So let's continue our conversation from yesterday. I was telling you what I am looking forward to most from this season's Discovery Series at The Barns. (Which, as a reminder, is our chamber music series at Wolf Trap. If you're looking for a way to spend an evening listening to beautiful music in an intimate setting on a Friday night, then listen up!)
Let's pick things up then, shall we?
America's National Parks:
Through the Artist's Lens, Volume 2
Friday, February 15, 2013
I love this collaboration between visuals and music! The visuals featured in this multi-media performance will be new photographs from Terre Jones’ book Road Trip, and the performance will be led by my colleague and friend Kim Pensinger Witman at the piano. We’ll have four Wolf Trap Opera Company Alumni – soprano Marcy Stonikas, mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti, tenor Eric Barry, and bass-baritone Craig Colclough – interpret the works with musical pieces that will likely run the gamut from Baroque to modern folk with several pit stops en route!
Parker String Quartet
Friday, March 1, 2013
Many seasons ago we featured this exciting young string quartet as Debut Artists – they’re coming back as GRAMMY-winners, ready to strut their big-time star power on our small stage. They were amazingly endearing when they were here the first time, and I’m excited to hear how their playing has changed in the intervening years.
Chatham Baroque
Friday, March 15, 2013
This Baroque string ensemble (violin, viola da gamba, and theorbo – or, to use the modern equivalents violin, cello and guitar) have a stellar reputation, and are sensitive, intuitive music-makers. There’s something about hearing Baroque music in the warm wooden walls of The Barns that takes me, quite literally,back to what chamber music must’ve felt like hundred of years ago – a small group of musicians and a small, involved audience, everyone focused on the music and experience. I’ll be happy to turn my cell phone off for this one and rewind.
Peter Kolkay, bassoon
Friday, April 5, 2013
I know, you’re thinking “A bassoon recital? That’s crazy.” But I promise, if I’m crazy it’s crazy-like-a-fox. The first time I heard him play, I was awestruck by the beauty and sensitivity of his playing – as a reformed singer, I judge wind players instinctively as to whether they can really ‘sing’ through their instrument. Peter can sing better than many of the “singers” I’ve heard! But it’s not just a pretty tone – Peter is a highly accomplished technical player, and the set “Andy Warhol Sez” by Paul Moravec is one of the craziest, most virtuosic, cheekiest pieces I can remember hearing. Peter is our Debut Artist, and will be joined by pianist Alexandra Nguyen and oboist Deirdre Chadwick. This is a must-see for any wind player, or anyone for that matter – because come on, how many times will you be able to attend a performance where the star is a bassoon?
Collaboration. Virtuosity. Music that eschews words to deliver an experience that speaks to each member of the audience differently, individually…but that uniformly reaches out to move every pair of ears, every heart. I have an obvious soft spot for chamber music, and wanted to share with you some of the great performances that you can catch this year at The Barns. (Which, incidentally, is one of the best places to hear chamber music, IMHO. The added bonus of being able to see a pianist’s tricky fingerings or watch a clarinetist bend a pitch – and then ask them about it during the Q&A? Well, it’s the best possible way for a music nerd to spend an engrossing evening!) I hope you’ll join me at The Barns for a performance this season.
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