Paloma Capanna

What’s the best way to get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice! It’s a truism that musicians know far too well, and in the case of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, it’s a journey you’re invited to join. The RPO will present two performances of Howard Hanson’s lyrical opera “Merry Mount” on April 10 and 12 […]

I must admit: when I saw the Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus juxtapose my beloved Sergei Rachmaninoff with a modern songwriter, my heart skipped a beat. But read on, oh classical aficionados, because this is a concert from Bach to Manilow, from Rachmaninoff to Presley. The concert will feature a 22-piece orchestra and mezzo-soprano Lynne McMurtry […]

Already in its 10th year, the Women in Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music will fill the air with the sounds of female composers and performers through March 29. This year’s composer-in-residence is Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon, and her solo and chamber compositions will be featured in an “All-Higdon Concert” on Friday, […]

The 75 voices of the Irondequoit Chorale will sing their way through a concert titled “Cinemagic,” which just might be the uplifting blizzard break we all need. The concert will be a musical journey through the history of music in movies through more than 40 songs. Eric Trumpowsky is the music director for this community […]

Calling it a “global collaboration,” the Rochester Oratorio Society will host a concert including the Sankofa African Drum and Dance Ensemble and the Hochstein Percussion Ensemble. Two masses are on the program — one from Argentinian composer Ariel Ramirez, the other from a Belgian Franciscan friar, Father Guido Haazen. The “Misa Criolla” combines Spanish text […]

When Christopher O’Riley sweeps into the Eastman Theatre on March 19 to host “From the Top Rochester,” it will be three hours packed with students from the Eastman School of Music and the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Sir James Galway will be on hand to perform with an ensemble of musicians from the RPYO. Local […]

Not one but three productions will highlight the 3rd Annual Chamber Opera Festival, presented this weekend by Rochester Lyric Opera: “The Apothecary” (by Haydn), “Gallantry” (by Douglas Moore), and “The Happy Prince” (setting by Malcolm Williamson). “Gallantry” is a parody of the television soap opera “General Hospital,” which makes it a modern compliment to “The […]

Haydn, Britten, and Brahms. For a certain segment of the classical music audience, this is all that I need to say to signal a concert of interest. When I add “quartet” to the word play, another segment gets in line. And before we know it, Kilbourn Hall will be packed for the upcoming performance by […]