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.

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 Pops concert a perfect musical combination

Reviewed by Rebecca Sheriff

Last Saturday’s (May 12) Binghamton Philharmonic Pops concert with guest artist Suzanne Vega brought together orchestral and singer/songwriter music fans to experience the versatility of both genres. Vega’s understated intensity was punctuated by the orchestral arrangements of Karl Berger and Gerry Leonard.

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.

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.

BPO, under Novo, teams with pianist Wosner for top-flight concert

Editor’s note: Julian Shepherd kindly wrote this review so that his wife, Lee, could attend a Madrigal Choir of Binghamton rehearsal. She was loathe to skip any rehearsals, with MCOB’s “Lessons and Carols” concert coming up on Thanksgiving weekend.

By Julian Shepherd

Maybe the reason for existence is what Charles Ives questioned in the The Unanswered Question, but the Binghamton Philharmonic provided one answer for us last Sunday (Nov. 6) at Binghamton University: great music performed with great skill and sensitivity. Accompanied by guest pianist Shai Wosner, the orchestra played a program of two well-known and beloved pieces by Beethoven and Schumann, introduced by the lesser-known work by Ives. The performance, in the Anderson Center’s Osterhout Concert Theater, was dedicated to the memory of Marianne Wallenberg, a long-time violinist, teacher and proponent of music in Binghamton. (Wallenberg and her husband, the late Fritz Wallenberg, founded the Binghamton Symphony, now the BPO.)

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.”

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.

Philharmonic, soloist Ehnes serve up a musical feast

Reviewed by Lee Shepherd

Fantastic soloist, fantastic orchestra, fantastic music — in the words of Binghamton Philharmonic Maestro José-Luis Novo, “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Actually, it did last Sunday (Jan. 23). Guest soloist James Ehnes played Mozart’s Violin Concerto No., 3, K. 216, in G Major on one of the best violins ever crafted – a Stradivarius. (Ehnes plays the “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715, on loan from the Fulton Collection.) While a quiet instrument, the violin possesses a color palette that puts a rainbow to shame.

Philharmonic, Jeans ‘n Classics ‘Bond’ with audience

Reviewed by Barb Van Atta

Double entendres. Derring-do. Dastardly seekers of world domination. All are trademarks of Bond, James Bond, movies.

And so is the music, both the instantly recognizable John Barry theme and the string of title tunes sung by the voice du jour.

Saturday night (Dec. 4), the Binghamton Philharmonic and Maestro Jose-Luis Novo transported their Pops Series audience from The Forum in Binghamton to a world tour of exotic Bond locales. We didn’t wear tuxes or quaff martinis, but we definitely were both shaken and stirred by the Pops’ third successful teaming with the Canadian artists of Jeans ‘n Classics. The folks who previously fronted Pops performances of Beatles and Elton John music offered a collection of Bond themes (and a few songs from the Austin Powers Bond spoofs) interspersed with emcee/pianist John Regan’s clever commentary. Regan’s remarks, a combination of Bond trivia and bonding with the audience, elicited a constant stream of chuckles (and an occasional guffaw) from his listeners.