New Binghamton Philharmonic director charts ambitious course

EDITOR’s NOTE: Last fall, BAMirror began an occasional series of chats with recently appointed leaders of local arts organizations. Today we talk with the new executive director of the Binghamton Philharmonic.

By George Basler

Heidi Kelley knows this is a tough time to be the executive director of a symphony orchestra. She worked for a symphony orchestra in southwest Florida that ran into financial difficulties. She’s read about other orchestras, such as Honolulu and Syracuse, that have gone belly up because of money.  “In this industry, finances are a constant concern,” said Kelley, who became the Binghamton Philharmonic’s new executive director March 1 after working as executive director of the Abilene (Texas) Philharmonic. She succeeds Stephen Wilson, who is now executive director of the Fresno (California) Philharmonic.

United Cultural Fund grants total $228,000 for 2013

By Barb Van Atta

Broome County Arts Council Board Chairman Fred Xlander and Executive Director Sharon Ball today (March 13) announced the awarding of more than $228,000 in United Cultural Fund (UCF) grants for 2013. Seven arts and cultural organizations will share in $210,428 in UCF general operating support grants. Project grants totaling another $18,298 will be shared by 14 organizations and individual artists.

Clarinet soloist teams with BPO for concert filled with serenity and joy

Reviewed by Lee Shepherd

A funny thing happened at the Binghamton Philharmonic concert yesterday afternoon (Jan. 20). The clarinet soloist, Pascual Martinez Forteza, came out from behind the curtain at Binghamton University and almost turned left toward the woodwind section. He quickly turned right and took his rightful place in front of the orchestra, where he proved that the rarely-featured clarinet is indeed a very fine solo instrument.

Philharmonic names new executive director

Heidi Kelley has been named executive director of the Binghamton Philharmonic, succeeding Stephen Wilson. Kelley, appointed following what was described as “an extensive national search,” will join the Philharmonic on March 1. Currently she is executive director of the Abilene (Texas) Philharmonic.

Binghamton Philharmonic presents masterful performance

Reviewed by Tony Villecco
The Binghamton Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Jose-Luis Novo, executed a powerful and emotionally charged presentation of Giuseppe Verdi’s monumental Requiem Sunday afternoon (Nov. 11) at Binghamton University’s Anderson Center.

BAMirror team moves into the spotlight

BAMirror contributors will be walking the walk as well as talking the talk over the next couple of weekends. Three of our regular reviewers (Lee Shepherd, Julian Shepherd and Tony Villecco) and Broome County Arts Council Executive Director Sharon Ball are all donning their performance hats.

Villecco, a tenor, will be featured in Nov. 17 in “Basically Baroque,” billed as “an evening of rare and not so rare vocal and musical selections from the 17^th and 18^thcenturies. Also performing will be Jeffrey Wahl, recorder; Madeleine Iannone, harpsichord, and Emily Creo, bass continuo.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Unitarian Church 183 Riverside Drive, Binghamton.

Cost at the door: $10 (senior citizens and students, $8). Information: (607) 727-3894.

BPO classical season has stunning start

Reviewed by Lee Shepherd

Noah Bendix-Balgley has it all – tall and imposing, well-spoken, personable, a fine composer as well as superb violinist, and if Saturday’s performance (Oct. 6) with the Binghamton Philharmonic is any indication, on his way to a world-class career.
The full-house audience in Binghamton University’s Osterhout Concert Theatre had it all, too – a performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major played with incredible technical prowess and musicality, with back-up by a philharmonic that performs on par with orchestras that are the shining light of major cities across the U.S. and in world capitals.

New Binghamton Philharmonic director plans community outreach

EDITOR’s NOTE: This fall, BAMirror is chatting with recently appointed leaders of local arts organizations. Today we talk with the interim executive director of the Binghamton Philharmonic, which opens its 2012-2013 season this weekend (Saturday, Oct. 6).

By George Basler

Jon Mosbo is quick to list the many strengths of the Binghamton Philharmonic, now in its 57th year of serving music lovers across central New York.

Those attributes include the high quality of the orchestra for an area of this size, the strong artistic leadership of music director and conductor José Luis-Novo, the work of a committed board and the support of the community, the new interim executive director said.

BPO brings home the gold

Reviewed by Lee Shepherd

In the spirit of the upcoming London Olympics, the Binghamton Philharmonic flexed its muscles this season and, on Saturday night, it brought home the gold. Everyone in the Southern Tier’s music-going public is richer for the talent of the orchestra members and the outstanding soloists they’ve brought to the area.

Kim, Jokubaviciute dazzle at BPO chamber concert

Editor’s note: Julian Shepherd kindly wrote this review so that his wife, BAMirror reviewer Lee Shepherd, could attend a Madrigal Choir of Binghamton rehearsal.

Reviewed by Julian Shepherd

Soovin Kim and Ieva Jokubaviciute, two young but already internationally-known artists educated in the United States, presented a top-flight performance of violin and piano duets last Sunday (Feb. 19) at Binghamton University’s Anderson Center for the Arts. The concert was presented by the Binghamton Philharmonic.

Disturbing Shostakovich, delicious Beethoven lead another balanced BPO performance

Reviewed by Lee Shepherd

It’s not a tune you’d go home humming. World-class cellist Amit Peled declared his adversarial relationship with his cello in the grim five-note motif within the first bar of the work, creating a tension that soon rose to a shriek. Hysterics, grimness, angst — these are all adjectives that came to mind when listening to him perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Cello Concerto No. 1” with the Binghamton Philharmonic Sunday (Jan. 29) at Binghamton University’s Anderson Center.

Services today for BPO co-founder Marianne Wallenberg

Funeral services are this morning (Tuesday, Oct. 25) at Temple Concord, 9 Riverside Drive, Binghamton, for Marianne Wallenberg, who, with her husband, Fritz, founded the orchestra now known as the Binghamton Philharmonic. She died last Friday (Oct. 21) at the age of 98. Here’s a link to the Press & Sun-Bulletin obituary notice.

Philharmonic season off to an exhilarating start

Reviewed by Lee Shepherd

How lucky we are to have such a sonorous and competent orchestra. The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of José-Luis Novo, did itself proud Saturday evening (Oct. 1) with a performance of Niels Gade’s “In the Highlands,” Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488)” aand César Franck’s “Symphony in D Minor.”

Casual concert a hit on the ‘Rive Gauche du Chenango’

Reviewed by David L. Schriber

A brass quintet from the Binghamton Philharmonic played the first in a new series of “Casual Concerts on the River” Friday, Sept. 2, at the Peacemaker’s Stage on the Binghamton river walk. From Court Street to the stage, the promenade of the Chenango’s rive gauche (left bank) was comfortably filled with folks who took advantage of a beautiful evening to enjoy a delightful free, hour-long concert in a modern but elegant outdoor venue in the heart of downtown.

The quintet consisted of BPO second trumpet Ben Aldridge, third trumpet Joe Spena, tenor trombone Don Robertson and bass trombone Chris Mann (playing on short notice for an ailing tubaist), joined by horn player Ilze Brink-Button from Syracuse, who occasionally plays with the Philharmonic.

The first half of the program featured short classical pieces by Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), Viktor Ewald (1860-1935), and Charles Collier Jones (1957). Proving that classical instrumentalists play more than classical tunes, the group shifted in the second half to more popular fare:  George Gershwin’s second piano prelude (1926), “Under the Boardwalk” (1964), and “Laura” (1945). The music of quirky 20^th century American iconoclast Charles Ives was in evidence:  “On the Counter” (1920), “The Side Show” (1921), “Slow March” (1887 – Ives’ first composition, at age 12, a funeral march for a family pet) and “Slugging a Vampire” (1902, written for some lines of Rudyard Kipling). The Peacemaker’s Stage is more modern than a New England village gazebo, but the BPO brass managed to capture a little of the spirit of Norman Rockwell by ending with John Philip Sousa’s “Washington Post March” (1889, written for the newspaper of the same name).

Mayor Matt Ryan was quietly present, showing personal interest and pride in his city. The Binghamton Economic Development Office and its business and civic partners have scored another hit in the revitalization of downtown Binghamton. The Casual Concerts on the River, like the Collier Street Farmer’s Market Brown Bag Lunch concerts, which concluded their season earlier that same day, serve to showcase some of the myriad performing artists in a city which has become a center of art and culture in the region. It’s a chance for performers to be exposed to new audiences and for the public to broaden their artistic horizons. It also brings non-city residents like me downtown (twice in the same day) to become familiar and comfortable with the businesses and venues downtown Binghamton has to offer.

Like First Friday and the recently inaugurated BiziNight, Casual Concerts on the River reflects a growing spirit of new life and energy in downtown Binghamton. We look forward to next Friday’s casual concert (Sept. 9) with Binghamton University’s Crosbys.

Soovin Kim goes the distance with BPO

 Reviewed by David L. Schriber

American violinist Soovin Kim was featured soloist as the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra performed Antonín Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in A-minor, op. 53 on Saturday, April 2, at Binghamton University’s Anderson Center. It was a convincing demonstration of endurance in a composition uncharacteristically demanding of both bowing and fingering for long periods of time throughout its 32 minutes. One might expect it to be difficult toward the end of such a high-energy piece to play with a light and lilting touch, but that’s just what Kim delivered. Throughout the entire concerto, soloist and orchestra were well integrated, the solo violin seeming to rise smoothly out of the ensemble, the orchestra deferring to the virtuoso’s cadenza passages, then just as smoothly ramping up again. The performance was met with an enthusiastic standing ovation from the full house.