Program features world premiere for violin duo in reaction to The Last Tango in Paris, and New York premiere of settings of Walt Whitman's poetry
"The execution is fresh and clever….a compositional tour-de-force that shows Gill’s versatility and attention to detail." – The American Record Guide
On Sunday, April 7 at 7:00 pm, at National Sawdust, composer Jeremy Gill showcases his compositions inspired by the words of Whitman, the philosophy of Pascal, and the film The Last Tango in Paris. A fresh face in NYC, this concert marks the first program consisting entirely of Gill's music since his move to the Big Apple last year. Jeremy Gill's composer portrait concert is presented by Chris Grymes' Open G performance series at National Sawdust.
Described as “vividly colored” (The New York Times) and “exhilarating” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Jeremy Gill's music has been championed by renowned musicians worldwide. Recent highlights include the premiere of his oboe concerto by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden; the Grammy-winning Parker Quartet's Innova Recordings release of Gill's epic hour-long string quartet Capriccio, and the premiere of Gill's four-hand piano concerto performed by Shai Wosner and Orion Weiss with the Chautauqua Symphony conducted by JoAnn Falletta, with a subsequent performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Read more details about Jeremy Gill's busy Spring 2019.
The program for this portrait concert features works all written in the last five years. Violinists Mandy Wolman and Beverly Shin perform the world premiere of Lascia fare mi. Translated as "leave me alone", Lascia fare mi is a fantasy for two violins that plays in nine uninterrupted “scenes,” inspired by the scenes from Last Tango in Paris in which the characters of Jean and Paul appear alone. These scenes reveal their evolving relationship, and as they inevitably come to know one another more conventionally, their interactions grow increasingly more passionate and more violently antagonistic.
Celebrating the bicentennial of Walt Whitman's birth, the Whitman Portraitwill be performed by the six singers for whom it was written, including Kristin Sampson and Rachel Calloway (complete details below). A collection of six songs, this will be the NYC premiere of the Whitman Portrait performed in its entirety.
Also a NYC premiere, the Duo for violin and piano was commissioned for the 35th anniversary of Market Square Concerts, and performed here by Duo Prism. Rounding out the program, Six Pensées de Pascal is Gill's setting of text by the 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal. This work was written for the Philadelphia vocal ensemble Variant 6, who will be performing on this concert.
Tickets are $29 for general admission and are available at nationalsawdust.org. National Sawdust is located at 80 North 6th Street in Brooklyn.
CALENDAR LISTING
April 7, 2019 at 7:00 pm
Chris Grymes Open G Series at National Sawdust:
Jeremy Gill, Composer Portrait
Program:
Whitman Portrait (2014) (New York premiere)
Performers: sopranos Deborah Lifton and Kristin Sampson, mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway, tenor Dominic Armstrong, baritone Jorell Williams, bass-baritone Matthew Burns, and pianist Jeremy Gill
Duo for Violin and Piano (2015) (New York premiere)
Performers: Duo Prism (Jesse Mills, violin and Rieko Aizawa, piano)
Six Pensées de Pascal (2017)
Performers: Variant 6
Lascia fare mi (2018) (world premiere)
Performers: Violinists Mandy Wolman and Beverly Shin
National Sawdust
80 North 6th St in Brooklyn
Tickets are $29 for general admission, and are available at nationalsawdust.org