Weekend Classical

Composer and conductor Pierre Boulez passed away Wednesday morning in his home in Germany.

The composer was famous for trying to modernize classical music. He was also extremely critical of what he saw as the stagnant “classical music” stereotype.

Boulez once said in an interview, "It is not enough to deface the Mona Lisa because that does not kill the Mona Lisa. All art of the past must be destroyed."

The Corsican ensemble, Barbara Furtuna (“Cruel Fate”), is a polyphonic group of four men mostly performing a capella, or occasionally with other instruments or ensembles. Even though the group still finds its inspiration in the island's oldest traditions, it is now also distinguished by its own creations, and offers a music that speaks to contemporary longings.

The Eero Saxophone Quartet will perform tonight at the Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall at 7:30pm.
The Ann Arbor based group will also be taking part in a student workshop with the Interlochen Arts Academy sax ensemble this afternoon.

The recital is free and open to the public. For more information call 231-276-7800

You may know Ana Gasteyer from her six years on Saturday Night Live, or from the movies, Broadway, or the TV show Suburbia. She's performing tonight at 7:30 at Interlochen Center for the Arts, in a show based around her album, I'm Hip.  We asked Ana to pick out a couple of her favorite tracks for the album and tell us more about the music.

To see Ana Gasteyer tonight, visit: tickets.interlochen.org.

Jazz pianist Bob James stopped by Studio A to play a little music and talk about his upcoming CD Release and Interview event at the Milliken Auditorium on June 27, at 7:30pm. 

Bob James Live at the Milliken Auditorium was recorded in concert with the Bob James Quartet on May 3, 2014. Interestingly, James himself didn't know the performance was going to be recorded. 

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra celebrates a first this weekend: It will perform an original piece by its very own music director, Grammy-winner Leonard Slatkin.  

"The subtitle is concertino grosso, so already one can sense that there's humor in this: a concertino usually being thought of as being a small concerto, and grosso meaning large," he says.

  The Enso String Quartet has returned to the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp as guest artists-in-residence.  The ensemble’s name is derived from the Japanese Zen painting of the circle, which represents many things: perfection and imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness of the spirit. In addition to teaching during the  camp, Enso gives three recitals over the course of six days.  Still, they found time to drop by IPR's Studio A to perform excerpts from Five Pieces for String Quartet by Erwin Schulhoff.

  This summer, the Interlochen Arts Camp was once again filled with young artists, actors, writers, dancers, and, oh yes, musicians! Among them, a guitar quartet who paid a visit to IPR's Studio A.  Leonela Alejandro, Ria Modak, Grace Elmer and Luke Sunderland performed Kalimba by Jurg Kindle. For this performance, some of them put cloth under the strings near the guitar bridge to imitate the sound of the kalimba, also known as the "thumb piano".

The Cavani String Quartet came to the Interlochen Arts Camp this summer to work with the advanced string quartet program.  While they were on campus, they stopped by IPR's Studio A for a live performance. Here's an excerpt from Midnight Child by Charles G. Washington.  It's based on the spiritual Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child , and mixes some of the music that Washington heard as he grew up: Gospel, Blues and Swing.