Sarah Hicks

America’s Maestro

5 May 2011

Inside the Classics

For those of you who missed it, here’s a link to the Fresh Air interview with James Levine that aired on NPR yesterday. Levine is the subject of a barrage of commemorative media, from the Met’s DVD set James Levine: Celebrating 40 Years at the...

Artful companions

2 May 2011

Inside the Classics

New data out from a recent NEA study has been making the papers lately , and the findings are illuminating, if not occasionally surprising. Of the 1.5 million Americans who attend an arts performance on any given day, less that 7 percent go alon...

The Best of Intentions

2 May 2011

Inside the Classics

Hey, you guys? Remember that Takemitsu trio I was talking about a while back? The super-complicated one with its own secret language, wildly complex rhythms, and crazy interplay between instruments that I have to be able to play by the middle ...

I’ve Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway

29 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

This spring has turned into a ridiculously busy one for me, and I may not have time to write as many new posts as usual for the next several weeks. But I don’t want to leave the blog bare, lest you all get out of the habit of coming here, so I’ll ...

Not-So-Ancient History

26 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

A few weeks ago, our orchestra librarians, in an effort to rid their cramped space on the third floor of Orchestra Hall of some needless clutter, decided to get rid of several stacks of old program books from decades past. (Don’t worry, they’ve st...

Rite of Sting

25 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

By some weird bit of scheduling and programming, I’m conducting all three of Stravinsky’s major ballets (and in chronological order, too!) between January and May; Firebird and Petrouchka with the North Carolina Symphony, and the Rite of Sp...

Risen

24 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

For those who celebrate it, Happy Easter! I grew up in the Quaker church, where we observed the holiday primarily by replacing the murmured “Good morning” that closed our mostly silent meetings for worship with a murmured “He is risen.” (Quakers d...

On Giving Up

22 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

I haven’t been posting much over the past few weeks, and a lot of what I have posted has either been flippant or purely informational . Which might seem odd, since the orchestra business has been chock full of big news lately. The orchestra I g...

Escape from Oz

20 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

The massive storm system that spawned several dozen tornadoes in North Carolina over the weekend and has been all over the news roared through downtown Raleigh at around 4 pm Saturday. I know, because I was there. I’d realized that there were...

Decoding the Page

20 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

The orchestra is off this week, but it’s anything but a vacation week for me – Sarah and I are hard at work on the next Inside the Classics script (and yes, I think I’ve figured out what to do about the cold open ,) I’m playing a couple of gi...

Tales of the Tornado

18 Apr 2011

North Carolina Symphony Blog

Saturday, April 16, 2011 was a day to remember, when a violent band of thunderstorms spawned dozens of tornadoes that raged across central North Carolina. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the 22 North Carolinians who l...

Enter Stage Right

15 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

Amid the latest gut-punching barrage of bad news for those of us who make our livings in the arts, I’m trying to stay focused and get some work done this morning on the relatively trifling matter of our next Inside the Classics concert , wh...

Interview with Sarah Hicks

14 Apr 2011

North Carolina Symphony

Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks talks with David Hartman about this week's Classical Series concert, including works by Ravel, Dohnanyi, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, plus a bit about Stravinsky's work with the Ballets Russes.

Your First Chance To Stalk Me

12 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

I just wanted to piggyback on Sam’s detailed post about my whereabouts this coming week. I think he hit all the high points, except that I’ll be staying in Saint Paul, so if you want to see what kind of Breakfast Sandwich I order, that’s the pla...

Your First Chance To Stalk Judd

12 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

I’ve mentioned this a couple of times over the last few weeks, but the big week is finally upon us, and I wanted to be sure to give you all plenty of notice that our MicroCommission composer, Judd Greenstein , as well as a mighty handful of his...

What to Know | April 14-16

11 Apr 2011

North Carolina Symphony Blog

What to know about this weekend's concerts: Once Upon a Time... We're telling tales this weekend: Mother Goose, nursery songs, Sleeping Beauty and Petrouchka, all in works by Ravel, Dohnanyi, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. Pianist Stewart ...

Ooooooo boy…

10 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

Where to start with this one…I first heard about the Roberto Minczuk/Brazil Symphony Orchestra scandal via Normal Lebrecht’s blog . In effect; Maestro Minczuk was to have re-auditioned the entire orchestra as an “evaluation process”. The 41 mem...

Oh, the Glamour.

8 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

I’m back home in Minneapolis after our midweek tour to points north and west of the Cities, with an unexpected free weekend stretching out in front of me. Traditional weekends so seldom happen for musicians that we tend to forget how to use th...

Gravity music

7 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

Amazing what a wooden ball, countless wooden blocks and a little gravity can do. (A Japanese cellphone ad) Japan was shaken by another major (7.1) tremblor today, inciting a tsunami scare, but all seems OK as of this afternoon. Our...

Here There Be Gnomes

6 Apr 2011

Inside the Classics

The orchestra’s on the road for a few days this week, playing concerts in Dawson and Brainerd, Minnesota, under the confident baton of assistant conductor Courtney Lewis . We make outstate trips like this on a pretty regular basis – we play sever...

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