From coast to coast with pianist Inna Faliks

View Release with Images

Ukrainian-American Pianist Inna Faliks' 2022 Fall Season

Highlights include performances of "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" and auto-biographical recital "Polonaise-Fantasie: the Story of a Pianist"

Performances at Lincoln Center, Evanston Symphony, Red Rocks Music Festival and more

"A pianist of the highest order" - Berkshire Fine Arts

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
October 21 at 7:00 pm | Lincoln Center (New York, NY)
October 30 at 2:30 pm | Pick-Staiger Concert Hall (Evanston, IL)

In October, pianist Inna Faliks performs Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" in two appearances. On October 21, she joins the Pegasus Orchestra and conductor Karén Hakobyan at Lincoln Center. She is one of five stellar pianists  in a program that also includes all of Rachmaninoff's works for piano and orchestra. On October 30, she joins the Evanston Symphony to perform the work with conductor Lawrence Eckerling. 

Polonaise-Fantaisie: The Story of a Pianist
November 13 at 7:00 pm | The Sofia, Home of B Street Theatre (Sacramento, CA)
November 20 at 4:00 pm | Bethel Lutheran Church (Madison, WI)

"Polonaise-Fantaisie: The Story of a Pianist" is the hybrid of a piano recital and an autobiographical monologue, and Inna Faliks considers it the most personal project she has ever done. She says: “It is my hope that, in sharing this story, I offer audiences a glimpse into a life of a performing musician, as well as into my very personal story – the story that makes me the artist I am today.” Ms. Faliks recorded the project as an album on Delos in 2017. 

Red Rocks Music Festival: "Mainly Beethoven"
December 4 at 3:00 pm | Steele Indian School Park (Phoenix, AZ)

Ms. Faliks joins violinist Liba Schacht (Roosevelt University) and cellist John Sharp (Chicago Symphony) for a program of chamber music at Red Rocks Music Festival in Phoenix. They'll perform the Southwest premiere of Veronika Krausas' "Master & Margarita Suite" alongside Fanny Mendelssohn's "Notturno" and the Archduke Trio and Appassionata Sonata by Beethoven. 

Forthcoming musical memoir

Inna Faliks has announced that Weight in the Fingertips will be published by Globe Pequot on June 15, 2023. The book is "a memoir of experiences growing up in Ukraine and immigrating to the States, becoming a musician, the adventures of a musical life, the trials of being a woman in a male dominated field, a paean to teachers and mainly a love affair with the music itself."

Recent Recordings

Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel (Navona NV6352)
Listen on Spotify
Purchase album

The Schumann Project, Volume 1 (MSR Classics)
Listen on Spotify
Purchase album

Biography

“Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages in recital and with many major orchestras, performing with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Keith Lockhart and many others.

Ms. Faliks collaborates with and premieres music by some of today’s most significant composers, including Billy Childs, Richard Danielpour, Timo Andres and Clarice Assad. She is known for her poetry-music series Music/Words, and has worked with a number of prominent poets. She regularly tours her monologue-recital Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist, which tells the story of her immigration to the United States from Odessa (recorded on Delos). Besides Reimagine, her discography includes all-Beethoven and Rachmaninoff/Ravel/Pasternak discs for MSR Classics, and the Master and Margarita project, featuring three world premieres on Sono Luminus.

In addition to her other impressive accomplishments, Faliks is a respected educator and is head of Piano Studies at UCLA. She is also a published writer, with articles and essays appearing in Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, among other media outlets. Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist.

New from composer Mark Abel

View Release with Images

Composer Mark Abel's Spectrum to be released on Delos Records October 21

Album features world premiere recordings of songs and chamber music

Featuring all-star performers including sopranos Hila Plitmann and Isabel Bayrakdarian

“[Abel] treats words with shapely care, establishing vibrant and urgent contexts for the interaction of voice and instruments.” – Gramophone

Two song cycles form the cornerstone of “Spectrum” (Delos DE3592, rel. October 21, 2022), the new album of music by Mark Abel, which features some of the most outstanding voices on stage today: Hila Plitmann, Isabel Bayrakdarian, and Kindra Scharich. Abel's music has been praised by Gramophone Magazine as "compelling in narrative depth and energy" and The Whole Note wrote that Abel is “a compositional master of intriguing contemporary music.”

Trois Femmes du Cinema (Three Women of Cinema), set to texts by Abel himself, is performed by powerhouse soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and famed pianist Carol Rosenberger. Abel says his texts about cult figures Anne Wiazemsky, Pina Pellicer and Larisa Shepitko “distill my feelings about their work and what I believe they were trying to convey as artists.”

Renowned singers Hila Plitmann, soprano, and Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano, are featured in the emotive Two Scenes from “The Book of Esther.” The composer refers to the piece as “a slice of an opera in development.” Writes Abel in the booklet notes, "The biblical heroine, an iconic figure in the cultural lore of Judaism, was an inspiration for Hila Plitmann when she was growing up in Israel." 

The two-disc set, rounded out by three chamber works and the short song cycle 1966, features pianist Dominic Cheli (2017 CAG winner), Pacific Symphony concertmaster Dennis Kim, Alexander String Quartet violist David Samuel, cellist Jonah Kim, horn player Jeff Garza, flutist Christy Kim and pianists Sean Kennard and Jeffrey LaDeur.

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

“Mark Abel earns praise for musical innovation. Moreover, he garners affection by recapturing the enchantment of song." – Voix des Arts

Composer Mark Abel
Spectrum

Delos  (DE 3592)
Release date: October 21, 2022

TRACKS

CD1

Trois Femmes du Cinema (23:22)
01 Anne Wiazemsky (8:47)
02 Pina Pellicer (6:07)
03 Larisa Shepitko (8:28)

04 Reconciliation Day (10:22)

05 Out the Other Side (10:01)

CD2

Two Scenes from “The Book of Esther” (22:46)
01 The Maiden Esther (8:47)
02 Two Queens (13:58)

03 The Long March (12:59)

1966
04 Fall Sunday, San Francisco (4:17)
05 First Love (3:09)
06 Somewhere in Wyoming (5:22)

---

Mark Abel has been called “a compositional master of intriguing contemporary music” (The Whole Note) and his works have been praised by Gramophone Magazine as "compelling in narrative depth and energy."

Abel’s creative life weaves together music and journalism. Deeply entranced by classical music as a child, his interest gave way to jazz and rock in adolescence, capped by a lengthy stint as a guitarist, bassist, songwriter and record producer in New York in the 1970s and & '80s. In 1983, however, he turned his attention to journalism, ultimately becoming foreign editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. During those years, he began working out complex compositional ideas, a path that rekindled his affection for classical music. Spectrum is the sixth recording of his music on the Delos label.

Cutting Edge Concerts Fall concerts

View as Webpage

Cutting Edge Concerts: final programs of 25th anniversary season

CUTTING EDGE CONCERTS New Music Festival 
Victoria Bond, Artistic Director

Sept. 23: Philip Glass celebration with Pauline Kim Harris in collaboration with The Village Trip

Oct. 22: Songs by Victoria Bond presented in collaboration with Keyed Up Music Project

"...a gift to New Yorkers thirsty for new sounds" – Time Out New York

Composer Victoria Bond founded Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival to celebrate, support and promote the work of living composers. Over the past 25 years, works by more than 200 composers have been played by world-class ensembles and soloists in the country. Audiences have delighted to dozens of world premieres and hundreds of on-stage conversations with the composers themselves.

The 2022 season closes with two concerts in Manhattan: 

At St. John's in the Village, Bond's string trio Dancing on Glass is featured on a program honoring Philip Glass at 85. Dancing on Glass is performed by Pauline Kim Harris, violin (pictured); Chieh-Fan Yiu, viola; and Coleman Itzkoff, cello, on September 23 at 7 pm.  details and tickets

On October 22 at 7 pm at Tenri Cultural Center, Cutting Edge Concerts joins forces with Keyed Up Music Project, with a program that includes songs by Bond set to words by Albert Einstein and Walt Whitman, sung by Dennis Tobensky, and Illumination performed by pianist Marc Peloquin. details and tickets

CUTTING EDGE CONCERTS: A short history

Inspired by Pierre Boulez's series, "Perspective Encounters", the composer and conductor Victoria Bond founded Cutting Edge Concerts in 1998. With 25 years of concerts, Cutting Edge Concerts has presented over 300 new works by more than 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.

For the 20th anniversary, New Music Box published a feature on the festival and its many highlights and accomplishments. In it, Victoria Bond wrote "I launched the Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival in 1998 with the purpose of presenting the music of living composers, including—but not limited to—my own work. I was eager to know what my composition colleagues were writing and to have a way of bringing their music to the public. I also knew many performers interested in new music, and the thought of putting these together was intoxicating."

Victoria Bond, Artistic Director

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." 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 also an acclaimed conductor, and is the principal guest conductor of Chamber Opera Chicago, and has held conducting positions with Pittsburgh Symphony, New York City Opera, Roanoke Symphony, and Bel Canto and Harrisburg Operas.

Oct 1: Victoria Bond "Blue and Green Music" on Albany

Composer Victoria Bond's Blue and Green Music released on Albany Records October 1

Album features world premiere recordings; highlights Bond's longstanding collaboration with the Cassatt String Quartet

Title track inspired by Georgia O'Keefe painting of same name

[Victoria Bond's works are] "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding." — The New York Times

On October 1, 2022, composer Victoria Bond's new album, "Blue and Green Music" will be released on Albany Records (TROY 1905). The centerpiece of the album is the world premiere recording of Blue and Green Music, commissioned by the Cassatt Quartet through a Chamber Music America commissioning grant. 

The title track was inspired by a Georgia O'Keeffe painting of the same name, which uses the two colors to create an abstract study in motion, color and form. Victoria Bond writes, "O’Keeffe said, 'Since I cannot sing, I paint.' Her painting is filled with music and it was my challenge to hear that music. I created two distinct motifs to express the two colors, and those motifs developed their own sense of direction and form. Just as O’Keeffe’s painting is suggestive rather than specific, my music is intended to evoke rather than describe."

The Cassatt Quartet is a longstanding collaborator with Ms. Bond, who has appeared as guest composer at The Cassatt's Seal Bay Music Festival twice. The quartet has performed Bond's Dreams of Flying numerous times on the concert stage, and the world premiere recording is included on this album. 

Rounding out the album are songs performed by baritone Michael Kelly and pianist Bradley Moore. From an Antique Land is Bond's setting of poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Percy Shelley and Gerard Hopkin, each tied together by the theme of memory. Art and Science was inspired by a 1927 letter written by Albert Einstein. Bond says she discovered through this letter that Einstein valued art fully as much as he valued science, and drew a connection between them.

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

“The excellent Cassatt String Quartet” — Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

Blue and Green Music

String Quartets and Vocal Works by Victoria Bond

Cassatt String Quartet

Michael Kelly, baritone
Bradley Moore, piano

Albany Records (TROY 1905)
Release date: October 1, 2022

TRACKS

Blue and Green Music^ [15:35]
01 Blue and Green  [06:08]
02 Green  [02:03]
03 Blue  [03:34]
04 Dancing Codes [03:49]

05 Art and Science*   [08:28]

From an Antique Land* [28:04]
06 Recuerdo  [05:32]
07 Ozymandius  [07:04]
08 Spring and Fall  [07:40]
09 On Hearing a Symphony of Beethoven  [7:48]

Dreams of Flying^ [17:41]
10 Resisting Gravity  [06:20]
11 Floating  [01:40]
12 The Caged Bird Dreams of the Jungle  [05:17]
13 Flight  [04:24]

Total Time = 69:47
^Performed by the Cassatt String Quartet
*Performed by Michael Kelly, baritone & Bradley Moore, piano

Insider Interview with Momenta Quartet (new dates)

Momenta Quartet presents its annual Momenta Festival September 15-18, 2022 (rescheduled from June). All four concerts will be at the Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th St. New York, NY), and admission is free.The seventh edition of the festival features four diverse chamber music programs each curated by a different member of the quartet. In this insider interview, we spoke with two members the quartet about their unique programs.

---

The September 17 program is curated by violinist Alex Shiozaki and features special guests Nana Shi (piano) and David Byrd-Marro (horn) with works by Hiroumi Mogi, Brahms, and Grażyna Bacewicz.

Could you tell us about the music of Grażyna Bacewicz? 

The Polish composer and violinist Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) reminds me of quite a few mid-20th century composers who balanced an advanced sense of tonality--bordering on atonality--with great emotional content. Many of Bacewicz’s earlier works leaned more in the Romantic direction. I was already familiar with the relatively early Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano as well as the Quartet for Four Violins, both of which were written in a more romantic and almost neo-Classical idiom.  

Her music hits all the right buttons with me: some drama, some dissonance, some classicism, all in a well-balanced and well-written package. Certainly it helps that she was an accomplished violinist as well as a composer, and the notes lie well under the fingers. As a relatively late work, the Piano Quintet No. 2 leans farther away from familiar harmonies while raising the drama and suspense. The fiery virtuosity and tense melodies will keep you on the edge of your seat--as it does for us, too! I am ecstatic that we will be joined by pianist Nana Shi (who is also my wife), who will be making her third appearance on the Momenta Festival. 

The program includes a piece you recently premiered – In Memory of Perky Pat. How did this piece come about? 

In addition to playing great works from the distant and recent past, Momenta is all about discovering the music of today and giving it several hearings.  

We premiered Hirofumi Mogi’s In Memory of Perky Pat (for horn and string quartet) at Music From Japan’s 2022 Festival concert in New York City. We were joined by the terrific horn player David Byrd-Marrow, and had such a good time performing the piece that we decided to do it again! Inspired by the Philip K. Dick short story “The Days of Perky Pat”, this piece also reignited my interest in classic science fiction and led to an all-night binge of a collection of PKD short stories.  

---

The September 18th program is curated by violinist Emilie-Anne Gendron and includes works by Mario Davidvosky, Julian Carillo, Beethoven, and the world premiere of a quartet by David Glaser written in memoriam Davidovsky.

What did Mario Davidovsky mean to you and the quartet? 

Mario Davidovsky’s music figures prominently in creation of Momenta Quartet. In 2004, the composer Matthew Greenbaum invited our violist Stephanie to put together a group that would perform Davidovsky’s String Trio for events celebrating Judaism and Culture at Symphony Space and at Temple University. This proto-Momenta, as it were, so enjoyed playing together that they decided to add another violinist and form a quartet. From then the group’s evolution was set into motion: a few member changes later (as is common and natural in the vast majority of groups) and here we are.   

I never had the chance to meet Mario Davidovsky before his passing in the summer of 2019, but I knew of him as one of the compositional giants of our time.  

My own first experience playing Davidovsky’s music arose during the very strange summer of 2020. I had recently become associated with the annual Composers Conference, a summer festival devoted in large part to embracing contemporary music and emerging composers (and which Davidovsky directed for 50 years). In August 2020, the Conference planned a Mario Davidovsky virtual memorial concert consisting of his complete set of Synchronisms. (The “Synchronisms” series consists of 12 independent works composed over 40 years for various combinations of acoustic instruments and tape. The pieces are particularly visionary for their exploration of melding such disparate sound worlds.)   

I was invited to be one of the performers for his Synchronisms No. 2 for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and tape. With COVID still very much disrupting in-person work, my collaborators and I met via Zoom to discuss matters of interpretation, practiced our parts individually with the tape and a click track, recorded each of our parts separately (with the conductor tuning in on Zoom to oversee and unify each performance)—after which our tracks were all overlaid and stitched together to form the virtual concert. Despite all the disconnection, the experience sticks in my mind fondly as being one of my first “real” projects to arise post-lockdown, indicating hope that we might one day be performing again. I was intrigued by the color, variety, whimsy, and sheer imagination of the Synchronisms. Synchronisms No. 9 (for solo violin and tape) was on my repertoire wish-list, and I am looking forward to performing it on this year’s Momenta Festival.  

The other Davidovsky-related strand: The New York-based composer David Glaser had agreed to write a new quartet for the Momenta Festival. I had no idea until seeing the finished score a few months ago that David decided to dedicate this work in memory of his teacher and mentor Mario Davidovsky. In the spirit of honoring the various past influences that go into forming what we are today, it seemed only natural to program a Davidovsky piece alongside David’s quartet, hence the inclusion of Synchronisms No. 9 on my concert. 

What’s the significance of ending the program with Beethoven’s “Serioso” Quartet? (Why Beethoven? Why this quartet?) 

The short answer as to “why Beethoven?” and “why this quartet?”: practicality. Perhaps I shouldn’t be revealing how the sausage is made, so to speak—but when it comes to programming decisions, not all of our reasons are highbrow! Sometimes it’s just because we happen to have been playing a piece we love recently, and so it’s logical to include it on a festival program – particularly one on which there are several less familiar works we are preparing with finite rehearsal time. Also, as a quartet that frequently focuses on new works and premieres, we savor any chance we get to delve into standard-repertoire pieces via repeated performances. 

The “Serioso” has been on our quartet’s wish-list for as long as I can remember. Originally, our violist Stephanie had conceived of a festival program for Fall 2020 on which “Serioso” would be juxtaposed with avant-garde German-Argentinian composer Mauricio Kagel’s surrealist 1971 film “Ludwig van,” and featuring a top-notch lineup of improvisers who would collaborate with Momenta. With that in mind, we even began rehearsing the “Serioso” in early 2020, but of course, the pandemic threw all sorts of future planning into disarray. As the pandemic progressed, our programming timelines naturally fluctuated. The subsequent Momenta Festival ended up taking place virtually in June of 2021 (thanks to the generous assistance of the Americas Society) but for that one, we had already decided to program another Beethoven work, the monumental Grosse Fuge, for Alex’s program. We finally reprised “Serioso” for the 2021-22 season and had a pretty good idea that it would go on this festival. As various ideas were thrown around, and as guest artists and aesthetic considerations gradually fell into place, for a while it spent time on each of our programs. In the end, my colleagues generously let me have it, but the truth is that each one of us could (and did) come up with some version of a program that interestingly juxtaposed the Beethoven with contemporary and lesser-known works (a hallmark of a typical Momenta concert). 

As for why it ends the program: despite its condensed length, this piece is an emotional heavyweight. It is brusque, restless, tense, emotionally raw, and often violent. 

Other than the coda, which is disarmingly fleet and joyful, the vast majority of the work feels like an existential scream into the void—after which, what more can possibly be uttered?  

Insider Interview with Sarah Plum

The ever-adventurous violinist Sarah Plum has long been a champion of contemporary music. Her latest release, Personal Noise (BGR 619, rel. June 2022), features new music for violin and electronics by living composers, many of which were written especially for Ms. Plum. The collection includes works by Mari Takano, Mari Kimura, Kyong Mee Choi, Jeff Herriot, Charles Nichols, Eric Moe and Eric Lyon. We recently spoke to her about electro-acoustic music, improvisation in Classical music, the new album, and more.

When did you know you wanted to focus your performance career on contemporary music?  

It wasn’t  ever a conscious decision,  but I have always been interested in contemporary music and modernism.   After the release of my first solo CD Absconditus, the new music part of my life went into overdrive, with more concerts, residencies, commissions and collaborations.  It was a lot of fun and I also felt a sense of a mission to get music created, played and heard.   

And I think my background has contributed to this focus : I grew up with artist parents (my Dad was a painter and my Mom was a potter) in a contemporary house that was designed by a friend of theirs.  So from an early age I was exposed to people creating contemporary art and collaborating on creative projects as a way of life. I never imagined a musical life without playing new music and working closely with living composers.  

I moved to Europe after I completed my DMA at Stony Brook and had the good fortune to take part in historic concerts and premieres of new music, playing with groups like Ensemble Moderne, Musik Fabrik, Ensemble Contrechamps, Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam, on tour and at prominent festivals and venues.  I liked the people and the music and wanted to continue to be a part of this world, which felt very sympathetic to me. 

Also in Germany I met Sidney Corbett.  He asked me to premiere his solo sonata Archipel: Chagall  at the Landesmuseum Mainz in a gallery full of Chagall’s prints. This was the start of a long and productive collaborative friendship that persists to this day. Most recently Sidney wrote me a solo sonata based on Bach’s Sonata No. 2 in a minor for solo violin (the first in a series of commissions for works based on each of Bach’s 6 solo Sonatas and Partitas).  I played part of it in Mannheim, Germany before the pandemic but it hasn’t had its full premiere yet. 

This collaboration also gave me a template for what I wanted to do: work closely with composers with lots of repeat performances of their works.  I am an advocate for composers and their pieces.  For the most part I am not going to add pieces to my repertoire that are played and recorded a lot already.   All the composers I play are quite successful, they have good teaching jobs, get commissions, have gotten Guggenheims and Fulbrights and Barlows etc.,  but they are not household names.  It is important to me to bring these works to a larger audience and give them many repeat performances.     

Your new album, “Personal Noise” is entirely music for violin and electronics. Tell me about “electronics” as a “duo partner”. How is it to play along with, react to and interact with electronically-generated sounds? 

It can be difficult with what we call “fixed media”  - which is a  multi layered recording created by the composer.  It is fixed and unresponsive so I have to make sure I match and line up with this unyielding duo partner! On the positive side it is reliable and easier to do in the sense that it is always the same.   

Live electronics is a much more fluid experience with flexibility, which opens up all sorts of possibilities.  It is much more like working with a person as a partner, but it sometimes can be unreliable, and there is more set up and the sound check,  and sometimes things malfunction. I love working with MAX and other live electronic programs and it has been exciting to play these pieces.  

Tell us some of the different kinds of electronics used in the works on “Personal Noise.”  

Eric Moe, Mari Takano and Kyong Mee Choi’s pieces are with fixed media. Each tape that the composers made is super rich, full of different recorded and electric sounds and quite gorgeous.  I love playing these pieces in concert because it is like having an orchestra in your back pocket.   Mari Kimura, Jeff Herriott and Charles Nichols’ piecesare with MAX msp.  In Mari’s piece the electronics react to my and Yvonne’s pitches, so whatever we do, certain sounds come out of the electronics in a really lush and beautiful way.   Jeff’s piece has a variety of things going on - loops and some chance elements, which I love.  In concert it is different every time;  for the CD we chose the versions we liked the most.  Charles’ piece is, in many ways, the most ambitious.  It is made of recorded sounds, and my playing is also recorded and processed in real time.  So it is me recorded, me live and me processed - and affected by the motion sensor on my hand.  Really cool! 

How did you start playing electronic music? 

For the release of my first solo CD Absconditus, I had a concert on a series at the Berlin main train station.  Sidney  Corbett introduced me to his friend Mari Takano, whom he met when they both studied with Gyorgy Ligeti in Hamburg in the 80’s. She sent me the piece and a CD of the audio track that I played with.  I really liked the piece and liked the variety it gave me on programs of music for violin alone - I performed it over 50 times.  Then I played a piece by Matthew Burtner (my first Max piece) and fell in love with live electronics, the freedom and the potential for unusual sounds.  Next, Jeff Herriot wrote me the piece that is on “Personal Noise”.  At each step I learned more about the technology and was continually challenged with new technology and techniques.    

How much room is there, within the works on this album, for improvisation and/or variation between performances?  

 For the CD it is only Jeff Herriott’s piece that  has some choice elements and improvisation. At the concert I gave at Constellation in Chicago in May 2022 ( on Youtube), Laurie Schwartz’ss work was improvisatory.  The rest are all notated, or things happen in a chance way based on the program, but not related to what I am doing.    

What do you hope listeners take away from the album; and/or the art and craft of performing a live instrument with electronics? 

I hope listeners enjoy it and  have their perspective expanded, perhaps even have their mind blown a bit.  It’s an opportunity to learn about some composers new to them, and possibly inspired them to experience more of their music.  I hope I can give them a sense of the breadth of what is out there and an openness to explore further.   

Insider Interview with Andrew Garland and Eapen Leubner of Art Song Colorado

The acclaimed baritone Andrew Garland is front and center on a new album of songs by Gabriela Lena Frank, and Dmitri Shostakovich on Art Song Colorado’s label (DASP 005, release date August 5, 2022). “El Rebelde” (“The Rebel”) brings together the vocal compositions of Frank and Shostakovich, two composers who transformed Spanish language song through their innovative settings. In this insider interview, we spoke with Mr. Garland and Art Song Colorado founder Eapen Leubner about the new recording. 

Why did you want to record / produce a recording of / this particular repertoire? 

ANDREW GARLAND: I have been in love with Gabriela’s music since 2006 when I first met her and the Songs of Cifar [a collection of songs by Frank, two of which were premiered by Mr. Garland]. The driving rhythms, the jazz harmonies, the non-classical vocal techniques, the Spanish language, the high F#s and Gs. I feel that all of these are my strengths. And let’s be honest: any performer chooses a piece partly because they can sound good doing it. And besides her innovative music-making, I adore Gabi’s philosophy: when western “classical music” assimilates another culture, it must make both cultures equal: one culture can’t dominate the other.  

EAPEN LEUBNER: It is sometimes a challenge to decide what to produce. In this case, Andy's passion for the music of Gabriela Frank shone through. I was new to the music but hearing the repertoire made me made the decision easy. 

What do you think makes this music distinctive? 

EL: Gabriela's compositional voice merges many regional styles but still frames the music in the traditional art song format of piano and voice. The music plays around the edges of the genre by using some sprech-stimme techniques and spoken word, longer piano solos and a musical language that pairs with the poetry like a fine wine with a beautiful dinner.  

AG: To start, the poetry sources are a little off-the-beaten path, even for 21st century “art song”. 

For centuries, composers have written music that has the piano imitate other instruments. Songs of Cifar will someday be a cycle for orchestra including Nicaraguan marimba (the Nicaraguan marimba has reeds hanging from the bars that add a buzzing sound) and charango (a small guitar after which an entire Pan-American genre is named). In the second song, “Me diste ¡oh Dios! una hija,” the piano imitates both these instruments at the same time. And Jeremy Reger, our pianist, is on fire when he plays this. This song more than any has the driving rhythms I was talking about. 

And the vocal score. I mentioned the high notes. I when I first started working with Gabi I mentioned to her that F# was my favorite high note. There are a few juicy ones in the first song (“El nacimeiento de cifar”) and she wrote in several more for the premiere of “Eufemia.”   

By the way, I put “art song” in quotations above because there needs to be a better name for the genre. Most people I know - including other musicians - are put off by the term. Other people ask what “art song” is, I tell them, and then they’re put off by the term. I heard an anecdote: once Samuel Ramey bumped into Barbara Streisand in an apartment building in New York. A mutual friend introduced them and said that Sam is a singer. She asked him “Oh, what tunes do you sing?” They’re all tunes (provided they have a melody which all of these songs do, thank goodness. 

How does this repertoire resonate with Art Song Colorado’s mission? 

EL: Art Song Colorado (ASC) is dedicated to introducing new audiences to the art song genre. Our projects have included video, puppets, live performance and albums that focus on a theme. Our secondary mission is to support the artistic vision of Colorado artists. "El Rebelde" spoke to me because we hadn’t yet seriously delved into new Spanish-language music and I've admired Andy's career and musicality from a far. This was a two-fer for me. 

What does Gabriela Frank’s music mean to you? 

EL: I've only known Gabriela's music for the past year and yet, I frequently find myself humming fragments of melody and thinking about lines from the recording session. Her music is, for me, a beginning. I've been given a gift to produce this inaugural set of pieces. If you notice the numbering on the Cifar songs, there will eventually be thirty of them. If fate is kind, I want to be a part of this all the way through to a complete recording that will tell the Cifar songs from beginning to end. 

AG: I love sharing music that I love with an audience. I love introducing audiences to new music that makes them think and feel. I love giving audiences renditions of songs they love. In the past 15 years, Songs of Cifar have gone from being one to the other. 

Why was music by Shostakovich chosen for this album, and why this particular set of songs? What makes it a good pairing with Frank’s songs? 

EL: The idea of the album title "El Rebelde" came from the third Cifar song. We knew that we wanted to pair this music and contrast Gabriela's music with music that would be similarly grounded, yet profoundly different. The Shostakovich had the similarities of the Spanish melodies but, unlike Frank's music, these songs were connected to Russia by both language and harmonics. Both composers show a rebellious streak by remixing the classical art song from a mono-culture (think German Lieder or French Chanson) into a blending of cultures. The result is something that is Russian or Spanish or Nicaraguan and is more than the sum of the parts because they have been so seamlessly combined. 

AG: Including the Shostakovich Spanish Songs was Jeremy’s idea. He first suggested it because of the Spanish language connection: these are Spanish folk songs originally in Spanish, translated to Russian. These are a composer writing about another place and all of the mixed, conflicting feelings he has for that place. As we got to know the songs better we discovered that these songs also bring together two cultures seamlessly with both at the fore, neither behind the other. 

Aug 5: “El Rebelde” – songs by Gabriela Frank and Shostakovich

New from Art Song Colorado: “El Rebelde,” release date August 5, 2022

Baritone Andrew Garland performs music by Gabriela Lena Frank, including the world premiere recording of Cantos de Cifar y el Mar Dulce (Songs of Cifar and the Sweet Sea)

Album includes more music by Frank, and Shostakovich’s Spanish Songs

“Andrew Garland sang with vocal allure and dramatic urgency.” — Alex Ross, The New Yorker

The acclaimed baritone Andrew Garland is front and center on a new album of songs by Gabriela Lena Frank and Dmitri Shostakovich on Art Song Colorado’s label (DASP 005, release date August 5, 2022). “El Rebelde” (“The Rebel”) brings together the vocal compositions of Frank and Shostakovich, two composers who transformed Spanish language song through their innovative settings.

Along with the pianist Jeremy Reger, Garland performs Cantos de Cifar y el Mar Dulce (Songs of Cifar and the Sweet Sea) in its world premiere recording. Cifar is a setting of a collection of poems by the Nicaraguan poet Pablo Antonio Cuadra that recounts the odyssey of a harp-playing mariner who travels the waters of Lake Nicaragua. Eight songs are contained on this album, and Frank intends to ultimately set all 30 poems of this saga.

Also on this album is Las Cinco Lunas de Lorca (The Five Moons of Lorca), with tenor Javier Abreu and Cuatro Canciones Andinas (Four Andean Songs), both by Frank; and Spanish Songs Op. 100 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Lorca, with text by the Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz, describes the assassination of the literary giant Federico García Lorca in the Spanish Civil War. Texts for Four Andean Songs draw on traditional poetry of the Quechua people, descendants of the ancient Incas. The Peruvian folklorist José María Arguedas collected and translated these poems from Quechua into Spanish. Shostakovich’s songs are traditional Spanish tunes in simple arrangements: Spanish culture through a Russian lens.

Garland says he admires Frank’s music for its "driving rhythms, the jazz harmonies, the non-classical vocal techniques, the Spanish language, the high F#s and Gs." He continues, "Besides her innovative music-making, I adore Gabi’s philosophy: when western “classical music” assimilates another culture, it must make both cultures equal: one culture can’t dominate the other."

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

"[Lena Frank is] one of the 35 most significant women composers in history" — The Washington Post

Track List

Gabriela Lena Frank: Cantos de Cifar y el Mar Dulce (Songs of Cifar and the Sweet Sea)
[01] I. El nacimiento de Cifar
[02] XV. Me diste oh Dios! una hija
[03] XVIII. Primer parte: El rebelde
[04] XVIII. Segune parte: Tomasito, el cuque
[05] XVIII. Tercer parte: El Niño
[06] XXII. Primer parte: Eufemia
[07] XXII. Segund parte: En La Vela del Angelito
[08] XXX. Pescador

[09] Gabriela Lena Frank: Las Cinco Lunas de Lorca

Gabriela Lena Frank: Cuatro Canciones Andinas
[10] Despedida
[11] Yo Crio una Mosca
[12] Carnaval de Tambobamba
[13] Yunca

Dmitri Shostakovich: Spanish Songs, Op. 100
[14] Prashai Granada (Farewell, Granada)
[15] Zvyozochki (Starry Eyes)
[16] Pyervaya Fstryecha (First Meeting)
[17] Ronda (Round Dance)
[18] Chernookaya (Dark Eyes)
[19] Son (Dream)

Total Time = 68:31

Biographies

Baritone Andrew Garland has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall, the New York Festival of Song, the Ravinia festival, Cleveland Art Song Festival, Bard Festival, Vocal Arts DC, college campuses around North America, and venues in Italy, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey. He has premiered works by Heggie, Bolcom, Paulus, Steven Mark Kohn, Hoiby, Cipullo, and Gabriela Frank. He has performed in concert with the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and leading opera roles at Seattle Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Cincinnati Opera, Minnesota Opera, and many others. Garland teaches on the voice faculty at the University of Colorado.

Art Song Colorado introduces new audiences to classical song. Their innovative performances by Colorado artists include visual art, super-titles and storytelling. Art Song Colorado’s online videos capture the feeling of live performance in bite-sized experiences that are a perfect introduction for audiences. Join Art Song Colorado for “Musical Storytelling in a timeless style.”

Aug. 26: Pianist Orli Shaham's Mozart Vols 2 & 3

Volumes 2 and 3 of Orli Shaham's Complete Piano Sonatas by Mozart

2-disc set released August 26 on Canary Classics

Singles released August 12 & 19

“a first-rate Mozartean” — The Chicago Tribune

The internationally-renowned concert pianist Orli Shaham is deep into a multi-year endeavor of recording all of Mozart’s piano sonatas. Volumes 2 and 3 of "Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas" is released on Canary Classics (CC21) on August 26, 2022. Singles will be released on August 12 (Rondo All Turca: Allegretto from K.331) and August 19 (Allegretto from K.576).

In this two CD set, Orli Shaham performs the ever-popular Sonata K.331, including the Rondo Alla Turca; one of the most technically demanding piano works by Mozart - the Sonata in D major, K.576; and the Sonata in A minor, K.310, a work with enormous emotional depth. Says Ms. Shaham, “These sonatas give so many insights into Mozart’s mind, his personality, and his soul, and reveal fresh ideas about the music and its meaning with every hearing.” The complete list of sonatas on Volumes 2 and 3 is below.

Improvisation is a big part of Orli Shaham’s approach to this music. For months leading up to the recording sessions, she worked on sections that she felt Mozart left open to improvisation, experimenting with all kinds of ideas. The result is a great sense of spontaneity in each of the sonatas she recorded. "The act of improvisation allows you to feel some sense of what Mozart would have felt. He was a real flesh-and-bone human being, for all his genius, just like us,” said Ms. Shaham.

Critics call Shaham "an intelligent and sensitive guide" for this music. For a digital or physical copy of Volumes 2 and 3 (Canary Classics CC21, released August 26), contact ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com. Volume 1 (Canary Classics CC19) is also available.

"Her playing is defined by expressive and varied phrasing, always convinced of where it's leading" — Classical Musical Sentinel

Orli Shaham, piano

Mozart Piano Sonatas Vol. 2 and 3

K.282 ● K.283 ● K.310 ● K.331 ● K. 332

K.545 ● K.576

Canary Classics CC21
Release date: August 26, 2022*

*Singles released on August 12 (Rondo All Turca: Allegretto from K.331)
and August 19 (Allegretto from K.576)

Volume 2 (Total Time = 61:11)
[01-03] Piano Sonata in A Minor, No. 9, K. 310
[04-06] Piano Sonata in F Major, No. 12, K. 332
[07-09] Piano Sonata in D Major, No. 18, K. 576

Volume 3 (Total Time = 69:34)
[01-03] Piano Sonata in C Major, "für Anfänger", No. 16, K. 545
[04-06] Piano Sonata in E-flat Major, No. 4, K. 282
[07-09] Piano Sonata in G Major, No. 5, K. 283
[10-12] Piano Sonata in A Major, "Alla turca", No. 11, K. 331

---

Hailed as “a first-rate Mozartean” by Chicago Tribune, Orli Shaham has established an international reputation as one of today's most gifted pianists.

Orli Shaham has performed with many of the major orchestras around the world, and has appeared in recital from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. She is Artistic Director of Pacific Symphony’s chamber series Café Ludwig in Costa Mesa, California and Artistic Director of the interactive children's concert series, Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard, which she founded in 2010.

In 2022, Ms. Shaham releases the second and third volumes of the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas. Her Mozart recording project also includes Volume 1 of the Piano Sonatas and her album of Piano Concertos with St. Louis Symphony, all of which are part of her discography of a over a dozen titles on Canary Classics, Deutsche Gramophone, Albany Records, SFS Media and more.

Orli Shaham is a Co-Host and Creative for the national radio program From the Top. She is on the piano and chamber music faculty at The Juilliard School and is chair of the board of trustees at Kaufman Music Center in New York. In 2022, Orli Shaham serves on the juries of both the Cliburn and Honens International Piano Competitions.

September: A "herculean feat" by Momenta Quartet (new dates)

Momenta Quartet presents:

Momenta Festival VII

New Dates!

September 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2022

Featuring: Mexican Independence Day Celebration, Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, world premiere by David Glaser, Brahms' Horn Trio, and more

Four unique programs curated by each quartet member; free admission

"[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

Momenta Quartet presents its annual festival September 15-18, 2022 (rescheduled from June 2022). All four concerts are at the Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th St. New York, NY) at 7:30 pm, and admission is free.

The seventh edition of 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 festival opens with a string quartet by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, paired with works by Americans Elizabeth Brown and Shawn Jaeger. On Mexican Independence Day (September 16), the quartet performs two string quartets by Julián Carrillo, as the group is in the midst of recording all of Carrillo's quartets for Naxos. Guest artists David Byrd-Marrow, horn and Nana Shi, piano join the quartet on September 17 for a whimsical work, In Memory of Perky Pat, and Brahms' monumental horn trio. The world premiere of David Glaser’s String Quartet No. 5, written for Momenta in memory of Mario Davidovsky, alongside Beethoven’s groundbreaking “Serioso” quartet, closes the festival.

"I continue to be surprised at the quality of programming each member of the quartet brings to the festival," says Momenta violist Stephanie Griffin. "We founded this festival in 2015 as an artistic outlet for each of our individual musical interests, and my colleagues have introduced so many new pieces and composers to audiences and myself across the seven years."

Admission to all concerts is free. Programs are subject to change.

---

Momenta Quartet's 2022 Momenta Festival

All concerts start at 7:30 pm (doors at 7 pm)
at the Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th St.) in Manhattan

Free admission, no tickets/reservations needed

SEPTEMBER 15: Distant Songs - curated by Michael Haas, cello

In the words of Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, “Music is, above all, a chant, a song the world sings about itself.” Momenta explores the influence of song and the human voice on this program featuring recent works by Silvestrov and American composers Elizabeth Brown and Shawn Jaeger.

Program:

Elizabeth Brown: Just Visible in the Distance (2013)

Valentin Silvestrov: String Quartet no. 3 (2011)

Shawn Jaeger: Thy Wondering Eyes (2010)

---

SEPTEMBER 16: A Mexican Independence Day Celebration - curated by Stephanie Griffin

Momenta continues its deep dive into the fascinating and under-explored world of historic Mexican composers. As part of the quartet’s ongoing project to make the world premiere recordings of Julián Carrillo’s complete string quartets for Naxos, Momenta will perform his String Quartet No. 5 (1937) and No. 11 (1962).

Julián Carrillo (1875 - 1965) was a Mexican composer, conductor and music theorist, who developed a theory of microtonal music which he called "The Thirteenth Sound" (Sonido 13).

Program:

Julián Carrillo: String Quartet No. 5

Julián Carrillo: String Quartet No. 11

---

SEPTEMBER 17: Horn Fifths - curated by Alex Shiozaki, violin

Guest artists: David Byrd-Marrow, horn and Nana Shi, piano

David Byrd-Marrow and Nana Shi join Momenta on this program exploring the horn and its harmonies. Having premiered Hirofumi Mogi’s In Memory of Perky Pat (2021) earlier this year, Momenta is reprising that whimsical piece for string quartet and french horn. Grażyna Bacewicz’s Piano Quintet No. 2 (1965) provides another take on harmony, replacing overtones with quintal harmonies in this angular and virtuosic quintet. To close the evening, we return to the comforting consonance of Johannes Brahms’s Horn Trio, taking us through a full range of emotions without leaning too much into the clash of dissonance.

Program:

Hirofumi Mogi: In Memory of Perky Pat (2021) for string quartet and horn

Johannes Brahms: Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 40 (1865)

Grażyna Bacewicz: Piano Quintet No. 2 (1965)

---

SEPTEMBER 18: Visionary Sounds - curated by Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin

Momenta presents the world premiere of David Glaser’s String Quartet No. 5 (2022), written for Momenta in memory of Mario Davidovsky, alongside Davidovsky’s intricate Synchronisms No. 9 (1988) for violin and recorded electronic sounds. This exploratory evening also includes Mexican microtonal trailblazer Julián Carrillo’s final String Quartet No. 11 (1962); and Beethoven’s groundbreaking “Serioso” quartet.

Program:

Stefan Wolpe: Twelve Pieces for String Quartet (1950)

Mario Davidovsky: Synchronisms No. 9 (1988) for violin and recorded electronic sounds

David Glaser: String Quartet No. 5, in memoriam Mario Davidovsky (2022)*

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in f minor, Op. 95 “Serioso” (1810)

*world premiere, written for Momenta

---

Momenta Quartet

Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin
Alex Shiozaki, violin
Stephanie Griffin, viola
Michael Haas, cello

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.

The Momenta Festival VII is made possible through the generous support of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, New Music USA, Chamber Music America, the Sparkplug Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The 2022 Momenta Festival is supported by The Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund and through the generosity of many individual donors.‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Violist Wenting Kang's "Mosaic"

Award-winning violist Wenting Kang releases "Mosaic" on Blue Griffin Records with pianist Sergei Kvitko

New album of works by Debussy, Fauré, Albéniz, de Falla, and more

Album highlights era of cultural exchange between Spanish & French composers

"What makes Mosaic so deserving of recommendation? ... Pacing, pitch, dynamics, intonation, vibrato—all are handled with extreme sensitivity and circumspection, the result a riveting treatment custom-designed to invite repeat visits." — Textura

Violist Wenting Kang, winner of the First Prize of the Tokyo International Viola Competition, has been praised as an "excellent violist" who “possesses a dark glowing sound” (New York Times). Her debut album Mosaic, on Blue Griffin Records (BGR609), is a collection of diverse and colorful pieces from France and Spain.

Featuring works by Albéniz, Casals, de Falla, Fauré, Akira Nishimura, Ravel, and Francisco Tárrega, the collection celebrates an era of a century ago in which Spanish and French composers frequently collaborated.

"These composers not only had a strong impact on each other´s work, but they were also very connected in their personal lives," Ms. Kang says. "Some of them were professor and student, such as Fauré and Ravel. Others were close friends and colleagues, such as Fauré and Albéniz, Ravel and Falla, Tárrega and Casals and de Falla, and on and on."

When choosing repertoire for the album, Ms. Kang considered scores that had been arranged for violin or cello, which also worked very well on viola, including Pablo Casals' arrangement of "Après un rêve" by Fauré, and Jascha Heifetz´s transcription of the Debussy’s song “Beau Soir." Nearly all of the music on Mosaic was adapted by Kang for viola.

Ms. Kang’s partner on this recording is Sergei Kvitko, critically acclaimed pianist and internationally sought-after producer and sound engineer, who wears all of these hats on this production. The CD was recorded in 2021 at the state-of-the art Estudio Uno in Madrid, Spain.

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

"a mosaic of musical jewels" — Melómano Magazine (Gold Medal review)

Mosaic

Wenting Kang, viola
Sergei Kvitko, piano

Blue Griffin Records (BGR609)

Track List

Claude Debussy
[01] Beau Soir (Transcr. J. Heifetz)
[02] Première Rhapsodie

Francisco Tárrega
[03] Recuerdo de la Alhambra (Transcr. R. Ricci)

Maurice Ravel
[04] Pavane pour une infante défunte (Transcr. V. Borisovsky)
[05] Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera

Gabriel Fauré
[06] Élégie in C minor, Op. 24
[07] Papillon, Op. 77
[08] Berceuse, Op. 16 (Transcr. T. Butorac)
[09] Après un rêve, Op. 7, No. 1 (Transcr. P. Casals)

Isaac Albéniz
[10] Tango in D Major, Op. 165 No. 2 (Transcr. M. Rummel)

Akira Nishimura
[11] Fantasia on Song of the Birds

Pablo Casals
[12] El Cant dels Ocells-Song of the Birds

Manuel de Falla
Siete canciones populares españolas (Transcr. E. Colon)
[13] El Paño Moruno
[14] Seguidilla Murciana
[15] Asturiana
[16] Jota
[17] Nana
[18] Canción
[19] Polo

Total time = 70:52

Biographies

Chinese-born violist Wenting Kang is praised for her “dark glowing sound” by The New York Times. She is an active performer with orchestras and in recital halls across Europe and in the US, China and Japan. She is the principal violist of Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid at the Royal Theatre of Spain and founding member and principal violist of Madrid Soloists Chamber Orchestra. A sought-after chamber musician, she has been a member of Dalia String Quartet and Imai Viola Quartet.

Kang won the top prize in the Tokyo International Viola Competition, and earned awards at the Johannes Brahms International Competition and the Primrose International Viola Competition. She studied at Central Conservatory in Beijing, the New England Conservatory in Boston, and at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, under the guidance of Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, Garth Knox, Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, and Changhai Wang.

---

Sergei Kvitko’s career follows simultaneous paths as pianist, composer/arranger, and recording engineer, producer and owner of the Blue Griffin Recording label. As a pianist, he has earned critical acclaim for his "natural, appealing musicality and sensual understanding of piano tone” (The Chronicle-Herald). Active as a recitalist and soloist, Mr. Kvitko continues to perform across the United States, Europe and Asia.

Kvitko’s decades-long reputation as an internationally sought-after classical recording engineer and producer was recognized with a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Album. Sergei Kvitko was born in Russia and began studying music at the age of six. His formal studies culminated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan State University, where he studied with Ralph Votapek.

Have you heard the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning composition?

Pulitzer Prize-winning composition "Voiceless Mass" by Raven Chacon commissioned by Present Music

Wisconsin-based contemporary ensemble celebrates with release of the video of the world premiere performance

"a mesmerizing, original work for organ and ensemble that evokes the weight of history in a church setting, a concentrated and powerful musical expression with a haunting visceral impact." — Citation from Pulitzer Prize Committee

Present Music, a contemporary music ensemble in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, congratulates the composer Raven Chacon on winning the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Present Music, along with the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ and Plymouth Church UCC, commissioned the winning work in 2021 for their long-running concert series, now in its 40th season. "Voiceless Mass" was written specifically for the Nichols & Simpson organ and its space at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee. Present Music performed the world premiere on their annual Thanksgiving Concert; a video of that performance is below.

“Voiceless Mass” is scored for organ, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, two percussionists, strings and sine tones. Raven Chacon writes:

This work considers the spaces in which we gather, the history of access of these spaces, and the land upon which these buildings sit. Though ‘mass’ is referenced in the title, the piece contains no audible singing voices, instead using the openness of the large space to intone the constricted intervals of the wind and string instruments. In exploiting the architecture of the cathedral, Voiceless Mass considers the futility of giving voice to the voiceless, when ceding space is never an option for those in power.

About Present Music

Since its founding in Milwaukee in 1982, Present Music’s mission has been to commission and perform new concert music, bringing over 80 new works to life. Audiences “can almost always expect Present Music to bring on the unexpected” (The Shepherd Express) with programming that introduces innovative concert formats, embraces a broad diversity of repertoire, and makes the music of our time accessible to audiences with deep expression and serious fun.

The Present Music ensemble ranges from a core group of seven musicians to an ensemble of twenty or more. The group has worked closely with many of the nation's top composers, including John Adams, Henry Brant, David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Ingram Marshall, Missy Mazzoli, Bright Sheng, Roberto Sierra, and Michael Torke; and has a long and impressive track record for identifying outstanding talent early in the artists’ careers. Present Music is the winner of an impressive six ASCAP/Chamber Music America’s Adventurous Programming Award. Their discography includes world premiere recordings on the Argo, Albany, Aoede, Northeastern, Naxos, and Innova labels.

The group is led by Co-Artistic Directors violinist/composer Eric Segnitz and conductor David Bloom. Present Music was founded by conductor Kevin Stalheim, who was Artistic Director for the first 37 years of the ensemble’s existence until 2019.

About Raven Chacon

Raven Chacon is a composer, performer and installation artist from Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation. As a solo artist, collaborator, or with Postcommodity, Chacon has exhibited or performed at Whitney Biennial, documenta 14, REDCAT, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Borealis Festival, San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, Chaco Canyon, Ende Tymes Festival, 18th Biennale of Sydney, and The Kennedy Center. Every year, he teaches 20 students to write string quartets for the Native American Composer Apprenticeship Project (NACAP). He is the recipient of the United States Artists fellowship in Music, The Creative Capital award in Visual Arts, The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation artist fellowship, the American Academy’s Berlin Prize for Music Composition, and the Pew Fellowship. He lives in Albuquerque, NM.

July in NYC and Newport: Pianist Inna Faliks in recital

Ukrainian-American Pianist Inna Faliks in recital at Brooklyn's Bargemusic July 3 & Newport Classical Music Festival July 7

Programs feature works by Clara Schumann, Ravel, and more

This July, the Ukrainian-American Pianist Inna Faliks brings the high romance of Clara Schumann's Piano Sonata in G minor and the colorful impressionism of Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit to two recital programs on the East Coast.

The pianist returns to Brooklyn's floating concert hall for Bargemusic (Brooklyn, NY) on July 3, 2022 at 4 pm. Pairing the Schumann with Ravel, the program marks Ms. Faliks' only NYC appearance this Summer.

This season, Ms. Faliks has performed the works works in recitals across the country. In her only New York appearance this summer, she brings the two pianistic masterpieces together on this compelling program.

On July 7 at 7:30 pm she performs the same repertoire at Newport Classical Music Festival, adding music by Timo Andres, Paola Prestini, and Billy Childs that she commissioned and recorded on her highly acclaimed album "Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel".

Ms. Faliks recorded Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit on her debut album "Sound of Verse" (2009), and her performance of Clara Schumann's G minor Sonata is on her 2021 album "The Schumann Project, Vol. 1".

Calendar Listing

Masterworks Series: Clara Schumann & Ravel

July 3, 2022 at 4 pm

Bargemusic
1 Water St.
Brooklyn, NY

Tickets and details available here

PROGRAM

Clara Schumann: Piano Sonata in G minor
Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit

---

Newport Classical Music Festival
July 7, 2022 at 7:30 pm

Castle Hill Inn
590 Ocean Ave.
Newport, RI

Tickets and details available here

PROGRAM

Clara Schumann: Piano Sonata in G minor
Maurice Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
Paola Prestini: Variations on a Spell
Timo Andres: Old Ground
Billy Childs: Pursuit

---

“Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages in recital and with many major orchestras, performing with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Keith Lockhart and many others.

Ms. Faliks collaborates with and premieres music by some of today’s most significant composers, including Billy Childs, Richard Danielpour, Timo Andres and Clarice Assad. She is known for her poetry-music series Music/Words, and has worked with a number of prominent poets. She regularly tours her monologue-recital Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist, which tells the story of her immigration to the United States from Odessa (recorded on Delos). Besides Reimagine, her discography includes all-Beethoven and Rachmaninoff/Ravel/Pasternak discs for MSR Classics, and the Master and Margarita project, featuring three world premieres on Sono Luminus.

In addition to her other impressive accomplishments, Faliks is a respected educator and is head of Piano Studies at UCLA. She is also a published writer, with articles and essays appearing in Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, among other media outlets. Her musical memoir, “Weight in the Fingertips,” will be out in 2023, published by Globe Pequot. Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist.

June 22: Pianist Inna Faliks at The Wallis and beyond

June 22: Ukrainian-American Pianist Inna Faliks performs works by Billy Childs, Timo Andres, Paola Prestini and more at The Wallis

Program features first live performance of critically acclaimed album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel in its entirety

Plus, July 3 recital in Brooklyn and performances in Flagstaff and Madison

A long-awaited recital, the Ukrainian-American pianist Inna Faliks comes to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on June 22, 2022 at 7:30 pm to perform her internationally acclaimed album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel in full for the first time.

The program features the live premieres of nine imaginative and rich new works for the piano commissioned by Ms. Faliks, alongside masterpieces by Beethoven and Ravel. Nine contemporary composers, including Paola Prestini, Billy Childs, Timo Andres, and six on UCLA's faculty - Richard Danielpour, Peter Golub, Ian Krouse, David Lefkowitz, Mark Carlson and Tamir Hendelman - were commissioned to craft responses to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Bagatelles, op. 126 and Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit.

When Ms. Faliks asked Billy Childs to reimagine Ravel’s “Scarbo” (from Gaspard de la Nuit), he latched on to the image of Scarbo as an evil goblin. “It turned into - in my mind - a sadly familiar American storyline, in which a Black man is being pursued,” said Childs. His composition “Pursuit” brings out the urgency of the moment, simultaneously crafting a new work as fiendishly difficult to play as Ravel’s notorious finger-buster.

In this homage to Beethoven and Ravel, the Ukrainian-born American pianist ties together three centuries of music and a range of social commentary and interpretations with her acclaimed artistry and impressive technique. The entire program is featured on her widely critically acclaimed album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel (Navona NV6352; release date June 11, 2021), which features the world premiere recordings of the commissioned works.

Tickets for the June 22 concert at The Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center (9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd.) in Beverly Hills, CA are available at TheWallis.org.

In addition to the June 22 recital at The Wallis, Pianist Inna Faliks can be found across the country this Summer:

• June 11 & 12 at Bach Dancing and Dynamite Festival (Madison, WI): Inna Faliks performs chamber music by Roberto Pena, Brahms, Mozart, and Beethoven alongside solo selections from her album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel.

• June 19 at Flagstaff Piano Festival (Flagstaff, AZ): Ms. Faliks performs a solo piano recital.

• July 3 at Barge Music (Brooklyn, NY): Ms. Faliks returns to Brooklyn's floating music hall to perform Clara Schumann's passionate and rarely heard G minor Piano Sonata and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.

Calendar Listing

Pianist Inna Faliks
Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel
June 22, 2022 at 7:30 pm

The Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA
Tickets available here

PROGRAM

Peter Golub: Bagatelle
Ludwig van Beethoven: Bagatelles opus 126: Andante con moto, Cantabile e compiacevole
Tamir Hendelman: Bagatelle
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 2, Allegro
Richard Danielpour: Bagatelle
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 3. Andante, Cantabile e grazioso
Ian Krouse: Etude 2a - ‘ad fugam’
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 4, Presto
Mark Carlson: Sweet Nothings
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 5. Quasi allegretto
David Lefkowitz: Bagatelle
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 6. Presto, cut time then Andante amabile e con moto

Pause

Paola Prestini: Variations on a Spell (response to Ondine by Ravel)
Timo Andres: Old Ground (response to Le Gibet by Ravel)
Billy Childs: Pursuit (response to Scarbo by Ravel)
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit Maurice Ravel

“Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages in recital and with many major orchestras, performing with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Keith Lockhart and many others.

Ms. Faliks collaborates with and premieres music by some of today’s most significant composers, including Billy Childs, Richard Danielpour, Timo Andres and Clarice Assad. She is known for her poetry-music series Music/Words, and has worked with a number of prominent poets. She regularly tours her monologue-recital Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist, which tells the story of her immigration to the United States from Odessa (recorded on Delos). Besides Reimagine, her discography includes all-Beethoven and Rachmaninoff/Ravel/Pasternak discs for MSR Classics, and the Master and Margarita project, featuring three world premieres on Sono Luminus.

In addition to her other impressive accomplishments, Faliks is a respected educator and is head of Piano Studies at UCLA. She is also a published writer, with articles and essays appearing in Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, among other media outlets. Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist.

Insider Interview with Momenta Quartet

Momenta Quartet presents its annual Momenta Festival June 14-17, 2022. All four concerts will be at the Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th St. New York, NY), and admission is free.The seventh edition of the festival features four diverse chamber music programs each curated by a different member of the quartet. In this insider interview, we spoke with each member of the quartet about their unique programs.

Note: Moments Festival VII has been re-scheduled for September 15-18, 2022. The section about the June 17th program (which happened as scheduled) is below. For info on the forthcoming programs click here.

---

Momenta Festival VII closes out on June 17 with a “Juneteenth Celebration” curated by violist Stephanie Griffin. Her program includes a world premiere by Jazz bassist and compsoer HIlliard Greene, alongside works by Alvin Singleton (whose complete string quartets were just recorded by Momenta) and Yusef Lateef.

Momenta Quartet just released a recording of Singleton’s complete String Quartets. What compositional style through-lines do you see in these works, and what makes them stand apart?  

It was quite a journey to learn, perform and eventually record all four string quartets by the esteemed African American composer Alvin Singleton. Delving into his complete works (so far!) for this medium gave us all deeper insights into the development of his musical language.  

Interestingly, the last quartet we learned was his first, which he composed in 1967, which we are featuring on our Momenta Festival Juneteenth celebration concert on June 17th. Cast as a Passacaglia and Fugue, it is the most “traditional” of the four pieces on its surface. It opens with a lyrical cello solo in a somewhat expressionist vein. The viola joins – followed by second and first violins, engendering soulful free atonal counterpoint. Variations ensue – building up to the whirlwind of activity, which will be the fugue. I introduce the fugue subject on the viola – and what a subject it is! It is unusually long for a fugue subject and it abounds in jagged rhythms and wild turns of phrase. Not your mother’s fugue – or maybe it is – depending on who your mother is! This quartet seems so different from the other three, but if you isolate the solo lines, Alvin’s distinctive melodic style is already apparent.  

I think the main way in which he changed stylistically between this first quartet and the other three was adopting his own distinctive brand of “minimalism.” I hesitate to even use that word, since it has the connotations of Philip Glass and Steve Reich – or even Feldman, on the other side of the minimalist spectrum. Getting past those conceptions of what “minimalism” is – I think it applies to Alvin’s music in his use of repetition, large-scale sections of rhythmic and even pitch unisons (especially apparent in String Quartet no. 4 “Hallelujah Anyhow”) and his signature use of silence.  

You will not hear this in String Quartet no. 1, but a hallmark of Alvin’s compositional style is the way he juxtaposes wildly different sections with long silences in between. It’s as if, after String Quartet no. 1, he replaced the traditional idea of “development” with an almost Zen-like approach of letting the listener experience sections of music with wildly different expressions and giving them the silences in between to draw their own connections. 

One of the quartets was written for Momenta. How does this work stand out, and is there any particular traits the group has that the composer incorporated into the work?  

String Quartet no. 4 “Hallelujah Anyhow” was commissioned for Momenta by Chamber Music America, and we had the joy of premiering it on our last in-person Momenta Festival before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019.  

It stands out in its bold and uncompromising use of unisons. Like his string quartets Nos. 2 and 3, it shows Alvin using his signature technique of juxtaposing contrasting sections with dramatic silences in between. But while those pieces have extended sections in rhythmic unison, “Hallelujah Anyhow” starts with a long and arresting passage with all four of us in pitch and rhythmic unison – and that material keeps recurring throughout the piece. It’s brash, bright and rhythmic. To me it evokes the feeling of a big band at times. The unisons are broken up by glimmers of slow, dark harmonies, which will later take more prominence in the piece.  

One would have to ask Alvin himself (but he probably won’t tell you!) if he factored in the personality of Momenta itself in this commission. If I may blow Momenta’s horn for a moment, though, I think this kind of writing shows that, based on his extensive experience with us in our performances of his second and third quartets, he knew he could trust us to be able to play this! It is no small feat to pull off a performance with all the pitch unisons and jagged rhythms. Out of all of his pieces, this was by far the most challenging in the recording session. (Alvin Singleton: Four String Quartets available for purchase here)  

How did you get to know Alvin Singleton and what attracts you to his music?  

We first met Alvin Singleton when Tom Buckner invited us to play his second and third quartets on Alvin’s 75th birthday concert on the Interpretations series at Roulette. On that same concert I played his solo viola piece “Argoru” and his graphic score piece “Be Natural” (1974), which I will be playing with Michael and guest bassist Hilliard Greene on the June 17th Momenta Festival program.  

We immediately loved Alvin both as a human being and a composer. Many things attract me to his music  - above all its freshness, originality and sense of spontaneity. As an improviser myself, I feel a kinship between Alvin’s aesthetic and the world of avant-garde jazz. And it turns out that Alvin is not directly trying to mimic jazz in any way, but he had tried his hand at it on the piano many years ago and has deep friendships with some of today’s leading figures in avant-garde jazz, including Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Threadgill. We will honor that by including the great jazz bassist Hilliard Greene in our interpretation of “Be Natural.” 

June: A "herculean feat" by Momenta Quartet

Momenta Quartet presents:

Momenta Festival VII

June 14, 15, 16, & 17, 2022

Four concerts each curated by a different quartet member

"[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

Momenta Quartet presents its annual Momenta Festival June 14-17, 2022. All four concerts will be at the Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th St. New York, NY), and admission is free.

The seventh edition of 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 festival opens with the world premiere of David Glaser’s String Quartet No. 5, written for Momenta in memory of Mario Davidovsky, alongside Beethoven’s groundbreaking “Serioso” quartet. Guest artists David Byrd-Marrow, horn and Nana Shi, piano join the quartet on June 15 for a whimsical work, In Memory of Perky Pat, and Brahms' monumental horn trio. A string quartet by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov is featured on June 16, paired with works by Americans Elizabeth Brown and Shawn Jaeger. A world premiere by Hilliard Greene highlights the final evening of the festival, celebrating Juneteenth and the release of Momenta Quartet's album of works by Alvin Singleton.

"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. Programs are subject to change.

---

Momenta Quartet's 2022 Momenta Festival

All concerts start at 7:30 pm (doors at 7 pm)
at the Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th St.) in Manhattan

Free admission, no tickets/reservations needed

---

JUNE 14: Visionary Sounds - curated by Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin

Momenta presents the world premiere of David Glaser’s String Quartet No. 5 (2022), written for Momenta in memory of Mario Davidovsky, alongside Davidovsky’s intricate Synchronisms No. 9 (1988) for violin and recorded electronic sounds. This exploratory evening also includes the late great Ursula Mamlok’s elegant “Two Bagatelles” (1961), rediscovered toward the end of the composer’s life in a hidden sketchbook; Mexican microtonal trailblazer Julián Carrillo’s final String Quartet No. 13 (1964); and Beethoven’s groundbreaking “Serioso” quartet.

Program:

Ursula Mamlok: Two Bagatelles (1961) for string quartet

Mario Davidovsky: Synchronisms No. 9 (1988) for violin and recorded electronic sounds

David Glaser: String Quartet No. 5, in memoriam Mario Davidovsky (2022)*

Julián Carrillo: String Quartet No. 13 (1964)

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in f minor, Op. 95 “Serioso” (1810)

*world premiere, written for Momenta

---

JUNE 15: Horn Fifths - curated by Alex Shiozaki, violin

Guest artists: David Byrd-Marrow, horn and Nana Shi, piano

David Byrd-Marrow and Nana Shi join Momenta on this program exploring the horn and its harmonies. Having premiered Hirofumi Mogi’s In Memory of Perky Pat (2021) earlier this year, Momenta is reprising that whimsical piece for string quartet and french horn. With his Horn Trio, Johannes Brahms creates a sound world filled with overtones and consonance, and Grażyna Bacewicz turns that world upside down with quintal harmonies in the angular Piano Quintet No. 2 (1965).

Program:

Hirofumi Mogi: In Memory of Perky Pat (2021) for string quartet and horn

Johannes Brahms: Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 40 (1865)

Grażyna Bacewicz: Piano Quintet No. 2 (1965)

---

JUNE 16: Distant Songs - curated by Michael Haas, cello

In the words of Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, “Music is, above all, a chant, a song the world sings about itself.” Momenta explores the influence of song and the human voice on this program featuring recent works by Silvestrov and American composers Elizabeth Brown and Shawn Jaeger.

Program:

Elizabeth Brown: Just Visible in the Distance (2013)

Valentin Silvestrov: String Quartet no. 3 (2011)

Shawn Jaeger: Thy Wondering Eyes (2010)

---

JUNE 17: A Juneteenth Celebration! - curated by Stephanie Griffin, viola

Guest artist: bassist/composer Hilliard Green

Momenta celebrates the release of its CD “Alvin Singleton: Four String Quartets” on New World Records with a performance of his String Quartet no. 1 (1967) and Be Natural (1974), alongside Yusef Lateef’s String Quartet no. 3 and a world premiere for bass and string quartet by jazz bassist Hilliard Greene

Program:

Yusef Lateef: String Quartet no. 3

Alvin Singleton: Be Natural

Hilliard Greene: New work for bass and string quartet*

Alvin Singleton: String Quartet no. 1

*world premiere, written for Momenta

Momenta Quartet

Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin
Alex Shiozaki, violin
Stephanie Griffin, viola
Michael Haas, cello

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.

The Momenta Quartet’s 2021-2022 season is made possible through the generous support of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, New Music USA, Chamber Music America, the Sparkplug Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The 2022 Momenta Festival is supported by The Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund and through the generosity of many individual donors.

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 3: Florence Price piano works from Josh Tatsuo Cullen

New! Pianist Josh Tatsuo Cullen performs music by Florence Price 

“Scenes in Tin Can Alley” released
June 3, 2022 on Blue Griffin Records

“Cullen performed with an astounding mixture of coolness and intensity… with an unfailing sense of rhythm and drive” — Stuttgarter Zeitung

The music of Florence Price (1887 – 1953) is enjoying a renaissance. The 2009 discovery of a trove of manuscripts in the African-American composer’s abandoned summer home generated a lot of excitement and renewed interest in her life and work. The pianist Josh Tatsuo Cullen has recorded an entire album of her evocatively-titled music for solo piano, all specifically from that 2009 discovery. "Scenes in Tin Can Alley: Piano Music of Florence Price" (Blue Griffin BGR615) is released on June 3, 2022. The album includes the first commercial recording of several of these compositions, including Scenes in Tin Can Alley, Thumbnail Sketches of a Day in the Life of a Washerwoman, Village Scenes, and Cotton Dance.

In the liner notes, Cullen writes: 

I chose these works not only because they deserve to be heard, but because they spoke to me as an artist. As a person of mixed Japanese and European descent, I feel a strong connection to Price’s desire to honor and elevate the marginalized people of her own mixed-race heritage personified in Scenes in Tin Can Alley, Thumbnail Sketches of a Day in the Life of a Washerwoman, and Three Miniature Portraits of Uncle Ned.

The composer Florence Price (1887–1953) is the first African-American woman to have an orchestral piece played by a major American orchestra: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her Symphony in E Minor in 1933. Born in Little Rock, Ark., and educated at the New England Conservatory, her career blossomed after she moved to Chicago in 1927. Her music received widespread recognition beginning in the 1930s. Price wrote over 300 works, and her arrangements of spirituals were often performed by Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price and other singers.

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

Scenes in Tin Can Alley

Piano Music of Florence Price

Blue Griffin Records (BGR615)
Release Date: June 3, 2022

Tracks

Scenes in a Tin Can Alley (1928)
[01] The Huckster   1:44
[02] Children at Play   3:06
[03] Night   6:23

Thumbnail Sketches of a Day in the Life of a Washerwoman (1938-1942)
[04] Morning   1:24
[05] Dreaming at the Washtub   1:52
[06] A Gay Moment   0:37
[07] Evening Shadows   2:21

[08] Clouds (circa 1940’s) 5:47

 Village Scenes (1942)
[09] Church Spires in Moonlight  5:34
[10] A Shaded Lane  2:14
[11] The Park  1:47 

Preludes (1926-1932)
[12] No. 1 Allegro moderato  1:49
[13] No. 2 Andantino cantabile 2:33
[14] No. 3 Allegro molto   1:08
[15] No. 4 Wistful. Allegretto con tenerezza 2:58
[16] No. 5 Allegro 1:40         

Cotton Dance (circa 1940’s)
[17] Presto 3:16

Three Miniature Portraits of Uncle Ned (1932-1941)
[18] At Age 17   1:03
[19] At Age 27   1:16
[20] At Age 70   1:51 

Total time: 50:35

About the Artist

The pianist Josh Tatsuo Cullen is acclaimed for his “astounding mixture of coolness and intensity” (Stuttgarter Zeitung) and has been praised for his “delicious” collaboration by The New York Times. He has performed as solo and collaborative pianist at venues throughout the world.

His recordings include Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos in E-flat major with his mentor, Paul Badura-Skoda, all with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra led by Paul Freeman. At age nine he performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488 with the Moscow Philharmonic at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, recording the work in studio the same week.

Cullen holds a master’s degree in piano from The Juilliard School, and a master’s degree in collaborative piano from New York University. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan at age 16.

Born in Hawaii and raised outside of Detroit, Josh Cullen proudly served in the United States Army for over a decade as an interpreter and interrogator.

Violinist Sarah Plum in concert and live-streamed, May 29

Violinist Sarah Plum performs at Constellation in Chicago

May 29 concert will be live-streamed worldwide

"I can't think of a better flag bearer than Sarah Plum who is quite brilliant" — The Whole Note

The ever-adventurous violinist Sarah Plum has long been a champion of contemporary music. Her May 29 recital at Constellation in Chicago celebrates the forthcoming release of her new recording, Personal Noise (Blue Griffin Records, released June 2022).

The concert is streamed worldwide on Youtube and Facebook at 9:30 pm EDT (8:30 pm CDT), for a suggested admission of $5. Tickets to view the live-stream, or to attend in person, are available here.

The program focuses on music for violin and electronics, most of which was written especially for Ms. Plum, including works by Kyong Mee Choi, Osnat Netzer, Mari Kimura, Mari Takano, Charles Nichols, and Jeff Herriott. The highlight of the program is the world premiere of the deeds by the multi-media sound artist Laurie Schwartz. The work is for video (taken from Suffragette), spoken word sound files and improvised processed violin. Violinist Charlene Kluegel joins Ms. Plum for Mari Kimura's Sarahal.

Calendar Listing

May 29, 2022
at 8:30 pm CDT (9:30 pm EDT)

Sarah Plum, violin and viola
with Charlene Kluegel, violin and Laurie Schwartz, electronics

Constellation
3111 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL

PROGRAM

Osnat Netzer (arr. Sarah Plum): Olive Cotton for solo viola
Charles Nichols: Il Prete Rosso for violin, live electronics, and motion sensor
Jeff Herriott: after time, a resolution for violin and live electronics
Mari Takano: Full Moon
Laurie Schwartz: the deeds
Kyong Mee Choi: Flowering Dandelion
Mari Kimura: Sarahal

$15 (and $5 live-stream) tickets available here

Biography

The "adventurous indie violinist" (New York Music Daily) Sarah Plum’s career centers around championing new music, commissioning composers and bringing contemporary music to a wider audience. Her "consistently stunning” playing (Third Coast Digest) has been featured at festivals and venues worldwide, from Ankunft:Neue Musik Festival at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof to the Cube at Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, and many in between.

Plum’s discography includes her 2022 release, Personal Noise, an album of works for violin and electronics written for her by Kyong Mee Choi, Eric Lyon, Jeff Herriot, Charles Nichols, Mari Takano, Eric Moe and Mari Kimura. Album releases in 2011 and 2015 feature music by Bartok, Sidney Corbett and Christopher Adler.

Sarah Plum is on the faculty at both the Music Institute of Chicago and their elite Academy program and teaches at the Zodiac Music Academy and Festival and University of Oklahoma Summer String Academy. She was Professor of Violin and Viola at Drake University from 2007-2018. Plum earned a DMA at SUNY Stony Brook, after graduate and undergraduate studies at Juilliard.

‌