On Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 6:00 PM, the critically acclaimed Momenta Quartet–recently praised by the New York Times for their diligence, curiosity and excellence” and the Washington Post for “an extraordinary musical experience”–will present five new pieces by NYU graduate composers at New York University’s Silver Center For Arts and Science, Room 220 (31 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003; between Greene Street and Washington Square East). Admission is free.

The concert features works by Gordon Beeferman, Adele Fournet, Moon Young Ha, Friedrich Heinrich Kern, and Jue Wang, all current Ph.D. students at NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Science. The pieces—four world premieres and one New York premiere, all written for Momenta—reflect each composer’s unique compositional interests, while exploring various unorthodox possibilities of staging, sonority, and collaboration.

The Momenta violinists will be highlighted in Friedrich Heinrich Kern’s duet “Les Adieux” (2013), and will be joined by their quartet colleagues in Moon Young Ha’s “…until that time I may…” (2013) and Jue Wang’s “Life in Stillness” (2013) for string quartet. Adele Fournet’s diptych “on death” (2013) will feature Momenta in collaboration with electric guitarist Felipe Wurst. Joined by guest dancer Stephanie Sleeper and composer Gordon Beeferman as pianist, Momenta will conclude with the New York premiere of “QUADRILLE” (2012) for string quartet, piano, and dancer: a theatrical work in which the musicians are fully integrated into Ms. Sleeper’s inventive choreography. This concert marks the continuation of Momenta and Beeferman’s longstanding collaboration, which originated in 2009 with the New York premiere of Beeferman’s String Quartet, followed by the world premiere of “QUADRILLE” at the Music at Gretna Festival in 2012.

Join us for “Voices and Variations,” an interesting program of solo and duo works for violin and percussion!

Samantha Bennett- Violin
George Nickson- Marimba and Vibraphone

The concert will take place at:
First Congregational Church
1031 S. Euclid Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34237

The program will include:

Prokofiev: Sonata for Violin solo in D major, Op. 115

Viñao: Kahn Variations

Top: The Stillpoint

Lansky: Hop

Glentworth: Blues for Gilbert

Tickets are $10, available at the door or anytime before at the church office.

Hope to see you there!

On February 15, Van Cliburn gold medalist Jon Nakamatsu - in his only NYC appearance this season – returns to perform chamber music with clarinetist Jon Manasse, cellist Bion Tsang and violinist/Artistic Director Stephanie Chase.

Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu

This program features music by Beethoven, Poulenc and Dvorak that reflects on life and its necessities, friendship, and nationalism.  It will take place at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church, located at 120 West 69th Street in New York City.  The concert will start at 8:15 and is preceded by a talk at 7:30.

BEETHOVEN – Trio for piano, clarinet and cello, Op. 11
POULENC – Sonata for clarinet and piano, FP184
DVORAK – Piano Trio No. 4 “Dumky”

Beethoven’s delightful trio is partly inspired by a popular Viennese song containing the phrase “Before I go to work, I need something to eat.”

Dedicated to his friend Arthur Honegger, a fellow member of Les Six, Poulenc’s Sonata was commissioned by jazz great Benny Goodman, who premiered it (after Poulenc’s sudden death in 1963) with pianist Leonard Bernstein.

The word “Dumky” refers to the dumka, or an epic ballad of a somber nature containing contrasting cheerful sections.  Dvorak’s “Dumky Trio” is among his most beloved chamber music compositions and dates from 1891.Admission at door: $30, $20 student/senior, cash or check only.  Doors open at 7:15 p.m.  Advance tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets.

For more information, visit the Music of the Spheres Society.

Don’t miss the 1st concert of the Greenwich Village Orchestra’s 2012/2013 season!

WHEN: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 3pm.

PROGRAM: Concert features Sibelius’s “Symphony No. 2,” Smetana’s “The Moldau,” and Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto” with violinist Aaron Boyd. Meet the musicians afterward at a free reception!

ABOUT THE ORCHESTRA: The Greenwich Village Orchestra, founded by local musicians in 1986, is YOUR neighborhood orchestra. We have captivated audiences and critics alike with world-class soloists and emotionally charged concerts for 26 years.

TICKET INFORMATION: All GVO concerts are by suggested donation of $15 ($10 for students/seniors). Tickets may be purchased online at www.gvo.org or at the door on the day of the concert.

Join George Nickson and guests for a fantastic evening of contemporary music, featuring some amazing and rarely performed works.

This concert is FREE, tickets are not required.

The Juilliard School, Room 309
Friday, April 20th, 2012
6:00pm

The program will include:

Tristram Redux- Richard Wernick
Davone Tines, bass-baritone
Colin Davin, guitar

Janissary Music- Charles Wuorinen

Linea- Luciano Berio
Renate Rohlfing, piano
Brent Funderburk, piano
Sam Budish- percussion

INTERMISSION

The Stillpoint- Edward Top
Samantha Bennett, violin

Beaten Paths- Milton Babbitt

Spinoff- Charles Wuorinen
Karl Doty, double bass
Samantha Bennett, violin

Last weekend, mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen and violinist Joseph Kneer premiered a new version of “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” (2011) on the Federal Hill Parlor Series. They are going to perform the piece again on Saturday in York, Pennsylvania.

Visit Catherine Manoukian’s blog to read about her recent recording session with the Staatskapelle Weimar for her next album, which will feature several pieces by Edward Elgar. See below for an excerpt…

March 5th – 8:00 P.M.

University Symphony Orchestra presents “The Decade of The Great Patriotic War,” in partnership with the Soviet Arts Experience, co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture.

The evening’s program includes Myaskowsky’s Symphony No. 22 in B minor and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, featuring acclaimed violinist Elena Urioste.

Mandel Hall – 1131 E. 57th St. Chicago, IL 60637
Donations: $10/$5 Students
Reception to follow

For more information call: 773-702-8069 or go online at: music.uchicago.edu

The Xanthos Ensemble

Season Concert

Presented by the Boston University College of Fine Arts

School of Music Department of Composition and Theory

Saturday, November 20th 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

***NOTE AFTERNOON TIME

Boston University
Concert Hall
855 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Suggested donation is $15, $10 for students and seniors, and the event is free to Boston University faculty, staff, and students.

Arnold Schoenberg, Arr. Anton Webern • Kammersymphonie No. 1, Op. 9
Daniel Felsenfeld • Insomnia Redux; 4am (Boston premiere)
Geoffrey Gordon • Flamingo (world premiere)
Shulamit Ran • Inscriptions, for solo violin
George Rochberg • Duo Concertante, for violin and cello

Xanthos Ensemble Performers

Zachary Jay, flute
Alexis Lanz, clarinet
Brenda van der Merwe, violin
Katherine Kayaian, cello
Eunyoung Kim, piano
Jeffrey Means, conductor

In 2008, the Xanthos Ensemble joined in a collaboration at Boston University, presented by the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Music Department of Composition and Theory. Their concert on November 20th, 2010 will feature the dramatic Kammersymphonie of Arnold Schoenberg, originally written in 1906, but arranged by Webern for piano quintet in 1923. The Xanthos Ensemble’s new composer in residence Geoffrey Gordon’s new work Flamingo will have its world premiere, and Daniel Felsenfeld’s Insomnia Redux; 4am (originally scored for piano solo, now reorchestrated for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano), will receive its Boston premiere, after having received wondrous praise from the New York Times after a recent performance by the Da Capo Chamber Players. Rounding off the program, the performers will present Shulamit Ran’s dynamic solo violin work Inscriptions, and the vivacious Duo Concertante for violin and cello.

Steve Smith of the New York Times has raved about the “virtuoso players” of the Xanthos Ensemble as “copiously skilled and confident” in the face of “undeniably challenging music.” Bruce Hodges of musicweb-international.com recounted their recent New York City performance of Charles Wuorinen’s New York Notes, noting “the ease with which these musicians played this blockbuster was instructive” and “Xanthos seemed to only gain in momentum as the evening progressed.”

Through a combination of internationally recognized repertoire and world premieres of works dedicated to the ensemble, the major focus of the ensemble’s mission is to bring new music to life, written for the ensemble in collaboration with living composers, and to that aim they have premiered dozens of works and have had several newly composed works dedicated to them since the group’s inception in 2005. From 2006 to 2008, they served as Ensemble in Residence at Boston Conservatory.

The Xanthos Ensemble is a non-profit tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization, and all contributions to the organization are fully deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Monday, October 25, 2010 at 8 p.m.

Frederick Loewe Theatre
35 West Fourth Street
New York, NY

This concert is presented by New York University as part of its Distinguished Faculty series.  It is open to the public and admission is free.

The program features the Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 by Johannes Brahms, the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Leos Janacek, Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 by Anton Webern and the Sonata No. 9 (“Kreutzer”), Op. 47 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Stephanie Chase is “one of the violin greats of our era.” — Newhouse Newspapers

“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.” — Jules Langert, San Francisco Classical Voice

For more information about this event, call (212) 998-5424 or visit the NYU calendar at www.events.nyu.edu.  For more information about Stephanie Chase, please visit www.stephaniechase.com.