Catching Up With Jonathan Dimmock!

This past Sunday, we featured Jonathan Dimmock on The Organ Loft. So today we took a look at what this phenomenal artist has been up to!

Sunday, June 6, Jonathan Dimmock was featured on artist Sarah Cahill's NPR program "Then and Now" on San Fransisco's local KALW Radio. And it wasn't just his music, it was a full live interview as well!

On June 10th, his ensemble AVE performed and received an outstanding review in the San Fransisco Classical Voice! Here's a quote from that review (find the rest at SFCV.com):

Crafting an expert Gesualdo performance is no mean feat. In addition to the technical demands of mastering this difficult music, the conductor and singers need to internalize its emotional content and convey it effectively to the audience. “I always try to put myself in the shoes of the audience. I think a concert should be educational, uplifting, fun, stimulating, and contemplative,” Dimmock says. “Above all, it is the responsibility of the choir and me to communicate. Music without passion is merely an exercise; and very little music of the Renaissance can match the passion of Gesualdo. So we have a tall task — not the least because this music is well-known by many people. We’re aware that the expectations will be extremely high.”

Dimmock also finds great value for modern listeners in entering the sound world of this unique composer, even if the original liturgical context can’t be recaptured. “We can find in this music a solace that can only come from extreme honesty and the desire for release from intense pain,” he says. “This music doesn’t represent a single cathartic moment in the composer’s life, nor in ours as listeners, but rather the fruit resulting from months, or even years, of spiritual introspection and self-scrutiny. This is music for contemplatives. As listeners today, you, too, are being issued an invitation to find beauty even in areas of pain and suffering.”

Also, Jonathan Dimmock and AVE both have Facebook Pages so we encourage you to give them both a "Like" and keep up with this fantastic artist! We know we will!

Here's a piece from Jonathan Dimmock's latest release on Loft Recordings - "Mendelssohn Organ Sonatas"