Starting this June, CapRadio is bringing together music lovers with local musicians hit hard by the pandemic through our first-ever Summer Concert Series, a series of one-hour radio specials and video performances.
Here's a closer look at the artists performing in the series. Listen to the Summer Concert Series Fridays at noon starting June 18 on CapRadio Music 88.9 FM in Sacramento, 91.7 FM Groveland/Sonora, or 88.7 FM Sutter/Yuba City to hear performances and interviews with the artists. And subscribe to the CapRadio YouTube channel to see the videos of the performances as well!
June 18: Chevalier Quartet, with special guest Deborah Pittman:
Courtesy of Chevalier Quartet
Courtesy of Deborah PittmanThis performance features all black composers and piggybacks on an educational film project currently being produced that highlights the life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a Black man writing classical music in the 1700s. You will hear gorgeous music for strings from neglected black composers, spanning the last 200 years.
June 25: Carrie Hennessey, soprano; Taylor Thompson, tenor; Jennifer Reason, piano
Courtesy of Carrie Hennessey
Courtesy of Taylor ThompsonA beautiful juxtaposition of the old and the new, the young rising star and the established veteran performer. Poetry in motion with the powerful vocal lines of Schumann, Amy Beach and Puccini, familiar and comforting melodies from African American Art song, and contemporary text and music capturing the melancholy of history repeating itself through all of humanity.
July 2: Brennen Milton, clarinet; Carol Chueng, piano
Courtesy of Brennen Milton
Courtesy of Carol ChuengProgram to include selections from the traditional classical canon as well as living American and Japanese composers. Milton has twice been invited to Carnegie Hall, once as the winner of the Golden Classical Musical Awards, and will speak to that journey as a Black man. He will also talk about his second passion: designing clothes!
July 9: Sakurako Kanemitsu, piano; Erina Saito, piano
Courtesy of Sakurako Kanemitsu
Courtesy of Erina SaitoBoth women have chosen their programs as a testament to the violence against Asians occurring at this time, and against all forms of racial judgement. You will hear a variety of musical styles, and diversity in gender and ethnicity in the music, including a portrait of Joe Hishaishi- an elegant uplifting of the voice of an exceptional Asian artist. You will hear some excellent local music as well!
July 16: Dr. Beverly Wesner-Hoehn, harp; Elizabeth Coronata, flute
Courtesy of ArtistsTraveling from Las Vegas for the occasion, former Sacramento native Wesner-Hoehn and Sacramento Philharmonic flutist Coronata comprise the Spring Bloom Duo. They will celebrate the CapRadio Garden setting with a performance of Hovhaness’s Garden of Adonis in full. You will also hear a very special harp commissioned by the air force!
July 23: Ann Moss, soprano; Justin Ouellet, violin and guitar; Jennifer Reason, piano
Courtesy of Ann Moss
Courtesy of Justin OuelletAn eclectic program spanning from Grieg to Ricky Ian Gordon (of Met Opera fame) to Ouellet’s own music. The program is full of vignettes of the pandemic from the artist’s perspective: what challenged us, what inspired us, what we lost and what we learned- and what we will take forward into an uncertain future, with a sense of hope.
Correction: In a previous version of this article, Dr. Beverly Wesner-Hoehn was misspelled. It has since been corrected.