The fall season is already upon us, and changes are afoot. Well-established organizations are shifting venues, expanding their reach and even changing names.
After 72 years of producing concerts in Kiggins Hall at Emma Willard School in Troy, the Friends of Chamber Music is moving to Albany. Page Hall on the downtown campus of the University at Albany will be the site of the new season that opens at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, with the Escher String Quartet playing music of Haydn, Ives, Walker and Beethoven.
According to Jennifer Laursen, president of the Friends of Chamber Music, the principal reason for the change was difficulty in securing dates for the hall far enough in advance to book in-demand artists, who are typically contracted 18 months or more in advance of an appearance.
“This had been an ongoing problem, made more challenging when Kiggins Hall was converted to a socially distanced classroom,” says Laursen.
The new venue is expected to open up new opportunities for diversity and collaboration, goals that the organization has pursued since Laursen joined the board three years ago and took on the programming duties. She became president in June of this year.
Prior to moving to the Capital Region, Laursen was the director of Chamber Music Abu Dhabi, a concert series she established during the eight years that her husband, Tod A. Laursen, was president of Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research. The couple relocated to Albany when he became provost and senior vice chancellor of the SUNY system in September 2018.
Though Page Hall is better known for lectures and films than concerts, it certainly affords room to grow, with seating for 439 on the main level, plus about that many more in the balcony. By contrast, Kiggins Hall has a capacity of around 200 and was typically half to three-quarters full for concerts. Cut those capacity numbers in half for social distancing, and Page Hall seems a decent fit for the existing audience, assuming those patrons will follow the series to Albany.
Laursen is already forging new partnerships and collaborations through the association with SUNY faculty and students. Six new members have joined the organization’s board, four with active ties to the university. They include three professors — violinist Hilary Cumming, ethnomusicologist Kyra Gaunt and computer scientist Asaad Saad — plus director of special events Sara Saplin. Also joining the team are Charles Kruzansky, vice president of Cornell University, and Jacob Benninger, a local CPA and saxophone instructor.
Because the Friends has no paid staff, administrative and production matters are handled by board members and other volunteers. Laursen describes the new additions as “young, energetic, skilled and capable.”
The organization was founded by Martha Beck Carragan, a pianist, composer and educator who led the music department at Emma Willard. In 1971, the organization achieved nonprofit tax-exempt status under the name The Friends of Chamber Music of Troy, NY. According to Laursen, that last bit of the official name may well be dropped.
There are four more concerts in the season that runs through Apri 4. More info: friendsofchambermusic.org.
Capital Region Classical Steps Out
Right before the end of 2019, the Union College Concert Series became Capital Region Classical. Only a few months later ... well, you know what happened, the pandemic and all. The new name was mostly for administrative reasons, explained artistic director Derek Delaney, who started a new independent organization separate from the college. He assured his audience that they would continue to hear more top artists at the Union College Memorial Chapel. Now, 18 months later, things seem to be back on track as the Doric Quartet and pianist Jonathan Biss open the 2021-22 season on Sunday, Oct. 18.
But let’s look back for a moment. In February 2020, weeks before the pandemic shutdown, CRC presented the Doric at a different venue, the College of St. Rose’s Massry Center. At the time, Delaney explained that the event was a last-minute addition to the season that would allow the quartet a warm-up night before they head on to Carnegie Hall. Yet by taking on the expansive name Capital Region Classical, he signaled that a broader reach was part of the long-term vision for the enterprise. That’s even more apparent in the upcoming season.
Of the 19 concerts scheduled, five will take place outside Schenectady. Three will be at the Massry: Belcea Quartet (Oct. 21), Castalian Quartet (Nov. 5) and tenor Mark Padmore with pianist Ethan Iverson (March 1). At Hudson Hall, the young, tattooed violinist Alexi Kenney will perform solos by Bach interspersed with works for violin and electronics (Jan. 23). Finally, the viola/piano duo Hydra will give a free program of contemporary repertoire at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (April 12).
Nice to know some music is happening in the warm and beautiful Massry now that the college’s music department has been virtually eliminated by budget cuts. It will also be interesting to see if the offbeat programs find audiences in Hudson and Troy. That sort of fare seems to have never really found a public around here unless you count the ASO’s Dogs of Desire or Bang on A Can at Mass MoCA.
Meanwhile, back home at Memorial Chapel, there are lots of choice offerings in store, including violinist Jennifer Koh (Nov. 14), the Brentano String Quartet with clarinetist Anthony McGill (Feb. 13) and pianist Jeremy Denk (Feb. 20). The series celebrates its 50th anniversary on Dec. 12 with pianist Emanuel Ax playing an all-Chopin program. Programs, tickets and more at: capitalregionclassical.org.
Welcome Saratoga Voices
Members of the 50-year-old Burnt Hills Oratorio Society were growing tired of explaining that they belonged to a chorus and not a public speaking club. More importantly, the name of their beloved ensemble no longer reflected the many kinds of music they perform or the fact they give concerts well beyond the boundaries of one single town in southern Saratoga County.
On June 22, the singers, artistic leaders and board of directors met in person for the first time since the COVID shutdown. It was a fond reunion of friends and musical collaborators, but the agenda was about looking to the future and deciding on a new name.
The notion had been talked about for years. At the meeting, possible new handles were debated and tested out, spoken and probably sung. Singers know how words feel.
By the end of the night, it was almost unanimous. They now belonged to Saratoga Voices. A cute but uncredited essay on its website, saratogavoices.org, tells the story in more detail and concludes: “same people with new name and new horizons.”
So far, only one concert has been announced for the new season. Ironically, the first music to be performed by Saratoga Voices will be an oratorio, Handel’s “Judas Maccabeus,” on Nov. 19. But the venue is new: Universal Preservation Hall in downtown Saratoga Springs. Looking ahead, board president Dave Johnson says plans are coming together for a staged production of “The Music Man” in February. That will be followed in the spring by a concert with all kinds of music, from the Beatles to the classics. Learn more, including how to join, at saratogavoices.org.
Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy.
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September 05, 2021 at 06:03PM
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Classical Notes: Fall season brings changes in the classical scene - Albany Times Union
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