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Music from the Western Reserve to present KSU’s Black Squirrel Winds

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by Jeremy Reynolds

Black-Squirrel-Wind-Quintet“We all really enjoy French music,” said Black Squirrel Winds oboist Danna Sundet. “These pieces were written within a decade of each other, between 1923 and 1932, and give a snapshot into wind music in the first part of the 20th century.”

On Sunday, March 12 at 5:00 pm at Christ Church Episcopal in Hudson, Kent State University’s faculty wind quintet, the Black Squirrel Winds, will perform as part of Music From the Western Reserve’s concert series. The program will include music by Tansman, Janáček, and Poulenc.

Formed five years ago, Black Squirrel Winds regularly performs on Kent State’s main campus, the University’s satellite campuses, and at other colleges and high schools. [Read more…]

Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble at CMA: a conversation with conductor Gregory Ristow

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by Jeremy Reynolds

RistowContinuing a collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art that began in 2014, Oberlin Conservatory’s Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) will give the third of four performances this season on Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 pm in CMA’s Gartner Auditorium. While student vocalists have long performed with CME, the upcoming concert is the first time that a museum program by the Ensemble will be dedicated to vocal music.

The program, under the direction of Gregory Ristow, will include Harrison Birtwistle’s Entr’actes and Sappho Fragments, as well as  Oberlin Professor of Composition Stephen Hartke’s Tituli.

Ristow is now in his second year as director of vocal ensembles at the Conservatory. An Oberlin alumnus, he earned his doctoral of musical arts in conducting from the Eastman School of Music.

Ristow also conducts the Interlochen Singers and has previously led the Houston Foundation for Modern Music, and the Voices chamber choir in Rochester.

We caught up with Ristow by phone recently to discuss the upcoming performance and learn more about the program. [Read more…]

CD Review
Ayreheart: Barley Moon

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by Jeremy Reynolds

ayreheart_-_barley_moonFar from being an outdated or even obsolete instrument, the lute makes a stirring pitch for its continued relevance in the hands of the ensemble Ayreheart, which released Barley Moon in June 2016 on the Sono Luminus label. In this album, four modern day troubadours with lutes and drum and sweet, sweet voices harken for an hour to a simpler musical era. [Read more…]

CD Review
Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint — Dan Lippel, guitars

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by Jeremy Reynolds

lippel-reich-cdDaniel Lippel has released an EP on the New Focus Recordings label comprising a single work by Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint (1987), also the title of the 15-minute EP. Lippel is co-founder and director of New Focus Recordings, and has served as resident guitarist of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) since 2005, and of the new music quartet Flexible Music since 2003. He studied at Oberlin with Steven Aron, and with Jason Vieaux at the Cleveland Institute of Music. [Read more…]

CD Review
Aaron Helgeson’s Poems of sheer nothingness with Susan Narucki & the Talea Ensemble

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by Jeremy Reynolds

helgeson-poems-cdLast January, on the Innova label, composer Aaron Helgeson released Poems of sheer nothingness, a 53-minute album of works for soprano and small instrumental ensemble. James Baker leads the Talea Ensemble, featuring soprano Susan Narucki. [Read more…]

CD Review
Ghosts — Caroline Oltmanns, piano

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by Jeremy Reynolds

oltmanns-ghosts-cdGhosts is an apt title for an album featuring Robert Schumann’s solo piano music. The composer had just finished his Geistervariationen (“Ghost Variations”) before entering a mental asylum for treatment of his schizophrenia, which manifested itself as spirits, ghosts, and demons playing him strange, otherworldly music. [Read more…]

CD Review
Andrew Rindfleisch: Careless Carols, San Antonio Chamber Choir

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by Jeremy Reynolds

careless-carols-cdBack in March, the San Antonio Chamber Choir, directed by Scott MacPherson, released an album of Andrew Rindfleisch’s choral music on the Gothic Records label. There’s a mixture of joy and reflection on Careless Carols that pairs well with the end of a too-long year and this season of Thanksgiving and peace. [Read more…]

CD Review: Meng —
Meng Su, solo guitar

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by Jeremy Reynolds

meng-su-cd-coverMeng Su is a superstar in the classical guitar world. After winning the Vienna Youth Guitar Competition at age 14, she took grand prize in the Tokyo International guitar competition at 17, and first place in the Parkening Young Guitarist Competition at 18. Last July, she released her first solo album: Meng. Those unfamiliar with her name prior to listening will certainly remember it after hearing this recording. [Read more…]

CD Review — What Think You I Take My Pen in Hand to Record: Salvatore Champagne, tenor & Howard Lubin, piano

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by Jeremy Reynolds

what-think-you-cd-coverThe most striking thing about the album What Think You I Take My Pen in Hand to Record, devoted to the music of Mario Castelnuovo- Tedesco, is not the music itself, though the interpretations by tenor Salvatore Champagne and pianist Howard Lubin are quite lovely. Rather, it’s the presentation: the monumental research, painstakingly curated essays, and obvious care that went into producing the 64-page CD booklet. [Read more…]

CD Review — Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich

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by Jeremy Reynolds

thirdcoastreichcdIn February, Chicago’s all-star Third Coast Percussion released an album of Steve Reich’s music on the Cedille label creatively titled “Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich.” It’s quite a good recording. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Classical CD Review, the San Francisco Chronicle, Steve Reich himself, and many other noteworthy voices have all effusively praised the album. [Read more…]

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