http://cubeensemble.com/blog CUBE Members Comment on the New Music Scene Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:03:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Ever since I heard Edie Brickell up at Martyrs a few years ago, http://www.ediebrickell.com/, I've been wanting to hear Natalie Merchant. For me, these two women epitomize the genre of singers with clear voices, interesting lyrics and good moves on stage. Natalie performed songs based on poems for children by various ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/07/23/ahhh-natalie-merchant/ I've been having a lot of fun attending the music fests in Chicago held in the open air. Last Thursday, 7/8 at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park there were two African bands - Victor Deme from Burkina Faso & Dobet Gnahoré from The Ivory Coast. Victor's band included an modernized ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/07/13/music-in-the-open-air/ I get encouraged every time I see young musicians who value the art of performance. And High School is a turning point for many of them as to whether they pursue further studies. Friday night I had a chance to see the Classical Guitar recital of the National High School ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/07/10/high-school-musicians/ Wednesday night there was an all Polish program at the Pritzker Pavilion. The pimary piece being Chopin's First Piano Concerto that was accompanied by a 'copter making the rounds over The Taste of Chicago every three minutes. I don't think Frederick could've imagined such an accompanyment. But the notes from ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/06/30/chopins-concerto-1-for-piano-and-helicopter/ Wednesday at the regular Dame Myra Hess Concert at the Cultural Center, Evan Mack played three wonderful pieces while all dressed up in his finest tux. First up was "Dumka" by Tchaikovsky, a short and unknown piece to me, as were all the others to come. The major work ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/06/30/white-tie-and-tails/ PianoForte's 1st Adult Chicago Amateur Piano Competition was held June 24th through 26th. There were 58 competitors who played at the South Loop's Sherwood Conservatory, now operated by Columbia College. On Thursday afternoon I ushered for the preliminaries. My inclination was to get everyone seated during the two minute interval, which ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/06/28/four-days-of-total-piano-immersion/ A few weeks ago I received an e-mail for a donors event at the WFMT Studio. William Buchman, the CSO's second bassoon would be accompanied by David Schrader on piano. It was broadcast between 3:08 and 4:10 by the clock-on-the-wall Sunday afternoon. They played three pieces for bassoon that I'd ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/06/13/bassooning-on-sunday/ Yesterday evening I walked up to the Pritzker Pavillion for some world music. A whole bunch of West Africans in their silk "Jammies" played instruments, new to me, the ngoni (West African lute). There were all sizes from viola sized to tiny mandolin sized. Bassekou Kouyate, was joined by two ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/06/11/world-music-pritzker/ Two days in a row I found myself sitting in the Grainger Ballroom of Orchestra Hall. Tuesday at noon, donors were invited to hear an interview with the recruiters at the CSO on how an open seat gets filled. The audition process isn't simple, but it seems fair. Principal trumpet, Chris ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/06/10/grainger-and-grainger/ This early in the summer music season, I managed to miss the 1st Rush Hour concert at St James last week, but made the effort yesterday in the rain to hear a wonderful a-capella choir singing Spanish Renaissance pieces. The choir, 17 students from the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, were directed ... http://cubeensemble.com/blog/2010/06/09/st-james-rush-hour/