GRAMMY® Award-Winning American Composer, Collaborator & Guitarist Bryce Dessner Signs Extensive Partnership with Sony Music Masterworks

GRAMMYⓇ Award-Winning American Composer,
Collaborator & Guitarist 
Bryce Dessner

Signs Extensive Partnership with Sony Music Masterworks

Creating A New Home Base
For His Classical Works and Select Soundtracks

Makes Sony Classical Début With New Album Solos
Available Everywhere August 23 – Pre-Order Now

Out Today – Lead Single “Lullaby For Jacques Et Brune”
Listen Here

Featuring Anastasia Kobekina, Colin Currie, Katia Labèque, Lavinia Meijer, Nadia Sirota, Pekka Kuusisto And Bryce Dessner

“Dessner […] moves fluidly between rock and classical and everywhere in between.” 
– The Guardian, October 2021

“Dessner, who closely studied the Labèques’ repertoire, throws all manner of writing at the pianists, who play cascading figures in canon, stuttering syncopations, gently articulated polyrhythms, jabbing chords and twinkling starbursts of notes. The orchestra, mesmerized, follows their lead.” – The New York Times, December 2023

“It’s the sheer brilliance and ebullience of the music, with insistent rhythms that seem to owe as much to rock as they do to Steve Reich.” – The Guardian, February 2024

Sony Music Masterworks announces today, May 3, 2024 a unique far-reaching partnership with versatile composer, sought-after musical collaborator and guitarist Bryce Dessner, who is also a founding member of GRAMMYⓇ Award-winning rock band The National. The newly inked partnership will see Dessner’s classical compositions released on Sony Classical, while sister label Milan Records will continue to be a home for some of his celebrated soundtracks. This innovative tailored approach will give Dessner maximum artistic freedom to pursue these two essential strands of his creative output.

Dessner will make his Sony Classical début on August 23, 2024 with Solos, a collection featuring a series of unaccompanied instrumental works written by the composer over the past few years. Selected from both his classical and soundtrack worlds, the works showcase not only Dessner’s compositional flair but also the immense talent of his acclaimed collaborators, many of whom work regularly with him and are his friends. Featured soloists include cellist Anastasia Kobekina; violinist Pekka Kuusisto; pianist Katia Labèque; harpist Lavinia Meijer; violist Nadia Sirota; percussionist Colin Currie; and Bryce Dessner himself on guitar. Accompanying today’s announcement and album pre-order is the first single from Solos – “Lullaby for Jacques et Brune” – a lullaby for piano, written by Bryce Dessner for his godchildren.

Says Dessner of these pieces:

“Writing a solo piece for me is always a great challenge and joy, as you have all the personality and talent of the player plus the physicality and resonance of the solo instrument, a bit like a Shakespearean monologue. These solo pieces for violin, viola, cello, harp, percussion, guitar and piano represent many years of my compositional process. When I began composing, I mainly wrote solo pieces for myself to play and I have always loved unaccompanied instrumental music – including the solo Bach lute and cello suites and the Renaissance lute fantasies of John Dowland, which I used to play myself on the classical guitar. These pieces of mine are often written like poems, where the musical language itself dictates the form and evolution of the piece, and were often opportunities for me to explore more deeply my relationship to the instruments they were composed for. They also represent in each case close collaborative relationships and friendships I have been very lucky to develop with the incredible musicians who play them. Katia, Pekka, Anastasia, Nadia, Lavinia and Colin are all exceptional artists who brought so much of their amazing talent to these recordings.”   

Dessner is a prolific classical composer, whose output has garnered him a Grammy Award and ranges from intimate chamber pieces and scaled-down works for solo instrumentalists to full orchestral scores and concertos.

In addition to his role as one of eight San Francisco Symphony Collaborative Partners, Bryce Dessner is currently Creative Chair of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and Artist-in-Residence at London’s Southbank Centre and with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Major new works include a Piano Concerto premièred by Alice Sara Ott and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in January 2024 and now being performed internationally; a Concerto for Two Pianos premièred by Katia & Marielle Labèque and the London Philharmonic Orchestra; and a Violin Concerto premièred and performed internationally by Pekka Kuusisto. Dessner’s in-demand compositions have been performed by leading orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Philharmonia Orchestra of London and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. 

He has co-founded several new-music festivals, including the Cincinnati-based MusicNOW Festival in 2006, Copenhagen’s Haven Festival and the Cork-based Sounds from a Safe Harbour.

Bryce Dessner’s musical career has been rich and eclectic. Born into a musical family based in Cincinnati, he started out learning the flute as a child before switching to classical guitar in his teenage years, graduating from Yale University with a Masters in Music before finding fame as a founder member, guitarist, arranger and writer for alternative rock band The National.

Alongside his classical compositions, Dessner is also much sought after as a film composer, with recent and upcoming releases including the film Sing Sing starring Colman Domingo (due for release by A24 in summer 2024), limited series Manhunt (released in March 2024 on Apple TV), and John Crowley’s We Live in Time (due for release 2024 on A24). Over the years he has garnered great acclaim for his work on films such as Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto and for his music to Netflix’s Fernando Meirelles’s The Two Popes. Dessner’s many musical collaborations include working with Philip Glass, Johnny Greenwood, Bon Iver, Steve Reich, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Sufjan Stevens, Taylor Swift and Thom Yorke.

Extraordinarily gifted, collaborative, secure in his own musical language and brimming with ideas, Bryce Dessner is a singular talent whose addition to the roster is warmly welcomed as he expands the repertoire with his new music, bringing with him his trademark original deep thinking, enthusiasm for all types of music and forward-thinking creative partnerships.

On this new arrangement with Sony Music, Bryce Dessner commented: “I am very much looking forward to an ongoing collaboration with Sony Music Masterworks and their wonderful team on several upcoming projects around my compositional work.”

Per Hauber, President, Sony Classical added: “As Bryce Dessner embarks on this exciting new chapter with Sony Classical, we look forward to showcasing his extraordinary talent and pushing boundaries of classical music together. We believe Sony Music Masterworks is the ideal new home for his releases and we warmly welcome him!”

Alexander Buhr, SVP International A&R adds: “Bryce is a uniquely gifted composer and musician, and a very important voice in contemporary music. With his broad range of influences and inspirations he crafts music that is daring and ambitious, while making instant emotional connection with the audience. All this is introduced perfectly on Solos. We are very happy to welcome Bryce to the Sony family.”

Bryce Dessner’s music is published by and available from Chester Music, part of the Wise Music Group.

Solos Tracklist

1. Lullaby for Jacques et Brune 2:26
Katia Labèque piano

2. Francis 2:19
Bryce Dessner guitar

3. Tuusula 11:24
Anastasia Kobekina cello

4. Song for Octave 3:42
Katia Labèque piano

5. Tromp Miniature 6:59
Colin Currie percussion

6. Ornament and Crime I 4:16

7. Ornament and Crime II 2:14

8. Ornament and Crime III 6:28
Pekka Kuusisto violin

9. A Good Person 2:42
Katia Labèque piano

10. On a Wire 11:02
Lavinia Meijer harp

11. Walls 2:58
Bryce Dessner guitar

12. Delphica I 7:31

13. Delphica II 4:32
Nadia Sirota viola

14. Ornament III Piano 7:21
Katia Labèque piano

15. Song for Ainola 1:19
Anastasia Kobekina cello

Sony Classical Signs Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason – First Recital Album to be Released in 2025

© Johanna Berghorn/Sony Classical

Sony Classical Signs Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
for First Recital Album to be Released in 2025

Sony Classical is delighted to announce the exclusive signing of pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, who records her first recital album this year for release in Spring 2025.

The 22-year-old British pianist has already impressed critics with her “poetry and confidence” (The Guardian) and as a “vivid soloist” (The Sunday Times) who performs “straight from the heart, with care, sparkle and self-possession” (BBC Music Magazine). Following her début tour of Australia, the Chronicle exclaimed: “There was maturity in performance and interpretation … Effortless, yes. Impressive, even more so – and exciting is probably an understatement.”

Jeneba’s first recording on the label displays her wide-ranging curiosity for repertoire and individual approach to programming, with a recital that juxtaposes works by Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy and Alexander Scriabin with music by under-represented composers Margaret Bonds, Florence Price and William Grant Still.

Already an established performer of music by Florence Price, on her 2023 recording of the composer’s Concerto in One Movement, The Observer noted that “Price could have no more persuasive an advocate”. Of her performance of the work at the BBC Proms, the Evening Standard wrote that “she proved an eloquent advocate for the piece with her sensitive yet alert playing”.

Jeneba notes: “I am so happy and honoured to join the prestigious roster of artists at Sony Classical. I can’t remember a time when classical music wasn’t an integral part of my life, and I am a huge advocate for its positive influences and ability to really connect with such a wide range of people. The piano repertoire is enormous and I’m excited to be able to explore it, discovering the old, the new, and to perform pieces by more women, as well as black and minority ethnic composers.”

“I am delighted to welcome Jeneba Kanneh-Mason to Sony Classical. We can’t wait to shape the next steps of Jeneba’s career together with her as her exclusive recording partner.” Per Hauber, President, Sony Classical International

“Jeneba’s musical prowess is simply electrifying. With curiosity and a vibrant spirit, she brings her very own fresh perspective to every piece she plays. We are absolutely thrilled to have Jeneba join the Sony Classical family, bringing her infectious energy to our joint musical journey!” Dr. Alexander Buhr, SVP A&R, Sony Classical International

“We are thrilled that Jeneba is joining the fantastic roster of artists at Sony Classical. From the beginning of our discussions with the label, it was clear that the whole international team understood Jeneba’s needs and wishes as a young pianist, starting to forge her own path. We look forward to a close and collaborative relationship with the label and can’t wait to see what the future will bring!” Kathryn Enticott, Enticott Music Management

Jeneba, who was a finalist in the 2018 BBC Young Musician competition and a recent Classic FM Rising Star, completes her studies at the Royal College of Music this summer, where she holds the Victoria Robey Scholarship. Pianist magazine celebrates Jeneba’s signing to Sony Classical by featuring her on the June cover.

“I’ve wanted to be a pianist for as long as I can remember and it feels like a wonderful opportunity to work with the label and to have their confidence and support. I will look forward to our first recording!” Jeneba is well on track as she joins the Sony Classical roster and begins her journey alongside eminent fellow pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Khatia Buniatishvili and Igor Levit, as well as historical legends such as Glenn Gould and Arthur Rubinstein.

Biography

Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason was a finalist in the 2018 BBC Young Musician and made her London début in 2020 at the age of 18, performing Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra. In the same year she gave the UK première of Florence Price’s Concerto in One Movement with Chineke! at the Royal Festival Hall, returning to the work for her first BBC Proms appearance in 2021.

Early reviews encapsulate the young pianist’s talent:

“Poised, polished, professional and full of the joy of music-making … It’s rare to find such a youthful pianist able to listen to and blend with an orchestra quite so expertly” – The Arts Desk.

“Kanneh-Mason is perfectly attuned to Price’s world – her clarity is remarkable … Although still at music college, it is clear this is a name that will be one to watch” – Seen and Heard International.

Now, three years later, as she completes her studies at the Royal College of Music, Jeneba is ready to embrace the future. Having recently returned from the United States, where she made her début with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, she is currently preparing for a recital tour that takes her across the UK and culminates at London’s Wigmore Hall in September.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season include performances with the Philharmonia and Marin Alsop, as well as débuts with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Stockholm Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic. This autumn Jeneba also tours with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra performing Chopin’s and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concertos in concert throughout the UK.

Jeneba holds the Victoria Robey Scholarship at the Royal College of Music, where she has been studying piano with Vanessa Latarche. She is grateful to Lady Robey, to The Nottingham Soroptimist Trust and to The Nottingham Education Trust, who have all supported her studies and early career.

May 18: Pianists Sarah Cahill & Regina Myers Presented by New Performance Traditions in Duo Concert Program featuring Music for Four Hands and Two Pianos

Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers
Presented by New Performance Traditions

Performing Music by Hanna Kulenty,
Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (transcribed by Jed Distler),
Mamoru Fujieda, Eleanor Alberga, Riley Nicholson, and Colin McPhee

Dresher Ensemble Studio | 2201 Poplar Street | Oakland, CA
Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 7pm

Tickets and More Information

“Pianist Sarah Cahill commands a near-godlike status among fans of contemporary classical music” – NPR Music

www.sarahcahill.com | www.reginamusic.com

Oakland, CA – On Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 7pm, pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers will be presented together in concert at the Dresher Ensemble Studio (2201 Poplar Street). Cahill and Myers will perform a duo program featuring works for four hands and two pianos: Van by Hanna Kulenty, Tonk? by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (transcribed by Jed Distler), Sprites in a Large Camphor Tree by Mamoru Fujieda, 3-Day Mix by Eleanor Alberga, Up by Riley Nicholson, and Balinese Ceremonial Music by Colin McPhee. Nicholson will be present at the performance to speak about his work.

Cahill, known not only for her solo artistry but also her collaborative spirit, has a long and well-established relationship with fellow Bay Area musician Regina Myers. The two pianists have collaborated on many occasions, most recently for a duo performance at the 2023 Flower Piano festival, which The Rehearsal Studio wrote “deserved attentive listening.” It was at this performance that the two friends and colleagues gave the U.S. premiere of Mamoru Fujieda’s Sprites in a Large Camphor Tree. They also collaborated in 2022 on a performance which included the world premiere of Riley Nicholson’s Up –– a 35 minute work commissioned by Cahill and Myers.

Cahill has long been an enthusiastic supporter of Mamoru Fujieda’s work, playing a central role in the post-minimalist composer’s Pattern of Plants receiving a solo piano recording for the first time outside of Japan, when Cahill recorded the music on Pinna Records in 2014. Cahill’s performance on the recording was widely praised, with I Care If You Listen saying "Sarah Cahill expertly interprets and gives a clear voice to Fujieda's beautiful work," and The New York Times describing the music as “Delicate miniatures that unfold quietly and calmly.”

Jamaican-born, British composer Eleanor Alberga wrote 3-Day Mix in 1991. Alberga explains of her work 3-Day Mix: “As implied by the title, 3-Day Mix was written in 3 days when, with very short notice, an opportunity to compose a piano duet for a concert came about in 1991. This work…contains jazzy elements, but the melodic lines over ostinato figures appear in all my other ‘light’ works. It lasts about 9 minutes and is meant to be no more than a fun piece.”

Riley Nicholson says of his four-movement epic work: “Up’s one unifying theme is simply that: ‘up.’ The piece moves ‘up’ in so many directions: literally, opening with an upward motif that gets pinged between pianos in a groovy, dizzying counterpoint; gradually with increasing frequency moving up the circle of fifths; with upbeat syncopations and tempi; constantly one-upping itself with a burgeoning energy that trips over itself with virtuosic fits; and many other upward motions and themes. Up is a manic trip that both explores joyous energy and that darker underbelly of positivity when energy and motion become simply too much to be contained.”

Writer Jed Distler, who transcribed the version of Tonk to be performed in this program says of the piece: “Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn enjoyed playing impromptu piano duets in informal situations, which directly resulted in Tonk. Credited to both men but actually written by Strayhorn, they recorded it in 1945 as a piano duet and again in 1950, this time at two pianos. My two-piano transcription of Tonk was commissioned by Nurit Tilles and Edmund Niemann for Double Edge, and combines both recorded versions."

Polish composer Hanna Kulenty composed "VAN..." in 2014 at the request of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Warsaw on the occasion of the State Visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. It premiered during the Warsaw Autumn Festival. "VAN..." playfully explores minimalist patterns during which the pianists' hands collide as they continue each other's patterns.

Colin McPhee (1900-1964) was both a composer and an academic. His musical style has come to be known for an acute sensitivity to specific timbres and an appreciation for complex rhythmic textures. A three movement work, each of the sections of Balinese Ceremonial Music were arranged between 1934 and 1938. The two pianos heard together in the music manifest a type of ringing –– much like the metallophones of the gamelan –– effortlessly imparting a sonic quality of the gamelan to the instrumental medium of the piano.

About Sarah Cahill: Sarah Cahill, hailed as “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by The New York Times, has commissioned and premiered over seventy compositions for solo piano. Composers who have dedicated works to Cahill include John Adams, Terry Riley, Frederic Rzewski, Pauline Oliveros, Julia Wolfe, Roscoe Mitchell, Annea Lockwood, and Ingram Marshall. She was named a 2018 Champion of New Music, awarded by the American Composers Forum (ACF). Sarah Cahill’s discography includes more than twenty albums on the New Albion, CRI, New World, Tzadik, Albany, Innova, Cold Blue, Other Minds, Irritable Hedgehog, and Pinna labels. Her three-album series, The Future is Female, was released on First Hand Records between March 2022 and April 2023. These albums encompass 30 compositions by women from around the globe, from the 17th century to the present day, and include many world premiere recordings.

Cahill’s radio show, Revolutions Per Minute, can be heard every Sunday evening from 8 to 10pm on KALW, 91.7 FM in San Francisco. She is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory and is a regular pre-concert speaker with the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

For more information, visit www.sarahcahill.com.

About Regina Myers: Regina performs as a solo artist and with ensembles around the Bay Area. She received a Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Master's in Piano Performance and Literature from Mills College, where she focused on new and experimental music under the guidance of pianist Marc Shapiro, ensemble leader and composer Steed Cowart and percussion master William Winant. In 2004 she founded the concert series, and now ensemble, New Keys: New Keys' mission is to surface and promote the newest and most innovative music for the piano. We challenge composers to explore the vast untapped potential of the piano and strive to craft the experience of a piano recital as both captivating and approachable for our audience. Before going on hiatus to rapidly and accidentally expand her family, Regina proudly taught piano to beloved students for 17 years.

She has participated in the Hot Air, Switchboard, Garden of Memory Summer Solstice and SF Friends of Chamber Music SF Music Day music festivals and has had the honor of playing many concerts with the William Winant Percussion Group as well as the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. She can be heard on Luciano Chessa's album Petrolio, Danny Clay/Joseph Colombo LP (with New Keys) and on Eighty Trips Around the Sun: Music by and for Terry Riley on which she plays four-hand music by Terry Riley with her duo partner Sarah Cahill. Regina prides herself on expanding the reach of new music for piano by commissioning new works and organizing concerts for their premieres and recording. She relishes working with young and emerging composers as well as keeping seminal new music masterpieces alive.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Pianist Sarah Cahill, described by NPR Music as “command[ing] a near-godlike status among fans of contemporary classical music,” and pianist Regina Myers, are presented together in concert at the Dresher Ensemble Studio with pianist Regina Myers. Cahill and Myers will perform a concert program of various works for four hands and two pianos, including Van by Hanna Kulenty, Tonk by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (transcribed by Jed Distler), Sprites in a Large Camphor Tree by Mamoru Fujieda, 3-Day Mix by Eleanor Alberga, Up by Riley Nicholson, and Balinese Ceremonial Music by Colin McPhee. Riley Nicholson will be present at the performance to speak about his work.

Short description: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers are presented together in concert at The Dresher Ensemble Studio. The duo performance will include music by Hanna Kulenty, Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (transcribed by Jed Distler), Mamoru Fujieda, Eleanor Alberga, Riley Nicholson, and Colin McPhee. Nicholson will be at the performance to speak about his work.

Concert details:
Who: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers
Presented by New Performance Traditions
What: Music by Hanna Kulenty, Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (transcribed by Jed Distler), Mamoru Fujieda, Eleanor Alberga, Riley Nicholson, and Colin McPhee.
When: Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 7pm
Where: Dresher Ensemble Studio, 2201 Poplar Street, Oakland, CA 94607
Tickets and information: www.dresherensemble.org/performances

May 19: San Francisco Girls Chorus Presents Premier Ensemble with Leading Percussionist and Composer Haruka Fujii

Photo of Haruka Fujii by DNPhollyhock ERIKO WATANABE. Press photos at www.sfgirlschorus.org/press-room

The San Francisco Girls Chorus Presents its
Premier Ensemble with Percussionist & Composer Haruka Fujii

Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC Artistic Director

Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm
San Francisco Conservatory of Music | 50 Oak Street | San Francisco, CA
Tickets & Information: www.sfgirlschorus.org/performances

San Francisco, CA –The San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) continues its 2023-2024 season, celebrating 45 years of empowering young women, with a performance by the SFGC Premier Ensemble joined by percussionist and composer Haruka Fujii and conducted by SFGC Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (50 Oak Street).

The concert will take listeners around the world, listening to messages of hope for future generations. It features the world premiere of Fujii’s new work titled Dareno Chikyu, commissioned by and written for SFGC; Belong Not by Aviya Kopelmann, originally written for SFGC’s 2019 fully staged choral music and dance co-production with Berkeley Ballet Theater, Rightfully Ours; Bring Me Little Water, Silvy by Huddie Ledbetter arranged by Moira Smiley; Letters to God by Akira Miyoshi based on the 2008 Japanese book compiling children’s letters to God; the South African prayer song Ndikhokhele Bawo arranged by Michael Barrett; and the world premiere of Toro Ya Alkebulan by Mokale Copeng, commissioned for SFGC's upcoming South Africa tour by Classical Movements as part of the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program, featuring words adapted from the poem “He Had a Dream, an African Dream” by Njeri Wangari.

“I am thrilled to welcome Haruka Fujii as our guest artist. Since our first meeting in June 2023 during our opera production Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch, our collaboration has been effortless and an obvious match,” says SFGC Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe. “Haruka's experience as a professional performer, her precision, musicianship, and creativity set a high standard for young professionals. I am also proud that we have commissioned her first work for choral singers, contributing to our mission to develop the repertoire of choral music for young singers. Together, with chorus and percussion, we are forging new paths in the world of new music.”

Haruka Fujii’s new piece sets survey responses she received from members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus answering two questions: What are the words that come to your mind when you think about the state of the world we live in today? And, what do you want the adults in your world to do to make your future brighter?

Fujii says, “Their words, expressing their views, frustrations, anger, and hopes, were painfully raw and pure, and so inspiring that it did not require much time to come up with the music to accompany their beautiful emotions. These young artists’ perspectives, and the process of creating this work have given me hope to share with my ten-year-old daughter for her future.”

One of the most prominent solo percussionists and marimbists of her generation, Haruka Fujii has won international acclaim for her interpretations of contemporary music, having performed numerous premieres of works from luminary composers, and appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and more. Since 2010, she has performed as an artist of the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble, joining a group of international musicians founded by Yo-Yo Ma, and serves as one of the artistic leadership team alongside with the artistic director Rhiannon Giddens. Her interest in percussion was influenced by her mother, noted marimbist Mutsuko Fujii. She studied music at the Tokyo National University, the Juilliard School, and the Mannes College of Music. Fujii previously collaborated with SFGC on the world premiere of the choral opera Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary by Matthew Welch.

Since 1978, SFGC has provided girls and young women the unique opportunity not only to perform at the highest artistic caliber, but also to develop self-confidence, leadership skills, and an awareness of the role of the arts in civic engagement. A leader in the Bay Area and national music scenes, SFGC produces award-winning concerts, recordings and tours; empowers young women in music and other fields; and sets the international standard for the highest level of performance and education. SFGC has been recognized through numerous honors including five GRAMMY Awards, four ASCAP/Chorus America Awards for Adventurous Programming, and in 2002, becoming the first youth chorus to receive Chorus America's prestigious Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence. Each year, hundreds of singers of diverse backgrounds from 45 Bay Area cities ranging in age from age four to eighteen participate in SFGC’s programs. The organization consists of a six-level Chorus School training program and the Premier Ensemble, a professional-level chorus of treble voices.

Under the direction of Valérie Sainte-Agathe, SFGC has achieved an incomparable sound that underscores the unique clarity and force of impeccably trained treble voices fused with expressiveness and drama. As a result, the SFGC vibrantly performs 1,000 years of choral masterworks from plainchant to the most challenging and nuanced contemporary works, many created expressly for them, in programs that are as intelligently designed as they are enjoyable and revelatory to experience.

SFGC's season continues on May 30, 2024, when the Chorus School will showcase singers from Levels 1 through IV at its annual Chorus School Spring Concert at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center, coming together to celebrate their accomplishments from the year individually and as a school. The performance will feature the world premiere of a new work by SFGC Chorus School composer-in-residence Sahba Aminikia. On June 22, SFGC will perform at the Kronos Quartet’s 2024 Kronos Festival at SF Jazz. This summer, Level IV Choristers will travel to Caen, France for a two-week intensive rehearsal and performance process culminating in the world premiere multi-disciplinary opera O Future by composer Thierry Pécou.

More about the San Francisco Girls Chorus: www.sfgirlschorus.org/about
More about Valérie Sainte-Agathe: www.sfgirlschorus.org/valerie-sainte-agathe
More about Haruka Fujii: www.harukafujii.com/about

San Francisco Girls Chorus - Upcoming Highlights 

SFGC Premier Ensemble with Percussionist & Composer Haruka Fujii
May 19, 2024 at 3pm
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St, San Francisco, CA

Chorus School Spring Concert
Featuring a World Premiere by SFGC Composer-in-Residence Sahba Aminikia
May 30, 2024
Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Dr, Oakland, CA 94612 

Tickets & information: www.sfgirlschorus.org 

The San Francisco Girls Chorus receives support from Grants for the Arts, The Kimball Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Sequoia Trust, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The Sam Mazza Foundation, The Bernard Osher Foundation, and the Joseph and Vera Long Foundation.

May 17-18: Emerald City Music Presents Mother – Two Evenings of Music and Visual Storytelling Featuring the World Premiere of a Film by Carlin Ma

Photo of Carlin Ma by Elle Logan. Hi-Resolution available here.

Emerald City Music Presents Mother
Two Evenings of Music and Visual Storytelling
Featuring the World Premiere of a Film by Carlin Ma

“[Emerald City Music is] creating a welcoming and more inclusive
environment for intimate music-making” – The Seattle Times

Friday, May 17, 2024 at 8pm
415 on Westlake | 415 Westlake Avenue N | Seattle, WA
Tickets

Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 7:30pm
The Minnaert Center for the Arts | 2011 Mottman Rd SW | Olympia, WA
Tickets

www.emeraldcitymusic.org

Seattle & Olympia, WA – For its Season 08 finale, Emerald City Music (ECM) –– deemed “the beacon for the casual-classical movement” by City Arts Magazine –– presents a special program titled Mother, over two evenings on Friday, May 17, 2024 at 8pm in Seattle at 415 on Westlake (415 Westlake Avenue N) and Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 7:30pm in Olympia at The Minnaert Center for the Arts (2011 Mottman Rd SW). Featuring the world premiere of an ECM-commissioned documentary by filmmaker Carlin Ma, this Mother’s Day-minded program blends Ma’s community-based visual storytelling with the music of Antonín Dvorák, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Anna Clyne, and Johannes Brahms, performed by Mezzo Soprano Erica Convery; Pianist Oksana Ejokina; Violinists Kristin Lee, Sunmi Chang, Vanessa Moss, Karin Choo, Sol Im, Annika Kounts; Violists Erin Wight, Aaron Conitz, Elizabeth Boardman Cellists Christine Lee, Page Smith-Bilks, and Holly Reeves; Bassists Mas Podgorny, Ross Gilliland, and Ramon Salumbides.

Mothers are foundational to the human experience: a figure in the lives of every person – whether one associates as positive or negative, joyful or complex feelings with their own mother. Yet center-lane celebrations of Mother’s Day do not provide a wholly adequate platform for expressing the immensity of these complex relationships. In this collaborative initiative, Emerald City Music aligns the mediums of film and live music together to explore the true diverse stories of Pacific Northwesterners that coalesce to define one word: “mother.” These challenging and inspirational accounts – as told by community members and captured by filmmaker Carlin Ma – are presented alongside works by Dvorák, Brahms, Anna Clyne, and more that musically give voice to this ubiquitous theme.

Ma says of her film’s meaning and what she hopes comes from watching her work:

“To understand our essence and story, we must understand what formed us… our mothers. We need to recognize inherited patterns and decide whether to grasp or let go. It has been a humbling journey, collecting the kaleidoscope of human experiences and weaving them together into a cohesive mosaic, with representation across age, class, and race.

Short film chapters are juxtaposed between each musical selection. This way, audiences may digest their emotional reactions to each film through the music. My goal is to spark earnest conversations, so that we can share what really matters to our being, from the beautiful to the challenging. We need to listen and learn from one another. Then, we can truly connect, building towards hope and healing.”

Emerald City Music is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Known for its casual environment combined with performances by award-winning musicians, ECM encourages attendees to enjoy its flagship “date-night experience” at 415 on Westlake, which features an open bar and a “wander-around” concert setting with no stage dividing the audience from the musicians. The Seattle Times calls ECM’s programming “very different,” praising its “nontraditional atmosphere” which allows for “artists [to] mingle with the audience during the intermission.” To reach audiences beyond its live presentations, all of ECM’s concerts are recorded and made available on Emerald TV, ECM’s subscription-based streaming platform for performances and additional video content.

About Carlin Ma: Seeking means of discovery and expression, Carlin Ma has dedicated her life to music and the arts, including filmmaking, photography, solo piano, chamber music, and interdisciplinary projects.  As a professional photographer and filmmaker, she has collaborated with institutions such as Aspen Music Festival, Seattle Symphony, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Music@Menlo. Special merit recognitions include front page feature in Symphony Magazine, publications in major news outlets like New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle, and 1st place Aspen Chamber of Commerce Photo Contest. Carlin has been the resident photographer for Emeraldy City Music since their opening 2016.

As a pianist, she has performed at international prestigious venues including the Kennedy Center, Ravinia Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Capella Hall (Russia), and more. She finds it equally meaningful to initiate performances in local venues, including the inaugural Seattle Musicians@Google. As a pedagogue, she credits her mentors, including Menahem Pressler, Yoshi Nagai, Arnaldo Cohen, Evelyne Brancart, Emile Naoumoff, and Karen Taylor. Carlin was the Associate Instructor at Indiana University. In 2021-2023, Steinway & Sons awarded her with “Top Piano Teacher in Seattle” for her private studio.

Carlin finds music and film/photo emerging from the same internal chord, which has led to many interdisciplinary projects. He is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Hawaii International Music Festival, creating projects that interweave classical music with Hawaiian inspirations. Seattle Symphony also invited her as an interdisciplinary artist in Octave 9’s inaugural season. Fostering perpetual discovery for herself and others is her committed passion.

About Kristin Lee, ECM Artistic Director: Emerald City Music’s founding Artistic Director Kristin Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.” As a soloist, Lee has appeared with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic. She has performed on the world’s finest concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ravinia Festival, the Louvre Museum, the Phillips Collection, and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery. An accomplished chamber musician, Kristin Lee became a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center after winning The Bowers Program audition and completing the program's three-year residency. In addition to her prolific performance career, Lee is a devoted educator. She is on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin. Kristin Lee’s honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant and top prizes in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions. Born in Seoul, Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples, Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley. For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.

About ECM: Emerald City Music (ECM) is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" (CityArts), ECM hosts world-renowned musicians in unique concert experiences. Founded in 2015, Emerald City Music produces and tours seven productions annually, with each tour visiting Seattle’s South Lake Union (415 Westlake, a chic contemporary venue with an open bar), Olympia’s Minnaert Center (a 495 seat modern concert hall), a once annual concert at the Bellingham Music Festival, and an annual concert in New York City.

ECM has gained recognition regionally and nationally as a major player in the chamber music scene. Emerald City Music made a name for itself beginning in its second season with a national collaborative commission with Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams, and has continued to press the boundary of chamber music with accolades like a tour of Steve Reich’s iconic and rare Music for 18 Musicians, a pitch-black performance of Georg Haas’s “In the Dark” quartet, and the West Coast debut of the Danish folk group The Dreamers’ Circus.

ECM values real, authentic connection and holds the belief that music possesses the innate power to connect people, inclusive of varying backgrounds and perspectives. Over eight years, artists from every corner of the globe have visited Emerald City Music to prove just that: there exists a special connection between artist and listener that only music can facilitate.

Follow ECM on Social Media

Facebook: www.facebook.com/emeraldcitymusic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/emeraldcitymusic

May 4 & 7: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Berkeley Chamber Performances in Two Concerts

Photo of the Telegraph Quartet by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/telegraph-quartet

Telegraph Quartet Presented by
Berkeley Chamber Performances on May 4 and 7

Performing the Music of
Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák

Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 7:30pm
Lafayette Library | 3491 Mount Diablo Blvd. | Lafayette, CA

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 7:30pm
Berkeley City Club | 2315 Durant Ave. 2nd floor | Berkeley, CA

Tickets and More information

New Album: Divergent Paths (Azica Records)
Available Now

“The programming … bespeaks a wonderful boldness of spirit, and the [Quartet’s] performances, which are vibrant and full of exploratory fervor, follow through beautifully.” – San Francisco Chronicle

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Berkeley, CA – The San Francisco-based Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group described by The Strad as having "precise tuning, textural variety and impassioned communication,” will be presented in concert by Berkeley Chamber Performances on Saturday, May 4 at Lafayette Library (3491 Mount Diablo Blvd.) and Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at the Berkeley City Club (2315 Durant Ave. 2nd floor), performing the music of Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák.

The Telegraph Quartet formed in 2013 with an equal passion for standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as, “an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape” and “powerfully adept… with a combination of brilliance and subtlety,” the Telegraph Quartet was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. For these two concerts, the award-winning quartet will perform an array of works shaped by a mix of personal relationships, cultural experiences, and stylistic adventurousness.

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel wrote her String Quartet in the shadow of her highly praised brother Felix, taking a bold step and ultimately choosing to embrace her own musical voice rather than defer to a style or form that would have been more accepted by her sibling and long-time musical confidant. American composer Kenji Bunch’s third string quartet, Apocryphal Dances, is inspired by 17th century French dance music but the 12 minute work is not written with ardent fixation on the style. Bunch’s intent is for a light and lively experience between the performance of the quartet and the listening audience. Shifts in the melody, chord progressions, and rhythmic structure lead the work to reflect qualities of various musical styles. Dvořák crafted his String Quartet No. 14 in A flat-major –– his final chamber piece –– in two stages: starting around March 1895 when he was scheduled to depart the United States to return to his homeland and then revisiting the work in December 1895, after writing his Quartet in G Major. He finished the A flat-major in just under three weeks and the music largely reflects Dvořák’s spiritual temperament during this time, which was one of uplifting positivity and joy

The Telegraph Quartet’s latest album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths, was released on August 25 via Azica Records. The first in the Telegraph’s three-album series focused on string quartets of the first half of the 20th century, Divergent Paths explores the bewildering and unbridled creativity of the period through the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Maurice Ravel, whose music on this album weaves threads of great contrast and surprising similarity. The album has been met with critical acclaim, with The New York Times reporting, “[I]n the Schoenberg, they achieve something truly special, meticulously guiding its often wayward progress. At times Schoenberg makes the four strings sound almost orchestral, but the Telegraph players can also make his contrapuntal tangles radiantly clear. Every minute of their account sounds gripping and purposeful, which is one of the highest compliments you can pay the piece.”

More about Telegraph Quartet: The Telegraph Quartet has performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Masters Series, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival. They have collaborated with pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein; cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton; violinist Ian Swensen; composer-vocalist Theo Bleckmann; St. Lawrence Quartet, and the Henschel Quartett. A fervent champion of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, the Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by John Harbison, Osvaldo Golijov, Robert Sirota, and Richard Festinger. In 2018 the Quartet released its debut album, Into the Light, featuring works by Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten, and Leon Kirchner on the Centaur label. The Telegraph Quartet released its new album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths––which features Ravel’s renowned quartet and Schoenberg’s first quartet––on August 25 via Azica Records.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Quartet is currently on the chamber music faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as the Quartet-in-Residence and has given master classes at the SFCM Collegiate and Pre-College Divisions, through the Morrison Artist Series at San Francisco State University, and abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Telegraph has also served as artists-in-residence at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp, SoCal Chamber Music Workshop, and Crowden Music Center Chamber Music Workshop. In November 2020, the Telegraph Quartet launched ChamberFEAST!, a chamber music workshop in Taiwan and in fall 2020, Telegraph launched an online video project called TeleLab, in which the ensemble collectively breaks down the components of a movement from various works for quartet.

For more information, visit www.telegraphquartet.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: The award-winning Telegraph Quartet, described by The New York Times as being “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” is presented in two performances by Berkeley Chamber Performances on Saturday, May 4 and Tuesday May 7, 2024, at 7:30pm. The Bay Area ensemble performs music heavily shaped by the composers’ personal experiences and relationships, written in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet (1834), Kenji Bunch’s String Quartet No. 3 (2017), and Antonin Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105 B. 193 (1895).

Short description: The Telegraph Quartet, an ensemble “full of elegance and pinpoint control” (The New York Times), is presented in two concerts by Berkeley Chamber Performances on Saturday May 4 and Tuesday May 7, 2024, at 7:30pm. For each concert, the ensemble will perform the music of Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák.

Concert details:

Who: Telegraph Quartet
Presented by Berkeley Chamber Performances
What: Music by Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák
When & Where:
Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 7:30pm
Lafayette Library, 3491 Mount Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, CA 94549
Tuesday May 7, 2024 at 7:30pm
Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave 2nd floor, Berkeley, CA 94704

Tickets and information: www.berkeleychamberperform.org/telegraph-quartet

May 17: Magdalena Kuźma Explores the Concept of Home in Newport Classical's Next Chamber Series Concert

Photo by Dario Acosta available in high resolution here.

Magdalena Kuźma Sings Barber, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin

Friday, May 17, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Newport Classical Recital Hall | 42 Dearborn St | Newport, RI
Tickets and Information

“a voice that instantly engages the listener: shining, free, and lustrous”
– Seen and Heard International

Newport, RI – Following its sold-out performance by the Balourdet Quartet in April, Newport Classical presents its next Chamber Series concert featuring soprano Magdalena Kuźma on Friday, May 17, 2024 at 7:30pm at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.). Kuźma’s Newport Classical program explores the idea of home with works by Tom Cipullo, Frédéric Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Stefania Turkewich, Samuel Barber, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and Meredith Willson.

Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. The Chamber Series reaffirms Newport Classical’s commitment to year-round classical music programming. Audiences are invited to enjoy performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with a complimentary glass of wine from Greenvale Vineyards. Both performers and audience members alike have described these concerts as some of their favorites. “The energy of [the] performers and audience was amazing. A truly culturally diverse audience, something we all strive for in the arts,” raved one attendee.

Praised as a “standout” with “star quality” by Opera News, Polish-American Magdalena Kuźma is establishing a name for herself in both concert and operatic repertoire. A current Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist, Kuźma made her mainstage Met debut this season as Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore. This summer, she makes her role debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro as a Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival. Previously, she has appeared at Opera Orlando, Santa Fe Opera, Yale Opera, Oberlin Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and Teatro Petrarca. An avid recitalist, Kuźma recently performed with LyricFest and made her Wigmore debut with leading song pianist James Baillieu.

Magdalena Kuźma holds multiple degrees in music and social neuroscience from The Juilliard School, Oberlin College & Conservatory, and Yale University. Well known on the competition circuit, Kuźma won first place in the Butler International, SAS Performing Arts, Opera Ithaca, ACPC Sembrich, Pasadena Opera, Mississippi Opera, Partners for the Arts, and Concert Artists Guild competitions. Later this year she debuts various programs at The Green Music Center, Merkin Hall, Bruno Walter Theater, and the Society of the Four Arts. She is also a proud alumna of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, Santa Fe Opera, Ravinia Festival, Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, Houston Grand Opera's Young Artists Vocal Academy, Music Academy of the West, Chautauqua Institute, and The Bach Institute at Emmanuel Music.

More about the Concert Program:

Magdalena Kuźma’s concert explores the many facets of the word home. The program begins with music from both sides of Kuźma’s Polish-American heritage. American composer Tom Cipullo’s Late Summer song cycle sets the poetry of William Heyen, Emily Dickinson, and Stanley Kunitz to themes of sun-filled summer days. Composed in 1829, Chopin’s Polish Songs, Op. 74 was published posthumously in 1859 by Julian Fontana. Kuźma will perform “Życzenie” (“The Maiden’s Wish”) and “Wiosna” (“Spring”), the first two songs from Polish Songs. Kuźma continues her program with Rachmaninoff's Six Romances, Op. 38, which draws on the rich Russian romance tradition. 

Following intermission, Kuźma opens with a selection from Stefania Turkewich’s Ukrainian Folk Songs. Recognized widely as Ukraine’s first prominent woman composer, Turkewich blended modern musical styles with the traditions of Ukrainian folk music. Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 incorporates excerpts from James Agee’s writing of the same name, a prelude to his novel A Death in the Family. Knoxville was premiered in 1948 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky and featuring soprano soloist Eleanor Steber, who commissioned the piece. Since its premiere, Barber’s work has become a mainstay of the soprano repertoire. Closing out Kuźma’s Newport Classical concert are two hit songs from Broadway. “If I Loved You” from Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1945 show Carousel is penultimate on the program with “Goodnight, my someone” from Meredith Willson’s six-time, Tony Award-winning musical The Music Man closing the concert.

More about Magdalena Kuźma: www.magdalenakuzma.com

Up next, Newport Classical presents two free Community Concerts featuring Empire Wild on April 28, 2024 at Newport Craft Brewing (293 JT Connell Highway) and Invoke on May 19, 2024 at Miantonomi Memorial Park (120 Hillside Ave). On June 7, pianistic powerhouse Asiya Korepanova closes this season’s Chamber Series at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn Street) with music by Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, Beach, Chopin, and more. The 2024 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-21, 2024. Celebrating its 55th anniversary, this year the Festival includes 27 concerts held in 11 historic venues over 18 days featuring 120 artists. Highlights include Opening Night with the dynamic and inspiring Sphinx Virtuosi and cello soloist Thomas Mesa; a sensational recital by acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers; the return to Newport of Chanticleer, Canadian Brass, and A Far Cry with special guests Kinan Azmeh and Dinuk Wijeratne; the Music Festival debut of the storied, Boston-based Handel and Haydn Society; two enchanting evenings with Tony Award-winning Broadway star Laura Benanti, recently a featured guest on HBO’s The Gilded Age; plus performances by star pianists Lara Downes, Joyce Yang, Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner, Drew Petersen, and Daniel del Pino; and appearances by numerous celebrated chamber ensembles including the Isidore String Quartet; PUBLIQuartet; Duo Kayo; Lincoln Trio; Fenway Quintet; Poulenc Trio with accordionist Hanzhi Wang; and Sō Percussion with vocalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw.

For Newport Classical’s complete concert calendar, visit www.newportclassical.org/concerts

About Newport Classical:

Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc. and previously known as Newport Music Festival, Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 55 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.” 

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

May 17, 19: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein is Soloist with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 – Conducted by Music Director Dirk Brossé

Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/simone-dinnerstein

GRAMMY-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein is Soloist with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
in W.A. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major

Conducted by Music Director Dirk Brossé

Friday, May 17, 2024 at 7:30pm
Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 2:30pm
Perelman Theater, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
300 S Broad St. | Philadelphia, PA

Tickets and Information

“an intrepid artistic personality” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Simone Dinnerstein: www.simonedinnerstein.com

Philadelphia, PA – GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The New Yorker as an artist of “lean, knowing, and unpretentious elegance,” will be the featured soloist in two concerts with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia on Friday, May 17, 2024 at 7:30pm and Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 2:30pm. Dinnerstein will perform W.A. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major on a program led by Music Director Dirk Brossé that also includes George Walker‘s Lyric for Strings, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C major. The concert will be held in Perelman Theater of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (300 S Broad St.)

A familiar and cherished guest artist of The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Dinnerstein returns to perform with the chamber ensemble following a 2021 concert, which featured the work of J.S. Bach and Philip Glass. Of that concert, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that Dinnerstein “found a great deal of joy and liberation,” throughout the performance.

The Washington Post has called Simone Dinnerstein “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”

As a musician who embraces collaboration and inclusiveness with her artistry and performances, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major holds particular significance for Dinnerstein. Not only is the piece included on her 2017 album, Mozart in Havana, but the concerto served as a point of artistic connection between Dinnerstein and the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, with which she performed the piece while visiting Cuba in 2015, at the invitation of her teacher and esteemed pianist, Solomon Mikowsky. Gramophone describes Dinnerstein’s approach to piece, which she also recorded with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra for her album, as having a “wide yet subtle palette of tonal shadings and articulations,” while also applauding her “crisp fingerwork and strategic left-hand accents” in the concerto’s finale.

Dinnerstein says of reuniting with Dirk Brossé and performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia:

“It is an honor to be performing with Maestro Dirk Brossé for his final two concerts as Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. His sensitivity as a conductor makes him a joy to work with, and I am anticipating our Mozart collaboration with great pleasure.”

More about Simone Dinnerstein: Dinnerstein has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seoul Arts Center and Sydney Opera House. She has made thirteen albums, all of which topped the Billboard charts. During the pandemic she recorded three albums which form a trilogy: A Character of Quiet, An American Mosaic, and Undersong. An American Mosaic was nominated for a Grammy.

In recent years, Dinnerstein has created projects that express her broad musical interests. She gave the world premiere of The Eye Is the First Circle at Montclair State University, the first multi-media production she conceived, created, and directed, which uses as source materials her father Simon Dinnerstein’s painting The Fulbright Triptych and Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata No. 2. She premiered Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic, a tribute to those affected by the pandemic, in a performance on multiple pianos throughout Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the U.S. for the first time, performing eleven concerts. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for her, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras. Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals, and performed it at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and presented by LA Opera. Dinnerstein has also created her own ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs. The Washington Post comments, “it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative. For more information, please visit www.simonedinnerstein.com.

About The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia: The Berkshire Symphony is a 75-member symphonic orchestra comprising, in roughly equal proportions, Williams College music students, Williams music faculty members, and area professionals. The Symphony performs music by a range of composers, including Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and Wagner. The Berkshire Symphony was founded in 1946 and is directed by Ronald Feldman.

The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, a founding resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, is a 33-member professional ensemble led by Music Director, Sir Dirk Brossé. Established in 1964 by Marc Mostovoy, and originally named Concerto Soloists, the orchestra has a well-established reputation for distinguished performances of repertoire spanning the Baroque period through the 21st century.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “an intrepid artistic personality,” is presented as a guest soloist in two concerts with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, performing W.A. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major –– a lively work featured on Dinnerstein’s 2017 Sony Classical album, Mozart in Havana. Conducted by Music Director Dirk Brossé, the concert program will also include George Walker’s Lyric for Strings, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C major.

Short description: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, “an intrepid artistic personality” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) will be a guest soloist with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia in two performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major. Led by Music Director Dirk Brossé, the program will also include Walker’s Lyric and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C major.

Concert details:

Who: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Conducted by Music Director Dirk Brossé
Presented by The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
What: Music by W.A. Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and George Walker
When: Friday, May 17, 2024 at 7:30pm and Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 2:30pm
Where: Perelman Theater, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S Broad St Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tickets and information: www.chamberorchestra.org/project/mozart-dinnerstein-piano-2024

May 19: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Neskowin Chamber Music Performing the Music of Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák

Available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/telegraph-quartet

Telegraph Quartet Presented by Neskowin Chamber Music

Performing the Music of
Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák

Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm
The Chapel at Camp Wi-Ne-Ma | 5195 Wi Ne Ma Road | Cloverdale, OR
Tickets and More information

New Album: Divergent Paths (Azica Records)
Available Now

“full of elegance and pinpoint control” – The New York Times

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Cloverdale, OR – On Sunday, May 19, 2024, the San Francisco-based Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group described by The Strad as having "precise tuning, textural variety and impassioned communication,” will be presented in concert by Neskowin Chamber Music at The Chapel at Camp Wi-Ne-Ma (5195 Wi Ne Ma Road) performing the music of Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák.

The Telegraph Quartet formed in 2013 with an equal passion for standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as, “an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape” and “powerfully adept… with a combination of brilliance and subtlety,” the Telegraph Quartet was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. For this performance, the award-winning quartet will perform an array of works shaped by a mix of personal relationships, cultural experiences, and stylistic adventurousness.

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel wrote her String Quartet in the shadow of her highly praised brother Felix, taking a bold step and ultimately choosing to embrace her own musical voice rather than defer to a style or form that would have been more accepted by her sibling and long-time musical confidant. American composer Kenji Bunch’s third string quartet, Apocryphal Dances, is inspired by 17th century French dance music but the 12 minute work is not written with ardent fixation on the style. Bunch’s intent is for a light and lively experience between the performance of the quartet and the listening audience. Shifts in the melody, chord progressions, and rhythmic structure lead the work to reflect qualities of various musical styles. Dvořák crafted his String Quartet No. 14 in A flat-major –– his final chamber piece –– in two stages: starting around March 1895 when he was scheduled to depart the United States to return to his homeland and then revisiting the work in December 1895, after writing his Quartet in G Major. He finished the A flat-major in just under three weeks and the music largely reflects Dvořák’s spiritual temperament during this time, which was one of uplifting positivity and joy

The Telegraph Quartet’s latest album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths, was released on August 25 via Azica Records. The first in the Telegraph’s three-album series focused on string quartets of the first half of the 20th century, Divergent Paths explores the bewildering and unbridled creativity of the period through the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Maurice Ravel, whose music on this album weaves threads of great contrast and surprising similarity. The album has been met with critical acclaim, with The New York Times reporting, “[I]n the Schoenberg, they achieve something truly special, meticulously guiding its often wayward progress. At times Schoenberg makes the four strings sound almost orchestral, but the Telegraph players can also make his contrapuntal tangles radiantly clear. Every minute of their account sounds gripping and purposeful, which is one of the highest compliments you can pay the piece.”

More about Telegraph Quartet: The Telegraph Quartet has performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Masters Series, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival. They have collaborated with pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein; cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton; violinist Ian Swensen; composer-vocalist Theo Bleckmann; St. Lawrence Quartet, and the Henschel Quartett. A fervent champion of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, the Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by John Harbison, Osvaldo Golijov, Robert Sirota, and Richard Festinger. In 2018 the Quartet released its debut album, Into the Light, featuring works by Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten, and Leon Kirchner on the Centaur label. The Telegraph Quartet released its new album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths––which features Ravel’s renowned quartet and Schoenberg’s first quartet––on August 25 via Azica Records.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Quartet is currently on the chamber music faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as the Quartet-in-Residence and has given master classes at the SFCM Collegiate and Pre-College Divisions, through the Morrison Artist Series at San Francisco State University, and abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Telegraph has also served as artists-in-residence at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp, SoCal Chamber Music Workshop, and Crowden Music Center Chamber Music Workshop. In November 2020, the Telegraph Quartet launched ChamberFEAST!, a chamber music workshop in Taiwan and in fall 2020, Telegraph launched an online video project called TeleLab, in which the ensemble collectively breaks down the components of a movement from various works for quartet.

For more information, visit www.telegraphquartet.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: The award-winning Telegraph Quartet, described by The New York Times as being “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” is presented in concert by Neskowin Chamber Music on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm. The Bay Area ensemble will perform a concert program featuring works that are greatly shaped by the composers’ personal experiences and relationships, written from the 19th to the 21st centuries: Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet (1834), Kenji Bunch’s String Quartet No. 3 (2017), and Antonin Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105 B. 193 (1895).

Short description: The Telegraph Quartet, which is described as “full of elegance and pinpoint control” (The New York Times), is presented in concert by Neskowin Chamber Music on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm. The ensemble will perform the music of Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák.

Concert details:

Who: Telegraph Quartet
Presented by Neskowin Chamber Music
What: Music by Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Antonin Dvořák
When: Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm
Where: The Chapel at Camp Wi-Ne-Ma; 5195 Wi Ne Ma Road; Cloverdale, OR 97112
Tickets and information: www.neskowinchambermusic.com/2023-2024-season.html

The Birch Festival Returns for Spring: Featuring The Soldier’s Tale by Igor Stravinsky Conducted by Fernanda Lastra – Performed by Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra & More

Announcing The Birch Festival Spring Edition: May 18-20, 2024
Yevgeny Kutik, Artistic Director & Rachel Barker, Executive Director

Featuring The Soldier’s Tale by Igor Stravinsky
Conducted by Fernanda Lastra with Narrator to be Announced
Featuring Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra & More

Tickets and Registration Information: www.thebirchfestival.org

Lenox & Pittsfield, MA — Following a highly successful launch in fall 2023, The Birch Festival returns with a spring edition from May 18-20, 2024, bringing three days of music-making, yoga, and community engagement to the Berkshires. The Festival was founded last year by Lenox-based husband-and-wife team Yevgeny Kutik, an internationally renowned violinist who serves as Artistic Director, and writer/educator Rachel Barker, who is the non-profit organization’s Executive Director.

The Birch Festival’s mission is to bring world-leading musicians for artist residencies in Berkshire County schools, and work in tandem with local business and cultural partnerships. Kutik, a Belarusian-Jewish refugee resettled in Pittsfield by the Jewish Federation in the 1990s, named the festival for his grandmother Sima Berezkina, whose last name means “birch tree.” With significance in many global cultures, birch trees symbolize growth, resilience, and adaptability – qualities that Sima embodied.

The Birch Festival promotes and propels distinct voices in music, whether through new composition or creative interpretation of old favorites. The Festival offers leading musicians a chance to play and establish relationships in the Berkshires, while recognizing the importance of their work by offering compensation that sustains and values their efforts in this industry.

On Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 9:30am, The Birch Festival Co-Founder and Executive Director Rachel Barker will open the May edition of the Festival with a free community yoga class at The Church on the Hill Chapel (55 Main St. Lenox) in the beautiful labyrinth room. At 11:00am, also at The Church on the Hill Chapel, Barker will lead a workshop linking The Soldier's Tale to the archetypal elements of the Tarot.

The May edition of The Birch Festival features two performances of Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 4pm at Duffin Theater, ​​Lenox Memorial High School (197 East St., Lenox) and Monday, May 20, 2024 at 6pm at Zion Lutheran Church (74 First St., Pittsfield). The performances will be led by rising-star maestra Fernanda Lastra, currently assistant conductor with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The performing ensemble will comprise some of the many leading instrumentalists who make the Berkshires such a musically rich community, including several members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The featured performers will be bassist Edwin Barker, violinist Yevgeny Kutik, trombonist Toby Oft, clarinetist Rob Patterson, bassoonist Rick Ranti, trumpeter Tom Siders, and percussionist Mike Williams. Each concert will also include solo and ensemble pieces performed by members of the ensemble.

In addition, the musicians will participate in community outreach by performing for the band, orchestra, and theater students of Pittsfield High School, furthering the Birch Festival’s goal of engaging the Berkshire community. Through school and community visits, The Birch Festival also encourages new audiences and builds community rapport by offering free tickets to any school-aged child and an adult family member, and prioritizing event accessibility for young adults.

“I’m excited to present Stravinsky’s beloved tale with such a great ensemble of musicians and colleagues,” says Kutik. “This work was originally conceived as a community theatrical work, presented from town to town. This spirit of sharing music with the community is exactly what The Birch Festival strives for. We can’t wait to see and connect with members of our community throughout the weekend.”

The Birch Festival’s Spring Events

Yoga by Birch with Rachel Barker

Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 9:30am
Church on the Hill Chapel
55 Main St., Lenox, MA

Join Rachel Barker, yoga and meditation instructor (E-RYT® 200, YACEP®), for a community free yoga class in the Church on the Hill Chapel’s beautiful labyrinth room. Free, registration required, limited to 10 participants. Please bring your own mats.

The Soldier’s Tale and the Tarot Workshop with Rachel Barker

Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 11:00am
Church on the Hill Chapel
55 Main St., Lenox, MA

A workshop linking The Soldier's Tale to the archetypal elements of the Tarot. Free, registration required, donations welcome, limited to 35 participants.

The Birch Festival Lenox Performance – Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)

Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 4pm
Duffin Theater, ​​Lenox Memorial High School
197 East St., Lenox, MA

Join The Birch Festival for a thrilling performance of Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) and other performances by the ensemble. $20 per person; K-12 children and one guardian attend for free.

The Birch Festival Pittsfield Performance – Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)

Monday, May 20, 2024 at 6pm
Zion Lutheran Church
74 First St., Pittsfield, MA

The Birch Festival ensemble will give a second performance of the program at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, after visiting Pittsfield High School earlier in the day for performance and educational outreach. $20 per person; KK-12 children and one guardian attend for free.

For The Birch Festival’s Complete Spring Schedule, Event Registration, and Details visit: www.thebirchfestival.org/events

About Yevgeny Kutik: With a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique” (The New York Times), violinist Yevgeny Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old-world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is also lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of both standard works and newly composed repertoire.

A native of Minsk, Belarus, Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and immigrated to the US with his family at the age of five. An advocate for the Jewish Federations of North America, the organization that assisted his family in coming to the US, he regularly speaks and performs across the country to promote the assistance of refugees from around the world. Kutik’s discography, all on Marquis Classics, includes The Death of Juliet and Other Tales (2021), Meditations on Family (Marquis Classics 2019), Words Fail (2016), Music from the Suitcase (2014), and Sounds of Defiance (2012).

In August 2022, Kutik gave the world premiere of Cântico, a work for solo violin by Andreia Pinto Correia, at the Tanglewood Music Festival. The work was co-commissioned for Kutik by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Yevgeny Kutik was a featured soloist in Joseph Schwantner’s The Poet’s Hour – Soliloquy for Violin on episode six of Gerard Schwarz’s All-Star Orchestra, a made-for-television classical music concert series released on DVD by Naxos and broadcast nationally on PBS. In 2021, Kutik made his debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Leonard Slatkin, performing the world premiere of Schwantner’s Violin Concerto, an expansion of The Poet’s Hour written specifically for Kutik. In 2019, he made his debuts at the Kennedy Center, presented by Washington Performing Arts, and at the Ravinia Festival. Kutik made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops as the First Prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. In 2006, he was awarded the Salon de Virtuosi Grant as well as the Tanglewood Music Center Jules Reiner Violin Prize.

Kutik holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and currently resides in Boston. Kutik’s violin was crafted in Italy in 1915 by Stefano Scarampella.

For more information, please visit www.yevgenykutik.com.

About Rachel Barker: Rachel Barker is an educator and writer with over a decade of experience working in public and international schools and currently writes about science and engineering for Harvard University.

Barker has been awarded spots in writers workshops for both nonfiction and fiction, including the Key West Literary Seminar, the Aspen Institute's Aspen Summer Words, and multiple residencies with Write On, Door County. She has consulted and presented for a number of organizations throughout the country, including the Yale Council for African Studies, Flint Institute of Music, Boston University's African Studies Center, Primary Source, and the Wayland/Weston Interfaith Council on Teaching Religion in Schools.

Rachel Barker’s MEd. is from Boston College, where she graduated with a focus on social justice and teaching English language learners. Her undergraduate degree in Anthropology is from Boston University, and she currently studies Religion at Harvard University.

Follow The Birch Festival on Social Media

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thebirchfestival
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/the-birch-festival/

April 26: Pianist Sarah Cahill Performs Music by Women Composers from Around the Globe in The Future is Female – Presented by Detroit Institute of Arts Friday Night Live! Series

Photo of Sarah Cahill by Miranda Sanborn available in high-resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/sarah-cahill

Pianist Sarah Cahill Performs Music by Women Composers
from Around the Globe in The Future is Female

Presented by Detroit Institute of Arts Friday Night Live! Series

Friday, April 26, 2024 from 7:00-8:30pm
Detroit Institute of the Arts | Rivera Court | 5200 Woodward Ave. | Detroit, MI

More Information

“a series distinctive for its finesse and conviction”
– Gramophone Magazine on The Future is Female

Watch Sarah Cahill’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert

www.sarahcahill.com

Detroit, MI – On Friday, April 26, 2024 from 7:00-8:30pm, Sarah Cahill, described as “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by The New York Times, will perform music from her ongoing project The Future is Female in a free concert presented by the Detroit Institute of the Arts as part of its Friday Night Live! series in DIA’s Rivera Court (5200 Woodward Ave.). The Future is Female is Cahill’s exploration of music for solo piano by women composers from the Baroque to the present day, which now includes more than 70 pieces from around the globe, some commissioned by Cahill as part of the project. This is her second time bringing music from The Future is Female to Detroit – she last performed a different selection of works at DIA in March 2019.

For this concert, Cahill will perform music for solo piano by women composers spanning from 1687 to 2020, encompassing the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods. Her program includes selections from Keyboard Suite in D minor (1687) by Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, Piano Poems (2020) by Regina Harris Baiocchi, “Le murmure des blés” from Au sein de la nature (1908) by Leokadiya Kashperova, Music for Piano (1989/1997) by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Two Etudes, Op. 26 (1839) by Louise Farrenc; A Mother’s Sacrifice (1908) by Viola Kinney, Sonata No. 9, Op. 5 No. 3 (1811) by Hélène de Montgeroult, Valse Choro No. 2 (1965) by Adelaide Pereira da Silva, Hermit Thrush at Eve, Op. 92 No. 1 (1921) by Amy Beach, Troubled Water (1967) by Margaret Bonds, Rang de Basant (2012) by Reena Esmail, and Nocturne in B-flat Major (1819) by Maria Szymanowska.

Since her last visit to Detroit, Sarah Cahill has been featured performing music from The Future is Female in an NPR Tiny Desk concert as well as in eight-hour marathon performances at the Barbican Centre in London and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, both celebrating International Women’s Day. She has also brought the project to venues across the U.S. including Carolina Performing Arts in Chapel Hill, NC; Carlsbad Music Festival in San Diego, CA; the University of Iowa; Bowling Green New Music Festival in Ohio; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; North Dakota Museum of Art; the EXTENSITY Concert Series’ Women Now Festival in New York; the Newport Classical Music Festival in Rhode Island, and more.

In addition, Cahill recorded 30 works from The Future is Female on a three-volume set of albums released in 2022 and 2023 on the First Hand Records label, which included many world premiere recordings and was widely acclaimed by publications including in the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, BBC Music Magazine, International Piano, The Wire, Gramophone Magazine, and more. BBC Music Magazine reported, “the American pianist [Sarah Cahill] takes us on a chronological journey that zips around the world, stitching together contrasting styles into an enjoyable musical patchwork,” while New Music Buff notes the “impressive command of baroque, classical, romantic, and modern idioms” that Cahill brings to these recordings.

Listen to The Future is Female, Vols. 1-3 (First Hand Records):

Vol. 1: https://lnkfi.re/CahillFutureisFemaleVol1
Vol. 2: https://lnkfi.re/CahillFutureisFemaleVol2
Vol. 3: https://lnkfi.re/CahillFutureisFemaleVol3

Sarah Cahill began working on The Future is Female in 2018. She says:

“For decades I had been working with many living American composers, including Pauline Oliveros, Tania León, Eve Beglarian, Mary D. Watkins, Julia Wolfe, Ursula Mamlok, Meredith Monk, Annea Lockwood, and many more, but I felt an urgent need to explore neglected composers from the past, and from around the globe. Like most pianists, I grew up with the classical canon, which has always excluded women composers as well as composers of color. It is still standard practice to perform recitals consisting entirely of music written by men. The Future is Female, then, aims to be a corrective towards rebalancing the repertoire. It does not attempt to be exhaustive . . . The possibilities are, in fact, limitless.”

More about Sarah Cahill: Sarah Cahill, hailed as “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by The New York Times, has commissioned and premiered over seventy compositions for solo piano. Composers who have dedicated works to Cahill include John Adams, Terry Riley, Frederic Rzewski, Pauline Oliveros, Julia Wolfe, Roscoe Mitchell, Annea Lockwood, and Ingram Marshall. She was named a 2018 Champion of New Music, awarded by the American Composers Forum (ACF).

Cahill’s latest project is The Future is Female, an investigation and reframing of the piano literature featuring more than seventy compositions by women around the globe, from the Baroque to the present day, including new commissioned works. Recent and upcoming performances of The Future is Female include concerts at The Barbican, Carolina Performing Arts, National Gallery of Art, Carlsbad Music Festival, Detroit Institute of Arts, University of Iowa, Bowling Green New Music Festival, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, North Dakota Museum of Art, Mayville State University, the EXTENSITY Concert Series’ Women Now Festival in New York, and the Newport Classical Music Festival. Cahill also performed music from The Future is Female for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series.

Sarah Cahill’s discography includes more than twenty albums on the New Albion, CRI, New World, Tzadik, Albany, Innova, Cold Blue, Other Minds, Irritable Hedgehog, and Pinna labels. Her three-album series, The Future is Female, was released on First Hand Records between March 2022 and April 2023. These albums encompass 30 compositions by women from around the globe, from the 17th century to the present day, and include many world premiere recordings.

Cahill’s radio show, Revolutions Per Minute, can be heard every Sunday evening from 8 to 10 pm on KALW, 91.7 FM in San Francisco. She is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory and is a regular pre-concert speaker with the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

For more information, visit www.sarahcahill.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Pianist Sarah Cahill, described as “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by The New York Times, will perform music from her ongoing project The Future is Female in a free concert presented by the Detroit Institute of the Arts as part of its Friday Night Live! Series. The Future is Female is Cahill’s exploration of music for solo piano by women composers from the Baroque to the present day, which includes more than 70 pieces from around the globe, some commissioned by or for Cahill as part of the project. Cahill will perform works by Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, Regina Harris Baiocchi, Leokadiya Kashperova, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Louise Farrenc, Viola Kinney, Hélène de Montgeroult, Adelaide Pereira da Silva, Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Reena Esmail, and Maria Szymanowska.

Short description: Pianist Sarah Cahill, “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” (The New York Times), will perform music from her ongoing project The Future is Female in a free concert presented by the Detroit Institute of the Arts as part of its Friday Night Live! Series. The Future is Female is Cahill’s exploration of music for solo piano by women composers from the Baroque to the present day, which includes more than 70 pieces from around the globe. This concert will include music by Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre; Regina Harris Baiocchi, Leokadiya Kashperova, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Louise Farrenc, Viola Kinney, Hélène de Montgeroult, Adelaide Pereira da Silva, Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Reena Esmail, and Maria Szymanowska.

Concert details:

Who: Pianist Sarah Cahill
Presented by Detroit Institute of Arts, Friday Night Live! Series
What: Music by Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, Regina Harris Baiocchi, Leokadiya Kashperova, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Louise Farrenc, Viola Kinney, Hélène de Montgeroult, Adelaide Pereira da Silva, Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Reena Esmail, and Maria Szymanowska.
When: Friday, April 26, 2024 from 7:00-8:30pm
Where: Rivera Court, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202
Tickets and information: www.dia.org/events/saturday-night-live-sarah-cahill-future-female

Cellist Pablo Ferrández Releases Night Sessions Vol. 2 on Sony Classical

Private Moments from Cellist Pablo Ferrández

Sony Classical Releases Night Sessions Vol. 2

Out Today – Listen Here

For his latest EP on Sony Classical, Pablo Ferrández invites listeners to eavesdrop on some of the most intimate and meaningful moments in his life.

Each track on Night Sessions Vol. 2 is connected to a memory dear to the Spanish cellist’s life. It opens with the serene melody of Elgar’s Salut d’Amour - music that came on the radio each evening when Ferrández was bathed by his mother as a baby. ‘I recorded this song for her,’ he says.

The cellist’s intimate recital continues with the first music he played outside Spain, a work Alexander Glazunov dedicated to the Tsar’s cellist in 1901, Chant du ménestrel. Playing this sensitive, poetic piece in the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow was, for the teenage Ferrández, ‘the biggest deal’.

Saint-Saëns’s ‘The Swan’ - the most popular movement of the composer’s Carnival of the Animals - holds special memories for the cellist. He heard it performed by a hotel band while on holiday with his family as a child, and recalls eventually being invited to join the musicians to perform it. The piece gets a soulful performance here from Ferrández and his partner on all four tracks, the pianist Julien Quentin.

More recent memories are evoked by the final track, Schumann’s ‘Du bist wie eine Blume’, an arrangement of the song in which the composer compared his wife Clara to a flower in bloom. This was the music played when Ferrández and his fiancé walked up the aisle to marry recently, and was recorded by the cellist ‘as a little present’ for his new wife. 

In his new EP played from the heart, Ferrández sets out ‘to bring listeners with me into these pictures of my life.’

Pablo Ferrández was born in 1991 Madrid and named after the great Spanish cellist, Pablo Casals. He released his debut solo album on Sony in 2021 to critical acclaim and has since recorded as a concerto partner with Anne-Sophie Mutter and won an Opus Klassik Award.

Six Pieces For Solo Violin Composed by Sophia Jani & Performed by Teresa Allgaier Releasing May 17 via Squama Recordings

Photo credit:Tonda Bardehle. Hi-resolution available here.

Six Pieces For Solo Violin
Composed by Sophia Jani & Performed by Teresa Allgaier

First Single “Arpeggio” Out Now
LISTEN

Release Date: May 17, 2024
Squama Recordings

Review CDs and downloads available upon request.

www.sophiajani.com | www.teresaallgaier.de | www.squamarecordings.com

German contemporary composer Sophia Jani and violinist Teresa Allgaier announce their new album, Six Pieces for Solo Violin, which will be released on May 17, 2024 on Munich-based label Squama Recordings. Jani composed Six Pieces for Solo Violin between 2020 and 2023, and with it challenges the notion of simplicity as a parameter, weaving a tapestry of gentle consonance that invites contemplation and honors the violin as an instrument. The first single, "Arpeggio," is out now. The enchanting second movement is a testament to Jani and Allgaier's musical approach, seamlessly blending tradition with contemporary ideas.

In his liner notes, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang writes of Six Pieces: “The music here, in all its movements, gives the illusion of simplicity. It employs a mostly consonant language, it unfolds gently and with great delicacy and leisure, and it searches for an honest and direct way of moving forward.”

The uniqueness of Sophia Jani’s composition is immediately apparent with the intriguing choice of recording seven tracks for an album titled Six Pieces For Solo Violin. Here, Jani uses the opening track “Prelude” as a deliberate and separate introduction into a world where rules are bent and expectations challenged. The “Prelude” serves as a guide to unveil the philosophy behind her music. With each unhurried phrase, the solo violin unfolds a new tone quality, introducing double stops, tremolos, and arpeggios that serve as precursors to the diverse movements within the album: “Scordatura,” “Arpeggio,” “Triads,” “Capriccio,” “Grandezza,” and “Ricochet.” What characterizes the music is its calmness and poise; where each individual piece focuses on a particular technical aspect.

Composer Sophia Jani is based in Munich, but from 2023-2025 is composer-in-residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Her music has recently been performed across the U.S. by the New Jersey Symphony, Bang on a Can, pianist Eunbi Kim, and the Goldmund Quartet, among others, at venues including Lincoln Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, MASS MoCa, and New York Public Radio’s The Greene Space. A graduate of the University of Augsburg, the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, and the Yale University School of Music where she studied with Martin Bresnick and David Lang, Jani was also the 2023 musical Artist in Residence at the Arvo Pärt Centre.

The new album was recorded by violinist Teresa Allgaier, who embodies the restrained virtuosity essential to bring this subtle music to life. Her confident and elegant performance adds an extra layer of sophistication, complementing Jani’s vision. Jani and Allgaier are longtime collaborators. Together they are co-founders and artistic directors of Feet Become Ears, a platform that commissions, presents, and celebrates contemporary chamber music.

Of Six Pieces, Jani says, “What I find interesting about the violin is that it has remained the same for a few hundred years and has not really evolved. The great important violin cycles (Bieber, Bach, Paganini, Isaye, Lang) were not so much a reaction to the development of the instrument itself – unlike the piano for example – but about what kind of music could be written on it and what the players should be able to do. So the repertoire developed more based on the tastes of a certain period and who wrote for whom than motivated by technical advancement. Teresa and I asked ourselves what our contribution as two women of the 21st century could be in this context.”

“My work on the Six Pieces reminded me of working on the Bach Sonatas and Partitas,” says Allgaier. “It’s such delicate, noble music – every note, every phrase wants to be explored and understood in order to be able to let go and approach it with a fresh mind and fantasy. For the recording, I wanted to be in that specific state where I am not standing in the way of the music.”

Watch Sophia And Teresa Discuss Six Pieces for Solo Violin

Watch Teresa Perform III - "Triad" - from Six Pieces for Solo Violin

About Sophia Jani: Sophia Jani is a German composer of contemporary classical music who takes a poetically minimalist approach to composition. Her music has recently been performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the Munich Symphony, Bang on a Can, the Goldmund Quartet, vocal sextet Sjaella and pianist Eunbi Kim among others. Performance venues include the Elbphilharmonie, Lincoln Center, Meyerson Symphony Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, MASS MoCa, as well as New York Public Radio’s The Greene Space. She has also contributed music to successful film, theatre, dance and album projects.

Jani is the 2023-2025 Composer-in-Residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and was the 2023 Musical Artist in Residence of the Arvo Pärt Centre, as well as the recipient of the APC Residency Fellowship. In addition to her work as a composer, Jani is passionate about building a diverse and international community of artists that open-mindedly addresses the challenges notated music faces in the 21st century. To that end, alongside Teresa Allgaier, she is one of the founders and artistic directors of Feet Become Ears, which is a platform that commissions, presents, and celebrates contemporary chamber music.

Jani holds degrees from the University of Augsburg, the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and the Yale University School of Music where she studied with Martin Bresnick and David Lang, made possible through the generous support of the Fulbright foundation.

About Teresa Allgaier: Violinist Teresa Allgaier shifts her focus between classical contemporary music and experimental pop music, whilst always looking for the spell of a comforting yet stirring tone in her sound and music-making. She works in collaboration with emerging composers and bands, performs with her string ensemble Kontai Ensemble and writes music for her Chamber Pop duo Fallwander.

As a soloist Teresa has performed with various orchestras in the past, interpreting violin concertos by Bach, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Khachaturian, Pärt and Riley. She most recently performed the solo part in a recomposition of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons in a concert addressing climate change with Tonwerkorchester and Fridays For Future at the Herkulessaal Munich. Other concert and theater productions have taken her to venues such as the Barbican Theatre London, Wigmore Hall London, Vienna Musikverein, Kammerspiele Munich, Philharmonie Munich or Volksbühne Berlin. Teresa plays in the live ensembles of Ralph Heidel and Carlos Cipa and in the Ensemble Reflektor. She took part in the International Ensemble Modern Academy at the Klangspuren Festival in Austria and has performed several times at the Fusion Festival, X-Jazz Festival, Reeperbahn Festival, Überjazz Festival and many others.

Teresa studied classical violin at the University of Music and Drama Munich with Prof. Ingolf Turban and Prof. Sonja Korkeala and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama London with Prof. Alexander Janiczek, followed by a year of studies on the ‚International Cooperation Master New Music’ programme in Bern/Dresden/Salzburg. She is currently based in Leipzig and Munich.

Track List:
Six Pieces For Solo Violin
Composed by Sophia Jani and Performed by Teresa Allgaier

1. Prelude [2:42]
2. I. Scordatura [5:57]
3. II. Arpeggio [8:05]
4. III. Triads [6:12]
5. IV. Capriccio [3:56]
6. V. Grandezza [6:33]
7. VI. Ricochet [7:52]
Total Time: [41:20]

Recorded by Noel Riedel at Maria Trost, Nesselwang
Mixed and Mastered by Martin Ruch
Produced by Martin Brugger
Designed by Maximilian Schachtner
Liner Notes by David Lang

May 17: Sony Classical Releases Two Orchestral Works by Danny Elfman Featuring Percussionist Colin Currie and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by JoAnn Falletta

Sony Classical Releases Two Major Orchestral Works by Danny Elfman

The Percussion Concerto with – Colin Currie – and Wunderkammer
featuring the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 

Conducted by JoAnn Falletta

New Single: Percussion Concerto I. Triangle – Out Today  
Listen Here

Album Release Date: May 17, 2024 

Danny Elfman, known the world over for his scores to over 115 movies, including numerous collaborations with directors Tim Burton, Gus van Sant and Sam Raimi, not to mention the classic theme for The Simpsons, adds two major orchestral works to his recorded catalog. The dynamic American conductor JoAnn Falletta directs the forces of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in this new studio recording.

The Percussion Concerto was written for the Scottish virtuoso Colin Currie and was co-commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who gave the world premiere at London’s Royal Festival Hall in May 2022, and Soka University of America. The concerto is Elfman’s third work in the form, following the Violin Concerto, Eleven Eleven, of 2017 (also recorded by Sony Classical) and the Cello Concerto of 2022. ‘The audience were captivated by Colin Currie’s every move as he performed the piece. Darting across the stage between instruments, Currie is a true showman,’ wrote Amy Melling (Abundant Art) of the US premiere. 

Elfman says: “I met Colin by chance when I was in London working on a score, and he came into the studio. We started talking, and I started getting an idea in my head, just a kernel. And literally while I was talking to him I got excited about the idea of what I was calling the triangle. And he says, "What do you mean?" I go, "I'm imagining you in front of the orchestra with all these instruments and two small percussion ensembles to your right and to your left, always echoing and playing off of what you're doing and creating this kind of sonic percussion triangle." And he's like, "Well, that sounds interesting." And then once I get it in my head, I'm hopeless. It's like I'm stuck!”

Triangle forms the first section of this four-movement work for strings and percussion. The second is a tribute to a composer Elfman reveres, Dmitri Shostakovich, and uses the DSCH (D, E flat, C, B) signature motif that the composer wove into many of his works, and which Elfman sneaks into most of his concert pieces too. (He actually has DSCH tattooed on his shoulders!) The third is the work’s most harmonically adventurous. He says: “Inevitably it’s the third movement where I feel, ‘Oh, I've written a lot of really crazy stuff in the first and second movements, I really need to pull myself in here and find myself with my third movement before ending with a bang! Which it does!’

I knew Colin was a devotee of Steve Reich and many contemporary percussion composers that I knew from my youth. I was really thinking about keeping him moving, moving, moving all the time and interlocking sensibilities. You get kind of caught up in the soloist’s personality and the challenge is writing for that personality.”

Wunderkammer, a concerto for orchestra, was written for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, which toured the piece in the UK before playing it at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall in August 2022. ‘Wunderkammer lived up to its name, as one door after another opened to reveal a striking nugget of loosely-connected musical material,’ wrote Boyd Tonkin (The Arts Desk) of the Proms performance.

Elfman says: “It was written for the kids, just to have some fun with them, and give them something that's fun for them to play. It was very clear to me when I saw them play in London that they were very capable and that it made no sense to me to try to write down for them, try to write simply. It was actually quite the opposite. I was thinking, "Write something that's very difficult and very challenging that they could get their teeth into because they're quite capable." And I could see in some of the really difficult sections how it wouldn't intimidate them, it would just perk them up. I love seeing that with musicians.

‘I have the hardest time coming up with titles, but the idea came into my head of a Wunderkammer, a wonder room just filled with little, lovely, strange, odd treasures. I said, "Oh, I like that image." I even have an 18th-century book called Wunderkammer, an oddity, from a collection of an Austrian duke or aristocrat. A Wunderkammer can be fun, or scary, intriguing or instructive, but never normal or boring! And that’s just what I was hoping to bring to the players of the NYOGB’.” 

Talking of his concert music, Elfman commented: “I have a friend who's a novelist, and I guess it's the same thing for him. It's starting those first words on the piece of paper that can be brutally difficult, but there is a point where the momentum of the piece starts to feel like it's carrying me along, and that is my joy in writing, those moments. It's because I've had those moments writing for film here and there that it attracted me to the idea of what if I got an idea and I didn't have to stop? I can keep developing it.”

The album is completed with a short choral piece in French, ‘Are you lost?’, from Elfman’s song-cycle Trio. Scored for women’s voices, piano, strings and various percussion

instruments, the work was actually premiered at the recording sessions in Liverpool, and give a glimpse at a sonic world that we don’t usually associate with the composer: gentle, reflective and delicate.

The Percussion Concerto and Wunderkammer are released by Sony Classical on May 17, 2024. New single: Percussion Concerto I. Triangle is out today: listen here

May 11: Violinist Kristin Lee is Featured Soloist with Symphony Tacoma

Photo by Lauren Desberg available in hi-resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/kristin-lee

Violinist Kristin Lee is Featured Soloist with
Symphony Tacoma on May 11

Performing Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
Conducted by Music Director Sarah Ioannides

Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 7:30pm
Pantages Theater | 901 Broadway | Tacoma, WA
Tickets & Information

Kristin Lee: www.violinistkristinlee.com

Tacoma, WA – Violinist Kristin Lee – praised in The Strad for her “elegance” and “vivacity and electric energy” – joins Symphony Tacoma and Music Director Sarah Ioannides as the featured soloist in Johannes Brahms’ introspective and deeply emotive Violin Concerto in D major from 1878, on Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 7:30pm at Pantages Theater (901 Broadway). The concert, titled Portraits, also includes Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in A minor and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

A violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique, Kristin Lee enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”

Of her upcoming performance with Symphony Tacoma, Lee says,

“I am beyond thrilled to make my return to perform with the Tacoma Symphony and Sarah Ioannides on one of my absolute favorite concertos, Brahms's monumental Violin concerto. Sarah and I've maintained a great friendship over the years and collaborated on the giants of the violin concerti, including Nielsen, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius, so it seems appropriate at this point to add the Brahms Violin Concerto to our list! This concerto consists of very symphonic sounds from the orchestra yet it is filled with the exchange of dialogues between the orchestra and the violin- like true chamber music! I can't wait to be inspired by the glorious playing of the Tacoma Symphony and the charismatic leadership from Sarah and experience this exchange on stage!”

Kristin Lee last performed with Symphony Tacoma in 2017. She is a familiar face to audiences in the area not only for her many performances here, but for her role as the founding Artistic Director of Emerald City Music, the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. The wildly successful concert series was deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" by City Arts Magazine and is known for combining a relaxed atmosphere with performances by award-winning musicians.

Performing on a violin crafted in Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano, in addition to her solo appearances, Kristin Lee tours throughout the world as a member of New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Taiwan, and across the U.S. Always up for adventure, at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, Lee has performed in such unexpected places as rafting down the Colorado River, in a natural rock grotto, and in the magical landscape of the red rock canyons of the area.

Kristin Lee will release her debut solo album, American Sketches, in summer 2024 on the First Hand Records label. The album has a personal resonance for Lee. A native of Seoul, Korea, she emigrated to the U.S. at the age of seven. During her childhood, playing the violin was a refuge from bullying and racism for Kristin – she moved to the U.S. not speaking any English, and felt the violin became her voice. As a foreign-born citizen of the U.S., Lee was compelled to select this repertoire to express her pride in the country she now calls her own, and has recorded works by American composers including Amy Beach, George Gershwin, Theolonius Monk, Scott Joplin, and more, that have a distinct and recognizable sound of American music and its rich history.

Kristin Lee has performed as soloist with leading orchestras around the world including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Nordic Chamber Orchestra of Sweden, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic, and many more.

She is the unprecedented First Prize winner of three concerto competitions at The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Lee studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, and Itzhak Perlman. Her many honors include awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation. Lee’s violin is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.

Kristin Lee is committed to the future of classical music as a devoted mentor and educator for the next generation, serving on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin, and teaching in residencies with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, El Sistema Chamber Music Festival of Venezuela, and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute, among others. For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Violinist Kristin Lee, praised in The Strad for her “elegance” and “vivacity and electric energy,” will be the featured soloist with Symphony Tacoma, led by Music Director Sarah Ioannides, in Johannes Brahms’ introspective and deeply emotive Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77. The concert, titled Portraits, also includes Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in A minor and Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

Concert details:

Who: Violinist Kristin Lee
Soloist with Symphony Tacoma in Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
Conducted by Music Director Sarah Ioannides
What: Portraits featuring music by Johannes Brahms, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Edward Elgar
When: Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 7:30pm
Where: Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402
Tickets and information: https://symphonytacoma.org/event/portraits/

May 17: Violinist Elizabeth Chang Announces New Album Sonatas and Myths

Violinist Elizabeth Chang Announces New Album Sonatas and Myths

Featuring Music by Bartók, Szymanowski, and Dohnányi
with Pianist Steven Beck

Release Date: May 17, 2024
Bridge Records

“Elizabeth Chang and Steven Beck play intensely with the utmost commitment.” – Pizzicato

CDs or press downloads available upon request.

www.elizabethchang.net | www.stevenbeck.me | www.bridgerecords.com

Violinist Elizabeth Chang announces the May 17, 2024 release of her new album Sonatas and Myths on Bridge Records. Recorded with her longtime collaborator pianist Steven Beck, Sonatas and Myths features a collection of three seminal works from the early 20th century – Karol Szymanowski’s Mythes: Trois Poèmes, Op. 30 from 1915; Ernst von Dohnányi’s Violin Sonata in C# Minor, Op. 21 from 1912; and Béla Bartók’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano from 1921.

Chang says, “I have always had an artistic affinity for the musical language of the early 20th century and for the composers who were negotiating the end of the Romantic period while seeking to integrate their highly evolved, Germanic-based schooling with the influence of newly uncovered ‘local’ influences and idioms. The Central European composers of the three works in this album persuasively presented new compositional voices by means of writing that was highly charged emotionally and that, in this regard, provided continuity with the aesthetic expressive preoccupations of their recent past.”

The album also portrays the profound teacher/student relationships from Chang’s artistic heritage, reflecting the influences and deep cross-generational connections between these composers. She explains, “I trace my connection to these composers through Carl Flesch, the great violin pedagogue who taught two of my teachers (Max Rostal and Roman Totenberg) and who was saved from deportation to a concentration camp by Dohnányi.”

Chang, who is currently Professor of Violin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a member of the violin faculty of the Pre-College Division of The Juilliard School, enjoys an international career as performer, teacher, and leader in the arts, founding and leading a number of festivals and chamber music series in the U.S. and overseas. Her performances have taken her to 25 countries and her chamber music appearances have included collaborations with many of today's leading artists. In 2022, a Healey Faculty Research Grant from UMass afforded her the opportunity to record this album, which had been a cherished project plan for some time.

There are abundant connections between the composers on the album. In addition to being musical contemporaries, Polish modernist Karol Szymanowski and Hungarian composer and scholar of folk music Béla Bartók also share a bond through Claude Debussy, whose music resonated with them both. French influence echoes from the title of Szymanowski’s Mythes: Trois Poèmes pour violon et piano, Op. 30 but connection with the culture and folklore of ancient Greece during visits to Siciliy became an even more meaningful and personal influence on the composer and his music. In Mythes: Trois Poèmes, Szymanowski incorporates an array of compositional techniques and violinistic effects to bring the stories, the fantastical characters, and their various emotional motivations to life.

Hungarian pianist, composer and conductor Ernst von Dohnányi, only a a few years older than Bartók and Szymanowski, wrote his Violin Sonata in C# Minor, Op. 21 in 1912, when he was already established as a leading composer and teaching at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik – at his appointment in 1905, he was the school’s youngest and highest paid faculty member. While he never made a decisive break from Romanticism, the second movement of his violin sonata contains notable influence from Hungarian folk idioms.

Béla Bartók began by following in Dohnányi’s footsteps but soon changed course. David E. Schneider writes in the album’s liner notes, “Bartók was also deeply influenced by Eastern-European folk music, which he collected, studied, and arranged, as well as by contemporary modernist composers such as Schoenberg and Stravinsky.” Ironically, Bartok’s first sonata does not convey as much influence from folk music as one might expect. Schneider writes, “The First Sonata marks a high point in the complexity of Bartók’s style. Although written at a time when Bartók was integrating elements of folk music into all his compositions, only the third movement conveys a mood that can be easily identified as folk-like. . . The dominant mood is that of an ecstatic folk fiddler leading a rustic peasant dance. Such folk-dance finales would become a signature for Bartók, who used them in the majority of his mature instrumental works.”

Sonatas and Myths conveys a blend of technical prowess, historical appreciation, imagination, and unique insights that together create a journey propelled by personal resonance and tangible bonds between past and present.

Track List:
Sonatas and Myths
Elizabeth Chang, Violin; Steven Beck, Piano

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937): Mythes: Trois Poèmes, Op. 30 (1915) [17:47]

1. La Fontaine d’Arethuse [4:39]
2. Narcisse [6:20]
3. Dryades et Pan [6:48]

Ernst von Dohnányi (1877–1960): Violin Sonata in C# Minor, Op. 21 (1912) [16:03]

4. Allegro appassionato [5:48]
5. Allegro ma con tenerezza [4:05]
6. Vivace assai [6:10]

Béla Bartók (1881–1945): Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano (1921) [32:02]

7. Allegro appassionato [12:01]
8. Adagio [9:58]
9. Allegro [10:03]

Total Time: [66:00]

Produced and Engineered by Ryan Streber
Edited and Mastered by Ryan Streber
Assistant Engineer and Editor: Charles Mueller
Recorded May 30-June 1, 2023, at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY
Annotator: David E. Schneider
Graphic Design: Casey Siu
Executive Producers: Becky & David Starobin
Liner Notes: David E. Schneider

This recording was made possible by the generous support of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Faculty Research/Healey Endowment Grant.

About Elizabeth Chang: Violinist Elizabeth Chang enjoys an international career as performer, teacher, and leader in the arts. Her performing career has taken her to 25 countries and her chamber music appearances have included collaborations with many of today's leading artists. She is professor of violin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a member of the violin faculty of the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School, and Artistic Director of Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. Previously she served on the faculties of New York University and Rutgers University. She has embraced leadership roles in the arts and is founder and director of numerous festivals, including the Five College New Music Festival, UMass Bach Festival and Symposium, Lighthouse Chamber Players, and Long River Concerts. Ms. Chang has a long-standing commitment to the performance of the music of our time and has commissioned over 50 works for violin, violin and piano, and violin duo. She is a graduate of Harvard University and was the recipient of the Presidential Scholar in the Arts Award.

About Steven Beck: A recent New York concert by pianist Steven Beck was described as “exemplary” and “deeply satisfying” by The New York Times. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School. Mr. Beck made his concerto debut with the National Symphony Orchestra. His annual Christmas Eve performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Bargemusic has become a New York institution. As an orchestral musician he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic and Orpheus. Mr. Beck is an experienced performer of new music, having worked with Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, Charles Wuorinen, George Crumb, George Perle, and Fred Lerdahl. He is a member of The Knights, the Talea Ensemble, Quattro Mani, and the Da Capo Chamber Players. His discography includes George Walker’s piano sonatas for Bridge Records, and Elliott Carter’s Double Concerto on Albany Records. He is a Steinway Artist and is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

May 7: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Presented by The Gilmore International Piano Festival Performing Music from her Album Undersong

Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/simone-dinnerstein

GRAMMY-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Presented By The Gilmore International Piano Festival

Performing Music by Couperin, Schumann, Glass, and Satie
From her Album Undersong

Tuesday, May 7, 2023 at 7:30pm
Stetson Chapel | 1200 Academy St. | Kalamazoo, MI

Tickets and More information

“an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity”
– The Washington Post

Simone Dinnerstein: www.simonedinnerstein.com

Kalamazoo, MI – GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The Washington Post as an “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity,” is presented in concert Tuesday, May 7, 2024 by The Gilmore International Piano Festival (1200 Academy St).

Dinnerstein, who is heralded for her distinctive musical voice and commitment to sharing classical music with everyone, will perform several selections found on her 2022 Orange Mountain Music album Undersong –– the final installment in a trilogy of albums recorded at her home in Brooklyn during the pandemic between 2020 and 2022, which also includes A Character of Quiet (Orange Mountain Music, 2020) and Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic (Supertrain Records, 2021). The latter surpassed two million streams on Apple Music and was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award in the category of Best Classical Instrumental Solo. The concert program will include: Robert Schumann’s Arabesque, in C Major, Op. 18 and Kreisleriana, Op. 16; François Couperin­’s Les Barricades Mysterieuses, and Philip Glass’s Mad Rush; and Erik Satie’s Gnossienne No. 3.

Dinnerstein explains of Undersong’s title: “Undersong is an archaic term for a song with a refrain, and to me it also suggests a hidden text. Glass, Schumann, Couperin and Satie all seem to be attempting to find what they want to say through repetition, as though their constant change and recycling will focus the ear and the mind. This time has been one of reflection and reconsidering for many of us, and this music speaks to the process of revisiting and searching for the meaning beneath the notes, of the undersong.”

Reflecting on Schumann’s Arabesque, in C Major, Op. 18, Dinnerstein explains that it’s “a very beautiful, poetic piece of music but it ends with a separate type of epilogue that's something different from the piece and modern in a way. There's a rest before you play it and the rest serves as a bridge to Philip Glass’s Mad Rush. It's unclear to the listener whether it's Schumann or Glass. I really like that blurring of the composer's languages with each other."

Dinnerstein offers this connective observation between Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Op. 16 and Schumann’s, Arabesque “The Arabesque has some quick changes in mood and the most breathtaking coda at the end that completely takes it someplace else, written in Schumann’s music language but sounding absolutely contemporary. In comparison, Kreisleriana changes on a dime. Suddenly, you’ll be in a completely different headspace. I think that’s as much about Schumann himself, as about his love for Clara.” Sequenza21 describes Dinnerstein’s approach to Couperin’s Les Barricades Mysterieuses as “sonorous [and] eschewing ornamentation in favor of unadorned, shapely melodies.”

With its distinctly repetitious compositional structure, Philip Glass’s Mad Rush, a piece originally composed for organ at New York City’s St. John the Divine, underscores the collectively seamless nature of this program’s repertoire. The New Criterion describes Dinnerstein’s performance of the piece as “transcendent – the picture of introspection interrupted by unexpected vision.”

Of Erik Satie’s Gnossienne No. 3, Dinnerstein says, “Erik Satie published three Gymnopédie and three Gnossienne together, though he eventually wrote more Gnossienne, a fantastical term that he came up with. The markings in the score for Gnossienne No. 3 are bizarre: “Plan carefully”; “Provide yourself with clear sightedness”; “Alone for a moment”; “So as to get a hollow”; “Quite lost”; “Carry this further”; “Open your mind”. These are written right over the notes. The commentary is dada-esque.”

About Simone Dinnerstein: American pianist Simone Dinnerstein first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”

Dinnerstein has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seoul Arts Center and Sydney Opera House. She has made thirteen albums, all of which topped the Billboard charts. During the pandemic she recorded three albums which form a trilogy: A Character of Quiet, An American Mosaic, and Undersong. An American Mosaic was nominated for a Grammy.

In recent years, Dinnerstein has created projects that express her broad musical interests. She gave the world premiere of The Eye Is the First Circle at Montclair State University, the first multi-media production she conceived, created, and directed, which uses as source materials her father Simon Dinnerstein’s painting The Fulbright Triptych and Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata No. 2. She premiered Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic, a tribute to those affected by the pandemic, in a performance on multiple pianos throughout Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the U.S. for the first time, performing eleven concerts. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for her, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras. Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals, and performed it at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and presented by LA Opera. Dinnerstein has also created her own ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs. The Washington Post comments, “it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative. For more information, please visit www.simonedinnerstein.com.

About The Gilmore: ​​The Gilmore was created in 1989 to honor the legacy of Kalamazoo businessman, pianist, and philanthropist Irving S. Gilmore, and is known for its biennial piano festival, first held in 1991. Since then, each of sixteen festivals has been enjoyed by tens of thousands of visitors to Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. The next Irving S. Gilmore International Piano Festival is planned for April 24-May 12, 2024. The organization names a career-making Gilmore Artist Award, presented every four years and determined through a non-competitive process. Nine Gilmore Artists have been named, the most recent being 2024 Gilmore Artist Alexandre Kantarow. In 2022, a major gift launched the creation of the Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Awards, which will be announced for the 2026 Festival. The Gilmore has also commissioned 42 new works for piano since its inception, with three more premiering at the 2024 Festival. For more information, visit thegilmore.org.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The Washington Post as “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity,” is presented in concert by The Gilmore International Piano Festival. Dinnerstein will perform several selections found on her 2022 Orange Mountain Music release, Undersong, including Robert Schumann’s Arabesque, in C Major, Op. 18 and Kreisleriana, Op. 16; François Couperin­’s Les Barricades Mysterieuses; Philip Glass’s Mad Rush; and Erik Satie’s Gnossienne No. 3.

Short description: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described as an artist of “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity” (The Washington Post) is presented in concert by The Gilmore International Piano Festival, performing selections by François Couperin, Robert Schumann, Philip Glass, and Erik Satie from her 2022 album Undersong.

Concert details:

Who: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Presented by The Gilmore International Piano Festival
What: Music by François Couperin­, Robert Schumann, Philip Glass, and Erik Satie
When: Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 7:30pm
Where: Stetson Chapel, 1200 Academy St, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Tickets and information: www.thegilmore.org/event/simone-dinnerstein/

May 4: The National Arts Centre Presents The Trojan Women by Lisa Bielawa – Featuring Members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra as part of WolfGANG Sessions

Photo by Desmond White available in hi-resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artist-profiles/lisa-bielawa

The National Arts Centre Presents The Trojan Women by Lisa Bielawa
Featuring Members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra as part of WolfGANG Sessions

Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 9pm
CLUB SAW | 67 Nicholas Street | Ottawa, ON
Tickets and More Information

Livestream Available (Free)

“Bielawa’s music is thoughtful and approachable. She’s a voice in what you might call the new accessible avant-garde.” – Gramophone Magazine

Lisa Bielawa: www.lisabielawa.net

Ottawa, ON – Composer, producer, and vocalist Lisa Bielawa –– described as “a dynamic and innovative composer” by The Boston Globe –– will have her work for string quartet, The Trojan Women, performed by members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra at Ottawa’s Club SAW on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 9pm as part of NAC’s WolfGANG Sessions. The concert will also include Dinuk Wijeratne’s The Disappearance Of Lisa Gherardini and David Bruce’s Gumboots. The performance will be broadcast live, available free of charge and on-demand at www.nac-cna.ca/en/event/36177.

Lisa Bielawa is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and a Rome Prize winner in Musical Composition, who takes inspiration for her work from literary sources and close artistic collaborations. She is the recipient of the 2017 Music Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters and a 2020 OPERA America Grant for Female Composers. She was named a William Randolph Hearst Visiting Artist Fellow at the American Antiquarian Society for 2018 and was Artist-in-Residence at Kaufman Music Center in New York for the 2020-2021 season. In 1997, Bielawa co-founded the MATA Festival. In 1997, Bielawa co-founded the MATA Festival. 

In 1999, Bielawa composed a continuous score for Euripides' tragedy The Trojan Women for a production directed by JoAnn Akalaitis. The following year, a string quartet based on some of the musical material from that score, which was premiered in 2000 by the Miami String Quartet at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She also composed a version of the work for string orchestra, which was commissioned and premiered by the String Orchestra of New York City (SONYC). The string quartet version of The Trojan Women premiered nearly 21 years ago to date, on May 10, 2003 at the MATA Festival, in New York City.

Bielawa says of the work:

“The special musical challenge of this project was to identify and convey, in three movements, three variegated forms of grief, each one a consequence of one woman's particular sufferings: ‘Hecuba,’ ‘Cassandra,’ and ‘Andromache.’ These women lost husbands and sons in the notorious brutality of the Trojan War. Each time I revisited the piece as it evolved from music for the theatre, to string quartet, and finally to string orchestra, I was informed by a slightly different understanding of the nature of public and private grieving. Euripides’ eulogy to the fallen Troy takes its place alongside the picture of Jerusalem in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, W.G. Sebald’s searching inquiries into the rubble of Dresden, or the jarring pictures we see daily in the media.”

More about Lisa Bielawa: During her 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship period, Lisa Bielawa is working primarily on two projects – a new opera, La Ballonniste, and a book of prose vignettes from her experiences and encounters with music in a variety of international settings. La Ballonniste is an opera in three acts inspired by the life of Elisabeth Thible, an opera singer who was the first woman to fly in a hot air balloon, with libretto by Claire Solomon, dramaturgy by Cori Ellison. Bielawa’s book will share remembrances and observations gathered from her decades of wandering, offering cultural moments in the global continuum frozen in time.

Bielawa consistently executes work that incorporates community-making as part of her artistic vision. She has created music for public spaces in Lower Manhattan, a bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville, KY, the banks of the Tiber River in Rome, on the sites of former airfields in Berlin in San Francisco, and to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. During the coronavirus lockdown, Bielawa cultivated a virtual community using submitted testimonies and recorded voices from six continents, through her project, Broadcast from Home.  In 2022, Bielawa was selected for a residency with the Louisville Orchestra’s Creators Corps, during which she wrote new orchestral and community-based works to engage the Louisville community.

Bielawa’s music has been premiered at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, SHIFT Festival, Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, National Cathedral, Rouen Opera, MAXXI Museum in Rome, and Helsinki Music Center, among others. Orchestras that have championed her music include The Knights, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, ROCO in Houston, and the Orlando Philharmonic. Premieres of her work have been commissioned and presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Rider, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Radio France, Yerevan Concert Hall in Armenia, the Venice Architectural Biennale, American Music Week in Salzburg, the INFANT Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, and more. 

She received a 2018 Los Angeles Area Emmy nomination for her unprecedented, made-for-TV-and-online opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser, created with librettist Erik Ehn and director Charles Otte. Vireo was filmed in twelve parts in locations across the country and features over 350 musicians. Vireo was released on CD/DVD in 2019 (Orange Mountain Music). Bielawa is also recorded on the Tzadik and BMOP/ sound labels, among others.

For more information about Lisa Bielawa visit www.lisabielawa.net.

For information about The National Arts Centre Orchestra visit: www.nac-cna.ca/orchestra

April 14-25: Baritone Matthias Goerne and Pianist Evgeny Kissin Give Three Recitals in Cleveland, Toronto, and New York

Matthias Goerne by Marie Staggat available in high resolution here.
Evgeny Kissin by Mascia Sergievskaia available in high resolution here.

Matthias Goerne, Baritone & Evgeny Kissin, Piano
Three Recitals in North America in April

“Goerne’s instrument, with its velvety crevices, catches darkness and light . . .Few artists are so temperamentally suited to this repertoire – and fewer still possess such a plush, darkly inviting voice.”
– The New York Times on Matthias Goerne 

“I'm not sure anyone else has the virtuosity to step this far outside the box with such honesty and dignity and power.”
– The Washington Post on Evgeny Kissin

Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 3pm: Presented by The Cleveland Orchestra
Severance Music Center | 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH
Tickets & Information 

Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 2pm: Presented Roy Thomson Hall
60 Simcoe St, Toronto, ON
Tickets & Information 

Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 8pm: Presented by Carnegie Hall
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
57th St. and 7th Ave., New York, NY
Tickets & Information

matthiasgoerne.org | kissin.org

Celebrated and sought-after baritone Matthias Goerne, described as “today’s leading interpreter of German art songs,” by The Chicago Tribune, and legendary virtuoso pianist Evgeny Kissin will give three recitals in North America in April, following appearances across Europe in Brussels, Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon, and Paris. The superstar duo, who are performing together for the first time this year, will be presented by The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center in Cleveland, OH on Sunday, April 14 at 3pm; at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, ON on Sunday, April 21 at 2pm; and at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall in New York, NY on Thursday, April 25 at 8pm.

Goerne and Kissin’s program features some of the most sublime art songs of the Romantic period by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, including musical depictions of love and betrayal in Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Brahms’s Lieder und Gesänge, alongside selections from his Songs after Poems by Heinrich Heine. 

Celebrated around the globe for his opera and concert performances, German baritone Matthias Goerne is a frequent guest with leading orchestras and renowned festivals and concert halls. Among his musical partners are conductors such as Claudio Abbado(†), Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniele Gatti , Bernard Haitink, Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons(†), Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Franz Welser-Möst. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with the most important pianists of our time. His carefully chosen roles range from Amfortas, Marke, Wolfram, Wotan, Orest, and Jochanaan to the title roles in Béla Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. Goerne’s artistry has been documented on numerous recordings, including five Grammy nominations, an ICMA award, a Gramophone Award, the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award 2017, Diapason d’or arte, and the ECHO Klassik 2017 in the category “singer of the year.” He has released three albums with Deutsche Grammophon: Beethoven Songs with Jan Lisiecki; a collection of Wagner, Strauss and Pfitzner Songs with Seong-Jin Cho and his new album of Schumann and Brahms Songs with Daniil Trifonov. His latest album Schubert revisited was released in January 2023 by Deutsche Grammophon. In the 2023-24 season, Matthias Goerne embarked on an extensive recital and orchestral tour of China, in addition to this series of recitals with Evgeny Kissin in Europe and the United States. He has premiered Jörg Widmann’s Schumannliebe at Porto’s Casa da Musica and Cologne Philharmonie. Furthermore, he will appear with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and return to the Salzburg Festival in the summer.

Evgeny Kissin’s musicality, the depth and poetic quality of his interpretations, and his extraordinary virtuosity have earned him the veneration and admiration deserved only by one of the most gifted classical pianists of his generation and, arguably, generations past. He is in demand all over the world and has appeared with many of the world’s great conductors, including Abbado, Ashkenazy, Barenboim, Dohnanyi, Giulini, Levine, Maazel, Muti, and Ozawa, as well as all the great orchestras of the world. This season, Kissin returns to tour the United States with a recital program that includes the works of his beloved Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms and Prokofiev. In addition to this collaboration with Matthias Goerne, he also appears in concert with major European orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, among others. Evgeny Kissin’s newest release is an album featuring Beethoven Sonatas on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Past awards have included the Edison Klassiek in The Netherlands, and the Diapason d’Or and the Grand Prix of La Nouvelle Academie du Disque in France. His recording of works by Scriabin, Medtner and Stravinsky (RCA Red Seal) won him a Grammy in 2006 for Best Instrumental Soloist. In 2002, Kissin was named Echo Klassik Soloist of the Year. His most recent Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with orchestra) was awarded in 2010 for his recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy (EMI Classics). Evgeny Kissin’s extraordinary talent inspired Christopher Nupen’s documentary film, Evgeny Kissin: The Gift of Music, which was released in 2000 on video and DVD by RCA Red Seal.

Sony Classical Announces Alexis Ffrench's New Album Classical Soul; First Single Out Today

Sony Classical Announces Fourth Studio Album
by Alexis Ffrench

Classical Soul Volume One
Album Release Date: September 27, 2024
Pre-Order Available Now

New Single The Way It Was Out Today – Listen Here

Watch the Music Video for Soar
Featuring Fally Ipupa and Kevin Olusola

A Homage To His Late Father's Record Collection With Original Compositions For Piano & Orchestra Infused With Nods From Soul Classics 

Renowned classical-soul pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench is thrilled to announce the release of his latest album, Classical Soul Vol. 1, arriving next Friday, September 27, via Sony Classical - pre-order is available now. This much-anticipated project marks Ffrench's first brand new studio recording in two years and promises to be a nostalgic journey through the timeless sounds that have shaped his unique musical DNA - listen here (for press only; not for publication).

Drawing inspiration from his late father’s cherished record collection, Classical Soul Vol. 1 masterfully blends Ffrench’s signature classical sound with his early influences from soul icons, such as Roberta Flack and her unforgettable 'Killing Me Softly,' which won the Grammy for Record of the Year 50 years ago. 

The album includes the recent single Soar, an uplifting multi-cultural anthem featuring Congolese singer-songwriter Fally Ipupa and Pentaonix' cellist and beatboxer Kevin Olusola, celebrating people coming together at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Watch the accompanying music video here.

Recorded at the legendary Miraval Studios in France, owned by Brad Pitt and Damien Quintard and known for hosting some of the most incredible names in music; the studio served as the perfect environment to create Alexis’ deeply personal, nostalgic and reflective album. 

Classical Soul Vol. 1 is a continuation of the poignant and avant-garde music that has defined Alexis Ffrench’s career, solidifying his status as one of the UK’s most distinctive and groundbreaking artists. As the pioneer of the 'Classical Soul' genre, Ffrench has captured the hearts of millions worldwide, with over one billion streams across his catalogue. His previous chart-topping albums, Dreamland and Evolution, have established him as the fastest-growing classical artist worldwide, resonating with a diverse audience that spans generations. 

Speaking about the album, Ffrench said; "This album is a reflection of my musical heritage and the soundtrack of my life. It’s an ode to the music that has shaped me—not just as an artist, but as a person. I wanted to capture the soul of these influences while infusing them with the classical elements that are so intrinsic to my identity." 

Fans and newcomers alike can expect Classical Soul Vol. 1 to be an exploration of the rich tapestry of sounds that have influenced Ffrench throughout his life. With its heartfelt nods to the past and a modern twist, this album is poised to become a landmark in his already illustrious career. 

A pioneering superstar of Classical Soul, Alexis’s sound refuses to be limited by genre, time period, or by expectations of the kind of musician he should be. Rather than leaning into the narrow, traditional understandings of ‘classical’, Alexis instead leans outward, expansive in his perspective, drawing on a mosaic of influences that takes the listener by the hand and leads them on a journey through a world of possibility. 

About Alexis Ffrench: Alexis brings piano to the mainstream. Whether it's performing at the King's Coronation Concert in 2023 to an audience of over 18 million viewers, hosting his Apple Music show after Elton John's Rocket Hour, performing at major music festivals & sold out venues worldwide, hosting nationwide music education masterclasses, or posting covers of today’s hits by Central Cee, Billie Eilish and more to an enthusiastic social media audience, Alexis is passionate about music being accessible to all. 

Listen to Classical Soul Volume 1

TRACKLIST

1. The Way It Was
2. Reverie
3. Interlude #1 (Killing Me Softly With His Song)
4. Chasing Yesterdays
5. Together Without You
6. Interlude #2 (A Change Is Gonna Come)
7. Soar
8. Fireflies
9. Fate
10. Sö
11. Interlude #3 (At Last)
12. Suddenly
13. Everything Changes
14. Interlude #4 (I Say A Little Prayer)
15. Sanctuary
16. Interlude #5 (Ain't No Sunshine)
17. Broken Wings On Crimson Skies
18. Once
19. Returning To You
20. I Say A Little Prayer (Reprise)
21. The Time Of Your Life

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