We are still sheltering in place, as we absolutely must, so I continue to keep my eye and ear on interesting ways to keep music very close.
On today’s IRIS ORCHESTRA MUSIC MINUTE, I wanted to focus on just one virtual site from a member of the Iris Orchestra family. It’s beautiful how musicians in so many places are staying close despite being far away.
I met violinist Elena Urioste when she was still a student at The Curtis Institute. She played in Iris Orchestra for many years, and now has vibrant career as a soloist and chamber music collaborator in venues all over the world. She returned to Iris Orchestra as a soloist in April of 2018 to give an extraordinary performance of Korngold’s violin concerto. If that were not plenty already, she is a practicing certified yoga instructor.
With her husband, the marvelous pianist Tom Poster, she launched a fantastic new venture — a live JukeBox, updated daily. They solicited people throughout social media to send in requests for pieces that they would arrange and film themselves playing. The response was overwhelming, and they post great things every day, all performed together from their apartment in Philadelphia. In this surreal pandemic, it is as creative and exuberantly fun a project as you could imagine. They cover everything, from the classics to one to a mash up, arranged by Tom for Elena on her birthday this week, of four tunes that you would never expect together: Thriller, Uptown Funk, I’m Too Sexy, and Temporary Secretary.
You have to check it out — on Twitter, go to hashtag UriPosteJukeBox, or find it on her website at www.elenaurioste.com,It is a shining example of how artists everywhere are making art and music happen for so many people at a time when we need more than ever.
Michael Stern is the music director of IRIS Orchestra of Germantown, Tennessee and the Kansas City Symphony. Tickets and more information can be found at IRIS orchestra dot o-r-g.
Copyright 2020 WKNO
