SEATTLE SYMPHONY
IN THE NEWS
April 17, 2015
ANNOUNCEMENTS
We recently launched a new, co-branded and co-curated KING FM Seattle Symphony Channel with a 24-hour streaming marathon on March 29 featuring live recordings from the recent Sibelius festival. See reports of this on Seattle Vanguard and Memeteria by Tom May. This new ongoing aspect of our partnership with KING FM is going to help us expand our reach nationally and internationally. The stream will continue to provide a variety of symphonic repertoire, infused with our point of view and conversations with our musicians and guest artists. Aside from the unique Sibelius 24-hour marathon, music used on the streaming channel will primarily be from commercially released recordings by the SSO and others. We’ll also have the opportunity for some of our interview and in-studio performance content to be served on demand. This channel is also available online through iHeartRadio, TuneIn, iTunes, or through the free KING FM smartphone app.
We have received overwhelming positive responses for the Sibelius Festival, here’s a look back in photos from the opening concert. The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, City Arts and Classical KING FM 98.1 previewed the festival, and KOMO Television ran an extended video feature covering the opening night. A feature, also ran in Finland’s largest newspaper, the Helsingin Sanomat. The Seattle Times reviewed all three weeks[week 1, week 2, week 3], and other excellent reviews came from national outlets across the country, including BachTrack and Classical Voice North America,which wrote:
“What remains lodged in the memory and heart…are the beauty of the Seattle Symphony’s playing, the depth and spiritual integrity of Dausgaard’s inquiry, and the rare privilege to appreciate Sibelius’ evolution as a composer and speaker of truth via the dedicated efforts of a single conductor and orchestra. The bravos were well-deserved.”
Musical America also published separate reviews two weeks in a row [week 2, week 3] [also available via the attached PDFs] stating:
“In what has become a trademark of this conductor’s Sibelius, a thrilling focus on momentum, on accumulated energy, swept the proceedings forward, even amid the score’s occasionally puzzling silences – above all in the long accelerando of the finale.”
We recently gave our final Potlatch Symphony community performance. The three-year Native Lands Project started with the desire to build cultural understanding and respect through music between the Seattle Symphony and tribal nations in the Puget Sound region. Audience members were encouraged to bring their own drums and join in song and dance led by Native artists. Photos are here.
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
We recently participated in the social media video challenge, showcasing Link Up: Seattle Symphony, in order to support efforts of Cultural Access Washington to reach local public officials.
One of our top Facebook posts this month featured a photo of the orchestra and standing ovation on opening night of our Sibelius Festival. The post reached 11,396 people and generated 765 likes, comments and shares, both on our page and the pages it was shared to.
Longest. Standing ovation. Ever. Our Sibelius Festival is off to a grand start – bravo to Maestro Dausgaard and the orchestra!
ADDITIONAL PRESS COVERAGE
Artist Spotlight: Simon Trp?eski at Benaroya Hall
Eric Jensen, KOMO News
March 3, 2015
Music in the Round: #71
Kalman Rubinson, Stereophile
March 11, 2015
Seattle Symphony shows dedication to the diverse community [PDF attached]
Kelly Huang, Seattle Chinese Times
March 12, 2015
The Seattle Symphony received a “rave” in The Seattle Times’ Rant & Rave section
Seattle Times Reader, The Seattle Times
March 13, 2015
Conductors and Critics on Contemporary Orchestral Music
William Robin, WQXR
March 23, 2015
Bradley Winterton, Taipei Times
March 26, 2015
London Symphony Orchestra
Tom Keogh,The Seattle Times
March 29, 2015
Inside the Mind of Mad Music Scientist Trimpin
Brangien Davis, Seattle Magazine
April 2015
Symphony, KING FM Partner on Streaming Channel
Queen Anne & Magnolia News
April 1, 2015
Sipping with the symphony—Nicole Brodeur visits a Seattle Symphony house concert
Nicole Brodeur, The Seattle Times
April 6, 2015
Hans Reul, BRF
April 8, 2016
Seattle Symphony to present mighty ‘Leningrad,’ dramatic Schnittke
Tom Keogh, The Seattle Times
April 10, 2015
The New York Times mentioned Ludovic Morlot among many other conductors who could be considered to lead the New York Philharmonic when Alan Gilbert steps down in 2017. Chief classical critic Anthony Tommasini described Ludovic as “an exciting and substantive musician. But he seems such a good fit for Seattle. Things are going so well for him and the orchestra and its audience.”
AND JUST FOR FUN…
In honor of The Seattle Times’ annual PEEPS contest, we created our own entry — Symphony No. 1 in Peep-flat Major. Other possible titles: Prokofiev’s Peeper & the Wolf, Chopin’s Peepano Concerto… We invited our social media followers to comment with their own “masterpeeps” titles and got dozens of hilarious responses. Check them out on our Facebook page!