June 11th – (Mostly) New Music for (Mostly) Strings
Posted by s21concerts in Concert Announcement
Drawing on his experience in NYC’s downtown music scene with bands such as his own Vampire Suit, Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio, Romashka and others, as well as recent explorations in chamber music, guitarist and composer Jay Vilnai hosts an evening of chamber works focusing on strings. The program features emerging performers from the Brandy Chamber Music Society playing pieces by Vilnai and fellow composer Whitney George. The performance takes place on Friday, June 11th, 2009 at 6pm at Barbes, 376 9th St (at 6th ave), Park Slope, Brooklyn. There is a $10 suggested donation.
The program focuses on new compositions featuring strings in various combinations, including Vilnai’s Pisces for string trio; selections from his Shakespeare Songs for string trio and mezzo; selections from Visual Percussion, a collaboration with artist Elizabeth Hamby of short pieces for live music and video; a setting of a text by Wyatt for mezzo and chamber quintet and more. Also on the program is Whitney George’s Seven Sins for string trio.
The concert features emerging NYC musicians on the chamber scene, including violinist Marandi Hostetter, violist and violinist Pedro Vizzarro-Vallejos, cellist Eric Cooper and mezzo-soprano Sara Dougherty.
Jay Vilnai’s musical journey owes to a unique heritage as a Russian-Romanian-Polish descendant raised in Jerusalem around a mix of contemporary and traditional Jewish and Arab music, with a soul for rock n roll a BFA in jazz and an MM in concert composition. Vilnai pursued jazz studies with Brad Shepik and Vic Juris, and composition studies with Kirk Nurock, Bob Sadin and Jason Eckardt. While studying composition at Brooklyn College, Vilnai was composer in residence both with the college s orchestra and contemporary music ensemble, directed by Ursula Oppens. His chamber music has been performed by ensemble ai, CME, Brandy Chamber Music Society, Cooper Trio and other NYC based ensembles. Along with fellow composers Whitney George and Nicholas Nelson he is the founder of the Monocle, a collective dedicated to bringing new chamber music to alternative venues. As a guitarist, Vilnai has performed with Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio, Aaron Alexander s Midrash Mish Mosh and Romashka, as well as other ensembles in NYC s downtown and world music scenes. He has shared the stage with diverse figure such as trumpeter Frank London, drummer Mike Sarin and the Phoenix Symphony. Vilnai leads Vampire Suit, an ensemble dedicated to performing his original music – a highly personal texture that combines chamber, Balkan and jazz traditions.
Whitney George, composer, was first introduced to music through instrumental performance on flute at age 10. Her focus shifted to composition after taking a music theory course at age 16. While pursuing an undergraduate degree at CSU: Chico, she received commissions for two original works for wind ensemble. She continued her undergraduate study at the California Institute of the Arts, where she focused on interdisciplinary collaboration: fusing music and other fine arts in an effort to more clearly communicate with an audience. This culminated in self-production of a full-length opera titled “Alphabephobia: Something Goes Wrong Everyday”, which includes animation, dance and theater alongside music. Her music, performance art, and installations have had both international and domestic premieres, primarily in England and the East and West coasts of the US. During her Masters studies at Brooklyn College, she was in residency with both the Conservatory orchestra and the Contemporary Music Ensemble, directed by Ursula Oppens, where she also served as a conductor. Her one-act opera “The Yellow Wallpaper”, received its premiere in the Spring of 2010 with performances at Brooklyn College and the Tank in NYC, with herself conducting. This academic year, George’s works will be premiered at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music where she is currently working towards her Master’s degree, studying with Jason Eckardt and Tania Leon. In the Fall, she will continue her studies on composition at the doctoral level at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Elizabeth Hamby is an artist and an educator, working in a complex space between the studio, the classroom and the city. Using drawing, video, installation, and participatory workshops, she explores the dynamics of place and the rhythms of everyday urban experience. She teaches at The Museum of the City of New York, El Museo del Barrio, The Drawing Center, and works at The Environmental Simulation Center, a non-profit urban planning and design research laboratory. She holds a BA in Cultural Studies and Philosophy from Eugene Lang College, and a BFA in Studio Art from Parsons School of Design.
Marandi Hostetter was born into a musical family in the hills above Santa Cruz, California. Given a violin at the age of four, she was immediately immersed in a musical upbringing. She studied privately with Roy Malan, professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz where she also gained great orchestral repertoire as a member of the University’s full orchestra. Followed by studying with Prof. Tony Doheny at Stanford University, she had the opportunity to preform along with his other students as well as being coached in chamber ensembles. Ms. Hostetter has always had a strong passion for chamber music and has travelled around the US as well as Europe to attend various string quartet workshops, being coached by groups such as the Manhattan String Quartet and St. Lawrence String Quartet. Having such a wide array of musical influences at such a young age, her endearment to traditional folk music from all over the world has continued to grow. Having recently studied at the Alacki School Music in Skopje Macedonia, studying under the infamous accordion master Goran Alacki, she continues to expand her musical horizons in Balkan music as well as those closer to home. New to New York she is a member of the String Orchestra of Brooklyn as well as the Brooklyn College Orchestra and continues to study privately.
Pedro Vizzarro Vallejos, a native of Rosario, Argentina, came to settle in New York in 1994 – where he is an active freelance musician on violin and viola. Within the past few years he has held viola principal positions in One World Symphony, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College Conservatory Orchestra, New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and Rutgers Sinfonia. With Eric Cooper he has co-founded the Brandy Chamber Music Society; together they work towards performing the classic and contemporary works. With Eric Cooper he is teaching in Gregorio Luperon High School’s growing program to build a latin-american orchestra . He currently studies with Ji-Hyun Son, and has studied with Charles Dalton, Frederick Zlotkin, Stephanie Griffin, Masao Kawasaki, Kathryn Lockwood and Tung-Ying Huang.
Eric Cooper, a native of NYC, started teaching himself cello at the age of 12. This enabled him to develop a style and sound all his own. At the age of 19 Mr. Cooper started to study with Marion Feldman of the Manhattan School of Music. As a winner of Mid America Productions Orchestral Competition, in 2004 Eric had a chance to work closely with Lukas Foss. Eric transferred to the Conservatory of Music at CUNY Brooklyn College in 2007 and started to work with cellist Fredrick Zlotkin. Eric is a very active chamber musician, and co-founder of the Brandy string quartet with Pedro Vizzarro Vallejos. He currently holds the principle positions of the String Orchestra of Brooklyn and The American Mozart Orchestra. In the summer of 2009 Eric toured with the NYC award-winning puppetry theatre group The Lone Wolf Tribe. Eric has performed in master classes of Tri Johannes, Massimo Polidori, and Regina Carter. He is also an active teacher.
Sara J. Dougherty, mezzo-soprano — Sara Dougherty is finishing her graduate degree at Brooklyn College, studying with Monica Harte. At Brooklyn College she has just performed the world premiere of The Yellow Wallpaper, a one woman opera that was composed for her by Whitney George. Sara has also performed in Remarkable Theater Brigades’ Opera Shorts at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall. At Brooklyn College, Sara has performed La Zia Principessa and Zita in Puccini’s Il Trittico, Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Zenobia in Handel’s Radamisto, and Lapak the Dog in Janáčk’s The Cunning Little Vixen on the main stage. Sara has also enjoyed performing several electronic pieces with Remarkable Theater Brigade at different performing art spaces around New York City as well as in the Electronic Music New York Festival. In her home state of North Carolina at UNC-Greensboro, Sara performed Miss Benson in Delibes’ Lakmé. She also enjoyed performing in the Summer Music Festival in Blowing Rock, NC. Sara has done concert work in Italy, Austria, Hungary, England, and the Czech Republic.
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