2014-599-E Arts - Chapel Hill Philharmonia for 2014 Arts Grant Agreement $1,500

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DocuSign Envelope ID:870374C9-FE3B-4037-9CA6-43465C92C83A Past Reviews 2014-2015 Arts Program Application "Want Some Potato Dumplings with That?The CHP Visits Middle Europe" John Lambert, CVNC Review of February 2014 Concert "... The last work was Bart6k's Piano Concerto No. 3, called by many North Carolinians "The Asheville Concerto" because it was in part composed there and because embedded in it are musical imitations of the bird calls the composer heard while in the Western NC town. It was played by Greg McCallum, one of our best resident concert artists... McCallum and the orchestra were triumphant at every turn in this wonderful but still too-little-appreciated masterwork. (It often reminds one of Prokofiev's Third.)The orchestra and soloist played with technical polish and with enthusiasm bordering on exuberance,resulting in a rip- snorting performance of the fiery parts with more than sufficient love pouring forth from the reflective sections, including that gorgeous slow movement(marked "Adagio religioso"). It was in retrospect easily among the best work of the CUP to date that I have heard—and from McCallum,too... this was a concert to remember." "Pianist Elizabeth Tomlin Shines in Schumann with Chapel Hill Philharmonia" John Lambert, CVNC Review of December 2009 Concert "Duke-based pianist Elizabeth Tomlin was trained, in part, at UNC, so it was something of a homecoming for her to play Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in Hill Hall, accompanied by the Chapel Hill Philharmonia. She's a wonderful artist, and she made a very strong case for this potentially problematic work, one in which the soloist has so many heartwarming turns if only the orchestra can avoid engulfing the guest.Happily,that was the case on this occasion— conductor Donald L. Oehler seemed to take just the right approach with his substantial orchestra,urging them to lay low during the soloist's prime bits.The CUP did so, admirably, resulting in one of the more felicitous performances of this tried-and-true concerto heard here in many moons. Only the horns seemed to miss the mark, and then only occasionally. It was so good, indeed,that I'd urge anyone to go out of the way to hear Tomlin again.And indeed, it was good on the orchestra's part,too—this was surely among its best performances to date. "Janus Duo&Chapel Hill Philharmonia Brighten December" John Lambert, CVNC Review of December 2006 Concert "... Pianists Barbara Rowan and Francis Whang,who perform together as the Janus Duo, were mainstays of the UNC Department of Music who have retired in Chapel Hill and who still delight themselves and their myriad admirers with frequent concert appearances. They joined the CH Phil. for Mozart's celebrated Concerto in E Flat,K.365, for two pianos and orchestra,playing the department's matched pair of Steinways(which, ironically, are named for two singers—Terry Rhodes and Stafford Wing).This concerto is one of Mozart's most felicitous inventions,and the interplay between the soloists and with the orchestra was wonderful to experience... The Chapel Hill performance was warmly received ... The second half of the concert was devoted to a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5... Oehler and his musicians threw themselves into the music,and the results were amazingly fine,with solid contributions from the horns and other wind and brass sections and with inspiring resonance coming from the lower strings, in particular. The audience loved it, demonstrating once again the merit of community orchestra performances of the classics, at which readings there are—as someone once said—people hearing these great scores for the first time... and,perhaps,for the last time,too. Well done! ..."