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October 2021
Message from the President
Dear Friends,

We are now beginning to experience live music with in-person audiences for the first time in 18 months. There is something really special about being in a hall with fantastic musicians like George Li or Pretty Yende performing to enthusiastic audiences. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us and many of us have been pleased to see that the Schwartz Center is now requiring proof of vaccination at point of entry, in addition to their previous requirements of masking, etc. Even so, some readers may still feel uncomfortable in such settings, or may not be able to attend due to mobility limitations or distance. It goes without saying that the pandemic has been terrible in so many different ways. There have been, however, some beneficial side effects. I suspect that few of us were doing any video conferencing before the pandemic, although it was technically feasible. Now we can visit virtually with family and friends around the globe. Prior to the pandemic the opportunity to view musical performances was mainly limited to YouTube videos of uneven quality. Now there are opportunities to view well-produced virtual concerts.
 
Many concert venues have greatly upgraded their video and audio equipment to permit not only high quality streaming, but productions that are visually more engaging than a single camera view focused on the stage. Local options are detailed at the end of this newsletter. The ASO has been the leader in production values, but because of the high quality videos, offer only recorded concerts. ECMSA was certainly a leader in offering high quality live-streamed concerts, both from the Schwartz Center and First Presbyterian Church.
 
More use is beginning to be made this year of the live-streaming capabilities of the Schwartz Center. However, there are extra costs in providing livestreams. The equipment costs are high but are basically one-time costs. Producing the livestreams is not just a matter of pressing a button. It takes both skilled people to adjust video and sound, particularly if more than one camera angle is desired, and also software to generate the livestreams. This cost is particularly an issue for free concerts, such as our student performances. I have been advocating for production of as many livestreams of those concerts as possible and I wish that the Friends of Music had funds that we could use to provide financial help for these concerts, but we have not been able to fund all of the requests we have already received from music faculty. I have delayed sending this October newsletter in order to provide as much information as possible on upcoming concerts that will be livestreamed. At least two of the upcoming student concerts this month will be livestreamed (see below).
 
Below you will find information about three concerts later this month involving large student groups. There was some uncertainty before the beginning of this semester about how many students would be participating in the various student groups, but all the groups have robust numbers of performers: 104 in the orchestra, 44 in the wind ensemble, 42 in the concert choir, and 89 in the university chorus. Let the music begin!
 
I want to offer a special thanks to Will Ransom for his continuing support of the Friends of Music in so many ways. As you will read below, the October 30 ECMSA Concert is going to be a fundraiser for Friends of Music!

With best wishes,
Gray
ECMSA, Saturday, October 30, 8:00 pm
A Fundraiser for Friends of Music!
Will Ransom, Professor of Music and Artistic Director of ECMSA, is a great supporter of the Friends of Music, and this concert is a fundraiser for FoM. This should be a fun concert and a great way to support Friends of Music. Come and bring your friends!

ECMSA celebrates Beethoven’s Birthday a year late in a concert with Joe Gransden’s 17-piece Big Band. The program includes Beethoven’s finest Trio—the “Archduke”— and classic and original hits by Atlanta’s most rocking Big Band. With violinist Helen Kim and cellist Charae Kreuger.
 
Free tickets are required and may be obtained by clicking here.
EUSO, Saturday, October 23, 8:00 pm
From Paul Bhasin, Conductor:
 
This performance marks the EUSO’s return to the stage as a full symphony orchestra for the first time in 18 months. To mark the occasion, the performance will open with Mahler’s beautiful Adagietto from his Symphony No. 5. While the public health situation remains precarious, we dedicate this performance to the extraordinary efforts of the Emory community who helped to improve the lives of so many during this time – and who helped make our return to the stage possible. The program features Emory’s longtime clarinet faculty member, Laura Ardan, who has synchronized her Emory teaching with her work as Principal Clarinet with the ASO with great success for many years. Ardan will perform Finzi’s nimble and lyrical Bagatelles for clarinet and strings, followed by a recording with the EUSO of the work as part of the EUSO’s multi-year Centaur Records recording project. Lastly, we will perform the enormously popular 2nd Symphony by Sibelius, a work created on the coast of the Adriatic Sea and brimming with bucolic optimism.

 
General Admission tickets are required, but are free and may be obtained by clicking here.

(Note: The EUSO performance on 10/23 should be livestreamed and should be in the Arts Calendar before the concert. If you can’t find it at least a day or two before the concert, email friendsofmusic@emory.edu. Don’t wait until the day of the concert however, as we may miss your email.)
 
Looking forward:
 
Our November 20 program, shared with the EWE, includes Prokofiev’s 2nd Suite from Romeo & Juliet, one of the most ingeniously melodic works in the repertoire.
 
The EUSO will tour to Vienna, Austria, in December, performing with Prof. Bradley Howard on Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erder, as well as orchestral works by Copland, Theofanidis, and Gershwin. This tour is supported by the International and Study Abroad Programs office, and by the Department of Music. Many Friends of Music lesson scholarships students are participating.
 
Our March 3 performance will highlight *three* winners of the Emory Concerto Competition – two from the most recent one, and one from 2020, whose performance was canceled due to the pandemic. This “Night of Concertos” features the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations (cello), 1st Piano Concerto, and Brahms Violin Concerto. A real celebration of Emory’s finest talents.
EWE, Sunday, October 24, 4:00 pm
From Tyler Ehrlich, Conductor:

This concert is composed of the last set of repertoire we were working on in March 2020, so I am particularly excited to share it with an audience after a year and a half!

The program can be seen by clicking here. It is notable that the oldest piece was composed in 1984!

The concert is free, but registration is required and can be done on the Arts Calendar for the concert.

The concert will be livestreamed at this link:

EWE will be on the radio on October 17!:

The Atlanta Music Scene • WABE FM 90.1
Host: Robert Hubert
Producer: Tommy Joe Anderson
Sundays at 10 P.M. at FM 90.1 Over-the-air & LIVE STREAM at WABE.org
Tuesdays at 3 p.m. & Saturdays at 10 a.m. at 90.1-2 on WABE’s Classics Stream on your HD Radio, Internet Radio or online at WABE.org
 
October 17, 2021 – 10:00pm
Emory Wind Ensemble, Tyler Ehrlich, conductor
Michael Markowski: joyRIDE
Zach Stanton: Mountain Lake Photograph
Steven Stucky: Voyages (Guang Wang, cello soloist)
Sally Lamb McCune: High Water Rising
Gustav Holst: First Suite in E-Flat, Op. 28, No. 1
[Recorded at Emory University’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts 3/19/2019]
Program Time 58:16
Fall Choral Concert, Friday, October 29, 8:00 pm
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, we will have the opportunity to hear choral music at Emory, and in person! At the Fall Choral Concert, both the Concert Choir and University Chorus will perform. The program is quite varied in the pieces performed, but the importance of this new beginning seems to be announced with the first piece performed: The Trinity Te Deum by Ēriks Ešenvalds. The Trinity Te Deum is his re-imagining of the Anglican tradition of ceremonial music for a grand occasion, and with full chorus, three trumpets, three trombones, organ, piano, and percussion, what a grand beginning we will have!

The entire program can be seen by clicking here. The concert is free, but registration is required and can be done on the Arts Calendar for the concert. At this point, information about a livestream is not available.
ECMSA Masterclass with Joe Gransden
Saturday October 30, 10:00 am
This masterclass is another in the ECMSA series of masterclasses. It will be in the Schwartz Center Tharp Rehearsal Hall (north entrance) and is free with no tickets required. The class will also be available on Zoom. If you are interested in attending on Zoom, you can email friendsofmusic@emory.edu for the Zoom information. For this class, Joe Gransden will talk about his life as a modern Jazz musician.
Thank You to our Members!
A big Thank You to those who have already renewed your membership for the 2021-2022 year, and especially to those of you who have even increased your level of support or are new supporters! There is no way to thank you enough. It is absolutely true that your contributions are needed more than ever.

Much of our support for students and faculty is through grants to provide scholarships for students to help pay for required music fees, to help fund undergraduate research projects, and to provide enhancements for classes. You can see the grants we have awarded for this year by clicking here.

A special thanks to those of you who are sustaining members, either through payroll deduction, or a continuing contribution on your credit card. It is possible to make sustaining contributions on our giving page, but it is not straightforward. (See instructions below.)

 
Please Note: It is surprisingly difficult to generate a list of members who are current in their giving. We measure our giving year from the start of our annual campaign, which is usually in July of each year. Some members give through payroll deduction or give more than one gift per year (thank you to both!) and we want to make sure we correctly acknowledge the level of giving. We don't have a set format for how names are listed and depend on member's preference. Sometimes we make mistakes. Please let us know if you find any errors in the list of members above. You can just reply to this newsletter and we will be glad to correct any mistakes. The date that the list was updated is given at the bottom. Among other problems, we are finding that it can take several weeks for us to get news of gifts.


Become a Sustaining Member

Sustaining Members, those who make a continuing monthly donation, are very valuable for organizations, and convenient for donors. There are two ways in which one can become a Sustaining Member: through payroll deduction for Emory employees, or via credit card donations for others. If you would like to become a Sustaining Member via our online donation page, you can click here for instructions.

Thanks you for considering this option!
Virtual Music
Thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines, we are now able to attend many musical performances in person. However, some people are still hesitant to attend live events, even when COVID-19 safety protocols are in place. Given the virulence of some of the COVID-19 variants, such reluctance is understandable. In addition, the pandemic has demonstrated that with modern technology, it is possible to enjoy music virtually, either as it is performed live, or in video recordings. That makes it possible to "attend" performances that we could not otherwise hear.

During the pandemic, various venues invested heavily in equipment to do high quality recordings, and they are continuing to provide at least some livestream and recorded content. When it was not possible to have live audiences, the only way that musicians could connect with audiences was virtually. Now that music can be presented for live audiences, producing livestream and/or recorded content represents additional costs and so we will be able to virtually attend only some of the musical performances in Atlanta.

In the next articles I list what is currently known about music performances from Emory-associated sources. I include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra because it is the source of many of the artist affiliates in the Emory Music Department.

How best to view Virtual Concerts

One note about these performances: One generally accesses the programs via a computer. It is likely that many of us have been watching more movies at home during the pandemic, and it is generally preferable to watch those movies on our TVs rather than on some type of mobile device. Similarly, it is much preferable to watch virtual music programs on a large screen with good sound. The most reliable way to connect your device to a TV is via an HDMI cable (perhaps with an adapter) if both your device and the TV supports such a connection. Another method is to mirror your device screen onto your TV. There are many ways to do that. Clicking on this link will take you to an article that describes various ways to do that screen mirroring.
The Schwartz Center
The Schwartz Center is the hub of most musical performances at Emory. Emerson Hall in particular has greatly enhanced capabilities for livestreaming and recording. However, the decision on what performances will be livestreamed or recorded appears at this point to be made individually for each performance. Here is what I have been able to find out about some of the concert series in the Schwartz Center:

Candler Concert Series

The first two performances in the Candler Concert Series were livestreamed, and an email sent to subscribers stated: "Ticket holders who prefer not to attend this concert in person may watch the livestream by logging in to their box office account on the evening of the performance." That wording suggests that it will not be able to watch a recording of the concert at a later time. It is also not clear if that will be a possibility for later concerts in this series; it is possible that such a decision might be up to the particular artist.

Atlanta Master Chorale

It is great to contemplate the possibility of once again hearing choral music. Singing has been such a dangerous activity that there has been very little live choral music performed in the last 18 months, even in the absence of audiences. In addition to their in-person concerts at the Schwartz Center this year, the AMC has just announced that all ticket holders will have access to a livestream recording of the concert for seven days after the concert, and that it will also be possible to purchase livestream-only access to the concerts. Full details may be seen by clicking here. This represents a great way to view their performances if you are not able to attend in person, as well as supporting AMC.

Student Performances

It is not yet clear how many student performances will be livestreamed. As announced above, there are plans to livestream both the EUSO and EWE performances. I think it is likely that at least some other student performances will be livestreamed/recorded but it appears that there may be some cost constraints in making those decisions. I wish this was an area in which Friends of Music could offer some financial aid, but our finances are already stretched too thin. Note that all indoor performances by students will require registration or tickets in order to attend. Registration and tickets are free, but it is preferable to sign up or get tickets in advance rather than wait until the performance. You can register or get tickets on the Music at Emory Calendar.
ECMSA
I assume that all of our readers are familiar with ECMSA, whose artistic Director is Professor William Ransom. I am listing them separately because ECMSA has a variety of music series, only some of which are at the Schwartz Center. The full array of their concerts can be seen on the ECMSA website.

The Emerson Series is at the Schwartz Center. Free tickets are required. At this time, there are no plans for livestreaming of these performances.

The Cooke Noontime Series is at the Carlos Museum and free registration in advance is required to attend. There is no livestreaming of this series.

Most of the Family Series concerts are at the Carlos Museum. There is no livestreaming of these concerts.

The Bach's Lunch Series is part of the Concerts@First series held in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. There is a charge for these concerts, but the concerts are also livestreamed for no charge. Tickets are purchased through the Concerts@First website and livestreaming is available at that site as well.

A new series for this year is the Masterclass Series, which is an incredible gift for our students. These masterclasses feature outstanding musicians who will teach Emory students in these classes. Moreover, our members are invited to attend these masterclasses. The plan is also for these masterclasses to be livestreamed. The information needed to attend these masterclasses on Zoom is not available on the Music Calendar. Zoom information about the first of these masterclasses is given in this newsletter. Those who are on the ECMSA email list will receive the necessary information before each of the masterclasses.
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the ASO is performing for live audiences this fall. In addition to other safety precautions, they are requiring that all audience members be masked the entire time and fully vaccinated. These policies represent great leadership of the ASO organization.

The entire concert series is detailed on the ASO website. For last year, the ASO began a virtual "Behind the Curtain" series. That series was a stunning reimagining of what a virtual concert could be, with great sound and varied and close up camera work. Given that there could only be limited practice and performance time due to COVID protocols, the results were a great showcase of how fortunate we are to have the ASO musicians and leadership. Our Emory music students are also extremely fortunate, as many of our artist affiliates are members of the ASO.

Although the ASO is performing before audiences this year, they are fortunately continuing the "Behind the Curtain" series. The performances are not being livestreamed. Rather, the concerts will be released in monthly intervals and will "feature selections from the previous month's Delta Classical concerts." This process will give time for increased production values. Also, members and subscribers will be able to access the concerts throughout the ASO season. Those who are subscribers to an ASO concert series will have access to these virtual concerts. In addition, it is possible to purchase virtual memberships that will allow access to these concerts for just $99 for the year or $10/month.
Emory Friends of Music
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
1700 N. Decatur Rd, Suite 206
Atlanta, GA 30322