Music & Concerts

WMC’s ‘Comfort and Joy’ fuses drama, well-being, light

Soloist describes production as ‘reverent and beautiful’

Published

1 month ago

December 20, 2024

Opal Clyburn-Miller (Photo courtesy Clyburn-Miller)

‘Comfort and Joy’
Washington Master Chorale
Sunday, Dec. 22, 5 p.m.
Church of the Epiphany
1317 G St., N.W.
washingtonmasterchorale.org

With its warmth and unfettered imagination, it’s no surprise that the Washington Master Chorale’s enduringly popular winter program remains a holiday favorite.

This December the Washington Master Chorale (WMC), helmed by out artistic director Thomas Colohan presents “Comfort and Joy” a selection of British and American works like “Lute-Book Lullaby,” “I Saw Three Ships,” “Puer Natus” by Samuel Scheidt and “Hosanna to the Son of David” by Orlando Gibbons.

In addition to these Christmas classics, WMC will perform 2022 Florence Price Commission Winner Mason Bynes’s “Ephiphanytide” and Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Northern Lights,” the firsthand accounts of arctic explorers Charles Francis Hall and Fridtjof Nansen and their experiences surrounding the fabled aurora borealis.

Described as “reverent and beautiful” by “Northern Lights” tenor soloist Opal Clyburn-Miller, “Comfort and Joy” fuses drama and well-being, and the import of light.

And as an artist who uses they/them pronouns, Clyburn-Miller says where classical music is concerned, “it seems people are put in their boxes and that’s where they stay.” They add, “there’s been some progress. It’s pretty much a traditional art form.”

With regard to their career, Clyburn-Miller, the Baltimore based Peabody Conservatory student, says the work usually comes through word of mouth: “You show up, you’re a good colleague and people want to work with you again.”

The solo piece, according to Colohan, is perfect for Clyburn-Miller. The soloist says in response: “Maybe I have the imagination to think of what Northern Lights might look like in Eastern Europe. I’ve never been that far north but I can put myself in that sense of wonder and astonishment.”

But the gig hasn’t been entirely without its tests. The lyrics are in Latvian, a new language for the meticulous singer.

“It’s been a bit tricky getting the Latvian down,” they say. “Usually in my singing experience, it’s been German, Italian and French, and I’m familiar with Spanish and some Hungarian and Russian, but this is entirely new.”

A perfect chorale venue requires easy parking; good acoustics; a concert level Steinway, and an excellent organ; a sanctuary wide enough to accommodate a 50-person chorale; and audience friendly loos, says Colohan.

The Church of Epiphany meets most if not all of these requirements.

Raised Catholic in Richmond, Colohan came out at Ohio’s progressive Oberlin Conservatory. Around this time, he remembers visiting Washington for a music educator’s conference and partying at JR.’s, Badlands, and other bars. He says, “I saw that D.C. had a huge population of clean-cut gay boys. That journey which started with me being gay, prompted me to ask questions.”

As WMC artistic director since 2009, Colohan, who lives with his partner in Silver Spring, became increasingly interested in secular poetry and literature, especially the ways in which it intersects with chorale music. For him, that became the heart of the art form.

“My secular approach is wider than some. I’m like the curator of the museum going down to the basement to bring some stuff up. You cannot hear the music if we don’t sing it.”

He’s remained conservative as an aesthetic but not an ethos. “I can wear a blazer and not be crazy right wing. Spiritually speaking, I’m Zen Buddhist now.”

A lot of the concert is about darkness and light. Colohan says, “In ancient times when the world became darker, the days leading to the solstice were scary and then on the 22nd they saw that days were getting longer and it was lighter.”

“Comfort and Joy” closes with a candle lit chorale memorably singing “Silent Night.”

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Music & Concerts

Gay Men’s Chorus starting the year with a cabaret

‘Postcards’ to be performed at CAMP Rehoboth

Published

2 weeks ago

January 10, 2025

Tinashe Chingarande

The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington performs 'Postcards' in Rehoboth Beach, Del. on Jan. 18. (Photos courtesy of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington)

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will perform “Postcards,” a cabaret, on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5:00p.m. and 8:00p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth Elkins-Archibald Atrium.

In this performance, the choir will share hilarious and heart-warming stories and songs about the travel adventures they’ve had and hope to have. Songs include “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Streets of Dublin,” “Magic To Do,” “Home,” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased on Camp Rehoboth’s website.

Music & Concerts

Pianist Jeremy Denk to play George Mason

Soloist performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 alongside FSO

Published

2 months ago

November 16, 2024

Tinashe Chingarande

Pianist Jeremy Denk (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) and the Center for the Arts at George Mason University co-present Jeremy Denk — one of America’s foremost pianists—on Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. Denk joins the FSO as soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. The concert, conducted by FSO Music Director Christopher Zimmerman, also includes the regional premiere of “She Dreams of Flying” by American composer Quinn Mason, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Tickets are available through the Fairfax Symphony and the Center for the Arts: $65, $55, $40 and half-price for youth through grade 12 (service fees may apply).

A pre-performance discussion with Denk and Maestro Christopher Zimmerman, moderated by Mason Dewberry School of Music Professor John Healey, will take place in Monson Grand Tier, located on the third level of the Center for the Arts Lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.

Music & Concerts

Lana Del Rey, Katy Perry plan fall releases

A Fleetwood Mac live album, more Joni archives among vintage options

Published

4 months ago

September 13, 2024

Joey DiGuglielmo

Dolly Parton’s ‘Smoky Mountain DNA’ is slated for a Nov. 15 release. (Image courtesy Owepar Entertainment)

Paris Hilton released her “Infinite Icon” album on Sept. 6. It’s just the second effort following a massive hiatus — her debut album “Paris” was released way back in 2006. Sia produces. This summer’s “I’m Free” was the first single. A tour is planned. Hilton promised a “heavily gay-leaning release.”

Miranda Lambert’s “Postcards from Texas” is slated to drop today. Lambert’s 10th studio album was preceded by the May release of single “Wranglers,” which stalled in the lower 30s on country radio. Lambert calls the album a musical ode to her home state. She co-produces with Jon Randall and either wrote or co-wrote 10 of the project’s 14 cuts.

Katy Perry’s “143” is set for a Sept. 20 release. It will be her seventh studio album. Its title refers to what she says is her symbolic angel number. Perry is aiming for a dance party feel working with producers Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Stargate, Vaughn Oliver and Rocco Did It Again! The proceedings are not off to a strong start. First single “Woman’s World” stalled at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100. Follow-up “Lifetimes” failed to crack the Hot 100 at all.

Fleetwood Mac releases “Mirage Tour ’82” on Sept. 20. It includes six tracks previously unreleased including “Don’t Stop,” “Dreams,” “Never Going Back Again,” “Sara” and more. Available on double CD, triple vinyl and digitally.

Volume four of Joni Mitchell’s “Archives” series dubbed “The Asylum Years: 1976-1980” releases Oct. 4. It’s being offered in six-CD or four-LP (highlights) configurations. It will feature unreleased studio sessions, alternate versions, live recordings, rarities and a 36-page book with new photos and an extensive conversation between Mitchell and filmmaker/uberfan Cameron Crowe.

Sophie B. Hawkins releases her “Whaler Re-Emerging” album (a re-recording of her landmark 1994 album) on Oct. 15. Order through her site and the first 250 copies will be signed. Hawkins (who identifies as omnisexual) says it surpasses the original.

Joe Jonas’s “Music for People Who Believe in Love” and Shawn Mendes’s “Shawn” are both set for Oct. 18 releases. Jonas’s album (his first solo effort since 2011’s “Fastlife”) will feature songwriting he says is of a more personal nature. Billboard called it “unvarnished” but with a shimmery pop sound aglow with garage rock and alt-pop influences. First single “Work It Out” was released over the summer and failed to chart.

“Shawn” will be Mendes’s first album since 2020’s “Wonder,” the tour of which he cancelled citing mental health. Two singles — “Why Why Why” and “Isn’t That Enough” — have been released. The former stalled at no. 84 on the Hot 100. He has called the album his “most musically intimate and lyrically honest work to date.”

Lana Del Rey’s “Lasso” is expected for a possible fall release, although some sources say it’s been bumped to early 2025. No date had been announced as of yet. She’s apparently going the Beyonce route and releasing a straight-up country album.

Dolly Parton plans a Nov. 15 release for “Smoky Mountain DNA — Family, Faith & Fables.” Parton recruited family to help her on the 37 (!)-track collection, which will also encompass a four-part docuseries tracing Parton’s familial roots. One song (“A Rose Won’t Fix It”) is an outtake from the feverish writing sessions that led to her solid (but underrated) 1998 album “Hungry Again.” An extremely limited-edition triple vinyl release is also planned.

Release dates shift and many more releases will be announced later. Pitchfork keeps a great running tab at pitchfork.com/news/new-album-releases. Also check your local record store for Black Friday special editions available on Friday, Nov. 29. Release info was scant as of this writing.

(Joey DiGuglielmo was variously the Blade’s news and features editor from 2006-2020.)