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Western Arts Alliance Comes to Seattle

Gus through the harp

Next week EMS Artistic Director Gus Denhard will attend the Western Arts Alliance 2023 Conference (WAA), an annual gathering of performing arts professionals, including performers showcasing their work, artists representatives, concert presenting organizations, and more.  The conference takes place right here in Seattle! Gus will have a chance to network with others in the field, learn about the changing environment the arts operate in, and collaborate with other professionals on tours and artistic projects. Of special interest this year is a pre-conference focus, Advancing Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian Voices in the Performing Arts, featuring a tour of Seattle’s historic International District.  

And don’t miss Gus in performance with Trío Guadalevín

Featuring Abel Rocha, Antonio Gómez, and Gus Denhard

Trío Guadalevín at Studio Lazo
Trío Guadalevín at Studio Lazo

A regional gem in the Northwest and a recent awardee of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Washington State Parks, the trio is expanding its profile with a showcase performance at the Western Arts Alliance 2023 Conference! Come enjoy an acoustic feast featuring vocals in Spanish, Zapotec and Ladino, Mexican son jarocho, son huasteco, Spanish fandangos, Sephardic Jewish ballads and North African shabia set in the evocative art of Anxestral Art Gallery. Open to the public, suggested $20 donation via cash, check or payment app.

Trío Guadalevín Showcase at WAA:

Wednesday, September 6

Sets at 9 pm and 10pm

Anxestral Art Gallery

1302 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101

Jillon Stoppels Dupree, harpsichord

CD Release: J.S. Bach: Fantasy and Caprice
Centaur Records

This is your first solo recording. Why now? What led up to this?
Over the years, I’ve been involved in numerous ensemble recordings – including both chamber music and orchestral CDs – yet I always was too busy (happily so!) with performing and teaching to make a solo recording.  Finally, the desire to record solo repertoire of my favorite composer, J.S. Bach, enticed me to record his harpsichord works which I treasure the most.

My love of Bach began at an early age, as I grew up in a musical family (my mother was a professional pianist and singer, my father an opera and choral music fan). We attended a Dutch reformed church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which had a superb music program and presented Bach’s St. Matthew Passion nearly every year!  (Little did I know what a treat that was . . . “Don’t they do that everywhere?” my naïve ten-year-old mind asked). I sang in choirs and began piano lessons at age seven; it wasn’t long before I was drawn to the harpsichord, having heard it in the Bach Passion for so many years.

What else influenced you?  
Can you talk about your life in music? Your major influences?
There were certainly important mentors and teachers in my early years of study: professors at the Oberlin Conservatory (most importantly, Lisa Goode Crawford); teachers and music coaches during my two years in Amsterdam (especially Gustav Leonhardt and Ton Koopman); faculty at the Univ. of Michigan (Edward Parmentier, harpsichord; Penelope Crawford, fortepiano). They had a huge impact on my musical development.  Of course, being in those rich performance environments and hearing great early music performed extremely well – often many times a week – influenced my sense of baroque musical style and performance practice. I lived and breathed it, until it became a part of me.  Perhaps the most important thing was that I also continued to sing choral and solo music all through this period, which grounded me in elements of phrasing, dynamics and musical rhetoric.

I’ve also felt honored and grateful to have had opportunities to perform with some truly great musicians, which has been extremely impactful, especially since many have been true leaders of the early music movement: Wieland Kuijken, Jaap Schrōder, Ellen Hargis, Margriet Tindemans, Marion Verbruggen, et al.  Not long after my move to Seattle in 1987, George Bozarth and I founded the series Gallery Concerts, which provided opportunities to invite such acclaimed artists to perform with regional musicians in Seattle.  Playing with and learning from those gifted performers has perhaps had the most influence on my development, both as a continuo accompanist and a solo performer.

Last but not least, teaching harpsichord and coaching early music has been deeply rewarding, as it’s a joy to share with students what I’ve learned from others. The teaching  process – describing and discovering musical ideas and emotions, making technical suggestions, and helping students find their own musical voices – continues to help me to grow and develop as a performer.

What is on the recording, and why is this music special to you?
For this first recording, I wanted to play some of the Bach solo keyboard works I enjoy the most.  That was a difficult choice, of course, as there are so many!  But I found I was drawn to the pieces which, in my view, are most expressive of a wide range of affects, moods and emotions. For example: the improvisational Chromatic Fantasy – with its virtuosic flourishes, angry chord clusters, expressive recitatives, etc. – is stormy, tragic and theatrical; the Capriccio on the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother depicts – through short, programmatic movements – the emotions of a grieving family, as a dear brother departs to serve in the army; in contrast, the charming Prelude in G major is like a calm respite in a storm; and the two Toccatas range from feelings of brilliant joy to sweet contentment.

What are some of your other musical interests?
I am fascinated with new music for the harpsichord, if it’s well-written for the instrument.  It can be very challenging repertoire, so I must be captivated by the colors and textures of it if I’m to give up practice time on my baroque repertoire. In 2002, I had the fortuitous honor (and pleasure!) of premiering the Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra by Philip Glass with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra. It’s a fabulous work, and we had the opportunity to be coached by Mr. Glass himself, who was there for the premiere. In 2005, we released the recording of it on Orange Mountain Records. The entire enterprise was such a gratifying and exciting experience.

I also enjoyed developing programs of contemporary harpsichord music, and also those mixing both baroque and modern works, as part of a year-long American tour sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

My love of choral music has never waned, so I have sung with Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral Choir for at least twenty years. When a large group of singers performs together, there’s something truly extraordinary that happens:  a deep emotional connection of diverse, committed people, creating a musical experience unlike anything they could do individually.  The St. Mark’s Choir also provides me the opportunity to learn and perform music of eras other than the Baroque, particularly that of the 19th-21st centuries.

Finally, I also love listening to jazz music! It’s actually akin to the improvisatory styles of early music, and there are so many fabulous jazz performers. It’s my go-to repertoire for relaxing.

What are your other interests? How has Covid impacted you?
Spending time with my family – Andy, Nicholas, Sarah, and our Samoyed dog Komi – is one of the great joys of my life. Andy and I recently moved to Bainbridge Island after 32 years in Seattle, and we really treasure its natural beauty: forests, beaches, and views of both water and mountains.  It has proven to be a perfect refuge during the Covid19 shutdown.

Of course, Covid has struck a huge blow to all performers. I’ve been fortunate to still be able to teach via zoom, and to do some recorded and livestreamed concerts as well. What I miss most is the choral singing, which is the most hazardous form of music-making with regard to Covid spread.  We are getting through this, though, and the light at the end of the covid tunnel grows brighter each day – especially for music!

To order the CD
From Centaur Records:

By far the two best classical CD retailers in the U.S. are ArkivMusic and HB Direct. They have both been purchased by Naxos within the last several years, so stock is not an issue with them, whereas it is a constant problem with Amazon. Please find links to the album on both sites below:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Catalog?catalog_num=3810&label_id=1100&x=0&y=0
https://www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=4115212

 

CD Review: J.S. Bach: Fantasy and Caprice

Jillon Stoppels Dupree, harpsichord
Reviewed by Carol lei Breckenridge

Contents (total time 73:18): “Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue” in D Minor, BWV 903; Toccata in G Major, BWV 916; Sonata in D Minor, BWV 964; Adagio in G Major, BWV 968; Prelude in G Major, BWV 902.1; Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913; “Capriccio on the Departure of a Most Beloved Brother,” in B-flat Major, BWV 992.

This recently released CD by Jillon Stoppels Dupree, recorded on a 2010 harpsichord by John Phillips, after a 1722 Johann Heinrich Gräbner, the Elder, double manual instrument (2×8’, 1×4’, buff), presents a sumptuous feast of varied keyboard works by J.S. Bach, played by a masterful harpsichordist and highly expressive artist.

Jillon Stoppels Dupree is clearly a harpsichordist in absolute control of nuanced harpsichord techniques — articulation, timing, phrasing, and dynamics – which are engaged for expressive purposes. The CD captures one’s attention throughout, in large part due to Jillon’s ability to shape each phrase and harmonic progression with flexibility of rhythm that nevertheless maintains an ongoing pulse, as well as through the variety of affekts she achieves.

To the famous “Chromatic Fantasia,” Jillon brings rhythmic flexibility and imagination, taking us on a fantastical journey through improvisatory sections, swirling figurations and arpeggios, expressive recitatives (with dramatic orchestral commentary), and a swirling dervish of a closing section of descending diminished 7ths that leaves one rather breathless; the subsequent Fugue goes way beyond a competent polyphonic rendition to explore the varied figures and affekts Bach created.

In the Toccata in G Major, Jillon creates unique affekts for each of the Italianate three movements: the first movement’s dancelike, joyful exuberance; the Adagio’s expressive singing style in which the individuality of the four voices is always clear; and the Allegro e Presto’s lively articulations, served up with flamboyant panache.

Jillon includes two of Bach’s keyboard arrangements of solo violin sonata movements that provide some of the most expressive moments on the CD. In the Sonata in D Minor’s Adagio, she evokes a beautifully singing melodic line, supported by rich-toned accompaniment, all within an elegant, dignified affekt; the following fugue is confidently dramatic; the Andante is touchingly heartfelt with melodic “sighs” that manage to give the effect of decrescendos; the final Allegro is elegant, with colorful contrasts and drama.

In the single movement Adagio, a rich, tragic quality is conveyed through a deeply felt pulsing and sonorous bass, upon which float treble dotted rhythms. The jacket notes explain that since the piece ends on the dominant, she leads directly into the following piece, an independent Prelude in G Major with a sweet, ringing treble tone.

In the Toccata in D Minor, Jillon creates fascinating drama through contrasting sections. In the opening improvisatory section, pauses are sometimes greatly stretched for dramatic effect, a technique that Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel advocated for expressive purposes.

Bach’s early programmatic composition, “Capriccio on the Departure of a Most Beloved Brother,” does not disappoint, given Jillon’s ability to create a unique sound world in each movement. The lamenting Adagiosissimo is especially moving, with expressive “sighs” and filling out of the figured bass, as well as tender ornamentation added to treble lines.

The harpsichord itself has a pleasant, silvery tone, especially sweet in the treble, and the reverberation (whether natural to the room or added) never obliterates the clarity of lines. For my taste, I would like more fundamental in the pitches, with resulting fuller bass tone to support the upper melodies, though the instrument may reflect characteristics inherent in Gräbner’s work (I have not had opportunity to hear an original by this maker). I found the single 8-foot registrations to be the most successful, producing a sweet, singing tone.

In this reviewer’s opinion, this CD is a worthy contribution to the large canon of recordings of J.S. Bach’s keyboard works, and keeps one engaged from start to finish. With absolute control and expressive flexibility, Jillon Stoppels Dupree brings fresh imagination to these well-known works.

2020 Centaur Records, Inc. Ordering information from ArkivMusic and HB Direct.

 

Biography

Jillon Stoppels Dupree has been described as “one of the country’s top Baroque musicians, a superior soloist and top-ranked ensemble player; and a baroque star” (Seattle Times). She performs with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Bach Choir, San Francisco Choral Artists, and Ensemble Electra; her chamber music collaborations include such artists as Wieland Kuijken, Julianne Baird, Ellen Hargis, Ingrid Matthews, Janet See, and Marion Verbruggen. Her recent activities include concerts and master classes at both Stanford University and The University of Michigan’s School of Music.

Jillon received both Fulbright and Beebe Fund grants for study abroad, and her teachers included Gustav Leonhardt, Kenneth Gilbert, Edward Parmentier and Lisa Goode Crawford. An honors graduate of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Masters recipient at the University of Michigan, Ms. Dupree has taught at both her alma maters, at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, and at the University of Washington. She received the National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist award, for performance of contemporary harpsichord music, and her world-premiere recording of Philip Glass’s Concerto for Harpsichord was heralded as “Superb!” by the New York Times. Ms. Dupree was the Co-Founder of Gallery Concerts, an early music concert series in Seattle. She can be heard on the Meridian, Decca, Orange Mountain, Wildboar and Delos labels, and her new solo Bach recording from Centaur Records has been described as “harpsichord musicianship at its best . . .expressive . . . passionate . . . and inspiring.” (American Record Guide).

Rachell Ellen Wong – New Concert Master of Seattle Baroque Orchestra


Photo: Lauren Desberg Media

This past year has been a period of re-inventing the Seattle Baroque Orchestra: While the pandemic forced us to cease our usual activities, we still made good use of the time by re-grouping our personnel, re-thinking our repertoire and mandate, and re-considering what makes our offer to you special. At the same time, the retirement of our beloved concertmaster Linda Melsted prompted us to look for a new leading artist to start the post-pandemic era.

Ancient Greek knows two words for “time”: ‘chronos’ and ‘kairos’; while ‘chronos’ is the passing of time, ‘kairos’ is the particular moment of time. I feel we are experiencing these two meanings, right now, the stretch of a valley to walk through, and at the same time the incredible serendipity in the fact that Rachell Ellen Wong just moved to town. She has graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in NYC, one of the most prestigious institutions of our time, and she combines everything we were looking for in Linda’s successor: the highest artistic integrity and true musicianship, the authority that comes with being an outstanding virtuoso and the warm collegial spirit needed in our world.

In short, I could not have dreamed of such a beautiful choice for the position of concertmaster to the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and I am simply overjoyed that Rachell has accepted our invitation.

While we still have to endure and be patient, I know that when we make music again, and have you, our audience, back with us, it will be a truly new experience to listen to and to participate in the process of music being born.

Thank you and stay well!

Alexander Weimann
Seattle Baroque Orchestra Music Director

Visit Rachell’s website
Facebook page
Instagram @rachellviolin

Fahmi Alqhai

Fahmi Alqhai is considered one of the most brilliant and prestigious players of the Viola da Gamba in the world today, as well as one of the most recognised interpreters of early music, for his personal and communicative approach to historical repertories.

Born in Seville, Spain, in 1976 to a Syrian father and Palestinian mother, he spends the first eleven years of his life in Syria, where he starts to study music at a very young age. Later he studies—self-taught—in Spain until he enters the Manuel Castillo Conservatoire in Seville in 1994 to study the Viola da Gamba with Ventura Rico. He furthers his studies in the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Basel, Switzerland) with Paolo Pandolfo and in the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland) with Vittorio Ghielmi. Over the course of his musical studies, Fahmi Alqhai also obtains his degree in Dentistry from the University of Seville.

He is founder of Accademia del Piacere, with which he has conducted many awarded CDs for Glossa, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and his own label (Alqhai & Alqhai), such as: Muera Cupido, winner of the Opus Klassik Award 2020 to the Best Solo Vocal Recital (Opera), Les Violes du Ciel et de l’Enfer (nominated for the International Classical Music Awards 2011), and Le Lacrime di Eros (2009 Prelude Classical Music Award). In 2012 Alqhai wins the Giraldillo prize awarded to Best Music at the 2012 Sevilla Flamenco Biennal, for the music of his fourth CD Las idas y las vueltas, together with flamenco vocalist Arcángel. In 2016 he wins also the Giraldillo to the Innovation for Diálogos, with Rocío Márquez.

In 2014 he records for Glossa his first CD for solo viol, A piacere, whose innovative conception of the instrument is warmly welcome in Spain, Germany and throughout Europe. In 2016 he launches its most personal work as a soloist, The Bach Album, for the label Glossa (award-wining for GEMA, Scherzo and Melomano). In 2018 he received the Medal of the City of Seville.

From a young age he is invited to work with the most internationally-renowned early music ensembles. He is a regular member of numerous recognised groups such as Hesperion XXI (Jordi Savall) and Il Suonar Parlante (Vittorio Ghielmi). He is also a founding member of More Hispano (dir. Vicente Parilla). With these ensembles, as well as with Accademia del Piacere and as a soloist, Fahmi Alqhai regularly offers concerts in Europe, Japan, the United States and South America’s best concert halls.

As a soloist, Fahmi Alqhai has performed with important orchestras such as the National Orchestra of Spain, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Galicia, Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne (Michael Corboz), Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, and Al Ayre Español, among others. He has also made his entrance in the fields of contemporary music, as well as jazz, with artists such as Uri Caine. Fahmi Alqhai has also made numerous recordings for record labels such as Alia Vox, Glossa, Winter&Winter, Tactus, Arsis and Enchiriadis, as well as for television and radio in Europe, Asia and America.

Since 2009, he is artistic director of the Early Music Festival of Seville (FeMAS), Spain’s oldest and most important early music festival. In 2020, he receives a Leonardo Grant (BBVA Foundation) for the Colombina Project, about the 15th century manuscript.

To listen to Fahmi, click here.

Linda Tsatsanis

Hailed as “ravishing” (New York Times) and possessing “sheer vocal proficiency, a bright, flexible voice, big but controlled, shaded with plentiful color” (Boston Globe), Canadian soprano Linda Tsatsanis enjoys a career that spans the concert hall, opera stage, movies, and television. Her versatility has made for a distinguished career taking her across the United States, Canada and Europe. Ms. Tsatsanis has appeared as soloist with Tallis Scholars, Toronto Symphony, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Group, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Seattle, Pacific MusicWorks, and Seattle Opera and been presented by the San Francisco Early Music Society, Early Music Now, Early Music Society of the Islands, Renaissance and Baroque, Early Music in Columbus, Dumbarton Oaks, and the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art. Not limiting herself to early music, Ms. Tsatsanis made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2016 performing William Bolcom’s song cycle Let Evening Come. Her debut solo album with Origin Classical, And I Remain: Three Love Stories, was described as a “seductive recital of the darker sides of 17th-century love” by Gramophone Magazine. Her past collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group was the inspiration for her 2016 release, Beethoven alla Britannia with Centaur Records. She can be heard on the Emmy-nominated documentary When Seattle Invented the Future, various recordings by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Naxos. In 2015, Ms. Tsatsanis was named a Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington. Currently, Ms. Tsatsanis resides in New York City.