Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The Orchestra of St. Luke’s held a cocktail party Wednesday at the home of Josie and Ken Natori: Part of the goal was to introduce new friends to the orchestra in an intimate setting. But for the committed fans in the room, the event was a rare night away from Carnegie Hall.
“We probably perform on the stage of Carnegie Hall more than any other orchestra in the world,” the president of the orchestra, Marianne Lockwood, said.
She spoke after elaborating on the upcoming engagements at the hall, including the only American performance of Paul McCartney’s new orchestral and choral composition, “Ecce Cor Meum” (“Behold My Heart”), on Tuesday.
“We’re performing the work at his request,” Ms. Lockwood said. “He’s amazing. He loves the musicians and he comes to every rehearsal.”
The orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall with Midori on December 14 and with Renée Fleming for a holiday concert on December 21.
Carnegie Hall isn’t the orchestra’s only home in town. It’s celebrating the 30th anniversary of its arts education program with three concerts at the Apollo Theater on December 4, 5, and 6. Come summer, it takes up residence at the Caramoor Music Festival in Katonah, N.Y.
The orchestra has also embarked on a chamber music series at the Morgan Library. “It’s fantastic, it’s a sold-out series on subscriptions alone,” Ms. Lockwood said, noting that the subscription base has almost doubled since the move to the Morgan Library from Zankel Hall.
At Ms. Natori’s apartment, there’s always the chance Ms. Natori herself will perform on one of her Steinways in the den. But on Wednesday, orchestra member Naoko Tanaka performed, after hiding out in the bedroom studying the score for “Tambourin Chinois” by Fritz Kreisler.
