The Turning Point

Back in September, when Rush Hour staff began planning for the holiday card, I was struck by the use of the word “solstice” instead of the more ubiquitous “holidays.” I thought to impress all of you today by giving you as compact and detailed an explanation of solstice as I could crib from Wikipedia, only to find that the winter solstice to which we refer is entirely dependent upon relative hemispheric location, and whether or not one uses a solar-based calendar. I figure that last sentence may well be as incomprehensible to you as reading the solstice explanation was to me. In any case, if determining our exact solstice requires either a protractor or advanced math skills, I’m not the person for the job.

Therefore, I referred to my perennial standby, Webster’s Dictionary, and found an interesting sub-definition: “a furthest or culminating point; a turning point.”

While looking at the images on the Rush Hour holiday card during these cold weeks it may be difficult to believe that the delights of the season are just around the corner. But for RH staff, December is our actual turning point. In less than six months (June 3rd, to be exact) Rush Hour’s 9th season will begin. As December rushes around us, we are finalizing the programs and laying all of the groundwork for the season ahead.

For the staff, Rush Hour is a love affair that is never dormant. When we say in our card, “our thoughts turn to those who recognize the value of music in life,” we are thinking of you, our dear audience, artists, and stakeholders, excited about the turning point that takes us back to the magic of Rush Hour’s summer season.

- Megan Balderston

Recommendations from the Artistic Director: December and early January concerts

“I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music.” – George Eliot

I’m with her!

There is much music to recommend this month, beginning this Saturday, December 15 at 7:30 p.m. with “Christmas at the Cathedral” at St. James Cathedral. Two Bach works, Concerto for Violin in A minor, BWV 189, and Magnificat, BMV 243, will be featured. The requested donation is $15.

It will provide beautiful music in a beautiful setting, and a lovely end to your day if you’re holiday shopping on Michigan Avenue.

Next, welcome the new year with one of Rush Hour 2007′s most dynamic groups, Third Coast Percussion Quartet. RH’s Fanfare group heard them again at its winter concert event at Loyola last week. They continue to amaze audiences with their pyrotechnics and interactive programs. TCP4 is performing at Sherwood Conservatory on Wednesday, January 9 at 7:00 p.m.

The program will range from the raucous to the meditative, featuring the premiere of Marcos Balter’s “Dark Rooms” written for TCP4, as well as music by Toru Takemitsu, John Cage, Peter Garland and Nico Muhly. Marimbist Matthew Coley will join Third Coast for Minoru Miki’s “Marimba Spiritual”. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for students (Sherwood students attend free).

Finally, I have two books to recommend for those of you who may be looking for a music-oriented reading for yourself or others this holiday season:

Lexicon of Musical Invective by Nicolas Slonimsky (W.W. Norton) is an entertaining compilation of “critical assaults on composers since Beethoven’s time.” It seems that contemporary composers are not the first to be subject to a vitriolic pen!

The Ill Tempered String Quartet by Lester Chafetz (McFarland & Company) is billed as “a Vademecum for the Amateur Musician.” It is both humorous and practical, containing an interesting section of notes on the string quartet literature, as well as insights into the workings of an amateur string quartet.

May your holiday season be filled with warmth, great music, and good reading by cozy fireplaces!

The Season’s Warmest Wishes,

Deborah Sobol

Internship Opportunities with Rush Hour

Are you a student interested in music, marketing, or international culture, or do you know a student who is?

Rush Hour is currently seeking talented and culturally curious interns for the winter and/or spring terms.

A more detailed description of the opportunity can be found here. Interested candidates should send their cover letter and resume to jobs@rushhour.org.

Rush Hour Concerts at Loyola: In Tune With You

Rush Hour’s Fanfare Committee partnered with Loyola University Chicago to present a special winter concert event at its Water Tower Campus on Monday, December 3.

The evening was a delight for the senses: Argo Tea tantalized audience members’ taste buds with their white chocolate mint holiday tea blend; Owen Clayton Condon and Peter Martin of Third Coast Percussion Quartet mesmerized the eyes and ears of Loyola students, faculty, and staff with their incredible performance on the marimba.

Special thanks to the student group at Loyola who helped organize the event and introduce Rush Hour to a new community!

Music to Feed the Spirit

When Deborah Sobol and I had our first conversation last summer about my joining the Rush Hour team, I told her about my love of chamber music— and that’s the point at which we really clicked. It’s not just that I like chamber music in the more traditional sense, although I have a particular fondness for piano trios. It is the immediacy and intimacy of being in the presence of people creating art, and of knowing that as an audience member you are critical to the success of the performance. You are close enough to feel the vibrations of the lower instruments, and the musicians can see firsthand their effect on you. It is powerful. I’ve laughed, wept, and hurt my hands applauding at concerts. I leave with the melodies and memories very much in focus, and I often turn to recordings to recreate the feelings I’ve just experienced.

As we are approaching the holidays I’ve given some thought to the soundtrack of my life. We all have one, don’t we? I would like to tell you that my soundtrack is filled with exquisite and peaceful Mozart and Bach recordings, but the truth is that much of what I listen to depends on what I need in that moment spiritually and emotionally.

I have different music for cooking, studying, driving and relaxing. If I need to perk up, I play Paul Simon’s “Negotiations and Love Songs.” Who can remain in a bad mood while listening to “Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard”? There’s no shame in singing along with my kids to their Disney and Veggie Tales recordings, although I confess to leaving my husband and friends slack-jawed with my ability to remember and “sell” such dubious masterpieces as “The Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps.”

But my meditative music right now is Eva Cassidy’s “Songbird.” I could listen to this recording in almost any setting and get a great deal out of it. I’ve found myself both dancing and weeping along with it. It is not spiritual in the sense of a higher being, but in the sense of being at peace with and taking time for my spirit.

As Thanksgiving and all of the various winter holidays approach, I am taking time to be mindful and nourish my spirit with the music that speaks to me. We here at Rush Hour wish you a peaceful holiday next week.

If you get a moment, please leave a comment below and tell us your favorite recording for “feeding the spirit.”

- Megan Balderston

Recommendations from the Artistic Director: November and Early December Concerts

After a rather beautifully extended Indian summer, it seems as though the colder months will soon be upon us. Scottish poet and physician John Armstrong (1709-79) in The Art of Preserving Health (1744), writes of the healing quality of music. I share it with you as an additional boost to your flu shots:

Music exults each joy, allays each grief,
Expels diseases, softens every pain,
Subdues the rage of poison and the plague.

There are four concerts I’d like to recommend in the coming weeks to our Rush Hour audiences:

This Sunday, November 18th at 4 p.m., pianist Mark Valenti will be featured on St. James’ Cathedral Concert Series. Mark is an artist whose performances, especially on the Dame Myra Hess Series, have placed him among the young artists in Chicago to watch — and hear!

A few hours later, and again on Monday evening, November 19th, (Pick-Staiger Hall, Evanston, and Gottlieb Hall, Chicago) you can hear the world premiere of Dana Wilson’s trio for horn, violin and piano, commissioned by Chicago Chamber Musicians’ hornist, Gail Williams. Mr. Wilson’s trio will be joined by works of Beethoven, Richard Strauss and Schubert.

I’m very pleased to share with you news of Quintet Attacca, who appeared on our ’07 Rush Hour series. You can hear them again on November 30th at the Dame Myra Hess noontime concert series (Chicago Cultural Center) in a woodwind program of music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. This concert will be broadcast live on WFMT 98.7 and is free of charge.

And, on December 3rd, return to the Chicago Cultural Center, for CCM’s First Monday series (also free of charge) to hear CCM ensemble artist and Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal flutist Mathieu Dufour joined by CSO assistant principal cellist Kenneth Olsen and pianist Kuang-Hao Huang in a program of trios for flute, cello and piano. You will remember Mathieu, Ken and Kuang-Hao from RH’s ’07 series as well.

As I bid you happy listening this month, a note of humor from Austrian-Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti (b. 1938), in defining Muzak (the sounds we hear around us daily in elevators, grocery stores, malls, etc. – often confused by some as “music”!):

“Musak goes in one ear and out some other opening.”

Cheers!

- Deborah Sobol

Welcoming Our New Executive Director

Rush Hour is pleased to welcome Megan Balderston as its new Executive Director.

She will cultivate partnerships between Rush Hour and community leaders as well as provide strategic planning and management of musical programs and fundraising activities.

Megan has extensive experience in development, administration, and concert production. She embraces Rush Hour’s philosophy of innovation and inclusion, and is dedicated to expanding our influence on the Chicago cultural landscape,” said Deborah Sobol, Rush Hour’s Artistic Director.

Megan has spent 16 years in the nonprofit arena, including positions with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Hinsdale Center for the Arts, and DePaul University.

Recommendations from the Artistic Director: October Concerts

At the last concert of our ’07 season, I recommended several series to those who wanted to keep great music in their busy lives over the fall, winter and spring months. Here are three great concerts coming up this month featuring artists from the ’07 Rush Hour roster, all very different from one another, all guaranteed great events!

- Deborah Sobol

* This Sunday, October 21, attend the third annual MozartFest at St. James Cathedral (4 p.m. – 65 E. Huron St., Chicago).

Hear a stellar Mozart program: Serenade for Strings in G major, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” KV 525 and the last work Mozart penned: his Requiem Mass, KV 626 (featured so prominently in the play and movie “Amadeus.”)

The Cathedral Choir and Chamber Orchestra are conducted by Director of Cathedral Music Bruce J. Barber II and are joined by soloists Carole FitzPatrick, soprano; Pamela King, mezzo-soprano; Mark Goodrich, tenor; and Brandon Mayberry, bass. (RH audiences will remember Carole FitzPatrick from our August 28 PDQ Bach program.)

The requested donation for this concert is $15. For more information, visit the Cathedral’s website.

* After the Mozart, you can head up to Pick-Staiger Hall at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus and hear a mostly French program by the Chicago Chamber Musicians.

The program will include Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro, Roussel’s Serenade, Jolivet’s Pastorales de Noël, Koetsier’s Introduction and Variation, Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 45, and Augusta Read Thomas’ Scherzi Musicali.

The program will be repeated Monday night, October 22, at Gottlieb Hall at Merit School of Music (in Chicago’s West Loop). Tickets are $20 – $40 ($10 students) – or call 312-225-5226 and mention code “MUSICALI” to access $15 tickets.

* Stephen Burns’ Fulcrum Point New Music Project promised dynamic programs year-round. RH audiences heard the Fulcrum Point Brass Quintet in June this past summer.

On October 27th, at 5:00 p.m., Fulcrum Point presents a multi-media event, “Nurture Nature – Create Tomorrow Together.” Created in collaboration by Fulcrum Point, The Side Project Theatre Company, The Nature Conservancy Fire Initiative, Merit Music School Choir, the Albany Park Theater Project and Barrel of Monkeys, this is an event for families of all ages (note the family friendly early start time!) of powerful theater and heartfelt music, celebrating the environment and asking what we are doing to make the world a better place for everyone.

Tickets are only $5.00 at chfestival.org or 312-494-9509. The concert takes place at Thorne Auditorium, 375 E. Chicago Avenue (at Lake Shore Drive).

8/28 – Humor & Whimsy

Last Tuesday was a bittersweet day in retrospect, but undoubtedly everyone involved with Rush Hour – from artistic leadership to volunteers and the audience – experienced tremendous excitement, laughter and the electrifying energy so readily prevalent in the air during our 2007 season finale, titled Humor & Whimsy: The Music of P.D.Q. Bach.

Soprano Carole FitzPatrick, mezzo-soprano Emily Lodine, tenor Hoss Brock, and baritone Peter Van De Graaff – along with pianists Deborah Sobol and Kay Kim (not to mention a special cameo from St. James’ Director of Cathedral Music Bruce Barber) – gave life to P.D.Q. Bach‘s ingenious writing full of great contrapuntal lines around the four voices, kazoos, piano five hands, and loud, intrusive organ outbursts.

Thank you to the audience (more than 400 of you!) for adding to the excitement and energy level of St. James Cathedral. It is truly a marvel to feel the difference between an empty and packed house: Each of you bring so much life and spontaneity to each performance that we must take a moment and applaud you all for gracing us with your presence week after week. Thank you so much for making Rush Hour’s 8th season the most successful yet!

Deborah Sobol, Bruce Barber, and Kay Kim rehearsing P.D.Q. Bach’s ingeniously crafted Liebeslieder Polkas, featuring voices and piano 5 hands.

Podcast discussion with Emily Lodine, Hoss Brock, Peter Van De Graaff, Kay Kim, Deborah Sobol, and Carole FitzPatrick. Take a listen to their discussion here.

St. James Sexton Henry Leach greeting a guest.

Emily Lodine, mezzo-soprano, meeting guests during the pre-concert reception.

Peter Van De Graaff, baritone, and Hoss Brock, tenor, enjoying the crafty lyrics of P.D.Q. Bach.

Emily Lodine, mezzo-soprano, and Carole FitzPatrick, soprano, in full opera mode during P.D.Q. Bach’s The Seasonings.

 

Thoughts from the Artistic Director: A Great Big “Thank You”

On a recent visit to Seattle, I came across a wonderful quote of Aaron Copland, carved large into the upper facade of Benaroya Hall, the home of the Seattle Symphony: So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning. As we come to the close of Rush Hour ’07, we hope that the music of our weekly series has sustained and inspired each of your spirits.

As we top off this season with the whimsy and hilarious genius of Peter Schickele‘s P.D.Q. Bach, we remember thirteen weeks of a remarkable journey with you through world cultures, Bach and poetry, six cellists, and the Third Coast Percussion Quartet, to name a few of this season’s programs. We have felt your presence as active, engaged listeners at each concert and, on behalf of all the artists and staff of the Rush Hour series, I thank you!

An encore of thanks is in order: to all who have contributed financially at any level to help us meet our yearly operating budget and guarantee that these weekly concerts continued to remain free and open to all; to all the Rush Hour staff and our wonderful crew of volunteers who have worked tirelessly all summer to produce the Rush Hour experience at the level of comfort, ease and stimulation you have come to expect; and finally, to my colleagues, who brought you the music of this season in all its richness.

As the “winter season” approaches, let me recommend a few notable local series to you, where you can find great chamber music and continue your own journeys into this wonderful art form.

Cathedral Concert Series – St. James Cathedral

Don’t wait until next summer to hear more great music at St. James Cathedral! Bruce Barber, music director of St. James Cathedral, crafts a wonderful series on the third Sunday of each month, September through May. For more information, please pick up a flyer on your way out or visit saintjamescathedral.org .

The Chicago Chamber Musicians (CCM)

Many of the outstanding artists you heard this summer are members of the Grammy-nominated Chicago Chamber Musicians, now in their 21st season. Considered “one of the indispensables of classical music in Chicago” by the Chicago Tribune, CCM offers free, noontime concerts on the first Monday of most months at the Chicago Cultural Center and the ensemble’s ticketed subscription series performs in Evanston and Chicago September – May. Special $15 tickets are available: just mention “Rush Hour” when you call (312) 225-5226. For more information about upcoming CCM concerts, please visit chicagochambermusic.org .

Dame Myra Hess Concerts

The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series provides free concerts 52 weeks a year, every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center. These concerts present talented young musicians early in their careers and are broadcast live on WFMT. The highlight of the series will be their 30th anniversary celebration at 12:15 p.m. on September 19 with a concert by the Vermeer Quartet in their final Chicago appearance before they disband.

Fulcrum Point New Music Project

Fulcrum Point New Music Project is “where popular culture collides with classical music and sparks fly.” Many of you heard their outstanding brass quintet here at RH in June – now hear the whole ensemble in their upcoming season, beginning with a multimedia performance presented as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival on October 27. Please pick up a season brochure on your way out for the opportunity to receive complimentary tickets to a Fulcrum Point concert. More information can be found at fulcrumpoint.org.

Finally, I hope you will stay in touch with us. Throughout the upcoming months, we will continue to post information, discussions, podcasts, and interviews on our website. Please visit us regularly to share your comments and thoughts, and learn of new RH developments.

I wish you all a happy and healthy “winter season” and look forward to seeing you all again next summer at Rush Hour!

–Deborah Sobol