When I heard the Virginia Symphony was doing a concert of Russian music, I was looking forward to something not usually heard. But when I discovered they were playing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, my first thought was, ‘Who is going to pay 50 bucks for something they can hear every Fourth of July for free?’ As it turns out, the concert wasn’t all about the Overture. It was just the icing on a great big cake (or maybe a blintz).

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What’s with the Pirate obsession lately? I mean, Johnnie Depp is hot and all, don’t get me wrong. But don’t you agree that lately pirates seem to be the latest “big thing”? There’s nothing wrong with them, I suppose. Certainly they’re better than Torture-Me-El... ahem… I mean, Tickle-Me-Elmo. In any case, it was fortunate that Virginia Opera’s latest production was Pirates of Penzance, not Annoying Little Red Monsters of Penzance. Because gosh, wouldn’t that have been weird?

When one thinks about a night at the opera, we envision a beautiful theater, plush carpets, formal wear and in general a wonderful evening filled with drama and beautiful singing. Housed in the gorgeous Harrison Opera house in Norfolk one could not find a nicer environment in which to see an opera performance. The Virginia Opera does not disappoint.

"We may be small in numbers but we are millions in spirit"--- Jaguar Wright

Friday evening, TodiMusicFest began their last weekend of performances with the Virginia premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at Portsmouth’s Willett Hall. The festival is in its sixth season and has grown into a local summer favorite for Hampton Roads residents. The festival’s director, Howard Bender, proudly announced that this year’s attendance had already eclipsed the previous seasons. All signs were pointing toward a night of memorable entertainment; unfortunately this 2007 operatic installment fell disappointingly short of the mark.

It was with a mixture of irony and reluctance that I entered the American Theatre on Saturday night to see Ash Dargan in Territory – A Journey into Dreamtime. Irony, because I was on my way to see a didgeridoo player in Hampton while my sister was currently on vacation in Sydney. Reluctance, because I had just reached a good part in Harry Potter’s latest book. Harry of course, was worth the wait (don’t worry, I won’t give anything away), and fortunately, Territory was worth delaying finding the next Horcrux.

What can anyone say about two of the world’s most famous musicians?  Itzhak Perlman on violin and Rohan DeSilva on piano perform beautifully together.  The audience delighted in their performance – kudos to the Virginia Arts Festival for bringing some extraordinary artists!

One of the most beautiful and moving forms of music is the string quartet, and the Brentano String Quartet, brought to us by the Virginia Arts Festival, definitely exceeded my expectations!  Even the name of their group is so poignant:  The Brentano String Quartet was named after Antonie Brentano, whom scholars believe was Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved” – and they play with all of the passion of a secret love!

Remember when we were all young students sitting in history class being bored to tears by the driest lecture on history? Personally, I love history, but for you history haters, seeing the Ancient Academy of Music from Cambridge University perform Baroque music on period instruments would have sparked your interest. The Baroque sounds definitely evoked a great sense of the era.

The New Yorker magazine dubbed these guys “America’s favorite choral ensemble”. But if you’ve seen one men’s choir, you’ve seen them all, right? Wrong. Chanticleer is not your ordinary boy band.

It was with great excitement that I headed over to Ferguson Center to see the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO) perform on Friday the 13th (wooooo): April 13th, 2007 at 10:30 am.  And who wouldn’t be excited, I was getting the opportunity to hear one of the top 40 classical hits of all times: Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.  Though I walked away impressed, it was not Pictures that was the highlight of the morning.

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Where, O where has your old oboe gone? Dormant instruments stashed in attics and garages around Hampton Roads are starting to stir with excitement. Once active amateurs as well as under-employed pros are getting the call: “C’mon down! We’re putting on an orchestra!” A reading orchestra, that is. Guy Hayden, conductor, violinist, and music scholar -- among many other gifts and talents -- wants to launch Hampton Roads’ first sight-reading orchestra beginning Monday, June 12th.