Sphinx Chamber Orchestra Tour

Seasoned musicians shine in group's debut

From the strikingly beautiful extemporized version of the "Star Spangled Banner" to the emphatic finale of Michael Abels' "Delights and Dances," the debut concert by the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra yesterday in Orchestra Hall was an artistic triumph and a marvel of institutional collaboration.

Under the sensitive baton of Chelsea Tipton II, the touring orchestra was nothing less than professional in its performance of works tracing the history of classical music from Baroque and Classical standards to late-breaking compositions reflecting today's society.

Keep reading: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081013/ART10/810130364

More great news stories about the tour...

Detroit Free Press

Detroit's Sphinx Organization has won national acclaim for its pioneering work to boost the number of minority musicians in classical music. While best-known for the annual Sphinx Competition for black and Latino string players each winter, the organization also oversees a growing empire of education programs, camps, residencies, the Harlem String Quartet (composed of former Sphinx laureates) and an annual gala at Carnegie Hall.

Keep reading: http://www.freep.com/article/20081009/COL17/810090321

The Detroit News

Violinist Melissa White could be the poster girl for the Sphinx Organization, which for the last dozen years has helped talented African-American and Latino string players find a place in the American landscape of classical music.

White, 24, an African American and native of Lansing, graduated last year from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and is now taking advanced training at the New England Conservatory in Boston. She's also a member of the Harlem String Quartet, which leads a parade of young Sphinx honorees who will play at Orchestra Hall on Sunday afternoon on a tour that's headed for Carnegie Hall.

Keep reading: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081011/ENT01/810110392

Toledo Blade

Chelsea Tipton II, resident conductor of the Toledo Symphony, has been scarce this month on his home turf. But he's getting a lot of exposure around the country as maestro of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra during its inaugural tour.

Tipton and the SCO, plus its resident string group, the Harlem Quartet, will touch down for a performance at 2 p.m. Oct. 12 in Detroit's venerable Orchestra Hall.

Keep reading: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081005/ART10/810050279

Plus, a great review in the Memphis Commercial Appeal

A partnership between the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and the Germantown Performing Arts Centre brought forth a thrilling performance by young musicians who are, happily, the future of classical music.

Tuesday's concert at GPAC by the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and the Harlem Quartet was a gratifying mix of music from Mozart to Marsalis, deftly led by maestro Chelsea Tipton II.
Harlem Quartet

The groups are part of the Sphinx Organization, a group formed in 1996 to provide increased diversity in the classical music world. Its educational programs and competitions have been providing black and Latino musicians opportunities to pursue and excel in their careers.

Keep reading: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2008/oct/08/concert-review/

Hey Y'all,

We made it through our 11 bus ride yesterday and it seemed to pass by rather quickly coming to Granville from Memphis. Movies help on the bus. We watched Meet the Fockers and Love Actually, a delightful romantic drama-dy.

Today here in Granville we began rehearsing the additional music that will be on the Carnegie concert. Denison University and chapel that we performing our concert is a real jewel. It really is a good size for this size chamber orchestra. And the Denison folks had boxes of chocolates for everyone in their seat. You know candy makes a musician happy.

So far so good in Granville. If you are in the area come check us out.

Peace to all,

Chelsea Tipton
Conductor-man

October 6, 2008
BY WYNNE DELACOMA
Local arts lovers had their pick of heavy hitters in downtown Chicago over the weekend. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed Sibelius and Shostakovich at Symphony Center, and the legendary Kirov Ballet danced "Giselle' at the Auditorium.
But there is something equally exhilarating in encountering young performers who might become tomorrow's heavy hitters. On Saturday night, the two dozen or so gifted young members of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra made their Chicago debut in the Harris Theater with a lively program stretching from Vivaldi to Wynton Marsalis.
» Click to enlarge image

Violinist Clayton Penrose-Whitmore (right), of Evanston, performs with the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra.
(Courtesy)

Established in 2004, the string orchestra includes winners of competitions sponsored every year since 1996 by the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization. Sphinx is devoted to finding and helping promising Latino and black string players enter the professional classical music world, and some of its competition winners have done just that. Thanks in large part to Sphinx's efforts, the widely held perception that young people of color simply aren't interested in a life in classical music is slowly being laid to rest.
Judged simply on musical terms, the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra emerged as a top-notch ensemble Saturday night, playing with a tightly woven sound and palpable zest under conductor Chelsea Tipton II, resident conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.
The program of short works showed off the young players' versatility. Mozart's D Major Divertimento, K. 136, had a nice bounce and bright sheen, while Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins and Orchestra in B Minor dug a little deeper. Soloists, including 15-year-old Clayton Penrose-Whitmore of Evanston, confidently tossed Vivaldi's melodic threads back and forth, listening intently to each other as they tore through the concerto's quick tempos.
There was a seductively dreamy quality to the fugue movement from Heitor Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras" No. 9. Sections of the orchestra came and went as if surrounded by a smoky haze, momentarily seizing the spotlight before melting away into unsettled harmonies or unpredictable melodic turns. George Walker's elegiac Lyric for Strings was both lush and delicately shaded.
The Harlem Quartet, made up of orchestra members Ilmar Gavilan, Melissa White, Miguel Hernandez and Desmond Neysmith, had great fun with "Hellbound Highball," the final, scherzo movement from Wynton Marsalis' String Quartet No. 1 ("At the Octoroon Balls"), a work from 1995.
Marsalis' music evokes the powerful trains of the early 20th century, and the four players hurled themselves into high-speed chases and grinding slowdowns, all punctuated with sharp, twanging whistles and queasy, swaying rhythms.
The concert closed with "Delights and Dances" for String Quartet and Orchestra by American composer Michael Abels. Aptly titled, it was a happy mix of mellow lyricism and outbursts of jaunty country fiddling.
Wynne Delacoma is a Chicago free-lance writer.

Our gang is in Germantown and I am back in MI from the tour briefly. Can't wait to rejoin the group and hear more of the amazing music and see the whole fam. I want to make sure our peeps have seen the amazing review in the Chicago Sun Times--this is amazing! The first formal review, and it could simply not be more glowing. Congrats to Chelsea and everyone: this is something of which to be truly proud, and it did not occur by magic. Your hard work and integrity are paying off. Much love to you, and I am going to post the article separately, so enjoy.

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