2022–2023 CANDLER CONCERT SERIES 404.727.5050 | schwartz.emory.edu This program is made possible by a generous gift from the late Flora Glenn Candler, a friend and patron of music at Emory University.
Photography by Bill Head
Music from Copland House featuring
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
A Standing Witness
Friday, September 23, 2022 at 8 p.m.
Total Tickets: 246
Students: 22 (11%)
Press: bit.ly/Witness-EarRelevant
The Atlanta premiere of A Standing Witness opened the 20th anniversary season of Emory University’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. This Candler Concert Series performance was a monumental collaboration between Grammy Award–winning composer Richard Danielpour and Pulitzer Prize–winning author and former US Poet Laureate Rita Dove, written especially for Susan Graham and Music from Copland House.
In addition to the concert, Professor Tameka Cage Conley (Emory at Oxford) moderated a virtual discussion with Composer Richard Danielpour and Copland House Artistic Director Michael Boriskin about the creation of this work and the process of working with poet Rita Dove*.
*Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove was the featured poet of Emory’s Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series in 2007 and 2016. Dove was also a featured speaker and guest during Women’s History Month events at Emory in 2011 and delivered the keynote address at Emory’s commencement in 2013, where she received an honorary doctor of letters degree.
Hélène Grimaud, piano
Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 8 p.m.
Total Tickets: 450
Students: 56 (12%)
Press: bit.ly/Grimaud-EarRelevant
In her return to the Schwartz Center, French pianist Hélène
Grimaud highlighted works by Claude Debussy, Frederic Chopin, and Erik Satie—which she had recorded on her 2018 album
Memory—alongside compositions by Valentin Silvestrov, Ukraine’s most famous living composer. At age 84, Silvestrov has been living as a refugee in Berlin, where he has become a musical spokesman for his country, now at war with Russia. Grimaud performed the first half as multiple movements of the same work.
The second half of the concert featured Robert Schumann’s early masterpiece Kreisleriana, written in 1838 when his compositions had become more experimental and complex. This was a period of tormented courtship with pianist Clara Wieck, who would become his wife, and the music reflected this, swinging violently and suddenly between agitation and lyrical calm, between dread and elation.
Maria Schneider Orchestra
Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 8 p.m.
World Premiere Commission
Total Tickets: 343
Students: 31 (9%)
Press: bit.ly/Schneider-AJC
bit.ly/Schneider-ArtsATL
NEA Jazz Master and Grammy Award–winner Maria Schneider led her 18-member big band orchestra in its Atlanta debut. The evening of lush and complex works included the world premiere of Schneider’s “American Crow,” commissioned as part of the Flora Glenn Candler Concert Series in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Schwartz Center.
Prior to the concert, Schneider held a workshop with Emory composition students to discuss her career, the challenges of coming up through the ranks as a female jazz composer, and to discuss and demonstrate her composition process.
Anne-Sophie Mutter and Mutter Virtuosi
Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Total Tickets: 658
Students: 100 (15%)
Press: bit.ly/Mutter-EarRelevant
Anne-Sophie Mutter and the 14-member Mutter Virtuosi took the stage for a celebratory concert that hailed 20 years from the opening month of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Mutter led the ensemble in an evening of music that included The Four Seasons by Vivaldi and the Atlanta premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Gran Cadenza—a virtuoso duo for two violins, written expressly for Mutter.
Leading up to the concert, Virtuosi members took over the SCPA Instagram account for a “20 questions for the 20th anniversary” journey through their day at Emory. The ensemble also held an invited rehearsal for music students prior to the concert.
Guests joined Emory President Greg Fenves, Donna and Marvin Schwartz, and SCPA Managing Director Rachael Brightwell for a celebratory toast following the evening’s concert.
West-Eastern Divan Ensemble
with Michael Barenboim, violinist and leader
Thursday, March 2, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Total Tickets: 320 Students: 10 (3%)
Press: bit.ly/Divan-AJT
Violinist Michael Barenboim founded the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble out of the full West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to spread the ideas of unity through music further. The ensemble brings together outstanding young Palestinian and Israeli musicians in a collaboration that supersedes national and cultural boundaries.
A master class was presented to engage with music department students who had rehearsal conflicts during the evening’s concert. Michael Barenboim worked with student violinists Louisa Ma, Chloe Nelson, and Yihoon Shin.
The concert program included Terzetto in C Major,op. 74, by Antonín Dvořák; Sonata (Duo) for Violin and Cello, M. 73, by Maurice Ravel; Trauermusik (Mourning Music) for Viola and Strings, by Paul Hindemith; and George Enescu’s String Octet, op. 7.
Michael Barenboim, violin; Mohamed Hiber, violin; David Strongin, violin; Samir Obaido, violin; Miriam Manasherov, viola; Sindy Mohamed, viola; Astrig Siranossian, violoncello; Assif Binness, violoncello
Chad Lawson, pianist and composer with Judy Kang, violin and Seth Parker Woods, cello Saturday, March 25, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Total Tickets: 306
Students: 26 (9%)
Press: bit.ly/Lawson-EarRelevant
With roots in classical and jazz, Chad Lawson is known for his bold interpretation of the classics, electronic loops, and atmospherics that resonate with electronic dance music fans and neo-classical traditionalists alike. For his Schwartz Center debut, Lawson was joined by acclaimed violinist Judy Kang (Lady Gaga, Ryuichi Sakamoto) and cellist Seth Parker Woods (Sting, Peter Gabriel). Bridging the gap between traditional and nontraditional audiences, the concert program featured variations on compositions ranging from Chopin to Billie Eilish, including works from his latest album, Breathe.
Lawson is the host and creator of the mental wellness podcast ‘Calm It Down’ (600k+ downloads). In a world full of noise, Chad’s meditative music invites us all to take a moment and reconnect with who we are. He makes music for the mind, body, and soul. In addition to the concert, Lawson hosted a 45-minute guided meditation with live music at 6 p.m. on the evening of the concert. A limited audience was invited and 50 guests attended.
“What a beautiful way to integrate learning and healing into art and performance. As the Director in Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center Office of Well-Being, I am inspired to look at everything we do through the lens of well-being, I was especially appreciative of Chad’s authentic and innovative way to lead the audience through experiencing music in this new light.”
-- Krystyna “Tina” Rastorguieva, MPH Director, Emory Office of Well-BeingAS WE SPEAK—Béla
Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, and Rakesh Chaurasia
Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Total Tickets: 716
Students: 16 (2%)
Press: bit.ly/Speak-ArtsATL
Beginning with the most creative exponent of the banjo in our time, Béla Fleck, this unique quartet also featured the legendary drummer Zakir Hussain; acclaimed virtuoso of the classical and bluegrass bass, Edgar Meyer; and the great Indian flutist Rakesh Chaurasia on the bansuri. With their decades of artistry and improvisation, the concert was a powerful four-way musical dialogue to close out the Schwartz Center’s 20th Anniversary season.
The group’s newst collaboration is As We Speak—an album that not only showcases the group’s breathtaking abilities as instrumentalists, but underscores the wide range of musical influences at their command. The group engaged the packed concert hall as they glided easily between the complexities of Indian rhythm.
With the concert sold out, an invited rehearsal was added for Emory music students, faculty, and staff to have the opportunity to experience the artists and ask questions about their work.
CANDLER DANCE EVENT
Urban Bush Women
Legacy + Lineage + Liberation
Thursday, October 20–Saturday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Total Tickets: 327
Students: 108 (33%)
Press: bit.ly/UBW-ArtsATL
In honor of Urban Bush Women’s vibrant history, Legacy + Lineage + Liberation celebrated the power of Women(+) in an evening of works transcending genres and amplifying the voices of Women(+) of color.
AUDIENCE TRENDS
The 2022–2023 season saw audiences returning to the Schwartz Center at a higher rate than the 2021–2022 season. In line with national trends, SCPA is experiencing the following:
• Attendance is climbing, but still along a bumpy path
• Increased price sensitivity from ticket buyers
• Last minute decision-making in event purchase/attendance (comparisons based on 7-concert series only)
Total tickets 2022–2023: 3,039
Total tickets 2021–2022: 2,104 (limited capacity due to COVID)
Total average pre-pandemic: 4,196 (2014–2019)
Average students 2022–2023: 9%
Average students 2021–2022: 15%
Total average pre-pandemic: 13%
20th anniversary Candler Concert Series ticket prices were set prior to the recent economic downturn. The upcoming 2023-2024 season ticket pricing reflects growing price sensitivity.
All photography by Bill Head or courtesy of Schwartz Center
EMORY STUDENT MUSICIANS Pre-Concert Performances
Tommy Parker, Ethan Lane, and Kevin Wu | April 20, 2023
Andrew Choi | September 23, 2022
Brigid May | February 2, 2023
Miyuka Yoshida | October 27, 2022
Andrew Choi | March 2, 2023
Brigid May | March 25, 2023