Long Island Concert Orchestra (LICO) Enrico Fagone, conductor Alessandro Mazzamuto, piano DiMenna Center for Classical Music, New York, NY August 27, 2024 The Long Island Concert Orchestra (LICO), led by conductor Enrico Fagone, presented an All-Rachmaninoff program at the Dimenna Center for Classical Music this past Tuesday evening, with featured works being the Piano Concertos No ..read more

Azalea Kelley, piano Church of the Transfiguration, New York, NY August 14, 2024 Young Azalea Kelley is already a veteran recital artist and winner of many competitions in the United States and Canada, and has played at Weill, Merkin, Klavierhaus, Steinway Hall, and other distinguished venues in and out of New York City. She comes ..read more

The Chelsea Symphony Oscar Thorp, Mark Seto, Matthew Aubin, conductors Eric Schultz, clarinet DiMenna Center for Classical Music, New York, NY June 15, 2024 On June 15, 2024, The Chelsea Symphony presented their closing concert of their 2023-2024 season in a program entitled Rhythm and Colors at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. The printed program included a QR code for program notes, which is becoming the standard as of late. While one appreciates the great depth that is available to the reader through this method, the gremlins of technology can wreak havoc on these good intentions – s ..read more

Lone Star Youth Winds Andrew Trachsel, conductor Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY June 13, 2024 One often hears and reads about the lamentable state of music education in our country today. Budget cuts which decimate programs that are already struggling to get by, and a seemingly designed intention to minimize the impact of early music education are all very real problems in today’s world. Evidently, Texas did not get the memo, as they are not only thriving, but setting the standards of excellence in music education for all to aspire. There is strong support at all levels, the p ..read more

Greg Gilpin, composer/conductor; Christopher Tin, composer/conductor Holly Sedillos, soprano; Jimmer Bolden, tenor Distinguished Concerts Orchestra; Distinguished Concerts Singers International Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY June 9, 2024 Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) ended its 2023-2024 series with a concert entitled “We Sing! We Rise! We Soar!: The Music of Christopher Tin.” The first half featured Greg Gilpin, conducting his own works and arrangements of folk songs. The second half featured Christopher Tin conducting his own works. The Distinguis ..read more

Noise Catalogue: Madeline Hocking, violin; Jonathan Collazo, Dániel Matei, percussion Knox Peters, visuals Special guests: Dylan Ofrias & Katherine Fortunato, percussion; Adrienne Schoenfeld, bass; Nacho Ojeda, piano; Austin Philemon, organ; Rea Abel, flute Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New York, NY June 8, 2024 Noise Catalogue, the winners of the 2023 Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Junior Prize for “significant contributions to the performance of contemporary music,” presented a program of works all composed within the last two years (with a number of them having their world premiere performanc ..read more

The University of Texas Wind Ensemble Jerry Junkin and Cliff Croomes, conductors Caleb Hudson, trumpet Stern Auditorium at Carnegie hall, New York, NY June 2, 2024 A large and enthusiastic crowd was on hand at Carnegie Hall June 2, 2024, for a concert given by the University of Texas Wind Ensemble for their 50th Anniversary Celebration. This was the third appearance at Carnegie Hall for the University of Texas Wind Ensemble. With five masterpieces, four of which were written by living composers, the concert was a tour-de-force that wowed not only their many supporters, but also this listener w ..read more

Heather Sorenson and Pepper Choplin, composers/conductors Distinguished Concerts Orchestra; Distinguished Concerts Singers Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY May 28. 2024 Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) on May 28th presented a concert titled “These Ancient Words,” featuring two works- Our Father: A Journey Through the Lord’s Prayer, by Pepper Choplin, and These Ancient Words, by Heather Sorenson. Both works draw inspiration from the Bible for their texts. The Distinguished Concerts Singers for this performance were from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, New York ..read more

Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for Mozart: Requiem Distinguished Concerts Singers International; Distinguished Concerts Orchestra Mark Hayes, Composer/Conductor for Kindness (World Premiere) and The Field Penelope Shumate, Soprano; Teresa Bucholz, Mezzo-Soprano; Chad Kranak, Tenor; Christopher Job, Bass-Baritone David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, NY May 26, 2024 In a Memorial Day weekend program billed as Mozart’s Requiem, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presented not only that masterpiece, left unfinished by Mozart ..read more

“Waldeinsamkeit” (Forest Solitude) Xiaofu Ju, piano Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY May 19, 2024 Writers and composers have celebrated nature and its salubrious effects for many centuries, but the concept of the forest might seem out of keeping with the routine of a metropolitan-dwelling musician, who often spends six hours a day imbibing the solitude of four walls and a piano. To be clear, this recital was neither confined nor ordinary. Xiaofu Ju, a cosmopolitan prizewinner with a burgeoning career in China and across the globe, does not play like a hungry competito ..read more