Performance (And New Music) Matters: Exemplary National Gallery Of Art Music Program Experiments With Sunday Concert Lengths From One To Two Hours
This post is occasioned by our having been visited early last night, at our small home, by 38 wonderful small spirits, most under 40 inches tall and many with wings; and my subsequent retreat upstairs (while N. watched "The War" and BBC World News downstairs) to read Terry Teachout's latest two Commentary articles about the state of classical music in today's America, and Richard Taruskin's long The New Republic article on the same subject.
My hope is that the 38 small, multi-hued spirits who visited us will happily and naturally find their ways to the joys of classical music -- (as I fully trust that they will) -- despite the temporary goblins of war; ecological, disease, and health imbalances; financial greed and fraud; and cultural privatization and mismanagement.
The National Gallery of Art has long had one of the exemplary music programs in the Nation, if not the world. (The program began as an informal educational and cultural benefit for the 10,000s, if not 100,000s, of Americans, who relocated to Washington, D.C., in the early 1940s (following the ravishing Great Depression) to serve in the U.S. national war efforts against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan [and not the Soviet Union]). The Sunday evening, FREE National Gallery of Art Music Program has presented thousands upon thousands of superb performances of the full range of Western music (unlike the constricted WETA/WGMS-FM offerings), under founding Foundation funding. Music has ranged from early Western chant to numerous world premieres by American, European, Latin American, and Asian classical composers. [I recall, in the late 1960's -- following the Soviet Union repression (August 1968) in then-Czechoslovakia -- hearing our pianist neighbor, Ylda Novak, perform world premieres of music by Czechoslovak composers.(For her encore, she repeated one world premiere.) For many years, the National Gallery of Art Sunday evening concerts also were broadcast on radio (neither WETA --"Long Live Frederick the Great of Prussia" -- nor WGMS) thoughout the "Greater Washington" region.]
Over the next two months, the National Gallery of Art Music Program will offer a range of one, one and one half, and two hour concerts; including TWO world premieres -- Roger Reynolds "Sanctuary" (2007) (for percussion and computer music) and composer John Musto and librettist Mark Campbell's chamber opera, based upon American artist Edward Hopper, "Later the Same Evening" (2007) [an opera inspired by five paintings of Edward Hopper]. Please consider attending some of these concerts, even if you vaguely "believe" that rock and roll is the only true American music; and bring as many neighborhood, young 'spirits' to these FREE concerts as you can assemble (fairly) peacefully:
Alexandria Symphony
Kim Allen Kluge, music director
November 4 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Beethoven and Brahms
Presented in honor of J.M.W. Turner
Paul Badura-Skoda, pianist
November 11 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert
Sanctuary by Roger Reynolds
November 18 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
East Building Ground Level
Presented in honor of Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections
National Gallery Chamber Players and Vocal Arts Ensemble
November 25 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by D'Rivera, Ewazen, Fauré, Still, and other composers
University of Maryland School of Music Opera Studio and National Gallery Orchestra
December 2 at 6:30PM
(2 hours)
East Building Concourse, Large Auditorium
Washington premiere of John Musto’s opera Later the Same Evening: an opera inspired by five paintings of Edward Hopper
Presented in honor of Edward Hopper
National Gallery Orchestra
Bjarte Engeset, guest conductor
December 9 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Greig
Presented in cooperation with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and in connection with the Norwegian Christmas Festival
Holiday Caroling in the Rotunda
December 15, 16, 22, 23 at 1:30PM, 2:30PM
(50 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, Rotunda
Caroling in the seasonally decorated West Building Rotunda is a favorite at the Gallery. Guest choirs lead afternoon sing-along caroling. Singers and listeners of all ages are welcome.
Leipzig String Quartet
December 16 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
East Building Concourse, Large Auditorium
Music by Beethoven and Mendelssohn
Beethoven's birthday celebration
Presented in cooperation with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Embassy Series
Chris Brubeck's Triple Play
December 23 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Holiday jazz, folk, and blues concert
National Gallery Orchestra
José Serebrier, guest conductor
December 30 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Johann Strauss Jr. and other Viennese composers
New Year Concert
Source
The halloween crab, Gecarcinus quadratus or Gercarcinus ruricola (not to be confused with the halloween hermit crab).
While the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C., fosters a living American classical music culture; the WETA/WGMS-FM merger, in Northern Virginia, represses a living American classical music culture.
Photo credit: © 2005-2006 T. Beth Kinsey. All rights reserved. Via The Firefly Florest. [How To Support The Firefly Forest.]
My hope is that the 38 small, multi-hued spirits who visited us will happily and naturally find their ways to the joys of classical music -- (as I fully trust that they will) -- despite the temporary goblins of war; ecological, disease, and health imbalances; financial greed and fraud; and cultural privatization and mismanagement.
The National Gallery of Art has long had one of the exemplary music programs in the Nation, if not the world. (The program began as an informal educational and cultural benefit for the 10,000s, if not 100,000s, of Americans, who relocated to Washington, D.C., in the early 1940s (following the ravishing Great Depression) to serve in the U.S. national war efforts against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan [and not the Soviet Union]). The Sunday evening, FREE National Gallery of Art Music Program has presented thousands upon thousands of superb performances of the full range of Western music (unlike the constricted WETA/WGMS-FM offerings), under founding Foundation funding. Music has ranged from early Western chant to numerous world premieres by American, European, Latin American, and Asian classical composers. [I recall, in the late 1960's -- following the Soviet Union repression (August 1968) in then-Czechoslovakia -- hearing our pianist neighbor, Ylda Novak, perform world premieres of music by Czechoslovak composers.(For her encore, she repeated one world premiere.) For many years, the National Gallery of Art Sunday evening concerts also were broadcast on radio (neither WETA --"Long Live Frederick the Great of Prussia" -- nor WGMS) thoughout the "Greater Washington" region.]
Over the next two months, the National Gallery of Art Music Program will offer a range of one, one and one half, and two hour concerts; including TWO world premieres -- Roger Reynolds "Sanctuary" (2007) (for percussion and computer music) and composer John Musto and librettist Mark Campbell's chamber opera, based upon American artist Edward Hopper, "Later the Same Evening" (2007) [an opera inspired by five paintings of Edward Hopper]. Please consider attending some of these concerts, even if you vaguely "believe" that rock and roll is the only true American music; and bring as many neighborhood, young 'spirits' to these FREE concerts as you can assemble (fairly) peacefully:
Alexandria Symphony
Kim Allen Kluge, music director
November 4 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Beethoven and Brahms
Presented in honor of J.M.W. Turner
Paul Badura-Skoda, pianist
November 11 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert
Sanctuary by Roger Reynolds
November 18 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
East Building Ground Level
Presented in honor of Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections
National Gallery Chamber Players and Vocal Arts Ensemble
November 25 at 6:30PM
(1 hour)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by D'Rivera, Ewazen, Fauré, Still, and other composers
University of Maryland School of Music Opera Studio and National Gallery Orchestra
December 2 at 6:30PM
(2 hours)
East Building Concourse, Large Auditorium
Washington premiere of John Musto’s opera Later the Same Evening: an opera inspired by five paintings of Edward Hopper
Presented in honor of Edward Hopper
National Gallery Orchestra
Bjarte Engeset, guest conductor
December 9 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Greig
Presented in cooperation with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and in connection with the Norwegian Christmas Festival
Holiday Caroling in the Rotunda
December 15, 16, 22, 23 at 1:30PM, 2:30PM
(50 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, Rotunda
Caroling in the seasonally decorated West Building Rotunda is a favorite at the Gallery. Guest choirs lead afternoon sing-along caroling. Singers and listeners of all ages are welcome.
Leipzig String Quartet
December 16 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
East Building Concourse, Large Auditorium
Music by Beethoven and Mendelssohn
Beethoven's birthday celebration
Presented in cooperation with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Embassy Series
Chris Brubeck's Triple Play
December 23 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Holiday jazz, folk, and blues concert
National Gallery Orchestra
José Serebrier, guest conductor
December 30 at 6:30PM
(1 hour, 30 minutes)
West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court
Music by Johann Strauss Jr. and other Viennese composers
New Year Concert
Source
The halloween crab, Gecarcinus quadratus or Gercarcinus ruricola (not to be confused with the halloween hermit crab).
While the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C., fosters a living American classical music culture; the WETA/WGMS-FM merger, in Northern Virginia, represses a living American classical music culture.
Photo credit: © 2005-2006 T. Beth Kinsey. All rights reserved. Via The Firefly Florest. [How To Support The Firefly Forest.]
posted by Garth Trinkl at 6:38 AM
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