Feb. 2: Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg @ National Sawdust

Sunday, February 2, 2020 at National Sawdust:

award winning Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg performs new music by Nordic composers

Works by Per Nørgård, Kaija Saariaho, and Bent Sørensen, among others

On February 2, 2020 at 7:00 PM, Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust presents the award winning Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg. Mr. Kullberg has worked extensively with many of the leading contemporary Scandinavian composers, premiering and recording major works by Per Nørgård, Kaija Saariaho, and Bent Sørensen, among others. A two-time winner of the Danish Grammy and an internationally-renowned performer and advocate of contemporary composers, Kullberg has assembled a program that features his favorite modern works by Nordic composers for cello, clarinet, and piano. He’s joined by Open G regulars Chris Grymes and Jeremy Gill.

One of the four world premieres on the program, Niels Rønsholdt's Country Songs are excerpts from the song cycle and cello concerto ‘Country’ which musically and conceptually paraphrases the rich American country and folk music tradition. Written for Kullberg, Country Songs is about the question of authenticity, about belonging to a certain place and what that belonging means in a globalized modernity.

Also a world premiere, Eivind Buene's A Cellist's Songbook takes music from the classical repertoire for a classically trained voice and 'transposes' it to Kullbergs untrained everyday-voice. Buene has worked with this concept for a long time under the title Schubert Lounge, where he sings songs by Franz Schubert in his own untrained voice, accompanying himself on a Fender Rhodes electric piano. The first two songs in the cello songbook are based on Gustav Mahler: “Blue Eyes” is based on “Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz”, and the cello makes its mark on this song in the form of melodies from Schubert's 'Arpeggione-sonate'. The other song, “Welt”, is a short composition based on a fragment from “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen”. These versions, with piano, cello and clarinet, are tailor made for this performance at National Sawdust.

Chris Grymes founded Open G Records with a philosophy to produce music that is rooted in the classical tradition, but delivered in a way that will resonate with current and future generations of music fans. Having released a half dozen recordings, Open G has expanded to include a concert series hosted at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.

Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust continues with:

• Composer and soprano Nia Franklin (2019 Miss America) performs a showcase of works by women of African descent on May 3

• Fidelio Trio, a piano trio from Ireland, pairs music from the British Isles with American works in a program that includes Louis Karchin, Helen Grime and Ann Cleare on June 14

• Clarinetist Chris Grymes himself takes the stage on July 10, performing chamber works written for him.

Tickets for cellist Jakob Kullberg's performance on February 2, 2020 are $29 for general admission and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455. National Sawdust is located at 80 North 6th Street in Brooklyn.

Praised internationally for his performances of contemporary cello repertoire, Jakob Kullberg, is one of the most established and diverse Danish instrumentalists of his generation. A top prize winner at international solo and chamber music competitions, Jakob has been artist in residence with the International Carl Nielsen Competition, the Tivoli Garden Concert Hall and the 29th International Krakow Composers’ Festival. Jakob is halfway through a large-scale recording project with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he will release five cello concertos on two CDs. He is twice winner of the Danish Grammy, most recently for his concerto CD ’Momentum’. This CD was also nominated for the Gramophone Award, was Album of the Week with Q2 Music and praised in The Strad Magazine.

CALENDAR LISTING

February 2, 2020 at 7:00 pm

Chris Grymes' Open G Series at National Sawdust:

Cellist Jakob Kullberg

New music by Nordic Composers

National Sawdust

80 North 6th St in Brooklyn

Tickets are $29 for general admission, and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455

Program

Niels Rønsholdt – Country Songs *

Jakob Kullberg – Song *

Kaija Saariaho – Im Traume

Bent Sørenson – Schattenlinie arr. for cello, clarinet, and piano *

Eivind Buene – Two Songs for cello, clarinet, and piano *

Per Nørgård – Solo Sonata no.4, 'What is the Word'

Kasper Rofelt – selection from Clarinet Trio

* = world premiere

January 28 at ACFNY: Eric Wubbels plays Peter Ablinger

Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents:

Eric Wubbels performs selections from Peter Ablinger's electro-acoustic work "Voices and Piano"

On Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00 pm, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents pianist Eric Wubbels performing selections from Peter Ablinger's ground-breaking "Voices and Piano" series. The highlight of the evening is the world premiere performance of the newest addition to the series, a work using the voice of American performance artist Diamanda Galás.

"Voices and Piano" is an extensive cycle of pieces for recorded voice - usually a well-known celebrity - and piano. Begun in 1998, Ablinger's cycle continues to be a work in progress and will ultimately include about 80 pieces/voices (around four hours of music). The voices are taken from speeches, interviews or readings, and rather than an accompaniment, the piano part serves as a commentary on the spoken text.

Peter Ablinger will be in attendance for the concert and will handle the electronics at the performance. Selections will include the voices of Agnes Martin, Mila Haugová, Ezra Pound, Nina Simone, Setsuko Hara, Hanna Schygulla, Cecil Taylor, Roman Opalka, and the world premiere of Diamanda Galás.

In addition to Mr. Ablinger's appearance at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, his visit to the U.S. also includes a week-long residency at the Goethe Institut Chicago with the Wet Ink Ensemble, and an Alexei Ratmansky choreographed world premiere with the New York City Ballet.

Admission is free, and reservations (online at ACFNY.org) are required. Austrian Cultural Forum New York is located at 11 East 52nd Street, New York, NY.

The Austrian Cultural Forum New York's Spring 2020 concert season also includes the Argento Chamber Ensemble performing works by Arnold Schoenberg and a world premiere by Erin Gee, Klezmer music by Roman Grinberg and Sasha Danilov on March 10, and the piano duo of Hafez Babashahi and Mira Gill performing Austrian works from Schubert to Johannes Maria Staud on March 26. See details below.

Peter Ablinger was born in Schwanenstadt, Austria in 1959. He began studying graphic arts but enthused by free jazz changed his focus to composition, studying with Gösta Neuwirth and Roman Haubenstock-Ramati in Graz and Vienna. Since 1982 he has lived in Berlin, where he has created and arranged numerous festivals and concerts. He is the founder of Ensemble Zwischentöne, and has been guest conductor of Klangforum Wien, United Berlin and the InselMusik Ensemble. In 2012 Ablinger was awarded membership in the Academy of Arts Berlin, and from 2012 to 2017 he was research professor at the University of Huddersfield. 

Eric Wubbels is an award-winning composer and pianist, and is Co-Director of the Wet Ink Ensemble. His music has been performed throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and the U.S., by groups including Mivos Quartet, yarn|wire, Splinter Reeds, and Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, and has been featured on festivals including Huddersfield Festival, Chicago Symphony MusicNOW, New York Philharmonic CONTACT, MATA Festival, and Zurich Tage für Neue Musik.

As a pianist, he has given U.S. and world premieres of works by major figures including Peter Ablinger, Richard Barrett, Beat Furrer, George Lewis, and Mathias Spahlinger. He has recorded for Carrier Records, hatART, Intakt, New Focus, Spektral (Vienna), quiet design, and Albany Records, among others, and has held teaching positions at Amherst College and Oberlin Conservatory.

CALENDAR LISTING

January 28, 2020 at 7:00 pm

Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents:

Eric Wubbels performing selections from Peter Ablinger's "Voices and Piano"

Including the world premiere of Diamanda Galás

Austrian Cultural Forum New York

11 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022

Ticket reservations will be available beginning December 18 at:

www.acfny.org

Nicolas Hodges performs selections of "Voices and Piano"

selections from "Voices and Piano"

Diamanda Galás *WORLD PREMIERE*

Agnes Martin

Mila Haugová

Ezra Pound

Nina Simone

Setsuko Hara

Hanna Schygulla

Cecil Taylor

Roman Opalka

Eric Wubbels, piano

Peter Ablinger, electronics

Insider Interview with violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv

In November of 2019, the violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv releases a recording of “Mendelssohn Concertos” on Brilliant Classics (95733). In this Insider Interview we spoke to Ms. Ivakhiv about how she started playing violin, the inspiration behind recording these particular concertos and more.

How old were you when you started playing the violin?  Tell us some of your first memories of your interest in music.

According to my mother, who is a piano teacher, I sang in tune since I was 2 years old. Mom says I would repeat melodies upon hearing. At the age of 6, my parents sent me to audition at the Special Music School for Children with Extraordinary Abilities in Lviv (that is the name of the school dedicated to training very young musicians).

I thought I was auditioning to enroll as a piano student. But the auditioning committee decided the violin will be a better fit for me, so I was assigned to this beautiful string instrument. At first, my mother was upset and wanted me to switch to piano, but then decided to let me try the violin. It was a lucky coincidence and I can’t imagine my life without the violin.

Your education path was fairly unusual: raised in the Ukraine, undergraduate studies at Curtis, earned your master’s degree at the Music Academy in Lviv in Ukraine, and back to the US for your doctorate at Stony Brook University.  What differences are there between European and American pedagogy methods? What takeaways do you have from studying in these two diverse cultures?

My parents are both educators and wanted me to be exposed to both European and American schooling systems. (I also think they wanted me to have an excuse to come and visit them when I was coming to the Conservatory to take exams.)

I am very grateful for my education at Curtis and consider myself American trained. Studying with the luminaries such as late Joseph Silverstein, late Rafael Druian, Pamela Frank and Philip Setzer shaped me as a musician and made me who I am today. Also, at Curtiswe were exposed to phenomenal faculty (Gary Graffman, Ida Kavafian, Otto Werner-Mueller to name a few) as well as supremely talented fellow students. The whole atmosphere made the education at Curtis priceless, learning equally from both faculty and guest artists, as well as our peers.

My parents instilled in my brother and I the importance of higher education and reaching our furthest potentia. My father has a Doctorate and he was thrilled when the opportunity came up for me to pursue a doctorate at Stony Brook. Pamela Frank brought this idea to me and I was thrilled to continue my studies with her. It was a great way to continue my education and further my experience – it’s where I met and studied with Philip Setzer, Gilbert Kalish, Ani Kavafian and Colin Carr. Coming from a small boutique conservatory (Curtis) to Stony Brook was a shock at first. I was not used to a large campus and felt lost and out of place. But it prepared me for the University life I lead now. The Stony Brook experience was priceless and I am very grateful for it!

You lead a dual life as a concert violinist and a college professor.  How do these two aspects of your career inform one another?

I enjoy teaching very much and learn so much from my students.  I feel a strong responsibility to share the knowledge I gained from my teachers and pass it on to a new generations.

I demonstrate while teaching and try to apply what I preach into my own playing. My students appreciate the fact that I am a performing artist and they often attend my concerts. My students are also aware that performing is like breathing to me. It is a way to express both myself and the ideas and feelings the composers intended to be shared. I will admit it does get challenging at times combining performing and teaching on the scale I do. But I do like a challenge…and both are very important to me.

For your latest CD, you recorded Felix Mendelssohn’s double concerto for violin and piano in its later arrangement by the composer, with winds and timpani added to the original string orchestra version. How did you discover this arrangement, and why did you choose it over the original?

I performed the Double Concerto a number of times over the course of the past few years. I love the work! But for all of these performances I played with the string orchestra, not the full orchestra. I only learned about the existence of the full orchestra version two years ago from my colleague, the conductor Theodore Kuchar. Ted is known for finding treasures and obscure and forgotten works.  Somehow he came across the score of the full orchestra version and brought it to my attention. After doing some research, I was able to find only 3 recordings of the full orchestra. Perhaps there are more now, but at the time there were only three. So making a record with the orchestra version seemed very appealing. It does sound much fuller and richer with the full orchestra. It is a beautiful piece and I love performing it!

The other work on your new CD is an early violin concerto by Felix Mendelssohn. What drew you to this work? 

I was looking for pieces written for solo violin and chamber orchestra because I wanted to have a few pieces in my repertoire that I could perform with my students in run-out concerts. Maestro Kuchar brought that piece to my attention and suggested I make an album with this violin concerto and the double concerto on it.

Inviting Antonio Pompa-Baldi to be a part of the project was suggested by Ted as well, since Antonio and Ted have collaborated many times. A few years back Iplayed chamber music with Antonio, and I remember admiring his musicianship and talent very much. I think the three of us had a good chemistry while working on the album.

This Mendelssohn album, along with your next, forthcoming recording of works by Haydn and Hummel is part of your Singles and Doubles project. Tell us how you came up with this project, and how both of these albums figure in to it.

Ted Kuchar, again, was the source – he suggested the Hummel and Haydn Concertos to me. Ted has a talent of finding the pieces that are not overplayed and will be fresh and interesting to the listener. The combination of the instrumentation: solo violin, solo piano and orchestra was very appealing to me.

Lately I had been playing other double concertos with Dutch cellist Joachim Eijlander and American cellist Sophie Shao, and I must admit it is nice to collaborate with another instrument in concert and make music with another soloist on stage (besides the orchestra and conductor). Antonio, Ted and I recorded Haydn and Hummel on the same trip as Mendelssohn Concertos, and the Haydn and Hummel Album will be released on Centaur in spring 2020.

Orli Shaham hosts From the Top in a live radio taping in Portland, Maine

In other radio news, on November 20 in Portland, Maine Ms. Shaham hosts a live taping of From the Top, the long-running NPR program featuring performances of talented young musicians. These episodes of From the Top will be broadcast nationally on select NPR stations across the United States during the weeks of December 16 and January 6. This marks Ms. Shaham's second appearance on From the Top, having previously guest hosted in October 2018. You can listen to the archived audio of show 361 at this link.

New! Pianist Orli Shaham's Bach Yard airs on WQXR-FM, Saturday mornings, November 30 - December 21, 2019

As Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard prepares for its 10th season of live interactive concerts in New York and Princeton, we’re proud to announce WQXR radio as a new platform for Bach Yard.

Orli Shaham’s stories illustrated by classical music are one of the most popular components of Bach Yard interactive concerts for young children. WQXR-FM has invited Ms. Shaham to create and host a series of these original stories with classical music designed especially for radio.

Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard for radio will air on WQXR, 105.9 FM and WQXR.org Saturday mornings at 8:00 am EST, November 30 through December 21, 2019. A different five-minute episode airs each week.  You and your children will be entertained by The Trout Family's New Friend, Belinda and Charlie's Big Day and other tales written by Orli, along with music by Handel, Schubert and more.

Orli Shaham's Bach Yard, the live interactive concert series of the same name will be performed at Merkin Hall in New York on February 23 and April 26, 2020, and at Princeton University on March 14, 2020, with Orli as host and pianist. Check out BachYard.org for details about these and other performances, as well as fun activities to do at home with your little Maestro.

The 23rd season of Cutting Edge Concerts features Mrs. President, the opera

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, the 2020 CEC Festival presents theatrical works by three women composers: Dalit Warshaw, Marisa Michelson, and Victoria Bond

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, Cutting Edge Concerts presents Mrs. President in concert on April 27

April 13, 20, & 27, 2020 at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater in New York City

The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. What better way to celebrate women’s right to vote than with an opera about the first woman presidential candidate? The real-life Victoria Woodhull – a courageous as well as an outrageous suffragist – ran for president in 1872, and is the inspiration for Victoria Bond’s opera Mrs. President.

On Monday, April 27, 2020 at 7:30 pm at Symphony Space, Victoria Bond's Cutting Edge Concerts presents a concert performance of her opera, Mrs. President. In Mrs. President, composer Victoria Bond and librettist Hilary Bell have crafted a seething drama of ambition and betrayal, which tells the story of Woodhull's visionary struggle to defy history and become the first female President of the United States in 1872, before women had been granted the right to vote. She was branded “Mrs. Satan” by the press because she posed a threat to society, and jailed on election night. In the final scene, Woodhull, in her prison cell, silenced but not defeated, looks ahead to a future generation of women who will realize her vision of equality.

Tickets are $25 in advance ($35 day of show) and are available at symphonyspace.org.

Also on the 2020 Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival:

• On April 13: New Music Theater, CEC in partnership with Quog Music Theater’s first Eric Salzman Award for New Music Theater presents Song of Song of Songs by Marisa Michelson. Also on the program is Dalit Warshaw's The Letters of Mademoiselle C. Details below and at Symphony Space.

• On April 20: 21st Century Trombone, trombonists John Romeo and Steve Norrell (MET Opera Orchestra), Colin Williams and George Curran (NY Philharmonic), and JoDee Davis (Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory) perform 21st Century works for trombone. Details below and at Symphony Space.

Inspired by Pierre Boulez's series, "Perspective Encounters", the composer and conductor Victoria Bond founded Cutting Edge Concerts in 1998. With more than two decades of concerts, Cutting Edge Concerts has presented over 300 new works by nearly 200 composers. Each program highlights the music of living composers, all of whom attend the concert. Along with performances by world-class ensembles and soloists, each program features on-stage discussions between host Victoria Bond and the composers. CEC has been called "a full-throttle commitment to contemporary music" by Chamber Music America.

Calendar Listing

Mrs. President, the opera

Victoria Bond, composer

Hillary Bell, librettist

Monday, April 27, 2020
7:30 pm

Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at
Peter Norton Symphony Space
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York City

Tel: (212) 864-5400
Tickets are $25 in advance ($35 day of show) and are available at symphonyspace.org

Cast

Valerie Bernhardt, soprano (Victoria Woodhull)
Scott Ramsay, tenor (Henry Ward Beecher)
Michael Kelly, baritone (Col. James Blood)
Katie Hannigan, mezzo-soprano (Roxie)
Keely Futterer, soprano (Isabella Beecher)
David Charles Tay, tenor (Joseph Treat)
Addie Rose Forstman, soprano (Elizabeth Tilton)

Marc Peloquin, piano
Victoria Bond, conductor

April 13, 7:30 pm | Cutting Edge Concerts: Two Women by Two Women

Cutting Edge Concerts, in partnership with Quog Music Theater’s first Eric Salzman Award for New Music Theater Composition, presents Song of Song of Songs, with words and music by Marisa Michelson. Performed by Marisa Michelson with Constellation Choir and scored for twelve singers, bansuri flute, melodica, cello and percussion, the work defies category, encompassing live music video, oratorio, opera and ritual. Also on the program is The Letters of Mademoiselle C. by Dalit Warshaw.

April 20, 7:30 pm | Cutting Edge Concerts: The Art of the 21st Century Trombone

The Art of the 21st Century Trombone features trombonists and bass trombonists from the Metropolitan Opera (John Romeo and Steve Norrell), New York Philharmonic (Colin Williams and George Curran), and Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory (JoDee Davis) performing new compositions for solo trombone. Works by Harrison J. Collins, John Stevens, Anthony Barfield, Kenneth Fuchs, and Victoria Bond.

April 27, 7:30 pm | Cutting Edge Concerts: Mrs. President, the opera

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage, Cutting Edge Concerts presents a concert performance of the opera, Mrs. President, about the first woman to run for President, by composer Victoria Bond, and librettist Hilary Bell. The cast includes: Valerie Bernhardt (Victoria Woodhull); Scott Ramsay (Henry Ward Beecher); Michael Kelly (Col. James Blood); Katie Hannigan (Roxie); Keely Futterer (Isabella Beecher); David Charles Tay (Joseph Treat); Addie Rose Forstman (Elizabeth Tilton). With pianist Marc Peloquin and conducted by Victoria Bond. 

Hours of Freedom at Ahavath Achim Synagogue

Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer

December 5, 2019

Ahavath Achim Synagogue

Produced by The Defiant Requiem Foundation as the 2019 Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture

Hours of Freedom combines live music, video, and narrative to highlight works by fifteen composers imprisoned in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp during WWII

On December 5, 2019 at 7:00 pm The Defiant Requiem Foundation performs Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer. Hours of Freedom is a concert-drama that showcases music by fifteen composers imprisoned in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (Terezín) during World War II. The performance is at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue (600 Peachtree Battle Ave NW, Atlanta). Admission is free; reservations are required by November 30 at this link. This performance is the featured 2019 Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture.

Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer combines video, music, and narrative to highlight compositions by Viktor Ullmann, Gideon Klein, Pavel Haas, Rudolf Karel, and about a dozen others. Much of this music was the last that was composed by these gifted artists - many of whom were in their 20s and 30s when they perished. Several were destined to be the next generation of significant Czech composers, following in the footsteps of Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček, Martinu, and Suk. Some of their compositions reflect the personal, eyewitness account of the agony and suffering of camp life, while others express the assurance of a return to life as it was before the war.

The music is performed by vocalists Arianna Zukerman, Leah Wool, and David Kravitz, concertmaster and solo violinist Herbert Greenberg, cellist Julian Schwarz, pianist Phillip Silver, with the Hours of Freedom Chamber Players. Program highlights include:

• Ullmann's 7th Piano Sonata, which contains hidden sociological and patriotic messages.

• The Etude for Strings by Pavel Haas, which will combine the live ensemble together with Terezín musicians captured on film in August 1944.

• A song cycle by Hans Krasa, which evokes heart-breaking longing.

• Karel Svenk's Everything is Possible, which represents the cabaret "voice" of Terezín from one of Europe's most imaginative artists.

Murry Sidlin, the founder of The Defiant Requiem Foundation, is the creator and writer of Hours of Freedom and conducts this performance. The performance is generously supported by The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.

2019 marks the 31st year of The Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture. This prestigious event has featured Nobel Peace Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners, United States Presidents and Vice Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and Israeli Prime Ministers, among other eminent national and international guests. Stuart Eizenstat, The Defiant Requiem Foundation board chair since 2011, established the series in 1987 to honor the memory of his family members.

Ahavath Achim Synagogue cultivates a Jewish community of purposeful belonging. We inspire and support spiritual journeys by deepening relationships with one another. We believe it is at the crossroads of our spiritual paths that life’s purpose and God might be found.

Murry Sidlin and The Defiant Requiem Foundation also produced an Emmy-nominated documentary film narrated by Bebe Neuwirth that has been praised as a "gripping documentary" (Examiner.com), with "a very powerful message" (CNN). More information is at DefiantRequiem.org.

CALENDAR LISTING

Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer

Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 7:00 pm

Ahavath Achim Synagogue

600 Peachtree Battle Ave NW, Atlanta

aasynagogue.org/hours-of-freedom

Produced by The Defiant Requiem Foundation

as the 2019 Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture

Murry Sidlin, creator & conductor

Callan White, narrator

Arianna Zukerman, soprano

Leah Wool, mezzo-soprano

Jonathan Blalock, tenor

David Kravitz, baritone

Herbert Greenberg, concertmaster and solo violin

Julian Schwarz, cello

Phillip Silver, piano

Hours of Freedom Chamber Players

Admission is free, registration is required.

Reserve by November 30th at aasynagogue.org/hours-of-freedom

2019/20 Performances

Defiant Requiem Foundation

November 4, 2019: Defiant Requiem | Budapest | Hungarian State Opera

50th worldwide performance of Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín

December 5, 2019: Hours of Freedom | Atlanta | Ahavath Achim Synagogue

Produced by The Defiant Requiem Foundation as the 2019 Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture.

March 28, 2020: Defiant Requiem | Valdosta Symphony Orchestra

Presented by the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, Valdosta State University Department of Music, and The Defiant Requiem Foundation with funding from the Gretchen M. Brooks University Residency Project.

Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra announces its 2019/20 season

"MUSIC WE’VE CREATED, MUSIC THAT HAS SHAPED US, MUSIC WOVEN THROUGH WASHINGTON HEIGHTS’ TAPESTRY OF CULTURES"

Head uptown for the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra's 2019/20 season of symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and more. Highlights include:

Music from the Caribbean - opening with Puerto Rican composer Angélica Negrón’s What Keeps Me Awake, WHCO's season includes Valerie Coleman's Afro-Cuban Concerto, as well as music by Dominican composers José Dolores Cerón and Bienvenido Bustamante.

Guest artists - joining WHCO this season are acclaimed guest artists Nilko Andreas (guitar), Amos Fayette (violin), Abigail Fischer (soprano), and Patrick Bartley (alto saxophone).

Great works of the past - in addition to celebrating Beethoven's 250th anniversary with his 5th Symphony, this season includes landmarks of orchestral repertoire from Brahms' Symphony No. 4 to Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 .

Composers from Washington Heights - 'Buy Local'? How about 'Play Local'? Featuring works by Aaron Jay Kernis, Jessica Meyer, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, Peter Gordon, and more, WHCO's 2019/20 season features many works by composers from Washington Heights.

Tickets to all shows: Adults $5 in advance / $7 at the door | Students ages 17 and under FREE | Young listeners welcome

Based in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra is a professional ensemble that presents affordable and accessible concerts to the community. 2019/20 marks the orchestra’s fifth season. Comprised of musicians from Upper Manhattan, the orchestra presents engaging concerts with a diverse repertoire; including favorite classical works, genre bending crossover pieces, and works by living composers. The WHCO was founded in 2015 by conductor and music director Chris Whittaker. The WHCO strives to engage the people of Washington Heights and neighboring communities through exemplary musical performances and innovative educational programming. The WHCO is a non-profit performing arts organization.

WHCO's 2019/20 Season

What Keeps Me Awake

October 18, 7:00 pm @ George Washington Educational Campus - (549 Audubon Ave.)

October 19, 3:00 pm @ Fort Washington Collegiate Church (729 W. 181st St.)

The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra kicks-off its fifth season with Angélica Negrón’s probing and wandering soundscape What Keeps Me Awake, Brahms’ simmering 4th symphony, and Villa-Lobos' Guitar Concerto with soloist Nilko Andreas. Friends of WHCO are invited after Saturday's concert for a post-concert reception featuring a neighborhood coffee tasting.

Program

Angélica Negrón: What Keeps Me Awake

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Guitar Concerto, featuring soloist Nilko Andreas

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Arroz con Schnitzel

November 15, 8:00 pm @ Our Savior’s Atonement Lutheran (178 Bennett Ave.)

November 16, 3:00 pm @ Fort Washington Collegiate Church (729 W. 181st St.)

Enjoy a distinctive musical dinner as tasty and diverse as schnitzel and rice! The concert features Washington Heights-native Valerie Coleman’s “Afro-Cuban Concerto,” Mozart’s timeless Clarinet Quintet, featuring WHCO principal strings and clarinetist John Hong, and Arnold Schoenberg’s revolutionary Chamber Symphony that launched his new expressionist style and sparked the creation of the 2nd Viennese school of composition. Friends of WHCO are invited after Saturday's concert for a post-concert reception featuring local food and a group salsa dance lesson.

Program

Valerie Coleman: Afro-Cuban Concerto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581

Arnold Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9

Melodies Pour Out of Me

February 7, 2020 7:00 pm @ George Washington Educational Campus - (549 Audubon Ave.)

February 8, 3:00 pm @ Fort Washington Collegiate Church (729 W. 181st St.)

It’s the summer of 1889, and Antonín Dvořák is on fire. He’s just about to begin composing what would become his eighth symphony, and he writes to his friend with unabashed confidence: “It’s going unexpectedly easily… the melodies simply pour out of me!” This concert features melodically bold music from three centuries. Cerón’s A la caída de la tarde (At the End of the Afternoon) is a beautifully nostalgic and flowing soundscape from the Dominican classical tradition. Music Director Chris Whittaker presents his new violin concerto for former WHCO-concertmaster Amos Fayette. The concert concludes with Dvořák's sublime and melodious 8th Symphony. Friends of WHCO are invited after Saturday's concert for a post-concert reception featuring a local beer tasting.

Program

José Dolores Cerón: A la caída de la tarde

Chris Whittaker: Violin Concerto featuring Amos Fayette

Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G, Op. 88

Above 155th Street

March 20, 8:00 pm @ Our Savior’s Atonement Lutheran (178 Bennett Ave.)

March 21, 3:00 pm @ Fort Washington Collegiate Church (729 W. 181st St.)

A musical snapshot of a time and place: the community of classical composers and performers living in Washington Heights. Featuring works by Aaron Jay Kernis, Jessica Meyer, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, Peter Gordon, and Joel Hoffman, the Strings of WHCO perform works by a collection of compelling Uptown voices for a concert you’ll only find above 155th street. Friends of WHCO are invited after Saturday's concert for a post-concert reception featuring tastings from neighborhood restaurants.

Program

Peter Gordon: Magic and Transformation

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Sort Sol

Aaron Jay Kernis: Sarabanda in Memoriam

Jessica Meyer: Through Which We Flow

Joel Hoffman: Crossing Points

Strings of the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra

Chris Whittaker, Music Director

Your Distant Destiny

May 15, 7:00 pm @ George Washington Educational Campus - (549 Audubon Ave.)

May 16, 3:00 pm @ Fort Washington Collegiate Church (729 W. 181st St.)

The final program of the season pairs a new chamber orchestra version of Paul Brantley's On the Pulse of the Morning featuring soprano Abigail Fischer with Dominican-composer Bienvenido Bustamante's rarely heard Concierto para Saxofón featuring Patrick Bartley on Alto Saxophone. The season closes with Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.

Program

Paul Brantley: On the Pulse of Morning featuring Abigail Fischer, Soprano (New chamber orchestra version, commissioned on the work’s 25th anniversary)

Bienvenido Bustamante: Concierto para Saxofón featuring Patrick Bartley, Alto Saxophone

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

Orli Shaham's Bach Yard – formerly Baby Got Bach – is proud to announce its Spring 2020 Season!

Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard performs

new interactive concerts in association

with Ensemble Connect

Performances on February 23 and

April 26 at Merkin Hall in New York City

and on March 14 at Princeton University

“I LOVED that you really taught the kids stuff. My child was TOTALLY ENTHRALLED. So smart. Well done!!” - parent testimonial

Orli Shaham’s interactive concert series for kids, Baby Got Bach has a new name - Orli Shaham's Bach Yard – and an expanded program. Bach Yard combines live ensemble performances with storytelling, costumed musicians, and a host of activities in which children can take part. The interactive concerts introduce musical concepts, instruments and the experience of concert-going to children age pre-Kindergarten to early elementary.

The concert pianist Orli Shaham performs with orchestras and in recitals around the world. As the interactive concert series for children that she founded developed and grew, it became clear that a new name was in order. “Since our live concert series is aimed toward pre-kindergarten through early elementary age children, we decided that the name “Bach Yard” was much more descriptive and appropriate,” said Ms. Shaham. Thus, Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard (“OSBY” for short) was born.

Orli Shaham's Bach Yard: Spring 2020 Season

Sunday, February 23, 2020, 10:30 am: Winter Winds at Merkin Hall - presented by Kaufman Music Center, in association with Ensemble Connect - New York, NY

Saturday, March 14, 1:00 pm: Welcome the Winds! At Princeton University Concerts, in association with Ensemble Connect - Princeton, NJ

Sunday, April 26, 10:30 pm: Spring Strings at Merkin Hall - presented by Kaufman Music Center, in association with Ensemble Connect - New York, NY

GUEST PERFORMERS: ENSEMBLE CONNECT

Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard is excited to present new interactive concerts in association with Ensemble Connect, the fellowship program created by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. This ensemble is made up of the finest young professional classical musicians who combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Read more about Ensemble Connect at this link.

“We are beyond thrilled to be collaborating with Ensemble Connect,” said Orli Shaham. “I have worked with these fine musicians for a number of years in various capacities, and I have found them to be the most engaging and talented performing artists around.”

Dec. 15 at National Sawdust: Legendary Soprano Lucy Shelton performs works by Elliott Carter, Igor Stravinsky, Ruth Crawford Seeger and others

Ms. Shelton’s recital is part of the 2019-2020 Chris Grymes’ Open G Series, which begins with a George Crumb portrait concert on Oct. 28

“Shelton’s musicianship, technique, and intelligence are unfailing…” - The Boston Globe

Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust kicks off its second season with a portrait concert of George Crumb on October 28, with the composer in attendance. The season continues with legendary vocalist Lucy Shelton on December 15.

Lucy Shelton' performance features a mélange of short works by composers with whom she has worked extensively, including Elliott Carter, Jacob Druckman, Miriam Gideon, Shulamit Ran, and George Rochberg; as well as composers whose works she provided the first major or complete recordings of — songs by John Cage, Ruth Crawford, and Igor Stravinsky. Now in her 75th year, Lucy is a direct link to many of the most important creative minds of the 20th century, and continues to be a proponent of musical and vocal experimentation through her performances and her extensive teaching and coaching in New York City and throughout the world.

The concert will be in a format of a five course meal, with Shelton spontaneously selecting the order of each ‘course’. Performing with Ms. Shelton are pianists Robert Fleitz, Jeremy Gill, Yoon Lee and Sophiko Simsive. Program and ticket details are below.

Chris Grymes founded Open G Records with a philosophy to produce music that is rooted in the classical tradition, but delivered in a way that will resonate with current and future generations of music fans. Having released a half dozen recordings, Open G has expanded to include a concert series hosted at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.

Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust continues in spring 2020:

• Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg performing works by Nordic composers, including Kaija Saariaho, Bent Sørensen and Per Nørgård on February 2, 2020

• Composer and soprano Nia Franklin (2019 Miss America) performs a showcase of works by women of African descent in May

• Fidelio Trio, a piano trio from Ireland, pairs music from the British Isles with American works in a program that includes Louis Karchin, Helen Grime and Ann Cleare on June 14

• Clarinetist Chris Grymes himself takes the stage in late spring, performing chamber works written for him.

Tickets for soprano Lucy Shelton's performance on December 15 are $29 for general admission and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455. National Sawdust is located at 80 North 6th Street in Brooklyn.

Winner of two Walter W. Naumburg Awards - as chamber musician and solo recitalist - soprano Lucy Shelton continues to enjoy an international career bringing her dramatic vocalism and brilliant interpretive skills to repertoire of all periods. An esteemed exponent of 20th- and 21st- Century repertory, she has worked closely with today’s composers and premiered over 100 works. She has performed with chamber ensembles such as the Emerson, Brentano, and Guarneri string quartets, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, eighth blackbird, Klangform Wien, and Ensemble Intercontemporain; and with orchestras including Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Tokyo under leading conductors such as Marin Alsop, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Alan Gilbert, Oliver Knussen, Kent Nagano, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Leonard Slatkin.

CALENDAR LISTING

December 15, 2019 at 7:00 pm

Chris Grymes' Open G Series at National Sawdust:

Soprano Lucy Shelton

'Mostly 20th-Century Song Recital'

National Sawdust

80 North 6th St in Brooklyn

Tickets are $29 for general admission, and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455

Program:

Appetizers:

Igor Stravinsky: Pastorale (1907)

John Cage: The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs (Joyce) (1942)

George Rochberg: from Eleven Songs (Paul Rochberg) (1969)

"Black tulips"

"I am baffled by this wall"

Soups:

Stravinsky: from Two Songs on Poems of Gorodetsky, Op.6 (1907-1909)

"Spring (At the Cloister)"

Stravinsky: from Four Russian Songs (1918-1919)

"Counting Song"

"Tablemat Song"

Rochberg: from Eleven Songs (Paul Rochberg) (1969)

"Nightbird berates"

"Spectral Butterfly"

"All my life"

"Le Sacre du Printemps"

Salads:

Karl Kohn: from The Resplendent Air (Catalan poems) (1985)

Leisure

Pig

Stravinsky: The Owl and the Pussy-Cat (Edward Lear) (1966)

Elliott Carter: Voyage (Hart Crane) (1943)

Main Courses:

Ruth Crawford Seeger: Two Ricercare (1932)

"Sacco and Vanzetti"

"Chinaman, Laundryman"

Jacob Druckman: The Sound of Time (Norman Mailer) (1964)

Desserts:

Miriam Gideon: from The Seasons of Time (Japanese Tanka) (1970)

"I have always known..."

"Gossip grows like weeds..."

"The wild geese..."

"Can it be..."

Shulamit Ran: Love's Call (2016)

Rochberg: from Eleven Songs (Paul Rochberg) (1969)

"We are like the mayflies"

Stravinsky: Berceuse (1917)

Stravinsky: Three Songs: Recollections of Childhood (1913)

"The Magpie"

"The Rook"

"The Jackdaw"

Ms. Shelton is joined by pianists Robert Fleitz, Jeremy Gill, Yoon Lee, and Sophiko Simsive

Chris Grymes' Open G Series

October 28, 2019 | A Night with George Crumb

December 15 | Lucy Shelton

February 2, 2020| Cellist Jakob Kullberg

May| Nia Franklin

June | Clarinetist Chris Grymes and Friends

June 14 | Fidelio Trio

About National Sawdust

National Sawdust is a non-profit music venue whose mission is to build new audiences for classical and new music by providing outstanding resources and programmatic support to both emerging and established artists and composers. National Sawdust engages artists in an ecosystem of incubation to dissemination, programming groundbreaking new music in our state-of-the-art Williamsburg venue, and developing and touring new, collaborative music-driven projects — the National Sawdust DNA produces and presents world-class artistic work which embraces a wide stylistic approach to music.

National Sawdust believes in being an innovative leader in changing the landscape of contemporary music, by bringing all voices to the stage and beyond — artistic representation that reflects the ever-evolving multicultural society in which we live.

Violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv’s new Mendelssohn album is released on November 1, 2019 on Brilliant Classics

Recording features Mendelssohn’s “Other” Violin Concerto and the Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra

"pyrotechnic mastery of trills, stops and chromatic motion...performed with impeccable skill and verve" - Times Herald

The violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv, praised for her “superlative and consummate artistry” (Fanfare) shares her passion for the music of Felix Mendelssohn in a radiant new recording. Ms. Ivakhiv’s performances of two rarely-heard gems: the Concerto in D minor for Violin and Strings, and the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra are released in the United States on Brilliant Classics (95733) on November 1, 2019.

These are two striking examples of the precocious talent of the young Felix Mendelssohn. Written in his early teens, the D minor Violin Concerto (1822) and the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings (1823) display wit, charm, sentiment and skill beyond his years. Joining Solomiya Ivakhiv for the double concerto is the award-winning pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and both works feature the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar conducting.

"Many people are familiar with Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, but hardly anyone gets to hear this earlier concerto in D minor," said Ms. Ivakhiv. "Though it was written when Mendelssohn was just a teenager, it is clearly the work of a mature composer."

The Violin Concerto draws on Classical era compositional techniques, but it is also influenced by French innovations in violin writing developed in Mendelssohn’s own time. There is much dazzling writing, but also some deeply expressive modulations which convey an emotional maturity far beyond what one could expect from a 13-year-old composer.

Written less than a year later, the Double Concerto is an even more polished work, full of memorable melody. Mendelssohn originally composed the work for string orchestra; Ms. Ivakhiv and Mr. Pompa-Baldi chose to play his later, more colorful score with winds and timpani added. "I am delighted that I have found the perfect 'doubles' partner in Antonio," said Solomiya of the pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi. "Our musical chemistry was evident from the first time we played together. It was a priviledge to record the Mendelssohn Double Concerto with him." The detailed liner notes by Alain Frogley illuminate the history and musicology of these works in depth.

This is the first recording of Solomiya Ivakhiv’s “Singles and Doubles” project. Her next CD, "Concertos for Violin, Piano and Orchestra by Haydn and Hummel", will be released on the Centaur label in early 2020. As with the Mendelssohn album, performers include pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi and the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra led by Theodore Kuchar.

The third recording of Solomiya Ivakhiv’s “Singles and Doubles” project, "Poems and Rhapsodies", will be released late in 2020 on the Centaur label. The featured work on the album is American Rhapsody for violin and orchestra by the Grammy-winning American composer Kenneth Fuchs. The album also features The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams, Poème Symphonique by Ernest Chausson and works by Camille Saint-Saëns, Myroslav Skoryk and Anatol Kos-Anatolsky. Performers include cellist Sophie Shao and the National Symphony Of Ukraine led by Volodymyr Sirenko.

“Mendelssohn Concertos”

Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin

Antonio Pompa-Baldi , piano

Theodore Kuchar, conductor

Slovak National Symphony Orchestra

Brilliant Classics 95733

U.S. release date: November 1, 2019

Purchase on Amazon

TRACKS

Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor MWVo3 (1822)

1. Allegro – 9:40

2. Andante – 11:11

3. Allegro – 4:41

Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra MWVo4 (1823)

4. Allegro – 19:25

5. Adagio – 11:02

4. Allegro molto – 10:09

November 8 & 10: Concert performances of Victoria Bond’s acclaimed opera about Clara Schumann

The German Forum presents Clara at Symphony Space in NYC (Nov. 8), and Rhinebeck CMS presents Clara at Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck, NY (Nov. 10)

On Friday, November 8 and Sunday, November 10, the German Forum presents Victoria Bond's acclaimed opera about Clara Schumann, performed in concert. Clara will be performed at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (2537 Broadway at 95th St., New York, NY 10025) on November 8 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $30 and are available at this link.

A second performance of Clara with the same cast will be presented by the Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society on November 10 at 3:00 pm, at Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck, NY. Tickets are $35 and available at this link. Both performances of Clara will be an abbreviated concert version; cast details are below.

Victoria Bond’s opera about Clara Schumann (libretto by Barbara Zinn Krieger) premiered to critical acclaim at the Berlin Philharmonic Easter Festival in Baden-Baden earlier this year. The celebration of the 200th anniversary of Schumann's birth continues with these performances in New York. Composed by Ms. Bond during her residencies at the Brahms House in Baden-Baden, Clara weaves the intertwining lives of Clara Wieck, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms into a dramatic mixture of music and passion. Complete cast details are below.

The world premiere of Victoria Bond's opera about Clara Schumann received worldwide media attention (listen to Ms. Bond's interview about Clara on WWFM) and enormous audience acclaim at 11 sold-out performances. Co-presented by the Easter Festival of the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus and the Berlin Philharmonic, Clara was performed by a cast of outstanding singers and orchestra, conducted by Michael Hasel, principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Calendar Listing

November 8 and 10, 2019

Clara

performed in concert

an opera about Clara Schumann

by Victoria Bond

November 8, 7:00 pm: Symphony Space

Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre

2537 Broadway at 95th St., New York, NY 10025

presented by The German Forum,

Babette Hierholzer, artistic director

Tickets are $30 (plus $5 service fee) and available at this link

November 10, 3:00 pm: Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society

Church of the Messiah

6436 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572

presented by Rhinebeck Chamber Music Society

Babette Hierholzer, artistic director

Tickets are $35 and available at this link

Cast

Clara Schumann - Christine Reber, soprano

Robert Schumann - Jonathan Estabrooks, baritone

Friedrich Wieck (Clara’s father) - Robert Osborne, bass-baritone

Johannes Brahms - Heejae Kim, tenor

Yana Goichman, violin

Thilo Thomas Krigar, cello

Babette Hierholzer, piano

Victoria Bond, conductor

Music by Victoria Bond

Libretto by Barbara Zinn Krieger

A major force in 21st century music, composer Victoria Bond is known for her melodic gift and dramatic flair. Her works for orchestra, chamber ensemble and opera have been lauded by the New York Times as "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding."

Highlights of Ms. Bond’s catalogue include the operas Clara (premiered at the 2019 Berlin Philharmonic Easter Festival), Mrs. President, The Miracle of Light and The Adventures of Gulliver; ballets Equinox and Other Selves; orchestral works Thinking like a Mountain, Bridges and Urban Bird; and chamber works Dreams of Flying, Frescoes and Ash and Instruments of Revelation, among many others. Her compositions have been performed by the New York City Opera, Shanghai, Dallas and Houston Symphonies, members of the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theater and the Cassatt and Audubon Quartets.

Bond’s recordings include Instruments of Revelation (Naxos American Classics, 2019), performed by members of The Chicago Symphony; and Soul of a Nation: Portraits of Presidential Character (Albany Records, 2018), works featuring soloists from the Chicago and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras that pay tribute to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and FDR. Her music has also been recorded on the Koch International, GEGA, Protone, and Family Classic labels, and her works are published by G. Schirmer, Theodore Presser, C.F. Peters, Subito Music and Protone Music.

The New York Times praised Victoria Bond’s conducting as “full of energy and fervor.” She has served as principal guest conductor of Chamber Opera Chicago since 2005. Prior positions include Assistant Conductor of Pittsburgh Symphony and New York City Opera and Music Director of the Roanoke Symphony and Opera, Bel Canto Opera and Harrisburg Opera. Ms. Bond has guest conducted throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. She is the first woman awarded a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the Juilliard School.

Ms. Bond is Artistic Director of Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival, an annual new music series in New York, which she founded in 1998. She is a frequent lecturer at the Metropolitan Opera, has lectured for the New York Philharmonic and in 2019 was elected to the roster of the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows. The Wall Street Journal, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times and other national publications have profiled Ms. Bond.

Nov. 17: Pianist Vasco Dantas makes Carnegie debut

November 17: Portuguese virtuoso pianist Vasco Dantas makes Carnegie Hall debut

Solo recital includes works by Debussy, Mussorgsky, and rarely heard works by Portuguese composer Luís de Freitas Branco

On Sunday, November 17 at 2:00 pm, Vasco Dantas makes his New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Praised for “his master technical skills and great emotional power” by MDR Klassik, the pianist from Porto, Portugal is winner of over 50 international prizes and has performed concertos and recitals throughout Europe. Tickets are $35-$45, and are available at CarnegieHall.org | CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 | Box Office at 57th and Seventh.

The program includes Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, Book I of Claude Debussy's Préludes, and Luís de Freitas Branco's 10 Prelúdios. Freitas Branco (1890-1955) was a preeminent figure in Portuguese music in the first half of the twentieth century. His “10 Prelúdios” are unquestionably influenced by works by Debussy, whom he met in Paris in the 1910s. "I am thrilled to share the music of Luís Freitas Branco with New York City! While not widely known outside of Portugal, he is one of the most significant voices in 20th century concert music in Portugal, and certainly has been an influence on my own artistry," says Mr. Dantas.

Award-winning Portuguese pianist Vasco Dantas, has been heralded for his “romantic and musical heart” by Aachener Zeitung. Mr. Dantas has won prizes in international competitions including "Grand Prix" at Valletta International Piano Competition (Malta, 2017), 1st Prize at Estoril Lisbon Music Competition (Lisbon, 2015), 1st Prize at Porto 'Santa Cecília' Piano Competition (Porto, 2011), Prize 'Richard Wagner Circle' (Germany, 2016), and "Special Prize" at Concours International de Piano Son Altesse Royale La Princesse Lalla Meryem (Morocco, 2016).

Highlights of Mr. Dantas’ 2019-20 season include performances with the Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa and Lisbon Gulbenkian Orchestra, solo recitals at Ciclo de Concertos do Palácio da Pena in Sintra, Portugal and Piano on the Rocks International Festival in Sedona, Arizona, and the release of a new solo CD, “Delikatessen" on the ARS Produktion label featuring songs by German and Portuguese composers.

CALENDAR LISTING

Sunday, November 17, 2:00pm

Pianist Vasco Dantas
Carnegie Hall recital debut

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
57th Street and Seventh Avenue
New York, NY

Tickets: $35-$45 available at CarnegieHall.org | CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 | Box Office at 57th and Seventh

Presented by the Anna-Maria Moggio Foundation

Program:
Luís de Freitas Branco: 10 Prelúdios
Claude Debussy: Préludes, Book I
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

Recordings by pianist Vasco Dantas

"Golden Liszt" - KNS Classical (A/043)
Works by Liszt including Grandes Études de Paganini and the Sonata in B minor.

"Promenade" - KNS Classical (A/036)
Works by Liszt including Tre Sonetti di Petrarca and Rhapsodie Espagnole, along with Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

October 15-19: Momenta Festival V

In celebration of its 15th Anniversary, Momenta Quartet presents: Momenta Festival V - October 15, 16, 18 & 19

Four concerts each curated by a different quartet member

Admission is free for all Momenta Festival concerts Reservations strongly encouraged for events at Americas Society October 15 & October 16

"[the Momenta Festival] has become one of the most amazingly eclectic, never mind herculean feats attempted by any chamber ensemble in this city..." - New York Music Daily

October 15-19, 2019: Momenta Quartet presents the Momenta Festival at Americas Society and Tenri Cultural Institute. The fifth edition of the Festival features five premieres (four world premieres and one NYC premiere). Admission to all concerts is free. The festival features four diverse chamber music programs each curated by a different member of the quartet. With programs that blend the old and new, the "intriguing programming" (The New York Times) and "striking originality" (I Care If You Listen) of the Momenta Festival have been acclaimed by critics and fans alike.

The 2019 festival opens at Americas Society on October 15 with a retrospective on 15 years of the Momenta Quartet, featuring guest conductor David Bloom, vocalist Brad Walker and curated by violist Stephanie Griffin. The performance includes the world premiere of Alvin Singleton's Chamber Music America commission as well as the late Mario Davidovsky's String Trio. The music continues on October 16 with the program “Night Dances” curated by violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron and featuring works by Roberto Sierra and Gyorgy Ligeti. The festival moves downtown to the Tenri Cultural Institute for the final two concerts. On October 18, cellist Michael Haas’ program “American Voices” features a world premiere by Christopher Stark and a New York premiere by Alyssa Weinberg. The festival concludes on October 19 with the program “Toy Stories” curated by violinist Alex Shiozaki. Momenta is joined by toy pianist Phyllis Chen in a program inspired by the recent birth of Shiozaki’s first child. The evening ends with a performance of Mozart's String Quartet K. 387, a consonent conclusion to a wildly diverse quartet of programs.

"We founded this festival in 2015 as an artistic outlet for each of our individual musical interests," says Momenta violist Stephanie Griffin. "I continue to be surprised to discover new pieces and composers that my Momenta colleagues introduce me to through this festival."

Admission to all concerts is free. Reservations strongly encouraged for events at Americas Society October 15 & October 16

Momenta Quartet's 2019 Momenta Festival

Fifteen Years of Momenta: A Retrospective - curated by Stephanie Griffin

Tuesday, October 15 at 7:00 pm

Americas Society

680 Park Ave., NYC

Free admission

Momenta Festival V opens with a celebration of Momenta’s 15th anniversary with selected milestones from their unique and eclectic personal repertoire along with world premieres by Matthew Greenbaum (conducted by David Bloom) and the Chamber Music America commission of Alvin Singleton. The Momenta Quartet is joined by bass-baritone Brad Walker.

Program:

Mario Davidovsky: String Trio

Julian Carrillo: String Quartet no. 10

Alvin Singleton: Hallelujah Anyhow CMA Commission WORLD PREMIERE

Matthew Greenbaum: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry for baritone and string quartet WORLD PREMIERE, text by Walt Whitman

Guest artists: baritone Brad Walker and conductor David Bloom

Night Dances - curated by Emilie-Anne Gendron

Wednesday, October 16 at 7:00 pm

Americas Society

680 Park Ave., NYC

Free admission

"Dreamy and hallucinatory works inspired by or evocative of night music- contrasts of darkness and light, mysterious atmospheres and manipulations of time, extremes of character and emotion." This is how violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron describes her program which features the world premiere of Roberto Sierra's String Quartet no.3 - written for and dedicated to Momenta. Also on the program is Ligeti's raucous and colorful String Quartet no.1, music by Harry Partch arranged by the late Ben Johnston, and more.

Program:

Roberto Sierra: String Quartet no. 3 WORLD PREMIERE

Gyorgy Ligeti: String Quartet no. 1 “Metamorphoses nocturnes"

Mario Lavista: String Quartet no. 2 "Reflejos de la noche"

Harry Partch (arr. Ben Johnston): Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales

Erwin Schulhoff: Sonata for solo violin

American Voices - curated by Michael Haas

Friday, October 18 at 7:00 pm

Tenri Cultural Institute

43a W.13th St., NYC

Free admission

Featuring the world premiere of Christopher Stark's Seasonal Music, the New York premiere of Alyssa Weinberg's Still Life for clarinet and string quartet, as well as music by Manena Contreras and Jason Kao Hwang - American Voices highlights music all written in the past 15 years.

Program:

Manena Contreras: Instantes

Alyssa Weinberg: Still Life for clarinet and string quartet NYC PREMIERE

Jason Kao Hwang: If We Live in Forgetfulness, We Die in a Dream

Christopher Stark: Seasonal Music WORLD PREMIERE

Guest artist: clarinetist Eric Umble

Toy Stories - curated by Alex Shiozaki

Saturday, October 19 at 7:00 pm

Tenri Cultural Institute

43a W.13th St., NYC

Free admission

“Toy Stories is inspired by a recent, life-changing event that I experienced on May 2, 2019: the birth of my son. While I have long been interested in the unconventional sounds of toy instruments, this year’s festival seemed like the right time for a 'toy program'." - Alex Shiozaki. For the final concert of the 2019 festival, the Momenta Quartet is joined by toy pianist Phyllis Chen.

Program:

Stephanie Griffin: "Happy Car Ride" from The Lost String Quartet

Stefano Gervasoni: Adagio ghiacciato da Mozart, KV 356 for toy piano and violin

Phyllis Chen: The Matter Within for deconstructing toy piano, toy piano tines, and string quartet

Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G major, K387

Guest artist: toy pianist Phyllis Chen

Momenta: the plural of momentum - four individuals in motion towards a common goal. This is the idea behind the Momenta Quartet, whose eclectic vision encompasses contemporary music of all aesthetic backgrounds alongside great music from the recent and distant past. The New York City-based quartet has premiered over 150 works, collaborated with over 200 living composers and was praised by The New York Times for its "diligence, curiosity and excellence." In the words of The New Yorker's Alex Ross, "few American players assume Haydn's idiom with such ease."

Momenta has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery, Rubin Museum, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Washington University in St. Louis, Ostrava Days in the Czech Republic, and at the internationally renowned Cervantino Festival in Mexico. Momenta has recorded for Centaur Records, Furious Artisans, PARMA, New World Records, and Albany Records; and has been broadcast on WQXR, Q2 Music, Austria's Oe1, and Vermont Public Radio.

Dan Siegler's Concrète Jungle: a twist on New York voices

October 17 & 18: Dan Siegler's Concrète Jungle

A conversation between New York past and New York present, about New York’s future

"The recorded music, by Dan Siegler...used varied sounds—rushing water, staticky buzzes—to complement the piano, strings, and brass, and was frequently haunting." - Andrew Boynton, The New Yorker

On October 17 & 18, Bessie-award winning composer of experimental music, Dan Siegler and guest artists perform the world premiere of Concrète Jungle at The Invisible Dog (51 Bergen St.) in Brooklyn. Admission is free ($15 suggested donation) and reservations are available at this link.

Siegler's new electro-acoustic work features hundreds of intricately edited New York voices and highlights borough-specific accents, linguistic filler and word repetitions to form assembled sentences and musical grooves. Layered under the dialogue, Siegler transforms harsh urban street noise by filtering it through digital delay, reverb and echo effects, rendering it meditative and ambient.

The world premiere performance features guest instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers including Pam Tanowitz (dance), Netta Yerushalmy (dance), Christina Campanella (voice), Pauline Kim Harris (violin), Tomoko Omura (violin), and Greg Chudzik (double bass). The collaborative artists perform, individually, improvised solos that compliment and contrast with the ambient noise created by Siegler.

Concrète Jungle is inspired by and takes its title from musique concrète, an electronic genre pioneered in the 1940’s in which readymade sounds are employed in place of instrumentation.

Dan Siegler began recording the source material, clips of conversations and other utterances by New Yorkers, in 2013, shortly after his father was diagnosed with dementia. “I didn't realize it at the time,” said Siegler, “but by creating this piece, I was attempting to make order out of the chaos of my dialogues with him, which contained some of the most comical and emotional exchanges we'd ever had." After Siegler's father died, Dan discovered some of his black and white street photographs, including images of a Times Square flea circus, Chinatown parades, and East Village tenements. Projections of this artwork are incorporated into the performance.

“The New York City I remember is long gone,” says Siegler. “But when I'm live-mixing these dialogues and sounds, I'm establishing some measure of control, if only for one night, and placing sounds, voices, attitudes, expressions that may be considered antique, into a contemporary context.”

CALENDAR LISTING

October 17 and 18, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Concrète Jungle

by Dan Siegler

with guest performers Pam Tanowitz, dance, Christina Campanella, voice, Pauline Kim Harris, violin Tomoko Omura, violin, Greg Chudzik, bass and more

The Invisible Dog

51 Bergen St.

Brooklyn, NY

Free admission

($15 suggested donation) RSVP at this link

Dan Siegler is a Bessie Award-winning composer and sound artist. His music has been described as "luxuriously mercurial" by Artforum, and “eerie, churchly and jazzy…” by The Village Voice. Strongly influenced by musique concrète, his work incorporates references to jazz, blues and folk via a mix of analog synthesizers, orchestration for strings, horns and woodwinds, glitch sound material and field recordings.

Siegler has worked extensively with choreographer Pam Tanowitz. Their collaborations have been performed at venues including Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center Out of Doors and The Joyce Theater. He has composed music for choreographer Yanira Castro and the violin duo, String Noise, among others. DanSieglerMusic.com

andPlay duo: new release of world premieres on New Focus Recordings

Debut album by andPlay features world premiere recordings commissioned by the duo

Violinist Maya Bennardo and violist Hannah Levinson perform works by David Bird, Clara Iannotta and Ashkhan Behzadi

“playlist” on New Focus Recordings is released on September 27, 2019

When violinist Maya Bennardo and violist Hannah Levinson decided to form the duo andPlay in 2012, their mission was to expand the repertoire for their instrumentation. By any measure, this New York-based duo has already succeeded. andPlay has commissioned and premiered nearly three dozen works to date, in addition to performing other rarely heard 21st century works, in venues from New York City to Stockholm.

All four of the works on andPlay’s debut album, “playlist” (New Focus Recordings, FCR233, release date September 27, 2019) are world premiere studio recordings. The duo commissioned three of these: Crescita Plastica by Ashkan Behzadi, and two pieces by David Bird: Bezier and Apocrypha. The fourth work, Clara Iannotta's Limun, was previously released as a live recording, and is heard here for the first time in a studio performance.

This collection of composers represents diverse cultural backgrounds and styles. Iranian-American Ashkan Behzadi’s Crescita Plastica(2015) “begins like a mad virtuoso falling off a cliff, as though all the wild expressiveness of music over the last 400 years were suddenly unleashed,” writes Meghan Burke in the liner notes. The work is a dense struggle between opposing musical elements — sustained lines with crescendi of varying lengths; violent interjections of double stops; furious microtonal passage work; and razor thin ponticello outbursts.

New York composer David Bird’s Bezier (2013)opens with a playful cataloging of timbres on the instruments, a vocabulary of scratches, cracks, pops, and breathy bow sounds in childlike exploration. Emerging from this texture are ethereal harmonic trills, briefly conjuring the fragile sound world of Sciarrino’s solo violin works, floating into a remarkable section of chirping sounds that could be mistaken for a field recording in a bird sanctuary. The second work by Bird on the album,Apocrypha (2017), incorporates electronics, producing a dialogue between the acoustic and digital sounds in which the acoustic sounds struggle to maintain their organic identity.

The sonic palette in Italian-born Clara Iannotta’sLimun (2011) explores shimmering harmonics, brilliant ponticello exclamations, and weightless glissandi, forming composite phrases that establish a tactile sensuality. The work requires the participation of two page turners who serve double-duty: they each play a high drone on a small harmonica.

Maya Bennardo and Hannah Levinson are true ambassadors for their instrumentation, pushing their collaborators to find new ways of writing for their instruments that sound like more than just a violin and a viola. This album goes beyond exploring the limits of instrumental technique and sound, engaging with aesthetic boundaries and possessing the ineffable, mysterious quality of communicating emotional truths far greater than the sum of their parts.

andPlay performs on October 4 at Metropolis in New York City; in Columbus, Ohio on November 20 and at Kent State University on November 21; details forthcoming. Contact ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com to request a physical or digital copy of this recording.

TRACKS

1. Ashkan Behzadi – Crescita Plastica (2015) - 14:30

2. David Bird – Bezier (2013) - 9:18

3. Clara Iannotta – Limun (2011) - 7:24

4. David Bird – Apocrypha (2017) - 16:47

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announces release of Mozart Piano Concerti recording with conductor David Robertson and pianist Orli Shaham

Release date: August 23 on Canary Classics

"a first-rate Mozartean" - Chicago Tribune

Renowned pianist Orli Shaham, conductor David Robertson, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announce the international release of an album featuring two of Mozart’s most-loved piano concertos.

Recorded for Canary Classics at historic Powell Hall in November 2017 and January 2018, the valedictory season of Robertson’s 13-year tenure as Music Director of the SLSO, the album may be purchased via this link.

Between the month of his 21st birthday and the time of his death 14 years later, Mozart effectively invented the piano concerto and turned it into one of the most thrilling of all musical genres. Shaham trains the spotlight on the drama and expressive power of two of the composer’s finest works for keyboard and orchestra in her latest recording for Canary Classics. The album presents the compelling pairing of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 17 in G major K.453 and 24 in C minor K.491. Her vision of both scores is brought to life in company with the SLSO and Robertson, ideal partners in a project that penetrates deep beneath the surface of Mozart’s music to reveal a complex web of quicksilver emotions and fluctuating moods.

The album’s selected works stand as emblems of the extraordinary theatricality of Mozart’s concertos. Each highlights the spirit of dialogue between soloist and orchestra, the ever-shifting exchange of musical ideas, colors, and textures used by Mozart to create a world of limitless dramatic possibilities.

Pianist Orli Shaham said, “These pieces move with such intense energy, driven forward by themes that grow in many directions. They develop like characters in a play or an opera. Mozart always thought dramatically and theatrically first. The way he wrote the first melody you hear is the perfect way to set up a scene, whatever that scene is. I feel like these concertos are great examples of opera at the concerto level. With the theme and variations in the finales, for example, each variation is a little part of a scene in which the story is being pushed along.”

Taken together, the two concertos embrace tragedy and comedy, pathos and joy, laughter and tears. Mozart pushes at the boundaries of convention – from harmonic language and thematic development to the technical demands he makes on the soloist – to construct multiple layers of meaning.

The SLSO recording of the Mozart piano concerti is latest in a robust history of recordings that has resulted in nine Grammy Award wins. Most recently, the SLSO, in conjunction with Blue Engine records, released the first commercial recording of Wynton Marsalis’Swing Symphony in July 2019. The SLSO won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for the Nonesuch release of John Adams’ City Noir, conducted by Robertson.

April 26: NY Phil musicians perform Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra benefit concert

April 26: NY Philharmonic musicians perform a benefit concert for Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra in a homey setting

WHCO presents an evening with violinist Anna Rabinova, cellist Ru-Pei Yeh and pianist Steven Beck at The Lounge in Washington Heights

The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra is proud to present an intimate evening with highly acclaimed musicians of the New York Philharmonic. The program on Friday, April 26 at 8:00 pm features violinist Anna Rabinova, cellist Ru-Pei Yeh and pianist Steven Beck in a program of classics by Beethoven and Brahms, and Paul Schoenfield's whimsical Cafe Music. 

The evening includes drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and an opportunity to meet the performers and Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra musicians. The event is a fundraiser for WHCO, which has been bringing free high-quality orchestra performances to upper Manhattan audiences for the past four seasons.

The venue is the intimate setting of The Lounge at historic Hudson View Gardens, 128 Pinehurst Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Tickets for this benefit event are $75, available for purchase at WashingtonHeightsOrchestra.org. Details and performer bios are available at the same link.

The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, founded in 2015 by conductor and music director Chris Whittaker, is a professional ensemble that presents free concerts to its Upper Manhattan community. Comprised of musicians from Upper Manhattan, the orchestra presents engaging concerts with a diverse repertoire; including favorite classical works, genre bending crossover pieces, and works by living composers. The WHCO strives to engage the people of Washington Heights and neighboring communities through exemplary musical performances and innovative educational programming. Learn more at WashingtonHeightsOrchestra.org

Hudson View Gardens, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of the very first cooperative apartment complexes in New York. Situated on the highest natural point in Manhattan, it overlooks the Hudson River and the scenic palisades of New Jersey. HVG is known for its beautifully manicured gardens, tree-lined private lane and classic Tutor architecture.

The Lounge at HVG, a cozy space complete with a bar, library and fireplace, is host to events for residents of Hudson View Gardens and the public.

CALENDAR LISTING

April 26, 2019 at 8:00 pm

Benefit Concert for Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra featuring:

Anna Rabinova, Violin

Ru-Pei Yeh, Cello

Steven Beck, Piano

Program:

Beethoven: Kakadu Variations, Op. 121a

Elliott Carter: Epigrams

Brahms: Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101

Schoenfield: Café Music

The Lounge at Hudson View Gardens

128 Pinehurst Avenue at West 183rd Street in Manhattan

Tickets: $75, available at WashingtonHeightsOrchestra.org

Directions: Take the A train or #1 train to 181st St or the M4 bus to 183rd St.

Insider Interview: Mia Zabelka, sound artist

On Monday, April 8 at 7:30 pm, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents the Austrian violinist and vocalist Mia Zabelka with experimental video artist Katherine Liberovskaya. The evening also features the legendary intermedia artist Phill Niblock performing his signature hypnotic compositions. In this Insider Interview, we spoke with Ms. Zabelka about her early musical influences, approach to improvisation and collaboration, and so much more.  More info online at acfny.org.

Classical Music Communications - You started your training of the violin in a very traditional sense. What are your earliest memories of breaking away from the classical tradition?

Mia Zabelka - In addition to my classical violin training I started to play in a jazz rock band at the age of 14. At that time there was a very lively jazz scene in the Vienna Underground. For example, Joe Zawinul came out of it. It brought me more recognition and social integration from my school friends than classical music.

I was also interested in electronic music/ sound art from a very early age. This was at a time before the computer was generally available and we drew enormous loops and lengths of audiotape through the sound studio instead. Work at the mixing console was also incredibly important, since it was here that we could still maintain the “haptic” aspect through the physical contact we had in handling the sound and tonal events we produced. I experimented with the sounds of my own pulse and breath and improvised with them at live concerts on the violin and with my voice.

CMC - You’ve described your compositions as “noise & sound art,” in addition to calling yourself a “sound artist.” What is sound art?

MZ - Sound art is an artistic discipline in which sound is utilized as a primary medium. Sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. Sound art can be considered as being an element of many areas such as acoustics, psychoacoustics, electronics, noise music, audio media, found or environmental sound, soundscapes, explorations of the human body, sculpture, architecture, film or video and other aspects of the current discourse of contemporary art. Noise music is a category of music that is characterized by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. Noise music includes a wide range of musical styles and sound-based creative practices that feature noise as a primary aspect.

CMC - For your upcoming show at the ACF, you’ll be performing with video artist Katherine Liberovskaya. What is your process for composing sound art with visual art in collaboration such as this one? 

MZ - The interdisciplinary interaction of Sound, Art, and Video is the primary aspect of this cooperation. Since my first release SOMATEME I have continuously explored sound and music as physical phenomena, always pushing back the boundaries in experimental performances and compositions that question established notions, improving the available techniques and given structures. 

I transform movement into a language of musical signs. The gestures/phrasing which are intrinsically ever-present when playing the instrument are then inflated, exaggerated, transformed, de-constructed etc. and I succeed in finding new musical formulations through this, reaching beyond most stereotypes and clichés, and which are thus characteristic for my special musical language.

I play both acoustic and electric violin and various electronic devices today. An issue of great importance to me with these instruments is having direct access to the sound material with the effect pedals, which I can operate manually. The electronic sound is devised physically through “haptic” playing. Using this set up I am given the opportunity to expand the sound range so extensively that the violin itself becomes an interface and/or an electronic sound generator/sound machine. I use the electronic sound as it were to dress up or mask the natural acoustic sound of the instrument.

CMC - Improvisation seems to be a very important part of your style. In a concert like the upcoming one at the ACF, how much of this music is set (written out, or otherwise set in stone), and how much is improvised? Do you leave certain sections open for improvisation, or is there always room for it?

MZ - In my solo work, I basically act more as a composer than as an improvisational musician. These are electroacoustic compositions, but in the live context they also repeatedly include improvisatory parts. I create a composed framework that is open to improvisational aspects. I describe my form of musical improvisation as “automatic playing”. What I mean by this is not only a computer-like mechanical playing style, but rather the ability to achieve the production of a flow of sound similar to that in speech, filled with musical ideas and deep inner emotion both in my music and myself.

CMC - In this project, the dialogue is created through surveillance technology.  What exactly is surveillance technology, and how do you use it?

MZ - In my cooperation with Katherine Liberovskaya we use a small camera attached to my right wrist, making visible in real time the genesis of the music / the sound. Katherine uses another camera and special software to generate feedback loops from these shots. Thus, the process of creating music is spontaneously transformed into visuals.

CMC - Is there a social commentary attached to this project?

MZ - I think experimental music and improvisation always involve a social commentary.

CMC - What do you hope audiences will take away from this performance?

MZ - In my music, I am always trying to tell stories.  I hope that people are getting touched by this sonic story telling. I would like to encourage the listeners to listen intensively, to actively participate in the process of creating the music and the visuals, to get involved in an audiovisual adventure together with us.

New on Naxos: Chamber music by Victoria Bond

“Instruments of Revelation”

A CD of recent chamber music by Victoria Bond

World-class performers: Chicago Pro Musica, pianist Jenny Lin, tenor Rufus Müller, and pianist Olga Vinokur

Release date: April 12, 2019

Purchase on Amazon.

Victoria Bond's passion for chamber music is evident in each of the more than 100 works she has composed for the genre. Released on April 12, 2019, the NAXOS American Classics CD "Instruments of Revelation" includes world premiere recordings of Ms. Bond's most recent chamber works.

Drawing on Bond's chamber music of the last 15 years, "Instruments of Revelation" features performances by the Grammy award winning ensemble Chicago Pro Musica, "dynamic pianist" (NYTimes) Jenny Lin, and "dramatic tenor" (Toronto Star) Rufus Müller among others.

Lending its title to the album, Instruments of Revelation is a three movement work with each movement based on a different tarot card: "The Magician", represents ambiguity with music shifting suddenly from the mysterious and solemn to the cunning and dexterous; "The High Priestess", possesses wisdom, passion and secrets of the law, her music is calm but slowly ignites into throbbing desire; and "The Fool", considered both the holy mystic and the intoxicated lunatic, embodies music of both comedy and chaos.

Frescoes and Ash was commissioned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and is based on seven images from Pompeii. Opening with a raucous band wandering the streets, dancing and playing a tarantella, the pieces continues with a mosaic of swimming fish, a mysterious fortune teller, a comedic group of actors and a bizarre skull symbolizing the Romans’ acceptance of death.

As a composer who is often inspired by literature and imagery, Leopold Bloom's Homecoming is Victoria Bond's account of one section of James Joyce's Ulysses. As Ms. Bond reflects, "I have been drawn to Ulysses ever since I was in high school. I think this is because the writing resembles the way I think - not in complete sentences, but in fleeting images and allusions, in a stream of consciousness." Rounding out the CD, Binary is a fast-paced and rhythmically complex set of variations on the number two.

TRACKS

1-3. Instruments of Revelation (2010)

Chicago Pro Musica

4-10. Frescoes and Ash (2009)

Chicago Pro Musica

11. Leopold Bloom's Homecoming (2011)

Rufus Müller, Tenor | Jenny Lin, Piano

12. Binary (2005)

Olga Vinokur, Piano

A major force in 21st century music, composer Victoria Bond is known for her melodic gift and dramatic flair. Her works for orchestra, chamber ensemble and opera have been lauded by the New York Times as "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding." 

In addition to "Instruments of Revelation", the chamber works on the Naxos label, highlights of Ms. Bond's catalog include the operas Mrs. President, Clara and The Miracle of Light; ballets Equinox and Other Selves; orchestral works Thinking like a Mountain, Bridges and Urban Bird, among many others. Her compositions have been performed by the New York City Opera, Shanghai, Dallas and Houston Symphonies, members of the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theater and the Cassatt and Audubon Quartets.

Ms. Bond is Artistic Director of Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival in New York, which she founded in 1998, and is a frequent lecturer at the Metropolitan Opera and has lectured for the New York Philharmonic. The Wall Street Journal, NBC's Today Show, the New York Times and other national publications have profiled Ms. Bond. For more information about Victoria Bond and her upcoming projects, visit VictoriaBond.com