As 2016 winds down, I’ve been thinking about musical highlights of this past year. There were some interesting recordings released in 2016 (see the Sunday Baroque Holiday Gift List for a few of my favorites), and I had a chance to interview some renowned musicians including organist and conductor Ton Koopman and lutenist Ronn McFarlane, to name just two. As an audience member, I heard (and saw) members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra become animated in a way I’d never seen them before under the direction of Mr. Koopman, and heard violinist Daniel Hope featured in a gripping program of music by composers silenced by the Holocaust. As a flutist, I also had many gratifying performing opportunities in the past year, such as traveling to Guam to perform a chamber music recital with outstanding musicians there. These highlights were only a few of the many satisfying musical experiences I was fortunate enough to have in 2016, and they make me look forward with excitement to what’s next in the new year.
What about you? What were some of your musical highlights of 2016? Did you have a favorite recording you played over and over, or did you attend a concert that moved you in a way you can’t forget? Did you pick up a long-neglected musical instrument again, or maybe learn one for the first time? What is on your musical wish list for 2017?
For two years Sunday Baroque has enriched my Sunday mornings! Your program is both a listening and a learning experience. I purchased Geminiani’s Concerti Grossi performed by The Academy of Ancient Music and it has become one of my favorite recordings. Vivaldi remains my favorite composer and I look forward to new discoveries from his catalogue each week. I was very fortunate to hear Stile Antico give a free concert at St Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire just 30 minutes from where I live! Each year I attend the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s Winter Concert at The White Church in Grafton, Vermont performed by Counterpoint and their Brass Quintet. This year when I opened the program I was thrilled to discover that they would be singing Morten Lauridsen’s Magnum Mysterium! Although not from the Baroque canon, it is the most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard.
How wonderful!! Thank you and Happy New Year!
Best wishes for a New Year filled with Peace, Joy, Oboes, and Violins! Thank you for your wonderful program!
Thanks very much, and Happy New Year!
I love to hear this — what a wonderful list of favorites!