The Candlelight Concert Society announced that they are opening their 2021-2022 Season on October 9, 2021 with the world renowned violinist Kristóf Baráti and painist Roman Rabinovich at Linehan Hall at the UMBC, which also will be live-streamed. Those who have listened to many wonderful concerts the CCS has presented are thrilled to see their return to indoor concerts. (They were able to present one outdoor concert in the spring.) Their season includes:
October 30, 2021 – East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) & Shai Wosner, piano, at the Saint Louis Catholic Church
January 22, 2022 -Steven Isserlis, cello, and Connie Shih, piano, at the Smith Theatre at Howard Community College
February 27, 2022 – Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, at Linehan Hall
March 27, 2022 – Dénes Várjon, piano, at the Smith Theatre
April 9, 2022 – Roomful of Teeth, vocal ensemble, at the Smith Theatre
April 23, 2022 – Cuarteto Latinoamericano at the Smith Theatre
May 22, 2022 – American String Quartet with Octavio Vazquez, composer and pianist, at the Smith Theatre
A huge thank you goes to Irina Kaplan Lande who is the artistic director for the CCS and responsible for booking all of these fantastic musicians. For many years, she has brought many internationally respected artists to our area.
Irina Kaplan Lande is Artistic Director of the Candlelight Concert Society, where she conceives and implements the artistic vision for the series by bringing outstanding musicians, maintaining artistic excellence, fostering creative diversity, and building the organization’s reputation as an internationally-recognized music presenter.
A graduate of St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, Irina Kaplan Lande was trained in that school’s famous tradition of piano playing. She has been on the faculty of the Peabody for over 20 years, teaching piano and chamber music, and has served on the faculty of the College of Notre Dame and Towson University. Her students have participated in numerous competitions, and have achieved successful placements at prestigious music schools and universities across the country.
In 2003, Irina founded the Poulenc Trio, one of the world’s most prominent piano-wind trios. The group has been critically acclaimed, by the New York Times and Washington Post, and has appeared on concert series and at music festivals in 45 states and around the world, including the Ravello Festival in Italy, the San Miguel de Allende Festival in Mexico, and the White Nights Festival in Russia. Irina has performed with violinist Hilary Hahn, the Thibaud Trio of Berlin, soprano Hyunah Yu, clarinetists Alexander Fiterstein and Anthony McGill, and poet Lia Purpura, among others.
As Artistic Director for the group, Irina has been the driving force behind the Trio’s commitment to commissioning, performing, and recording new works from living composers. Since its founding, the Trio has greatly expanded the repertoire available for the oboe, bassoon and piano, with 22 new works written for and premiered by them, including three triple concertos for Trio and full orchestra. She has released two albums with the Trio – “Poulenc Plays Poulenc” and “Creation” on the Delos label.
In her free time, she loves to ski in the winter and forage for mushrooms in the summer.
I welcomed the opportunity to interview Irina.
How long have you been connected with the Candlelight Concert Society?
This will be my seventh season with Candlelight, as we open the year with our October 9 concert featuring violinist Kristóf Baráti and pianist Roman Rabinovich at UMBC’s beautiful Linehan Hall.
What were some of the obstacles you had in creating this Season for CCS especially after being shut down due to the pandemic?
Like everyone, we have faced many challenges because of the pandemic. First, there was the general uncertainty about performing live with an audience at all. We didn’t even know if this was going to be possible and whether or not it could be done safely. Second, every venue has its own guidelines and protocols for the current climate. Some are still closed; others are open but not to events by outside organizations. That’s why we are so grateful for the venues of our first two concerts—UMBC’s Linehan Hall and Saint Louis Catholic Church in Clarksville. We have two excellent programs planned at these two locations this October. On October 9, we have Hungarian violinist Kristóf Baráti performing with American pianist Roman Rabinovich at Linehan Hall. Then on October 30, 2021, we have the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO)—who has had great success with us in the past—with Israeli-born pianist Shai Wosner. That brings me to the third hurdle we dealt with, which was preparing for our international artists to travel to the US for these concerts. We essentially had to wait until the very last minute to see whether they would be permitted to travel here, as there have been various restrictions on international travel since the start of the pandemic. Thankfully it has all come together beautifully, even if we had to announce the full season a little later than we normally do! For us, it means everything to have live events again, and to conduct them in a way that is safe and enjoyable for everyone.
Can you tell us a little about your artists scheduled for this season and where they will be performing?
Yes! We are really excited about hosting GRAMMY award-winning Roomful of Teeth for their concert on April 9, 2022 at Smith Theater. This is something new for us—a contemporary vocal band dedicated to new music and a reimagining of the expressive potential of the human voice. Of note in their program is Caroline Shaw’s The Isle, which pushes harmonic boundaries by featuring a 24-chord progression of all major and minor triads of the Western 12-note system. It is going to be like nothing we’ve ever done before. On April 23, 2022 at Smith Theater, Cuarteto Latinoamericano will present a multidisciplinary program exploring Mexico’s cultural heritage and showcasing intersections between painting and music. At that concert we’ll learn about artists like Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo as we listen to masterpieces from great Latino composers. And we are thrilled to have ECCO back again, this time with Shai Wosner as piano soloist. That program on October 30, 2021 is a joint concert with the Saint Louis Church Concert Series and it’s an interesting one that will weave together the baroque and the contemporary.
CCS has always encouraged young artists and young audience members. What will you be doing for the 21-22 Season for young musical performers and young music lovers?
This season we are focusing on the young people right here in our community through our outreach programs—of which there are many! We’ll be doing several workshops in elementary and middle schools with a focus on creativity in the composing of music. Ahead of their concert on April 23, 2022, Cuarteto Latinoamericano will present their work on Mexican music and visual art in schools in both English and Spanish. The American String Quartet will be also performing and coaching local high school students. There willbe student outreach classes at HCC as well as masterclasses at Peabody Conservatory. We continue to partner with Tri-M, the national honor society for student musicians. COVID-19 restrictions might prevent them from helping in person at concerts as they’ve done in the past, but they’re going to be involved with our two live stream concerts this year, helping us get the word out on social media, and even writing some mini-reviews afterward!
Is there someone you have not been able to schedule for CCS that you would love to have in the future?
Of course! There are so many wonderful talents out there yet to be on our roster. But next year is our 50th anniversary, so you can be sure we will have some very big names next season! But I’m afraid you will have to stay tuned for announcements on those—I can’t reveal anything to you on that just yet, though I am dying to tell everyone!
If you are as intrigued by this year’s schedule as we are, go to the Candlelight Society’s website for more information. For tickets for the October 9, 2021 concert, either in-person or live stream, go to this link. To get a subscription to CCS’s concerts this season, click here. For Candlelight Public Health And Safety (Covid) Policies, click here.
