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JUSTIN AUSTIN, co-artistic director As a child, I was profoundly captivated by the Grammy-winning a cappella group Take 6, a remarkable ensemble of six young Black men whose music celebrated the transformative power of goodness and love. Years later, their artistry...
Let’s not bury the lede: the hall was full (I feared that we’d have a sparse crowd), and the reception was rapturous. For once, that descriptor is not hyperbole. The hall in Orient is not large, and there is the palpable sense of a community coming together for a...
Dress rehearsal? Well, it went smoothly enough. 95% of the lyrics were in place, a few of the numbers got their best performance yet, and everything was, as we say, at a level. Katherine, who had told us we wouldn’t be seeing the lights until the performance, managed...
Today was “suck it up and run the show” day, and we got to the double-bar with no casualties. My resolution to accept the piano on its own terms got me through Act I, but it began to crumble the moment Act II started. One of my problems is that I have no time to fix...
It’s probably just as well that I always forget how hard it is to put on a program like this, or I’d be tempted to present a concert of nursery rhymes. When I was planning it, I was completely focussed on the program’s musical flow and emotional arc. It’s something...
Normally Wednesday is a carefree, playful day during a week-long residency. The concert seems pleasantly distant, though it’s only four days from now (forever, we think). Everything is simmering nicely, and no one is anxious about memory. There’s plenty of time to...