TeenTix Blog Music

After walking into Town Hall Seattle and sitting down to watch the pre-performance lecture given by Rachel Barton Pine, a stunningly odd instrument revealed itself: a violin-looking thing with a multitude of strings and an awfully large head stock. What must it be? The viola d’amore! This instrument of the violin string family was born in the 1700s and popularized around the same time.

With viola d’amore in hand, Rachel Barton Pine — player of the night and virtuoso — baroque the house down! It was hard to Handel her amazing performance of Vivaldi and others.

Rachel Barton Pine is an accomplished young violinist whose musical interests cross genres, incorporating classical, baroque, and heavy metal music. This Saturday, she will be conducting the Seattle Baroque Orchestra and performing works by Vivaldi, Pisendel, Telemann, and Handel all while playing the viola d’amore. Rachel currently is on a worldwide tour, but Audrey L. of the TeenTix Press Corps got the chance to interview her about her musical perspective and upcoming concert.

Can you describe your musical background? When did you start the violin and how has your career transformed since then?

All month long, we'll be sharing these videos of TeenTix members talking about memorable arts experiences, so check back often. Want to submit a video? Hooray! Just send the link (YouTube, Dropbox, or some other cloud-type situation) to info@teentix.org.

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Baroque music, anyone? Yes, please! The Seattle Baroque Orchestra’s enticing performance, Musica Transalpina with the Guest Director Elizabeth Blumenstock, brings the audience 17th century music in perfect bite-sized pieces. It’s like a box of chocolates: “You never know what you’re gonna get”. But unlike life, all of them are pleasant surprises. (If you didn’t get the reference, watch Forrest Gump.) Unlike other orchestra concerts I have been to, the musicians hold open conversations with the audience in between pieces in order to explain the mystery behind baroque music. For example, the chromatic notes such as E♭ and D# were once two different tones, which meant longer chromatic scales for musicians to learn. As a flautist myself, I am thankful that this phenomenon doesn’t exist anymore. Who wants to learn more notes anyway? Blumenstock’s solo performance with the harpsichord, Sonata seconda detta la luciminia contenta written by Marco Uccellini, gives a sense of thrill to the ears of the audience. Her mastery of the violin and embellishment used in the piece shows her dedication to bringing baroque music to life. The rest of the orchestra also shows its enthusiasm for the music with energetic performances. Also, for the first time in my life, I was a witness to the playing of a harpsichord, which I did not even know existed until the concert. It is just like discovering that ice cream tastes heavenly with fries. Seriously. The delightful sound of the harpsichord is definitely distinct from that of a piano; it is more concise, yet fluid in its runs. The only flaw of the instrument may be the need for constant tuning due to chromatic notes of the baroque style. Other pieces, such as Sonata X by Antonio Bertali, showcase the usage of perfect thirds and the balance between Blumenstock and Melsted, the two violinists of the orchestra. The performance showcases what has made baroque music so intriguing to the musicians over the years. The concert goes by in a hurry before you can think ‘boring’. For those who've never been to such a concert before, I highly recommend you to attend one of Seattle Baroque Orchestra’s performances. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Musica Transalpina was a one-night eventNext up at Early Music Guild: Lucidarium: Una Festa Ebraica – Celebrating Life

Whizz boom bang ba dum, chhh… bop bop! If you’re into jazz, this is for you!

Imagine walking into a forest and hearing nothing but birds, then someone else who was listening wrote all those noises down all on pages and pages of music. Now imagine an insane jazz quintet using those ideas to create amazing music! It is hard to express in words how I feel about John Hollenbeck’s music. Sophistication wrapped in harmonious sonnets.

In a scene dominated by rap’s broken rhythms and pop’s electric drone, classical pieces feel full. However, George Gershwin’s depth extends beyond that inherent to his genre. Maybe it’s his breadth of style (he incorporates both jazz and classical technique). Perhaps it’s that his music is so distinctly American (his initial title for Rhapsody in Blue was American Rhapsody).

I didn’t care about the reason as the first chords rang at Seattle Symphony’s Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Friday evening—I was too far gone. Gershwin’s music wraps you up like a fluffy blanket. Even at its darkest moments, it’s warm and slightly familiar.

A couple weeks back, we held a little ol' party for our organizations called The Teeny Awards. Ahhh, we remember it well. The lights, the music, the outrageously awesome outfits. Anywho, just recently, Seattle Symphony contacted us so they could throw a party of their own for the TeenTix members they love so much! Here's what they had to say:

Thank you Teen Tix members for awarding us not one, but TWO 2013 Teeny Awards! We are thrilled. Moved. Astounded. Excited. Amazed. INSPIRED! The SSO loves Teen Tix as much as Beethoven loved his pianos, as much as Mozart loved his powdered wig. (Seriously. That is a lot of love.) You are the boldest listeners in Benaroya Hall and the future of our art form. To show our appreciation for this honor, we invite you to join us for a special concert and event. MOZART’S SYMPHONY NO. 29 Saturday, October 19, at 8pm Stilian Kirov, conductor Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola Jordan Anderson, double bass Maria Mannisto, soprano Seattle Symphony MOZART: Divertimento for Strings in D major, K. 136/125a DITTERSDORF: Sinfonia concertante for Viola and Double Bass MOZART: Exultate, jubilate, K. 165 MOZART: Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201/186a Meet us before the concert at the Teen Tix check-in table at the entrance to the Samuel & Althea Stroum Grand Lobby to pick up your ticket and a surprise gift. After the concert, join us for an EXCLUSIVE reception in our backstage Green Room featuring a Q&A with Seattle Symphony Associate Conductor Stillian Kirov! Tickets are just $5 for TeenTix members (duh) and $5 for your guests (of any age!) too! Want to come? Great! You need to RSVP to info@teentix.org by 5 PM on Wednesday, October 16th. Please include your full name, phone number, and the number of people you are RSVPing for (max. 1 ticket + 1 guest ticket per TeenTix member). And, FYI for those guests: the post-show reception is TEENS ONLY. Parents can come with you to the show, but only teens are invited to the reception. Sorry, folks. Thems the rules.

Music from the renowned Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, what a hoot! This one and only historical big band takes jazz standards to a whole new level. On a technical level, this show is flawless. Every note, every phrase and every cut off is perfect, even down to the tone of the individual instruments. Trombonist Frank Woser has impeccable tone, vibrant and smooth. Frank plays Tommy Dorsey’s solos, and fills the performance with creativity and thoughtfulness. The solos are the main attraction in this carnival of sorts.

About a third of the way through the concert, Bryan Anthony comes in and sings a few numbers with the band. He is an excellent singer. Even though he is young, his Sinatra-like image makes his songs feel like period pieces. When he starts his first few songs it can get quite loud. It is very distracting and hard to hear the wonderful band, but it gets better after those first few songs. His performance definitely opens up in the latter half, allowing him to really shine like the gem that he is. His act goes further than his voice as well. He knows so much about the popular music back in the day and he shares some of the greats--his heroes--with the audience.

“In Sanskrit, Turanga means the universe spinning through time, and Lîla means the cosmic play of love and death,” explained Seattle Symphony music director Ludovic Morlot, discussing Olivier Messiaen’s (“MESS-yohn”) Turangalîla-Symphonie. This may sound excessively grand, but it describes perfectly Seattle Symphony’s first-ever performance of this 20th century masterpiece.

Turangalîla is rarely performed, and the reasons are evident; it’s long and physically exhausting, requires an uncommonly large percussion section, features a solo piano and the rare ondes Martenot (“ohnd MAR-ten-oh;” more on that later), and as a contemporary piece, is hard to market to wider audiences. However, judging by an almost-full house and the instant standing ovation, Morlot, the Seattle Symphony, and guest soloists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Cynthia Millar did not have much trouble with these obstacles.

Daydreaming of what could be. It’s something we all do. Usually you wake up and forget it all together. How do you remember something you know you’re going to forget? You write it down, in paragraphs, in sentences, in phrases, etc. Gustav Mahler takes the phrases past word and into the linguistic expression of music. He turns words into a tone which we all know and understand but few truly speak. He turns this daydream into a nostalgic swirl of worldliness, vulnerability, and a childlike playfulness. He places this swirl into a cone of deep emotional expression and then lets you indulge. All of this work to turn a daydream into an ice cream cone of creation, so that the feeling never fades.

Review of Sound Off! Semifinal 1, February 13th, 2010, by Jordan B. Showcasing the local music scene of the future, maybe even the present, Sound Off! began back in 2002 at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, designed for age 21 and under artists to have a place to get their name out. Many artists such as 2003 runner ups the Schoolyard Heroes and 2007's 2nd place winner, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, have enjoyed some success from the competition's raising awareness of the bands. Tonight's winner, Candysound, received a spot in the upcoming finals on March 6th.

Sound Off! Semifinal #1 winners Candysound. Photo by adamsayswhatt