Arild Remmereit

We started 2013 in conflict, and we ended the year in grief, processing two senseless deaths.

But in between, Rochester's music lovers witnessed great triumphs.

2013: A YEAR OF HIGHS

Farewell 2012!  From my vantage point as morning host and arts journalist at WXXI, it’s been a dramatic year for classical musicians in Rochester, New York.  First of all,

Thank you to Luna Galassini for filling in for me over my recent vacation.  I spent time with friends in Philadelphia, Princeton, and Bristol Harbor, and then had a week to get ready for winter, putting the garden to bed and sorting through a big basket of mittens and hats which now sits by the front door.  And rest!  I slept in every day!  Getting enough rest and being healthy is very important to me, and it was especially vital given the dramatic week that followed with the unexpected announcement that the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra wished to end its four-year contract with Music Director Arild Remmereit two years early. WXXI-FM listeners have expressed shock, anger, sadness, and hope that classical music lovers will work through this situation together to support our city’s great orchestra.  Our newsroom will keep you updated on the situation.

This week ushered in more bad weather across the country. 

You’ve probably heard the news.  In a comprehensive front page story published in Sunday’s Democrat and Chronicle, Stuart Low reported the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra may be facing an operating shortfall in excess of $700,000.  

But it could be much worse. 

I was preparing a Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra concert for broadcast the other day, and it struck me that the two works on the program had wildly differing sound wave patterns, even though they were recorded at the same levels.  This was interesting!

Here's a quiz.  See if you can tell which of these sound files is . . .

RPO IN THE NEWS

Former RPO Music Director Christopher Seaman is returning to Rochester the first week of March to conduct the RPO, mark his 70th birthday, and to celebrate the release of the RPO’s latest harmonia mundi recording, featuring Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A London Symphony and Serenade to Music.

Before we dive into 2012, let’s look back at memorable performances of the past year.

 You have your own list.   Here’s mine.

In the first book of a two-volume autobiography, Gunther Schuller: A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty (University of Rochester Press, 2011) Gunther Schuller reflects on his early influences.

Syracuse University officials fed a miracle pill to the city's dead Symphony, and they say that with love and care, it may revive soon.  Read the latest here.  Meanwhile, troubles began in Montreal, and New York City Opera