Alex Klein

Brazilian oboist Alex Klein won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra and first prize at the International Competition in Geneva, the New York International Oboe Competition, and the Fernand Gillet International Competition. From 1995 to 2004, Klein was principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position he left after struggles with focal dystonia. He is currently artistic director of the Santa Catarina Music Festival (“FEMUSC”) in Brazil, principal oboe of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in Canada, and oboe instructor at DePaul University. In this interview, Klein talks about his start in music, his teaching, and the combination of solo and orchestral performing in his career. He describes his brand of “musical activism” and his mindset while playing. He offers ideas for developing technique and shares his difficulties with focal dystonia. Klein offers advice on the use of air and vibrato and shares memorable experiences.

Anna Clyne The Seamstress, Barbican Hall, London; Anna Clyne This Lunar Beauty, Wigmore Hall, London

‘Old mythologies’ have been important for some time to Anna Clyne, and they come into play again in two of her most recent works: the violin concerto The Seamstress and her brief Auden setting, This Lunar Beauty, for soprano and ensemble. The young British composer (b. 1980) has for many years been a resident of New York; she studied with Julia Wolfe in Manhattan and since 2010 has been the composer in association with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

A COMPOSER IN THE PRAIRIES: WILLIAM LESTER AND HIS MUSIC

The 400 block of South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, is rich in musical associations. On the southern corner stands the Auditorium Building, the 1889 masterpiece of Sullivan and Adler. Inside its huge theatre were born both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Civic Opera. For this gilded space with its unusual acoustics, Prokofiev in 1919 composed The Love for Three Oranges.