Duruflé’s shimmering, evanescent Requiem

Last week, Dianne got a chance to see a performance of the Conspirare Symphonic Choir, with Victoria Bach Festival Chorus , June 5, 2010.  “Dynamic Convergence” — including Duruflé’s  Requiem, Cantos Sagrados (Sacred Songs) by James MacMillan, and Brahms’ Geistliches Lied.

Featuring Craig Hella Johnson and Company of Voices, with Judith and Gerre Hancock (organists), Keely Rhodes (mezzo soprano), and David Farwig (baritone)


~posted by Dianne Donovan, KMFA announcer and host of Classical Austin

I’m always thrilled to listen to the Conspirare choir perform, and it was especially exciting to have the opportunity to hear The Conspirare Symphonic Choir joined by The Victoria Bach Festival Chorus sing Maurice Duruflé’s shimmering, evanescent Requiem.  Accompanied by Judith and Gerre Hancock, and led by Craig Hella Johnson, the large ensemble combined precision and artistry in executing Duruflé’s rich harmonies and ethereal textures. The Brahms piece was equally lovely.

I was not familiar with the MacMillan piece and it came as a lovely surprise (in the first half of the program). The contemporary Scottish composer’s “Sacred Songs” were inspired by poems about political repression in Latin America, the first of which, MacMillan set in a strikingly dark and agitated manner. Although the texts for all three songs contain a stark realism, MacMillan changes the textures in each song, sometimes layering the latin text with English, and creating beautiful sonorities with overlapping voices, eventually elevating the listener to a state of grace even in these stories of horrific turmoil. This is a challenging, emotional work and the ensemble delivered it beautifully.

If you missed this concert, the good news is that Conspirare has one more concert in Austin this season. They will be performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterpiece, Mass in B minor, this Sunday, June 13th, at the Long Center for the Performing Arts. (Click here for more information.)

Dianne Donovan is KMFA’s midday announcer and host/producer of Classical Austin. You can listen to a new episode of Classical Austin every Wednesday at 8pm, on Classical 89.5, KMFA-FM.

A visit to the KMFA Radio Tower

~ posted by Angelica Davila, KMFA summer Programming Intern

On Wednesday, my third day on the job, KMFA technical guru Phil Pollack took Adrianne Williams and me (we’re the new KMFA interns) to tour the radio station’s broadcast tower. We’d all seen them from afar—the red and white latticed structures somewhere out in the hilly distance—but today Phil would take us up close and personal.

View of the tower from the car

We all piled into a hot car and braved the sunshine as we headed out to the wilds of Westlake Hills. After maybe half an hour of winding roads and great views, we arrived. Standing outside a grey block of a building, we were right at the foot of our tower, towering over us at about 1100 feet. Around us were several other structures, belonging to various T.V. and radio stations, with their cables stretching out into the foothills and their lights blinking above us.

1100 feet of tower

Inside the building, an A/C unit roared loudly while copper pipes and metal coils ran all along the ceiling. Front and center was our KMFA control center. Neatly separated into 4 large metal boxes, the transmitters blinked continuously while Phil explained each knob and button. We had two transmitters: the main and the auxiliary, as well as what we  dubbed the “miscellaneous rack,” which contained all the communication equipment connecting this far-off building to our downtown studio. The rest of the boxes, resembling large metal cabinets, contained the power supply that keeps us up and running.

Sarah, Adrianne, Phil, and Angelica

Behind the KMFA transmitters were others belonging to the various stations we shared the tower with, each with a slightly different set up. We peeked briefly at each cluster of boxes, sizing up the “competition,” and exited out the back door.

We were now behind the building and directly in front of our tower. Ignoring the high-voltage warnings, we marched up to its foot and tried to catch a glimpse of its very tip, squinting and stumbling back a little with every new attempt. We laughed and shuddered at the idea of climbing it, and then took a moment to soak in the view.

Adrianne reminds us to be careful around the tower

It was so peaceful and beautiful…but also very hot, so, with a little more knowledge rattling around in our brains, we hopped back in our cars and headed back to town.

~posted by Angelica Davila, KMFA summer Programming Intern

TCC event honors nature and springtime

~posted by Carmel O’Donovan, KMFA relief announcer
  
 

Last Saturday I had the honor of introducing Texas Choral Consort’s springtime concert: “Songs of Nature.” It took place at First Presbyterian Church on Mesa Drive, a beautiful airy church with wonderful acoustics, a soaring ceiling and an entire wall of stunning stained glass. An unexpected bonus for me was the discovery that KMFA’s technical genius, Phil Pollack, is a member of the group!

The evening comprised a truly stunning mix of melodies, effortlessly spanning centuries and styles. The music was tightly harmonic and beautifully delivered. The performance was rendered even more special since it featured the world premier of a new piece of music: at the request of TCC’s energetic and inspirational Artistic Director, Brent Baldwin, Austin composer Graham Reynolds composed a wonderful haunting tune to the words of a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson entitled “Crossing the Bar.” The evening whizzed by in a heart beat and after a little audience participation in the iconic Simon and Garfunkel piece “Bridge over Troubled Water,” the audience slipped off into the night, richer and wiser than they had been only 90 minutes earlier!

TCC will be concluding their season in August with a show entitled “Nature in Harmony.” I urge you not to miss it. See you there!

 

   ~ Carmel O’Donovan is a relief announcer on KMFA 89.5; you can read more about Carmel and all our Music Hosts on our website.

Christopher O’Riley visits the KMFA studios

On any given day, if you ask a KMFA member “Which radio show is your favorite?” — many will respond, “You know, that show with the kids… From the Top!”

Well, this morning,  Christopher O’Riley, renowned concert pianist as well as host of From the Top, visited the KMFA studios. He’s actually in town to perform with the Austin Symphony Orchestra on Friday and Saturday night (you can read more about the ASO program on their website).

Mr. O’Riley chatted on the air with Dianne Donovan, touching on so many topics that each one could fill its own interview: the relevance of classical music to the newest generations of musicians, classical crossovers with pop music, and how Austin in particular benefits from such a diverse musical overlap. It was a great conversation about the present and future of classical music… if you missed it, we’ve got it posted on our website: www.kmfa.org/Christopher-ORiley-interview.htm

We really enjoyed Mr. O’Riley’s visit. You can hear From the Top on KMFA, Saturdays at 11am.

~ posted by Alison @ KMFA 🙂

Photos from the 2010 KMFA Young Musicians Competition

KMFA recently hosted its annual Young Musicians Competition. This year, 15 young violinists, cellists, bassists and viola players from 7 Austin-area schools participated in this special performance competition, performing three short musical selections for a panel of esteemed competition judges who graciously donated their time and expertise for this event. For more information about this wonderful collaboration of young Austin musicians with local classical-music educators and professionals, you can visit the KMFA Young Musicians Competition page on our website.
Here are some fun photos from the competition:

~posted by Alison @ KMFA 🙂

Texas Early Music Project welcomes Spring

 

The Sweet and Merry Month of May

~posted by Sara Hessel, KMFA Music Director

“In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote that in the 19th century, but it was hardly news then, as Texas Early Music Project reminded us in their delightful concert “Spring Rites: The Lark in the Morning.”

T.E.M.P. drew a capacity crowd to First English Lutheran Church to hear songs of love lost, love found, love made and love despaired of. Artistic Director Daniel Johnson’s lively and varied program also included English madrigals, French folk songs and some fun surprises, such as an anonymous 16th century song called O Lusty May that morphed into Lusty Month of May from Camelot, sung very saucily by soprano Kathlene Ritch. (Early music all sober chant sung by monks in robes? Not a bit of it!)

Other personal favorites included Landini’s rousing welcome to spring Ecco la primavera, a tenderly melancholic troubadour song by Bernart de Ventadorn, performed by Daniel Johnson, a riotous French drinking song called Amis, buvons! and recorder pyrotechnics by Jacob van Eyck, brought to life by soloist Victor Eijkhout.

The ‘orchestra’ was in great form — we were treated to excellent violin and vielle playing by Laurie Young Stevens, along with other fine performances by John Walters (viol), Elaine Barber (harp) and James Brown (bass viol). The band had their chance to shine in an instrumental rendering of the Scottish song The Day it Dawes.

Sadly, this was the last concert in T.E.M.P.’s season, and we have to wait until September for more. But it will be worth the wait! In the first concert of the new season, the group revisits one of its greatest hits: Convivencia: The Three Worlds of Renaissance Spain, September 24-26, with special guest artists Tom Zajac (historical winds and percussion), Annette Bauer (recorders) and Kamran Hooshmand (santur and ud). At least we’ll have fond memories of fresh and springy early music to get us through the long, hot summer.

~Sara Hessel is KMFA’s Music Director, as well as producer and host of Ancient Voices. You can hear Ancient Voices on KMFA 89.5,  Sundays at 9am and 4pm.

Miró Quartet visits the KMFA studios

Today we welcomed Austin’s own Miró Quartet into our recording studio in preparation for this Wednesday’s airing of Classical Austin (with host Dianne Donovan). They are just the nicest! Here are a few photos I took as they were warming up their instruments.

Tune in this Wednesday, May 5th , at 8pm to hear these talented musicians chat about their upcoming performance on May 9th at the Texas Performing Arts Center (with guest cellist, the famous Lynn Harrell).

~ posted by Alison @ KMFA 🙂

Choir of the Future

This video has been making the rounds of the choral music networks. Eric Whitacre conducts a virtual choir of singers located in 12 different countries.

Brian Newhouse, the host of SymphonyCast, wrote: “You probably know the music: the Dale Warland Singers, Cantus, and just about any college choir worth its salt have made Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque” its own. And every one of these groups knows how hard it is to make it sound beautiful and easy. But how the producers of this video got every singer to enter and exit on cue, keep the pitch up, and make a beautiful sound—with none of them in the same room? Well, my hat is off to them!”

There are a series of these videos, but this piece might be the most famous… enjoy!