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Maurice Ravel’s 150th birthday and the works of Lucia Dlugoszewski
BSR Classical Interludes, May 2025
Gail Obenreder
‘Tis the month of May! And four of the interesting concerts below fall on the very busy Mother’s Day weekend. To start, though, there’s a collaborative 150th anniversary concert, then you’ll find music from both the 16th and 17th centuries, some choral classics, and another collaboration taking a two-part look at a composer who may not be familiar to you. Here are some rich choices as the classical music season begins to head toward summer!
Lydia Artymiw and Cynthia Raim: Two Pianists Celebrate Ravel’s 150th Birthday
Sunday, May 4, 3pm
Artcinia/Germantown Presbyterian Church, 35 West Chelten Avenue, Philadelphia
Tuesday, May 6, 7:30pm
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Kimmel Center/Perelman Theater, 300 S. Broad Street
Two Philadelphia presenters are collaborating to celebrate the luscious piano works of Maurice Ravel, whose inspirations ranged from Asian culture, French Symbolist poetry, Spanish folk music, and Impressionist paintings. The concert (in two different locales) features pianists Lydia Artymiw and Cynthia Raim in both solo and works for four hands. On the program are Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose), Le Tombeau de Couperin, Rapsodie espagnole (in its original piano version), and other Ravel classics. Each concert is ticketed separately, and a 6:30 talk by Lesley Valdes precedes the Tuesday PCMS concert.
Filament: Onward Still
Friday, May 9, 7pm
Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine Street
In 2022, Filament recorded its first album, Alchemy of Another, that featured Opus 1 of Dietrich Buxtehude’s Sonatas. Closing their sixth season, the trio—Evan Few (violin), Elena Kauffman (viola da gamba), and John Walthausen (harpsichord)—returns to one of their favorite composers. Celebrating another work that was the genesis of this ensemble, this concert features Buxtehude’s Opus 2, as well as other rare works taken directly from 17th century manuscripts.
Bowerbird: Pure Lucia: A Centenary Celebration of the Life and Work of Lucia Dlugoszewski
Quidditas Suchness, Friday, May 9, 7:30pm
Duende Otherness, Saturday, May 10, 7:30 pm
FringeArts, 140 North Columbus Boulevard
This special two-part series (a collaboration with FringeArts) explores the work and world of this 20th century composer and musician, noted for her pioneering piano techniques and over 100 invented percussion instruments. Presented by Bowerbird’s Dustin Hurt, the concerts also feature the Erick Hawkins Dance Company; musicians include Italian pianist Agnese Toniutti, Network for New Music, Arcana New Music Ensemble, Either/Or, and trumpeter Peter Evans, among others. The link also provides much more information about Dlugoszewski and her work.
Piffaro: Now is the Month of Maying
Friday, May 9, 7:30pm
Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 23 South 38th Street
Saturday, May 10, 7:30pm
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue
Sunday, May 11, 3pm
Immanuel Church Highlands, 2400 West 17th Street, Wilmington
Piffaro concludes its Philadelphia season with an all-European instrumental program of Renaissance springtime music. Works include French chansons, German lieder, English songs, Italian madrigals, and “dances from everywhere”. Piffaro’s instruments also will also musically evoke some of the animal sounds of spring—calls of geese, birds, and crickets—and the audience is invited to visit the ensemble’s large instrument “zoo”. From May 23-June 5, this concert will also be available to stream.
Market Street Music: Mastersingers of Wilmington
Saturday, May 10, 3pm
First & Central Presbyterian Church, 1101 North Market Street, Wilmington
For his latest offering titled New-Era Romantics, conductor David Schelat leads his choral ensemble (of which I’m a member) in a concert featuring the beautiful 1947 Requiem of Maurice Duruflé. The work will feature cellist Jie Jin and mezzo-soprano Joanna Gates in the famous Pie Jesu movement. The program also includes works by Louis Vierne, Herbert Howells, and four of the seldom-performed Songs from the Rig Veda that Gustav Holst set for four-part women and harp (Anne Sullivan). Philadelphian Thomas Gaynor is the concert’s organist.
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