Weekend Concert Calendar, 10/1/10

Hm. Choral concerts are thin on the ground this weekend, let me tell you. I can only offer you a couple of options on Sunday. (Friday and Saturday I suggest you explore other musical genres.)

On Sunday at 2:30 pm, you could attend one of the Cantata Singers Chamber Series concerts, titled "Vocal Chamber Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Friends." It will be at the Edward M. Pickman concert hall at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge.

Or, you could go to the Paretsky Center at Simmons College in Boston, and hear "Jaguza! Celebrate the Children of Uganda" where the Ugandan Martyrs Choir will perform with other native African singers to benefit the Malaka Fund, a non-profit based in Jamaica Plain.

That's all I got!

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday links

busy day today STOP no time for full sentences STOP go read about clothing and posture STOP interesting that they chose to do that first experiment with women not men don't you think STOP samson sends his greetings

Weekend Concert Calendar, 9/23/10

Concerts are not yet thick on the ground, this being September, but what there is is quality stuff!

On Friday, be sure to go to Emmanuel Music's performance of Alexander's Feast by Handel. This is new music director Ryan Turner's debut concert with the group, so you will want to be there to check him out! The usual roster of extraordinary singers will be there, along with the choir and orchestra, and the estimable and amiable Donald Teeters will be giving the pre-concert lecture at 7 pm. Located at Emmanuel Church in Boston, naturally.

On Saturday, go support Blue Heron by attending their Season Preview Event. Starting at 6 pm in the Chapel of the Episcopal Divinity School, you can hear samples of the 2010-2011 season, have some food and drink, and meet the musicians.

On Sunday, you can attend Opera Harvest, a gala benefit for the Boston Singer's Resource. The Boston Singer's Resource is a great, well, resource for singers in Boston - for one thing, they are one of the primary websites I use to create this here Weekend Concert Calendar, and for another, they are my primary source for audition notices. In addition to the venerable Robert Honeysucker, some of Boston's best young singers will be performing, including my fellow Anthology member Michelle Vachon! The festivities start at 3 pm at the Hamilton-Wenham Community House in South Hamilton.

Also this weekend on Friday and Saturday, check out the Contemporary Americana Festival.

Did I miss something? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

I kind of fell down on the Weekend Concert Calendar and the Friday cat post last week. Oh, well, this week is a new week. Samson is still doing well; he got cat grass today, which he seems to like. (This seemed a good idea after I noticed him chomping on my bamboo plant.)

Today's link is the group Cantus singing "There is Sweet Music Here" by Daniel Gawthrop. Very lovely performance. (Cantilena singing this piece in December, along with his classic "Sing Me to Heaven.")

Quick audition thoughts

Cantilena just had our first round of auditions last night (there are two more weeks of auditions, so you still have a chance to try us out!) This means that today I got to call people and tell them that they were either in or out. I try to do this on the phone, because it just feels like I owe them at least that much.

And I want to say that I LOVE it when people say, "Can you tell me why I didn't get in?" YES! I can! And I really want to! Because I want you to continue to sing, and I want you to have an honest picture of your own voice, and I especially want to give you lots of advice on how to improve, so nothing would make me happier than to tell you why you didn't get in. In a gentle and constructive way, of course. If I just spent 20 minutes discussing your voices with members of my chorus last night, I definitely want to spend 2 minutes today discussing it with you.

So. It might feel awkward, people, and you might want to get away, or get off the phone as soon as possible, but please, ask me why you didn't get in! I will tell you. And honestly, I think it usually makes people feel better. The truth will not hurt as much as your own imagination.

This is on my mind because all the people I had to turn down today asked this question, and I thought it was very excellent and brave of them.

Monday link

You thought reviews of classical CDs were boring? Think again, my friend. And then check out Vice Magazine's reviews of recently released classical CDs. Pretty hilarious. Via Life's a Pitch, who gives you a rundown of the highlights. Be sure not to miss the very last review.

Friday cat post!

Samson is looking around because I am putting his dinner on the floor.

Also, via various sources, check out IKEA's new ad involving 100 cats let loose in an IKEA store. Here's a video about the ad being made; here's the ad.

Tickets!

While I am thinking about it, I'm interested in doing more ticket giveaways on the blog this year. So, consider having your chorus donate a pair or a pair of pairs of tickets; I'll announce the concert on the blog during your performance week, and whoever comments first gets free tickets. Run it by your chorus manager and let me know.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 9/9/10

Not too much going on this weekend, as the year is just getting rolling. However, you should be auditioning for choruses! Check out the Boston Choral Consortium's website first; then also look at the Boston Globe. And good luck at your auditions!

Saturday:

7:30 pm: Calliope; "Pious" - works by Copland, Mendelssohn, and more. Old West Church, Boston.

[As I mentioned, I'm going to be starting a new, less time-consuming format for the concert calendar, but since I only found one choral-related concert this weekend, it's a little moot.]

Monday link

OK! It's September! Time to throw off the the laziness of summer and get back to blogging! I am going to try to get back to regular Monday links, Thursday Weekend Concert Calendars, and Friday cat posts, hopefully with some actual content and thoughts sprinkled in there as well. Maybe on Tuesdays. The Weekend Concert Calendar format is going to change, though, so that it doesn't take me hours each week; I'll pick one concert per day that I think looks really stellar, and just list the names of the other ensembles who also have a concert on that day. (This saves time both with layout and data entry, and with googling countless churches to find their website addresses.) So I'm more imitating Jeremy Eichler's Classical Picks format.

Since it is Monday, here is your Monday link! This is courtesy of my mother. Freshman theory students of the world, memorize this and you have already aced your semester.

Friday cat post!

I am beginning to think that the only pose I will ever be able to catch Samson in is the pose of "I am baffled; why are you not petting me?"