Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and as we reflect on the past year, we are thankful for you, our community of listeners. There are only a few concerts to share with you this week, but they are all worth a look. I’ve also included a few pieces that I thought you would enjoy as you gather around the table on Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving!
Spotlight: Alexi Kenney and Amy Yang — Thursday, Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center
Alexi Kenney is a thrilling performer with technique for days. This young violinist is a musician to watch as he creates his own path as a thoughtful and innovative artist. In this recital he collaborates with the brilliant pianist Amy Yang, Director of Chamber Music and Piano Studies at Curtis, on a program of Robert and Clara Schumann, using a rare 1830 Viennese fortepiano. Come hear music of the Schumann’s in the way they would have heard it performed in their day.
Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m., Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $30; tickets and information.
Seo Jungmin — Sunday, Harold Prince Theater, Annenberg Center for the Arts
Seo Jungmin is a Korean artist and composer whose innovative approach to traditional Korean music has brought her international recognition. Inspired by a shamanic ceremony from the Jeolla-do region, Seo Jungmin combines her instrument, the gayageum (a Korean plucked zither with 25 strings), with multi-award-winning Korean Pansori singer Kim Yulhee and percussionist You Byoungwook for an intriguing evening titled “One, my Utopia!”
Nov. 24 at 7 p.m., Harold Prince Theater, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut Street, $46; tickets and information.
Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra — Dec. 1, Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Rosalind Erwin leads the young musicians of the PYAO in a program of mostly 20th century repertoire anchored by Copland’s iconic Appalachian Spring. There is an interesting juxtaposition with Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije (written only a decade earlier than Copland’s work) and Rossini’s Overture to William Tell to begin the afternoon.
Dec. 1 at 3 p.m., Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, $25-$35; tickets and information.
Whether you’re staying in or gathering with friends and family this Thanksgiving, here are some pieces to help set a mood of gratitude and thankfulness.
I always begin with "Simple Gifts," and love this arrangement with Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss:
And of course, Copland’s Appalachian Spring takes the Shaker tune and through a series of variations creates an iconic American work that expresses joy and gratitude and celebrates the pioneer spirit.
Randall Thompson’s setting of Robert Frost’s poetry is a wonderful evocation of rural life in New England. Both poet and composer call us to take the road less traveled, to keep our promises before we sleep and keep our minds upon something like a star.
Jay Unger wrote the “Ashokan Farewell” in 1982, but it certainly is easy to imagine it coming from an earlier time. Ken Burns thought so too, it is the only non-period piece in his film The Civil War (1990).
William Grant Still’s American Scenes were written in 1957 as a lesson in US geography through music. You should listen to the whole piece, but here is “Song of the Rivermen” from The Southwest to draw you in:
Let’s finish with the famous Thanksgiving children’s song “Over the river and through the woods,” written by Lydia Marie Child, one of the 19th century’s most influential American women writers, and inspired by her childhood visits to her grandparents:
Wishing all of you a very happy Thanksgiving from all of us at WRTI!
