One of the things I'm grateful for today is being able to attend Chamber Music Pittsburgh's presentation of all six of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. The concert, performed this past Monday, on modern instruments played by CMU faculty and students and soloists from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, was brilliant. Held in the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, the concert was well attended and, judging by the attention and applause the audience gave the musicians, much appreciated. I heard via a WQED broadcast with Jim Cunningham and two of the musicians, violist Kai Su and violinist Andrew Gray, that this would be the first time in decades that the concertos would be performed in their entirety in Pittsburgh. Three of the concertos were performed before intermission with the remaining three after the break. I must admit that I found it took me a while to really immerse myself in the music. It felt much like the same phenomenon I experience at one of Shakespeare's pla...
An Advent Window Walk Group Credit: Visit Fairfield County As far as Enrique Jiminez and Joseph Taylor know, no town in the U.S. other than Lancaster, Ohio organizes a resident-based Adventsfenster. The event, which kicks off on December 1, takes visitors past 24 houses in the historic district of charming downtown Lancaster. That’s when one of the 24 participating houses stages the first “window reveal.” As visitors assemble outside the house, lights go up, curtains are drawn or shutters open to reveal the holiday themed creation. “The homes involved are almost entirely historic from the Georgian, Victorian or Edwardian era,” Jiminez informed. Joseph Taylor and Enrique Jiminez with Advent Window Walk Placard Credit all photos: Bill Rockwell The i...