Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/concert-4-2025-26/ Over an iced coffee on a hot summer morning in late August, Philharmonia Northwest Musical Director Michael Wheatley and I spoke about our mutual appreciation of "B-Sides"—the song on the second side of a vinyl record or cassette that didn't get as much
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/concert-1-2025-26/ How did you arrive here today? Perhaps by car, bus, or maybe you walked if you live close enough. But my question runs deeper: what conspired, over time, to allow you to sit in the lovely Shorecrest Performing Arts Center on a fall
Prelude: To Music In his seminal book, Musicking, the late musicologist Christopher Small suggested that music functions more like a verb—a process—and less like a noun. He coined the phrase “to music,” meaning that any activity involved in the presentation of music, from the composer who
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/hidden-gems/ A hidden gem usually refers to something that possesses charms that are not immediately apparent. Considering Seattle as an example, we might think of the hidden gems of our beautiful parks, great neighborhoods, or even the prolific cherry tree blossoms presently in bloom,
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/american-boulangerie/ Prelude What does it mean to be a great teacher? As an educator for over 25 years, this is a question I often ponder. While there are outcomes to evaluate and rubrics one could use, there may be no better metric to measure the
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/childrens-concert-24/ A Personal Prelude At the age of ten, my 5th-grade public school music teacher played Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf for our class and held up flash cards with the instrument associated with each character as it was played. I was enchanted and distinctly
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/origin-story/ Here we are at the beginning. Of Philharmonia Northwest’s 2024-25 Season, yes, but also at the start of Dr. Michael Wheatley’s tenure as Music Director. The title of today’s concert, “Origin Story,” alludes to these beginnings and to the origins of Maestro Wheatley’s
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/concert-5-legacy/ Legacy often refers to that which is passed from one generation to another. In music, we may think of legacy in relationship to a style of composition that is given from teacher to teacher, or as a generational gift from past composers within
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/concert-4-symphonic-dances/ Two words that resonate in the music of today's concert are beauty and craft. The former is meant beyond the traditional concept of something pleasing to the eye and is used in this instance to incorporate the idea of stirring the intellect and
Concert info: https://philharmonianw.org/concert-2-kindred-spirits/ The great jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler released a record in 1969 entitled Music is the Healing Force of the Universe. Ayler’s music, inspired by the improvisatory traditions of jazz, blues, spirituals, and African chanting, brought forth a kind of sonic prayer that, when