In the midst of activity, traveling, and music-making, taking a moment to pause and reflect can be a challenge. It’s so easy to lift up one’s head and realize that the end of the year is suddenly only a couple of page-turns away on the calendar. We’re doing our best to not let the present get away from us (or the past and future for that matter), so with that in mind, we wanted to recap some of the highlight events of this past summer within the PARMA Recordings Summer 2019 Concert Season. And of course, with that, one can only look forward to the Fall Season, which we are eagerly anticipating.
Summer Performances:
- June:
- Giovanni Piacentini China Tour (June 13-24)
- July:
- Trio Casals at Carnegie Hall (July 20)
- Hornyanszky-Römer Duo China Tour (July 25-August 5)
- August:
- Fry Street China Tour (August 8-19)
- September:
- Pangaea China Tour (September 5-16)
Our Summer 2019 Concert Season kicked off this past June with guitarist and composer Giovanni Piacentini taking the stage in China. This tour came right off the heels of Giovanni’s Navona Records release BETWEEN WORLDS, which was brought to life in April 2019. Giovanni brought pieces from this album and from his first Navona Records release CHIAROSCURO to the halls of China, where they were received with great enthusiasm.
Fast forward to July, when the fourth installment of Navona Records’ MOTO series culminated just as every MOTO album does – with a Carnegie Hall performance. The three members of Trio Casals took the stage of Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, performing the works of nine composers in front of a hall of eager and attentive listeners.
Just days later, oboist Zoltan Hornyanszky and guitarist István Römer embarked on their 11-day tour of China, where they brought sounds from the East and the West to the stage. Sometimes both, as in the inclusion of composer Phil Salathe’s Expecting the Spring Breeze, off of his Ravello Records release IMAGINARY BIRDS, on their program. Expecting the Spring Breeze features a traditional Chinese melody as one of the piece’s themes, and as Zoltan explained later, almost every crowd member recognized and was moved by the inclusion of that melody.
August also saw a successful China Tour, this time with the Fry Street Quartet. Fry Street performed on Navona Records’ THE CROSSROADS PROJECT with works by composers Libby Larsen and Laura Kaminsky. This album, which focused on current environmental issues and humanity’s responses, is filled with riveting musical and expressive moments, and Fry Street took Libby Larsen’s Emergence from that album on the road with them to China. They reported back that the piece was a huge hit, with audiences even clapping and cheering as the piece reached its climax.
This monumental summer season came to a close with the Pangaea Chamber Players embarking on their tour of China, bringing the score for L Peter Deutsch’s Sunset at Montelimar (off of 2019’s MOTO QUARTO) with them. Pangaea, featuring their flute, cello, and piano players on this tour, strives to expand the boundaries of traditional chamber music through innovative programming, and they were able to do just that by bringing new music to listeners across China.
The energy from this full summer is only kickstarting our energy into the rest of the year. The Fall 2019 season has plenty in store, with new China Tours, including our very first orchestral tour of China with the inimitable Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, and so much more.
Fall/Winter Performances:
- October:
- Stanely & LaQuarta Duo China Tour (October 10-21)
- November:
- Double Exposure China Tour (November 7-18)
- Keuris Quartet China Tour (November 21-December 2)
- December:
- Athens Philharmonia Orchestra China Tour (December 22-January 7, 2020)
Coming Up in early 2020:
- January:
- Lindsey Goodman at the McDonough Auditorium (January 28, 2020)
- February:
- Trio Casals at Carnegie Hall (February 5, 2020)
- March:
- The Croatian Chamber Orchestra performing Mark John McEncroe’s An Ode to the Wilderness (March 10, 2020). More information here.
- Thomas Mesa at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music (March 19, 2020)
- And more
