Tag Archives: good shepherd center

Arts & Entertainment, Music

What We’re Hearing This Month: Classical Music Picks for March

March is upon us, but it’s still blustery, rainy, and cold outside. Luckily, Seattle’s got plenty of live classical music to keep you warm while we all hunker down and wait for spring to arrive. Our picks for the month range from epic choral works to 20th century piano pieces. Experience chamber music in a cafe or hear a jazz trio perform Stravinsky. There’s something for everyone!

The Bad Plus (Photo: The Durham Herald-Sun)

Mar. 1 – 3 — Welcome the month of March with some modern dance. Limón Dance Company performs works by Latin American choreographers at University of Washington’s Meany Hall.

Mar. 9 — Head over the pond to Bellevue to Cafe Cesura, where members of the Parnassus Project and Classical Revolution present a free evening of French chamber music. Relax with a cup of coffee and enjoy live classical music in a casual setting.

Mar. 10  — Experience The Rite of Spring in an entirely new way. Experimental jazz trio The Bad Plus performs the score for Stravinsky’s revolutionary ballet at Tacoma’s Pantages Theater.

Mar. 10 — Four brand-new choral works by composers Mason Bates, Ted Hearne, Paul Crabtree, and The Esoterics‘ own Eric Banks at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill, featuring Bates’ Sirens (2009), a six-movement piece commissioned by Chanticleer that explores the seductive, mythical creatures from a variety of cultures.

Mar. 10 – 11 — St. James Cathedral provides a spectacular setting for Seattle Pro Musica‘s performance of  J. S. Bach’s masterpiece, the St. John Passion.

Mar. 14 — Support local composers! Choral Arts performs Pietá, a work by Seattle composer John Muehleisen, at St. Mark’s Cathedral.

Mar. 17 – 18 — Seattle Pianist Collective presents “End Times”, a program of piano works by Olivier Messiaen. The March 17 concert is at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center. March 18’s performance is at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

Stephen Stubbs, director of Pacific Musicworks (Photo: Berkshire Fine Arts)

Mar. 30 – 31 — Head to Daniels Recital Hall downtown for Pacific Musicworks‘ performance of Handel’s Il Triomfo del Tempo (“The Triumph of Time”), featuring four vocal soloists and a full Baroque orchestra.

Mar. 31 — Music Northwest celebrates Debussy’s birthday with a concert of the composer’s most celebrated chamber music works, held at Olympic Recital Hall on the South Seattle Community College campus.

Mar. 31 – Apr. 7 — Witness the talented cast of Seattle Opera Young Artists perform Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at University of Washington’s Meany Hall.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Performers Stretch Sonic Boundaries at Seattle Improvised Music Festival

For nearly three decades, the Seattle Improvised Music Festival (SIMF) has gathered improvisational musicians from around the globe to create and present original avant-garde works. This year’s SIMF, which concluded last weekend, spanned over four nights and drew musicians from countries around the world, including Japan, Germany, and Canada. The international visitors collaborated with veterans from the local music scene in a variety of ensembles.

Taku Sugimoto

All festival concerts were held in the beautiful Chapel Performance Space at Wallingford’s historic Good Shepherd Center. Thursday night’s performance brought together a diverse group of instrumentalists for three improvisational performances and one world-premiere composition. Most of the works featured collaborations between musicians playing acoustic instruments (double bass, viola, and saxophone, among others) and musicians using electronics, objects, and recorded samples to create musical sounds.

Thursday night’s performances were fairly minimalist and spanned about a half-hour each. These sparse, sprawling improvisations were sometimes hard to follow, but encouraged listeners to focus on the sounds created by each musician. The performers often experimented with their instruments to generate a variety musical timbres and textures. String players tapped on their instruments to create a drumming sound, and wind players experimented with removing the reeds from their instruments.

Japanese guitarist Taku Sugimoto gave a world-premiere performance of an original composition for guitar, viola, and two double basses. This minimalist work contrasted the plucked sound of the guitar with the bowed sound of the other string instruments. The pattern of a single short guitar note followed by a held unison note in the other strings was repeated throughout the piece.

Since melody is virtually non-existent in this type of improvisational music, the SIMF concerts can be challenging for listeners accustomed to the melodic songs and pieces heard on the radio and in most concert halls. However, for those looking to expand their musical horizons, the SIMF is an excellent way to experience live music in an entirely new way.