Chamber music festival offers a fine selection

Sticking to the usual format of three simultaneous programs changing on the hour across the day, this year's chamber music festival seemed to offer its enthusiastic patrons some more concentrated options than in previous years.
                                               

Not that all the events had a single focus; you could find quite a few with varied content like soprano Sara Macliver's​ program of songs by four composers, or Anna Goldsworthy's tour from Bach, through Schubert and Prokofiev, to the Rigoletto Paraphrase by Liszt.

In the Abbotsford Chapel, the Arcadia Winds gave a stellar account of Barber's amiable, polished Summer Music and handled Nielsen's Wind Quintet with sterling security – not least from the unflappable horn of Rachel Shaw. The building's vivid resonance helped the music travel effectively, but much the same could be said of all the festival venues.

Cellist Caleb Wong, one of the festival's Young Performers, infused the long Mural Hall with Bach's E flat Suite, complete with all repeats; and then Kodaly's prolix Suite, which emerged as impassioned, urging almost to becoming strident.

By contrast, in the spacious Rosina Auditorium pianist Stefan Cassomenos​ faced down the multiple problems presented by Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in Liszt's full-blooded transcription: virtuosity riddled with smashing chords, a no-holds-barred exhibition of relentless drive.

Taylor Swift to release new music on Friday

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - The wait is almost over: Taylor Swift is expected to release new music on Friday, according to multiple sources.
                                                 

The superstar is set to debut the first single from her upcoming sixth album, although she could surprise everyone and drop the entire album itself.

Swift is also rumored to be debuting the music video for said single at this Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, hosted by her former friend Katy Perry .

After wiping clean her Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr accounts, in addition to her website, Swift sent fans into a frenzy by posting two cryptic videos of a snake moving its tail Monday on her social media platforms.

Given that the wait for new music since "1989" has been longer than usual, speculation that Swift would be dropping news soon ran rampant.

Further adding fuel to the fire: The day of the purge -- Friday, Aug. 18 -- was the three-year anniversary of the announcement of her album "1989" and the launch of its first single, "Shake It Off."

Swift released "1989" in October 2014, which marked an official move into pop music for the singer. The album was a massive success, going six-times platinum per the Recording Industry Association of America, and along with "Shake It Off," contained six other singles: "Blank Space," "Bad Blood," "Style," "Wildest Dreams," "Out of the Woods," and "New Romantics."

Starting with her 2006 self-titled debut and leading up to "1989," Swift had released an album every two years. She's kept a relatively low profile in the past few months especially, posting on social media only sporadically and making few public appearances.

She most recently emerged victorious in a Denver trial after a DJ, who was accused of groping her during a meet-and-greet, unsuccessfully sued her for the loss of his job.