The Stravinsky Project Aficionados of classical composition will find much to consider (and reconsider) about Stravinsky’s position in the musical pantheon as they delve into the series of events comprising The Stravinsky Project. During his lifetime, Igor Stravinsky, having been exiled from his Russian homeland, publically defined his music through an aesthetic of objectivity that fundamentally denied a cultural context. However, as Soviet-trained musicians regained access to his work in the 1990s they reconnected the threads of Russian musical tradition running through his compositions. By reinterpreting Stravinsky as an essentially Russian composer whose exile subverted his musical roots, contemporary musicians and thinkers have provided a substantive rebuttal to Stravinsky’s self-created cosmopolitan modernist/ neo-classicist image. Stravinsky himself insisted that music is “essentially powerless to express anything at all” and admonished performers not to “interpret” his compositions. Through The Stravinsky Project, the first festival of its kind in our area, audiences and experts come together to challenge Stravinsky’s anti-interpretation stance and to consider his work through the cultural lens he attempted to suppress. Whether you’re already a Stravinsky appreciator or are ready to listen and learn, there is a concert, lecture or visual arts experience waiting for you as part of this robust 3-day festival. Join us April 8-10 here at Strathmore, as well as at events at Georgetown University and The National Gallery of Art.
THE STRAVINSKY PROJECT Co-Produced with Post-Classical Ensemble
Stravinsky Remixed: Concert and Symposium April 8, 1:15–5:30PM Georgetown University, McNeir Hall
A performance featuring adaptations of Stravinsky’s music for ballet, followed by a symposium “Stravinsky and the Theater,” which looks at Stravinsky as a theatrical artist and his tradition of reusing old material in inventive ways.
Katya Chilingiri, Stravinsky Family Estate in Ukraine
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Stravinsky’s Russian Accent April 8, 8PM Music Center
pianists: Alexander Toradze George Vatchnadze Genadi Zagor Vakhtang Kodanashvili Edisher Savitski Washington Bach Consort Chorus Post-Classical Ensemble Angel Gil-Ordóñez, conductor STRAVINSKY Concerto for Piano and Winds STRAVINSKY Symphonies for Wind Instruments STRAVINSKY Les Noces STRAVINSKY DC Premiere of “Danse Sacrale” from The Rite of Spring (arr. 4 hand piano and percussion) Listen & Learn! Free post-concert discussion with the artists.
March–May 2011
Angel Gil-Ordóñez
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Stravinsky and the Piano
April 9, 1–6:30PM NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
April 10, 4PM Music Center
Stravinsky documentaries by Tony Palmer and Richard Leacock, commentary and a piano performance by Alexander Toradze.
pianists: Alexander Toradze George Vatchnadze Genadi Zagor Joseph Horowitz, host STRAVINSKY Scherzo from Sonata in F-sharp Minor (Mid-Atlantic premiere) STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring transcribed for two pianos STRAVINSKY Tango STRAVINSKY Piano Sonata STRAVINSKY Concerto for Two Solo Pianos STRAVINSKY Sonata for Two Pianos ZAGOR an improvisation incorporating all the afternoon’s music
April 10, 12–3:45 PM Mansion
Post-Classical Ensemble
Strathmorenews
Stravinsky on Film
Interpreting Stravinsky
Strathmore is pleased to present this groundbreaking festival in conjunction with the Post-Classical Ensemble, with sponsorship support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Asbury Methodist Village, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities.
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Katya Chilingiri, The Church of the Most Holy God Near St. Petersburg
Katya Chilingiri, photographer Rex Lawson, pianolist pianists: Alexander Toradze George Vatchnadze Genadi Zagor Joseph Horowitz, host Chillingiri presents The Stravinsky Odyssey, combining films and photographs to document Stravinsky’s journey. Rex Lawson presents the American premier of Stravinsky’s final pianola version of Les Noces (American premiere). Pianists Alexander Toradze, George Vatchnadze, and Genadi Zagor use archival recordings, film and music in live performance to take issue with Stravinsky’s strictures against interpretation.
“...Alexander Toradze … plays as a man possessed, as if umbilically attached to the instrument, which in his hands becomes as varied and expressive as a full orchestra. The audience roared approval...”
Alexander Toradze
Listen & Learn! Free post-concert discussion with the artists.
George Vatchnadze
Joseph Horowitz
The Guardian, London (301) 581-5100
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March–May 2011
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STRATHMOREnews March–May 2011
Volume 24
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Issue 3
The Stravinsky Project Pages 16–17
Naturally 7
“A jaw-dropping vocal symposium” Page 5
Spring Singing Classes
Come Out and Play! Page 15
(301) 581-5100
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March–May 2011
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