Oct 1-18: Baruch PAC presents pianist Yael Weiss: "32 Bright Clouds"

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents:

Pianist Yael Weiss

32 Bright Clouds: Beethoven conversations around the world

32 Bright Clouds commissions new works from 32 countries of conflict and secluded areas spanning the globe, all united through musical themes from Beethoven

Streaming from October 1 - October 18

Music by Beethoven and premieres by Bongani Ndodana-Breen, Aslıhan Keçebaşoğlu, Adina Izarra, and Saed Haddad

Tuesday, October 6, 7:00 pm EDT

Exclusive concert followed by live at home conversation with Yael Weiss immediately after the concert

“remarkably powerful and intense… fine technique and musicianship in the service of an arresting array of music”— Anne Midgette, The New York Times 

Baruch PAC presents the Israeli-American pianist Yael Weiss performing music by Beethoven alongside newly commissioned works from her groundbreaking project "32 Bright Clouds". The recital, recorded at Klavierhaus in New York, is accessible online from October 1 (9 AM EDT) through October 18 (9 PM EDT). Complete details at this link. This performance is part of the Freda and Aaron Silberman Recital Series. 

Commemorating Beethoven’s 250th birth anniversary Ms. Weiss has commissioned composers from 32 countries of conflict and unrest - from Ghana, Iran, and Jordan, to the Philippines, Syria, and Venezuela - all united by musical themes from Beethoven. Each new composition in "32 Bright Clouds", is inspired by one of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas, and the entire cycle of new works is unified by a single “peace motif” from Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Yael Weiss performs music by Beethoven together with the newly commissioned works inspired by him, for Baruch Performing Arts Center. The program will stream online from October 1-18, with a special version including the concert and a live conversation with Ms. Weiss and a number of the composers on October 6. Her performance, presented by BPAC, features a world premiere by Bongani Ndodana-Breen from South Africa, as well as New York premieres by Saed Haddad (Jordan), Aslihan Keçebasoglu (Turkey), and Adina Izarra (Venezuela). Complete program details below.

These composer's works are each dedicated to specific turmoil in their respective countries. Bongani Ndodana-Breen's work, Isiko: An African Ritual for ancestral intercession is dedicated to Uyinene Mrwetyana and other victims of femicide - the intentional killing of women or girls because they are females - in South Africa, from Jordan, Saed Haddad's Nuages funèbres reflects his concern for the limitations of peace agreements, and the challenges in creating a deep and meaningful peace in the world, Adina Izarra's Arietta for the 150 is dedicated to the 150 young people whose lives were taken during the 2017 Peace demonstrations in Venezuela, and Aslihan Keçebasoglu's Ninni is dedicated to victims of the 2013 Gezi Park Protests in Turkey.

CALENDAR LISTING

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents:

October 1 at 9 AM - October 18 at 9 PM

Yael Weiss

32 Bright Clouds

Watch online via Baruch PAC's website

Tuesday, October 6, 7:00 pm EDT

Exclusive concert followed by live at home conversation with Yael Weiss immediately after the concert

Program

Beethoven: Sonata No.27 in e minor, Op. 90

           I. Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck

           II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetrage

Saed Haddad (Jordan): Nuages funèbres (Funereal Clouds) (2018)

(In response to Sonata No. 27. A reflection on the challenges of creating a deep and meaningful peace in the world)

Aslihan Keçebasoglu (Turkey): Ninni (Lullaby) (2019)

(In response to the Sonata No. 28. Dedicated to the victims of the 2013 Gezi Park Protests in Turkey)        

Beethoven: Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101

I. Etwas Lebhaft und mit der Innigsten Empfindung (Allegretto, ma non troppo)

Beethoven: Sonata No. 29 in A Major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier”    

I. Allegro

Bongani Ndodana-Breen (South Africa): Isiko: An African Ritual for Ancestral Intercession (2019, World Premiere)

(In response to the Sonata No. 29. Dedicated to Uyinene Mrwetyana and other victims of femicide in South Africa)

Adina Izarra (Venezuela): Arietta for the 150 (2018)

(In response to the Sonata No. 32. Dedicated to the 150 young people whose lives were taken during the 2017 Peace demonstrations in Venezuela.)

Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in c minor, Op. 111

I. Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato

II. Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile

Tuesday, October 6, 7:00 pm EDT

Exclusive concert followed by live at home conversation with Yael Weiss immediately after the concert T

This performance is part of the Freda and Aaron Silberman Recital Series. 

Baruch Performing Arts Center

Fall 2020

September 25-30, 2020 | Stick & Bow (marimba and cello duo)

October 1-18 | Pianist Yael Weiss: "32 Bright Clouds"

October 23-29 | dwb (driving while black)

November 2-8| Israeli Chamber Project: "American Voices "

November 16-29 | Alexander String Quartet: Beethoven and George Walker

November 16-29 | Alexander String Quartet: Beethoven @ 250 - The Early, Middle and Late Quartets, a guided performance

Fall 2020 preview: Baruch PAC goes global

Baruch Performing Arts Center announces its Fall 2020 concert season

Five diverse chamber music programs by world class artists, including Alexander String Quartet, Israeli Chamber Project, pianist Yael Weiss and cello-marimba duo Stick and Bow

These exclusive online performances are available to audiences around the world

Baruch Performing Arts Center at Baruch College continues its innovative programming with an exciting array of chamber music concerts streamed online in Fall 2020. These programs are part of Baruch PAC’s season of theater, music, opera, film and talks.

Highlights include:

• Cello and marimba duo, Stick and Bow celebrate Latin American Heritage month with works by Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, and more.

• Pianist Yael Weiss in a program that pairs premieres by composers from South Africa, Venezuela, Jordan and more with the Beethoven sonatas that inspired them - from her groundbreaking "32 Bright Clouds" commissioning project.

• Israeli Chamber Project celebrates American immigrant composers from Korngold to Shulamit Ran.

• Two programs by Alexander String Quartet include George Walker’s Lyric for String Quartet and an in-depth exploration of Beethoven’s quartets.

• The acclaimed chamber opera dwb (driving while black), which documents the anxiety of an African-American parent whose child is approaching driving age.

Details are below.

All performances will be easily accessible via Baruch Performing Arts Center's website, and are viewable by the global audience at a pay-what-you-will admission price. Each program will stream for multiple days.

Baruch Performing Arts Center

Fall 2020 Chamber Music

All performances are offered pay-what-you-will via Baruch PAC’s digital portal, and will be available for multiple days following the premiere.

Premiere: September 25, 2020

Stick and Bow

Cello and Marimba Duo in a program of Latin American music

Concert program streams from Sept. 25 (9 am) – Sept. 30 (9 pm) EDT

Live conversation with the artists on Sept. 30 at 6:30 pm EDT

In celebration of Latin American Heritage month, Montreal-based cello and marimba duo Stick and Bow perform works by Astor Piazzolla, Hector Villa Lobos, Julio De Caro, and more. This performance is co-presented with Baruch College's Institute for the Study of Latin America (ISLA).

ISLA’s mission is to actively promote and nurture the interdisciplinary study of Latin America – its languages, literature, arts and cultures; its politics, societies, and economies; its geography and environment – on the Baruch campus.

Premiere: October 1

Pianist Yael Weiss

"32 Bright Clouds"

Concert program streams from Oct. 1 (9 am) - Oct. 18 (9 pm) EDT

Live conversation with pianist Yael Weiss and composer Adina Izarra via limited access Zoom session (Oct 6, time TBA)

Yael Weiss (“remarkably powerful and intense” – New York Times) performs a new program from her global music-commissioning project, "32 Bright Clouds: Beethoven Conversations Around the World". This groundbreaking project commissions new works from 32 countries of conflict and secluded areas spanning the globe, all united through musical themes from Beethoven. This performance will feature a world premiere by Bongani Ndodana-Breen (South Africa), and New York City premieres by Saed Haddad (Jordan), Aslıhan Keçebaşoğlu (Turkey) and Adina Izarra (Venezuela). This performance is part of the Freda and Aaron Silberman Recital Series.

Premiere: October 23

dwb (driving while black)

Chamber Opera by Susan Kander (music) and Roberta Gumbel (soprano/libretto) with New Morse Code (Hannah Collins, cello & Michael Compitello, percussion)

Performance streams from Oct. 23 (9 am) - Oct. 29 (10 pm) EDT

Post-screening live talk TBA

“Singers are storytellers,” says soprano/librettist Roberta Gumbel (“silver voiced…” – The New York Times), “but rarely do we get the opportunity to help create the stories we are telling.” Collaborating with composer Susan Kander (“A composer of vivid imagination and skill” — Fanfare) and the cutting-edge duo New Morse Code (“Clarity of artistic vision and near-perfect synchronicity..” – icareifyoulisten.com), this brief, powerful music-drama documents the all-too-familiar story of an African-American parent whose “beautiful brown boy” approaches driving age as, what should be a celebration of independence and maturity is fraught with the anxiety of driving while black.  Running time: 50 minutes.

Premiere: November 2

Israeli Chamber Project

"American Immigrants"

Concert program streams from Nov. 2 (9 am) - Nov. 8 (9 pm) EST

Live conversation with the artists on November 7 at 1:00 pm EST

The award-winning Israeli Chamber Project returns to BPAC with a program featuring music by American immigrants - Erich Korngold, Gity Razaz, and Shulamit Ran. Whether fleeing war-torn Europe in the 1930s and 40s or dreaming of possibilities in today’s world, these composers became enmeshed in the cultural fabric of their adoptive country, enriching it in the process. The program also includes works by Copland, Bernstein, and Gershwin. Presented with the Baruch College's Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center.

Premieres: November 16

Alexander String Quartet

Beethoven @ 250

Two concerts stream from Nov. 16 (9 am) – Nov. 29 (9 pm)

BPAC String Quartet-in-Residence, the Alexander String Quartet, will offer two streaming recitals this Fall in the continuation of their Beethoven’s 250th birthday celebration.

The first recital is a tour traversing Beethoven’s early, middle and late quartets. This in-depth exploration combines shared insights from over 30 years of playing these beloved works, including selections from String Quartets Op. 18, No. 1, Op 59, No. 2 and Op. 135.

Music Web International called the Alexander’s performances of the Beethoven cycle “uncompromising in power, intensity and spiritual depth.”

The second recital pairs Beethoven’s monumental String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 with American composer George Walker’s Lyric for String Quartet. Walker, the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music, wrote the Lyric in response to the death of his grandmother. Its theme echoes the “Heiliger Dankgesang” (Holy Song of Thanksgiving) movement from Beethoven’s Op. 132.

Baruch Performing Arts Center

Baruch Performing Arts Center (BPAC) is an active presence in the heart of Manhattan. Located just east of the Chelsea neighborhood, BPAC presents world class Classical music, Jazz and Pop, in addition to theater, dance, literary and discussion programs. BPAC is the New York home of the Alexander String Quartet and presents a rich chamber music season including ensembles such as the Israeli Chamber Project and Cantata Profana, artists such as pianists Sara Davis Buechner and Michael Brown, cellist Joshua Roman, baritone Brian Mulligan, and violinist Tessa Lark.

Victoria Bond and Cassatt String Quartet awarded CMA Commissioning Grant

Victoria Bond and the Cassatt String Quartet were awarded a 2019 Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning grant for the creation of a new string quartet. Bond's work is inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting Blue and Green Music and will premiere at the Seal Bay Music Festival in Maine in 2021. Complete details of the award are available at this link.

Ms. Bond describes her inspiration behind the work, "the painting is an abstract study in motion, color and form, with the interplay of those two colors that dance with each other in graceful, sensuous patterns. O’Keeffe was influenced by music and said, 'Since I cannot sing, I paint.' Her painting is filled with music and it was my task to discover what it evoked."

In addition to the premiere, the Cassatt String Quartet will be recording the work for a new CD which will also include Bond's Dreams of Flying. Inspired by John James Audubon's Birds of America, the piece is an exploration of the sensation of flying. Listen to a preview of the Cassatt's recording of Dreams of Flying - Mov't III "The Caged Bird Dreams of the Jungle".

Bach Yard Playdates with Pianist Orli Shaham

On April 26, 2020, Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard launches a brand-new series: Bach Yard Playdates. Playdates introduces musical concepts, instruments and the experience of concert-going to a global audience of children and their families, in weekly 5 to 10-minute episodes. Kaufman Music Center presents Bach Yard Playdates, and it will appear on their website and social media channels at 11:00 am EDT Sundays through mid-August.

Season 1's ten episodes include interactive music in which children can join in from home, storytimes, and musical selections designed to develop listening skills. Orli Shaham introduces each show, and is joined by guest musicians from Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, The Westerlies and other professional musicians for the performances. This series is especially for children up to early elementary, but every member of the household – human or animal, stuffed, or not - will enjoy this fun and unique series.

The Bach Yard Playdates series begins with "Dancing with Bach" and continues with “Curious Engine”, an interactive story that will have children marching and dancing to music by Beata Moon. In future episodes, Orli narrates two original stories: the “Dance of the Goat” with music by Arthur Honegger, and “The Trout Family’s New Friend” with music by Franz Schubert.

Taking Bach Yard to the airwaves, WQXR-FM invited Orli Shaham to create and host a radio series of original stories with classical music for children. Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard for radio was broadcast on WQXR-FM in November and December 2019. You can listen to all four Bach Yard stories over and over again, at WQXR.org.

Orli Shaham launches MidWeek Mozart

PIANIST ORLI SHAHAM'S
MIDWEEK MOZART

Each Wednesday, Ms. Shaham brings you an exclusive: a movement of a Mozart sonata from her forthcoming recording 

As many of us are spending a lot of time at home, pianist Orli Shaham shares a special treat: a sneak preview of a track from her forthcoming album of Mozart piano sonatas. Orli Shaham's "MidWeek Mozart" gives you exclusive access to a different movement of a Mozart piano sonata, available for one week, FREE! Beginning April 1, get your weekly dose of Mozart each Wednesday, at OrliShahamMozart.com.

In the words of Ms. Shaham, "Last summer, I began recording the complete Mozart Sonatas. Although we weren’t slated to release them just yet, it is our hope that this music helps restore your soul in the current moment. Here’s a special preview just for you: MidWeek Mozart.

Every Wednesday, I’ll bring you a movement of a Mozart piano sonata, available through OrliShahamMozart.com that you can enjoy all week long!"

– Orli Shaham

Hear Ms. Shaham discuss her Mozart recording project on KWMR's "Arts Desire".

Solomiya Ivakhiv releases new CD "Haydn + Hummel: Double Concertos for Violin and Piano"

"Haydn + Hummel: Double Concertos for Violin and Piano "

Violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv’s new album with pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi, conductor Theodore Kuchar, and Slovak National Symphony Orchestra

Released April 17, 2020 on Centaur Records

Solomiya Ivakhiv wins Curtis Institute of Music 2019 Alumni Award - recognizing outstanding and long-term service to and involvement in Curtis, as well as outstanding achievement in or contribution to the music profession

The violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv, praised for her “superlative and consummate artistry” (Fanfare) teams up once again with pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi and the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar conducting, for an album of double concertos by Haydn and Hummel. Released by Centaur Records (CRC3742) on April 17, 2020.

This CD features two fine examples of classical-era double concertos: Franz Josef Haydn's Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Strings in F major and Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra in G major. The modern view of the concerto genre is dominated by the great nineteenth and twentieth-century staples that showcase a single soloist, but from the invention of the concerto in the late seventeenth century until some way into the 1800s, composers frequently wrote for different combinations of multiple soloists. The two works on this disc remind us of the fruitful possibilities afforded by the double concerto medium.

Haydn's Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Strings in F major, Hob. XVIII:6, dates from 1766, when the composer was in his mid-thirties. In 1761 he had been appointed Vice-Kapellmeister to the wealthy and musical Esterházy family, where he would remain for the rest of his professional life. It was a prestigious position, which gave him the opportunity to work with a community of virtuoso musicians. As is typical for eighteenth-century concertos, the work is in three movements, fast-slow-fast, the expansive first two movements capped by a much shorter finale that punches above its weight with sheer energy and rhythmic zest.

A protégé of Mozart and later Haydn, pianistic rival and then friend of Beethoven, Johann Nepomuk Hummel went on to become the most influential piano pedagogue of the first half of the nineteenth century. A number of later nineteenth-century composers were influenced almost as much by Hummel as by the giants of the classical period: he had a major impact on the piano writing of Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Chopin, among others. Hummel wrote almost a dozen concertos across his career - the Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra in G major, Op. 17, composed c. 1805, was his third concerto but the first to which he assigned an opus number.

This is the second CD in a series of three recordings for violin and orchestra by Solomiya Ivakhiv. The first CD of the series, "Mendelssohn Concertos", (Brilliant Classics 95733, released Nov. 2019) features two rarely-heard, early Mendelssohn gems: the Concerto in D minor for Violin and Strings, and the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra. “…Ivakhiv, along with Antonio Pompa-Baldi on keys and Theodore Kuchar conducting the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, interpret the classics sublimely with their respective talents,” says Take Effect Reviews.

The third recording, "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.

Contact ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com to request a physical or digital copy of this recording.

Haydn + Hummel

Double Concertos for Violin and Piano

Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin

Antonio Pompa-Baldi , piano

Theodore Kuchar, conductor

Slovak National Symphony Orchestra

Centaur CRC3742

U.S. release date: April 17, 2020

TRACKS

Haydn: Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra in F Major

1. Allegro moderato – 7:23

2. Largo – 9:32

3. Presto– 4:05

Hummel: Concerto for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra in G Major

4. Allegro con brio – 15:11

5. Theme and Variations: Andante con moto – 11:17

6. Rondo – 8:50

Violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv (so-low-MEE-ya ee-VA-keev) has earned a reputation for performing with “distinctive charm and subtle profundity” (Daily Freeman, New York) and a “crystal clear and noble sound” (Culture and Life, Ukraine). Known for her work as a soloist and chamber musician, Solomiya Ivakhiv has performed in prestigious venues from Carnegie Hall in New York to Tchaikovsky Hall in Kyiv, and many places in between. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Istanbul State Symphony, Charleston Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and the Hunan Symphony Orchestra in China, among others, and has been a featured chamber performer at festivals from Tanglewood to Verbier. 

Ms. Ivakhiv is Artistic Director of Music at the Institute (MATI) at the Ukranian Institute of America in New York City since 2010. Her debut solo album, "Ukraine: Journey to Freedom – A Century of Classical Music for Violin and Piano", with pianist Angelina Gadeliya, (Labor Records, released Feb. 2016) was featured in the Top 5 New Classical Releases on the iTunes billboard.

Ms. Ivakhiv is Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola and Head of Strings at the University of Connecticut and Professor of Violin at Longy School of Music of Bard College. She graduated with honors from Curtis Institute of Music, and studied with Joseph Silverstein, Pamela Frank and the late Rafael Druian. She received her Master of Music degree from M. Lysenko Music Academy in Lviv, Ukraine, studying with Oresta Kohut, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, where she studied with Pamela Frank and Philip Setzer.

Italian pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi is a prize winner at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Marguerite Long Competition in Paris, France, and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Mr. Pompa-Baldi appears regularly at the world’s major concert venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Paris’s Salle Pleyel, Milan’s Sala Verdi, Shanghai’s Grand Theatre, and Boston’s Symphony Hall. A Steinway artist, Mr. Pompa-Baldi is on the piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and serves regularly on the juries of major piano competitions such as Cleveland, Grieg (Bergen), Minneapolis (E-Competition), Hilton Head, San Jose, Lang Lang (Shenzhen), and BNDES Rio de Janeiro. He is an honorary guest professor at many institutions, including the China National Conservatory in Beijing.

The award-winning conductor Theodore Kuchar is the most recorded conductor of his generation appearing on over 130 albums for the Naxos, Brilliant Classics, Ondine, Marco Polo and Toccata Classics labels. He has served as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of two of Europe’s leading orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly the Czech Radio Orchestra) while also serving as the Principal Conductor of the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra and Slovak Sinfonietta. In the 2011-12 season, he commenced his tenure as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela; prior to that, he served as the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia.

The Slovak National Symphony Orchestra was developed on the foundation of the Slovak Sinfonietta Žilina and is one of the best known professional orchestras in Eastern Europe, holding a very important position in Slovak musical life. It was founded in 1974 as the only “Classical period” chamber orchestra in Slovakia and today is regarded as one of the country’s finest orchestras. The orchestra has performed in prestigious international venues including the Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Vienna; the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; the Philharmonie, Konzerthaus, and Komische Oper in Berlin; the Mozarteum Salzburg, and the Tonhalle Zürich, among others. They have given concerts in almost every country of Europe, Japan, China, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, and the USA, appearing on numerous recordings on the Brilliant Classics, Naxos and Marco Polo labels, among many others.

Insider Interview with the Canellakis/Brown Duo

On Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at 7:30 pm, the Baruch Performing Arts Center presents the Canellakis-Brown Duo. In this Insider Interview, we spoke with Nicholas Canellakis and Michael Brown about the history of the duo, the inspiration behind their BPAC program, and more. More info online at baruch.cuny.edu.

How did you first meet?

We met in 2008 as students at the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Insitute outside of Chicago. After some initial skepticism with each other, we soon became best friends and musical collaborators with a desire to explore the cello/piano repertoire.

What was your first gig together, and at what point did you realize that this would be a long-term collaboration? 

Our first gig together was playing the Shostakovich Piano Quintet and the Debussy Cello Sonata at Ravinia. 

This year marks your 10th season playing together. Can you tell us about some Duo highlights over the past decade?

We have played recitals all over the country, and had wonderful international trips to the Baltics, Cuba, the Greek Islands, and Italy. I have written four pieces for Nick including a collaboration we did called Self-Portrait where I wrote the music and Nick made the film. He has arranged several works for us, including the Gershwin Preludes and Bulgarian folk arrangements. 

What was the inspiration for your upcoming program at BPAC? Is there a “heart” to the program, a central piece that you wanted to do that inspired you to add the other works, or is there a theme bringing the repertoire together?

We love creating eclectic programs that combine old and new repertoire. Grieg’s monumental Cello Sonata speaks to us deeply, and that is certainly the main course on this program. The recital also features two not so frequently played 20th century works—Ginastera’s sizzling Pampeana No. 2 and Sibelius’s heart-wrenching Malinconia. We also will play Michael Brown’s Prelude and Dance, written for our duo, and an array of dazzling salon pieces including Canellakis’s virtuosic arrangements of Bulgarian folk tunes.

You frequently combine “old classics with your own arrangements and new compositions”, and this program is no exception, including a work by Michael, and an arrangement by Nick.

- Nick, how did you discover this traditional Bulgarian song that you arranged? What was the source you used as a base for your arrangement?

I discovered these Bulgarian folk tunes, including Don Ellis’s brilliant creation Bulgarian Bulge, just by scouring YouTube looking for wild and fun folk music to play. I fell in love with their insanely irregular rhythms and propulsive virtuosity, I couldn’t resist arranging them into encore showpieces for cello and piano.

- Michael, tell us about Prelude and Dance, which you wrote in 2014 for Bargemusic's "Here and Now Labor Day Festival" and revised in 2017. What kind of revisions did you make?

The work began as a suite for solo cello for Nick inspired by Baroque dance suites. After hearing him play it, I felt left out and decided to write another version of the piece for cello and piano. Check it out on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9HAWkwkrGKU.

With 10 years of performing together under your collective belts, what do you hope the next decade brings to the Canellakis-Brown Duo?

We have lots of stuff in store for the next ten years—recording projects, new works to write, concert tours, and repertoire to discover. We are always searching to explore the truth in our art and deepen our collaboration together. And we are certainly are not bored of each other, and are looking forward to the next creative adventure full of laughter, playful(?) antagonism, and pour over coffee.

"Forever Gentleman" a novel by Roland Colton with over 10 hours of classical music embedded in the eBook

“Forever Gentleman” includes over 10 hours of classical music relevant to the story, integrated in the eBook

"Forever Gentleman is not a novel to rush, but each page is to be savored… Easily one of the best books I have read so far this year." - Heather Osborne, Reader's Favorite, Goodreads

Author and Orange County attorney Roland Colton has created a unique and novel reading experience with the release of the eBook, “Forever Gentleman”. The central character of this fictional romance set in Victorian London is Nathan Sinclair, a concert pianist. Embedded links to streaming audio of over ten hours of classical music integrated in the eBook immerse the reader into Sinclair’s world of love and intrigue with musical selections by Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven and more.

The music inside the novel includes three original pieces, ostensibly composed by characters in the book. To create this music, Mr. Colton launched an international composition contest, offering cash prizes for the winners. Several hundred entries were received from nearly every country in the world, and the world premiere recordings of the winners’ music is featured in “Forever Gentleman.” Hear these new works and get to know the composers at this link.

The technical aspect of embedding audio files in an eBook is groundbreaking. In fact, Mr. Colton has applied for a patent for this innovation (application number 14/931,542, filed on November 3, 2015).

Contact Gail Wein (ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com) to request a review copy of the eBook and to arrange an interview with the author Roland Colton. Additionally, Mr. Colton has offered to donate copies of his eBook “Forever Gentleman” to use as on-air giveaways and as premiums for public broadcasting pledge drives. Contact Gail Wein for details.

"Intrigue, romantic rivalries, and mistaken identities abound in this Victorian drama… an exciting read, packed with mysteries and unexpected twists… engrossing novel…" - Kirkus Reviews

Trained in his youth as a classical pianist, Roland Colton is a frequent performer at public and private gatherings. Colton was awarded a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Utah and is an avid sports fan.

Roland Colton received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a juris doctorate from University of San Diego School of Law, and has had a long career as a litigator and trial attorney.

He is passionate about architecture and the French language, and lives with his family in Southern California and France.

Insider Interview with pianist and composer Eric Wubbels

On Tuesday, January 28, 2020 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. In this Insider Interview, we spoke with Mr. Wubbels about his past experiences working with Ablinger, his approach to learning this music, and so much more.  More info online at acfny.org.

What drew you to the music of Peter Ablinger? 

His music really stands out for me in the world of composition – in the visual arts there are all kinds of major artists whose work is first and foremost concept-driven, but among composers until very recently it's hard to name more than Cage, Lucier, and one or two others. I'd put Ablinger in with them.

The breadth of his practice is pretty extraordinary (everything from concert music to installation to opera, text scores, electronic music, and “trees planted according to acoustic criteria”...), and yet once you're familiar with his basic artistic personality everything is so clearly related back to a very small set of core concerns and principles. The simplest way I could say it is that his music is about listening.

And yet for me it's the furthest thing from dryly conceptual in its treatment of those concerns. It's incredibly sincere, humanistic, spiritual, and politically engaged, unpretentious and alive to beauty. And, I love the sounds...

And can you share any anecdotes from your experiences working with him?

In 2009 he agreed to come to New York to work with my ensemble on a concert of his music. We had basically no reputation in Europe, so we were amazed that he was willing to come over at all. And then, he refused to be put up in a hotel (he slept on my couch in Brooklyn for the week), and refused to be paid a commissioning fee that was any more than what any of the musicians who would play the piece would be paid for playing it. I really admire him.

In this work “Voices and Piano”, the pianist is performing along with recordings of voices or speech – as the performer, how does the electronic/recorded part of the work influence/affect how you approach your part?

As the piano part is derived completely from the sound of each recording and voice, part of the initial work is trying to hear what Peter heard in the quality of the voice (or sometimes the noise artifacts of the recording itself) so that you can create the overall sound and affect of each piece. I think arriving at an interpretation involves making decisions primarily about sonority and the overall dynamic structure – I'm trying to achieve something relative to the voice which is not quite “accompanying,” not quite “blending,” but finding a kind of balance-point where the combination of the parts allows them to be experienced simultaneously so that something new is revealed through their comparison. 

My initial impulse when I first worked on the pieces was to try to match the piano part to the voice as closely as possible (rhythmically, dynamically, etc.). After working with Peter I appreciate the ways in which the alignment between the two elements is less “realistic” and more “pixellated” – the piano is basically an equal-tempered grid of an instrument, while a voice is totally fluid. So the relationship between the two has something in common with Chuck Close's portraits, or earlier pointillist/divisionist approaches to representation in the visual arts, where we see the “reality” of what's seen simultaneously with the “grid” of our own perception. 

You will be performing this program in Chicago as well as in New York – in a work like this with a static electronic part, how much variety do you try to bring to your own part from performance to performance?

Another thing that I really value in Voices and Piano is the form, which is one that very rare in the music world – it's an archive. There are currently over 50 pieces, and as a result the cumulative duration is far too long to be played in a single concert. As a performer, then, your first responsibility is actually curatorial: you choose which voices to present, and thereby which individuals, communities, and points of view to represent in a given performance. 

For that reason, I feel like there are all these voices already present in the piece, and I'm not really trying to draw focus away from them onto myself. I think I'd feel compelled to generate variety for myself only if I were bored with the music, and on the contrary, given the difficulty of the task, I'm completely immersed in it and it takes the entirety of my focus. Every performance is naturally different without my having to intend the details of that in any way; it's great like that!

How does your experience as both a composer and performer influence how you interpret the music of Ablinger?

It helps me put my performer ego aside and so that I can try just to serve the idea. As a composer, I see what he's going for, and I see and value the beauty of it, and I recognize that it's likely best served by a performance that's neutral, by and large. If my presence in the room dominates over the recorded voice, the balance between the elements that's necessary for them to blend into a third, composite structure would be lost. And so I have to resist the impulse to be “expressive” or dynamic in traditional ways, as that will actually make the piece as a whole less expressive.

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