Catch the Sunday afternoon concert series at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum this fall. Held in the 300-seat, tiered Calderwood Hall—among the “best chamber music spaces in the city,” says curator of music George Steel—the lineup offers a range of musical styles. On November 16, globally celebrated mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke sings American songs in honor of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. Pianist Michelle Cann, who won two Grammy Awards for her recordings of music by Florence Price, the first African American woman to have her compositions performed by a major symphony orchestra, performs on November 23. As a curator, Steel plans for existing compositions, along with newly commissioned works, and keeps “two goals in mind: enlightenment and pleasure.” Isabella Stewart Gardner’s first love was music, he adds, and she hosted concerts in her home before opening the museum in 1903 and establishing the oldest museum music series in the country.
Furthering that tradition, Steel has organized the third annual Holiday Music in the Courtyard concert (December 3) featuring the American Brass Quintet and the Vox Vocal Ensemble (which he founded and directs). Music from the Renaissance through today “will penetrate every space in the museum,” he says, along with carols “for everyone to sing together.” The galleries are open for both the holiday concert and weekend series. On Sundays, patrons often come early, take in the art, and eat at the café before heading into performance—or do that in reverse. In any case, the outing offers a time of rich cultural immersion sure to lighten the inevitably darker days of winter.
