From my perspective, 2023 in RVA was the year of the woman. This is not to downplay the many, many brilliant nights dominated by [male and other] players. But looking back over the social media posts that have become the 21st century version of a personal journal, the artists who made the year unique were resoundingly women.
There were three key catalysts – Peni Candra Rini, Valentina Peleggi, and Laura Ann Singh – but the foundation was already there. Marlysse Rose Simmons with Bio Ritmo and Miramar; Sam Reed with No BS! Brass and her great ongoing series at Gallery 5; the exemplary women of Rosette Quartet; Christina Marie and Ayca Kartari of Yeni Nostalji. Also Ali Thibodeau of Deau Eyes; Nickey McMullen, who stops the show every time she picks up a mic; the dependably brilliant Desiree Roots; “buttery bruja” Buttafly Vazquez; and others to whom I preemptively apologize for leaving off the list.
The moment the year took shape can be defined with digital precision. At 12:22 in the afternoon of Jan. 20 at a lunchtime panel at the University of Richmond, when visiting Fulbright Scholar Peni Candra Rini stopped trying to explain the philosophical and rhythmical complexity of her art and simply sang. It was astonishingly beautiful, with a delicate clarity achievable only when backed with deep reserves of vocal power and tonal control. Over many subsequent appearances throughout the year, she moved effortlessly from traditional Indonesian Gamelan music to folk-tinged acoustic songs, to punk-tinged rock where her voice ranged at quicksilver speed from operatic soprano to deep growls, heartfelt longing to pure joy. A world-class talent, in between these adventurous local appearances she appeared in New York, London, and Paris with the Kronos Quartet, building a global reputation that may outgrow these intimate shows. (She returns next October.)
Classical music is always respectable, but Richmond Symphony Music Director Valentina Peleggi brings an energy and fierce intelligence that makes it exciting. As with all music, the real magic is in the space between the notes. She brings out the story in the score to life, from the rustic awkwardness in a Mahler dance section, to the hushed bittersweet hopefulness of the fourth movement of Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” symphony in the afterglow of the thunderous third. Hearing the Symphony play a piece under her leadership is hearing it anew. Increasingly recognized as one of the top-tier conductors in the world, the renewal of her contract through the 2027-2028 season was welcome news.
Vocalist Laura Ann Singh has been a Richmond standout for years, but 2023 was particularly amazing. Her deep knowledge of Brazilian music was at the heart of Doug Richards’ masterful big band arrangements in “Through a Sonic Mirror: The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim.” She appeared in Scott Clark and Adam Hopkins’ adventurous Second Mondays series at Artspace. She continued work the amazing Miramar collaboration with Simmons and Bio Ritmo singer Rei Alvarez, did a show-stopping turn at RISE Richmond’s Big Band Christmas show. And she performed a charming set saluting Burt Bacharach with Butterbean as part of the JAMinc series. (Amusingly, she interjected advice not to follow the sexist advice of the lyrics of a particularly dated 1960s classic.) Even if she was not performing, she was often in the audience. One of the great strengths of the local scene is the network of artists supporting artists.
The prominence of women artists was an easy theme to pick, but it was necessarily reductive. Expand the focus just a bit and it’s hard to stop. What about Michael Hawkins Brotherhood with James Gates, Weldon Hill and the ubiquitous Kofi Shepsu? Or Afro-Zen Allstars, Charles Owens, or Butcher Brown? Is it fair to overlook the midsummer Dogwood Dell sets from Kelli Strawbridge, Plunky Branch, or Anthony Cosby Jr.? What about the Second Street Festival, the Richmond Jazz Festival, and the Folk Festival – especially the burning performance from the amazing Baba Commandant, who died of malaria shortly after his return to Burkina Faso? What about the end-of-the-year shows from the R4d$nzzo Big B4nd, or John D’earth? Or the many, many things I missed. Every omission is a distortion. Mentioning everyone would be an encyclopedia.
Year-end retrospectives seem more important because all years are unique and changes next year are inevitable. This year’s familiar night on the scene becomes a future special occasion, like the return gigs of a DJ Williams or Angelica Garcia. With luck, there will be future nights in RVA as fine as 2023’s. Then, they too, will fade into burnished memory. There is no moment so achingly close and so impossibly out of reach as the one that just passed.
