by Michael Caruso
Late summer and early fall, for all the dreariness that might bring, heralds the start of concert season here in Chestnut Hill as well as throughout the Philadelphia area. Not only will the Philadelphia Orchestra open its 2022-23 season on Wednesday, September 28 with a gala concert featuring Curtis Institute alumnus pianist Lang Lang in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, but many smaller ensembles but equally excellent in the region will launch their new seasons. , as well.
Vox Ama Deus will kick off its 36th concert season with a program titled “Bach and Sons” on Sunday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Katharine of Siena Roman Catholic Church, Wayne. The program includes music by Johann Sebastian Bach and scores by two of his sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach.
Founder and Artistic Director Valentin Radu will then return to Chestnut Hill to conduct Camerata Ama Deus in “Vivaldissimo,” a concert of music by Antonio Vivaldi. The concert will be performed twice: Saturday, October 22 at 8 p.m. at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, and Sunday, October 23 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Katharine’s Church Catholic of Siena.
Radu will lead the Ama Deus Ensemble in a gargantuan program of the Fifth Symphony and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” on Friday, November 11 at 8 p.m. at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center. The same forces will then present George Frideric Handel’s beloved oratorio, “Messiah,” four times in December, including a performance on Friday, December 2 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill. The other three scheduled concerts are set for Sunday, December 4 at 4 p.m. at Daylesford Roman Catholic Abbey, Paoli; Friday, December 16 at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, downtown; and Sunday, December 18 at 4 p.m. at St. Katharine’s Catholic Church, Paoli.
Radu and the Vox Renaissance Consort will end the Christmas holiday season with “A Renaissance Noel” on Friday, December 9 at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church; Saturday, December 10 at 8 p.m. at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill; and Sunday, December 11 at 4 p.m. in the Thomas Library Great Hall on the campus of Bryn Mawr College. For more information, call 610-688-2800 or visit VoxAmaDeus.org.
‘Champs-Elysees’
Lyric Fest will celebrate the start of its 20th anniversary season with a pair of performances of a program dubbed “Elysian Fields” on Sunday, September 18 at 3 p.m. at the Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce St., Philadelphia, and Tuesday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, 625 Montgomery Ave., Bryn Mawr.
Lyric Fest is the brainchild of Chestnut Hill pianist Laura Ward and East Falls mezzo-soprano Suzanne DuPlantis. The two met at the Music Academy of the West, where they first conceived the project of starting a musical ensemble that would focus on song – both the music and the words that inspired it.
“Elysian Fields” will find Ward at the piano accompanying soprano Magdalena Kuzma and mezzo Sun-Ly Pierce. Both are graduates of the Western Academy of Music. They will perform songs by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Canteloube, Rachmaninoff, Boyle, Ferre, Higdon, Cipullo and Lieberson. For more information, call 215-438-1702 or visit lyricfest.org.
Speaking of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, it will host a recital with Vincent Dubois, the organist of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. The show is scheduled for Sunday, October 30 at 3 p.m. Dubois will play works by Bach, Franck, Saint-Saëns, Durufle and his own improvisations on the church’s magnificent Rieger organ.
Piffaro
Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, will return to Chestnut Hill with two concerts this fall and winter. “Passing the Torch” will mark exactly that – the retirement of artistic directors Joan Kimball and Robert Wiemken and the inauguration of newly announced successor Priscilla Herreid – on Saturday October 1 at 7:30 p.m. “Festa di Natale” celebrate Christmas on Saturday December 10 at 7:30 p.m. Both concerts will be at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. For more information, call 215-235-8469 or visit piffaro.org.
Just announced
Tempesta di Mare will open its 2022-23 season with an “artist recital” on Saturday October 8 at 5 p.m. at the Woodmere Art Museum, Chestnut Hill. The concert features Tempesta founder and co-director Richard Stone on guitar and Eve Miller on cello performing a program of music that could very well have been heard by the ‘Founding Fathers of the Republic’ when they met in convention here in Philadelphia during the 18th century to draft the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. For more information, call 215-755-8776 or visit tempestadimare.org.
You can contact NOTEWORTHY at Michael-caruso@comcast.net.
