Interpretations Presents

Thursday, February 25, 2010

8PM at Roulette

20 Greene Street (between Canal and Grand)

“A barrage of layered narrative strands and fragments”

- Steve Smith, The New York Times

For more than 40 years baritone Thomas Buckner has dedicated himself to the world of new and improvised music. On February 25 he presents an evening of new works representing longstanding collaborations, including Earl Howard’s Frond, for baritone, violin, bass saxophone, and live electronics, Bun Ching Lam’s Trois Cadeaux, for baritone, harp, and piano, and Matthias Kaul’s Zappa-esque The Mellow Quark. Eckart Beinke’s Time stands… Wildharrend / Jahrtausende, for Buckner along with the German ensemble L’Art Pour L’Art and tape accompaniment, uses historic textual and musical quotations, from Friedrich Hölderlin and John Dowland up to contemporary daily press and other sounds.

The evening’s performers include the French harpist Isabelle Courret, the German ensemble L’Art Pour L’Art, violinist Mari Kimura violin, bass saxophonist JD Parran, and Earl Howard (providing live electronic processing and electroacoustic sound). The evening will end with the performers taking part in a group improvisation.

General admission: $15
$10 students, seniors, Harvestworks & DTW members
Free for Roulette and Location One members
For reservations, call (212) 219-8242.

The Chamber Orchestra of New York, Salvatore Di Vittorio, Music Director will present its 2010 season opening concert on Saturday, February 13 – 8:00 PM at Church of St. Jean Baptiste, Lexington Avenue at 76^th Street in Manhattan.

Repertoire will be Rossini-Respighi, Rossiniana Suite, the World Premieres of the Respighi-Di Vittorio Concerto for Violin, Salvatore Di Vittorio’s (after Respighi) Overtura Respighiana and the U.S. Premiere of his Sinfonia No. 2 (Revised 2000). Guest soloist for the Respighi concerto will be violinist Laura Marzadori.

This opening concert of the Chamber Orchestra of New York’s third season has been created in collaboration with the Pizzoli family (great nieces and heirs of Ottorino Respighi) and Potito Pedarra (Respighi archive curator). After meetings in 2007, Mr. Pedarra entrusted Maestro Di Vittorio with copies of unpublished Respighi manuscripts, in anticipation of their possible public premieres.

After acknowledging Di Vittorio’s inherent musical connection with Respighi, Mr. Pedarra (in agreement with the Pizzolis) invited the Maestro to complete Respighi’s first (unfinished) Concerto for Violin, which was originally composed in 1903 and pre-dates his other three published works. This will be the World Premiere of the completed work.

Tickets for the February 13 concert are $35 and $25 for seniors and students and can be ordered by calling 866-468-7619 or online through TicketWeb at http://www.ticketweb.com/. For more information, please visit http://www.chamberorchestraofnewyork.org/ or Church of St. Jean Baptiste online at http://www.sjbrcc.net/.

Featuring Artists from the Cantaloupe Label: So Percussion, Burkina Electric, Evan Ziporyn and Michael Harrison and a new commission from Virtuoso Steel Pan composer/performer Andy Akiho. Plus the Playground playing the music of Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Conhrad Kene.  Details here.

Past Guest Artistic Director, National Gallery of Art’s Sixty-Fourth American Music Festival, 2009

A performance by New York City-based Threefifty Duo (Brett Parnell, guitar and Geremy Schulick, guitar) will kick off the inaugural season of Music at First on February 19th, 2010 at 7:30pm. Music at First is a new music series to be held at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn from February through May of 2010. First Presbyterian Church is located in Brooklyn Heights at 124 Henry St. There is a $10 suggested donation which will be collected at the door. There will be no advance reservations or ticket sales. For more information, please contact musicatfirst@gmail.com.

This series, curated by Wil Smith (New York composer who also serves as organist at First Presbyterian), occurs monthly, featuring one performer or ensemble per evening. Each concert will last about an hour and half each. Smith describes the new series, Music at First, as “a diverse mix of New York City’s best new music ensembles and performers, accessible to a wide audience of both community members and seasoned new music listeners.” Future performances include pianist Kathleen Supové on March 26, cellist/vocalist Jody Redhage and Fire in July on April 16 and a CD release with flute/percussionist duo Conor Nelson and Ayano Kataoka on May 28.

Threefifty Duo has been described as a “classical guitar duo with a rock edge,” as musicians Brett Parnell and Geremy Schulick seamlessly weave their contemporary rock sensibilities into the rich fabric of classical guitar. After years of writing and performing together and with a second album under Threefifty’s belt, the duo’s stylistic tendencies have expanded beyond their initial categorization, with genre blurred by an intensely personal sound.

Formed in the halls of The Yale School of Music, taught by renowned classical guitarist Benjamin Verdery, and molded by the multi-faceted music scene of their hometown New York City, Threefifty has gone on to play in many respected venues and festivals, such as The 92nd Street Y, Southpaw, Pianos, The NY Guitar Festival, The Monkey, Bennington College, Connecticut Guitar Society, and a recent run of shows at California State University at Long Beach where choreography was set to their music. In December 2008 Threefifty Duo set off for Bosnia and Herzegovina where they played a nationally televised concert organized by The America-Bosnia Cultural Foundation in Sarajevo, with a member of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in attendance.

Threefifty Duo’s music features driving rhythms and harmonies that stem from rock and pop music, combined with the intricate textures that are possible on the classical guitar.

DIRECTIONS TO FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BROOKLYN:

BY SUBWAY: Take the #2 or #3 to Clark Street Station, the A or C to the High Street Station, the M, N, or R to the Court Street Station, or the 4 or 5 to Borough Hall

BY CAR: From Manhattan: Take the Brooklyn Bridge to the first exit on the Brooklyn side (Cadman Plaza West). Stay left as the exit splits. Go through one light and take a left at the next intersection onto Henry St. The Church is just past Clark St. on the right.

From the Brooklyn Queens Expressway: Take the Cadman Plaza West Exit, turn East onto Cadman Plaza West, then South onto Henry St. Continue on Henry to 124.

Judith Lang Zaimont’s Zones (Piano Trio No. 2) and the World Premiere of the duo version of her Serenade will be presented by the Appassionato Trio and the composer on Friday, February 12 – 7:30 PM in Roberts Recital Hall of the University of Alabama, 301 Sparkman Drive in Huntsville, Alabama. This performance is part of Zones, a unique 4-day (February 10-13) interdisciplinary symposium assembled by Dr. D. Royce Boyer, Faculty Emeritus. It features UAHuntsville Liberal Arts faculty and staff, who will give presentations, proposals, and performances that explore the concept of zones in their respective disciplines of music, sociology, literature and philosophy. Read about the Conference at https://chargerpost.uah.edu/pages/events.php?id=80.

Zones (Piano Trio No. 2), composed in three movements (Cold, Warm and Temperate), was commissioned in 1993 to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of UAHuntsville. It has since been performed at Manhattan School of Music, Network for New Music in Philadelphia, at the University of Minnesota, and many other venues, most recently in Switzerland by the Norea Trio.

Other works on the program are Ravel’s Piano Trio in a minor and the World Premiere of the duo version of Ms. Zaimont’s Serenade, with the composer on the piano, joined by violinist Marta Szlubowska. The composer will introduce the concert at 7:00 PM that evening.

The Trio Appassionato consists of violinist Marta Szlubowska, cellist Alexander Russakovsky and pianist Lynn Raley.

Tickets for the February 12 concert are $10, with students admitted free of charge. For more concert information, call 256-824-6436 or visit http://www.uah.edu/.

More information about Ms. Zaimont, including sound clips of many of her compositions, is available at her website http://www.jzaimont.com/ and at http://www.myspace.com/judithlangzaimont.

Music of the Spheres Society
“Sound Travels Through Vienna”
Friday, February 26, 2010 at 8:15 pm

Christ & St. Stephen’s Church
120 West 69th Street (between Broadway and Columbus)
New York, NY 10023

Admission at door: $30, $15 senior/student, requested contribution. Cash or check only.

Krenek: Sonata No. 2 for violin solo (1948)
Kreisler: Caprice Viennois (1910)
Webern: Four Pieces for violin and piano (1910)
Brahms: Sonata for clarinet and piano, Op. 120 in F Minor(1894)
Schubert: Klavierstücke No. 1, D 946 (1828)
Mozart: Sonata in A Major for piano and violin, K305 (1778)

Stephanie Chase, violin
Jon Manasse, clarinet
William Wolfram, piano

Through much of its history, Vienna has served as a music capitol – the Vienna Boys’ Choir dates back to 1498! – and home to many of classical music’s most influential and innovative composers. This concert is a journey through the music of six composers with pivotal ties to this city, starting in the mid-20th century and ending in the 1770’s.

Our listening tour begins with the Sonata No. 2 for Violin Solo, Op. 115 by Ernst Krenek, which he composed shortly after moving to the United States. A student of Franz Shreker – first in Vienna and then in Berlin – Krenek was later influenced by the music of Schoenberg, Webern and Berg, and after about 1933 he composed principally in the 12-tone system.We then travel back a few decades to 1910, where we encounter both the Caprice Viennois by Fritz Kreisler and Four Pieces for violin and piano, Op. 7 by Anton Webern.  Composed a mere sixteen years earlier (1894), the majestic Clarinet Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120 by Johannes Brahms forms the heart of the concert, followed by the mercurial Klavierstücke No. 1 (D 946) by Franz Schubert, which dates from 1828. The journey then ends with the delightful Sonata in A Major, K. 305 for piano and violin, composed in 1778 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

STEPHANIE CHASE played with “elegance, dexterity, rhythmic vitality and great imagination” - Boston Globe

“And there was a heavenly moment when clarinetist JON MANASSE fluttered above the duet like a cherub tumbling in the clouds of a Mannerist painting.” – Milwaukee Journal

“Pianist WILLIAM WOLFRAM combined elegance and clarity in his playing, with the virile, propulsive energy and mercurial shifts of mood needed to make this music come to life.” - San Francisco Classical Voice

________________________________________

Pre-concert talk at 7:30 p.m. by Styra Avins, included in admission:

“I drink my wine where Beethoven drank his!”: Johannes Brahms in Vienna

Styra Avins is a cellist, musicologist, and the author of Johannes Brahms: Life and Letters (Oxford University Press).

Now in our ninth year, the Music of the Spheres Society is “dedicated to exploring the links between music, philosophy and the sciences” (The New Yorker) through our innovative concerts and and pre-concert talks.

For more information, please visit www.musicofthespheres.org

PROTEUS
Text: Nick Flynn
Music Guy Barash

PROTEUS, by composer Guy Barash, is a musical rendition of author Nick Flynn’s selected texts and excerpts from his newly released book, “The Ticking Is The Bomb”. PROTEUS is an experimental music work incorporating multiple singers, a rock band, clarinet, violin, percussion and interactive electronics.
The Work depicts moments of inhumanity.

Featuring:
Andrew Struck-Marcell (voice and keyboard), Christopher Bush (clarinet), Joey Wilgenbusch (voice), Alex Kurland (drums), Jent LaPalm (bass), Emilio Tostado (guitar), Erin Heisel (voice), Kae Reed (percussion), Irene Fitzgerald-Cherry (violin), Guy Barash (computer).

February 17th @ The Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (At the corner of Water Street in DUMBO)
7:00PM Doors open, 8:00PM Show starts.
Subway: A, C, 2, 3, F.
Tickets: $10
Tel: 718-222-8500
www.galapagosartspace.com

Nadav Lev and Friends: solos and duets

Music with classical and electric guitar by M. de Falla, J. Rodrigo, Guy Barash, Ronnie Reshef, J. Dowland and others

Featuring:
Guy Barash (computer), Sarah Silverman (piano) and Erin Heisel (soprano)

Friday, February 19 at 7:30
Anna-Maria Kellen Auditorium at Third Street Music School Settlement
235 East 11 Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
Tel: 212-777-3240
http://www.thirdstreetmusicschool.org/faculty_concerts.htm

Christopher Bush and Friends

Clarinetist Christopher Bush and pianist Carol Minor play works written for them in the last 14 months involving by exciting young composers. Composers include Curtis Hughes, Yumi Hara Cawkwell, and Nathan Scalzone. Also stepping in to perform interactive electronics for their own new compositions will be Guy Barash and Izzi Ramkissoon.

Featuring:
Christopher Bush (clarinet) Carol Minor (piano) Guy Barash (electronics) Izzi Ramkissoon (electronics)
New works by Curtis Hughes, Yumi Hara Cawkwell, Guy Barash, Izzi Ramkissoon, and Nathan Scalzone

March 9th, 10pm @ The Stone NYC
16 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009 (Cross Street: East 2nd street)
Tickets: $10
http://www.thestonenyc.com/

Midwinter Echoes

Chamber Orchestra Works by American Composers

premieres by

Victoria Bond, Allan Crossman,
Robert Martin, William Schimmel & Thomas Whitman

William Schimmel, accordion
Max Lifchitz, conductor
The North/South Chamber Orchestra

Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 3 PM

Christ & St Stephen’s Church

120 West 69th St (bet Bway & Columbus), NYC

Free Admission. No tickets required.

http://www.northsouthmusic.org

North/South Consonance, Inc. starts the new decade with a special concert on Sunday afternoon February 7 at the auditorium of Christ & St. Stephen’s Church (120 West 69th St) in Manhattan. Admission is free.

The North/South Chamber Orchestra will perform five recent works by living American composers. World-renown accordionist and composer William Schimmel will be the featured soloist while the orchestra’s founder Max Lifchitz will conduct.

The program will open with the first performance of Coastal Ghost (2009) by Allan Crossman. The work was inspired by the story of the Trickster one of the many celebrated stories of the Canadian Maritimes, whose spirit lives in the swirling wind blowing across the shores of Nova Scotia. A native New Yorker, Crossman lived in Montreal for many years while he taught at Concordia University. He now resides in the Bay Area where he has served on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory.

Suara Suadin (Voice of Suadin) (2009) by Thomas Whitman will also be heard for the first time. The work is a set of variations on a melody originally written for a Balinese gamelan ensemble. Also originally from New York, Whitman spent time in living and studying in Indonesia before joining the Swarthmore College faculty where he co-directs the Balinese Gamelan Semara Santi.

The first half of the program will close with the performance of William Schimmel’s Harold is Alive and Doing (Seemingly) OK Somewhere in Lisbon (2009) for accordion and chamber orchestra. Described by the NY Times as a “virtuoso accordionist whose performances can be both entertaining and provocative” Schimmel is well known for his award-winning recordings with the Tango Project and for his work in numerous movies and television series including Sesame Street, Scent of a Woman and Sex and the City. Schimmel’s composition is both ironic and humorous. Inspired by the romantic masterpiece Harold in Italy, Schimmel ‘s accordion odyssey finds the imaginary protagonist lost in Lisbon enjoying Fado music while searching for a deeper meaning of life. The work garnered much acclaim when it was first performed as part of the North/South concert series on June 9, 2009. The composer will once more be perform the intricate solo accordion part.

A newly minted work by Victoria Bond will open the second half. Inspired by Puerto Rico’s Coqui frog, Ms. Bond’s new score titled Coqui (2009) employs clever instrumental figures that imitate the chirping and calling of the exotic creature. The delightful and colorful orchestration features piccolo calls as well as special effects in the string instruments that recall and imitate the constant chirping of the Coqui in Puerto Rico’s rain forest. In addition to being an award-winning composer whose works have been performed by important ensembles throughout the country and abroad, Ms. Bond is the first woman to earn a doctorate in conducting from The Juilliard School. She has appeared at the helm of ensembles throughout the US, Europe and China.

Robert Martin’s They Will Take My Island (2009) will close the program. Inspired by the painting of the same name by the great Arshile Gorky, Martin’s dramatic music features whispering, undulating melodic lines designed to encircle and captivate the listener. The colorful score demands the utmost in virtuosity from the performers. Martin is now devoting all his energies to composing after retiring from a successful career in the world of finance. He has received the Charles Ives Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as Fulbright and Japan-US Creative Artists fellowships.

The composers will be on hand to introduce their works and meet with the audience during intermission and after the concert. All participants in the event are available to the press for interviews and may be contacted through our office at

North/South Consonance’s 2009-10 season is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; grants from the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, the Music Performance Funds of Local 802 and the Zethus Fund for Contemporary Music. Contributions by many generous individuals are gratefully acknowledged.

For further information about North/South Consonance activities, including upcoming concerts and recordings, please visit

http://www.northsouthmusic.org

To stream and/or download the more than fifty albums comprised in North/South Recordings catalogue please visit

http://www.classicsonline/North_South_Recordings/

The Portland Chamber Music Festival’s 2010 Resident Composers will be Chen Yi and Dan Sonenberg. Sonenberg’s “Whistlesparks” will be performed by flutist Elizabeth Mann and harpist Deborah Hoffman on Thursday, August 12th at 8 PM — the festival’s Opening Night concert. Chen’s “Happy Rain on a Spring Night” will be featured Saturday, August 14th at 8 PM. Performers for “Happy Rain” also include Ms. Mann and Ms. Hoffman, who will be joined by clarinetist Jo-Ann Sternberg, cellist Claire Bryant, and PCMF Artistic Directors violinist Jennifer Elowitch and pianist Dena Levine. The composers will be in attendance to introduce their works. For details, visit http://www.pcmf.org.