As the 2017-18 concert series winds down, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and its music director, Ward Stare, gear up for a program that may prove to be among the season’s best. There are few compositions in orchestral literature more hauntingly beautiful than “Four Sea Interludes” from Benjamin Britten’s masterful opera “Peter Grimes.” Devotees of symphonic […]
Daniel J. Kushner
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FOLK | ‘Rochester Roots’
Rochester Folkus will bring together five pillars of the region’s folk community. A veteran of the scene for more than 40 years, folk master and multi-instrumentalist Allen Hopkins will host this vibrant showcase of local musicians who are actively keeping their respective traditions alive and thriving. Mitzie Collins is Rochester’s preeminent expert and educator on […]
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Album review: ‘Strange Paradise”
“Strange Paradise” takes the idea of the repeated phrase to its limits. But the music is far from monotonous. Tigue has created trance music that is accessible and complex, danceable and contemplative
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Album review: ‘All Can Work’
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble “All Can Work” New Amsterdam Records johnhollenbeck.com John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble’s “All Can Work” was released back in January, but it’s still hard to pin down. Conducted by JC Sanford, the music isn’t exactly jazz, and it’s not quite contemporary classical; abstract elements of world music are nearly impossible to trace […]
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ROCK | The Big Lonesome
The Big Lonesome gives off the vibes of that sophisticated indie band you fell in love with in college. Fans of seminal rock groups from the 1990’s and beyond, like Built to Spill and Pavement, can find plenty to latch onto with this quartet. The Big Lonesome’s frontman Chad Gosselin knows his way around a […]
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CLASSICAL | Diane Walsh
Pianist Diane Walsh has the two essential musician traits that can’t be taught: charisma and musical sensitivity. Her command over melodic phrases feels effortless, and she conveys the mood of a composition in a way that transcends the notes on the page. As part of the First Muse chamber music series, Walsh will be joined […]
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CLASSICAL | fivebyfive
The chamber ensemble fivebyfive has quickly become a go-to source for contemporary classical concert music in Rochester. Clarinetist Marcy D. Bacon, flutist Laura Lentz, pianist Haeyeun Jeun, bassist Eric J. Polenik, and guitarist Sungmin Shin do not shy away from the unfamiliar. This program will feature several compositions likely to have gone previously unheard by […]
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CLASSICAL | Anderson and Roe
What’s more electrifying than the sound of a virtuosic pianist setting the keys ablaze? Two virtuosic pianists. Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe will bring their dazzling approach to chamber music to Hochstein Performance Hall when they join conductor Michael Butterman and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Complete with intricate rhythmic interplay, innovative textures, and clever […]
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RPO and PUSH collab on innovative new program
“Breaking Boundaries with PUSH Physical Theatre” is all about subtle innovations that find both the musicians and stage performers presenting their craft in new contexts
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ART | ‘Vision of the Voice’
Artist Joel Dow has long been a fixture in the Rochester music scene, from their work in indie folk band The Pickpockets to their experimental sound compositions under the moniker City Harvest Black. Dow’s March artist residency at Visual Studies Workshop culminates this Friday in a video exhibition called “Vision of the Voice,” their first […]
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CLASSICAL | George Walker’s 95th Birthday Recital
If you’re not yet familiar with the music of George Walker, now is the perfect time to get acquainted. The composer and Eastman School of Music alumnus is celebrating his 95th birthday this year, and his alma mater will host a retrospective recital of his complete piano sonatas. The virtuosic motifs, restless rhythms, and insatiably […]
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Classical review: RPO performs ‘Tchaikovsky 5’
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra lately seemed to be reverting back to the conservatism that had dominated its programming before Music Director Ward Stare’s arrival. Yesterday at Kodak Hall, however, Stare and the RPO presented its boldest concert in recent memory. The evening began with Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 22. Stare took a brisk, stately […]
