Bacewicz, Alsop
Readers have bemoaned the lapse of our Link Roundup feature, SO, we are going to try and get back in the swing of it! It just seems like there is SO much important news sometimes, and we can’t claim to have a complete grasp on it — but here are a FEW important and exciting items!
When Marin Alsop concluded her music directorship of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2021 we knew it wasn’t to retire to a life of leisure! To add to her many ongoing roles and projects, she just announced a new position: Artistic Director & Chief Conductor at Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR). Her plans include “recording the music of wonderful composers like Grażyna Bacewicz and Agata Zubel” as well as Krzysztof Penderecki’s opera The Black Mask. Agata Zubel (b. 1978) is new to us, and we look forward to exploring her music! The brilliant composer Bacewicz (1909-1969) is entirely too little known and performed, with major works still unrecorded, and much of her music difficult to access (at least outside of Poland. This website, supported by a range of Polish cultural institutions, provides the most comprehensive information on Bacewicz). We look forward to hearing the results of this exciting new partnership of Alsop and the NOSPR!
In Sacramento, California, Operation Opera 2023 is underway, with the staged premiere of “Why Women Went West” (libretto and music by Pamela Madsen) on June 8, art song premieres on June 10, and five new chamber operas on June 12. The full program booklet (in PDF format) is on this page. A project of the Four Corners Ensemble, the Festival is organized by Cal. State University Sacramento composition professor Shuying Li, and includes lectures and master classes, as well as the performances.
Swedish composer Lisa Streich and US composer Julia Wolfe have premieres of new works being performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, directed by Kirill Petrenko. Tickets for the June 8, 9, and 10 concerts are here. Saturday’s (June 10) concert will stream, and will be shown again on June 11. Video interviews with Streich and Wolfe are available here.
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