ArtsCriticATL.com

A pair of long rectangular reflecting pools, their surfaces raised barely a foot above floor level, are the most prominent features of the lower lobby of 1180 Peachtree Street, a high-rise office tower (below) in Midtown Atlanta. If one were to enter through the revolving door on 14th Street and cross to the wide staircase [...]

A few months ago, it was touch and go whether the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra would reach its goal of performing 10 new fanfares across the 2010-11 season, commissioned to celebrate Robert Spano’s decade as music director. This weekend, the penultimate week of the season, Spano and the ASO delivered fanfares No. 9 and 10. They’re [...]

Charleston, S.C. — Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho burst onto the opera scene with the premiere of “L’amour de loin” in 2000 at Salzburg. Based on the writings of a 12th-century troubadour, it was immediately recognized as a groundbreaking masterpiece, soon traveling to Paris and then the Santa Fe Opera. I remember the amazement we felt [...]

A month before the world premiere of James Oliverio’s “Dynasty” Double Timpani Concerto, Paul and Mark Yancich are in a rehearsal hall at Emory University, facing each other across a sea of copper drums. Elder brother Paul, the principal timpanist of the Cleveland Orchestra, takes the lead. He pinpoints blurry passages and counts off so [...]

When Warren Wolf starts his Saturday afternoon set at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, complex polyrhythms and dissonant melodies will be far from his mind. The vibraphonist, who is steeped in the modern-jazz tradition and often plays straight-ahead acoustic music, will be more concerned with getting the audience to dance.

“We’re definitely a jazz group; we can do the whole traditional jazz thing,” Wolf said during a recent phone call.”There’s a lot of jazz music out nowadays that’s just totally — it’s music that makes you think. We’re just going out and trying to have fun.”

The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra has returned to splendid form. Since the abrupt retirement of John Hsu as its energizing conductor, the period-instrument group has seemed to be hanging on, as if in a drought of artistry and ambition. This season marks violinist Julie Andrijeski’s first as artistic director, and judging by the concert Sunday afternoon [...]