Here’s what WXXI-FM Classical 91.5’s hosts think about last week’s program announcement and what you should look for next season.
Ward Stare
Posted inMusic
The RPO announces 2020-21 season, the last of the Ward Stare era
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2020-21 season will inevitably be viewed through the lens of Ward Stare’s final season as music director.
Posted inMusic
Opera review: RPO presents “The Mother of Us All”
When Virgil Thomson died in 1989, Leonard Bernstein’s reaction was something to the effect of “We all loved his music, but we never played it.” I doubt that Ward Stare would have bothered to present Thomson’s opera “The Mother of Us All” unless he believed in it completely,
Posted inMusic
Susan B. at the symphony
This year’s observances of Susan B. Anthony’s 200th birthday celebration and the centenary of the 19th Amendment are momentous events, but at first glance they may not seem to inspire musical celebrations – but the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is prepared to prove otherwise this weekend and next.
Posted inMusic
Sunday’s Grammy winners included works featuring RPO, super-producer Bob Ludwig
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Ward Stare, and Eastman School of Music graduate and sound engineer Bob Ludwig, were a part of two winners at Sunday’s 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Posted inMusic
RPO and Ward Stare’s recording up for two Grammys
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Ward Stare’s recording of composer Jennifer Higdon’s “Harp Concerto,” featuring the classical harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, has been nominated for two Grammys.
Posted inMusic
Classical review: ‘Bach to Bartók’ an RPO journey worth taking
Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg – great composers but only occasional visitors to Kodak Hall at best — finally made it on the same Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra program last night.
Posted inMusic
Album review: ‘American Rapture’
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra ‘American Rapture’ Azica Records azica.com; rpo.org The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s new album “American Rapture” highlights the most intriguing components of the RPO’s musical identity in the Ward Stare era. Five seasons into Stare’s tenure as music director, the RPO has been at its most compelling when it expresses admiration for crucial 20th-century […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Ward Stare to leave RPO in 2021
Ward Stare will be stepping down from his position as music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra at the end of the summer 2021, after seven years.
Posted inMusic
Opera review: RPO performs ‘Così fan tutte’
Love triangles are not rare in opera, but Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” — performed this week by Ward Stare and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra — presents a love rectangle.
Posted inMusic
The RPO’s 2019-20 season brings change
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and its music director Ward Stare are making subtle but important changes to the way its programming connects with audiences heading into its 2019-20 concert season.
Posted inMusic
Classical review: RPO with Augustin Hadelich
At first, putting Sibelius and Shostakovich on the same orchestral program sounds like a dark and weighty proposition. In reality, when the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Ward Stare presented the two modern classical masters side by side on Thursday, the sound was much more nuanced.
