NJSO Season Opener
Principals as soloists
The guest conductor parade continues
Sunday, September 14, 2003
By John Hammel

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya (conductor), Kathleen Nester (piccolo), Anthony Newman (organ), Brennan Sweet (violin), Charles Baker (trombone). Jeffrey Cotton: Elegy to the Victims of September 11 for String Orchestra; Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F major, op. 50; Vivaldi: Piccolo Concerto in C major, R. 443. Ferdinand David: Concertino for Trombone and Orchestra in E-flat major, op. 4. Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony no. 3 in C minor, op. 78, "Organ." Prudential Hall, NJPAC, Newark.

That members of the NJSO ensemble can step forward and so easily take well deserved turns in the solo spotlight, proves that this orchestra must be considered as one that stands in the front ranks. All of the 'home-grown' soloists acquitted themselves with artistic aplomb. Clearly if time, politics, and the economic vicissitudes of life allowed, each could have a solo career of distinction and integrity.

This was also the first time I've heard the orchestra with its new complement of premier historical strings from the Axlerod purchase. The immediate question - "does it make a difference in the section's overall sound?" - receives a resounding, "yes!" Some have questioned whether the newsound is real or imagined; in other words, is this a placebo effect? I think not, but ultimately does it matter? The orchestra sounds vibrant, lush and alive with a good, strongly centered tone, coupled with an urgency that propels the music forward energetically. And it ripples out to all the other sections, which play masterfully with heightened tightness. I've never heard the orchestra play so well. So even if the effect of the 'Golden Age' instruments is purely psychological, it's an effect worth gaining.

A good part of the fine effect may be the result of conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya. He has star power and talent to burn. He looks good on the podium, and I don't just mean he cuts a handsome figure. He projects a sense of command. His body english and movements sway in time to the music and communicate to the players as much as his baton does. His beat is refined and sure. He times inner and outer beats as effectively as anyone I've ever seen and better than most. The most important factor throughout the concert was that the orchestra responded in kind to whatever he was asking of them. At times the relationship seemed to border on the telepathic. All on stage seemed to move as one, creating an atmosphere of pure music-making which allowed the listener to be absorbed in the totality of the aural experience. Jeffrey Cotton, although born in San Fernando, California, is now a Jersey City-based composer. Living there he was so strongly affected by the attacks of September 11, 2001, (his office was literally across the street and will never be re-opened), that he felt compelled to write an elegy for the victims of that tragic event. We were grateful that what he had written was a sweetly evocative balm for our spirits, richly tonal and lushly harmonic. Some have called the work saccharine, a Hallmark Greeting Card of a composition. I call them boorish, cynical, hardhearted, and trendily (and boringly) post-modern.

I love the deconstructivist avant-garde as much as the next fellow. But I am fed up with the effete snobbism that is at the core of such closed-minded criticism these days. The piece was the epitome of pathos without over-sentimentality and offered an anodyne for pain rather than musical depictions of bombs bursting in air, or reminders for this orchestra of what its members saw with their own eyes, alone among the world's orchestras, on September 11 as they arrived for a morning rehearsal: the planes crashing into the towers and those edifices crashing to the ground. I applaud Mr. Cotton on his piece, his restraint, and his courage in the face of coldly academic 'purism'.

The work was more than effectively rendered by the strings of the NJSO and Mr. Harth-Bedoya. They exhibited a compellingly sensitive sense of dynamics and nuance to the overall emotional fabric of the work. Mr. Harth-Bedoya asked that there be no applause at the conclusion of the work and the audience graciously complied. After he left the stage however the audience broke out in murmured approbation. I heard numerous whisperings surrounding me, all voices telling their concert companions how touchingly beautiful the work had been.

Beethoven's Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F major is in the romantic mode of the milieu from which it sprang. Calm in mood, simply expressive, yet pushing soloists to high levels of technical and artistic musicianship for the period. Brennan Sweet, Associate Concertmaster, brought a dulcet tone to the work with firm intonation, full of lyricism and expression. His flexible use of vibrato was highly effective in the more evocative passages. Where he may have been less effective was in a certain heaviness in quickly bowed passages, which created a jarring effect when compared to his luscious legato playing. Maestro Harth-Bedoya shaped the music lovingly, utilizing very good pace, flow, and dynamics.

Kathleen Nester's reading of the Vivaldi Piccolo Concerto in C major was properly virtuosic. Her finesse and articulation, combined with tangible *legato in the gorgeous melody of the middle movement, were enough to bring down the house. And at the work's conclusion that is just what happened. As if that were not enough, principal cellist Jonathan Spitz rendered a finely nuanced obbligato during the third movement which perfectly complemented Ms. Nester's masterly verve, floridity and bravura birdlike technical displays. The orchestra's accompaniment was aptly suited and supportive.

Charles Baker, principal trombonist, was given his solo spotlight in Ferdinand David's Concertino for Trombone and Orchestra in E-flat major. Needless to say, Mr. Baker has a solid technique, and it was on full display in this otherwise meager opus which at the very most is but a showcase for a virtuoso artist. Balance between the orchestra and soloist was exceptional, allowing for careful delineation in the work's development sections. Mr. Baker deftly handled the fanfare and legato segments with strongly centered tones and finely spun out phrases. His trills at the work's conclusion were enough to elicit bravos from the appreciative audience.

Saint-Saëns "Organ" Symphony is easily the most played of his symphonic uvre. Although *divided by the composer into two parts, to all intents and purposes it contains the structural architecture of the classic four movement symphonic form. It is testament to the composer's talent and facility that the parts flow so seamlessly from the mysterious pianissimo opening in the strings to the darkly-hued thematic development in the middle sections on to the transforming nobility of the final "movement". The work, if rendered well, becomes a spiritually uplifting musical experience. Mr. Harth-Bedoya and the NJSO forces gave a solid, if un-Gallic, reading of the work. He allowed the work to speak for itself with controlled dynamics and wonderful shaping of the musical phrases. The softest pianissimos carried weight and the fortes could be hair-raising. When organist Anthony Newman made his entrance in the 'second movement', Mr. Harth-Bedoya balanced the strings to create a melting melodic effect. Whether *pizzicato or bowed, all of the string section's tones were fully warm and centered.

Part Two of the symphony opened with strongly driven impetus coupled with precision and color that was imbued with outstanding clarity. The thunderous chords at the organ entry were set up expertly by Mr. Harth-Bedoya and the orchestra and continued to build in intensity. Overall the ensemble was nearly perfect in the finale, culminating in excitingly superb fortes that left a sense of 'wow' throughout the auditorium. Bravos rang out and deservedly so.

It was disappointing that the names of the pianists who appeared in the finale of the Saint-Saëns symphony were not printed in the program. They turned out to be staff pianist Peggy De Armond and composer Joseph Turrin. Saint-Saëns' scoring calls for piano-four-hands, and they both played with aplomb and accomplishment but alas in anonymity.
__________
It has come to seem inevitable: when Mr. Cotton's short work had reached its approximate one-third point, a cell phone rang out! That keeps my personal scorecard at a rankingly perfect 100%. Since I began counting, every concert I have attended has been affected by these electronic interruptions. By now I would love to march down the aisle, grab the offending party by the scruff of the neck and toss him or her onto the street sans refund. This sort of cell phone and beeper madness has reached epidemic levels. There is literally no sacrosanct place where these modern accessories have not intruded. I have been to numerous concert halls, churches, social functions, and lectures. Always the incessant ringing or programmed musical tones cut through the reflection of the moment to alter and break the mood so fastidiously achieved. Artists, performers, lecturers, et al., have worked so hard at their craft that to have the mood so casually ruptured is unconscionable.
_____________________________

We suggest that the New Jersey legislature should enact the same cell-phone/beeper legislation which now forbids them to be turned on in theaters in New York City under penalty of law. Big fines result from infractions.
- Editor

 

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Bay-Atlantic Season Opener
Soloist to section player
In the wake of Isabel
Saturday, September 20, 2003
By Paul M. Somers

Bay-Atlantic Symphony, Jed Gaylin (conductor), Qing Li (violin). Beethoven: Leonore Overture no. 3; Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64; Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, op. 35. Guaracini PAC, Cumberland County College, Vineland.

There was something inadvertently apropos about Beethoven's Leonore Overture no. 3 which opened the Bay-Atlantic's September concert. It contains the famous off-stage trumpet calls typical of a rescue opera, and Cumberland County was still in need of rescue. When Eric Schweingruber came audibly closer at the second playing of the off-stage trumpet call, many were hoping that there would be a third call to herald the visible arrival of some power-and water-company workers. The audience was only about half full, if that. Executive Director Clarena M. Snyder confided later that it was quite difficult to see the small audience size and not show her disappointment.

Then she remembered that she herself had no electricity or water only two days after hurricane Isabel tore through, leaving flooding, trees and wires all over the roads, and even damaged houses. When I drove from Ocean City only the twenty or so miles over to Vineland, I noticed a specific demarcation, a place where devastation began. Though it was even worse further west, the trumpet call of a rescuer was a meaningful symbol in Cumberland County.

Of course, Baltimore, where conductor Jed Gaylin lives, took a direct hit. He had to leave his family there with no electricity or water only to go to a place with exactly the same problem. For those who arrived at the Guaracini Performing Arts Center, the concert was surely a happy highlight of an at times frightening week.

The Beethoven, in addition to being topical, was also vividly exciting in performance. The crescendo into the final triumphant coda was made all the more effective by beginning it with only two violins instead of the full section.

Qing Li's performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto was the audience (and reviewer's) favorite. Her playing was self-assured and brilliant. She has avoided the old curse of the orchestral musician (she is principal second violin with the Baltimore Symphony) by keeping her solo skills in top shape, not allowing herself to deteriorate into a strictly section player. The heroic aspect of romanticism was given full due as she carried off all the technical passages flawlessly. And it was gratifying to hear her lyrical sound displayed with such a large scope - from whispers to aggressive fortes.

After intermission, Mr. Gaylin spoke first. 'I found a violinist wandering in the hall and asked her if she could play well enough to join us. She said, Oh, yes.''

He waved his hand to the rear of the first violin section, and there was Qiang Li, no longer in her attractive soloist's gown but in standard concert black all ready to join in playing Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. The classiest players sometimes do that. Yo-Yo Ma has been known to join in if he likes the piece.

It is no wonder that Ms. Li wanted to play. Gaylin's care with color in the rich score was evident from the first full passage. Tempos were always just right, never overdriven or slack.

The woodwind solos were uniformly excellent. Particularly effective were the two quasi-cadenzas in the second movement, first for clarinet and second for bassoon. Both Christopher Di Santo and Ping Liang were at their very best with woody sounds, shape phrasing, and superb technique.

However, we must report that concertmaster Thomas Jackson, faced with all those violin solos - the very stuff of concertmasterdom - was inadequate to the occasion. It was particularly obvious not because of the presence of Qing Li - one expected her to be first-rate - but because of the high level of playing from the winds.

We hope things went better for him on Sunday afternoon in Pomona.

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OPINION

On not being stuck in one place
Slimming down

By Paul M. Somers

There is the typical wind band, and then there is something else again. I found that elusive something else in Paramus and once several years ago in Upper Montclair: the Ridgewood Concert Band.

Remember the high school or college band? What a life: marching through all the mud the football players had just created in the first half, practicing into the dusk to learn the various evolutions and patterns for the show so the band could do well at the next competition, getting ready for the big concert by learning all those transcriptions of orchestral pieces and playing the occasional piece actually composed for band, and having that piece sound like warmed over Copland. Above all, noticing that in high school the really good musicians were staying away from band since they were far too busy at Juilliard, Manhattan, or Mannes Preps. They were working on music - Beethoven, Brahms, and the real Copland.

It's a dilemma for wind ensembles today. They are looked upon as second class citizens since many potential audience members still think of them as purveyors of second-, even third- and fourth-rate music.

Dr. Christian Wilhjelm and the Ridgewood Concert Band do their best to break out of that preconception. Last season they gave a concert which could have been seen as a talisman for what is possible S had there been any interested band directors present. And it could have gone far to dispel the prejudice against bands among orchestra fans had they shown up. The audience which filled the Central Unitarian Church in Paramus last February came without pre-conceptions, for they mostly came to hear their friends play or because they recognized the quality of the program: Milhaud, Poulenc, and Stravinsky.

And then, there were those in an even smaller intelligentsia who came because the name Ron Levy was a magnet. Mr. Levy is one of the state's finest pianists, and each piece on the program featured him as soloist in one degree or another.

The first important lesson that Dr. Wilhjelm taught to those ready to learn was that a wind ensemble is not some inflexibly great unwieldy mass of players. The Ridgewood Concert Band on this occasion consisted of 27 players - rather similar to the full wind section of a full orchestra. They played with a lean and focused sound and, in Wilhjelm's hands with a degree of transparency one rarely associates with 'bands'.

The second lesson was that the literature opens up when a few strings are allowed their place. On this occasion Milhaud's incomparable La création du monde was admitted to the wind ensemble repertoire because a string quartet was admitted to the ensemble. For some bad folk that would be heresy, but you can't convince me of that. Since when is the ensemble's makeup more important than the literature it plays?

The performance was what we have come to expect from the Ridgewood players. Though officially amateur, they are an award-winning group at the national level and thus can get away with some of Dr. Wilhjelm's nervy choices (we remember well a Richard Strauss wind serenade a few years back). Mr. Levy was in fine musical shape. Though his part in the Milhaud work is only as part of the ensemble, at times he made his presence felt as the binding force in the music. But he also knew when to back off and be a color among others.

It was in Stravinsky's Piano Concerto that we heard Levy in his element. With all the mechanistic quality of the writing for winds and piano, it was his incredible accuracy which elevated the solo above the general wind sonorities. Even though melodic material is quite apparent it is the composer's intent to play with the colors available in the Swiss town band he found at hand in his refugee days after World War I. The piano solo was for him. So Levy played at being Stravinsky, supplying full and resounding chords in the slow movement and turning the wall-to-wall *passage work of the finale into music perhaps more meaningful than the usual dutiful plowing through.

The find of the afternoon was Francis Poulenc's Aubade for piano and 18 winds. This is quite an exquisite work, very much in the Poulenc style, which is to say witty but with depth hiding behind the facade. Again the piano played its part front and center. And again Levy was a partner with Wilhjelm as they and the musicians created a chamber performance which brought an unusual and little-heard work to the public.

The afternoon was a vision of what a wind ensemble concert can be. It was designed to be outside the usual parameters and thus held up its end of the contract with an audience: it gave us something to engage the mind and the spirit.

In this time of year when various music directors are beginning to plan next season, at least in their minds if not on paper, are there not some ideas which can be borrowed from this concert for bands and orchestras alike? Will an orchestra send the strings off stage and do something for winds - bring a wind ensemble experience to an orchestral audience? Will a band be willing to trim down for a chamber sound? Will a band be willing to bring on some strings as ensemble members for a piece or two in order to expand the repertoire?

It's the music that is sacred, not the configuration of the ensemble!

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Lyrica Season Opener
Debut of a chamber orchestra
Award-winner a hit
Sunday, September 21, 2003
By John Hammel

Lyrica Chamber Orchestra, Terry King, conductor, Kati Tuominen (violin), Bernard Phillips (flute), Laura Bossert (violin), Dongshok Shin (harpsichord). Antonio Vivaldi: Sinfonia "Alla Rustica"; Franz Schubert: Rondo for violin and strings; Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach: Sinfonia III; Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 BWV 1050. Presbyterian Church, Chatham Township.

Kati Tuominen is this year's recipient of Lyrica's Isabel Canepa honors. During her solo spotlight in Schubert's Rondo for violin and strings she amply displayed the talents that earned her that distinction: a sweetly dulcet *cantabile line with seamless *legato. She possesses wonderful "lift" to her bowing, thus stressing the textures of the music and propelling the musical line excitingly forward. The accuracy of her finger-work, whether drawing forth long held lines or trills, and her spot-on intonation allowed her music-making to maintain a thrilling sense of excitement. Playing from memory, she was able to immerse herself fully in the music and delivered a passionate but never overly impassioned reading. During intermission I overheard members of the audience commenting on her overall tone, praising her timbre as 'God-given.'

The youngish orchestra, which had already impressed with the concert-opening Sinfonia "Alla Rustica" by Vivaldi, immediately conveyed the gravitas of Schubert's romantic musical sensibility with strongly centered playing. Conductor Terry King controlled the push and pull of the musical shape with excellent use of *rubato. The ensemble supported the soloist by never obtruding, instead creating beautiful flow between the contrasting development sections.

In 16 years of musical presentations, this was Lyrica's first foray into works requiring an orchestra. The newly formed Lyrica Chamber Orchestra surprised many with their relatively youthful appearance. What could one expect from players so young? I must say that the choice of Vivaldi's aforementioned "Alla Rustica" Sinfonia, was dramatically appropriate and dispelled any doubts that may have strayed into a audience member's mind upon seeing the players come on stage. From the opening chords, I was struck by their first-class intonation and the tightness of the group. They provided a full, lush sound and very good forward momentum. Conductor King held the orchestra together superbly, enabling well-defined dynamics and a gracious sense of playfulness in the outer dance movements. Overall, this was precisely percolating and expert Vivaldi. Kudos to all.

And kudos to the acoustic of the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township. The ambiance attained was of total definition of sound, carrying well in any area of the church with absolutely no sense of muddiness whatsoever.

The concluding work in the first half was C.P.E. Bach's Sinfonia III. One of the sons of Johann Sebastian, he was actually held in higher esteem than his father, during his lifetime. His work was considered infinitely more original and daring for its time. His utilization of harmonies and, more importantly, his less restrained emotional involvement made his music celebrated. He was admired by the classicists who would follow him (Haydn considered him to be his primary influence).

The Lyrica Chamber Orchestra went off to the races right away, navigating the break-neck *tempos and stop start shifts of the *Allegro assai with deftness and wit. They evidenced no problems whatsoever with the dramatic minor key transitions and off-kilter phrasing that is a hallmark of C. P. E.'s style, showing themselves to be a fully capable orchestra under the sure hand of Mr. King. This was first rate music-making.

The harpsichordist for the afternoon was Dongsok Shin. Anyone who traverses the musical landscape in New Jersey or New York needs no introduction to Mr. Shin. He is a highly regarded player as well as musical director, engineer, producer, and editor of early music recordings. He also tunes and maintains harpsichords in the N. Y. area. I have had the extreme pleasure of hearing Mr. Shin's artistry on numerous occasions, and sure enough, his commitment and excellence were again amply in evidence in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. His fingering in the fast passage-work was expert and robust. Whether in rapid *scalar runs or employing thicker *chord voicings that would have pleased as iconoclastic a figure as jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, Mr. Shin was more than fine. He was terrific.

Bach's Brandenburgs, written to gain favor for a possible job opening, have became some of his most popular and enduring music. They have survived centuries of interpretation and formatting including the infamous Wendy Carlos synthesizer versions. Each one of the works is distinctly rich with characterful flavor and expression. The Fifth is the only one of the five which provides solo material for the harpsichord, while the violin and flute are given featured solos in other Brandenburgs as well.

Those parts were carried off with assurance by violinist, Laura Anne Bossert, a star in the New Jersey musical firmament, and Bernard Phillips, who is Director of Music at the Harlem School of the Arts and one of the premier members of Lyrica. The soloists carry the entire second movement and the majority of the last movement. All three conveyed the mood of the more reflective second movement although at times Mr. Phillips and Ms. Bossert tended to cover each other rather than achieve a richness of blending by giving way to each other. I felt this was due to their positioning. Ms. Bossert stood directly in front of Mr. Phillips thus obscuring sight lines to him and of course resulting in that covering. It would have behooved all three soloists to have been positioned one on each side of Mr. Shin's harpsichord rather than both being on audience left. Nevertheless these are fine performers and they performed more than adequately, bringing a high degree of accomplishment to this work.

The opening strains of the first movement by the orchestra were lusciously captivating and that mood was immediately picked up by the solo flute and violin. Ms. Bossert displayed a tone with more depth and less dazzle than Ms. Tuominen and easily established her fine sense of style and nuance. Mr. Phillips was in fine form in this movement and throughout the remainder of the piece, showing off a full arsenal of masterly trills, runs and sustained playing that even brought a welcome hint of woodiness to his tone at times. The orchestra for its part played well, if not exceptionally, in the first movement; there was only a slight sagging of pitch in the cellos to offset the fullness of the rest of the ensemble. Their entrance in the third movement's allegro section with its *gigue-like fugue culminated in an impressively rambunctious final episode that brought the Lyrica audience to its feet. This Brandenburg Fifth was a very good but not transforming interpretation, only marred by the soloists not imparting more of their own personality into the work. There was, however, very solid craftsmanship, not something to be taken lightly.

The real story of this afternoon though was the dazzling virtuosity of young Kati Tuominen and the high quality of the newly formed Lyrica Chamber Orchestra.

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COMMENTARY

On being a concert companion
What gains the interest of youngsters?

The following article excerpts were forwarded
to me via email by a Journal reader in Texas.
My comments are inserted. - Paul M. Somers (PMS)

Times Union (Albany, NY, Thursday, August 21, 2003)
By Joseph Dalton (JD)

A hand-held electronic device that could draw new audiences to classical concerts received its third test on Wednesday at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Known as the "Concert Companion," it was used during a dress rehearsal and concert performance of Stravinsky's Suite from The Firebird, by the Philadelphia Orchestra. The reactions were mixed.

Focus group participants were recruited from approximately 150 people who responded to an online survey, which was announced by the Times Union. Users were given the option of selecting from two different levels of data according to their interest and previous knowledge.

PMS: I'll bet that none of those levels was called "the score."

JD: Local music critics, given a demonstration during the morning rehearsal, generally found the gadget distracting and viewed some of its commentary, by musicologist Robert Winter, to be subjective.

PMS: So? What's the matter with subjectivity? Music is subjective at its deepest level. Anyway, isn't the thing a phrase-by-phrase annotator? Perhaps what was mean was 'opinionated'. In any case, all this gadget may do is teach the user that it's okay to read while listening, thereby allowing neither experience to be full, not a lesson I for one want taught.

JD: But one participant at the rehearsal was 12-year-old Andrew Wine of Greenfield, who said it helped him listen to the orchestra and made him want to hear the piece again.

PMS: Okay. But does he now want to listen to it sans Companion? or are the Companion and the poor child now in a symbiotic relationship? What are his parents doing? Do they not wish to participate in their own child's education? Do they prefer that he spend his time with the electronic Companion or with them? Give me good ol' "quality time" any time over an electronic device. I think that at some point in our child's development my wife and I had a lot to do with being an 24-year-old who is a concert-goer, surely more than an electronic Companion might have had. Another article sent along by our Texan states that 'S a series of independent studies reported in professional journals have debunked the 'Mozart effect' as illusory S But what experts now know about the phantom Mozart effect has hardly curtailed manufacturers' zeal for selling [various musical programs] to those who want their children to become whiz kids."

PMS: 1) There is no escaping the brightness of kids raised around music at an early age; I see it all the time. But my suspicion is that it is not a mere Cause = Music, Effect = Brainpower. I think that those young synapses are snapping into position so readily because there is an environment of acceptance and understanding surrounding the music experience. The infant/toddler not only absorbs the music but does so in depth because it is the thing to do with his or her set of parents. It is the combination of influences which leads to what is called the Mozart Effect.

I'd like to know who bankrolled the 'studies'. Could they have been funded by an organization acting as a blind for some arm of the pop-music culture? Certain TV stations run periodic stories "debunking" alternative medicine practices. These are 'encouraged' by pharmaceutical companies through quid pro quo advertising contracts: we'll advertise more if you knock non-drug medicine a few times per month.

So it could be here: any threat to the hegemony of the 'MTV culture' over our kids has to be met. And a "study" suggesting that the Mozart Effect is "illusory" is worth a lot to that mega-industry.

It is worth retelling in print a tale I have often told to groups. After playing harpsichord for a wedding at Kirkpatrick Chapel on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, a tall blond fellow with a ponytail approached me and asked if he might try the instrument. He sat down and played some Bach very well indeed. We got to talking about his career and he revealed a strong academic and performance background.

'So, what are you doing now?' I asked.

'I'm the keyboardist for Bon Jovi,' he responded.

As we continued to chat he revealed that he had been interviewed for an MTV-style show. When asked by the interviewer what he likes to play when he's not working with Bon Jovi, he answered by turning to a keyboard and playing a Mozart piano sonata movement. The interviewer was quite put out, and that part of the interview was cut.

In other words, America's kids were deprived of the knowledge that a rock player loved to play Mozart. It might 'corrupt' the monolithic pop-culture's hold on kids to know that something outside that world is worth knowing and playing.

Both the Companion and Mozart stories fail to take into account the effect of the things that teen and post-teen culture hold in high regard. After hearing the performance by sixteen-year-old violinist Sandra Wolf-Meei Cameron (playing Mendelssohn) at Maryland's Garrett Lakes Arts Festival (reviewed in the vol. 4, no. 2), a young person in attendance who was at one of his first - if not the actual first - classical concert came away impressed: 'She was so intense and involved.'

This is a reaction I have heard again and again from middle- and highschool kids when exposed to classical music live. 'Man, is this intense!'

They couldn't care a fig about a Concert Companion telling them that a chaconne is in progress or that Schubert was a cross-dresser or whatever the thing is telling them. They want to be riveted by something they can grasp as intense and involving in and of itself. For the kids I have seen in such situations it is quite often a young performer who sweeps them into the experience - a really good youth orchestra, a Lang Lang, or a Hilary Hahn. Or now Ms. Cameron, who is like an in-tune Nadja. Purists may come to hate her quite busy (but unaffected) body english, but she and others with like intensity are an effective gateway for that younger generation everyone so worries about.

I'm not sure how intense the Companion is. Gadgetry is, in the long run, just that. If it has a value beyond gadgetry, it will become evident as the mills of the free market economy grind swiftly and the mills of cultural history grind slowly but far more finely.

___________________

One of our copy editors (BAS) appended a hand-written note to PMS at the
bottom of the page:

BAS: Have you ever use one of these? It seems not.

PMS: No, though I'd like to see one.

BAS: But your apparent distaste for it would be more convincing if you had.

PMS: Perhaps, but my distaste is philosphical, based primarily on the fact that is meant to run concurrently with the music. It is not like program notes, which should be read ahead of time or afterward. It is a distraction, no matter how well-meaning, from the real business of a concert: listening.

BAS: A first-time concert-goer found it instructive.

PMS: I don't doubt it. In fact it had better be instructive! But being instructive during a piece is quite different from being instructive before
or after.

BAS: More experienced concert-goers needed it like a hole in the head.

PMS: Will the presence of a Companion encourage people to attend a live concert? If so, why?

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden film score
Fishing in Snow and Stars and Stripes
Friday, September 26, 2003
By Paul Somers

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Chen Xie-yang (conductor), Tian Jiang (piano). Wang Xilin: Night of the Torch Festival; Rossini: Overture to William Tell; Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 23 in A major, K. 448; (Tan Dun?): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for piano and orchestra (arr. Calandrelli); Zhu Jian-er: Symphony no. 10, op. 42 (1998); Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor. Wilkins Theatre, Kean University, Union.

Without a doubt the most striking work played by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was Zhu Jian-er's Symphony no. 10. It was a fantasy on traditional Chinese instruments and music which was expressionist it its language and even in its intent. There was no attempt to imitate the sounds which emanated from the speaker system as it played a prepared tape which was an integral part of the symphony. This was a compositional component which involved a vocalist/actor using the typical extended voice range of Chinese narration accompanied by both traditional and very modern sounds from ancient instruments, mostly it seemed the *pipa and the *zheng.

The programmatic work seemed to depict more than the poem it names, Fishing in Snow, (here in the rhyming translation included in the program):

From hill to hill no bird in flight
From path to path no man in sight.
A straw-cloaked man in a boat - lo!
Fishing on river cold with snow.

The program notes remarked upon the life of poet Liu Zong-Yuan (773-819) which was filled with years of exile. More than the bleakness of the poetic vision, Zhu's score seemed to capture the bitterness of Liu's exile experience. Filled with dissonances, with the voice of tradition - of home, if you will - coming from speakers rather from the living voice of the orchestra, the score spoke of harshness and of alienation.

The composer plays with the recorded sounds of the traditional instruments and voice, evoking them in distorted manner in the orchestra like half-forgotten memories of the real thing. At the conclusion, conductor Chen Xie-Yang gave the operator of the recorded sounds a solo bow from his seat behind the violas.

The score is filled with indeterminate sections in which the strings (and perhaps others as well) play given pitches but in a random manner. In other places in the score specific dissonances are strong and very well conceived with voicings which are quite purposeful in effect.

The other most striking works were the two encores. A Serenata for strings alone came closest to traditional Chinese instruments in sound as the violins imitated with great success the haunting *portamento-filled *erhu. The piece was a great favorite with the large number of Chinese who attended the concert. At mention of the title in Chinese, there was an appreciative murmur. But the other striking work was Sousa's good ol' Stars and Stripes Forever. Conductor Chen, in bringing an American favorite to America, has actually thought about the piece more than an American conductor would. He clearly spent time with it so it became something more than a crowd-pleasing piece to thoughtlessly run through. Inner voices counted for something, trombone lines worked as countermelodies, and all lines had shape. So that's what it's supposed to sound like! Westfield Symphony Orchestra conductor David Wroe, himself from the United Kingdom, was in the audience and expressed great pleasure at hearing the piece played with real attention.

What the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra no doubt planned as its big deal piece was listed as: 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for piano and orchestra Arr. Calandrelli.' Pianist Tian Jiang (a Juilliard graduate and internationally experienced soloist) certainly played all the virtuosic overlay, filled with spicy dissonances and various *obbligato licks, with energy and commitment. And the orchestra gave great scope to the at times saccharine underpinning. It sounded like an average film score for an average movie with a virtuoso piano part superimposed - rather bland and certainly pointless, especially when Zhu's gripping Symphony followed. But what was really peculiar was that it had nothing which bore any resemblance to Tan Dun's Oscar-winning film score with its remarkable and evocative cello solo by Yo Yo Ma. In that film all the martial arts sequences were accompanied by crisply effective percussion writing often including the clacking of sticks. And all the rest of the film was filled with the composer's mix of western moods with the Chinese ethos. Ma's long-limbed solos were often tangibly influenced by the erhu, and the viewer was pulled into a grandly mythic space.

Not one second of the piece played on Friday held that vision. So what it has to do with the first-rate film or its score is a mystery.

Far more fun was the multi-metric Night of the Torch Festival by Wang Xilin. It made for a great concert opener as it danced along in a sort of China-meets-showbiz-Bernstein manner. This is the kind of piece which many American orchestras should consider picking up to add an accessible Pacific-Rim component to their pops programming.

The European works were all idiomatically played. Mozart was Mozart, and pianist Tian Jiang produced the essence of the style. His *pianissimos were mere whispers but not wraith-like, and phrases all had shape and direction. The orchestra, too, played cleanly with crisp definition in detached passages.

In Rossini's Overture to William Tell the opening cello quintet was rich, the principal cellist completely at home and secure in the upper reaches of *thumb positions. The english horn and flute soloists of the 'pastorale' section were at the highest level, and the final march with its brass fanfares was supported by the strings with their super-fast single-bowed passage played with the precision of one person. Only the storm, far too tame for my taste, disappointed. But it must be admitted that Wilkins Theatre stage tended to mask the trombones' sound all evening. Perhaps in a different hall the storm would have bowled me over.

Borodin's 'Polvtsian Dances' from Prince Igor closed the concert with a zippy performance, which also showed off the strong lyrical bent of the ensemble.

The concert was scheduled for 7:30 pm, but at 7:00 we were informed that the orchestra's plane from Detroit had not as yet even landed at Newark. Somewhere about 8:15 the buses arrived with police escort, and the concert finally got underway at 8:50 pm. The full house (English was a second language) stayed in the lobby or wandered around outside throughout the wait.

Few left during the intermission. A few complained about leaving a concert at 11:00 pm, but I figured that such an hour would be standard for having seen Tosca, so it was no big deal. Yet it must be admitted that I no longer have to worry about baby-sitters, and cell phones were working overtime for those concerned about child-care.

Surely there must have been a flight from Detroit which left on Friday morning and would have gotten the orchestra to Newark in time for an afternoon sound check, even had there been a delay enroute! It had the earmarks of poor planning by a travel agent somewhere.

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Comedy central
Operetta and Broadway
Saturday, September 27, 2003
By John Hammel

Ridge Light Opera, September Song 2003, An Evening of Light Opera. W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan: Trial By Jury: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II: Oklahoma! Jacques Offenbach and Maurice Valency: La Perichole: Irving Berlin (arr. Fred E. Ahlert & Stephen Sondheim): Irresistibly Irving (Berlin). St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Basking Ridge.

Stage Director Bill Corson has once again applied his sure directorial hand to this year's September Song gala, providing apt roadmaps along the musical highway, by expertly presenting selections from four diverse works and pithily encapsulating the core of the stories in song and movement within the time limitations of approximately a half hour per segment. Mr. Corson takes full advantage of the smallish stage at St. Mark's yet allows his actors ample room to give fully developed characterizations.

All of the performers acquitted themselves with aplomb, bringing nuanced integrity to their singing and acting. What I found most interesting and invigorating was the layering of diverse vocal styles on the stage with no sense of jarring effect, but instead one of complementing each other. In any given segment you would be listening to performers with limited to extensive acting and vocal backgrounds, from opera to pop styles, and yet it all meshed pleasingly on the ear. Kudos to Artistic Director and star performer Lauran Fulton Corson, as well as the ensemble itself.

Trial by Jury is one of Gilbert & Sullivan's most deliciously wicked and funny operettas and all of the humor and fun was well in attendance. The story can be looked up in any good opera book or on-line.

Bass/Baritone Randy Parker was suitably pompous as the court usher, delivering his lines with the proper degree of orotund tones and deep voiced styling. Defendant Ben Schuman displayed a silvery tenor voice with very good evenness of tone and line. His acting was fine and he struck a believably handsome figure on stage. Judge David Cantor is a seasoned Gilbert & Sullivan performer and his light baritone and deft comic timing were faultless. His real life wife, Karen Cantor was the plaintiff and she was pitch perfect both vocally and dramatically. She shares husband David's impeccable sense of comic timing and is also able to imbue her performance with pathos as well. The Foreman of Thomas Donelan was one of two star turns he would have this evening and he too proved more than capable of matching the other's purity of vocal projection and well timed acting. The ensemble was tight and lushly harmonic.

No one needs a synopsis of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, Oklahoma! It was the immortal musical duo's first collaboration and revolutionized the Broadway stage with its seamless integration of song out of speech. Tom Donelan and Christie Oakes provided two of the most endearingly attractive portrayals of Curly McLain and Laurey Williams I've ever seen. Although Mr. Donelan is a light lyric tenor he made the more baritonal role of Curly utterly convincing. His acting had equal parts 'aw shucks' shyness coupled with dogged earnestness in his pursuit of Laurey. Christie Oakes was charming as Laurey with a lovely sweet legato that had good point and energy, allowing her to project clear soft tones easily. Her acting with Mr. Donelan and solo was exactly what Rodgers and Hammerstein ordered. Equal parts homespun innocence with just the proper amount of conniving manipulation to ensnare her beau. Bill Corson was an energetically entertaining Will Parker, delivering his comic numbers with verve and elan. Karen Cantor was a fantastic embodiment of Ado Annie with well balanced and perfectly nuanced comic timing and ingenuity. Her rendition of 'I Can't Say No' was picture perfect and her duet/foil with Mr. Corson in 'All er Nothin'' brought just the right blend of coy apprehension into the mix. The Aunt Eller of Beth Lohner, along with the excellent energy and terrific harmonies of the chorus, brought the segment to a rousing conclusion with stirring renditions of 'The Farmer and the Cowman' and of course, 'Oklahoma!'

Some of the wittiest musical writing and shenanigans this side of Gilbert & Sullivan came courtesy of Jacques Offenbach. The prolific Frenchman wrote numerous operettas and opera for the stage, over 90 in all. His real name was Jakob Wiener, the son of a Jewish cantor, born in Cologne, Germany in 1819. He moved to Paris to study cello in 1833, becoming a French citizen in 1860 and died in Paris in 1880, aged sixty-one. His last work for the stage was The Tales of Hoffman but he was primarily noted for his frothy light operas, which were hugely popular for much the same reason that Gilbert & Sullivan were so feted in England: his puncturing of the pomposity prevalent throughout contemporaneous society and culture, although the humor was softened somewhat so as not to offend the wealthy patronage that artists needed for backing and support. One of the most popular of Offenbach's lighter confections was La Perichole. The libretto by Maurice Valency details the exploits of the 'Viceroy of Peru', Don Andres, on his birthday. It too can be looked up in an opera book or on-line.

The chorus exhibited exemplary diction and phrasing in this segment, rendering the text and action easy to follow. Lauran Fulton Corson's portrayal of La Perichole was physically apt and vocally precise, displaying the full coloratura range required. Ben Schuman as Paquillo was an appropriately ardent and sweet-voiced lover and together he and Ms. Corson made a suitably personable and engaging pair. David Cantor as Viceroy Don Andres was a bit too slapstick for my taste and seemed to be carrying over his Gilbert & Sullivan persona from Trial By Jury. He didn't quite capture the full stylistic flavor of Offenbach, although I found myself laughing out loud along with the rest of the audience at his antics. All in all it was a distinct pleasure to be hearing this wonderfully charming music up close and personal.

The final segment was devoted to the music of Irving Berlin née Israel Baline. One of America's premier songwriters, Mr. Berlin embodied the American Dream, being the son of Jewish Russian immigrants who escaped to New York City in 1893. He left school at age 8 to assist in dealing with the family's financial struggles, working as a singing waiter and of course, writing songs. He was the one of the first composers of what we now call the "Great American Songbook" to do it all himself, penning both the lyrics and music, laying the groundwork for future pioneers like Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim.

There were too many numbers to go down the list but the highlights were easily the ensemble rendition of 'There's No Business Like Show Business'. Bill Corson's blocking and the singing were joyously rousing. The hillbilly ambience of 'Doin' What Comes Naturally' and 'Moonshine Lullaby' were clever beyond description. Suffice it to say the concept, acting and down-home harmonies of Mike Baruffi, John Lamb, Jim Ludlum, Randy Parker, and Jesus Rodriguez Jr., justifiably received cheers and vigorous applause from the audience. The addition of Joanna Hoty Russell's sultry vocalizing on the second number added just the right bit of spice to the Annie Get Your Gun shenanigans.

Tight vocal harmonies were also the order of the day on Stephen Sondheim's (say, how did he get in here?), 'You Could Drive A Person Crazy' from Company. Sue Bovan, Lauran Fulton Corson and Beth Lohner delivered this well directed number superbly. The husband/wife team of Karen and David Cantor delivered a hilarious version of 'Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better' (back to 'Annie Get Your Gun'). Their combined comic timing had me in stitches. Mr. Cantor's characterization went from irritable to simmering to a slow boil to over-heating, at all times paralleled by Mrs. Cantor's breezily, nonchalant superiority, culminating in her gargling a bit of water after "holding" her note four times at long as her husband's and then dashing the remainder of her cup's contents into his face and down the front of his tuxedo jacket. Absolutely first rate physical and vocal comedy. I believe the women applauded and cheered louder than the males in the audience. Elaine Gennaro delivered most finely nuanced vocal treatment of the segment by simply reclining on a box, center stage, and sweetly singing 'Blue Skies' with all the poignant lyricism, and superb musical phrasing and shape one could wish for. Her voice was poised, clearly defined and totally even in scale and dynamic. She imbued the words with great depth and meaning creating a subtly bravura performance. The evening ended with Mr. Corson's own arrangement for full chorus of 'God Bless America'. As sung by the ensemble and conducted by Mr. Corson, this performance would stir the heart of even the most jaded and hardhearted curmudgeon. A perfect ending to a thoroughly enjoyable Saturday evening of song in September.

A place worth being affiliated with
English music from Americans
Monday, September 29, 2003
By Paul M. Somers

Affiliate Artist Program: Sharon Roffman, Victoria Steward (violin), Christopher Kenniff (guitar), Anthony Scelba (double bass), Katherine Harris (soprano), Richard Hobson (baritone), Allison Brewster Franzetti (piano). 'Sounds British.' Rutter: Five songs from 'Shadows'; Dowland: Two Fancies; Bruch: three final sections of Scottish Fantasy, op. 46; A. Scelba (after F. J. Haydn): Twelve Celtic Songs. Wilkins Theater, Kean University, Union.

The fascination within European music history with things Celtic is nothing new. Even before a British publisher took to selling books of 'Celtic' arrangements by the likes of Haydn and Beethoven the distinctive styles of Scottish, Welsh, and Irish songs were well recognized by no less a person than Shakespeare.

So when bassist Anthony Scelba decided to arrange twelve Celtic Songs basing his choices and his approach on that of Haydn's arrangements for *piano trio and soprano, there was a long history of taking Celtic music to a different level than its original earthy folk style.

Far more than Haydn did in his arrangements, Scelba uses certain elements of Scottish rhythm, and he uses the two-pitch drone typical of music accompanied on pipes. Often the listener hears the swinging meters used in American contradancing, placing the time of the music in our own Revolutionary period, when General Washington's favorite activity was an evening on the dance floor.

But we also heard tunes more familiar as fife-tunes (most notably White Cockade) which also made the Revolutionary America connection. Scelba's arrangements were always imaginative and challenging. In writing for himself he, of course, eliminated the cello and substituted the double bass. The resulting solidity on the bottom was quite useful, and when he wrote melodic parts in *thumb position that in itself was so engaging that it held one's attention.

Soprano Katherine Harris 'kept it simple.' She clearly has a voice which can reach well beyond the demands of these songs, yet she sang them with sweet affection. Her voice remained closest to the folk roots, even when Scelba, violinist Victoria Stewart, and pianist Allison Franzetti were playing music far more complex.

There was another welcome surprise to many: five songs from the cycle Shadows by the British composer John Rutter. Most associate him with church music, either composed or arranged, so it is quite usual to hear an organ accompaniment or that of a piano. But here is a wonderfully varied song cycle which is secular in intent and is accompanied by guitar.

Baritone Richard Hobson sang with great feeling, though one was glad the texts were included. It was no surprise that one could hear in most of the songs Rutter's knowledge of folk song (his many folk-carol settings are well-known). But there was also the depth of true art-song, most notably in 'O Death, Rock Me Asleep', filled with slow and eerie leaps and lingering sonorities for singer and guitarist. If Christopher Kenniff was sensitive elsewhere, it was in this song that we best heard his ability to draw effective coloration from the guitar.

That Rutter was acquainted with the lute style of 16th-17th-century composer John Dowland was obvious as Kenniff played two 'Fancies' (i. e. Fantasias) by the Elizabethan. His *contrapuntal technique was impeccable, providing the cool logic of expression which is Kenniff's great virtue. As his voicings were cleanly delineated by the placement of his plucking fingers at specific locations on the strings one could only see him as an Apollonian performer.

The concert also included this year's Naumburg finalist, violinist Sharon Roffman, and Latin Grammy Award winner, pianist Allison Franzetti, teaming up to play much of Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy. Bruch received an honorary degree from Oxford at the same time as Tchaikovsky (and was disliked by the Russian, who founded instead a firm friendship with Grieg). The many students in the audience were properly awed by the technical virtuosity of Ms. Roffman, and certainly Ms. Franzetti's playing was beyond reproach. But the piece itself, when reduced to piano accompaniment from its actual orchestral sound, and especially lacking the prominent harp part (the piece's title appends 'for violin, harp, and orchestra'), proved to be dull. Bruch had an ear for orchestration which this version had to deny. The episodic sections made little sense in this setting, where with larger forces the segments gather an artistic weight which propels them through the 'seams' in the score.

Nevertheless, it was plain that the students near me were enchanted by Ms. Roffman even before they came to the concert. 'I've written a poem about her,' enthused one young female fan. So the still young virtuoso is certainly having an impact at Kean University.

That works well, for Kean University is aiming to have a much greater impact on its students and community in the area of live music. With the high level of performing intensity evident all evening and the many students' positive reaction to it, the Affiliate Artists' goal is quite obviously being met. (see Concert Companion on page XX for what impresses young people.)

COMMENTARY

VOICES, Hamlisch, Pittsburgh, and Mountain Laurel Center
The experience of a VOICES soprano

By Laurie Tema-Lyn

Marvin Hamlisch arrived at our Princeton rehearsal ten minutes early, without fanfare. He cracked a joke and a smile, opened his score and in a heartbeat we were singing. You could feel the adrenalin of the 60 singers of VOICES Chorale.

VOICES was invited to perform at the opening of the Mountain Laurel Center, the new summer home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Bushkill, PA. The concert Sunday August 10 at 2:00 PM was a Pops concert featuring the outstanding 100-piece Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, VOICES, and soloists Terri Hansen, Brad Little (currently playing the Phantom in the national tour of the Phantom of the Opera), Gary Mauer (recently on Broadway in Phantom), Rocky Paterra, and Jeff Howell under the direction of Marvin Hamlisch.

'I'm not a conductor that gives you every cue. I'm interested in programming. You do your job in this concert, and I'll do mine. I want to have some fun, too.' Mr. Hamlisch's words put fear in the hearts of many of us so used to the precise direction of Lynne Ransom, VOICES' founder and Music Director for the past 15 years. But the rehearsal and the concert turned out to be a thrilling experience that this singer will remember for a lifetime.

It was immediately obvious that we were in the presence of a consummate musician who could poke fun at himself and invite people to be both relaxed and professional at the same time. He set the bar high: he knew exactly what he wanted and let us know that he expected us to take individual responsibility for excellence. He stated that his overarching talent was not his musicianship but his showmanship and that his job was to prepare us for the task of pleasing the audience.

Pops concerts are not traditional fare for VOICES. An auditioned Pennington, NJ, based community chorus, we generally perform the great musical classics with a sprinkling of contemporary, world music, and spirituals. Our role in this concert was to accessorize the emotional heart-stoppers from the beloved Lerner & Loewe musicals: Gigi, Brigadoon, and My Fair Lady. And unlike classical music where singing beautifully on pitch, in rhythm, and with perfect diction is what counts, here we were also asked to be actors - to tell the stories with energy, passion, and emotional richness, and to make a deep connection with the audience.

We learned to keep an eye on Marvin - who, though he prepared us for the contrary, provided every nuanced bit of direction that we needed. While there was a baton in hand, the richness of his direction came from the smallest gestures - the slight curve of the wrist, the flick of a finger, or the raise of an eyebrow.

Part of the fun of the concert was singing with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra whom most of us hadn't heard live. We immediately sensed their world-class musicianship and were thrilled at the opportunity of singing with them. They performed a program of serious symphonic works the two nights before our concert, and were leaving for Switzerland the following week. In our rehearsal Sunday morning it was amazing to see them pick up pencils and make changes on their scores on the fly, then produce sounds that were precise and profound - like performing a discrete classical score and improvisational jazz at the same time.

We sang our hearts and souls out to an almost full house gathered on this gloriously sunny afternoon at the Tom Ridge Pavilion that seats 2,500. And there were other hearty souls in the blazing sun on the steep grassy slope before us as well. Having never sung to such a large audience before, I thought I might be nervous and feel distant, removed from the listeners. Those feelings disappeared in the first few moments of our concert as we were transformed from two large groups of musicians and a large audience into an intimate community. Part of the magic was the arc that Marvin made with us and with the audience as he told stories, joked with the crowd and spontaneously interviewed the soloists. It's the kind of audience connection - making that Lynne Ransom does so well with smaller VOICES audiences. Earlier the week of the Hamlish concert we presented a concert at the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital where we have an on-going outreach program. As we began our first number a client in the first row started singing along with us. I wondered if such outbursts would cause us to lose focus and musicianship. Lynne simply folded his enthusiasm and his voice into our performance, making for an even richer musical experience.

That week with its two performing experiences sums up what is such a delight about singing with VOICES. The call to stretch our musical talent, whether with the PSO at the Tom Ridge Center, on the stage of Carnegie Hall, to sing at a baseball game, or to perform inspiring Masses --all with a quality of professionalism that represents the best attributes of a fine community chorus.

I look forward to our fall 2003/04 season, but I'll never forget working on the concert with Marvin Hamlisch!

Laurie Tema-Lyn is a Board Member and the Marketing Director for VOICES. She is the President of Practical Imagination Enterprises a consulting firm specializing in product innovation.