, from the "ANIMAJAZZ" website, podcasts area. Good listening. "ANIMAJAZZ" is in collaboration with the PISA ACADEMY OF ART.  SEE Punto Radio - animajazz PLAYLIST p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

Top 10 for Sep

  • Jon Batiste :

    Anatomy of Angels

     In the fall of 2018, pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste played a six-night residency at the historic Village Vanguard in downtown New York City.
  • Ola Onabule :

    POINT LESS

     Socially conscious singer/songwriter Ola Onabulé 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.
  • Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Kahane-Batjer :

    Jalbert, Bach, Part & Vasks

     Making their first appearance on BIS, Margaret Batjer and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) cross great  distances in both time and space in this programme of  concertante violin works.
  • John Coltrane :

    Blue World

     In 1964, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet went into Van Gelder Studios and, in an unprecedented move for Coltrane, recorded new versions of some of his most famous works.
  • Nicola Benedetti :

    Marsalis -Violin Concerto in D, Fiddle Dance Suite

     Nicola Benedetti's new album on Decca Classics features premiere recordings of two works written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin.
  • John Lunn :

    Downton Abbey OST

     This high profile movie, continuing the story of Lord Grantham and the Crawley family is in cinemas around the world from September.
  • Orchestra Moderne NYC, Amy Andersson :

    Women Warriors: The Voices of Change

     Hear Orchestra Moderne NYC debut the world premiere of Women Warriors: The Voices of Change, coming fall 2019 to New York City.
  • Paula Cole :

    Revolution

     Paula Cole's tenth album, Revolution, fulfills the promise of her 1994 debut.
  • Ramin Karimloo :

    From Now On

     Tony® Award-nominated singer and performer RAMIN KARIMLOO today releases his second full-length album, From Now On, via Sony Masterworks Broadway.
  • Sharon Isbin, Pacifica Quartet :

    Souvenirs of Spain and Italy

     Pacifica Quartet and Guitarist Sharon Isbin Offer ‘Souvenirs of Spain and Italy' on Cedille Records In their first collaboration on disc, the artists play works for guitar and strings by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vivaldi, and Boccherini   The Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet and multiple Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin join forces for Souvenirs of Spain & Italy, an uncommon album of music for strings and guitar from the Baroque to the mid-20th century.

Yo-Yo Ma with CSO in world premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's 'Cello Concerto' / Chicago Tribune review

Posted: March 11, 2017 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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It was perhaps inevitable that Esa-Pekka Salonen and Yo-Yo Ma would one day collaborate on a new work. The artists share a questing spirit that carries them far beyond the sphere ordinary musicians inhabit, Salonen as one of our most thoughtful composers and probing conductors, Ma as one of our most eloquent virtuosos and committed citizens of the musical world at large. The world premiere of Salonen's Cello Concerto, the new work they introduced at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's concert Thursday night March 9, 2017, at Symphony Center was like twin forces of nature coming together. PHOTO: Ting Shen Chicago Tribune

READ THE FULL Chicago Tribune REVIEW

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