Maestro musings: Singing out the '08-'09 season and looking forward to next season

Younger than springtime, are you
Softer than starlight, are you,
Warmer than winds of June,
Are the gentle lips you gave me

South Pacific, Rodgers and Hammerstein





"O Passionate Voice," the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra's 2008-2009 Season Grand Finale concert on May 2 features three soul-stirring, transcendent and unforgettably melodic masterpieces: Symphonic Suite from South Pacific; Wagner's Tannhauser Overture; and Tchaikovsky's Symphony #5. This irresistibly "singable" program is the climactic conclusion to our popular Inspired by the Voice season.

South Pacific's heart-warming music could just as easily been included on next season's program, Inspired by Nature. This celebration of nature and it's intrinsic connection to music includes an all-Beethoven concert, Carmina Burana, and Vivaldi's Four Seasons.



In our 2009-2010 Inspired by Nature season you will hear some of our favorite guest artists who are returning by popular demand. Tenor Ta'u Pupu'a will be singing Mahler's Songs of the Earth and Carlos Rodriguez will dazzle you with Gershwin's toe-tapping Piano Concerto. The ASO also welcomes Washington National Opera's Elizabeth Bishop, violinist Leonid Sushansky, flutist Josue Casillas, and the husband-wife violin duo MarcOlivia,

I am also very excited to announce a dynamic new ASO series that will begin next season. Our popular Sunday afternoon concerts will include interactive demonstrations given by the musicians as well as exciting visuals and inter-arts collaborations. The style of these concerts will be more relaxed but the music-making will be as red-hot as ever.



Our natural world certainly continues to inspire contemporary composers like myself. My Haiku Suite: Three Nature Poems for Sakuhachi and Orchestra will premiere on March 14, 2010 in our “Songs of the Earth” Sunday concert. I wrote it after journeying through Asia and having been inspired by the overwhelming beauty of the countryside, mountains and seas.

See you at the concert!

Kim Allen Kluge
Music Director, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra

Maestro Musings from Kim Allen Kluge

Hosanna

Hey Sanna Sanna Sanna Hosanna

Hey Sanna Hosanna

Hey JC, JC won't you smile at me?

Sanna Hosanna

Hey Superstar

~ Rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber

Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Let perpetual light shine upon them, O Lord.

~ Requiem, Andrew Lloyd Webber

The Two Superstars

What do Andrew Lloyd Webber and superstar saxophonist Branford Marsalis have in common? They are both legendary “cross-over” artists. Webber’s inimitable style is evident in such disparate genres as his rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar and his liturgically-inspired Requiem. You can hear Webber’s Requiem on the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s March 8th O Lyric Voice program.

The ASO is excited to welcome back Branford Marsalis as the headliner for this special concert in our vocally inspired season. When you look at the program, you will see my name listed amongst the composers— I will be conducting, and the ASO will be performing my original composition, Vocalise for Branford Marsalis. I have long been inspired by Marsalis’ extraordinary versatility as an artist, and with Vocalise, I wanted to embody Marsalis’ natural and seamless blending of classical and jazz styles. This piece also strives to express Branford’s sophistication that is always accessible through his intensely melodic style. I wrote Vocalise as a tribute to Marsalis’ highly-charged mastery, sensitivity, and vocality. Upon receiving the score, Branford commented, “It really does sound like me! Way cool.”

Mr. Marsalis will also be performing vocally inspired works by Bach, Ibert and others. Ibert began studying the dramatic arts before turning to music. He believed that music was closely linked to the other arts, and it was simply part of a larger emotional response to all aspects of experience. He was a true “cross-over” artist long before the term was conceived!

The Metropolitan Chorus, the Heritage Signature Chorale, and soloists will be joining the ASO on March 8^th for our O Lyric Voice performance, and I will be sharing the podium with acclaimed conductors Barry Hemphill and Stanley Thurston.

With the talents of Branford Marsalis and the voices of our choral partners, O Lyric Voice is a true celebration of the power of lyricism—whether it be sax, symphony… or the voice itself.

See you at the concert!

Kim Allen Kluge

Music Director, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra

Maestro Musings from Kim Allen Kluge

In order to be a really good singer, you have to be an athlete. The way one breathes, the positions of standing, how the air flows in and out of the body. When you sing, you have to sing with your body. ~ Ta’u Pupu’a, former Baltimore Ravens pro football player
(Read the full ASO interview in the next post)

Ta’u Pupu’a, former Baltimore Raven pro football player and current acclaimed lyric tenor, will demonstrate his NFL-trained operatic singing apparatus on the upcoming Valentine’s Day Concerts of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, entitled O’Lovers’ Voice. 

I have had the privilege of working with world-class singers and am awed by them.  I am awed by the power of their voices and their ability to project them into vast spaces---and to do this without amplification!  I am awed by the absolute command over their vocal and breathing apparatus and the arduous physical training that is necessary to achieve such super-human things.  So the training that Ta’u Pupu’a received as a pro football player has prepared him well for the physical rigors and demands of his burgeoning career as an opera singer. 

Pupu’a’s golden tenor voice is perfectly suited to the ASO’s upcoming Valentine’s Day Concerts.   He will be joined by soprano Julie Rowling in two of the most beloved operatic love scenes--the love music from La Boheme and from Madama Butterfly. 

See the stars!
Ah, lovely night!
Thy perfect calm is breathing love
near and far!

Madama Butterfly

 

The two Puccini operas span different continents and cultures but share the composer’s unsurpassed ability to write ravishingly beautiful vocal and orchestral music that comes directly from the heart.

The first half of the concert is in collaboration with the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia and will be conducted by John Niles.   Pupu’a and Rowling will be joined by mezzo Leslie Mutchler and tenor Peter Burroughts in a historic regional premiere of Ravel’s The Spanish Hours.   This masterful romantic comedy, paired with the soaring sentiment of the Puccini love scenes will take an alternately humorous and moving look at love and romance.

I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day!  See you at the concert!

Kim Allen Kluge
Music Director-Alexandria Symphony Orchestra
www.alexsym.org

 

An Interview with Ta'u Pupu'a by Tara Conte, ASO Marketing and Box Office Manager

This weekend, I watched a play end in tragedy.

In fact, I saw a few plays that would have some diehards trying to hold back tears. My hometown Philadelphia Eagles lost the chance to go to the Super Bowl. Again. While certainly not as tragic as the plots of Shakespeare's Othello or Puccini's Madama Butterfly, there is something quite similar between sports and the performing arts. The drama, the emotional connection to the players, the standing ovations, the awe as the voice or football climbs, descends, and lands in the cradle of the music or the receiver's hands.

For former Baltimore Ravens player and current lyric tenor Ta’u Pupu’a, the connection between football and opera is immediate. “They’re really similar,” he tells me in phone interview. “In order to be a really good singer, you have to be an athlete. The way one breathes, the positions of standing, how the air flows in and out of the body. When you sing, you have to sing with your body. Being an athlete I was able to call upon my experience of playing football…Once I got into music, I knew exactly what to do, how to study, how to prepare myself. You prepare the role you’re going to sing before you tackle it.”

However, Pupu'a, whose favorite opera is Tosca, wasn't always a lover of the genre. In fact, he says, "opera didn't come into my life until two and half years ago." Born on the small Polynesian island of Tonga, Pupu'a had a passion for football (Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins) and music (R&B, rock). As the youngest of nine, his preferences were shaped by his brothers and sisters who listened to Kiss and Abba. His first introduction to classical music was in the church where his father was a preacher.

At an early age, Pupu'a moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and later attended Weber State University in Ogden. It was here that he was able to pursue a Bachelor of Music degree while on a football scholarship. The scholarship necessitated that football take center stage and Pupu'a kept his singing a secret from the other players. But when word got out about one of his performances, his fellow teammates attended and showed their support with a standing ovation.

It wasn’t only his voice that was showstopper. Pupu’a impressed Coach Bill Belichick (then with the Cleveland Browns) with his speed and strength. According to Pupu’a “Bill is known to pick underdogs…He’s a wonderful guy who takes care of his draft choices.” After stints with the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens, an injury made Pupu’a reconsider his career. He arrived in New York four years ago searching for a vocal teacher. When one took him in, “all of sudden,” Pupu’a says, “it just came. It was my calling.”

"Born to travel," Pupu'a now tours the country perfecting his craft. His recent roles include the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto for the Gateway Classical Music Society in Riverside, Connecticut; Cassio in Otello for Espresso Opera in New York City; and Maurizio in Adriania Lecouvreur for Opera in the Heights in Houston, Texas.

Now three years after his major role debut, what does Pupu'a think are the trends in opera? Movie theaters. He thinks organizations like the Metropolitan Opera that simulcast their performances at movie theaters across the country are "wonderful." Opening up price and geographic barriers, these presentations are "great because you pay 25 bucks, you have the front row, and you can sit there with your bag of popcorn." Does it get any better than friends, beautiful singers as tall as your house, and Milk Duds? (Want to experience the Met in your backyard? Theaters in Fairfax Town Center and Tysons Corner show live performances with one coming up Feb. 7).

This season will clearly be much brighter for Pupu’a than my Eagles. Falstaff at Julliard (he was accepted on a full scholarship), traveling to Italy for a month-long music festival in Tuscany, and performing at the prestigious Chautauqua Music Festival of Fine and Performing Arts in New York.

Touchdown.

Links of Interest

The Met at the Movies
Purchase tickets to "O' Lovers' Voice" featuring Ta'u Pupu'a

Do you hear what I hear....

...silver bells, the sighs of relief after realizing ALL the holiday lights work, the sloshing of warm apple cider in your favorite mug. We love the sounds of the holidays and hope you will join us for a few more this Sunday, December 14 at 3:30pm as the ASO presents its annual Children's Holiday Concert at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. The program includes favorite holiday sing-a-longs as well as Duke Ellington's jazz-band arrangement of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite. Afterward, receive your fill of holiday cheer and treats with a delicious reception. Tickets are $25 general admission and can be purchased online or via phone at 703-548-0885. This is one afternoon of holiday fun you won't have to travel over the river and through the woods for!