Category Archives: Pitman Reviews
John Pitman Review: Roots: Debut recording by violinist Randall Goosby
John interviews Randall Goosby, whose debut on the Decca label, “Roots,” was released this summer (and is being played on All Classical Portland regularly). The disc is an exploration of music written by Black composers and of composers inspired by Black American culture. Randall tells John Pitman about the importance and responsibility of bringing underrepresented… More
John Pitman Review: Kenji Bunch debuts “Lost Freedom” with George Takei
John Pitman, director of Music and Programming at All Classical Portland interviews Portland composer Kenji Bunch about an important world premiere happening a few states away, at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, on September 4. Inspired by the autobiographical accounts of the incarceration of United States citizens – Japanese-Americans, in World War II –… More
John Pitman Review: Conspirare’s The Singing Guitar
The Austin, Texas-based choir, Conspirare, give voice to poets and writers from across the spectrum of nationality and gender in their latest recording, The Singing Guitar. Founder and director, Craig Hella Johnson, commissioned new works from composers such as Reena Esmail, Nico Muhly, and Kile Smith that highlight the words of the Sufi poet Hafiz,… More
Dialogo: Debut by cellist John-Henry Crawford
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, cellist John-Henry Crawford has already made strides in the field of classical music, in one case as First Prize winner of the 2019 International Carlos Prieto Competition; and more recently with this debut release, Dialogo. Crawford chose the title after the unaccompanied cello work by Hungarian composer, György Ligeti. In it,… More
Balkan Guitarist Miloš Debuts New Guitar Concertos
Montenegro-born, and London-based classical guitarist Miloš, celebrates his 10th anniversary with the recording label Decca by releasing The Moon and the Forest, which includes two concertos written for him. Miloš (whose full name is Miloš Karadaglić), asked two composers as famous for their film music as for their concert works: Joby Talbot (who has residences… More
Simone Dinnerstein’s “An American Mosaic”
John’s latest conversation with American pianist Simone Dinnerstein on her second recording made at home during the pandemic: An American Mosaic. The title is for the multi-movement piece written for her by Richard Danielpour who, finding himself isolated during lockdown, found solace in Ms. Dinnerstein’s recordings. Each movement is a portrait of groups of people… More
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is “Uncovered”
Program Director John Pitman talks with violinist Karla Donehew Perez, of Catalyst Quartet, about the exciting new project they launched in January called “Uncovered”, focusing on underrepresented composers in classical music. Volume 1 sheds light on three beautiful works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), a British composer who was greatly admired by contemporary audiences, as well… More
John Pitman Review: “Babel” Speaks Clearly Through the Language of Music
Program Director John Pitman discusses the second release by the Calidore String Quartet, which contemplates the intersection of music and language. Violinist Estelle Choi, one of the four founding members of Calidore, shares how “the desire to explore the innate human drive for communication,” became the focus of their new recording. Choi describes the inspiration… More
John Pitman Review: Osvaldo Golijov on “Falling Out of Time”
John interviews composer Osvaldo Golijov about the new album that features the Silkroad Ensemble. Falling Out of Time, which was written for the ensemble by longtime collaborator/composer Osvaldo Golijov, is an 80-minute tone poem based on David Grossman’s novel about parental grief and loss. In John’s interview with the composer, Mr. Golijov likened it to… More
John Pitman Review: Miró Quartet complete their Beethoven cycle
The Miró Quartet, who visited Portland in February hosted by Chamber Music NW, is celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth with the release of the complete string quartets. They began around 2005 with the Opus 18 (Beethoven’s first published set), recording them at the same age the composer was when he wrote them, in other… More
