Music

Looking back at CAIC's 2014-15 season

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The Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago closed out its 2014-15 season this month, and with it, my second season shooting for them.  Through terrific recital programming, a series of master classes, and expert coachings, CAIC has added a vibrant art-song presence to Chicago's music scene, and I've been happy to see its audience grow at each event. Congratulations to my friends at CAIC on another wonderful season - I was happy to see it all, once again, through the camera.

All photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved. 

CAIC's Spring Lieder Lounge

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Baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan gave one of the most beautiful and memorable recitals I've had the privilege to shoot. With poignancy and grace, Brancy and Dugan performed a program of World War I British composers against an evening backdrop from the 9th-floor penthouse at the University of Chicago's Logan Center, a venue perfectly suited for the intimacy of the music.  

All photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.

Nothing better than an all-Bach concert

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Photographing a concert of Bach music makes me a happy boy, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to shoot the opening concert of the Bach Week Festival at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston last week.  A beautifully varied program began with Desiree Ruhstrat and Mathias Tacke playing the Double Violin Concerto, followed by the Cantata No. 82 with bass Douglas Anderson.  Brandenburg Concertos 2 and 5 closed the concert before a post-concert candlelight performance of early music with Mirja Lorenz (recorder) and Joel Spears (theorbo). 

All photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.

Contempo: Big names, world premieres

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Contempo always packs a heavy-hitting and heady mix of music.  This past Sunday seemed extra significant as Contempo gave the world premieres of works by Gunther Schuller and Sofia Gubaidulina - two giants in the world of contemporary composition who were also in attendance.  Add composer and Contempo artistic director Shulamit Ran, conductor Cliff Colnot, and U of C ensembles-in-residence Pacifica Quartet and eighth blackbird, and you've got some of the best in new music.  

Unlike traditional classical music forms, contemporary music is impossible to predict, making it uniquely challenging to photograph.  The usual strategy of waiting for the loud parts doesn't necessarily work since the loud parts may never come, or they come and go in an instant.  Here are some moments that I caught when the shutter sound was (hopefully) masked.  

The Avalon Quartet at the Art Institute

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"I'm with the band" is becoming my favorite cliche.  It was particularly true when I photographed the Avalon Quartet at the Art Institute, getting 360-degree access onstage during rehearsal - something that is impossible during a concert.  Fullerton Hall is a perfect venue for chamber music, and the Tiffany glass overhead makes it a visual stunner.  Program: Berg's String Quartet, Op. 3; Brahms' String Quartet, Op. 51, No. 1 in c minor.  Blaise Magniere, Marie Wang, violins; Anthony Devroye, viola; Cheng-Hou Lee, cello.

Mozart and champagne with the Chicago Philharmonic

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Some scenes from the Chicago Philharmonic's Valentine's Day weekend concert at Nichols Concert Hall, including a performance by Visceral Dance Chicago and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with violinist David Perry and violist Carol Cook.  Conductor Scott Speck led the Philharmonic through an energetic program ending with Strauss's Champagne Polka; a champagne toast finished off a beautiful afternoon.  

Stefan Jackiw and Anna Polonsky at Mandel Hall

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Back in Hyde Park for UChicago Presents on February 6, this time in Mandel Hall (no relation).  The recently renovated hall is now a brilliant space for intimate chamber music with great acoustics. Here is a gallery of shots from the concert with violinist Stefan Jackiw and pianist Anna Polonsky.

CAIC's Winter Lieder Lounge

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Back for another wonderful Lieder Lounge with my friends at the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago.  From the Dixon-Stein instrument shop, CAIC hosted this salon recital featuring mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges, pianist Maureen Zoltek, and violist Frank Babbitt in music by Brahms, Ravel, de Falla, and Britten.  

Contempo celebrates 50 years

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The University of Chicago's Contempo series is celebrating its 50th year of contemporary classical music this season, and featuring its two ensembles-in-residence: eighth blackbird and the Pacifica Quartet.  Joining them on January 24 was soprano Sharon Harms, trumpeter Stephen Burns, conductor David Fulmer, and a host of players from Chicago's new music community.  It's always fun to photograph these expressive musicians, and I'm looking forward to more in March. 

Sweet-singing Bruce Henry at Jazz Showcase

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I was fortunate to photograph jazz singer Bruce Henry and his band at Jazz Showcase as part of a benefit evening in support of my friends at Sharing Notes. I've seen first-hand how the fine artists of Sharing Notes bring beautiful music to hospital patients of all ages - often in bedside performances - and it was great to see an enthusiastic audience come out to support this group on a snowy Monday night. From the stage, Bruce Henry's multi-octave tenor range belted out a high-energy set, backed by some great solos from each of his bandmates. More info on Bruce here.  More info on Sharing Notes here. 

New Year's Eve 2014 in music and pictures

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I spent New Year's Eve 2014 in much the same way I spent most of the year: photographing great music. During Evanston's First Night celebration, I hopped from one downtown cathedral to another, in and out of the cold, to catch some killer jazz ensembles, as well as slam poet extraordinaire Marc Smith doing his thing. Here are some of my favorite shots from the evening, the last pictures I took in 2014, and some of the first of 2015.  

On Jazz and Photography

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I wish the Pharez Whitted Group had a standing gig at the Green Mill.  These guys played some of the hardest-hitting, soulful music I'd heard at the Mill all year.  From my seat down front, I had clean views of most of the band (no music stands!), so I snapped away.  

My affinity for jazz has grown in the last year alongside my approach to photography, and I believe the two are related.  I've discovered that, for me, photography is largely improvisational. I arrive at a shoot with an idea of what I want, but the final product is often a collaboration between the subject or client and myself.  The best images come from on-the-spot decisions, and I've learned to embrace the unknown or unexpected.  Jazz teaches me this lesson every time.   

Thanks to Pharez Whitted (trumpet), Eddie Bayard (sax), Lovell Bradford (keys), Jon Wood (bass), and Greg Artry (drums) for a weekend of killer music.  

On stage with Third Coast Percussion

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Microphones, music stands, lights, cables, a thousand mallets.  Plus the instruments - some of them large (marimbas, drum kits, cymbals, a gong, a piano), and some of them found objects (pipes, empty whiskey bottles, a string of paperclips).  And the artists themselves: Rob, Pete, Sean, David, all with earpieces plugged in and playing in perfect syncopation.  Third Coast Percussion is a complete sensory experience.  A few weeks ago, they gave me free range on stage at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts during their dress rehearsal with one directive: get all four musicians in one frame.  The solution was a multiple exposure frame created in the camera; it also captured the organized chaos of instruments.  

Global Transcendence with Chicago a cappella

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The light, the venue, the music - it was all perfect back on October 19 when I photographed Chicago a cappella at Rockefeller Chapel.  The program blended sacred and spiritual music from ancient vocal traditions, performed flawlessly by the ensemble of nine singers.  The late-afternoon autumn light streamed through Rockefeller's giant stained-glass windows; the crystal-clear singing filled the building, making an otherwise huge venue feel intimate, and, well, perfect. 

Fulcrum Point's Concert for Peace

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For its 16th annual Concert for Peace, Fulcrum Point New Music Project showed off some serious chops.  The first set went from Somei Satoh's meditative "Hikari (Light)" to Louis Andriessen's taut and racing "Hout (Wood)."  The second set filled the South Shore Cultural Center with Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver.  A little yoga on a windswept lakefront ended the afternoon.  Looking forward to working with Fulcrum Point again on its November 1 concert, featuring Indian classical music alongside Messaien and Mingus. 

Ian Maksin at Old Town School of Folk

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It's a pretty cool thing when one artist can blend so easily with other styles.  Russian-born cellist Ian Maksin gave a great concert Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music that began with contemporary works for unamplified solo cello.  By the end of the night, he was plugged into some reverb and sharing the stage with Flamenco guitarist Carlo Basile, percussionist Bob Garrett, and veena master Saraswathi Ranganathan (Basile described her sound as "an Indian Ry Cooder").  As one last feature, Maksin performed with Lucas Segovia from Joffrey Ballet.  Here are some shots from the concert, and a few from soundcheck that afternoon. 

Collaborative Works Fest, part 2: Michelle DeYoung

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Yes, the Michelle DeYoung who has won multiple Grammys and performed in every major opera house in the world.  What an honor to photograph her beautiful recital with pianist Kevin Murphy at the Harold Washington Library last Friday.  

Collaborative Works Festival 2014, part 1

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A year ago, the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) became my first official photography client.  Last week, I marked that anniversary by once again shooting CAIC's annual Collaborative Works Festival.  The four-day festival opened at the Poetry Foundation with a quartet of wonderful singers - Joshua Hopkins, Susanna Phillips, Kelley O'Connor, and CAIC's Artistic Director Nicholas Phan - in music by Robert and Clara Schumann.  Pianist and accompanist Myra Huang opened the concert with Bach's Prelude and Fugue in G Major.  It was an honor to photograph these artists, and a pleasure to hear them perform in such an intimate venue.  As a bonus, my photo accompanied Andrew Patner's review in the Sun-Times.  Here is a small gallery from the concert: 

A gallery of singers.

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I love photographing singers - it's the perfect combination of drama and music.