Is it really summer? The generally sunny weather has yet to convince
me: My internal barometer—the ebb and flow of
concerts—insists it must still be March or some other busy month.
Until recently, classical, jazz, and avant gigs tapered off in late
May, as musicians left town to tour or take a break. Now the concert
season stretches through June, blurring and overlapping with summer
events and festivals.
The Seattle Symphony ends its season by premiering Aaron
Jay Kernis‘s third symphony, subtitled Symphony of
Meditations, on a double bill with The Planets by Gustav
Holst (Thurs–Sat June 25–27, Benaroya Hall). Kernis
remains too much of a stylistic magpie to predict what his symphony
will sound like, but the presence of a chorus and texts such as “Judge
me not, Lord, not in your anger” suggest that the Meditations will reach for the big, sky-punching statement—which is what
symphonies should do.
Of course, I adore The Planets. An amateur astrologer, Holst
(1874–1934) sought to portray the astrological traits of our
solar system’s planetary bodies: Presaging doom, “Mars, the Bringer of
War” thrums and rumbles while my two favorite movements, “Mercury, the
Winged Messenger” and the majestic “Jupiter, the Bringer of
Jollity,” tunefully unfurl a heraldic pageantry. For the Saturday
concert, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 supplants the Kernis. Stick
around for the free post-concert cupcakes.
Cellist Joshua Roman boldly wraps up his TownMusic season
with an “all premieres” concert (Thurs June 25, Town Hall, 7:30 pm,
$15/$18). Roman’s chamber group debut works by a slew of living
composers, including Chuck Krenner, Alexandra Gardner,
fellow cellist Stefan Freund, and Lisa Bielawa. Most of
the names are unfamiliar to me, which I take as a good sign. I’m hoping
Gardner’s “There is a reason why” for clarinet, violin, cello, and drum
set skirts the rote, often clumsy writing composers bring to drum kits.
I also look forward to Bielawa’s The Project of Collecting
Clouds, which has Roman recite a poem by Christian Hawkey as
part of the performance. A longtime member of the Philip Glass
Ensemble, Bielawa has a gift for shaping austere, vocal
incantations into arresting melodies.
Finally, don’t miss the Esoterics; this a cappella ensemble
revive the choral works of Romanian composer Paul
Constanti-nescu (Sat June 27, Holy Rosary Church, 8 pm and Sun June
28, St. Joseph Church, 3 pm, $10–$15). And amid the incoming tide
of festivals, add the Aronoff Chamber Music Series (Sun–Thurs June 28–July 2, Bastyr Chapel, see www.viola.com/aronoff for details)
to your calendar. Excellent musicians perform the usual suspects (Bach,
Mozart, Beethoven) along with cannily chosen, seldom-heard pieces by
Miklós Rózsa, Vincent Persichetti, and others. 
