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DIRECTOR’S WELCOME
When the Battell family built their Norfolk estate in the 19th century, they designed an oasis of tranquility and beauty in the midst of a troubled world. They opened their home to the community and engaged the very best musicians from around the world to perform for Norfolk audiences. Today their estate continues to be a haven where families and friends can escape the daily grind to enjoy music in a beautiful setting. On behalf of the Yale School of Music and the Artists, Fellows and Staff of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, welcome to the Battell Stoeckel Estate. If you are visiting for the first time, please be sure to say hello; and to our returning friends, it is great to see you again! This summer our featured composer is Charles Ives (1874-1954) courtesy of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Charles Ives Society. Perhaps the most important composer in the history of American music, Ives is very much a local personality. Born in Danbury, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale, and spent most of his adult life in Hartford as a partner at Ives & Myrick, then the largest insurance agency in the country. We are hosting some very special guest Artists: The Kings’ Singers (June 12) and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (August 15 -- please note the special Monday night concert). They are joined by the Tokyo Quartet and our favorite Norfolk Artists who have put together a wonderful series of programs for us. We are especially pleased to welcome the renowned Artis Quartet to Norfolk for the first time (July 15, 16 and 23). If you have a moment to glance at their biography in the back of the program book, you will see they have performed in just about every major venue in the world. As always, the heart of our program will be the Young Artists’ Performance Series, Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm and Saturday mornings at 10:30 am (also the first two Tuesdays in August at 7:30 pm). Some of the best young musicians from around the globe will be in residence. You can hear them free of charge all summer! You are also invited on Wednesday evenings to our free informal In Context talks or to the popular Listening Club sessions with Jim Nelson. And don’t forget Family Day at the Festival, Sunday, July 31. We will begin with a children’s concert at 2:00 pm, followed by a performance by the United States Coast Guard Band at 4:00 pm. Both concerts will be free of charge, and ice cream (also free!) will be served. Away from the concert hall, we are very pleased that phase two of the renovation of the Battell family’s historic home, Whitehouse, is beginning this summer. The work is part of our ongoing effort to preserve and restore the estate so that future generations can appreciate its beauty and enjoy great music as our patroness, Ellen Battell Stoeckel, wished. Before closing I should mention that, in keeping with our early American theme, the cover artist this year is Thomas Moran (1837-1926). His career, like that of Charles Ives, was devoted to adapting European techniques and traditions to specifically American subjects. His A Pond in the Meadow is part of the Battell-Stoeckel collection. As you settle into your seat, I want to extend our most sincere thanks to the volunteers, donors and patrons who have helped make our season possible. And a very special thanks to you for joining us tonight in this century-old tradition of Music Among Friends.
Paul Hawkshaw, Festival Director, June 2011.
D i r e c t o r ’s W e l c o m e
3
JACOB’S PILLOW
Romeo and Juliet
“ the
dance center of the nation “ – The New York Times
D A N C E FESTIVAL 2011 June 18 – August 28 Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
Trisha Brown Dance Company
Mark Morris Dance Group Carte Blanche
Photos Erik Berg, Sharen Bradford, Magali Dougados, Yong Hoon Han, Ikegani Naoya, and Todd Rosenberg
LDP/Laboratory Dance Project
Festival 2011 features world premieres, U.S. debuts, emerging dance artists, legendary choreographers, live music, and over 200 free events. Dance companies from Cuba, South Korea, France, and beyond. An exclusive Annie Leibovitz dance photography exhibit. Music from Sergei Prokofiev and Johannes Brahms to Aretha Franklin and Sly and the Family Stone. Fashion, rebellion, love, fantasy, humor, and heart. It’s all at the Pillow this year.
Located in Becket, MA • 60 Minutes from Norfolk, CT Visit online for artist videos. Tickets start at $22!
413.243.0745 • jacobspillow.org
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T A b le o f
C ontents
3 ................... Director’s Welcome 5 ................... Table of Contents 7 ................... Festival Acknowledgements 9 ................... Festival History 11 ................... Charles Ives 18 ................... Ives Timeline 21 ................... Faculty Artists 23 ................... Fellowship Recipients 27 ................... Festival Administration 30 ................... Sunday, June 12 – The King's Singers 32 ................... Saturday, June 18 – An Evening of Song 34 ................... Friday, June 24 – Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble 35 ................... Saturday, June 25 – Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble 36 ................... Friday, July 8 – The Leschetizky Trio 38 ................... Saturday, July 9 – Haydn, Reinecke & Schumann 40 ................... Friday, July 15 – An Evening of Schubert 42 ................... Saturday, July 16 –The Artis Quartet 44 ................... Friday, July 22 – Gade, Schubert, Wyner & Tower 46 ................... Saturday, July 23 – Piano Quartets 48 ................... Friday, July 29 – The Tokyo String Quartet 50 ................... Saturday, July 30 – All American Music 52 ................... Sunday, July 31 – Family Day Schedule of Events 54 ................... Friday, August 5 – Ives, Poulenc & Stravinsky 56 ................... Saturday, August 6 – Haydn, Ives & Mendelssohn 58 ................... Friday, August 12 – Brahms, Stravinsky & Schumann 60 ................... Saturday, August 13 – An Evening of Mozart 62 ................... Monday, August 15 – Philharmonia Baroque 65 ................... Saturday, August 20 – Norfolk Choral Festival 66 ................... Music in Context Series & Young Artists' Performance Series 67 ................... Artist Biographies 80 ................... Festival Mission & Leadership Council 81 ................... Festival Contributors
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
5
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Fe s t i v al
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival — Yale School of Music wishes to express its enormous gratitude to the many individuals and organizations that have helped to make this season possible Agent 16, Bill Brown Burton & Joyce Ahrens Lynne Addison Liz Allyn Dana Astmann John & Astrid Baumgardner Rick & Candace Beinecke Donald Berman Botelle School, Peter Michelson, Principal Botelle School Parent Teacher Organization, Chaya Berlstein Susan L. Carney Chamber Music America, Margaret Lioi, President Carolyn Childs Hope Childs Laura Chilton Kristina Chmelar Dennis & Pamela Collins Ken Crilly Hope Dana & John Perkins Tara Deming Ed Domaney, Domaney Wines Carl & Marilee Dudash Sue Dyer, First Chairman, Town of Norfolk English Speaking Union, Katie Brock Jeff Euben Sandy Evans First Congregational Church, Rev. Erick Olsen Nicholas Fanelli Valerie Fitch Pamela Frank Adrienne Gallagher Patricia Garland Nicholas Gordon Bill & Barbara Gridley
Ann Havemeyer Susan Hawkshaw Mara Hazzard–Wallingford Danielle Heller Coleen & Brett Hellerman Jim & Leni Herzog Elizabeth Hilpman & Byron Tucker Emily Howe Infinity Music Hall, Dan Hincks Bhakti & Jim Jackson Martin Jean, Director, Yale Institute of Sacred Music Helen & Philip Jessup Gregory Johnson Krista Johnson Jeanne Kazzi Doreen & Michael Kelly Jenna–Claire Kemper Eugene Kimball Robert King, CPA Christopher & Betsy Little David Low & Dominique Lahaussois Suzanne Eggleston Lovejoy M & R Liquors, Marty Johnson Litchfield Piano Works Susan MacEachron & Bruce Patrick John Martin Associates, Architects Susan Matheson Chris Melillo Cecily Mermann Samuel D. Messer, Director, Yale Summer School of Art Roger Mitchell & Pete Peterson Anne Moses The Norfolk Historical Society, Barry Webber The Norfolk Library, Richard Dann Robin Yuran
And ... Norfolk Lions’ Club Norfolk Volunteer The citizens of Norfolk who Fire Department share their lovely community Kevin O’Connor with our Fellows, Artists Vincent Oneppo and audiences Monica Ong Reed The host families who graciously Patricia Pappacoda open their homes to our Fellows Aldo Parisot Dan Pellegrini The Battell Arts Foundation, Linda Perkins sponsors of the Young Artists’ Drew & Sally Quale Performance Series Nancy & Jim Remis Kathy & Curtis Robb Most of all, Ellen Battell Stoeckel, Arthur Rosenblatt our founder & patroness Kim & Julie Scharnberg Anne–Marie Soullière & Lindsey Kiang Spurling Thomas Period Design, Paul Spurling Ashley Starkins YALE SCHOOL OF MUSIC Carol Stein Robert Storr, Dean, Yale School of Art Jerry & Roger Tilles Francesca Turchiano & Bob Bumcrot Hans Van Dyk Public Radio Group Benjamin Verdery National Public Radio Edwina & Peter Vosburgh Sukey Wagner John G. Waite Associates, Architects, John G. Waite Cay Palazzo Matthew Scheidt Mark & Tania Walker Elizabeth Wilford Michael Yaffe Donna Yoo
wSHU ®
Festival Acknowledgements
7
Luxe Lodging Resort Style Luxury Lodging & Spa Services “Best of New England” Yankee Magazine 2009 “Best of New England” New England Travel 2010 “Best Wedding Venues” Out Traveler 2011 "Unforgettable" Dale Salm, CT Magazine "Jaw Dropping" Valarie D'Elia, NY1 "Extraordinary" Jim Flynn's Best Weekends Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Less than 5 minutes from the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival) Stella and Michael Somers, Innkeepers 19 Rock Hall Road/PO Box 312 Colebrook, CT 06021
info@19rockhallroad.com www.19rockhallroad.com 860.379.2230
ABOUT THE
F E S T I VA L
Music in Norfolk has a long and vibrant history, dating back to the 1890s when Ellen Battell and her husband Carl Stoeckel, son of the Yale School of Music’s first professor, founded the Litchfield County Choral Union. Chamber music and choral concerts in their 35–room mansion, Whitehouse, were the beginning of the Festival that, by the turn of the century, was already considered one of the country’s most prestigious. As audiences grew, the Stoeckels commissioned New York architect, E.K. Rossiter, to design the larger and acoustically superior Music Shed. Dedicated in 1906, to this day the hall retains all of its original glory and stunning acoustics. It has remained essentially unchanged since its stage was graced by such renowned musicians as Fritz Kreisler, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Jean Sibelius. Upon her death in 1939, Ellen Battell Stoeckel left her estate in a private trust with instructions that the facilities be used for Yale University’s summer music school, ensuring an enduring artistic legacy. Now in its 70th season, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival — Yale School of Music has a dual teaching/performance purpose. Audiences from around the country come to northwest Connecticut to hear world–class artists, such as the seven–time Grammy® nominee The Music Shed c. 1920 (Left to Right ) Conductor Arthur Mees, soprano Tokyo String Quartet, which has Alma Gluck, violinists Efrem Zimbalist and Fritz been in residence since 1976. Boris Kreisler in Alma’s new Ford, purchased on the Berman, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, way to Norfolk David Shifrin, William Purvis, Frank Morelli, Ani Kavafian and artists from Photo courtesy of the Mees Family. around the world perform as part of a series of more than 30 concerts over a nine–week period. These professional musicians also serve as teachers and mentors to the Fellows who come to Norfolk each year to study. Young instrumentalists, singers, conductors and composers are selected through a highly competitive international admissions process to spend their summer participating in the intensive program of coaching, classes and performances. They are exposed to every aspect of their future profession: their colleagues, their mentors, and most importantly, their audience. Alumni of the Norfolk program include Alan Gilbert, Richard Stoltzman, Frederica von Stade, Pamela Frank, the Eroica Trio, So Percussion, eighth blackbird, and the Ying, Miró, Shanghai, Saint Lawrence, Cavani, Calder and Jasper quartets. The interior of the Music Shed c. 1906 A strong bond exists with the community, as residents of Norfolk and the surrounding area host the Fellows throughout their summer experience. The Fellows perform on the Norfolk Fellows' Performance Series which is offered free to the public throughout the summer. The community of music lovers supports the young performers and becomes their most enthusiastic advocate. Over the years, while Norfolk has become a symbol of quality in chamber music performance and professional study, thousands have enjoyed the picturesque environment of the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate and the excellence of one of America’s most distinguished musical traditions.
Festival History
9
Founded in 1928 in Stockbridge, MA
May 27–28
June 02
09 11 18 28–July 16
July
06–16 07–16 12–30 18–30 19–30 22
August 05 02–13 09–27 11 13
Tours, Programs, Terrace café & BooksTore Open Daily 10am-5pm May 7-October 31 Kids & Teens Free Admission Every Day 2 Plunkett Street, Lenox 413-551-5111
ediThWharTon.org
16–Sept 3 20 25 30–Sept 3
I Got Sick Then I Got Better (Unicorn)
Founded in 1903 in Pittsfield, MA
Sherri James Buxton and Friends: Songs from the Great American Songbook with Special Guest Matt Cusson (Colonial) Ron White: Behavioral Problems Tour (Colonial) The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats (Colonial) Bobby Sweet: CD Release Party (Colonial) Moonchildren (Unicorn) Hansel and Gretel’s Grimm Tale (Berkshire Museum) The Who’s Tommy (Colonial) Sylvia (Fitzpatrick Main Stage) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (The Mount) Dutch Masters (Unicorn) Talib Kweli (Colonial) Bob Weir Solo Acoustic (Colonial) In The Mood (Fitzpatrick Main Stage) Finian’s Rainbow (Unicorn) Tommy Tune in Steps in Time (Colonial) Bakin’ with the Boss Tour starring Buddy Valastro: The Cake Boss (Colonial) Period of Adjustment (Fitzpatrick Main Stage) Word x Word Festival (Colonial) Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (Colonial) Birthday Boy (Unicorn)
September 09–11 24 29–Oct16
October 14–16; 21–23 09 15 19 21 28–29
The Wizard of Oz (Colonial) Berkshire Comedy Spotlight II (Colonial) Birthday Boy re-opens (Unicorn) Made in the Berkshires New Works Festival (Unicorn & Colonial) Frank Rich (Colonial) The Grace Kelly Quartet with special guest Phil Woods (Colonial) David Sedaris (Colonial) The Tartan Terrors (Colonial) Romance, Soul & Rock N’ Roll presents:THIS is Broadway! (Colonial)
November 09 12 19 30
Ani DiFranco (Colonial) Christopher O’Riley (Colonial) Arlo Guthrie (Colonial) Natalie MacMaster: Christmas in Cape Breton (Colonial)
December 04
17–30
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical (Colonial) A Christmas Carol (Colonial)
Pictured: Fitzpatrick Main Stage; Colonial Theatre; Unicorn Theatre; Natalie MacMaster, photo credit: Richard Beland; Tommy Tune; Phil Woods and Grace Kelly; Jayne Atkinson and Michel Gill in The Guardsman (BTF 2010).
(413) 997-4444 (413) 298-5576 www.thecolonialtheatre.org www.berkshiretheatre.org 111 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201 6 East Street, Stockbridge, MA 01262
A cultural partnership for the Berkshires and beyond presented on three stages in Stockbridge and Pittsfield.
BY
CHARLES IVES
J A N S WA FF O R D
Charles Edward Ives, 1947 *
For all his singularity, the Yankee maverick Charles Ives is among the most representative of American artists. Optimistic, idealistic, fiercely democratic, he unified the voice of the American people with the forms and traditions of European classical music. The result, in his most farreaching work, is like nothing ever imagined before him: music at once unique and as familiar as a tune whistled in childhood, music that can conjure up the pandemonium of a small-town Fourth of July or the quiet of a New England church, music of visionary spirituality built from the humblest materials--an old gospel hymn, a patriotic tune, a sentimental parlor song. The way in which Ives pursued his goal of a democratic art, and his career of creating at the highest level of ambition while making a fortune in the life insurance business, perhaps could only have happened in the United States. And perhaps only there could such an isolated, paradoxical figure make himself into a major artist. Charles Ives was born in the small manufacturing town of Danbury, Connecticut, on October 20, 1874, two years before Brahms finished his First Symphony. During the Civil War his father George Ives had been the Union's youngest bandmaster, his band called the best in the army. When the war ended George had returned to Danbury to take up the unusual trade, in that business-oriented town, of musician. As a cornet player, band director, theater orchestra leader, choir director, and teacher, George Ives became the most influential musician in the region. Yet while Danbury prided itself during the 1880s in being called "the most musical town in Connecticut" (that in large part due to George Ives' labors), people still viewed the profession with little understanding or respect. That situation, which would have been the same in most American towns in the 19th century, had its impact on Charles Ives. Still, his family was prominent, noted for extravagant personalities and (except for George) a gift for business. like father, like son Ives told the story of his introduction to music: his father came home one day to find the five-year old banging out the Ives Band's drum parts on the piano, using his fists. George Ives' response gave the first impetus to his son's career as a musical innovator. Rather than saying, as would most parents, That's not how to play the piano, George observed instead, "It's all right to do that, Charles, if you know what you're doing," and sent the boy down the street for drum lessons. Charlie never did stop using his fists on the piano, and was eventually notorious for requiring a board to play the Concord Sonata. Thus the invention of what a later age would call "tone clusters." After receiving his first instruction in piano and other instruments from his father, Charlie was turned over to more advanced keyboard teachers. For some years George hoped his son would find a career as a concert pianist. Instead, Charlie specialized in the organ, and by age fourteen he had become the youngest salaried church organist in Connecticut. Though he worked at music with remarkable discipline for his age, he also resented the demands of his training: "As a boy I was partially ashamed of it.... When other boys... were out driving grocery carts, or doing chores, or playing ball, I felt all wrong to stay in and play piano." Needing an antidote to the isolation and social anomaly of an intense education in music, Charlie threw himself into sports. One summer day at age fifteen, he played outfield for his baseball team in the afternoon and that night played a full organ recital. In short, Ives was something of a prodigy, and reached adulthood as one of the finest American organists of his generation. He began composing at around age thirteen, his first pieces little marches, fiddle tunes, songs for church, and the like--the kind of thing he heard and played around Danbury all the time. Early works include the precocious Variations on "America" for organ, written at seventeen; it would find considerable popularity after Ives died. The charming March No. 2 shows the teenager's grasp of traditional popular genres and his lifelong propensity for weaving familiar tunes into his work: it quotes "A Song of a Gambolier." The Circus Band, from the 1890s, rivals some of Sousa's as a classic march of the era, enlivened with Ives' characteristic rhythmic quirks. A great deal of Ives' later and more innovative music also echoes his childhood. The Gong on the Hook and Ladder is a rhythmic study built from an image of the gala Firemen's Parades of his youth; the ecstatic From the Steeples and the Mountains, for brass and bells, rings with memories of Danbury church bells. The story of Charles Ives' mature music has to do with the intersection of a great inborn gift for music, a thriving musical atmosphere in Danbury--largely in vernacular forms, but including classical music from local players and visiting ensembles--and a father who raised his son with the same inquiring, iconoclastic approach to music as his own. George Ives would have his boys sing in one key while he accompanied in another; he built instruments to play quarter-tones; he played his cornet over a pond so Charlie could gauge the effect of space; he set two bands marching around a park blaring different tunes, to see what it sounded like when they approached and passed.
Charles Ives
11
CHARLES IVES
C ont i nued
from the ordinary, the profound Just as importantly, George Ives taught his son to respect the power of vernacular music. As a Civil War band leader he understood how sentimental tunes such as "Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground," "Aura Lee," Stephen Foster songs, and marches and bugle calls were woven into the experience of war and the memories of soldiers. Much as did Gustav Mahler a continent away, Charles Ives came to associate everyday music with profound emotions and spiritual aspirations. One of his father's most resonant pieces of wisdom came when he said of a stonemason's off-key hymn singing: "Look into his face and hear the music of the ages. Don't pay too much attention to the sounds--for if Charles Edward Ives c. 1880 you do, you may miss the music. You won't get a wild, heroic ride to heaven on pretty little sounds." Charles Ives grew up determined to find that wild, heroic ride, that music of the ages-the spiritual power he felt in the singing at outdoor camp meetings and in bands marching during holidays. It would take many years of struggle and experiment, however, before he fully possessed the musical language to transform that spirit into orchestral and chamber music. Yet the road to his maturity would be marked by a number of remarkable works, including three symphonies and dozens of songs, chamber and piano pieces. Many of Ives' innovations developed directly from ideas of his father's, though George was no composer but rather something like a Yankee tinker in music. It remained for the son to make artistic use of the father's musical experiments. By his late teens, besides the practical music he was composing for use in church and for his father's ensembles, Charles Ives had written studies in polychords and polytonality (including the bitonal "London Bridge is Fallen Down!" studies) and band variations on the hymn "Jerusalem, the Golden" that had contingents of his father's band spread around the town square, sometimes playing theme and variations at the same time. to the ivy
The cover of Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer"
When Charles Ives left Danbury for New Haven in 1893 to prepare for Yale at the Hopkins Grammar School, he was already an expert composer of conventional short works, a few of which would be published in the next years. At the same time, with his own experiments taking his father's ideas to new levels of sophistication, some of the musical consciousness that would create the mature work was already in place. What he required now was greater control of As an undergraduate at Yale, Ives set the orchestra and of musical structure--things his father could not teach him. Fortunately, after extra Heinrich Heine’s “Ich grolle nicht” tutoring had allowed Charlie to squeak through the Yale entrance exam, he ended up studying (“I’ll not complain”) to music. with the chairman of the college's new Music Department, who may well have been the finest composition teacher in the United States at the time. This professor was Horatio Parker, a German-trained American who had recently come to fame with his high-Victorian oratorio Hora Novissima. As a teacher Parker was distant, demanding, and conservative. He and his student got off to a shaky start when Ives showed Parker a Fugue in Four Keys, the keys being simultaneous. Ives was curtly asked not to bring in any more such manifestations. Dutifully but resentfully, Charlie settled into the classroom routine of counterpoint, harmony, history, orchestration, and form. He would never admit it, but in his four years with Parker he learned a great deal about the shaping forces of music. Meanwhile, as a freshman Ives became organist of Center Church in New Haven, the most prestigious keyboard position in town. Soon after he began at Yale came the greatest blow of Charles Ives' life: his father died suddenly of a stroke. Charlie never got over it; he spoke of his father constantly to the end of his life, and seemed to feel that he was writing George Ives' music. Despite lingering depression over his loss, Ives had a spectacularly successful career at Yale, in every way but academically. His average in musical courses was a respectable B, in everything else D+. Vivacious, funny, talented, indefatigable, "Dasher" Ives became one of the best-liked figures
Charles Ives
ARTIST on campus. He spent his four years enjoying himself in various clubs, playing intramural sports, frequenting vaudeville theaters and sitting in for the pianists, playing ragtime and his own pieces at parties, and composing-light pieces for bands and glee clubs and church services, assigned works for his classes, and experiments. Smaller works from his college years include the scintillating March No. 6, with Here's to Good Old Yale and his sentimental tune for the Glee Club, quite a hit at the time, The Bells of Yale. His large-scale works of the Yale years reveal a developing control of form, instrumentation, and thematic development, all of it reflecting Parker's training. The First Symphony is essentially a brilliant and precocious homework assignment, a massive work in European style with echoes of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořåk. As he worked on the symphony, Ives also produced the First String Quartet, which he later subtitled, half jokingly, "From the Salvation Army." It integrates gospel hymns, of the kind Ives grew up hearing in camp meetings, with the forms, textures, and thematic manipulation of European-Romantic music. Here Ives first suggests Charles Ives' Yale the direction of his maturity: a mediation between American and European elements, and between "high" graduation photo, 1898 and "low" art. a choice Ives also wrote a good deal of choral and organ music in connection with his organist job at Center Church. Most of these works, which Ives recalled as routine, were lost, but a few also showed his experimental side. More informally in his undergraduate years, in theaters and at parties Ives tried out rough superimpositions of tunes in different meters and keys. These included "stunts" such as Yale-Princeton Football Game that uproariously portray familiar events--something Ives would eventually do more seriously in works including Decoration Day. If he had continued on the career path of an organist/choirmaster/ composer/ The First Church of Christ (Center Church on the Green), teacher like Horatio Parker, Ives would have gone from Yale to complete his studies in a European, probably German, conservatory. Instead, he took a path that led him into one of the most difficult and unconventional New Haven, CT lifestyles of any major composer: acting on some of his father's last words of advice, Ives decided to forego a musical career and go into business. When he left Yale in 1898, he headed for New York to begin as a $15-a-week clerk with the Mutual Life Insurance Company. The point of this career choice, for a young man clearly talented and ambitious as an organist as well as composer, was to leave himself room to create as he wanted, without the impediment of a relentlessly conservative musical establishment. As Ives put it, if a composer "has a nice wife and some nice children, how can he let them starve on his dissonances?" During his first four years in the New York City of the "Gay Nineties," Ives held organist/ choirmaster posts in two prominent churches, played recitals, and composed the church cantata The Celestial Country, tuneful and respectably Victorian (though the cantata also includes organ interludes with exploratory harmonies). Though most of the more conventional works of this period are lost, from his church music Ives continued to develop new pieces, notably the four Violin Sonatas that together make up the most important American contribution to that genre. All the Sonatas are suffused with memories of Danbury church services and square-dance fiddle playing. Another surviving choral work from that time, Processional: Let There Be Light, in The building housing the offices of Ives & Myrick, a managing agency of which the divine radiance is expressed by pealing dissonances, Mutual Life of New York. The February 17, 1917, issue of Insurance Press shows that even in a church setting Ives could not entirely described Charles Ives and Julian Myrick as "young hustlers" who "succeeded suppress his adventurous side. in making their agency one of the greatest on the country."
Charles Ives
13
CHARLES IVES
C ont i nued
Ives' more radical new works from the first decade of the century, none of them performed or performable at that time, reveal for all their fascination no overall direction. Ives' dilemma was how to unify the separate streams of his music: the traditional European genres of symphony, string quartet, sonata, and the like, which his expressive ambitions drove him to take up; but also his love of American vernacular music, his passion for experiment, his interest in realistic and chance musical effects. His struggle toward maturity is shown in works written around the turn of the century such as the Second Symphony, which begins with a fugue of Brahmsian cast and includes snippets of Tchaikovsky, but also includes a great deal of American vernacular music, climaxing with the Stephen-Fosterish tunes of the last movement. A beautiful and compelling work, the Second was prophetic of the "Americana" style of Copland and others thirty years later. beyond the new Weary of the creative constraints of being a church organist and choirmaster, in 1902 Ives "quit music," as he put it; he resigned his organ job, the last formal connection with the musical profession he ever had. From that point his experimental side deepened, in the next years producing the transitional Third Symphony (subtitled "The Camp Meeting"), the wild, almost cubistic Four Ragtime Dances for theater orchestra, and two small but far-reaching works of 1906: Central Park in the Dark and The Unanswered Question, both of which use loose but carefully notated superimpositions of stylistically distinct material in different meters and keys. African-American vernacular music also contributed to Ives' mature work: the Ragtime Dances demonstrate a fresh rhythmic style derived from the dancing syncopations of ragtime. The ultimate point of these experimental works, however, is not technical but expressive and programmatic. In the "cosmic landscape" of The Unanswered Question, a trumpet repeatedly poses "the eternal question of existence" against a haunting background of strings, finally to be answered by an eloquent silence. By that work of 1906, Ives was over half a century ahead of his time, writing in collagelike planes of contrasting styles. His epic First Piano Sonata, begun in 1901, was the first large-scale work in his radical vein, and cost him at least eight years of effort. It would not find its premiere until 1949. Harmony Twichell, c. 1902 As a kind of laboratory, Ives consistently wrote studies for piano and chamber ensembles, each designed to examine a particular technical aspect. They include the elaborately polyrhythmic In Re Con Moto et al. and the two Tone Roads, all of which sound remarkably like avant-garde works of a half century later--but with an entirely Ivesian wit and rhythmic drive. From this decade also comes the wry, ragtimey chamber work Scherzo: Over the Pavements, suggested by the walking rhythms of people passing by Ives' Manhattan apartment. At the same time as Ives was writing revolutionary pieces of mounting audacity and confidence, he continued to compose relatively conventional and quite beautiful songs, violin sonatas, and other smaller pieces. And his star rose precipitously in the insurance trade, which led to the formation of Ives & Co. in 1907, in conjunction with partner Julian Myrick. Its successor, Ives & Myrick, would become the largest agency in the country, noted not only for spectacular profits but also for Ives' innovative ideas about selling and training. soul mates Two more things of great significance happened to Ives in 1906, one ominous and the other fruitful. After living since childhood at a near-manic pace--what allowed him to compose voluminously despite working full-time in an office--Ives had a physical breakdown, probably a heart attack and associated depression. Also that year he began to court a settlement-house nurse named Harmony Twichell, daughter of a well-known Hartford minister. Charlie had met her during his Yale years--she was the sister of a school friend--but their romance did not kindle until a decade later. After a long Victorian courtship, during which they found a transforming spiritual rapport, Charles and Harmony were married in June 1908. Between them they created a kind of theology around their relationship, seeing their love as a reflection of divine love, his music their means of spreading that love into the world. After years of prophetic experiments, Ives' full maturity can be dated from his marriage to Harmony Twichell. Between 1908 and 1917 Ives composed at a pace hard to believe, given that his insurance agency was also burgeoning. From these years comes the completion of much of his greatest work: Three Places in New England; the symphony Holidays; the intense and mystical Second String Quartet; most of the monumental Fourth Symphony; the Second Orchestral Set; the Concord Sonata; the sprawling, raging Robert Browning Overture; many songs both progressive and traditional; and studies in various states of completion including the Tone Roads. In these works Ives found the "music of the ages" that he had been seeking since his youth--not only unifying vernacular and cultivated traditions and carrying his experiments to a prophetic level of imagination and sophistication, but finding a language to convey the
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Charles Ives
ARTIST
BI O G R A P H I E S
Filled with quotes of music from Beethoven to Stephen Foster and American hymnodists, Ives' mature work is music about music, or rather music as a symbol of human life and striving and spirituality. For that purpose Ives used the music he grew up with, from the ceremonies and celebrations of Danbury's daily life. His intentions go far beyond nostalgia, however. Memories of his childhood are transcended, his hometown made into an image of the primal human community, where people worship and celebrate, with music a vital part of it all. Ives' portrait, say, of a Fourth of July in Danbury paints the event in all its chaotic vitality, yet it is still carefully-shaped music based on a small collection of thematic materials, it develops in a convincing musical shape, and it conveys not only the surface of the event but the emotion behind it--or rather, the many emotions of an uproarious crowd in the streets, listening to the playing of not-entirely-sober bandsmen as they march past. "Bandstuff!" Ives wrote one of his longsuffering copyists. "They didn't always play right & together and it was as good either way." Two works from the second decade of the century can stand for the method and achievement of Ives' maturity. His Decoration Day, the second of the Holidays, pictures an event Ives observed throughout his childhood on the holiday now called Memorial Day: his father's band marched to the town cemetery playing a mournful tune; as the crowds stood among the decorated graves of the war dead, A portion of the May 8, 1915, issue George Ives intoned "Taps" on his trumpet; then the of the The New York Herald's front page. Charles Ives with band marched back to town to a lively tune designed Shown standing are (left -right ) the R.M.S. Lusitania's daughter Edith in 1924 to lift people's spirits. From that narrative Ives shapes Captain, William T. Turner; Alfred G. Vanderbilt; in Decoration Day an unprecedented musical stream of Elbert Hubbards; and Charles Frohman consciousness, in which revolutionary musical techniques are marshaled to paint a profound collective memory. When Stravinsky was asked his definition of a musical masterpiece, he answered with Decoration Day. The orchestral piece From Hanover Square North, at the End of a Tragic Day, the Voice of the People Again Arose, which concludes the three-movement Second Orchestral Set, came directly from a personal experience. On the way home from work Ives saw a crowd of people on a Manhattan train platform break into a hymn, in response to news of the sinking of the Lusitania by a torpedo. The work transforms that moment into a complex musical fabric, in which threads of the hymn gradually coalesce to the climactic proclamation of "In the Sweet By and By." The hymn sounds as rough and untutored as the voices of men and women on the street, but it is filled with overwhelming emotion: the music of the ages. the spirit of music Thus Ives' comment, echoing his father's words: "What has sound got to do with music!?" For Ives, music is not mere sound but the underlying spirit, human and divine, which the sounds express even in the inexpert playing and singing of amateurs. Thus the paradox of Ives' music, echoing his paradoxical person: he could be realistic, comic, transcendent, simple, complex, American, and European, all at the same time. If some of his music seems crowded nearly to bursting, it is a vibrant and entirely realistic portrayal of his conception of life, his sense of democracy in action, and of his own all-embracing consciousness. As Ives once said: "Music is life." Yet for all his democratic convictions, this enormous creative effort was carried on largely in private. Between the premiere of The Celestial Country in 1902 and performances in the 1920s, Ives had no real public exposure at all. Such isolation was unprecedented for an important artist, a situation unthinkable in Europe. It did allow Ives to follow his most visionary ideas, but it also distanced him from the profession. Still, during his years of obscurity Ives constantly showed his work to musicians, hired groups to play over pieces, revised the music based on what he heard, and had much of his music expertly copied. Yet, for twenty years the nearly unanimous reaction of musicians to his music was somewhere between laughter and outrage. It is no wonder that he required, as Aaron Copland put it, "the courage of a lion." By 1917 Ives had acquired an adopted child and a new obsession--working to support the American war effort (despite his earlier outspoken objection to the war). With the strains of parenthood and campaigning for war bonds added to the already exhausting demands of his business and creative life, and with the drain of steady rejection from musicians, Ives' health collapsed. In October 1918 he had a serious heart attack just before his 44th birthday. Neither he nor his work ever completely recovered.
Charles Ives
15
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a spirit unrelenting Ignoring lingering weakness from his heart attack, in the first half of the 1920s Ives kept to his usual frenetic pace, now spending a great deal of time promoting his work, cultivating friendships with musicians, joining and supporting organizations that promoted progressive music. By this time, the Modernist movement was gathering steam in the U.S., much of the musical part of it spiraling around the energetic young composer Henry Cowell, who took up Ives' cause and remained one of his champions. Starting with songs and the Violin Charles Ives, 1950 † Sonatas, Ives' music began to be played in the 20s, largely in "Ultra-Modernist" forums. But Ives' infirmities steadily eroded his energy, creative and otherwise. Finally one day around 1927 Ives came downstairs in tears and told his wife, "I can't seem to compose any more. I try and try and nothing comes out right." Three years later he resigned from the insurance agency he had built. For the rest of his life Ives was an invalid. Yet through decades of physical misery Ives remained the same optimistic, funny, gloriously eccentric, vibrant spirit he had always been. When he was able, he saw to the practical side of being a composer-- writing letters to those interested in his work, editing pieces for publication and overseeing editing by others, and supervising the copying of his pieces. The wealth he had earned in business not only supported his own work, but flowed steadily into the cause of progressive music all over the U.S. in misery, creation Periodically during his last decades, Ives would take up and add a few notes to a titanic, transcendent work he had conceived in 1915, at the same time as the end of the Fourth Symphony: the Universe Symphony, which he described as aspiring "to paint the creation, the mysterious beginnings of all things...the evolution of all life in nature, of humanity from the Charles and great roots of life to the spiritual eternities, from the great inknown to the great unknown." The Harmony Ives, 1946 ** symphony was a gigantic credo, and a conception unfinished and unfinishable in the world. Yet over the decades Ives returned again and again to the idea, finally conceiving it as to be presented outdoors, with orchestras in valleys and choruses on hilltops. Only 39 pages of sketches remain of the Universe; more may have been lost. Several people have made realizations and creative extensions of the material, following up on Ives' suggestion that others take up the piece. The existing sketches reveal a fascinating fragment whose elusive whisperings and giant rhythmic cycles resemble the mystical finale of the Fourth Symphony. The rise of Ives' reputation was slow, but important musicians admired him and some--Henry Cowell, Nicolas Slonimsky, and Lou Harrison among them--devoted significant parts of their lives to his work. Aaron Copland, Harrison, and pianist John Kirkpatrick gave important performances of his music in the 30s and 40s, earning Ives glowing reviews and a Pulitzer Prize (1947). Charles Ives died in May 1954, just as Henry and Sidney Cowell completed their pioneering biography of him. It was not until a decade later that the musical mainstream really began to take Ives seriously. For many, the long-posed question of whether Ives is the greatest American composer had been answered in the affirmative. Ives remains, and perhaps always will, the great maverick among Western classical composers. It is a position he would surely approve of. Yet for all the neglect that lasted to the end of his life, he felt confident that his work would reach the hearts and minds of listeners. After he met Ives in the 1940s, poet Louis Untermeyer recalled, "His presence impressed me. There are a few people who have presence per se... a kind of self-assurance. He knew what he had done. He knew what he was."
Jan Swafford is a composer and writer whose musical works range from orchestral and chamber to film and theater music and have been played around the country and abroad. Mr. Swafford’s writings have appeared in Slate, Guardian International, Gramophone and Symphony Magazine and he has done musical features on NPR’s Performance Today and Morning Edition. His books include The Vintage Guide to Classical Music; Charles Ives: A Life with Music (Norton) (nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award and winner of the PEN/Winship prize); and Johannes Brahms: A Biography (Knopf). He is currently writing a biography of Beethoven for Houghton Mifflin. Mr. Swafford teaches music history, theory and composition at the Boston Conservatory.
Copyright © 1998 by Peermusic, Ltd. Used by the kind permission of Peermusic Classical. Images of Charles Ives and “Ich grolle nicht” courtesy of the Charles Ives Papers in the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University * by Clara Sipprell | ** by Halley Erskine | † by George Tyler
Charles Ives
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I N T H E T I M E O F. . . C H A R L E S IV E S
1874 Charles Ives is born The original Madison Square Garden opens in New York City • First Chautauqua Camp held in New York • Verdi Requiem & Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov premiered • New Compositions: Bruckner 4th Symphony; Johann Strauss Jr. Die Fledermaus; Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition; Tchaikovsky 1st Piano Concerto • Gustav Holst & Arnold Schoenberg are born 1894 Ives enters Yale University American Academy in Rome begins • Tiffany patents process for staining glass • Iceberg lettuce introduced by the Burpee Company • 1st Chili Pepper powder introduced • Hershey’s Chocolate Company incorporated • New Compositions: Brahms two Clarinet Sonatas (his last instrumental works); Mahler 2nd Symphony; Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faun; Richard Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra; Dvořák Humoresque 1898 Ives graduates from Yale University; begins career in Insurance Industry; begins writing Central Park in the Dark for orchestra Spanish American war • Goodyear Tire Co. founded • Sousaphone introduced by C. G. Conn • Bronx Zoo opens • Pepsi-Cola introduced • Nabisco formed • Books: Henry James Turn of the Screw; H.G. Wells War of the Worlds • New Compositions: Elgar Enigma Variations; Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben George Gershwin is born
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1902 Ives “quits music” and resigns as a church organist AAA Founded • Crayola crayons introduced • Rhodes Scholars program begins • 1st motion picture theater opens in Los Angeles, CA • Flatiron Building opens in New York City • Mt. Washington Hotel opens in New Hampshire • Algonquin Hotel opens in New York City • Animal Crackers introduced • Teddy Bear created • Books: Hound of the Baskervilles • Enrico Caruso makes his first sound recording • New Compositions: Mahler 5th Symphony; Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande • Popular songs: In the Good Ol’ Summertime; Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home; Scott Joplin Ragtime Dance & Elite Syncopation
1898, Harper & Brothers edition cover. Courtesy of François Beaulieu
1906 Ives finished Central Park in the Dark San Francisco earthquake • Dow Jones Industrials breaks 100 for the first time • Excavation begins on Panama Canal • 1st electric train operated out of Grand Central Terminal • the word “allergy” is coined • 1st radio broadcast of music & voice • Sears Roebuck Co. started • Victrola introduced • Music Shed in Norfolk opens • Books: Galsworthy Forsyte Saga • New Compositions: R. Strauss Elektra; Schoenberg two Chamber Symphonies • Dmitri Shostakovich is born • Popular songs: Anchors Aweigh 1907 Ives begins Ives & Company Insurance, later to be Ives & Myrick - the largest insurance agency in U.S. Niemann Marcus opens first store • United States motorcar production reaches 43,000, up from 25,000 in 1905 • 1st taxi meters in New York City • Union Station in Washington, DC, opens • Paris Exhibition of cubists • in Paris Alice B. Toklas meets Gertrude Stein • New Compositions: Mahler 8th Symphony • Richard Strauss' Salome premieres at the Met (J.P. Morgan and other Met Board members condemn the opera as indecent, cancel remaining performances and refund tickets to patrons) • Popular songs: Glow Worm; The Caissons Go Rolling Along • Edvard Grieg dies Original 1906 sheet music cover of "Anchors Aweigh"
Courtesy of Answers.com plus other sources. Check our website for more cross-cultural factoids during key moments in Charles Ives’ lifetime.
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Ives Timeline
1908
Ives marries Harmony Twitchell; writes Unanswered Question
Petroleum industry begins in Middle East • Ford Model T introduced • First Mothers’ Day • Tea bags introduced • Melitta drip coffee maker invented • President Th. Roosevelt signs into law ruling that “In God We Trust” is to be printed on US currency • Mahler 7th Symphony premiered • New Compositions: Mahler Das Lied von der Erde; Bartók 1st String Quartet; Ravel Ma mère l’oye; Percy Grainger Country Gardens • Books: L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables; K. Grahame Wind in the Willows; E.M. Forster Room With A View • Elliot Carter and Olivier Messiaen are born 1910
Ives writes Three Places in New England
Albert Fuller (Fuller Brush Co.) advertises for first door to door salesmen • Halley’s comet appears • Mark Twain dies • Neon lighting for signs invented • Unites States has 1,000 miles of concrete road, up from 144 miles in 1900 • Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing (3M) formed • Black & Decker founded • Hallmark Cards started • New Compositions: Stravinsky Firebird • Samuel Barber is born 1916 Tiffany's "Realization" - one of five panels commissioned for Battell Chapel by Ellen Battell Stoeckel
Ives begins writing Concord Sonata
First major US shopping mall opens • Boeing and Lockheed both begin production • 1st radio news broadcast • Harvard’s annual tuition raised to $200 having been at $150 for 47 years • Saturday Evening Post buys its first Norman Rockwell picture • 1st USPGA Tournament • Star Spangled Banner sung at Fenway Park for the first time at any ball game • New Compositions: Prokofiev 1st Symphony (“Classical”) • Milton Babbitt is born • Popular songs: La Cucaracha; I Ain’t Got Nobody
1927 Ives tells his wife, Harmony: “I can’t compose anymore.”
1910 costume design for
Average annual income of US wage-earners is $1,000 • Middle-class families with incomes of $3,000 or "Firebird" by Léon Bakst more generally have domestic help • 60% of US homes have electricity • Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic • Pan American Airways founded • Trans-Atlantic telephone service begins - $75 for 3 minutes (average worker earns $25 per week) • Dow Jones ends year at 202.40, up from 157.20 at year end 1926 • New Compositions: Rachmaninoff 4th Piano Concerto; Weill Mahagonny; Shostakovich The Nose • Popular songs: Ain’t She Sweet; I’m Lookin’ Over a Four Leaf Clover; S’Wonderful 1947 Ives wins Pulitzer Prize Marshall Plan proposed • UFO’s first make headlines • phrase “Cold War” coined by Bernard Baruch • the “Doomsday Clock” is introduced on the cover of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists • Meet the Press (radio version) begins • Dow Jones Industrials 181.16 - up from 177.20 at end of 1946 • Jackie Robinson signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers • 1st World Series broadcast on television (NY Yankees win over Brooklyn Dodgers) • NASCAR begins • New Compositions: Varèse Etude pour espace; Poulenc Flute Sonata; Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915; Britten Albert Herring • Popular entertainment: Miracle on 34th Street (film): Howdy Doody (television); Finian’s Rainbow; Streetcar Named Desire (Broadway) 1954 Charles Ives dies “Brown v. Board of Education” case tried in Supreme Court • Sports Illustrated magazine started • Elvis Presley makes his first commercial recording (That’s All Right Mama) • Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DiMaggio • The Dow Jones Industrials finally surpass the previous high of 381.17 (November 23, 1929) and close the year at 404.39. (1953 closed at 280.8) • New Compositions: Shostakovich Festival Overture; Cage 34’ 46.776 For A Pianist, for prepared piano; Britten Turn of the Screw; Bernstein Serenade
Ives Timeline
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Land preservation + Scientific research of the Ecosystem + Conservation for the enhancement of Nature Welcoming our community: citizen scientist activities – education programs – volunteer opportunities AF WORKSHOPS, TALKS & OTHER EVENTS - 2011 SCHEDULE Check our website (www.atonforest.org AF Workshops) as event details become available Jun 11, Sat: “The Afterlife of Trees” a talk by John Anderson at The Doolittle Lake Clubhouse, Norfolk (free) Jun 14-15, Wed-Thu: Field Identification and Ecology of Grasses, I - 2 days, with Bill Moorhead at White Memorial Conservation Center, Litchfield ($) Jun 22, Wed: Field Identification of Willows (Salix), 1 day, with Bill Moorhead at White Memorial Conservation Center, Litchfield ($) Jul 6-7, Wed-Thu: Field Identification of Sedges (Carex), 2 days, with Bill Moorhead at White Memorial Conservation Center, Litchfield ($) Aug 4-5, Thu-Fri: NDAL Naturalistic Landscaping Workshop, 2 days, with Larry Weaner and John Anderson at AF and nearby ($) Aug 6, Sat: Larry Weaner talk “Harmony, Rhythm, & Time: Relating the Processes of Musical Composition to Natural Landscape Design” at the Battell Recital Hall, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Norfolk, 4 pm (free) Sep 21-22, Wed-Thu: Field Identification and Ecology of Grasses II, 2 days, with Bill Moorhead at White Memorial Conservation Center, Litchfield ($) Oct 1, Sat: the 9th annual Aton Forest Open House – a fun day for family and friends, 10 am to 3 pm (free) – Hike * Eat * Learn
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Cover Painting Thomas Moran Pond in the Meadow, c. 1880 From the collection of the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate Photo Credits Randi Beach Lucas Beck Richard Bowditch Deanne Chin Christian Ducasse J. Henry Fair Emily Flem Bob Handelman Bernard Mindich Alonso Nicholas Vincent Oneppo John Pearson Nina Roberts UlrikeSchwarz Peter Serling Matthew Solanch Carol Stein Christian Steiner Chandra Villanueva Michael Williams For artist photo credits, please visit our website at www.norfolkmusic.org.
Tokyo String Quartet
Festival Artists
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Martin Beaver violin
Ole Akahoshi cello
Jeremy Denk
Kikuei Ikeda violin
Syoko Aki violin
Thomas Masse
Kazuhide Isomura viola
Janna Baty soprano
Matthew Steinfeld
Clive Greensmith cello
Boris Berman piano
Katie Stevinson–Nollet
Donald Berman piano
Jan Swafford
Artis Quartet
Robert Blocker piano
Carol Wincenc
Peter Schuhmayer violin
Simon Carrington conductor
Johannes Meissl violin
Ettore Causa viola
Herbert Kefer viola
Holly Chatham piano/ organ
Composers in
Othmar Müller cello
Allan Dean trumpet
Residence
Jeremy Denk piano
Martin Bresnick Director, New Music Workshop
Leschetizky Trio
Claude Frank piano
Klara Flieder Pantillon violin
Peter Frankl piano
Aaron Jay Kernis
Christophe Pantillon cello
Scott Hartman trombone
Ezra Laderman
Stanislaw Tichonow piano
Ani Kavafian violin
David Lang
Humbert Lucarelli oboe
Ingram Marshall
Full Force Dance Theatre
John McDonough narrator
Christopher Theofanidis
Katie Stevinson–Nollet, Artistic Director
Diana Moore mezzo–soprano
Joan Tower
The King's Singers Norfolk Festival Chamber Orchestra and Chorus
Lisa Moore piano Frank Morelli bassoon Susan Narucki soprano Donald Palma double bass Joan Panetti piano/composer Julian Pellicano conductor William Purvis French horn
André–Michel Schub piano Norfolk Contemporary David Shifrin clarinet Ensemble James Sinclair conductor Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
Daniel Stepner violin Richard Stoltzman clarinet
Stephen Taylor oboe Nicholas McGegan conductor Laura Usiskin cello
United States Coast Guard Band Kenneth W. Megan director
Ransom Wilson flute/ conductor Carol Wincenc flute Randall Wolfgang oboe Wei–Yi Yang piano
Artists and programs are subject to change without notice.
Faculty Artists
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FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS
CHAMBER MUSIC SESSION
Attacca String Quartet The Juilliard School Amy Schroeder violin Keiko Tokunaga violin Luke Fleming viola Andrew Yee cello Excalibur Brass Quintet Yale School of Music David Wharton trumpet Ryan A. Olsen trumpet Jessica Lascoe French horn Matthew Russo trombone Benjamin Firer bass trombone
Fairway String Quartet
Dana Cullen French horn Curtis Institute of Music
Dashiel Nesbitt viola Indiana University
Rachael Schlosberg violin University of Missouri, Kansas City Philip Marten violin Q Academy Kansas Tanner Menees viola Blue Valley NW High School Samuel Cho cello Washburn University
Brittany Harrington bassoon Eastman School of Music
Esther Park piano Yale School of Music
Eleanor Kendra James viola Yale School of Music
Yevgeniy Reznik clarinet University of Texas, Austin
Kemp Jernigan oboe The Hartt School
Adam Rosenblatt percussion Yale School of Music
Alexander Karpeyev piano
Gregory Robbins double bass Yale School of Music
English Speaking Union Scholarship
Tesla String Quartet
Louise Willson Scholarship
University of Colorado, Boulder
Ross Snyder violin Michelle Yeunhae Lee violin Megan Mason viola Kimberly Patterson cello
Guildhall School, England
Paul Kerekes composer John and Astrid Baumgardner Scholarship
Yale School of Music
Brendan V. Ryan flute University of Southern California Edson Scheid violin Yale School of Music Omar Surillo composer John and Astrid Baumgardner
Youngsun Kim violin Yale School of Music
Scholarship
Temple Street trio Yale College
Wonkak Kim clarinet Florida State University
Emily Westell violin
Jessica Oddie violin Clare Monfredo cello Ariel Borenzstein piano
Adrian Knight composer
Scholarship
John and Astrid Baumgardner Scholarship
Yale School of Music
Kayoung An piano The Colburn Conservatory
Yoonhee Ko cello Yale School of Music
Claire Brazeau oboe
Anouvong Liensavanh flute Yale School of Music
2006 Centenery Committee Scholarship
The Colburn Conservatory
Yale School of Music
Clement Clarke Moore
McGill University
Mark Baekburn Yee cello Manhattan School of Music Mimi Zhang French horn Yale School of Music Yang Jiao conductor Yale School of Music
Shelley Monroe Huang bassoon SUNY Stonybrook
Alicia Choi violin The Juilliard School
All Fellows receive a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board.
Fellowship Recipients
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BATTELL ARTS FOUNDATION Is proud to be in its 11th year of supporting the Norfolk Festival's Young Artists' Performance Series The Battell Arts Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to the support of educational and performance events involving music, drama and the visual arts in Norfolk, Colebrook and the surrounding area. To that end, we continue to support the Norfolk Festival’s Young Artists’ Performance Series on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings (and the first two Tuesdays in August). We also support the Community Drawing Classes and Children’s Art Camp that are provided by the Art Division of the Yale Summer School, and we sponsor the Children’s Concert and post-concert activities on the Norfolk Festival’s Family Day. Other recent projects include: Ongoing sponsorship of a three-week Drama workshop at the local Grammar school that ends in a public performance. Establishment of a scholarship fund for area young people to pursue further studies in their field of artistic endeavor. Support for Yale School of Music students to provide 2 workshops for local grammar school musicians. We invite you to join the Battell Arts Foundation in supporting our mission to promote education and participation in the Arts in our area. Please contact us for more information about our activities. All donations are tax deductible.
Battell Arts Foundation P O Box 661, Norfolk, CT 06058
C ont i nued
FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS
new music Workshop Preben Antonsen composer Yale School of Music
Victor Caccese percussion The Peabody Institute
Thibault Bertin–Maghit double bass Université de Montréal (Québèc)
Nick DiBerardino composer The Juilliard School
Adrianne Pope violin The Boston Conservatory
Tim Hansen composer New York University, Steinhardt
Timothy Hambourger composer Duke University
Mark S. Broschinsky trombone Manhattan School of Music
Julia Seeholzer composer Berklee College of Music
Gleb Kanasevich clarinet The Peabody Institute Edward Neeman piano The Juilliard School
CHAMBER CHOIR & CHORAL CONDUCTiNG Workshop Margaret Carpenter soprano/conductor University of North Carolina
Richard Hutton tenor/conductor Westminster Choir College of Rider University
Evan Mooney tenor/conductor Department Chair, Pioneer High School, Whittier, CA
Agnes Coakley soprano Schola Cantorum Baseliensis
Simon Jacobs bass baritone Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music
John Petzet bass baritone/conductor Texas Tech University
Daehan Kim bass baritone/conductor Westminster Choir College, Rider University
Erin Plisco soprano Music Director, Pinecrest High School, Southern Pines, NC
Raul Dominguez tenor Oklahoma City University Nicholas Garza tenor University of Texas, Arlington Eric Hannan tenor Vancouver Cantata Singers Amy Henderson alto/conductor Choir Director, McGill Conservatory Youth Choir Elliot Hines bass baritone Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Kieun Kim baritone/conductor Westminster Choir College, Rider University Allan Laino bass baritone California State University
Benila Ninan mezzo soprano Vancouver Cantata Singers
Adriana Tam mezzo soprano/conductor Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Samantha Scully mezzo soprano Westminster Choir College, Emi Tanaka soprano/conductor Rider University Kunitachi College of Music
Daniel Spratlan bass/conductor Clare McNamara mezzo soprano Rutgers University Longy School of Music Sean Stultz tenor Zerrin Martin mezzo soprano University of Houston Westminster Choir College, Rider University
Bram Wayman tenor University of Texas, Austin Ellen Gilson Voth alto/conductor Western New England College
All Fellows receive a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board.
Fellowship Recipients
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NORFOLK CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL Robert Blocker Dean Paul Hawkshaw Director Joyce Ahrens John Baumgardner Kathleen Kelley Christopher Little James Remis Anne–Marie Soullière Byron Tucker Sukey Wagner
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Festival Administration
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Blackberry River Inn
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS One of the world’s most celebrated ensembles, The King’s Singers have a packed schedule of concerts, recordings, media and education work that spans the globe. Championing the work of young and established composers, they remain consummate entertainers; a class–act with a delightfully British wit. From Gesualdo and György Ligeti to Michael Bublé, The King’s Singers are instantly recognisable for their spot–on intonation, their impeccable vocal blend, the flawless articulation of the text and incisive timing. During the 2011–12 concert season, The King’s Singers will perform across the world in some of the world’s most beautiful concert halls including the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Berlin Philharmonie, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall. They will also travel across Europe, the US, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Asia. With a discography of well over 150 recordings The King’s Singers have garnered both awards and significant critical acclaim. Their studio album Simple Gifts on Signum was awarded a Grammy® in 2009. Swimming over London, a disc that aligns KS ‘favourites’ with new songs and new arrangements was released in 2010, alongside a world premiere recording of Music for Vespers by Pachelbel. While touring the USA in February 2010, The King’s Singers recorded an album with renowned Concordia College Choir including KS commissions by Eric Whitacre and Bob Chilcott which will be released in 2011. Over the Christmas season, the group released J.S. Bach: Christmas Oratorio, a disc of Bach’s classic work in jazz arrangements by Bill Dobbins, and recorded a performance of their Joy to the World programme at London’s Cadogan Hall, released as a ‘live burn’ on the day of the concert. A DVD of their Christmas repertoire, recorded in London in January 2011 will be released later this year. The King’s Singers maintain a deep commitment to new choral music and have commissioned over 200 works from a host of prominent contemporary composers including Richard Rodney Bennett, Luciano Berio, Peter Maxwell Davies, György Ligeti, Gian Carlo Menotti, Krzysztof Penderecki, Ned Rorem, John Rutter, Toru Takemitsu, and John Tavener. This season, The King’s Singers will premiere works by Elena Kats–Chernin and Eric Whitacre. The King’s Singers have an extraordinary history on television. A favourite of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, with whom they performed as part of the Winter Olympics, they appeared on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas Concert to a combined live audience of 80,000 which was television broadcast on PBS across the US and is available on DVD. Following their televised BBC Proms performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London (also available on DVD – awarded a Midem International Classical Award in January 2010), and appearances on BBC Breakfast television, The King’s Singers appeared on Songs of Praise on BBC television (BBC One) three times in 2010, including a Christmas special. In addition to their sold–out concerts worldwide, The King’s Singers share their artistry through numerous workshops and master classes. They have clocked up phenomenal sales of sheet music with over two million pieces of print in circulation with current publisher Hal Leonard. The King’s Singers’ arrangements are sung by schools, college choirs and amateur and professional ensembles the world over.
Visit www.kingssingers.com for the latest news, blog entries, video blogs, podcasts, Tweets and YouTube updates. The King's Singers appear by arrangement with IMG Artists, LLC: Carnegie Hall Tower, 152 West 57th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10019 — 212.994–3500 — www.imgartists.com The King's Singers recordings are available on the Signum Records, EM Records, TELARC, RCA Victor & Red Seal/BMG Classics, and EMI/Angel record labels. Recording distribution for The King's Singers' American concerts: DJ Records, PO Box 445, Trout Lake, WA 98650 — www.dj–records.com In addition to sheet music and music books available from DJ Records, a comprehensive catalogue of The King's Singers' choral arrangements is available from Hal Leonard Corporation: 777 West Bluemound Road, Milwaukee, WI 53212.
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June 12, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
THE KING'S SINGERS SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 4:00 P M
— Friends — MASTER AND PUPIL 1 (Homage) William Byrd (1543–1623)
Haec dies
Thomas Tallis (1505–1585)
Te lucis ante terminum
Byrd
Sing joyfully
Tallis
Hear the voice and prayer
Byrd
Ye sacred muses
THE QUEEN'S MUSIC (Poet and Composer) Joby Talbot (b. 1971)/ text by Katheleen Jamie (b. 1962)
The wishing tree
Howard Goodall (b. 1958)/ text by U A Fanthorpe (1929–2009)
All the Queen's horses
Jocelyn Pook (b. 1960)/ text by Andrew Motion (b. 1952)
Mobile
MASTER AND PUPIL 2 Edward Bairstow (1875–1946)
Music when soft voices die
Bairstow I sat down under his shadow Gerald Finzi (1901–1956)
I have loved flowers
Finzi
Thou didst delight mine eyes
Finzi
My spirit sang all day
I ntermission
THE SAVOY OPERA (Gilbert and Sullivan) William Gilbert (1836–1911)/ Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900)
Brightly dawns our wedding day (arr. Daryl Runswick)
Gilbert/ Sullivan
The sun whose rays (arr. Bob Chilcott)
Gilbert/ Sullivan
The Pirate King (arr. Bob Chilcott)
Gilbert/ Sullivan
Tit–Willow (arr. Bob Chilcott)
Gilbert/ Sullivan
The ghosts' high noon (arr. Daryl Runswick)
LENNON AND McCARTNEY John Lennon (1940–1980)/ Paul McCartney (b. 1942) A selection of Beatles songs to be announced from the stage
The King's Singers David Hurley countertenor — Timothy Wayne–Wright countertenor — Paul Phoenix tenor Philip Lawson baritone — Christopher Gabbitas baritone — Johnathan Howard bass
June 12, 2011
31
PROGRAM NOTES BY DANA ASTMANN
Charles Ives embodies a romantic ideal of the individualistic American composer. He pioneered experiments with tone clusters, polytonality, and polyrhythms. He adored pastiche and quotation and employed an eccentric swath of material. He carefully selected and edited others’ texts and penned many of his own. And he treated all material with equanimity, whether it came from high art or everyday life. Most of Ives’ songs in the European art-song tradition date from his Yale days. His teacher, Horatio Parker, often instructed students to write songs using texts from classical works. Songs My Mother Taught Me is taken from a poem by Adolf Heyduk that Dvořák had set in German about fifteen years previously. Feldeinsamkeit (Field Solitude) was written in 1898 to the same Hermann Allmers poem that Brahms had set in 1877. When the composer George Chadwick heard it, he said: “In a way almost as good as Brahms.” That was high praise, considering that Brahms’ Feldeinsamkeit is considered one of his greatest songs. Of the other Brahms songs on tonight’s program, the dreamy Es Hing der Reif (Hoarfrost was hanging) hovers between C major and A minor, finally landing in the minor. Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht (O Death, that is the cooling night) depicts the shadows between night and day, life and death. Chopin’s moody Nocturne in F minor (1842-1844) traverses the sweet, tranquil and stormy. The expressiveness and virtuosity of Chopin’s music deeply influenced other composers. The scholar David Michael Hertz observed: “Underneath Ives’ attempt to dismiss Chopin as a sissy composer lies a begrudging admiration.” Ives wrote several studies for the piano that may hearken back to Chopin’s Études. The Study No. 6, Nearer My God to Thee (1912-1913), riffs on the tune Bethany, to which the hymn of the title was widely sung. The Study No. 23 shares some material with the Concord Sonata and the second of the Emerson Transcriptions. The four Emerson Transcriptions are one musical example of Ives’ preoccupation with Transcendentalism. The “Emerson” movement from the massive Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord, Mass., 1840–1860, is one source for the first transcription, which also quotes Beethoven and Wagner. The short Waltz-Rondo (1911) quotes a number of American songs as it builds in both energy and complexity. In 1912 Ives had written an instrumental piece The Indians inspired by Charles Sprague’s Centennial Ode. In 1921 he took lines from that poem and created the song The Indians with a diatonic (white-key) vocal lament set against a chromatic piano part amid shifting time signatures. Similarly, in the 1913 song Watchman!, Ives wove a complex, dissonant piano part around the singer’s simple hymn tune. Here, the vocal line is notated in 6/8 against the piano’s 3/4 time. The Indians was one of many works where Ives arranged earlier music for a different medium. The Housatonic at Stockbridge reworks the last movement of Three Places in New England, the composer’s effort to capture in music a second honeymoon he had taken with his wife Harmony. Around 1914 Ives wrote an overture Down East that he then lost. A few years later, while compiling his self-published 114 Songs, he remembered enough of the material to turn it into a song, contributing his own nostalgic text and quoting a familiar line Nearer my God to Thee. The Children’s Hour (dated 1901) evokes a similarly sentimental mood. Even many years later, Ives continued to write sincere, tonal songs, such as The Greatest Man (1921) text by Anne Collins, in which a schoolboy is assigned to “write about some great man” and decides on his “pa.” Ives wrote from the boy’s point of view, earnest rather than sentimental, in this homage to his own father. Like a Sick Eagle is one of the few times that Ives wrote music as an immediate reaction to a tragedy of his own. In 1909, his wife Harmony miscarried and soon needed a hysterectomy. Nine days later, Ives wrote this bleak, nearly atonal song to selections from John Keats’ To the Elgin Marbles: …Mortality/ Weights heavily upon me like unwilling sleep. General William Booth Enters Into Heaven (arr. 1914) takes its cues from the text, opening with the piano’s approximation of a marching band and Booth’s “big bass drum.” Amidst this swagger Ives intersperses a quiet hymn tune. The tune becomes a single-line refrain that undergoes curious transformations before returning to its triadic beginnings. In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, Ives composed very little. He did, however, write songs that touched on the war, including The Things Our Fathers Loved (subtitled And the greatest of these was Liberty) and Tom Sails Away. The former shows Ives at his most patriotic, with sweet quotations from classic songs. Tom Sails Away begins with recollections of childhood; then innocence is interrupted when the father “sail[s] away for over there.” In the mesmerizing Serenity (1919), two quiet chords oscillate in the piano while the voice circles within a narrow range. Incantation was arranged in 1921 from music composed over a decade earlier. To his own complex harmonies and piano arpeggios blurred with pedal, Ives added an eerie, shadowy text by Lord Byron. Ives wrote his own text to The New River (also from 1921). Originally called The Ruined River – Gas Machine Kills Housatonic!, the song is a musically wild rant against noise pollution. That same year he wrote the whimsical Ann Street which, in twenty measures, describes one of the shortest roads in New York City. One day in 1927 Ives came downstairs and told his wife that he felt unable to compose anymore: “Nothing sounded right.” From then on he turned his musical focus to revising earlier works for publications and performances.
Listen to “Charles Ives: Historic Interviews,” a 20-minute podcast of interviews and music clips in the Oral History of American Music archive at Yale, at itunes.yale.edu.
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June 18, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival AN EVENING OF
SONG
SAT URDAY, JUNE 18, 7:30 P M
Susan Narucki soprano
Charles Ives (1874–1954)
The Things Our Fathers Loved
Ives
Ann Street
Ives
The Housatonic at Stockbridge
Ives
The Indians
Ives
The New River
Ives
Emerson Transcription Number 1
Donald Berman piano
Frederic Chopin (1810–1849) Nocturne in f minor Ives
Waltz Rondo
Ives
Feldeinsamkeit
Johnnes Brahms (1833–1898) Es hing der Reif Ives Incantation Brahms
Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht
Brahms Feldeinsamkeit I ntermission
Ives Watchman Ives
Like a Sick Eagle
Ives
General William Booth Enters into Heaven
Ives
Serenity
Ives
Study No. 6 "Nearer My God to Thee"
Ives
Study No. 23
Ives
The Children's Hour
Ives
Songs My Mother Taught Me
Ives
The Greatest Man
Ives
Tom Sails Away
Ives
Down East
June 18, 2011
33
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
NORFOLK CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE F R I D AY, J UNE 2 4, 7:3 0 P M
Tonight's program will be announced from the stage. Martin Bresnick director Lisa Moore piano
Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble — Julian Pellicano conductor
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Gleb Kanasevich clarinet Mark S. Broschinsky trombone Edward Neeman piano Victor Caccese percussion Adrianne Pope violin Thibault Bertin–Maghit double bass Preben Antonsen (b. 1991) composer Nick DiBerardino (b. 1989) composer Timothy Hambourger (b. 1986) composer Tim Hansen (b. 1978) composer Julia Seeholzer (b. 1990) composer
June 24, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
NORFOLK CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE SAT URDAY, JUNE 25, 2:00 P M
Today's program will be announced from the stage. Martin Bresnick director Lisa Moore piano
Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble — Julian Pellicano conductor
Gleb Kanasevich clarinet Mark S. Broschinsky trombone Edward Neeman piano Victor Caccese percussion Adrianne Pope violin Thibault Bertin–Maghit double bass Preben Antonsen (b. 1991) Nick DiBerardino (b. 1989) Timothy Hambourger (b. 1986) Tim Hansen (b. 1978) Julia Seeholzer (b. 1990)
composer composer composer composer composer
After the concert please join us at 4:00 pm for the opening of the Yale Summer School of Art Show in the Barn; and for the Community Picnic, also sponsored by the Art School at 6:00 pm.
June 25, 2011
35
PROGRAM NOTES B Y L A U R A U SISKI N
Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven had a fondness for the piano trio unmatched by his predecessors. His first published compositions were piano trios, and throughout his middle period, he expanded (1770–1827) the genre to make it on par with the depth of the string quartet. His trio Opus 70, No. 2, shares its opus number with one other work, the Trio in D Major nicknamed the “Ghost.” Piano Trio in E–flat Major, Both were written in 1808 during Beethoven’s middle period, a time that saw some of Op 70, No. 2 his greatest achievements. The opening line immediately shows a harmonic freedom characteristic of this period, the cello introducing a sustained motive in an ambiguous key. The second movement is in double variation form, where two themes are presented and then given variations in alternation. Here the first theme is in c minor and grows increasingly powerful; the second is in C Major and becomes increasingly ornate. The third movement is a minuet whose middle section contains a call-and-response between the piano and strings with the violin consistently playing two notes at once. The triumphant fourth movement demonstrates a quintessential characteristic of Beethoven's music: an abrupt shifting between fast, motoric passages and reflective, lyrical moments. The piece’s opening motive returns to bring unity and closure to this grand work.
Franz Liszt
Tristia is a piano trio arrangement of Vallée d'Obermann, the sixth piece from Liszt’s solo piano set Années de Pèlerinage which itself comes from his solo piano work Album (1811–1886) d'un Voyageur, Book 1. Liszt’s pupil Edward Lassen made the arrangement, and Liszt purportedly edited it multiple times before its publication. Vallée d'Obermann is based on Tristia the eponymous character from the 1804 novel by Étienne Pivert de Senancour. In the novel Obermann wanders the country to seek solace from his misfortunes. The music depicts his (La vallée d'Obermann) wandering: somber stasis in the first movement, nostalgia in the brief second movement, and unabashed emotion and impetuousness in the third. The work’s highly charged nature lends itself well to the piano trio ensemble. Liszt put the following quote from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold on the cover of the manuscript as a description of Obermann’s sentiments: "Could I embody and unbosom now / That which is most within me, – could I wreak / My thoughts upon expression, and thus throw / Soul, heart, mind, passions, feelings, strong or weak / All that I would have sought, and all I seek, / Bear, know, feel, and yet breathe--into one word, / And that one word were lightning, I would speak; / But as it is, I live and die unheard, / With a most voiceless thought, sheathing it as a sword."
Czech composer Bedřich Smetana made an incalculable impact on the nationalist movement in his country, though his chamber works, including the Piano Trio Opus 15, (1824–1884) take inspiration from more traditional sources. Despite his successful career, Smetana’s life was also plagued with tragedy. Three of his four daughters died between 1850 and 1856, Piano Trio in g minor, Op 15 and as he grew older, Smetana went deaf and mad, his life ending in an asylum in 1884. His Piano Trio in g minor is an early work written in memoriam to his second daughter who had just died at the age of five. Accordingly, the first movement is replete with pathos. Its opening melody, presented by the violin, creates a mood of heaviness and despair. The movement’s second melody, presented by the cello, is contrastingly peaceful and calm, a variation of his daughter’s favorite nursery rhyme. The second movement has two slow sections sandwiched between three fast sections, making it a quasi rondo. The third movement, also a rondo, presents a breathless melody and a middle section containing the melody in a slow, funeral dirge. The piece ends optimistically in G Major, a stark contrast to the grief with which it starts.
Bedřich Smetana
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July 8, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival THE
LESCHETIZKY TRIO FRIDAY, JULY 8, 8 :00 P M
Beethoven
Piano Trio in E–flat Major, Op 70, No. 2
Poco sostenuto – Allegro ma non troppo
Allegretto
Allegretto ma non troppo
Finale: Allegro
Liszt Tristia (La vallée d'Obermann)
Leschetizky Trio
Leschetizky Trio
I ntermission
Smetana
Piano Trio in g minor, Op 15
Moderato assai
Allegro ma non agitato –
Alternativo I – Alternativo II
Finale: Presto
Leschetizky Trio
Leschetizky Trio Klara Flieder Pantillon violin — Christophe Pantillon cello — Stanislaw Tichonow piano
July 8, 2011
37
PROGRAM NOTES B Y L A U R A U SISKI N
Franz Josef Haydn
Music for wind ensemble harkens back to medieval times when bands of pipers roved through towns entertaining at civic occasions. By the late 18th century, the ensemble had (1732–1809) solidified into a group of players in instrumental pairs. In Prince Esterházy’s court, where Haydn was employed, a wind sextet performed when “the Prince’s Company of Divertimento Grenadiers is entering, exercising and parading.” Haydn wrote his Divertimento in F, in F Major, HOB II/15 Hob II/15 around 1758, though it was not re-discovered until 1960. The work is in the standard five-movement divertimento form of two minuets and an adagio framed by an opening and finale. Each movement is short and charming, the adagio notable for its difficult, high-register horn writing.
Though not as well known today as his contemporary Brahms, Carl Reinecke was an extremely successful composer, conductor, and teacher during his long and prolific (1824–1910) life. He published hundreds of works from piano sonatas to full operas, conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig for over three decades, and taught many Trio in a minor for Oboe great composers including Grieg, Bruch, and Janáček. His own training came from Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Schumann, the latter’s influence particularly evident in his music. and Horn and Piano, His Trio for Oboe, Horn and Piano is not his only work with unusual Op 188 instrumentation; he wrote two other well-known piano trios that use mixed winds. In this work, he successfully unites the seemingly dissimilar instruments, allowing at times for both individuality and cohesiveness. The well-crafted first movement is followed by a light scherzo based on a singlenote repeated motive. The third movement deserves special attention, its touching melody passed between the oboe and horn in ever-increasing grandiosity. The final movement includes interjections of the slow movement’s melody within its flowing texture.
Carl Reinecke
In the typical ebb and flow of Schumann’s career, few compositions came from his pen in 1846, while many appeared in 1847. His productivity is all the more impressive given (1810–1856) that the year saw the deaths of both his 16-month-old son and his esteemed colleague Felix Mendelssohn. The Piano Trio in F Major and its companion piece, the Trio in d minor, are Piano Trio in F Major, Op 44 two works from this year. Schumann had entertained “trio thoughts” as early as 1846 but only found the right motivation in 1847: a birthday celebration for his wife Clara, at which the d minor trio was performed. Clara’s own piano trio from 1846 may have also swayed him; as biographer John Daverio writes, there is an obvious element of “one-upmanship” in both of Schumann’s piano trios from that time. Bach’s influence appears in many facets of Schumann’s writing, and in this particular work, counterpoint comes to the fore. Fugal passages appear in the first and fourth movements, and canonic interplays infuse the middle movements. The first movement is energetic, vivacious, and includes an allusion to one of his songs. The second movement has a sublime song-like quality that moves seamlessly between varying moods, tempos, and harmonies. The third movement offers a lilting, offbeat tune reminiscent of a barcarole, and the last movement’s contrapuntal texture and dense piano writing drives the work to a triumphant close.
Robert Schumann
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July 9, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
HAYDN, REINECKE AND SCHUMANN SAT URDAY, JULY 9, 8:00 P M
Haydn
Divertimento in F Major, HOB II/15
Presto Minuet – Trio Adagio Minuet – Trio Stephen Taylor oboe — Kemp Jernigan oboe Finale: Presto Monroe Huang bassoon — Brittany Herrington bassoon William Purvis French horn — Dana Cullen French horn
Reinecke
Trio in a minor for Oboe, Horn and Piano, Op 188
Allegro moderato Scherzo Adagio
Finale: Allegro ma non troppo
Stephen Taylor oboe — William Purvis French horn Robert Blocker piano
I ntermission
Schumann Piano Trio in F Major, Op 80 Sehr lebhaft
Mit innigem Ausdruck
In mässiger Bewegung
Nicht zu rasch Ani Kavafian violin — Ole Akahoshi cello Boris Berman piano
July 9, 2011
39
PROGRAM NOTES B Y L A U R A U SISKI N
Franz Schubert
In addition to over 600 songs and many other works, Schubert wrote several violin pieces including two sonatas, a rondo, and three sonatinas. The title “Sonatina” came from his (1797–1828) publisher Diabelli in 1836 and suggests a smaller, less complex work than a full sonata. In some ways Schubert’s sonatinas qualify, yet in others they are more substantial than Sonatina in D Major, the title suggests. Written in 1816 when he was only nineteen, they reveal many musical Op 137, No. 1, D 384 elements that would eventually become distinctively Schubertian. Ambitious modulations into far-reaching keys occur throughout the first movement of the D-Major Sonatina. The second movement has a song-like character unique to Schubert. The charm of the last movement rondo brings the delightful work to a fitting close.
Schubert
Schubert composed no fewer than 30 duos for piano four hands, each written for a particular occasion, friend, or teaching purpose. Many came out of the six-year period between 1818 and 1824 during which he traveled regularly to Zseliz to teach the Sonata in C Major, "Grand Esterházy daughters Marie and Caroline. The Grand Duo, written in 1824 but not Duo," Op posth 140, D 812 published until after his death, is one of his biggest and most mature. Schubert may have written it for the two girls, but given its difficulty and equal demands on both players, he may have intended instead it to play it himself with one of his accomplished pianist friends. The work’s vast scale is more like a symphony than a chamber work. Both players share the opening theme of the first movement, and the second player initially presents the second theme. The gentle second movement begins in A-flat Major but, in typical Schubertian fashion, modulates constantly, exploring many remote keys. The third movement is heavily accented yet retains a light quality. Its middle section is smooth and spacious. The second player initially presents the opening theme in the fourth movement, while the first player plays lightning fast passagework that is later passed between the two players.
Schubert
Though Schubert wrote the majority of his most beloved chamber works at the end of his short life, the "Trout” Quintet is a notable exception. Written in 1819 when he was 22 years old, it has several distinct qualities. First, its instrumentation is an unusual grouping of Quintet for Piano and piano, violin, viola, cello and bass. This combination resulted from a request of Schubert’s Strings in A Major, "Trout," friend Paumgartner who asked for a work with the same instrumentation as Hummel’s Quintet, Opus 87. Schubert not only complied but embraced the ensemble. He wrote a Op 114, D 667 bass part that stands alone from the cello and a piano part that is limited mainly to its upper register. Second, the work has five movements rather than the usual four. The extra movement was again requested by Paumgartner who wanted a theme and variations on Schubert’s already-popular song Die Forelle (The Trout). The delightful first movement gives way to the song-like andante, which contains two mirror sections, the second almost note-for-note identical to the first, only in a different key. The energetic scherzo leads into the famous fourth movement that has the Trout theme with five variations. The final movement, like the second, is a two-part mirror and brings the work to an enthusiastic close.
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July 15, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival AN EVENING OF
SCHUBERT FRIDAY, JULY 15, 8:00 P M
Schubert
Sonatina in D Major, Op 137, No. 1, D 384
Allegro molto Andante Syoko Aki violin — Peter Frankl piano Allegro vivace
Schubert
Sonata in C Major, "Grand Duo," Op posth 140, D 812
Allegro moderato Andante
Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio
Finale: Allegro vivace
Boris Berman piano — Peter Frankl piano
I ntermission
Schubert Quintet for Piano and Strings in A Major, "Trout," Op 114, D 667 Allegro vivace Andante Scherzo: Presto Thema: Andantino Allegro giusto
Peter Schuhmayer violin — Herbert Kefer viola Othmar Müller cello — Donald Palma double bass Boris Berman piano
July 15, 2011
41
PROGRAM NOTES BY DANA ASTMANN
By the age of forty, Haydn had solidified the new form of the classical string quartet with its nearly equal yet individual participants, a four-movement structure, and the ambition (1732–1809) and ability to express the deepest musical thoughts. The musicologist Donald Tovey wrote: “With Opus 20, the historical development of Haydn’s quartets reaches its goal; and String Quartet No. 27 in further progress is… simply the difference between one masterpiece and the next.” The D Major, Op 20, No. 4, first movement opens with a measured theme that reaches gently outward from a repeated HOB III/34 D. The Allegro di molto character kicks in with the arpeggiated triplets that burst out in b minor and then grow into a richly developed thematic element. The dignified second movement, in d minor, is a theme with egalitarian variations: the first variation is for the second violin and viola; the second is for cello; and the third is for the first violin. Both the third and fourth movements use elements of Hungarian folk music. The alla Zingarese in the heading of the minuet means “in the Gypsy style.” In the whitewater rondo finale, a trove of ideas tumbles out between recurrences of the nimble opening melody. In one last surprise, Haydn ends this whirlwind showpiece not with a fanfare, but with an understated wink.
Franz Josef Haydn
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Alexander Zemlinsky was championed by Brahms and taught counterpoint to Schoenberg, who later married Zemlinsky’s sister Mathilde. But Zemlinksy never earned the same (1871–1942) renown as his colleagues. He wrote his fourth (and last) string quartet in 1936, two years before he fled Vienna for the United States. The work is dedicated to his friend Alban String Quartet No. 4 in Berg, who had died at the age of 50 in December 1935, and adopts the six-movement D Major, Op 25 structure of Berg’s Lyric Suite for string quartet. Themes intertwine across movements, such as the “Mathilde” theme (from his previous string quartet) in the first two movements. Other references to previous Zemlinsky themes are also positioned across pairs of movements. Diligently crafted counterpoint adds an underlayer of complexity to much of the work. After the solemn Prelude, a chorale marked senza espressione, comes the scathing Burlesque. The brief Adagietto, which is simultaneously lyrical and contrapuntal, leads without pause into the dark dance of the Intermezzo. The Theme and Variations, labeled Barcarole, opens with an impassioned cello melody and, variation by variation, becomes more astringent. The fiery last movement is an incisive double fugue led by the second violin. Here Zemlinsky stacks and interweaves elements of the Burlesque and the Intermezzo in a whirling drive to the finish.
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms exemplifies Harold Bloom’s concept of “the anxiety of influence.” Feeling that he lived and wrote in the shadows of Mozart and Beethoven, Brahms wrote (1833–1897) and destroyed twenty string quartets (by his own count) before finally sending two to his publisher, writing: “I give myself the greatest trouble and keep on hoping that something String Quartet in a minor, really great and difficult will occur to me, and they turn out mean and paltry!” Hardly. Op 51, No. 2 In the Quartet in a minor, Brahms exposes his struggles to reconcile Classicism and Romanticism, while reaching back to the baroque with complex polyphonic structures. The first movement opens with the motto F – A – E, which stands for “frei, aber einsam (free, but lonely)." Beneath the lyrical surface of the second movement lies a wealth of structural invention and melodic development. The third movement demonstrates more intelletual acrobatics, with an unusual multipart structure that comes together in a double canon of previous themes. The Hungarian flavor of the Finale comes from the uptempo czardas (a Hungarian dance), which alternates with a more mellow waltz. The quartet closes with a coda that echoes the main theme in canon and then accelerates to a sparkling finish.
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July 16, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival THE
ARTIS QUARTET SAT URDAY, JULY 16, 8:00 P M
Haydn
String Quartet No. 27 in D Major, Op 20, No. 4, HOB III/34
Allegro di molto
Un poco adagio affettuoso
Menuetto: Allegretto alla zingarese
Presto scherzando
Zemlinsky
Artis Quartet
String Quartet No. 4 in D Major, Op 25
Praeludium Burleske Adagietto Intermezzo
Thema mit Variationen
Finale – Doppelfuge
Artis Quartet
I ntermission
Brahms
String Quartet in a minor, Op 51, No. 2
Allegro non troppo
Andante moderato
Quasi Minuetto: moderato
Finale: Allegro non assai
Artis Quartet
The Faculty, Fellows and Staff of the Festival would like to welcome the many volunteers from throughout the Norfolk community to this evening's concert.
Artis Quartet Peter Schuhmayer violin — Johannes Meissl violin — Herbert Kefer viola — Othmar Müller cello
July 16, 2011
43
PROGRAM NOTES BY DANA ASTMANN
Niels Wilhelm Gade was the most prominent Danish musician of his time, not only a composer but also a conductor, organist, violinist, and educator. He mentored such figures (1817–1890) as Edvard Grieg and Carl Nielsen. Gade’s music was championed by Felix Mendelssohn, and for a time Gade lived in Leipzig, where he became friends with both Mendelssohn Phantasiestücke and Robert Schumann. Schumann was the first composer to title a work “Fantasy Pieces,” a genre based in literature that became a mainstay of Romanticism. Gade’s Fantasistykker (the Danish version of the title) were written in 1864, after he had returned to Denmark. The four pieces are laid out like a baroque sonata, alternating slow, fast, slow, and fast, with lyricism and vigor.
Niels Gade
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Introduction and Variations for Flute and Piano in e minor, "Trockne Blumen"
Schubert’s song cycle Die schöne Müllerin tells the story of a man who falls in love with the beautiful miller girl of the title, only to be rejected. In the poignant “Trockne Blumen” (Faded Flowers), he places in his own grave the wilted flowers that she had given him. Schubert likely wrote this set of variations for his friend Ferdinand Bogner, a flutist. After a melancholy introduction in e minor, we hear the theme itself, with minor alterations from the original vocal melody to make it more idiomatic for the flute. Schubert creates elements of symmetry: both Variations II and VI feature virtuosic passages for the flute, and Variations III and V both open with turbulence in the piano. Variation IV, at the center, features the piano and flute in close collaboration. By the sixth variation, Schubert has moved securely from e minor to sunny E Major.
Yehudi Wyner
Yehudi Wyner studied at Yale (’50 BA, ’51 BMus, ’53 MMus) and taught there from 1963 to 1977. He wrote Passover Offering in 1959 as a young man recently returned to the United (b. 1929) States after three years in Italy. The unusual instrumentation was inspired in part by biblical instruments: the flute by the halil, the clarinet by reed instruments, and the bass trombone Passover Offering by “signaling instruments” like the shofar; the cello provides a bass voice. The slow first movement, says Wyner, is about slavery, oppression, and protest; the Energico second movement is about the escape through the parted sea, a battle, and a feeling of inundation. The third movement, Alla Marcia, is a desert march, at a quick pace because the sand is hot. The Grave fourth movement is a song of lamentation. Only the flute and cello play in the fifth movement, a desert prayer upon seeing the promised land.
Wyner
Wyner wrote his Trio 2009 for the musicians that commissioned and premiered it: clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, cellist Lynn Harrell, and pianist Robert Levin. After the premiere, Joshua Kosman wrote: “The motivating spirit here is one of free-form fantasy, as the piece unfolds in Trio 2009 an unpredictable but gently shifting series of episodes.” In the composer’s words: “The Trio is in one continuous movement and is typical of my music in that it proclaims no exclusive ideology. While the music is continuous it traverses sections of clear variety, featuring now one, now another player. There are short episodes of recitative for cello, a romantic ballad-like Cantilena for clarinet, and a brief pseudo-cadenza for piano. But most of the music moves quickly and in concerted texture. Towards the end a slow dirge-like episode darkens and deepens the expression.”
Joan Tower
Joan Tower is the first woman to receive the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Composition. Her quintet Rising, which Steve Smith characterized as “mournful, combative, (b. 1938) and suspenseful by turns,” was written in 2009. Tower writes: “I have always been interested in how music can ‘go up.’ It is a simple action, but can have so many variables: slow or Rising fast, accelerating, slowing down, getting louder or softer — with thick or thin surrounding textures. For me, it is the context and the feel of the action that matters. A long climb might signal something important to come. A short climb might be just a hop to another phrase. One can’t, however, just go up. There should be a counteracting action to provide a tension within the piece. The main theme in Rising is an ascent motion using different kinds of scales — mostly octatonic or chromatic — and occasionally arpeggios. These upward motions are then put through different filters, packages of time, and varying degrees of heat environments which interact with competing static and downward motions.”
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July 22, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
GADE, SCHUBERT, WYNER AND TOWER FRIDAY, JULY 22, 8:00 P M
Gade
Phantasiestücke
Andantino con moto Allegro vivace
Ballade – Moderato
Allegro molto vivace
Schubert Introduction and Variations for Flute and Piano in e minor, "Trockne Blumen" Wyner Passover Offering Lento
Richard Stoltzman clarinet — Peter Frankl piano
Carol Wincenc flute — Peter Frankl piano
Energico Alla Marcia Grave Quieto
Carol Wincenc flute — Richard Stoltzman clarinet Scott Hartman trombone — Laura Usiskin cello
I ntermission
Wyner
Trio 2009
Tower
Rising
Richard Stoltzman clarinet — Laura Usiskin cello Esther Park piano
Carol Wincenc flute — Tesla Quartet
Tesla Quartet Ross Snyder violin — Michelle Yeunhae Lie violin — Megan Mason viola — Kimberly Patterson cello
July 22, 2011
45
PROGRAM NOTES BY DANA ASTMANN
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart revolutionized the piano quartet, which was still a new and unusual genre when he wrote his two quartets in late 1785. Until that point, the piano had played a subordinate role (1756–1791) to string instruments, which played as soloists. Mozart gave the piano an independent voice, making all four instruments equal participants. In fact, the textures of his piano quartets Piano Quartet in g minor, often resemble that of his piano concertos as much as other chamber music groupings. The g-minor quartet opens with a stern theme in unison, which is answered by the piano K 478 and is then developed and transformed into a sunnier version of itself. After a relatively short development section, the recapitulation not only brings back the opening material but continues to develop it, darkening and deepening the movement’s emotional range. The piano opens the andante second movement, and the full ensemble repeats the reaching theme. The strings then state the second theme. Mozart continues to work with this material, shifting the textures and instrumentation. The third movement begins delicately, in G Major, and quickly picks up energy to become a light-hearted, but not lightweight, rondo finale.
Iván Eröd
The pianist and composer Iván Eröd was born in Budapest and was musically inspired by fellow Hungarians such as Bartók and Kodály. After the violent uprising in 1956, Eröd left (1797–1828) Hungary for Vienna, where he was influenced by serial composers before renewing his interest in tonality. His Quartet for piano and strings is in six movements that flow attacca Piano Quartet, Op 54 from one to the next. The foreboding slow introduction leads into the ostinato second movement, which opens with a kind of rising and falling call-and-response between the piano and tremolo strings. It then takes off into an urgent moto perpetuo in which the compelling rhythms and minimalistic melodic material drive forward through different textures. The instruments trade off and overlap, creating different textures and colors. The opening returns briefly before the movement sets off again into the propulsive ostinato and finally shrinks away. Fitful double- and triple-stop chords in the cello signal the beginning of the third movement, a chaconne. The viola soon joins in with the searing melody, marked molto intenso. The violin adds fierce tremolos. The piano sweeps extravagantly up and down the keyboard. The fourth-movement aria, marked andante tranquillo, opens with the piano in a serene middle register; chords lilt between major and minor. The aria’s calm surface and lyrical melodies belie the unsettling forces at work: constant swerves between major and minor, the asymmetrical 7/8 meter. The fifth movement, the Cadenza Seconda, jolts us into another moto perpetuo, with near-constant sixteenth notes thundering forward. Fragments of the chaconne return at the end of the fifth movement. A slow, brief cello solo signals that we are about to enter the sixth movement, a Burletta marked allegretto ironico. Eröd keeps us on our toes with rhythmic games, playful glissandos and pizzicatos, and tongue-in-cheek gestures that bring us to a final flourish of C Major.
Mozart
In response to Mozart’s g-minor quartet, the publisher begged the composer to write “more popularly,” meaning, in part, to write something that amateurs could play at home. Instead, Mozart wrote another quartet just as virtuosic – and found himself another publisher. The Piano Quartet in E–Flat Quartet in E-flat Major opens with assertive angularity and quickly gives way to more expansive, longer lines. The graceful theme returns, transformed, throughout the rest of the Major, K 493 movement. The quartet’s placid second movement, marked larghetto, is in A-flat Major; like the first movement, it is in sonata form. With its long-spun, liquid melodies, the movement exemplifies Mozart’s restrained elegance. In the third movement, a gently sparkling theme returns in many moods: serious, cheerful, longing, and witty. Mozart’s sketches suggest that he took his time working out the movement, whose structure combines elements of both sonata and rondo form.
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July 23, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
PIANO QUARTETS SAT URDAY, JULY 23, 8:00 P M
Mozart
Piano Quartet in g minor, K 478
Allegro Andante Rondo: Allegro
Peter Schuhmayer violin — Herbert Kefer viola Othmar Müller cello — Peter Frankl piano
Eröd Piano Quartet, Op 54 Introduzione – Lento – (attacca)
Ostinato – Allegro risoluto – (attacca)
Cadenza Prima (Ciaccona) – Allegro rubato – (attacca)
Aria – Andante tranquillo – (attacca)
Cadenza Seconda (Presto)
Burletta (Allegretto ironico)
Peter Schuhmayer violin — Herbert Kefer viola Othmar Müller cello — Peter Frankl piano
I ntermission
Mozart Piano Quartet in E–Flat Major, K 493 Allegro Larghetto Allegretto
Peter Schuhmayer violin — Herbert Kefer viola Othmar Müller cello — Peter Frankl piano
July 23, 2011
47
PROGRAM NOTES B Y L A U R A U SISKI N
The last quarter of the 18th century saw innovations in the string quartet genre that changed its place in music history. These advances mainly came from dozens of quartets (1810–1856) by Mozart and Haydn, who not only knew each other, but shared a mutual admiration. The two most likely met in 1781, though Mozart had studied Haydn’s scores previously, String Quartet in d minor, and they remained colleagues until Mozart’s death ten years later. Soon after their initial meeting, Mozart began writing six quartets dedicated to his older friend. His decision to K 421 do so is noteworthy given that he usually wrote for external reasons such as concerts or commissions. These quartets, on the contrary, came from his heart; his dedication to Haydn says that they are “the fruit of a long and laborious work.” The Quartet in d minor is the second of the Haydn Quartets and the only one in a minor key. The mood of the first movement is melancholy and fatalistic. The second, in contrast, exudes satisfaction and contentment. Pessimism returns in the third movement, though its trio section presents a charming, almost yodeling tune. The last movement consists of four variations on a melancholy siciliano theme, the viola taking the melody in the third variation in a rare extended solo.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Polish composer Szymanowski was an erudite, well-traveled writer of poetry and prose in addition to being an accomplished composer. Born in Ukraine in 1882, he had already (1882–1937) studied music in Warsaw, Berlin and Paris by the time he wrote his String Quartet No. 1 in 1917. Two string quartets are his only chamber works; he wrote mainly symphonic and piano pieces. Szymanowski’s exposure to many varying musical styles is evident in his String Quartet No. 1 in first quartet. The first movement alone has allusions to the impressionism of Debussy, the C Major, Op 37 chromaticism of Berg, and the counterpoint of Bartók. The music leaps between charged, compelling sections and uses trills, harmonics, and stratospheric registers in the first violin to create drama and contrast. The second movement is more melodic and has a less dense texture. The folksy imitative motive of the final movement gives the feeling of a sardonic scherzo.
Karol Szymanowski
If 1840 is known as the “Year of Song” because Schumann wrote 168 songs, the year 1842, when he produced six outstanding chamber pieces, is his “Year of Chamber (1810–1856) Music.” His String Quartet Opus 41, No. 1, is a product of a six-month period of feverish compositional activity in 1842 that also gave rise to his beloved piano quartet and quintet. Schumann was well versed in the string quartets of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, String Quartet in a minor, and Mendelssohn to whom the work is dedicated. While elements of all these composers Op 41, No. 1 appear throughout Opus 41, No. 1, Schumann also experiments on his own. The melancholy introduction in a minor leads unexpectedly into a warm, gracious F-Major section, a key relationship found also in Beethoven’s Opus 132. The catchy scherzo second movement alludes to the many wonderful scherzos of Mendelssohn. The third movement, however, has traits unique to Schumann. Its songful quality and many dreamy, improvisatory-like passages give it a freer, unprecedented form. The final movement contains motoric eighth notes in almost every measure, creating a constant drive. The notable exception is a sudden moment of stasis near the end, when the music pauses briefly on a drone-like passage.
Robert Schumann
48
July 29, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival THE
TOKYO STRING QUARTET FRIDAY, JULY 29, 8:00 P M
Mozart
String Quartet in d minor, K 421 (dedicated to Haydn) Allegro moderato
Andante
Menuetto: Allegretto
Allegretto ma non troppo
Tokyo String Quartet
Szymanowski String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Op 37
Lento assai
Andantino semplice (In modo d'una canzone)
Vivace
Tokyo String Quartet
I ntermission
Schumann
String Quartet in a minor, Op 41, No. 1
Introduzione: Andante espressivo; Allegro
Scherzo: Presto; Intermezzo
Adagio Presto
Tokyo String Quartet
Tokyo String Quartet Martin Beaver violin — Kikuei Ikeda violin — Kazuhide Isomura viola — Clive Greensmith cello
July 29, 2011
49
PROGRAM NOTES BY DANA ASTMANN
Charles Ives
The music of Charles Ives simultaneously honors tradition and turns it on its head. His singlemovement Largo was originally one of two slow movements from an early violin sonata (1874–1954) written around 1901. Ives used three of that sonata’s four movements for other violin sonatas and dubbed the original the “Pre-First Sonata.” He arranged this movement for clarinet, Largo violin and piano around 1934. Like many of Ives’ works, it takes inspiration from hymn tunes but transforms them into something else nearly unrecognizable. The piece starts out with quiet, steady chords in the piano, over which the violin sings a disjunct melody. The clarinet introduces a new section that becomes more animated. The opening piano chords return, along with the violin, for a searching close.
Quincy Porter
Born in New Haven, Quincy Porter went to Yale and studied composition with Horatio Parker – who had taught Ives two decades earlier. Like many musicians of the time, he (1897–1966) studied in Paris. It was on his second trip to Paris, after winning a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1928, that Porter wrote his Clarinet Quintet. The single-movement piece opens with a Clarinet Quintet brooding introduction, after which the violin introduces a yearning stepwise theme. Soon the poignant second theme emerges, descending a fifth and reaching back up. A vigorous passage brings in new harmonies and leads back to further exploration of this second theme. After a cadence, a new energy infuses a hopping developmental section. The first theme returns in slow mourning. A new section of lilting rhythms soon clouds over into a buildup of rhythmic and harmonic tension, which dissipates in skittering violin and clarinet lines, only to build up again to a brusque stop. The clarinet keens the second theme, now over quiet strings, to bring the piece to a contemplative close.
Ives
Musically omnivorous, Charles Ives loved to quote and transform. It can be hard to tell whether he is serious or joking, but even when dismantling a theme or setting up dissonant clashes, he always seems to be paying tribute to his material rather than ridiculing it. He wrote his Piano Trio Piano Trio sometime between 1904 and 1911 and filled it with Yale frat songs, hymns and American folk tunes. He subtitled the piece "Trio Yalensia & Americana – Fancy Names / Real Names = Yankee jaws – at Mr. (or Eli) Yale's School for nice bad boys!!" The first movement opens with a 27-measure duo for cello and piano, then another for violin and piano. The three instruments finally become a trio for the last 27 measures, each one playing its previous material as if independently. The title of the second movement, “TSIAJ,” stands for “This Scherzo Is a Joke.” The movement is classic Ives: quotations and moods bubble up in giddy abundance. Contrasting ideas pile atop one another, sometimes in different keys simultaneously. The moderato last movement offers a more lyrical contrast, while Ives keeps toying with polytonality. The cello and violin quote music that Ives had written for the Yale Glee Club (which rejected it), and toward the end the cello sings out “Rock of Ages.”
Ives
Washington’s Birthday (subtitled “Winter”) began as the first of four pieces that comprise Ives Holidays Symphony. It can also stand alone, and Ives arranged it for a chamber orchestra in 1913. The Ives scholar James Sinclair recently created this version for an even more compact George Washington's ensemble. In the composer’s “postface” to the work, Ives quoted his beloved Thoreau: “Cold Birthday and Solitude are friends of mine. Now is the time before the wind rises to go forth to seek the snow on the trees.” The composer adds: “And there is at times a bleakness without stir but penetrating, in a New England midwinter… But to the younger generation, a winter holiday means action! – and down… they go, afoot or in sleighs, through the drifting snow, to a barn dance at the Centre… As the party breaks up, the sentimental songs of those days are sung half in fun, half seriously.”
Aaron Copland
Copland’s Appalachian Spring was born when the dancer and choreographer Martha Graham commissioned Copland to write music to a new ballet about a young pioneer couple. (1900–1990) Copland described the music’s path from the introduction of the characters to “a sentiment both elated and religious.” A duo for the couple is a “scene of tenderness and passion,” followed Appalachian Spring by “square dances and country fiddlers” for the Preacher and his flock. The bride’s solo theme encompasses “extremes of joy and fear and wonder.” The work’s most famous section, a series of variations on the Shaker melody “Simple Gifts,” represents everyday life. “At the end,” writes Copland, the couple are “quiet and strong in their new house.” Though the work is most often heard in Copland’s suite for full orchestra (the version that won him the Pulitzer Prize), tonight’s concert features the original scoring for thirteen instruments.
50
July 30, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival ALL
AMERICAN MUSIC SAT URDAY, JULY 30, 8:00 P M
Ives
Largo
David Shifrin clarinet — Kikuei Ikeda violin
Porter
Wei–Yi Yang piano
Clarinet Quintet
David Shifrin clarinet — Attaca Quartet
Ives
Piano Trio
Moderato TSIAJ (This Scherzo Is A Joke): Presto Moderato con moto
Martin Beaver violin — Clive Greensmith cello Wei-Yi Yang piano
I ntermission
Ives
George Washington's Birthday
James Sinclair condcutor Anouvong Liensavanh flute — Mimi Zhang French horn Tesla Quartet — Alicia Choi violin Emily Westell violin — Dashiel Nesbitt viola Mark Baekburn Yee cello — Gregory Robbins double bass
Copland Appalachian Spring Very slowly
James Sinclair condcutor
Allegro Moderato Fast Subito allegro Meno Mosso; As at first (slowly) Doppio movimento Rather Slow Very Deliberate Poco Più Mosso A trifle slower Molto allegro ed agitato Broadly Moderato (Like A Prayer)
Brittany Harrington bassoon — Attaca Quartet
Brendan V. Ryan flute — Wonkak Kim clarinet Youngsun Kim violin — Edson Scheid violin Eleanor Kendra James viola — Yoonhee Ko cello Gregory Robbins double bass — Kayoung An piano
Welcome to Colebrook night at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival Attacca Quartet Amy Schroeder violin — Keiko Tokunaga violin — Luke Fleming viola — Andrew Yee cello Tesla Quartet Ross Snyder violin — Michelle Yeunhae Lie violin — Megan Mason viola — Kimberly Patterson cello
July 30, 2011
51
F A M I L Y D AY
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
S U N D AY, JU LY 31
All events WILL BE HELD AT THE MUSIC SHED and are Free AND OPen to tHe PUBLIC
2:00
pm
Children's Concert by Fellows of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
3:00
pm
4:00
52
Ice Cream Social Children's Games & Activities (Sponsored by the Battell Arts Foundation)
pm
The United States Coast Guard Band
July 31, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival THE
US COAST GUARD BAND SUNDAY, JULY 31, 4:00 P M
This afternoon's program will be announced from the stage. Commander Kenneth W. Megan, Director Chief Warrant Officer Richard E. Wyman, Assistant Director piccolo MU1 Laura Rakel Pirruccello – San Antonio, TX
baritone saxophone MU1 Jeffrey Emerich – Fresno, CA
flute MUC Elizabeth Detweiler Jackson – Houston, TX
cornet/ trumpet MU1 Thomas Brown (p) – Sparta, MI MUC Joel Flunker – Neenah, WI MUCS Gregory Martin – Raleigh, NC MUCM Carroll Potts – Richmond, VA MUC Gino Villarreal Rio Grande City, TX MUC Kelly Watkins – Henderson, TX
oboe MUC Stephen Wade (p) – Arlington, MA MU1 Carla Parodi – Normal, IL MUC Barrett Seals – Miami, FL English horn MUC Barrett Seals clarinet MU1 Kelly Hurrell (c) – West Palm Beach, FL MUC Leah Abbott – Coral Springs, FL MUC Chantal Hovendick – Blair, NE MU1 Christopher Howard – San Antonio, TX MU1 Noel Marcano – San Juan, Puerto Rico MU1 Cedric Mayfield – Houston, TX MU1 Charlie Suriyakham – Chiang Mai, Thailand MUCS Jonathan Towne – Danvers, MA bass clarinet MUCS Andrew Grenci – Washington, PA bassoon* MU1 Brooke Allen – Jacksonville, NC MU1 Stevi Rehncy – Elizabethtown, KY
French horn MUCS Brian Nichols (p) – Bradenton, FL MUC Heather Beyrent Doughty – Gilford, NH MU1 Matthew Muehl–Miller – Charleston, IL MU1 Bryce Nakaoka – Pearl City, HI MUC Aimee Page – Bloomington, IN trombone MUCS Vince Yanovitch (p) – East Stroudsburg, PA MU1 Karna Millen – Edina, MN MU1 Sean Nelson – San Antonio, TX bass trombone MU1 Wesley Mayhew – Glasgow, KY euphonium MUC James Jackson III (p) – Lexington, KY MU1 Bonnie Denton – Fairfield, IL
alto saxophone* MU1 Greg Case – Doylestown, PA MUC Joshua Thomas – Plano, TX
tuba MUC Adam Crowe (p) – Guin, AL MUCS Richard Denton – Monroe, CT MUC Stephen Lamb – Plano, TX
tenor saxophone MUC Adam Williamson – Delmar, NY
string bass MUC Mark McCormick – St. Louis, MO
(p) principal chair
percussion MUC Robert McEwan (p) – Albany, NY MU1 Nathan Lassell – Arlington, VA MU1 Steven Petersen – Scottville, MI MU1 Christopher Smith – Danbury, CT MU1 David West – Buffalo, NY harp MU1 Megan Sesma – Las Vegas, NV vocalist MU1 Megan Weikleenget – Buffalo, NY Band Master Chief MU Rate Force Master Chief MUCM Caroll Potts MUCM Select Marjorie Sturm – Memphis, TN Audio Engineers MUC Kuljit Rehncy – Baltimore, MD MU1 Robert Holtorff – Omaha, NE Public Affairs MUCS Andrew Grenci Recruiting MUC Barrett Seals Tour Coordinator MUCS Jonathan Towne Finance Manager and Scheduling MUCS Marjorie Sturm Supply and Travel Manager MUCS Richard Denton
(c) concertmaster
* players rotate principal position
July 31, 2011
53
PROGRAM NOTES BY DANA ASTMANN
Charles Ives
The Unanswered Question originally bore a more specific title: "A Contemplation of a Serious Matter or The Unanswered Perennial Question." For the piece, which was probably written (1874–1954) around 1906, the iconoclastic Charles Ives not only chose an unusual combination of instruments (strings, flutes and trumpet) but also suggested that the musicians perform from unconventional The Unanswered Question locations around the audience. Strings whisper in the background throughout. A solo trumpet, in the composer’s description, “intones 'The Perennial Question of Existence,' and states it in the same tone of voice each time.” Four flutes, Ives continues, “hunt for ‘The Invisible Answer,’” a quest that “becomes gradually more active, faster, and louder… 'The Fighting Answerers'… seem to realize a futility, and begin to mock 'The Question’… After they disappear, 'The Question' is asked for the last time, and the 'Silences' are heard beyond in 'Undisturbed Solitude.'” Ives was not religious in the traditional sense, but he gravitated toward the mystical and the transcendental. The three distinct voices – strings, trumpet and flutes – hardly seem to connect with one another. On a formal level, Ives is deploying such characteristic elements as polytonality and multiple rhythmic layers: instruments play in different keys and/or rhythms, as if on separate planes. From the listener’s perspective, this creates an unsettling atmosphere through which the trumpet’s plaintive call pierces our awareness.
Francis Poulenc
In the 1950s, after what Poulenc called his “second youth,” he turned to more serious works like the sacred Stabat Mater and the opera Dialogues des Carmélites. The flute sonata was (1899–1963) commissioned by the Coolidge Foundation in memory of the chamber music patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Since its premiere in 1957 by the flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal with the Flute Sonata composer at the piano, it has become a staple of the flute repertoire. The paradoxically named Allegro malinconico (happy, melancholic) begins and ends in a nostalgic mood, with a livelier middle section. The flute dominates the lyrical, longing Cantilena. An exuberant Presto giocoso, darkened only by a passing Mélancolique, closes the sonata.
Poulenc
In contrast to Ives existentialist abstraction stands Poulenc’s “profane canata” Le Bal masqué. The critic Claude Rostand in 1950 described Francis Poulenc as “half monk, half delinquent.” In the early 1930s, when he wrote Le Bal masqué, Poulenc was still a few years away from his Le Bal masqué reconnection with the Catholic faith. The young Poulenc was already part of Les Six, a group of insouciant composers who rebelled against the turgid emotional indulgence of Wagnerism (The Masquerade Ball) and the busy prettiness of Impressionism. Their circle included Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie; Poulenc also admired Stravinsky and the Dadaists. Much of his music at that time eschewed thematic development for a colorful salad of unrelated tunes and disjointed harmonies. Marie-Laure de Noailles, a friend of Poulenc’s who also patronized artists like Salvador Dalí and Man Ray, commissioned Le Bal masqué. Poulenc chose texts from Le laboratoire central by the surrealist poet Max Jacob (1876–1944). The texts are drenched with puns, nonsensical rhymes, and near-homophones like “le Comte d'Artois” (the Count of Artois), “sur le toit” (on the roof), and “compte d’ardoises” (count the slates). Le Bal masqué bubbles over with all the hallmarks of the young Poulenc. Its many shades of humor include childlike delight, sly knowing and outrageous provocation. The four songs are separated by instrumental interludes, including the stand-alone movements Intermède and Bagatelle. Poulenc instructs the singer to perform with both violence and charm, and adds: “Never should the singer emphasize the ironic intentions of the poet. Take literally the markings ‘tenderly,’ ‘with love,’ etc.”
Igor Stravinsky
Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (The Solder’s Tale) is a theatrical work “to be played, read, and danced” by minimal forces: seven players (clarinet, bassoon, cornet or trumpet, trombone, (1882–1971) violin, double bass, and percussion), three speaking parts (the soldier, the devil and a narrator), and at least one dancer (the princess). Financially strapped, Stravinsky collaborated with the L'Histoire du Soldat writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz and the conductor Ernest Ansermet to create this portable “pocket theater.” The Swiss philanthropist and amateur clarinetist Werner Reinhart provided vital (The Soldier's Tale) financial support for the original production. In the Faustian story based on a Russian folk tale, a soldier sells his fiddle – representing his soul – to the devil for a magic book. Stravinsky called the piece his “final break with the Russian orchestral school”; the sparse instrumentation and clear textures mark the shift to neo-Classicism. Here Stravinsky also begins to experiment with more wide-ranging influences: ragtime and jazz, a Viennese waltz, a Protestant wedding chorale, and dances like the tango. Stravinsky had only encountered jazz through sheet music that Ansermet brought back from America; he hadn’t yet heard it but believed he could imagine its rhythms. Opening night (Lausanne, Switzerland, September 1918) was a success, but it came just when the influenza epidemic broke out in Europe. Every public hall was closed, and the work had to wait until 1924 to be performed again.
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August 5, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
IVES, POULENC AND STRAVINSKY FRIDAY, AUG UST 5, 8:00 P M
Ives
The Unanswered Question
Yang Jiao conductor — Brendan V. Ryan flute Anouvong Liensavanh flute — Kemp Jernigan oboe Allan Dean trumpet — Fairway String Quartet Gregory Robbins double bass
Poulenc
Flute Sonata
Cantilena: Assez lent
Presto giocoso
Allegro malinconico Ransom Wilson flute — André–Michel Schub piano
Poulenc Le Bal masqué (The Masquerade Ball)
Préambule
Intermède Malvina
Bagatelle
La Dame aveugle
Finale
Ransom Wilson conductor — Janna Baty soprano Claire Brazeau oboe — Yevgeniy Reznik clarinet Shelley Monroe Huang bassoon — David Wharton trumpet Youngsun Kim violin — Yoonhee Ko cello André–Michel Schub piano — Adam Rosenblatt percussion
I ntermission
Stravinsky L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale)
Ransom Wilson conductor — John McDonough narrator Wonkak Kim clarinet — Brittany Harrington bassoon Allan Dean trumpet — Matthew Russo trombone Emily Westell violn — Gregory Robbins double bass Full Force Dance Theatre
Fairway String Quartet Rachael Schlosberg violin — Philip Marten violin — Tanner Menees viola — Samuel Cho cello
Full Force Dance Theatre Emily Zatursky dancer — Nick Franco dancer Katie Stevinson-Nollet choreography — Mary Sheldon costumes — Jesse Riley lighting
August 5, 2011
55
PROGRAM NOTES BY DANA ASTMANN
By the time he wrote the two works that became his Opus 77, Haydn had developed the genre of the string quartet and written some eighty three examples. The amateur violinist (1732–1809) Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian Lobkowitz commissioned six quartets from the composer who had just written the mighty oratorio The Creation, but Haydn – then in his late 60s – String Quartet No. 66 in completed only two. They were his last string quartets and were published at the same time as Beethoven’s first set (the six Opus 18 quartets). The first movement of the Quartet in G G Major, Op 77, No. 1, Major, with its deceptively simple first theme and near-constant pulse, is said to resemble an HOB III/81 old Hungarian recruitment song. This merry opening theme gives way to vigorous triplets in contary motion and the more serious tone of the development, with its foray into the minor mode. The slow second movement suggests c minor in its opening unison melody but soon settles into the warmth of E-flat Major. Listen for the cello to sing this opening motive throughout the movement. Though labeled a minuet, the cheerful third movement takes off with the liveliness of a scherzo and has moments of Gypsy influence. The last movement, also presto, is a dance that whirls to the finish.
Franz Josef Haydn
Ives wrote his first string quartet while still a student at Yale. It shows some characteristics of the composer’s mature work: his inventiveness, experimentation with polymeter and (1874–1954) polytonality, and the quotation and free reworking of preexisting materials with equal parts homage and irreverence. The quartet’s subtitle comes from the Protestant hymns that Ives used; he reworked them into themes less symmetrical and more fruitful while retaining their String Quartet No. 1 original character. Ives' teacher, Horatio Parker, was appalled that Ives had brought hymn "From the Salvation Army" tunes into the realm of serious music. Ives also incorporated earlier music of his own, mostly or "A Revival Service" organ works for his gig as a New Haven church organist. The first movement had begun as a standalone fugue, probably also a class assignment, whose subject and countersubject are both hymn tunes. The fugue was later used yet again as the third movement of Ives’ Fourth Symphony. The remaining movements, each in simple ABA form, display more harmonic and rhythmic experimentation. In the midst of the lyrical third movement, the contrasting middle section bursts into moments of spirited melody and pizzicato accompaniment. Hymns in 3/4 and 4/4 meters are layered together in the fourth movement, an early example of polymeter in Ives. Aaron Copland once said that Ives "lacked neither the talent nor the ability, nor the metier, nor the integrity of the true artist, but what he shamefully and tragically lacked was an audience." This first string quartet, written in 1898, was not performed publicly until 1957.
Charles Ives
Mendelssohn’s second string quintet was one of the last chamber works he wrote. Two years later, at the age of 38, he was dead, at least partially from working himself relentlessly as (1809–1847) a conductor, composer, administrator, and educator. Mendelssohn tended to compose in summertime, when the demands of the concert season let up; the Quintet in B-flat Major was written in the summer of 1845. Its soloistic first violin part, most prominent in the first and last String Quintet in B–flat movements, is unusual for chamber music, where the voices tend to be treated equally. In the Major, Op 87 first movement the first violin’s melody leaps immediately through two octaves over a busy accompaniment. The first viola introduces the gracefully descending second subject. Triplets run through the development section. The second-movement scherzo is an elegant, restrained andante (a “walking” pace) rather than Mendelssohn’s more characteristic lightfooted, fast-paced scherzos. Pizzicatos, rhythmic shifts and harmonic variety paint the movement with a rich palette of tone colors. The heartbreaking opening of the slow, almost operatic third movement opens up to rays of warmth, lush textures, and rhythmically active accompaniment. In the lively finale, the first violin again leads the way with virtuosic energy. The movement brims over with energetic sixteenth notes and syncopations.
Felix Mendelssohn
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August 6, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
HAYDN, IVES AND MENDELSSOHN SAT URDAY, AUG UST 6, 8:00 P M
Haydn
String Quartet No. 66 in G Major, Op 77, No. 1, HOB III/81
Allegro moderato Adagio Menuetto: Presto Finale: Presto
Tokyo String Quartet
Ives
String Quartet No. 1 "From the Salvation Army" or "A Revival Service"
Chorale: Andante con moto
Prelude: Allegro – Allegro con spirito – Quasi andante
Offertory: Adagio cantabile – Allegretto – Andante con moto – Andante cantabile
Postlude: Allegro marziale – Poco andante con moto – Allegro marziale Tokyo String Quartet
I ntermission
Mendelssohn String Quintet in B–flat Major, Op 87 Allegro vivace Andante scherzando
Adagio e lento
Allegro molto vivace
Tokyo String Quartet — Ettore Causa viola
Tokyo String Quartet Martin Beaver violin — Kikuei Ikeda violin — Kazuhide Isomura viola — Clive Greensmith cello
August 6, 2011
57
PROGRAM NOTES B Y L A U R A U SISKI N
Johannes Brahms
Written in 1859, Brahms’ Serenade No. 2 sits on the border between chamber and orchestral music. Though it includes a full wind section plus strings, the work avoids many symphonic (1833–1897) characteristics with its the five-movement divertimento structure, small instrumentation (the omission of violins being particularly noteworthy), and informal title of serenade. Compared Serenade No. 2 in A Major, with his four great symphonies, the serenade is also small in scope, but is noteworthy in its Op 16 own right. The five movements use the traditional divertimento form of two dance movements and an adagio framed by an opening and finale. The adagio of this serenade is of particular note, consisting of a set of variations on a chromatic bass. The work’s relatively small scale and intimate nature lends itself well to the small ensemble arrangement by Norfolk Faculty member, bassoonist Frank Morelli.
Anton Webern
Webern made indelible contributions to 20th-century classical music through skillfully crafted, highly condensed twelve-tone works, a technique he learned from his great teacher Arnold (1883–1945) Schoenberg. Langsamer Satz, however, is an early, unpublished work that Webern wrote in 1905 as an assignment for Schoenberg before either of them had embarked on the twelve-tone Langsamer Satz path. It demonstrates his mastery of the more traditional elements of counterpoint and harmony. The title translates as “Slow Piece,” and the work is an outpouring of love, full of lush chords and soulful melodies in a late-Romantic, post-Brahmsian style. A hike he took with his soon-to-be fiancée inspired the work, and a journal entry dating from that time summarizes his feelings: “To walk forever like this among the flowers, with my dearest one beside me, to feel oneself so entirely at one with the universe, without care, free as the lark in the sky above – Oh what splendor…Our love rose to infinite heights and filled the universe. Two souls were enraptured."
Igor Stravinsky
Composed in 1914, Three Pieces for String Quartet was one of the first works following Stravinsky's successful triumvirate of ballets – Firebird, Petroushka and Rite of Spring – and (1882–1971) is one of his few works for the ensemble. The three quartet pieces are diametrically opposed to the large-scale ballets with their small ensemble and compact form. In other ways, the Three Pieces for String quartet retains much of Stravinsky’s musical language from the ballets, including asymmetric Quartet rhythms, meter changes, colorful timbres and folk-like melodies. The first piece, which lasts but a minute, has a folksy quality and rhythmic insistence that is both driving and repetitive at the same time. The second piece is the most colorful of the three, using slides, harmonics and string plucking within its disjoint sections. The third piece, longer than the others but still short, transforms the quartet into a somber liturgical choir. Later in his life, Stravinsky arranged the pieces for orchestra and included an additional fourth piece. The titles he gave these three movements in that work are "Dance," "Eccentric" and "Canticle."
Robert Schumann
Of the many chamber music compositions Schumann wrote in 1842, his piano quintet was the best received at the time and remains one of his most popular works. Though he had models (1810–1856) for all of the other instrumental genres from this year, the piano quintet had no precedent. The eighteenth-century Italian master Boccherini had composed several piano quintets, but Piano Quintet in E–flat Major, Schumann was most likely unaware of them. Mozart had arranged several of his piano Op 44 concertos for piano and string quartet, but these were principally solo pieces with string accompaniment. Schumann’s quintet provided the impetus for the establishment of an entirely new genre and most likely inspired such composers as Brahms and Dvořák to write their own piano quintets. The declamatory opening statement in the first movement is fresh, joyous and grandiose. The second movement, a rondo labeled “in the style of a march” is a funeral march rather than a civic parade. The material for the third movement comes from a simple rising major scale that is rhythmically arranged so as to eschew a clear sense of the beat. The last movement both stands on its own and brings the entire work to a satisfying close. Near the end, after a pregnant pause, the second violin regally declares the opening theme while the piano plays the principal subject from the first movement. It is a fittingly majestic close to a magnificent work.
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August 12, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
BRAHMS, STRAVINSKY AND SCHUMANN FRIDAY, AUG UST 12, 8:00 P M
Brahms Serenade No. 2 in A Major, Op 16 (arr. Frank Morelli) Allegro moderato Scherzo: Vivace
Adagio non troppo
Quasi menuetto – Trio
Rondo: Allegro
Anouvong Liensavanh flute/piccolo — Claire Brazeau oboe Yvegeniy Reznik clarinet — Frank Morelli bassoon Mimi Zhang French horn — Ettore Causa viola Clive Greensmith cello — Gregory Robbins double bass
I ntermission
Webern Langsamer Satz Langsam mit bewegtem Ausdruck
Fairway String Quartet
Stravinsky Three Pieces for String Quartet Danse Excentrique Cantique
Schumann
Fairway String Quartet
Piano Quintet in E–flat Major, Op 44
Allegro brillante
In Modo d'una Marcia: Un poco largamente
Scherzo: Molto vivace
Allegro ma non troppo
Tokyo String Quartet — Joan Panetti piano
Tokyo String Quartet Martin Beaver violin — Kikuei Ikeda violin — Kazuhide Isomura viola — Clive Greensmith cello Fairway String Quartet Rachael Schlosberg violin — Philip Marten violin — Tanner Menees viola — Samuel Cho cello
August 12, 2011
59
PROGRAM NOTES B Y L A U R A U SISKI N
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Quintet in B-flat Major was written in 1773 on the heels of Mozart's quartets K. 155160. Why he wrote a quintet instead of another quartet is unclear. Some say that the (1756–1791) string quintets of Italian composers Sammartini and Boccherini inspired him; others say that his motivation came from hearing the first string quintet of Michael Haydn (brother of String Quintet in B–flat Major, the more famous Franz Josef). Regardless, Mozart handled the additional viola masterfully K 174 and enjoyed the genre enough to return to it five more times. In order to incorporate all five voices, Mozart composed mostly with melody and homophony, as opposed to the counterpoint he used in his quartets. After a warm, inviting first movement, the second movement begins with a singing unison line, all instruments muted. The movement ends as tenderly as it begins with another iteration of the unison passage. The Haydnesque third movement is followed by a finale which is longer and more elaborate than many of its time.
Mozart
“I send my six sons to you, most celebrated and very dear friend…Please then receive them kindly and be to them a father, guide and friend!” So wrote Mozart to Haydn in a letter dated String Quartet in G Major, 1785 that accompanied six quartet manuscripts dedicated to his colleague. Haydn was already famous as the father of the string quartet and had recently written his six Opus 33 K 387 quartets, which were strikingly innovative in their treatment of the medium. Unlike previous quartets, all four voices shared the musical discourse equally. Mozart studied these quartets intensely as he labored over the writing of his own pieces, which would come to be known as his “Haydn” Quartets. This quartet in G Major is the first of the six. One can immediately hear the equal treatment of voices in the presentation of the opening theme. The second movement has an unusual theme consisting of a rising chromatic scale that alternates loud and soft dynamics with each note. The third movement is lush, expansive, and the only one in which the first violin truly dominates. A fugal subject begins the last movement and quickly transforms into a syncopated, lilting melody. The movement drives to the finish with energy and effervescence, but at the last moment, ends calmly and sweetly.
Mozart
The contrast between the carefree nature of Mozart’s first string quintet and the despair of this sixth and final quintet could not be more striking. One reason for this dissimilarity comes from the keys of each work, g minor being more melancholy in nature than the brighter B-flat String Quntet in g minor, Major. Furthermore, Mozart’s circumstances during the g minor’s conception in May 1787 K 516 add to the work’s gloom. His father Leopold had grown ill and would die two weeks after its completion. The g-minor quintet is one of Mozart’s most personal works. In the first movement, the two heartrending themes and restless accompanimental figures give a feeling of unquestionable pathos. The second movement uses contrasting dynamics and offbeat chords to add anger to the despair. The wistful third movement, intensely lyrical, led Tchaikovsky to comment: “No one has ever given such beautiful expression in music to the sentiment of resigned sorrow without any hope.” The final movement opens with an introduction, a rarity in Mozart, that has the most tragic of melodies in the first violin, reminding the listener that the opera composer in Mozart is never far away. The following youthful and idealistic allegro brings the work to a contrastingly upbeat close.
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August 13, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival AN EVENING OF
MOZART
SAT URDAY, AUG UST 13, 8:00 P M
Mozart
String Quintet in B–flat Major, K 174
Allegro moderato Adagio
Menuetto ma allegro
Allegro
Tokyo String Quartet — Ettore Causa viola
Mozart String Quartet in G Major, K 387 (dedicated to Haydn) Allegro vivace assai Menuetto: Allegro Andante cantabile Molto Allegro
Tokyo String Quartet
I ntermission
Mozart
String Quintet in g minor, K 516
Allegro Menuetto: Allegretto
Adagio ma non troppo
Adagio Allegro
Tokyo String Quartet — Ettore Causa viola
Tokyo String Quartet Martin Beaver violin — Kikuei Ikeda violin — Kazuhide Isomura viola — Clive Greensmith cello
August 13, 2011
61
ABOUT THE ARTISTS Since its inception in 1981, San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra has been dedicated to historically informed performance of baroque, classical and earlyromantic music on original instruments. Under Nicholas McGegan’s direction since 1986, Philharmonia Baroque was named 2004 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America, and, according to the Los Angeles Times, it has become “an ensemble for early music as fine as any in the world today.” The Orchestra performs an annual subscription season in four venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is regularly heard on tour throughout the United States and internationally. The Orchestra has its own professional chorus, the Philharmonia Chorale, and also welcomes eminent guest conductors to its podium. Past guest conductors have included William Christie, Andrew Parrott, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, Monica Huggett and Trevor Pinnock. Philharmonia Baroque has made several U.S. tours, including appearances at the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Segerstrom Concert Hall in Orange County, the International Chamber Orchestra Festival in Minnesota, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Festival del Sol in California’s Napa Valley, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In August, 2005, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra made its debut at the BBC Proms in London, Snape Maltings (U.K.) and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Philharmonia Baroque also appeared as the featured orchestra at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, Germany, in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2005. The Orchestra has had numerous successful collaborations with celebrated musicians, composers, and choreographers. To mark its 25th season and the 20th anniversary of Nicholas McGegan’s tenure as Music Director, Philharmonia premiered its first commissioned work, a one-act opera entitled To Hell and Back, in November, 2006. Written specifically for baroque instruments by Jake Heggie and with a libretto by Gene Scheer, the commission included the unique combination of soprano (Isabel Bayrakdarian) and Broadway chanteuse (Patti LuPone). To Hell and Back received high critical praise during premier performances in San Francisco and subsequent performances at the Ravinia Festival. In collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group, Philharmonia Baroque gave the U.S. premiere of Morris’ highly acclaimed production of Henry Purcell’s King Arthur. Other collaborations with the Mark Morris Dance Group include productions of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; Vivaldi’s Gloria; and Handel’s L’Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato. Among the most-recorded period-instrument orchestras in the United States and Europe, Philharmonia Baroque has made 24 highly praised recordings for Harmonia Mundi, Reference Recordings, and BMG. It also released a self-produced 2-CD set of music of Alessandro Scarlatti on the Avie label. The Orchestra’s live recording of Handel’s oratorio Susanna received a Grammy® nomination and a 1991 Gramophone Magazine Award for best baroque vocal recording. Since 2005, Philharmonia Baroque has been issuing a series of live and archival recordings exclusively over the Internet in partnership with Magnatune.com. In spring of 2007, the Orchestra and Magnatune.com partnered with iTunes on Philharmonia Baroque’s live recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, now also available on compact disc. Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra was founded by harpsichordist and early music pioneer Laurette Goldberg. We are honored to have celebrated our 30th anniversary season in 2010-2011.
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August 15, 2011
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA MONDAY, AUG UST 15, 8 :00 P M Nicholas McGegan conductor
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Overture to Bajazet
Vivaldi
“Armatae face et anguibus” from Juditha Triumphans
Vivaldi
"Mentre dormi amor” from L’Olimpiade
Vivaldi
“Nel profondo cieco mondo” from Orlando furioso
Diana Moore
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
mezzo-soprano
Concerto Grosso Op 6, No. 4 in D Major
I ntermission
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
“Va tacitò” from Giulio Cesare
Handel
“Verdi allori” from Orlando
Handel
“Venti turbini” from Rinaldo
Diana Moore
Handel
mezzo-soprano
Water Music Suite in F Major
August 15, 2011
63
graduate study in choral conducting organ 路 voice: art song and oratorio at Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale School of Music
degrees offered Master of Music Master of Musical Arts Doctor of Musical Arts Artist Diploma
Full tuition scholarships for all admitted students plus additional merit-based awards available. Abundant musical and interdisciplinary opportunities. www.yale.edu/ism 路 ism.admissions@yale.edu
N orfolk C hamber M usic F estival
NORFOLK CHORAL FESTIVAL SAT URDAY, AUG UST 20, 4:00 P M Simon Carrington conductor Holly Chatham organ/piano
Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Ecce Dominus Veniet
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690)
O ciechi, ciechi
Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809)
Salve Regina in E Major HOB XX111/b:1
Salve Regina
Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus
Eja ergo advocate
Et Jesum benedictum
O Clemens
Cecilia McDowall (b. 1951)
A Fancy of Folksongs
Green Bushes
The Rambling
The Crystal
O No, John
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Serenade: Stars of the summer night
Ives
Sneak Thief
This concert is co–sponsored by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
Norfolk Festival Orchestra Claire Brazeau oboe/English horn — Dana Cullen French horn — David Wharton trumpet — Adam Rosenblatt percussion Maura Valenti harp — Rachael Schlosberg violin — Eleanor Kendra James viola — Samuel Cho cello
August 20, 2011
65
MUSIC IN CONTEXT
Free & Open to the Public!
Wednesdays, June 22 — August 10, at 7:30 pm — All events are at Battell Recital Hall unless noted June 22 Jan swafford Composer, author and biographer of Charles Ives and Johannes Brahms Charles Ives and the Music of the Ages
July 20 Carol Wincenc Flutist and Faculty Artist, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival Getting High! Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Flute and Were Afraid to Ask
June 29 The Norfolk Listening Club Led by JIM NELSON (Session with live music)
July 27 Thomas Masse Associate Provost for the Arts, Yale University Charles Ives' Compositional Process and the Story Behind the Largo for Clarinet, Violin and Piano
July 6 Jeremy Denk (at the Music Shed) Pianist and Author Speaking on and performing Ives' Concord Sonata July 13 Matthew Steinfeld Fellow, Yale Department of Psychiatry What Does It Mean to be an Audience Member?: Concert Going as an Engaged Social Practice
August 10 The Norfolk Listening Club Led by JIM NELSON (Session with live music)
Young artists' performance Sponsored by the Battell Arts Foundation
Free & Open to the Public!
SERIES
Concerts are held at the Music Shed Performance dates:
Catch a rising star as the Festival presents its Young Artists' Performance Series. These casual concerts are in the Music Shed and are free of charge. Throughout the years, Norfolk audiences have heard hundreds of emerging artists who have gone on to successful professional careers. Norfolk alumni perform with the most illustrious musical organizations in the world: the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Saint Lawrence, Muir, Miró, Ying, Brentano, Shanghai and Maia string quartets; the Claremont and Eroica trios; and new music ensembles such as eighth blackbird and SO PERCUSSION. Syoko Aki, Claude Frank, Pamela Frank, Frederica von Stade, Alan Gilbert, and Richard Stoltzman are all former students of Norfolk. Whether you are an aficionado or a chamber music novice you will enjoy the wonderful performances and casual environment these programs offer. Families with children are most welcome.
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Repertoire and ensembles are chosen weekly. Program details will be posted on the Norfolk website as they become available. Please visit us at www.norfolkmusic.org
Thursday, July 7, 7:30 pm Saturday, July 9, 10:30 am Thursday, July 14, 7:30 pm Saturday, July 16, 10:30 am Thursday, July 21, 7:30 pm Saturday, July 23, 10:30 am Thursday, July 28, 7:30 pm Saturday, July 30, 10:30 am Tuesday, August 2, 7:30 pm Thursday, August 4, 7:30 pm Saturday, August 6, 10:30 am Tuesday, August 9, 7:30 pm Thursday, August 11, 7:30 pm Saturday, August 13, 10:30 am
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German cellist Ole Akahoshi has concertized on four continents in recitals and as soloist with orchestras, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin, Symphonisches Orchester Berlin, and the Czechoslovakian Radio Orchestra. Winner of numerous competitions, Akahoshi’s performances have been featured on CNN, NPR and Bayerischer Rundfunk among others. Akahoshi has performed in many major concert halls aroung the world from Carnegie Hall to Wigmore Hall in London. He has made recordings for the Albany, New World Records, Composers Recording Inc., Calliope, Bridge, and Naxos labels. At age eleven Akahoshi was the youngest student to be accepted by Pierre Fournier. He received his bachelor's from Juilliard and his master's from Yale where he studied with Aldo Parisot and received an artist diploma from Indiana University where he studied with Janos Starker. Mr. Akahoshi is the principal cellist of Sejong Soloists in New York, and is a member of Seiji Ozawa’s Saito Kinen Orchestra and the Tokyo Nomori Opera. He is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and he has been on the faculty of the Yale University School of Music since 1997. — 8th Season at Norfolk Syoko Aki, violinist, studied the Toho Academy of Music (Japan), Hartt College, and the Yale School of Music. She has taught at the Eastman School and the State University of New York at Purchase. She has appeared as soloist with leading conductors such as Seiji Ozawa and Krzysztof Penderecki. As concertmaster and soloist with the New York Chamber Symphony, Miss Aki has recorded extensively on several major labels including Delos and Pro Arte. She has served as concertmaster of the New Japan Philharmonic, Waterloo Festival Orchestra and the New Haven and Syracuse symphonies. Miss Aki joined the Yale faculty in 1968 and became a member of the Yale String Quartet which earned international praise. With her long–time faculty colleague, pianist Joan Panetti, she has recorded on the Epson label. A highlight of their collaboration was a complete performance of Mozart’s violin sonatas over two seasons as part of Yale’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Bernard Holland of the New York Times wrote: “What a pleasure it was to hear this great music portrayed with such calm and exquisite thoughtfulness.” — 36th Season at Norfolk Founded in Vienna in 1980, the Artis Quartet (Peter Schuhmayer, violin – Johannes Meissl, violin – Herbert Kefer, viola – Othmar Müller, cello) began their international career in 1985 with concerts at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Suntory Hall (Tokyo), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Théatre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), Santa Caecilia (Rome) and many others. In Vienna they have performed an annual cycle of concerts at the Wiener Musikverein since 1988. Notable moments in their history have included an invitation to play all twenty-three Mozart quartets in both Tokyo and Vienna during the Mozart Year 1991. In 1997 they performed the complete Schubert quartets at the Concertgebouw, De Doelen (Rotterdam) and the Musikverein. They have appeared at many of the world’s major music festivals including Salzburg, Schleswig Holstein, the Berliner Festwochen, Ravinia, Bournemouth, Hong Kong and Paris. Their more than 30 CDs have won awards such as the Echo Klassik, Indie Award, Grand Prix du Disque and the Diapason d´Or. Their most recent recording of quartets by Egon Wellesz, was awarded the 2009 Midem Classical Award in Cannes. Permanently resident in Vienna, the members of the Artis Quartet teach at the Universities of Vienna and Graz. Peter Schuhmayer plays on a violin by Johann Rombach (2001). Johannes Meissl's violin (Guarneri, 1690), Herbert Kefer's viola, (Guadagnini, 1784) and Othmar Müller's cello (Amati 1573) are on loan from the Austrian National Bank's collection of musical instruments. — 1st Season at Norfolk — www.artis-quartett.at Soprano Janna Baty has appeared with the Hamburgische Staatsoper, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Hartford Symphony, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá (Colombia), Eugene Opera and Boston Lyric Opera. She has sung under Seiji Ozawa, Michel Plasson, Carl Davis and Robert Spano among others, and has appeared at the Aldeburgh and Britten festivals in England, the Semanas Musicales de Frutillar Festival in Chile, as well as at Tanglewood. She has won several international competitions, most notably the XXI Concurso Internacional de Ejecución Musical “Dr. Luis Sigall” (Chile). She has worked with violist Nobuko Imai, pianists Claude Frank and Peter Frankl, guitarist Stephen Marchionda, Bernard Rands, Sydney Hodkinson, Peter Child, Christopher Lyndon Gee, Fred Lerdahl, Yehudi Wyner and John Harbison. Ms. Baty can also be heard on Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s Naxos disc of works by Reza Vali. — 3nd Season at Norfolk
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Known to audiences on six continents, pianist BORIS BERMAN regularly appears with leading orchestras and in important festivals. An active recording artist and Grammy® nominee, Mr. Berman was the first pianist to record the complete solo works of Prokofiev (Chandos), and his recital of Shostakovich piano works (Ottavo) received the Edison Classic Award in Holland, the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy®. The recording of three Prokofiev concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Chandos), was named the Compact Disc of the Month by CD Review. In 1984 Mr. Berman joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music, where he chairs the Piano department and serves as music director of the Horowitz Piano Series. He was the founding director of the Yale Summer Piano Institute and of the International Summer Piano Institute in Hong Kong. In 2005 he was given the title of honorary professor of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2000 Yale University Press published Mr. Berman’s Notes from the Pianist’s Bench, which has been translated into several languages. His newest book, Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas, has been published by Yale University Press. — 19th Season at Norfolk Pianist Donald Berman is recognized as one of the chief exponents of new works by living composers, overlooked music by 20th-century masters, and recitals that link classical and modern repertoires. He has established an extensive discography in the works of major American composers including Ives, Kernis, Ruggles, and many others. Berman’s The Unknown Ives represents the only recording of the complete short piano works of Charles Ives. On The Uncovered Ruggles Mr.Berman offers premiere recordings of unpublished sketches, transcriptions and realizations of Ruggles’ music by John Kirkpatrick. His most recent recordings, Americans in Rome and The Light That Is Felt (Ives songs) were each named CD of the Month by BBC Music Magazine. Berman has performed to critical acclaim at major venues in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. As an educator, Mr. Berman has presented recitals, lectures and masterclasses in Israel, Italy and throughout the U.S. He teaches at Tufts University and directs the New England Conservatory Summer Piano Institute. He lives with his wife and two children in New York City. — 1st Season at Norfolk —www.donaldbermanpiano.com Robert Blocker is internationally regarded as a pianist, for his leadership as an advocate for the arts, and for his extraordinary contributions to music education. A native of Charleston, South Carolina, he debuted at historic Dock Street Theater (now home to the Spoleto Chamber Music Series). He studied under the tutelage of the eminent American pianist, Richard Cass and later with George Bolet. Today, he concertizes throughout the world. Recent orchestral engagements include the Beijing and Shanghai Symphony orchestras, the Korean and Daejon Symphony orchestras, the Prague and Moscow chamber orchestras, the Monterrey Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony. His appearances at the Beethoven Festival (Warsaw) and the Great Mountains International Music Festival (Korea, with Sejong) add to his acclaim as noted in the Los Angeles Times: “… great skill and accomplishment, a measurable virtuoso bent and considerable musical sensitivity...” In 1995, Blocker was appointed the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music and Professor of Piano at Yale University and in 2006, he was named honorary Professor of Piano at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. His many contributions to the music community include service on the advisory boards for the Avery Fisher Artist Program and the Stoeger Prize at Lincoln Center, the Gilmore Artist Advisory Board, and the Curatorium of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. He is a member of the American Music Center Board of Directors. Robert Blocker appears regularly on national radio and television as an artist and commentator and is active as a consultant to major educational institutions and government agencies. In 2000, Steinway and Sons featured him in a film commemorating the tercentennial year of the piano. His recent recording of three Mozart concerti appear on the Naxos label. In 2004, Yale University Press published The Robert Shaw Reader, a collection of Shaw’s writings edited by Robert Blocker. The volume received considerable acclaim and is now in its third printing and is presently being translated into Korean. — 6th Season at Norfolk
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Martin Bresnick’s compositions, from chamber and symphonic music to film scores and computer music, are performed throughout the world. Bresnick delights in reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable, bringing together repetitive gestures derived from minimalism with a harmonic palette that encompasses both highly chromatic sounds, consonant harmonies, and a raw power reminiscent of rock. At times his musical ideas spring from hardscrabble sources, often with a very real political import. But his compositions never descend into agitprop; one gains their meaning by the way the music itself unfolds. Bresnick received, the first Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the Rome Prize, the Berlin Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Koussevitzky Commission. Martin Bresnick’s compositions are published by Carl Fischer Music Publishers, New York; CommonMuse Music Publishers, New Haven; Böte & Bock, Berlin; and have been recorded by Cantaloupe Records, New World Records, Albany Records, Bridge Records, Composers Recordings Incorporated, Centaur and Artifact Music. — 15th Season at Norfolk — www.martinbresnick.com Simon Carrington has enjoyed a distinguished career as singer, double bass player and conductor, beginning in the UK where he was born. From 2003 to 2009 he was professor of choral conducting at Yale University and director of the Yale Schola Cantorum, a chamber choir which he has brought to international prominence. Previous positions include director of choral activities at the New England Conservatory, Boston at the University of Kansas. Prior to coming to the United States, he was a creative force for twenty–five years with the internationally acclaimed The King’s Singers, which he co–founded at Cambridge University. He gave 3,000 performances at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls, made more than seventy recordings, and appeared on countless television and radio programs, including nine appearances on the Tonight Show. He had a lively career as a double bass player, first as sub–principal of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and then as a freelance player in London. He has played with all the major symphony and chamber orchestras under Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, and Georg Solti among others. Now a Yale professor emeritus he is active as a freelance conductor and choral clinician. — 6th Season at Norfolk — www.simoncarrington.com Since 2001, ETTORE CAUSA has served as professor of viola and chamber music at the International Menuhin Music Academy (Switzerland), and he regularly presents master classes throughout Europe and South America. Additionally, he is a member of the Aria Quartet, with whom he performs throughout the world. Mr. Causa studied at the International Menuhin Academy with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Johannes Eskar, and Alberto Lysy as well as with Michael Tree at the Manhattan School of Music. Following his studies, Mr. Causa was appointed First Solo Viola of the Carl Nielsen Philharmonic in Denmark and was also leader of the Copenhagen Chamber Soloists. In 2000, he was awarded both the Schidlof Prize and the J. Barbirolli Prize. Since then, he has concertized in major artistic capitals of the world and performed in notable venues such as Victoria Hall (Geneva), Salle Cortot (Paris), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), and Tokyo Hall. He regularly performs at major festivals, including Salzburg, Tivolli, Perth, and Festival de Estorial (Portugal). He joined the Yale School of Music faculty in the 2009. — 2nd Season at Norfolk Pianist HOLLY CHATHAM is much sought after for her continuo and improvisational skills on early keyboards as well as for her virtuosity on the modern piano. She has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Schoenberg Hall, and has been a feature performer at festivals including the Miami Bach Festival, Ugbrooke Chamber Music Festival (UK), and at Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley. Ms. Chatham spends each summer as keyboardist at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. She has also performed and been interviewed on WNYC's Soundcheck and National Public Radio's Performance Today and Harmonia. She performs regularly with violinist Patrick Wood at venues such as the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. and Catholic University of America. Ms. Chatham is the Vocal Coach and Pianist/Early Keyboardist at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from Rutgers University and a Master of Music degree in Harpsichord and Fortepiano Performance from the Early Music Institute at Indiana University. — 1st Season at Norfolk — www.hollychatham.com
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Allan Dean is Professor in the Practice of Trumpet at the Yale School of Music and performs with Summit Brass, St. Louis Brass and the Yale Brass Trio. In the early music field he was a founding member of Calliope: A Renaissance Band and the New York Cornet and Sackbut Ensemble. Dean was a member of the New York Brass Quintet for 18 years and freelanced in the New York City concert and recording field for over 20 years. Dean performs and teaches each summer at the Mendez Brass Institute and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. He is a frequent soloist with Keith Brion’s New Sousa Band and has appeared at the Spoleto and Casals festivals, Musiki Blekinge (Sweden), and the Curitiba Music Festival (Brazil) among others. He can be heard playing both modern trumpet and early brass on over 80 recordings on most major labels including RCA, Columbia, Nonesuch, and others. On early instruments he has recorded with Calliope, the Waverly Consort, and the Smithsonian Chamber Players. Dean served on the faculties of Indiana University, the Manhattan School of Music, The Hartt School and the Eastman School. He lives in the Berkshire Mountains with his wife, Julie Shapiro, an artist, and his daughter, Eloisa. He is an avid tennis player and practices hatha yoga daily. — 27th Season at Norfolk
Pianist Jeremy Denk has won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, received a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and appeared as soloist with many of the country's major orchestras. The versatile American pianist's repertoire ranges from the standards of the 18th and 19th centuries to twentieth-century masters, and to new works by composers of today. An avid chamber musician, Jeremy Denk has collaborated with the Mirò, St. Lawrence and Vermeer string quartets. Since performing with violinist Joshua Bell at the 2004 Spoleto Festival, they have toured throughout the United States and Europe with almost eighty performances to date. Jeremy Denk keeps a weblog, Think Denk, a mixture of musical and extramusical observations, often pertaining to nothing in particular. Mr. Denk is a faculty member at the Bard College Conservatory of Music. He received a double degree in Chemistry and Piano Performance from the Oberlin College and Conservatory, a master's degree in music from Indiana University, and a doctorate in piano performance from the Juilliard School. He makes his home in New York City. — 1st Season at Norfolk — www.jeremydenk.net Having enjoyed one of the most distinguished careers of any pianist, Claude Frank has repeatedly appeared with the world’s foremost orchestras, chamber ensembles, major festivals and at its most prestigious universities since his debut with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in 1959. During recent seasons, Claude Frank has given joint recitals with his daughter, violinist Pamela Frank, throughout the United States and abroad. He also appeared with his late wife, pianist Lilian Kallir. A milestone in Claude Frank’s career was RCA’s release of his recordings of the 32 Beethoven sonatas and his worldwide performances of the cycle. Time Magazine proclaimed it as one of the year’s “10 Best,” and High Fidelity and Stereo Review recommended it above other renditions. A renowned teacher as well as performer, Claude Frank has been professor of piano at the Yale School of Music since 1973 and is on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Claude Frank lived in Nuremberg until the age of 12, when he joined his father in Brussels. Shortly thereafter he went to live in Paris, where he studied in the Paris Conservatoire. The German occupation forced Mr. Frank to leave France. While in Spain illegally, he was invited to perform at a party given by the Brazilian ambassador. There, he won his first “fee”—a visa to come to the United States granted by the American Consul, who attended the party. — 25th Season at Norfolk Peter Frankl, piano, made his London debut in 1962 and his New York debut with the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell in 1967. Since that time he has performed with some of the world’s finest orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, all the London orchestras and the major American orchestras. He has collaborated with such eminent conductors as Ashkenazy, Boulez, Maazel, Muti, and Solti. World tours have taken him to Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and he has appeared at many European and American festivals. His many chamber music partners have included the Tokyo, Takacs, and Guarneri quartets. Among his recordings are the complete works for piano by Schumann, Debussy, a Hungarian Anthology, Concerti and four–hand works by Mozart.In recognition of his artistic achievements, he was awarded the Officer’s Cross and Middle Cross by the Hungarian Republic. He is Honorary Professor at the Liszt Academy. He joined the Yale faculty in 1987. — 25th Season at Norfolk
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FULL FORCE Dance THEATRE (Katie Stevinson-Nollet, Director) has presented modern dance to audiences of all ages, coast to coast since 1992. Originally formed in San Diego, California, it’s mission has been to present high quality, creative and innovative work by both professionally distinguished choreographers as well as up and coming young artists in accessible and affordable programs; to explore the creative process of dance making; to develop the collaborative process between dancers, choreographer and musicians; and to provide professional experience, training and performance opportunities to local Hartford dancers. The company has provided professional experiences to over thirty young dancers. Some have gone on to perform with major companies such as the Paul Taylor Dance Company, San Diego Dance Theatre and Janis Brenner. FFDT has presented ten full evening programs in twelve venues with multiple performances at various festivals, such as the International Arts Festival in New Haven, the Los Angeles Kaleidoscope Festival, and venues such as Trinity College and the 92nd Street Y. — 1st Season at Norfolk Scott Hartman, trombone, began his chamber music career by joining the Empire Brass Quintet and the Boston University faculty in 1984. His performing career has been primarily as a chamber musician and soloist. Mr. Hartman has taught and played concerts throughout the world and in all fifty states. He now performs and records regularly with numerous ensembles including Proteus 7, Millennium Brass, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, the Yale Brass Trio and Four of a Kind. He has recorded for the Angel/EMI, Sony, Telarc, Summit and Dorian labels. Mr. Hartman is a clinician for the Bach instrument company and has served as a member of the faculties of Indiana University and the New England Conservatory. He grew up in Elmira, New York, and attended the Eastman School of Music where he received his bachelor and master’s degrees. Mr. Hartman joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music in 2001. — 11th Season at Norfolk — www.slushpump.com
Paul Hawkshaw is Professor in the Practice of Music History and Deputy Dean at the Yale School of Music as well as Director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. An authority on the music of Anton Bruckner he has edited seven volumes of the composer's Collected Works (Vienna) which are performed by major orchestras and choruses throughout the world. His articles have appeared in The Musical Quarterly, Nineteenth-Century Music and the Oesterreichische Musikzeitschrift, and he wrote the Bruckner Biography for Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. In 1996 he was awarded the special honor of an invitation from the Austrian National Library, Vienna, to give the commemorative address celebrating the centenary of the composer's death. Since coming to Yale in 1984, Professor Hawkshaw has taken an active interest in community affairs and public education in New Haven. He was co-founder of a program involving Yale Music Faculty and students in the curriculum at the local Co-operative High School for the Arts. In 1998 the program was recognized by Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley as a model of how music plays an integral role in improving overall education standards. Dr. Hawkshaw has also helped organize and participated in a number of teacher training initiatives for New Haven Public School teachers on the Yale Campus. He worked with the local Board of Education and the Yale University Class of '57 to establish an experimental music and literacy program at the Lincoln Bassett School, an elementary inner city public school in New Haven, Connecticut. In May 2007 the Class announced the establishment of an endowment of $6,000,000.00 at the Yale School of Music to support Music Education and public school music education. Professor Hawkshaw has been publicly recognized for his contribution to the New Haven Schools by an official proclamation of Mayor John DeStefano and, in the spring of 2000, he was awarded the Yale School of Music's highest honor, the Simon Sanford Medal, for his scholarship and community service. Born in Toronto, Canada, Professor Hawkshaw received his Ph. D. in Musicology from Columbia University in 1984. He has recently been appointed to the Editorial Boards of both the new Bruckner Edition published by the International Bruckner Society, and Wiener Bruckner Studien published under the auspices of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In the spring of 2011 he was awarded the Kilenyi Medal of Honor by the American Bruckner Society. Past recipients have included Karl Boehm, Bernhard Haitink, Paul Hindemith, Serge Koussevitzky, Robert Simpson, Georg Solti, Georg Tintner, Arturo Toscanini and Bruno Walter. Dr. Hawkshaw has been Director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival since 2004. — 8th Season at Norfolk
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Ani Kavafian, violin, has performed with virtually all of America's leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony. Ms. Kavafian appears frequently as an Artist-Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is in demand at numerous festivals including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Chamber Music Northwest. Ms. Kavafian's list of prestigious awards includes the Avery Fisher Prize and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She has appeared at the White House on three separate occasions and has been featured on many network and PBS television specials. Her recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia and Musical Heritage Society labels. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, of Armenian descent, Ani Kavafian began her musical studies with piano lessons at the age of three. At age nine, shortly after her family moved to the United States, she began the study of the violin and, at 16, won first prize in both the piano and violin competitions at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. Two years later, she began violin studies at The Juilliard School. She joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2006. — 4th Season at Norfolk A winner of the coveted 2002 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition and one of the youngest composers ever awarded the Pulitzer Prize, AARON KERNIS has taught composition at the Yale School of Music since 2003. His music figures prominently on orchestral, chamber, and recital programs worldwide and he has been commissioned by many of America‘s foremost performing artists, including sopranos Renée Fleming and Dawn Upshaw, violinists Joshua Bell and Nadja Salerno–Sonnenberg, and guitarist Sharon Isbin, and by institutions including the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul chamber orchestras, the Walt Disney Company, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He was awarded the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize, and he received Grammy® nominations for Air and his Second Symphony. Since 1998, he has served as new music adviser to the Minnesota Orchestra and is chairman and co–director of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute. His music is available on Nonesuch, Phoenix, New Albion, Argo and CRI. — 4th Season at Norfolk Ezra Laderman is a distinguished and widely performed composer. His commissions have included works for the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony. He has written works for numerous chamber ensembles, and for soloists including Yo–Yo Ma, Jean–Pierre Rampal, Emanuel Ax, and Ronald Roseman among many others. In February 2003, the Pittsburgh Symphony, with Gunter Herbig conducting and Richard Page as soloist, premiered Mr. Laderman’s Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra. Mr. Laderman is the recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships, the Prix de Rome, and Rockefeller and Ford Foundation grants. He has served as president of the National Music Council, chair of the American Composers Orchestra, director of the NEA Music Program, and president of the American Music Center. Mr. Laderman was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1989, and became its president in 2006. From 1989 to 1995 he served as Dean of the Yale School of Music, where he is currently professor of composition. — 8th Season at Norfolk The music of DAVID LANG has been performed by major music, dance, and theater organizations throughout the world, and has been performed in the most renowned concert halls and festivals in the United States and Europe. He is the co–founder and co–artistic director of New York’s legendary music festival Bang on a Can. In 2008 Lang was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for The Little Match Girl Passion, commissioned by Carnegie Hall. His many other honors include the Rome Prize, the Revson Fellowship with the New York Philharmonic, and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work is recorded on the Sony Classical, Teldec, BMG, Point, Chandos, Argo/Decca, Caprice, Koch, Albany, CRI, and Cantaloupe labels. David Lang holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Iowa, and received the D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. His music is published by Red Poppy (ASCAP) and is distributed worldwide by G. Schirmer, Inc. Lang joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2008. — 3rd Season at Norfolk — www.davidlangmusic.com
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Three musicians with different geographical (Russian, Viennese and Swiss-American), cultural and professional backgrounds met in Vienna. Their joint creation, the Leschetizky Trio (Klara Flieder, violin - Christophe David Pantillon, cello - Stanislaw Tichonow, piano), bundles their respective experience, interests and ambition. The Trio is named after Theodor Leschetizky (1830-1915), pianist, piano pedagogue, composer and conductor, who was an important figure in the Viennese musical life of the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. His international fame was a valuable asset to the multicultural and artistic reputation of the Habsburg Empire. The Leschetizky Trio made its debut at the Schubert-Saal of the Vienna Konzerthaus in November 2003. It has appeared in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, the US and the Ukraine. Since the summer of 2006, the Trio has been invited to the Norfolk Festival. The Trio’s first CD (Preiser Records) was released in September 2004; the second, with works by Shostakovitch and Weinberg (Cascavelle VEL 3104) appeared in November 2006, and received the Pasticcio Prize from Austrian radio for the best recording of the month, as well as excellent reviews from all over the world. In addition to their work with the Trio, Stanislaw Tichonow is a Professor of Piano at the Eisenstadt Haydn Conservatory; Klara Flieder is Professor of Violin at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and is a member of the Hyperion Ensemble Salzburg; and Christophe David Pantillon is a founding member of the Aron Quartet, the quartet-in-residence at the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna. — 4th Season at Norfolk Humbert Lucarelli, hailed as “America’s leading oboe recitalist” by the New York Times, has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and Asia. Chamber music collaborations have included the Original Bach Aria Group and the American, Emerson, Leontovich, Manhattan, Muir, Panocha, and Philadelphia string quartets. In the summer of 2002, Mr. Lucarelli was the first American oboist to be invited to perform and teach at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. He has performed and recorded with some of the world’s leading conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Fiedler, James Levine, Georg Solti, Leopold Stokowski and Igor Stravinsky among others. Mr. Lucarelli has recorded for Koch International, Lyrichord, MCA Classics, Musical Heritage Society, Pantheon, and Stradivari. Professor of Oboe at The Hartt School and the Conservatory of Music at SUNY–Purchase, he has been the recipient of a Solo Recitalists Fellowship, Consortium Commissioning and Music Recording grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. — 6th Season at Norfolk Composer INGRAM MARSHALL lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1973 to 1985 and in Washington State, where he taught at Evergreen State College, until 1989. Currently he serves as Visiting Lecturer in Composition at the Yale School of Music. He studied at Columbia University and California Institute of the Arts, where he received an M.F.A., and has been a student of Indonesian gamelan music, the influence of which may be heard in the slowed–down sense of time and use of melodic repetition found in many of his pieces. His music has been performed by ensembles and orchestras including Kronos Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony. He has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, Fromm Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Recent recordings are on Nonesuch (Kingdom Come) and New Albion (Savage Waters). — 4th Season at Norfolk — www.ingrammarshall.com
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All of my work comes from a musical point of view," says narrator John McDonough, explaining that his first reading of a book is like the first listening of a piece of music. "You have to be completely free. As you read and think about the piece, you hear voices, and it starts to take on life." John feels a serious responsibility for each book because the performance will affect listeners for years to come – a feeling shared by musical performers. Outside his audiobook work, John has performed with Garrison Keillor and recently starred in the revival of Captain Kangaroo on the Fox network. John has also been an ambassador to Reading Is Fundamental, which took him to dozens of elementary schools for reading aloud programs. John has a magical knack with children's stories. He brings twinkling humor – Robert McCloskey's Centerburg Tales; amazing facility for animal characters – try any one of Walter Brooks' Freddy series; and grandfatherly assurance – Commander-In-Chief Abraham Lincoln And The Civil War by Albert Marrin. John loves the books for children because he knows that young kids want the story "totally." — 3rd Season at Norfolk For the New Yorker magazine, British conductor Nicholas McGegan is "an expert in 18th-century style." McGregan is known throughout the world for performances that match authority with enthusiasm. In more than two decades as its music director, McGegan has established the San Francisco-based Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Philharmonia Chorale as the leading period-performance ensemble in America. Has defined an approach to period style that sets the current standard: probing, serious but not dogmatic, and recognizing that the music of the past does not belong in a museum or academia, but in vigorous engagement with an audience, for pleasure and delight on both sides of the platform edge. He is a pioneer in the process of exporting historically informed practice to the wider one of conventional symphonic forces, guest-conducting with the Concertgebouw, Halle, and Philadelphia orchestras as well as Covent Garden, among many others. McGegan was principal conductor in 1993-1996 of Sweden's 18th-century theater of Drottingholm. His discography includes over 100 releases and includes both a Gramophone Award and a Grammy® nomination. On June 12, 2010, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Elizabeth II. The honor cited McGegan's "services to music overseas." — 1st Season at Norfolk Mezzo-soprano Diana Moore manages a varied and international career of opera, oratorio and concert performances and is a popular soloist at many major music festivals. Diana is developing a reputation for being a leading exponent of English song. She is a regular participant at the Weekend of English Song at Ludlow and represented England in the recital series for International Young Artists at Opera de Lille. Recent engagements include Bach's St. Matthew Passion at the Luzern Festival, Handel's Orlando at Drottningholm Court Theatre, Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection", and the title role in Handel's Rinaldo at the National Theatre in Prague and the Opera Royale de Versailles. Future plans include Handel's Orlando at venues including the Tanglewood Festival and Lincoln Centre, New York. Diana's recent recording of Handel's Parnasso in Festa with The King's Consort was released to universal acclaim and won the 2009 Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize. — 1st Season at Norfolk — www.dianamoore.co.uk Australian-American pianist Lisa Moore is based in New York City where she has lived since 1985, collaborating with a large and diverse range of musicians and artists. The New York Times claims "her energy is illuminating." She has released 5 solo discs (on Cantaloupe Music and Tall Poppies) and 30 collaborative discs (on Sony, Nonesuch, DG, CRI, BMG, Point, New World, ABC Classics, Albany and New Albion). Lisa Moore has performed with the New York City Ballet, London Sinfonietta, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Australian Chamber Orchestra, La Scala, the Musikverein, the Sydney Opera House ,and Carnegie Hall among many others. Lisa Moore won the silver medal in the 1981 Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition. She was the founding pianist for the Bang On A Can All-Stars -- the New York based electro-acoustic sextet and winner of Musical America's 2005 "Ensemble of the Year" Award. Raised in Australia and London, Moore is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Eastman School of Music and SUNY Stonybrook. — 6th Season at Norfolk — www.lisamoore.org
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Frank Morelli, was the first bassoonist awarded a doctorate by The Juilliard School. With over 150 recordings for major labels to his credit, the Orpheus CD Shadow Dances, featuring Frank Morelli, won a 2001 Grammy® Award. He has made nine appearances as a soloist in New York’s Carnegie Hall and has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on numerous occasions, including at the White House for the final state dinner of the Clinton presidency. A member, Windscape, an ensemble in residence at the Manhattan School of Music, he also serves on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music and SUNY Stony Brook. He is co–principal bassoonist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Frank Morelli has released three solo recordings on MSR Classics: Romance and Caprice; Bassoon Brasileiro and Baroque Fireworks. Gramophone Magazine has said that “Morelli’s playing is a joy to behold.” He has published several transcriptions for bassoon and woodwind quintet, and compiled the first collection of Stravinsky’s music for the bassoon, entitled Stravinsky: Difficult Passages. — 18th Season at Norfolk — www.morellibassoon.com Grammy® Award-winning soprano Susan Narucki is a familiar presence in the world’s major concert halls and opera houses, with recent performances includinding the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center in Louis Andreissen’s opera De Materie, with the Schoenberg and Asko Ensembles; revivals of Andriessen’s Writing to Vermeer (Netherlands Opera) and Rêves d’un Marco Polo, and in a new opera by James Dillon at festivals in Oporto, Strasbourg and throughout France. Nominated in the Best Classical Vocal Performance category for a 2002 Grammy®, her extensive discography reflects the exceptional range of her activities. In addition to her 2001 Grammy® Award-winning disc of George Crumb’s Star-Child with the Warsaw Philharmonic, and her Cannes Award-winning CD for Best Recording of Works by a Living Composer (works of Crumb with Speculum Musicae)—she may be heard on Sony Classical, Philips, Angel, Chandos, Nonesuch, Decca and many othera. Ms. Narucki currently serves as Professor of Music at the University of California, San Diego, where she directs the ensemble kallisti. — 7th Season at Norfolk — www.susannarucki.net Joan Panetti, pianist and composer, garnered first prizes at the Peabody Conservatory and the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris. She holds degrees from Smith College and the Yale School of Music. She taught at Swarthmore College, Princeton University, and the Department of Music at Yale University before joining the faculty of the Yale School of Music. Among her principal mentors were Olivier Messiaen, Alvin Etler, Mel Powell and Donald Currier. She has toured extensively in the United States and Europe and performs frequently in chamber music ensembles. She has recently recorded a disc of works (Epson) with violinist Syoko Aki. Among her most recent compositions are a piano quintet, commissioned by Music Accord, which she performed with the Tokyo String Quartet; a piano trio, commissioned by the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and performed by members of the ensemble with the composer at the piano. A renowned teacher, Ms. Panetti has developed a nationally recognized course, that emphasizes the interaction between performers and composers. In 2007, she conducted an interactive workshop at the National Conference of Chamber Music America and taught and coached at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China. She is the recipient of the Luise Voschergian Award from Harvard University, the Nadia Boulanger Award from the Longy School of Music, and the Ian Minninberg Distinguished Alumni Award from the Yale School of Music. She was named the Sylvia and Leonard Marx Professor of Music at Yale University in 2004 and served as Director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival from 1981 to 2003. — 31st Season at Norfolk JULIAN PELLICANO earned Bachelor’s degrees in percussion and philosophy from the Peabody Conservatory and Johns Hopkins University and a Graduate Performance Diploma in percussion from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden. He then entered the Yale School of Music as a percussion major and was simultaneously appointed Assistant Conductor of the Yale Philharmonia. Upon earning his Master of Music degree in percussion, Pellicano became an orchestral conducting fellow. His additional training includes a Fellowship in Conducting at the Centre Acanthes. His honors include the 2008 Presser Music Award and the Yale School of Music’s Philip F. Nelson Prize. Pellicano has also participated in the Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar, as one of thirteen conductors selected from around the world. He has served as assistant conductor of the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra of South Korea, assistant conductor of the New Britain (CT) Symphony, and appeared as guest conductor of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. Pellicano serves as the Longy School of Music Artistic Director of Large Ensembles and principal conductor of Longy Chamber Orchestra and Longy Chamber Winds. — 3nd Season at Norfolk
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A native of Pennsylvania, William Purvis, French horn, pursues career in the U.S. and abroad as soloist, chamber musician, conductor, and educator. A passionate advocate of new music, he has participated in numerous premieres as hornist and conductor. Mr. Purvis is a member of the New York Woodwind Quintet, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Yale Brass Trio and Triton Horn Trio, and is an emeritus member of Orpheus. A frequent guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he has also collaborated with the Tokyo, Juilliard, and Orion string quartets. His extensive list of recordings spans from original instrument performance and standard repertoire through contemporary solo and chamber music to recordings of contemporary music as conductor. His recent recording of Peter Lieberson's Horn Cocnerto (Bridge) received a Grammy® and a WQXR Gramophone Award. Mr. Purvis is currently a faculty member at the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School. At Yale, he is coordinator of winds and brass and was recently appointed interim director of the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments. — 26th Season at Norfolk Pianist André–Michel Schub’s recent appearances have included orchestras in Memphis, Santa Barbara, and Williamsburg, Virginia, and solo recitals in Washington and Phoenix. He has also performed joint recitals with violinist Cho–Liang Lin and trio concerts with David Shifrin and Ani Kavafian and completed a recording project of Mozart’s music to commemorate the tenth season of the Virginia Arts Festival. Winner of the 1974 Naumburg International Piano Competition, recipient of the 1977 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and grand prize winner of the 1981 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Mr. Schub has been the Artistic Director of the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Music Series since 1997. He appears as guest artist at Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Ravinia, the Blossom Festival, Wolf Trap, and the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. He has performed with the Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, St. Louis and Milwaukee symphonies; the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras; the Los Angeles, New York, and Rochester philharmonics; the Royal Concertgebouw; the Bournemouth Symphony and the New York Pops in Carnegie Hall. — 5th Season at Norfolk David Shifrin, clarinet, has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Calgary, and Edmonton symphony orchestras, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Chamber Symphony. Currently music director of Chamber Music Northwest, Mr. Shifrin was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in May 1987. He is also the recipient of a Solo Recitalist Fellowship from the NEA. His recording for Delos of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto received a 1987 Record–of–the–Year award from Stereo Review, and he was nominated for a Grammy® as Best Classical Soloist with Orchestra for his 1989 recording of the Copland Clarinet Concerto on Angel/EMI. Since 1989, he has been an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and from 1992–2004 he was its Artistic Director. Mr. Shifrin also serves as Artistic Director of the Yale School of Music’s Chamber Music Society and Yale in New York series. — 11th Season at Norfolk James Sinclair is among the world's pre-eminent scholars and champions of the music of Charles Ives, serving on the Board of Directors and as Executive Editor for the Charles Ives Society. He served as Music Director for four PBS television documentaries, including the Peabody Award-winning film about Ives, A Good Dissonance Like a Man. In 1999, Yale University Press published Sinclair's 800-page A Descriptive Catalogue of the Music of Charles Ives, which the Association of American Publishers cited as the best publication of the year in arts scholarship. In 1999, Naxos commissioned Sinclair to record the complete orchestral works of Charles Ives. At Yale University, he oversees both the John Kirkpatrick and the Charles Ives Papers, supervises the Berkeley College Orchestra and is an advisor to the Saybrook College Orchestra. Sinclair has served as the Music Director of Orchestra New England since the orchestra’s founding in 1974. A Washington, D.C. native, Sinclair graduated from Indiana University and served on the faculty of the University of Hawaii. In 1999, Sinclair was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of New Haven. — 1st Season at Norfolk
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DANIEL STEPNER, violin, has performed and recorded a wide range of music on period and contemporary instruments. He has been first violinist of the Lydian String Quartet, in residence at Brandeis University, since 1987; he is also a founding member of the Boston Museum Trio, resident at the Museum of Fine Arts; for twenty-four years, he served as concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society. He is the Artistic Director of the Aston Magna Festival and is also a Preceptor in Music at Harvard University, where he team-teaches a course in chamber music with Professor Robert Levin. Mr. Stepner’s has recorded the violin sonatas of Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann; chamber music of Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Yehudi Wyner and John Harbison; and the complete violin sonatas of Charles Ives, with pianist John Kirkpatrick among many others. He has conducted recordings of Handel’s The Triumph of Time and Truth and Monteverdi’s Orfeo (Centaur). Mr. Stepner hails from Wisconsin, and studied with Steven Staryk, Nadia Boulanger and Broadus Erle. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale in 1978. — 1st Season at Norfolk Katie Stevinson-Nollet, a native Californian, is a seasoned dancer and choreographer. After a rewarding career with San Diego's leading modern dance company, and successful reviews as a choreographer, Katie returned to school acquiring an MFA degree in Dance at the University of Michigan. She also holds a BA from San Diego State University and a Certificate from the London Contemporary School of Dance. For the past ten years Katie has presented her work within her own company, Full Force Dance Theatre. Her work has been commissioned by the Pensacola Ballet and San Diego State University, and presented by The Florida Dance Festival, the International Arts Festival and the Kaleidoscope Festival in Los Angeles. Katie has taught in many schools and colleges including the Hartford Ballet School, Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan, Mills College, the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, the University of Hartford, San Diego State University and California Ballet among others. Presently she is a full time BFA faculty member with the University of Hartford/ Hartt School/ School of Dance Connecticut. — 1st Season at Norfolk Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman’s virtuosity, musicianship and sheer personal magnetism have made this two–time Grammy® Award winner one of today’s most sought–after concert artists. As soloist with more than 100 orchestras, as a captivating recitalist and chamber music performer (performing the first clarinet recitals in the histories of both the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall), and as an innovative jazz artist, Stoltzman has defied categorization, dazzling critics and audiences alike while bringing the clarinet to the forefront as a solo instrument. A prolific recording artist, Stoltzman’s acclaimed releases can be heard on BMG/RCA, SONY Classical, MMC, Naxos and other labels, and include the Grammy® winning recordings of Brahms’ sonatas with Richard Goode; and trios of Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart with Emanuel Ax and Yo–Yo Ma; as well as Hartke’s Landscapes with Blues, a New York Times “Best of 2003.” He performed Rautavaara’s Clarinet Concerto (which was written for him) at the Norfolk Festival in 2008. — 5th Season at Norfolk — www.richardstoltzman.com Oboist Stephen Taylor holds the Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III solo oboe chair with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He is also solo oboe with the New York Woodwind Quintet, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble (where he is co–director of chamber music), and the American Composers Orchestra among others. He also plays as co–principal oboe with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He appears regularly as soloist and chamber musician at such major festivals as Spoleto, Chamber Music Northwest, and Schleswig– Holstein. Stereo Review named his recording on Deutsche Grammophon with Orpheus of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for winds as the Best New Classical Recording. Included among his more than 200 other recordings is the premieres of Elliott Carter’s Oboe Quartet, for which Mr. Taylor received a Grammy® nomination. Mr. Taylor a faculty member of The Juilliard School. He also teaches at SUNY Stony Brook and the Manhattan School of Music. The Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University awarded him a performer’s grant in 1981. Mr. Taylor joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music in the fall of 2005. — 5th Season at Norfolk
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Composer Christopher Theofanidis has had performances by many leading orchestras from around the world, including the National Symphony, the London Symphony, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte–Carlo, and the California Symphony (for which he was composer–in–residence from 1994 to 1996). He holds degrees from Yale, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Houston, and has been the recipient of the Masterprize, the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Barlow Prize, six ASCAP Gould Prizes, a Fulbright Fellowship to France, a Tanglewood Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Charles Ives Fellowship. Theofanidis’ recent projects include an opera for the Houston Grand Opera, a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre, and a work for the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus based on the poetry of Rumi. He has served as a delegate to the U.S.–Japan Foundation’s Leadership Program. He has been on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University and The Juilliard School. He joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2008. — 3rd Season at Norfolk — www.theofanidismusic.com Since its founding over 30 years ago the Tokyo String Quartet (Martin Beaver, violin – Kikuei Ikeda, violin – Kazuhide Isomura, viola – Clive Greensmith, cello) has collaborated with a remarkable array of artists and composers, built a comprehensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings and established a distinguished teaching record. Performing well over a hundred concerts worldwide each season, the Tokyo String Quartet has a devoted international following that not only includes the major capitals of the world but also reaches all four corners, from Australia to Estonia to Scandinavia and the Far East. The members of the Tokyo String Quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976 as quartet–in–residence. Deeply committed to teaching young string quartets, they devote a considerable amount of time to Yale during the academic year and to the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in the summer. An exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon firmly established the Quartet as one of the world’s leading chamber music ensembles, and it has since released more than 30 landmark recordings on DG, BMG/RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel–EMI, CBS Masterworks and Vox Cum Laude. The Quartet’s recordings have earned such honors as the Grand Prix du Disque and Montreux, “Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year” awards from Stereo Review and Gramophone magazines, as well as seven Grammy® nominations. The Tokyo String Quartet performs on “The Paganini Quartet,” a group of renowned Stradivarius instruments named for legendary virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who acquired and played them during the 19th century. The instruments have been loaned to the ensemble by the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995, when they were purchased from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington. Officially formed in 1969 at The Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo String Quartet traces its origins to the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where the founding members were profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito. Instilled with a deep commitment to chamber music, the original members of what would become the Tokyo String Quartet eventually came to America for further study with Robert Mann, Raphael Hillyer and Claus Adam. Soon after its creation, the Quartet won First Prize at the Coleman and Munich Competitions and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. — 34rd Season at Norfolk — www.tokyoquartet.com Cellist Laura Usiskin (Norfolk '09) has performed throughout the United States and Europe in solo, chamber, and orchestral capacities, including at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Barge Music, Boston’s Symphony Hall and many others. In 2008, she received the Aldo Parisot Prize from Yale University, awarded to a cellist showing promise for a solo career. Miss Usiskin’s musical interests are diverse, spanning early baroque to 21st century. She has premiered many new works and played with several new music ensembles. She has also participated in many early music ensembles. She completed a fellowship with the Yale Baroque Ensemble under the direction of violinist Robert Mealy in 2010. Miss Usiskin completed her doctoral coursework at Yale in 2009. She graduated from Columbia cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and Behavior and from the Juilliard School with a Master of Music. Miss Usiskin is currently living in Montgomery, AL, where she has begun a fellowship with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra. — 1st Season at Norfolk — www.laurausiskin.com
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Ransom Wilson, flute/condcutor, studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts and The Juilliard School, before working with Jean–Pierre Rampal. As soloist he has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, I Solisti Veneti, the Prague Chamber Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, among others. He is an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. An active conductor, Mr. Wilson is Music Director of Solisti New York and has held that position with Opera Omaha, the San Francisco Chamber Symphony, and the OK Mozart Festival in Oklahoma. He founded the Mozart Festival at Sea, and received the Republic of Austria’s Award of Merit in Gold for his efforts on behalf of Mozart’s music in America. More recently he has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera. A supporter of contemporary music, he has had works composed for him by Steve Reich, Peter Schickele, Joseph Schwantner, John Harbison, Jean Françaix, Jean–Michel Damase, George Tsontakis, Tania Léon and Deborah Drattel. — 11th Season at Norfolk — www.ransomwilson.com Carol Wincenc, flute, was First Prize Winner of the Walter W. Naumburg Solo Flute Competition. She has appeared as a soloist with such ensembles as the Chicago and London symphonies; the BBC and Buffalo philharmonics; the Saint Paul and Stuttgart chamber orchestras; and the New York Woodwind Quintet. She has performed in the Mostly Mozart Festival and music festivals in Aldeburgh, Budapest, Frankfurt, Santa Fe, Spoleto and Marlboro. Ms. Wincenc has premiered numerous works written for her by many of today’s most prominent composers including Christopher Rouse, Henryk Gorecki, and Joan Tower. In great demand as a chamber musician, Ms. Wincenc has collaborated with the Guarneri, Emerson, and Tokyo string quartets, and performed with Jessye Norman, Emanuel Ax and Yo–Yo Ma. She has recorded for Nonesuch, London/Decca, Deutsche Grammophon and Telarc. Ms. Wincenc created and directed a series of International Flute Festivals in St. Paul, Minnesota, featuring such diverse artists as Jean–Pierre Rampal, Herbie Mann and the American Indian flutist, R. Carlos Nakai. Ms. Wincenc is currently teaching at The Juilliard School. — 10th Season at Norfolk Internationally acclaimed pianist Wei–Yi Yang enjoys a flourishing career, appearing throughout the world in solo recitals, chamber music concerts and with symphony orchestras. Winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the fifth San Antonio International Piano Competition, Mr. Yang has performed in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, among many others. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Yang has performed with members of some of the world’s finest ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and the London Symphony. Born in Taiwan of Chinese and Japanese heritage, Mr. Yang co–founded the award–winning Soyulla Ensemble, which debuted at Alice Tully Hall, toured Korea, and released a CD (Renegade Classics). Mr. Yang’s performances have been featured around the globe via international television, radio, and web broadcasting medias. Mr. Yang will served on the selection jury for the 2009 San Antonio International Piano Competition. Wei–Yi Yang joined the faculty at Yale University in 2005. — 4th Season at Norfolk
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F E S T IVA L
MISSION
1. To provide artistic and academic preparation for the most gifted graduate–level performers and composers from around the world under the tutelage of an international faculty 2. To support and extend the Yale School of Music’s internationally recognized music programs by serving as a pedagogical and performance venue for faculty and fellows as well as provide opportunities for the development of special projects consistent with YSM activities 3. To foster the creation of new chamber music through commissions, concerts, workshops, competitions and residencies for established and student composers from around the world 4. To seek new possibilities for the international cultivation of chamber music through exchange programs as well as by developing new media and performance venues 5. To invite audiences to discover, explore and appreciate chamber music through concerts, lectures, listening clubs, school programs and creative outreach activities
F E S T IVA L
LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
The Leadership Council is an advisory board which works with the Director to advance the mission of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival through support, advocacy, participation in its educational activities and fundraising. Council members contribute in a variety of ways including helping to develop new audiences, implementing fund–raising initiatives and providing advice and counsel. The Dean of the Yale School of Music serves on the Leadership Council ex officio. COUNCIL MEMBERS Robert Blocker, Dean Paul Hawkshaw, Director Joyce Ahrens John Baumgardner Kathleen Kelley Christopher Little James Remis Anne–Marie Soullière Byron Tucker Sukey Wagner
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Festival Mission
LEADING
C ontributors
We wish to thank the many individuals and organizations who, through their support, have made this season possible. (Gifts received through May 10, 2011)
Anonymous Joyce & Burton Ahrens Battell Arts Foundation, Inc. Astrid & John Baumgardner Centenary Scholarship Fund Anonymous in Memory of Wm. Hale Charch & Ruth Heidrick Charch Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism Charlotte Currier Perry DeAngelis Rohit & Kay Desai Christopher di Bonaventura Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust Elizabeth R. Hilpman & Byron Tucker The Charles Ives Society, Inc. Clement Clarke Moore Scholarship Fund National Endowment for the Arts Ronald & Susan Netter Jim & Nancy Remis Richard & Sandy Rippe Roger & Jerry Tilles Tokyo String Quartet Sukey Wagner Louise Willson Scholarship Fund
Festival Contributors
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F E S T IVA L
CONTRIBUTOrS
MUSICIANS' CIRCLE Anonymous
Robert Loper &
Anonymous
Robert & Ann Buxbaum
John Perkins & Hope Dana
Hope Childs
Kathy & Curtis Robb
Herbert & Jeanine Coyne
Mary & Don Roberts
Michael Emont &
Frank & Jacqueline Samuel
Shirley & Ben Sanders
Margo Rappoport
Robert Dance
Mrs. John T. Gallagher
Anne-Marie Soulliere &
Barbara & Bill Gridley
Leila and Daniel Javitch
Carol Stein
Lindsey C. Y. Kiang
PATRONS Anthony Angarano
Janine King & Stweven Paganuzz
The Astmann Family
Christopher & Betsy Little
Peter & Amy Bernstein
Tom Martin & Susan Spiggle
Serena & Robert Blocker
Annette McEvoy &
Sally Carr & Larry Hannafin
Donald R. Crawshaw &
Roger Mitchell & Pete Peterson
David & Katherine Moore
Matthew D. Hoffman
Harold Bronheim
John & Helen Davis
Grant Mudge
Drew S. Days, III &
Ingegerd Mundheim
Patricia Nooy & Roger Miller
Ann R. Langdon
Ruah Donnelly &
Aldo & Elizabeth Parisot
Barbara & John Rutledge
Steven Dinkelaker
James Edwards
The Marvin & Joyce S.
Adrienne Gallagher &
Barbara Shailor & Harry Blair
James Nelson
Schwartz Fund
John Garrels & Deborah Foord
Cameron O. Smith
Brett & Coleen Hellerman
Howard Sobel & Ileene Smith
Fred & Marcie Imberman
Pat & Kurt Steele
Philip & Helen Jessup
Christina Hoyt Vanderlip
John & Catherine Keenum
Nancy R. Wadhams
Kathleen Kelley
Mark & Tania Walker
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Leading Contributors
F E S T IVA L
C ontributors SUSTAINING CONTRIBUTORS Anonymous
Michael & Carole Fleisher
Peter L. Kennard
Linda & Frank Pizzica
Barbara & Malcolm Bayliss
John Garrels
In memory of David C. Knapp
Andrew & Sally Quale
Frank & Linda Bell
Dotty & Lionel Goldfrank
Eileen & Edgar Koerner
Caren & Barry Roseman
David & Carolyn Belt
Morton & Judith Grosz
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Lesch
Dr. Andrew Ricci, Jr. &
Erzsebet & Donald Black
Carol Camper & John Hartje
Kim & Judy Maxwell
Botelle School PTO
Robert Helfand
Mr. & Mrs. James R. Miller
Mary & Walter Simons
Drs. Lawrence & Maria Briggs
Dr. Suzanne M. Hertel
Ingrid & Michael Morley
Linda B. Sonnenblick
Elizabeth & Blake Cabot
Jim & Leni Herzog
Richard & Lois Pace
Graham Taylor
Dennis & Pamela Collins
Anita Holmes
Charitable and Cultural Fund Alex & Patricia Vance
Louise Ducas
Daphne Hurford & Sandy Padwe
of the Jewish Communal Fund Betsy Vandeventer
Dalton & Roshanak Dwyer
David Hurvitz & Martha Klein
J. & T. Papachristou
Abby N. Wells
Susan A. & Jon Eisenhandler
Colta & Gary Ives
Charles Perrow &
Sally & William Charitable Fund
Gil Eisner & Kate Wenner
Paul E. Jagger
Hon. Bonnie & Clifford Eisler
Michael & Doreen Kelly
Ned & Karen DiYanni Peterson
Anonymous
John & Denise Buchanan
Marcia & Peter Chesler
Raynard & Pierce, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Anderson
Bernard & Awilda Buchholz
Mr. & Mrs. Starling W. Childs, III
Claudia & Eliot Feldman
Caroline & Vincent Andrus
Cynthia & Burton Budick
Peter N. Coffeen
George K. Fenn, Jr.
Joanna Aversa
Francesca Turchiano &
Sara & Lewis G. Cole
Susan Fish & Robert Richardson
Ivan Backer
Dennis & Pamela Collins
Mary Kay & Woody Flowers
Bank of America
Mr. & Mrs. David Burgin
Beth & Patrick Crossman
Judith Friedlander in memory of
Francis Baudry, MD
Karen Burlingame &
Joe & Phyllis Crowley
Barbara & Malcolm Bayliss
Jeffrey P. Cunard
John & Suzanne Funchion
David & Carolyn Belt
Ralph C. Burr &
Andrew G. De Rocco
John J. Gaffney
Mr. & Mrs. Warren Bender
Allan Dean & Julie Shapiro
Lloyd Garrison
Jonathan & Anne Marie Berger
Laura & Wheaton Byers
Donald K. Deitch
Kerry Garside
Donald A. Bickford
Steven Callahan &
Joseph S. Dobrowolski
John Gillespie
Gayle H. Blakeslee
Tony Dobrowolski
Ellen D. Glass, M.D.
Mr. & Mrs. Edward H. Boehner
Jill Campbell &
Jerald & Madelon Grobman
Elizabeth Borden
Wes & Joan Boyd
Jane & Oscar Chase
Judith & Paul Dorphley
Molly Butler Hart &
Everett & Sally Briggs
Ted & Victory Chase
Bob & Eiko Engling
Jacqueline Ann Muschiano
Barbara Wareck
CONTRIBUTORS
Bob Bumcrot
Anders Bolang Andrew E. Cushing
Randall Dwenger Forrester Hammer
in honor of Joseph & Martha Dobrowolski
Erwin Fleissner
Jim & Lois Harris Michael D. Griffin
Festival Contributors
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F E S T IVA L
CONTRIBUTOrS
C ont i nued
CONTRIBUTORS Rev. Mary N. Hawkes
Roz & Vic Leviatin
Jill Pellett Levine,
Ethel Silver Sorokin,
Peter S. Heller
Lincoln Financial Matching Gifts
Dr. Suzanne M. Hertel
Gerald & Selma Lotenberg
Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Perkins
Chris & Frank Silvestri
Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Hess
Lenore Mand
Mrs. Barbara J. Perkins
Rita & Harvey Simon
Sarah & Dan Hincks
Roberta & Steve Margolis
Vivian Perlis
Robert H. & Sharon Smith
Peter Ermacora &
Leta Marks
Florence D. Persons
Dr. J.W. Streett
Mary Ann McGourty
Eileen E. Reed &
Gretchen & Richard Swibold
Daphne Hurford & Sandy Padwe
Ronnie & Jerry McNamara
Maija Lutz & Peter Tassia
Arthur & Meredith Hurst
Zdenek & Zuzana Meistrick
Edward Potter
Linda & William Terry
Elaine & Jon Hyman
Mrs. Gwen E. Melvin
Anitra M. Powers
Nicholas & Sally Thacher
Loftus & Charbra Jestin
Merck Partnership for Giving
Christopher & Elizabeth Reinhart
Alyson & Tony Thomson
Ted & Nancy Johnson
Alan & Cecily Mermann
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Restler
Bill Tilles
Mr. & Mrs. Abraham Kaufman
Mr. & Mrs. James R. Miller
Belle K. Ribicoff
Richard & Sandra Tombaugh
Holly & Roger Ketron
Robert M. & Andrea
Naomi Rosenblum
Shelley Harms & David Torrey
King, King & Associates, CPAs
Frederick Russell
Rosanna Trestman
Larry S. King
Jeanne & Jim Moye
Tom Schactman & Harriet Shelare
Mr. & Mrs. Courtland W. Troutman
Marilyn & Jay Koslow
Norman R. Nelson
Anthony & Helen Scoville
Sandra & David Van Buren
Roberta & Larry Krakoff
Norfolk Artists & Friends
Dee & Stan Shapiro
Peter & Edwina Vosburgh
Dr. & Mrs. Robert Lapkin
Diane L. Northrop
Jacqueline Silver &
Nancy H. Wadelton
Evelyn & Marcel Laufer
Kevin M. O'Connor
Beatrice & Edgar Wolf
Carlene & Henry Laughlin
Ruthann Olsson
Sylvia Silver,
Peter & Suzanna Lengyel
David Owen & Anne Batterson
84
Evan G. Hughes
Festival Contributors
Seigerman Milstein
in memory of Jesse Levine
C.A. Polnitsky, M.D.
Philip Sapienza in honor of David Hurvitz
in honor of David Hurvitz
Mrs. Jeppy Yarensky
Dinner & A Show Norfolk Festival Style! Bistro Style! Dine in at the award-winning Infinity Bistro
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Over 200 concerts every year, most of them free and open to the public, many streaming live online! From early music to new music, from opera to jazz, featuring Norfolk’s favorite performers in chamber music, solo recitals, opera, orchestra, and countless other concerts.
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oneppo chamber music series
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horowitz piano series
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collection of musical instruments Period performances from acclaimed visiting artists in the intimate space of Yale’s unparalleled Collection
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Opera at the Shubert Theatre, plus Opera Scenes, Liederabend, and springtime one-acts
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philharmonia orchestra of yale One of America’s foremost music school ensembles
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Performances from Yale’s distinguished faculty, including Peter Frankl, Janna Baty, Wendy Sharp, Ole Akahoshi, and many more
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