A Far Cry violinist Miki-Sophia Cloud, curator of the string ensemble’s upcoming Hearth program. Yoon S. Byun photograph
By Keith Powers
It’s no surprise that A Far Cry program entitled “Hearth” begins at home.
“I became a mother right before the pandemic,” says violinist Miki Cloud, longtime Crier and curator of this weekend’s upcoming repertoire. “I spent a lot of time, listening to music as we played together. When I made a list, I realized they were all by women of color. That really spoke to me, and in a sense this program is a love letter to the culture makers, often unsung, who are women of color.”
The performances of “Hearth” kick off March 16 in Brockton’s Fuller Craft Museum, and repeat March 18 in Jamaica Plain and March 19 at Longy. “Hearth” features half-a-dozen works from multiple traditions—“covering the gamut from old to newer ones,” Cloud says. Works by Montgomery, Santillan, Diabaté, Wu Man, Negrón, Esmail and Lanzilotti are included. Several of the pieces emerged from Kronos Quartet’s Fifty for the Future commissioning initiative, which promotes new works and makes the scores and parts available for free online.
The Criers have always been active, not only in the area but on tour. The self-conducted string collective, formed in 2007, has performed monthly not only in JP and at Longy, but in Jordan Hall, and in venues north and south, in New York, Washington, and elsewhere. It’s a strong collective commitment to audience building, and enthusiastically exploring and expanding the repertoire.
The concert on the 16th at the Fuller Craft Museum also involves a brewery—“more like a party, and less like church,” Cloud says. “We’re trying to build a community, and a different concert audience,” she says. “It’s an incredible space, more intimate, and this is a powerful program.”
The Criers, not quite ready for the downbeat: “More like a party, and less like church.” Yoon S. Byun photograph
Cloud spoke about Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté’s “Tegere Tulon,” one of the pieces that originated with the Kronos initiative. The work extends a Malian tradition of hand-clapping songs—a vernacular tradition that goes back generations, being revisited. For Cloud, all of the works she chose for the program have a similar spirit.
“The more I sat with these pieces,” she says, thinking as well about her own Asian heritage, “the more I acknowledged art and cultural work that has been rendered anonymous. Most of us carry this core, another kind of learning, an immense and rich culture. It’s an interesting journey, learning how to live with it.
“In a sense, Hearth evokes the many aspects of culture that are carried across generations,” Cloud says, “giving us a sense of home and purpose. There’s a fire on the hearth, and you have to keep giving to it. It’s a metaphor for the kind of work we do.”
This month the Criers are busy, as usual. Performances of “Hearth” in Brockton, JP and Cambridge this weekend are followed by “Glittering World,” with music by Ted Hearne and Juantio Becenti, at Jordan Hall March 31, and then an album release party April 2 in BUR’s CitySpace, for Mehmet Ali Sanlikol’s chamber opera A Gentleman of Istanbul.
Camerata, Arpeggione, Josefowicz, bluegrass: Chamber Music Events, March 16–20
Palaver Strings performs with bassist Kebra-Seyoun Charles, 2022 Sphinx Competition winner, on March 16 at Longy, then repeats the program twice on March 18 at the group’s home in Portland, ME. Sarasa Ensemble performs “All About My Mother” March 17 at Harvard-Epworth Church, March 18 at the Brattleboro Music Center and March 19 at Follen Community Church. Includes music for soprano (Ute Gfrerer) and strings: Locke, Dvorak, Mahler, Fa. Mendelssohn, Gershwin. Glissando Trio (Gorczyca, Popper-Keizer, Schepkin) comes to First Church in the Back Bay March 17 for R. Schumann, Brahms, Trapani and Beethoven.
Boston Camerata sings Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas March 18 at Longy. Anne Azéma heads the cast, with Tahanee Aluwihare and Luke Scott as the protagonists. Boston Festival of New Jewish Music presents a Derek David portrait on March 18 in MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, with members of Del Sol, clarinetist Andrew Friedman, and Verona Quartet. Miss St. Patrick’s Day? Tenor Joshua Collier and pianist Liya Nigmati perform Irish and Scottish ballads March 18 in St. John’s Church in Charlestown. Nightingale Vocal Ensemble presents Adrift, the story of “queer New Englander Emily Dickinson”—staged choral opera, using Dickinson’s poetry—March 18 and 19 at the BCA Plaza Black Box, a collaborative composition. Haven String Quartet sits with pianist Andrius Zlabys at the Arts in the Village concert series in Rehoboth March 18 (Fauré quintet, Walker “Lyric for Strings”).
Four harpsichords? No jokes about how you can finally hear them. Four esteemed keyboardists—Sykes, Fitch, Figg, McCroskey—tackle Bach concertos along with the Arpeggione Ensemble March 19 in the Gloucester Meetinghouse. Violinist Leila Josefowicz comes to the Gardner series March 19 for works by Szymanowski, Debussy, Stravinsky and Tüür. Brown County comes to West Roxbury: Commonwealth Chorale welcomes bluegrass quintet Monroe Crossing March 19 to the Church of the Holy Name for music of Carol Barnett (her bluegrass mass, A World Beloved) and Kevin Siegfried (Shaker arrangements). The marvelous Chameleons are programming Crumb, Mozart, Ravel and Stravinsky (piano four-handers, with Elizabeth Schumann and Mika Sasaki) March 19 at the Goethe-Institut.
On March 20 Longy presents Solidarity with Afghan Musicians, curated by Arson Fahim, at First Church Cambridge. Also on March 20, at St. Mary’s Chapel on the Boston College campus, Peter Watchorn presents Book 1 of Bach’s WTC. Thomas Schwan performs Book 2 March 30 at BC’s Gasson Hall. Plenty of Bach birthday concerts: First Lutheran Church hosts all-day Bach (begins 8:45 a.m.) March 25.
Blue Heron ends Ockeghem@600, Winsor, Prestini, Melemud, Bronfman: Chamber Music Events, March 25–April 4
After 13 concerts it comes to a close: Blue Heron finishes its Ockeghem@600 series March 25 at First Church Cambridge. Music for Viols and Friends—this time, Duo Maresienne, Carol Lewis and Olav Chris Henriksen—examines American tastes in 18th c. music March 24 at First Church Cambridge and again March 26 at the Somerville Museum. Boston Early Music Festival brings Chiaroscuro Quartet to Jordan Hall March 25: Beethoven, Schubert, Fe. Mendelssohn.
Winsor Music musicians perform premieres by Diels and Sanford, along with works by Satie, Stravinsky, N. Boulanger and Ravel, March 26 in Brookline. Sanford’s work, “Dearest One Thou Art My Star,” was a joint commission by Winsor and CoOS. The Benedetti-Elschenbroich-Grynyuk Trio comes to the Gardner March 26, with trios by Schubert and Tchaikovsky.
Pianist Mackenzie Melemed continues Rockport Music’s classical series March 26, with Bach, Bartok, Liszt, Scriabin and R. Schumann. King’s Chapel presents vocal music of Pinkham and others March 26. Borromeo String Quartet presents Haydn (74, 1) and Bartok (2) March 26 at NEC’s Burnes Hall. Arpeggione performs “Salon of Anna Amalia” at First Religious Society in Newburyport March 26. Late 18th c. music of Amalia, C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, with fortepianist Sylvia Berry.
Concerts at the Point in Westport Point hosts Frisson Ensemble March 26. It’s a Sunday afternoon concert: sneak over to Horseneck Beach for a stroll beforehand. Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra performs Bruch and Ensecu octets, and vibraphone music by (and with) Julian Loida, March 26 in South Yarmouth. The BSO presents a chamber program in North Adams March 26, music of Boccherini, Seilova and Schoenberg. MASS MoCa hosts soprano Helga Davis and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler workshopping Paolo Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea March 25.
Thoreau Duo (Susan Jensen, violin; Rebecca Thornblade, cello) performs Bach, Couperin, Handel, Haydn, Beethoven and Piazzolla March 27 at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in Newton.
The magnificent Yefim Bronfman plays Schubert, R. Schumann, Salonen and Chopin March 31 in the new Groton Hill Music Center, for the Concord Chamber Music Society’s gala. Arneis Quartet heads to First Church Boston March 31, for Soo Yeon Lyuh’s “Yessori” and Beethoven (Op. 130, with). A Far Cry hosts an album release party April 2 in BUR’s CitySpace for Mehmet Ali Sanlikol’s chamber opera A Gentleman of Istanbul.
Hub New Music gives a free program April 1 in East Cambridge’s Multicultural Arts Center, music of Negrón, Meyer, Liu. Part of the Celebrity Series’s Neighborhood Arts programs. Boston Children’s Chorus takes inspiration from anti-segregation activist Ruth Batson in a program at the Gardner Museum April 1.
Chameleon Arts Ensemble plays Debussy, Grime, Fauré, Clearfield and Fe. Mendelssohn April 1 and 2 at First Church in the Back Bay. Sphinx Virtuosi—25th anniversary—comes to the Gardner Museum April 2. The Needham Concert Society hosts an estimable piano quartet April 2 at Carter Memorial United Methodist Church.
First Monday at Jordan Hall continues with Ligeti (Trio for French Horn, William Purvis) and Schubert (D. 887, Borromeo) April 3. Joshua Bell and Daniil Trifonov come to Symphony Hall April 4 thanks to the Celebrity Series, performing a sonata program of Beethoven, Prokofiev and Franck.