A summer of music, fun and social activity awaits Concert-goers

By John G. Funchion

The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, featuring a focus on the life and work of Virgil Thomson and a special fund raising gala staring acclaimed soprano Dawn Upshaw, kicked off its 68th season on June 20 with a performance by the internationally known chamber orchestra, Sejong. The initial program spanned three centuries of music, from Mozart to a new work by a young composer, Jay Greenberg. Pianist Robert Blocker, Dean of the Yale School of Music, accompanied the orchestra in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major. Established in 1995, Sejong has become a premier, conductor-less string orchestra, performing on major stages throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Renowned for its refreshing musical style, they have performed, among other places in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. They have released four albums including Sejong Plays Ewazen and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Also this summer at the Yale Summer Music School, The Virgil Thomson Project, which included a series of seminars and lectures that began on Tuesday, June 23, will run through July 1. J. D. McClatchy, poet and librettist, will give the final lecture. Thomson’s “Stabat Mater for Soprano and String Quartet will be performed on July 17, followed by “Four Portraits for Cello” on July 25, and ending with Simon Carrington and the Norfolk Choral Festival presenting the composer’s “Seven Choruses from Medea of Euripedes” on August 22. Of Thomson, festival director Paul Hawkshaw said, “It is really exciting to take a fresh look at the life and music of one of America’s musical giants through the eyes of a generation of brilliant young people, most of whom will be encountering him for the first time.” Born in Kansas City, Missouri on November 25, 1896, Thomson studied at Harvard before moving to Paris, where he worked with the great pedagogue, Nadia Boulanger. He was known to enjoy a collaborative relationship with Gertrude Stein and was on a first name basis with some of the icons of music and literature such as Igor Stravinsky, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Jean Cocteau and Eric Satie. An extremely prolific composer, he wrote operas, chamber music, piano music, film scores and symphonies. He is especially remembered for his vocal music and his views on setting the English language to music. With a focus on music for voice and the influence of Virgil Thompson, musicians from all over the world will also participate in the Norfolk New Music Workshop to be held on campus between June 21 and July 31. A gala fundraising event staring soprano Dawn Upshaw, accompanied by pianist Gilbert Kalish, will be held on August 8 at the Music Shed. Upshaw was the first vocal artist to receive the MacArthur five- year genius prize, and made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984. Her acclaimed performances on the opera stage include the great Mozart roles of Pamina, Ilia, Susanna and Despina and works by Stravinsky, Poulenc and Messiaen. Kalish is Leading Professor and Head of Performance Activities at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Another special event for the summer season will be a celebration on Sunday, July 12, commemorating patroness Ellen Battell-Stoeckel on the 70th anniversary of her death. There will be two concerts, one for children at 1 p.m. and one for everybody, featuring the Chamber Ensemble of the United States Coast Guard Band at 4 p.m. The afternoon will also include games for children, tours of White House and the annual open house/ice cream social. All events of the day, sponsored by the Battell Arts Foundation, are free and open to the public. Other artists included in this summer’s fare at the festival will be the popular Tokyo String Quartet, Keller Quartet returning from Budapest, Ying Quartet, and the Leschetsky Trio from Austria. Tenor James Taylor will appear again to sing a premiere performance of Ezra Laderman’s song cycle, “Jersey Rain.” This year’s roster of speakers includes New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini, J.D. McClatchy, radio host Martin Goldsmith, Philip Ying of the Ying Quartet and composer/blogger Greg Sandow. There will be two sessions of the Norfolk Listening Club under the direction of Jim Nelson, the festival’s general manager. In addition, the popular Norfolk Fellows’ Performance free concert series will be held each Thursday evening at 7:30 and Saturday mornings at 10. “In Context” talks will also be held free of charge each Wednesday evening at 7:30. Tickets for all events may be obtained at by calling 203-432-1966 or 542-3000.