Carnegie Hall, one week

As I write this, it’s one week until our thrilling world premier at Carnegie Hall!

In this magnificent choir are twenty of the best people with whom I have
ever sung and five amazing musicians who are with us for the first time.

Thanks to our dear friends at Trinity Church, our rehearsal space is glorious!
Photos by Stephen Sands

Aoede Consort at Trinity Wall Street
Aoede Consort, Trinity Church Wall Street, New York, New York
Men left to right: Eric Dudley, Tim Hodges, Ray Bailey, Alex Jones,
Jim Crum, David Loy, Stephen Piwowarski, Steven Fasano
(John E. Schreiner and Derek Stannard)
Women left to right: Silvie Jensen, Kirsten Sollek, Mary Abba-Gleason, Ann Marie Grathwol, Darcy Meadows, Luthien Brackett, Kristin Sands, Molly Quinn,
Martha Cluver, Sabrina Manna, Anne Agresta Dugan, Amy Goldin
Dan Foster, founder and artistic director

Aoede Consort at Trinity Wall Street

Pleshakov Concert Photos

Vladimir Pleshakov and Dan Foster embrace during the standing ovation
Vladimir Pleshakov and Dan Foster embrace during the standing ovation
photo by Gina Curcio

Vladimir Pleshakov poses after the Aoede Consort concert
Vladimir Pleshakov poses after the concert
photo by Ryan Meadows

Micaela Sands gets Maestro Pleshakov’s autograph
Micaela Sands gets Maestro Pleshakov’s autograph
photo by Ryan Meadows

Micaela Sands gets Maestro Pleshakov’s autograph, Kristin Sands looks on
Micaela Sands gets Maestro Pleshakov’s autograph, Kristin Sands looks on
photo by Ryan Meadows

Vladimir Pleshakov, writings on his music

“At age four I heard for the first of many times the wonderful choir of the Shanghai Cathedral, and experienced the transcending beauty and power of their sound from whispered murmurings to thundering exultation. I sang in that choir as a boy soloist for a few years, soaking up the great Russian choral heritage which the emigres brought intact to their chosen exile in the Orient. 
 
“The music I write is the music I hear in my imagination.  It seems to me that I do not really compose, I merely write down, in the best way I can, what already exists - somewhere.  The music is everywhere, and I hear it when I take pains to listen. I hear clearly, through seventy years of elapsed time, music that others might have composed but never did, music that the Shanghai choir might have sung, but never did. It is my turn to do what others have not done yet, but do it my way.

“This music that never was resonates more clearly and truthfully in my memory than anything else I have ever remembered from my childhood days. This reconstructed past runs by as a stream of consciousness, a movie that can be started, stopped, restarted, repeated any number of times.
 
“This Proust-like reconstruction of the past is more real to me than the past reality itself. I am the moviemaker, the recording engineer, the scribe, the stenographer, the chronicler who records what was and what could have been, as faithfully as he can, and as fast as he must, while the conjured past rolls by, inexorably and in minutest detail. The music I hear is the finished product. If I make no mistakes in capturing on paper what I hear on my "radio", then the first draft is the final draft, ready to be printed and sung.“ — Vladimir Pleshakov, May, 2010

Vladimir Pleshakov, renowned pianist/composer

Vladimir Pleshakov

Vladimir Pleshakov has recently written a body of sublime Orthodox Church music. On June 19th, 2010, Aœde Consort will present many of his recent works in concert for the first time. It continues to be a great joy to work intimately with Maestro Pleshakov during the many rehearsals he attends. He teaches us how to pronounce Slavonic, shares details of his inspirational compositional process, and gives us many invaluable suggestions for the interpretation of his music.

-Dan Foster, Founder/Artistic Director, Aœde Consort

Vladimir Pleshakov

Composer/Pianist, Vladimir Pleshakov and Dan Foster, Founder/Artistic Director, Aœde Consort during rehearsal Monday, April 19, 2010.