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presents
PAUL TAYLOR
DANCE COMPANY
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2020 | 7:30 P.M. Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Sponsored by
UF HEALTH
PAUL TAYLOR DANCE FOUNDATION in association with
Paul Taylor Dance Foundation UNIVERSITY OF in FLORIDA association PERFORMING with
ARTS
University of Florida, Performing Arts presents Presents
ERAN BUGGE
MCGINLEY GEORGE SMALLWOOD ERAN BUGGE MICHAEL MICHAELAPUZZO APUZZO HEATHER HEATHER MCGINLEY GEORGE SMALLWOOD
CHRISTINA LYNCH MARKHAM KRISTIN DRAUCKERLEE DUVENECK LEE DUVENECK CHRISTINA LYNCH MARKHAMMADELYN MADELYNHO HO KRISTIN DRAUCKER
ALEX CLAYTON DEVON DEVONLOUIS LOUIS JOHN AMBROSE ALEX CLAYTON JOHNHARNAGE HARNAGE MARIA MARIA AMBROSE BORRES JADA JADAPEARMAN PEARMAN SHAWN DICKERSON LISALISA BORRES SHAWNLESNIAK LESNIAK ADAM ADAM DICKERSON Paul Taylor Dance Foundation in association with
University of Florida, Performing Arts
Presents Founding Artistic Director
ERAN BUGGE
Founding Director PAULArtistic TAYLOR PAUL TAYLOR Artistic Director Artistic Director MICHAEL MICHAEL NOVAK NOVAK
MICHAEL APUZZO
CHRISTINA LYNCH MARKHAM ALEX CLAYTON LISA BORRES
HEATHER MCGINLEY
GEORGE SMALLWOOD
MADELYN HO KRISTIN DRAUCKER Rehearsal Directors
Rehearsal Directors DEVON LOUIS JOHN HARNAGE
BETTIE BETTIE DE DE JONG JONG SHAWN LESNIAK ANDY LEBEAU LEBEAU ANDY
JADA PEARMAN
LEE DUVENECK
MARIA AMBROSE ADAM DICKERSON
Founding Artistic Director Set and Costume Designers Principal Lighting Designers Principal Principal Lighting Designers PAUL TAYLOR Principal Set & Costume Designers JENNIFER TIPTON SANTO LOQUASTO JENNIFER TIPTON SANTO LOQUASTO Artistic Director JAMES F. INGALLS WILLIAM IVEY LONG MICHAEL NOVAK
JAMES F. INGALLS
WILLIAM IVEY LONG
Rehearsal Directors BETTIE DE JONG Executive Director ANDY LEBEAU
Executive Director
JOHN Principal Lighting Designers JENNIFER TIPTON JAMES F. INGALLS
JOHN TOMLINSON TOMLINSON Principal Set & Costume Designers SANTO LOQUASTO WILLIAM IVEY LONG
Major byThe TheSHS SHSFoundation. Foundation. Majorfunding fundingprovided provided by Executive Director
JOHN TOMLINSON Support alsoSupport provided byprovided public funds from the from Newthe York City Department of Cultural Affairs also by public funds New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership withCouncil; the City and Council; and the New YorkCouncil State Council onArts the Arts in partnership with the City the New York State on the with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. funding provided by The SHS and Foundation. with the support of GovernorMajor Andrew M. Cuomo the New York State Legislature. Support also provided by public funds from the New York City Department Additional support provided of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council;by andShubert the New YorkFoundation. State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Additional support provided by Shubert Foundation.
National supported part bysupport an award award the National Endowment for the Additional providedfrom by Shubert Foundation. National tourtour supported ininpart by an from the National Endowment forArts. the Arts. National tour supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
POLARIS
PROGRAM POLARIS Music specially composed by Donald York Choreography by Paul Taylor Set and Costumes by Alex Katz Lighting by Jennifer Tipton (First performed in 1976)
Eran Bugge Michael Apuzzo George Smallwood Christina Lynch Markham Madelyn Ho Kristin Draucker John Harnage Maria Ambrose Jada Pearman Shawn Lesniak The choreography for Part II is an exact repeat of Part I. The only difference is the change of cast, music and lighting. An opportunity is offered to observe the multiple effects that music, lighting, and individual interpretations by the performers have on a single dance.
PART I 1....................................................................................... Kristin Draucker, John Harnage Maria Ambrose, Jada Pearman, Shawn Lesniak 2..............................................................................................................................Ms. Ambrose 3....................................................................................................................................... full cast I 4....................................................................................................Ms. Pearman, Mr. Lesniak 5.............................................................................................................................. Ms. Draucker 6....................................................................................................................................... full cast I PART II 1............................................................................................ Eran Bugge, Michael Apuzzo George Smallwood, Christina Lynch Markham, Madelyn Ho 2............................................................................................................... Ms. Lynch Markham 3...................................................................................................................................... full cast II 4......................................................................................................... Ms. Ho, Mr. Smallwood 5....................................................................................................................................Ms. Bugge 6...................................................................................................................................... full cast II
Original production made possible in part by contributions from the National Endowment for the Arts; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; a commission from the American Dance Festival; and the Friends of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Preservation made possible by contributions to the Paul Taylor Repertory Preservation Project with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
———————— INTERMISSION
COMPANY B Songs sung by the Andrews Sisters (The songs express typical sentiments of Americans during World War II)
Choreography by Paul Taylor Costumes by Santo Loquasto Lighting by Jennifer Tipton (First performed in 1991)
Eran Bugge Michael Apuzzo Heather McGinley Christina Lynch Markham Madelyn Ho Kristin Draucker Lee Duveneck Alex Clayton Devon Louis John Harnage Lisa Borres Jada Pearman Adam Dickerson
Bei Mir Bist du Schön.............................................................................................full cast Pennsylvania Polka...............................................Ms. Draucker and Mr. Dickerson Tico-Tico................................................................................................................. Mr. Clayton Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!............................Mr. Duveneck with cast women I Can Dream, Can’t I?................................................................... Ms. Lynch Markham Joseph! Joseph!..................................................................Mss. Ho, Borres, Pearman Messrs. Louis, Duveneck, Dickerson Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (of Company B)................................... Mr. Harnage Rum and Coca-Cola......................................................... Ms. Bugge with cast men There Will Never Be Another You................... Ms. McGinley and Mr. Apuzzo Bei Mir Bist du Schön.............................................................................................full cast
Commissioned by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Wallace Foundation and The Brown Foundation. Produced in cooperation with Houston Ballet and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Creation of this dance made possible with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Preservation made possible by contributions to the Paul Taylor Repertory Preservation Project with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
———————— INTERMISSION
ESPLANADE Music by Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Concerto in E Major, Double Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor (Largo and Allegro)
Choreography by Paul Taylor Costumes by John Rawlings Lighting by Jennifer Tipton (First performed in 1975)
Eran Bugge Michael Apuzzo Heather McGinley George Smallwood Christina Lynch Markham Madelyn Ho Kristin Draucker Alex Clayton Maria Ambrose
Original production made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. Revival made possible by a contribution from Elise Jaffe and Jeffrey Brown. Preservation made possible by contributions to the Paul Taylor Repertory Preservation Project with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Prospect Hill Foundation, and Charles F. and Theresa M. Stone.
———————— The taking of photographs and the use of recording devices are strictly prohibited. Program and casting are subject to change. Latecomers will be seated only during intermissions. Please silence all mobile devices during the performance.
PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY Paul Taylor, one of the most accomplished artists this nation has ever produced, helped shape and define America’s homegrown art of modern dance from the earliest days of his career as a choreographer in 1954 until his death in 2018. Having performed with Martha Graham’s company for several years, Mr. Taylor uniquely bridged the legendary founders of modern dance—Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Doris Humphrey, and Ms. Graham—and the dance makers of the 21st century with whom he later worked. Through his initiative at Lincoln Center begun in 2015, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, he presented great modern works of the past and outstanding works by today’s leading choreographers alongside his own vast repertoire. He also commissioned the next generation of dance makers to work with his renowned company, thereby helping to ensure the future of the art form. Mr. Taylor continued to win public and critical acclaim for the vibrancy, relevance, and power of his dances into his 80s, offering cogent observations on life’s complexities while tackling some of society’s thorniest issues. While he often propelled his dancers through space for the sheer beauty of it, he more frequently used them to comment on such profound issues as war, piety, spirituality, sexuality, morality, and mortality. If, as George Balanchine said, there are no mothers-in-law in ballet, there are certainly dysfunctional families, disillusioned idealists, imperfect religious leaders, angels, and insects in Mr. Taylor’s dances. His repertoire of 147 works covers a breathtaking range of topics, but recurring themes include the natural world and man’s place within it, love and sexuality in all gender combinations, and iconic moments in American history. His poignant looks at soldiers, those who send them into battle, and those they leave behind prompted The New York Times to hail him as “among the great war poets”—high praise indeed for an artist in a wordless medium. While some of his dances have been termed “dark” and others “light,” the majority of his works are dualistic, mixing elements of both extremes. And while his work was largely iconoclastic, he also made some of the most purely romantic, most astonishingly athletic, and downright funniest dances ever put on stage. Paul Taylor was born on July 29, 1930—exactly nine months after the stock market crash that led into the Great Depression—and grew up in and around Washington, D.C. He attended Syracuse University on a swimming scholarship in the late 1940s until he discovered dance through books at the university library, and then transferred to The Juilliard School. In 1954, he assembled a small company of dancers and began to choreograph. A commanding performer despite his late start in dance, he joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1955 for the first of seven seasons as soloist while continuing to choreograph on his own troupe. In 1959, he was invited to be a guest artist with New York City Ballet, where Balanchine created the Episodes solo for him. Mr. Taylor first gained notoriety as a dance maker in 1957 with Seven New Dances; its study in non-movement famously earned it a blank newspaper
review, and Graham subsequently dubbed him the “naughty boy” of dance. In 1962, with his first major success—the sunny Aureole—he set his trailblazing modern movement not to contemporary music but to baroque works composed two centuries earlier, and then went to the opposite extreme a year later with a view of purgatory in Scudorama, using a commissioned, modern score. He inflamed the establishment in 1965 by lampooning some of America’s most treasured icons in From Sea To Shining Sea, and created more controversy in 1970 by putting incest and spousal abuse center stage in Big Bertha. After retiring as a performer in 1974, Mr. Taylor turned exclusively to choreography, resulting in a flood of masterful creativity. The exuberant Esplanade (1975), one of several Taylor dances set to music by Bach, was dubbed an instant classic, and has come to be regarded as among the greatest dances ever made. In Cloven Kingdom (1976), Mr. Taylor examined the primitive nature that lurks just below man’s veneer of sophistication and gentility. With Arden Court (1981), he depicted relationships both platonic and romantic. He looked at intimacy among men at war in Sunset (1983), pictured Armageddon in Last Look (1985), and peered unflinchingly at religious hypocrisy and marital rape in Speaking In Tongues (1988). In Company B (1991), he used popular songs of the 1940s to juxtapose the high spirits of a nation emerging from the Great Depression with the sacrifices Americans made during World War II. In Eventide (1997), he portrayed the budding and fading of a romance. In The Word (1998), he railed against religious zealotry and blind conformity to authority. In the first decade of the new millennium, he poked fun at feminism in Dream Girls (2002), condemned American imperialism in Banquet of Vultures (2005), and stared death square in the face in the Walt Whitman-inspired Beloved Renegade (2008). Brief Encounters (2009) examined the inability of many people in contemporary society to form meaningful and lasting relationships. In this decade, he turned a frightening short story into a searing drama in To Make Crops Grow, and he compared the mating rituals of the insect world to that of humans in the comedic Gossamer Gallants. Mr. Taylor’s final work, Concertiana, made when he was 87, premiered at Lincoln Center in 2018. Hailed for uncommon musicality and catholic taste, Mr. Taylor set movement to music so memorably that for many people it is impossible to hear certain orchestral works and popular songs and not think of his dances. He set works to an eclectic mix that includes medieval masses; Renaissance dances; baroque concertos; classical warhorses; and scores by Debussy, Cage, Feldman, Ligeti, and Pärt; Ragtime; Tango; Tin Pan Alley and barbershop quartets; Harry Nilsson; The Mamas and The Papas; and Burl Ives; telephone time announcements; loon calls; and laughter. Mr. Taylor influenced dozens of men and women who have gone on to choreograph. Many formed their own troupes, while others have gone on to become respected teachers at colleges and universities. He also worked closely with such outstanding artists as James F. Ingalls, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Ellsworth Kelly, William Ivey Long, Santo Loquasto, Gene Moore, Tharon Musser, Robert Rauschenberg, John Rawlings, Thomas Skelton, and
Jennifer Tipton. Mr. Taylor’s dances are performed by the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the six-member Taylor 2 Dance Company (begun in 1993), and companies throughout the world, including the Royal Danish Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. As the subject of the documentary films Dancemaker and Creative Domain, as well as the author of the autobiography Private Domain and Wall Street Journal essay Why I Make Dances, Mr. Taylor shed light on the mysteries of the creative process as few artists have. Dancemaker, which received an Oscar nomination in 1999, was hailed by Time magazine as “perhaps the best dance documentary ever,” while Private Domain, originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, was nominated by the National Book Critics Circle as the most distinguished biography of 1987. A collection of Mr. Taylor’s essays, Facts and Fancies, was published by Delphinium in 2013. Mr. Taylor received nearly every important honor given to artists in the United States. In 1992, he was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and received an Emmy Award for Speaking in Tongues, produced by WNET/New York the previous year. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 1993. In 1995, he received the Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts and was named one of 50 prominent Americans honored in recognition of their outstanding achievement by the Library of Congress’s Office of Scholarly Programs. He is the recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships, as well as honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from California Institute of the Arts, Connecticut College, Duke University, The Juilliard School, Skidmore College, the State University of New York at Purchase, Syracuse University, and Adelphi University. Awards for lifetime achievement include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship—often called the “genius award”—and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award. Other awards include the New York State Governor’s Arts Award and the New York City Mayor’s Award of Honor for Art and Culture. In 1989, Mr. Taylor was elected one of 10 honorary members of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. After being elected to knighthood by the French government as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1969 and then elevated to Officier in 1984 and Commandeur in 1990, Mr. Taylor was awarded France’s highest honor, the Légion d’Honneur, in 2000 for exceptional contributions to French culture. Mr. Taylor died in Manhattan on August 29, 2018, leaving an extraordinary legacy of creativity and vision not only to American modern dance but to the performing arts the world over.
MICHAEL NOVAK Michael Novak became only the second artistic director in the history of the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation in September 2018, upon the death of founding Artistic Director Paul Taylor the previous month. Mr. Novak was a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 2010-2019. Raised in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, Mr. Novak began studying dance at age 10. At 12 he developed a severe speech impediment that required intensive therapy. Dance became a liberating and vital force for self-expression. “I wanted nothing more than to achieve in dancing that sense of effortlessness and grace that were so difficult for me to find while speaking aloud,” he said. “With dancing, there were no limits to what I could express.” In 2001, Mr. Novak was offered a Presidential Scholarship to attend The University of the Arts in Philadelphia to pursue training in jazz and ballet. The following year, he undertook an apprenticeship at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet Society, where he remained until 2004. Mr. Novak was admitted to Columbia University’s School of General Studies, where he was awarded scholarships for academic excellence. He became a member of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, the university’s critically acclaimed resident company, and was named artistic associate responsible for advising on the curation of resident choreographers and directing the group’s branding and promotion. At Columbia, Mr. Novak became immersed in the study of dance history, which ignited his passionate devotion to modern dance. He developed a keen interest in the work of François Delsarte, the 19th century French movement theorist who codified the system linking emotion and gesture that would inspire the first generation of American modern dancers. A highlight of his studies at Columbia was performing Mr. Taylor’s solo in Aureole, which led him to embrace the Taylor repertoire. In 2008, Mr. Novak graduated magna cum laude from Columbia, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In a 2009 program celebrating Serge Diaghilev at Columbia’s Miller Theatre, Mr. Novak embodied Vaslav Nijinsky’s role in L’Après-midi d’un Faune with an authenticity that brought him to the attention of dance critics and scholars. He has since performed works by Bill T. Jones and Stephen Petronio and danced with Gibney Dance and the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company. He has also studied at Springboard Danse Montreal under Alexandra Wells and Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie. Mr. Novak’s Paul Taylor Dance Company debut in the 2010-11 season earned him a nomination for the Clive Barnes Foundation Dance Award. During his nine-year career he danced 57 roles in 50 Taylor dances, 13 of which were made on him, and created roles for five of the Taylor Company Commission choreographers. In announcing Mr. Novak’s appointment as artistic director designate in March 2018, Mr. Taylor said, “Michael has mastered our repertory and steeped himself in dance history. He understands the need to nurture the past, present and future of modern dance. I look forward to working with him and preparing him to assume artistic leadership of my company.”
“I am determined to further Paul Taylor’s vision,” Mr. Novak said upon assuming the role of artistic director, “and to bring his gems to every part of the globe… to honor past dance makers and encourage future artists… and to make sure modern dance remains a transformative force for good in our lives long into the future.”
PAUL TAYLOR AMERICAN MODERN DANCE As a pioneering dance maker, Paul Taylor blazed new trails throughout his 64year career. Remarkably, he was in his 80s when he made two decisions that changed the future of his company and the art form he helped create. The first of these occurred in 2012 when Mr. Taylor moved the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s annual New York City season to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, one of the world’s leading cultural venues. The Taylor Company thereby became the first modern dance troupe to call Lincoln Center home, and attracted larger audiences than ever before. In 2015, to ensure that both the Taylor legacy and the art of modern dance itself would survive well into the future, Mr. Taylor established Paul Taylor American Modern Dance. In addition to presenting the Paul Taylor Dance Company in dances from Mr. Taylor’s collection of nearly 150 works, PTAMD presents great modern dance works by choreographers of the past, performed by contemporary masters of those styles. Since these dances have seldom if ever been performed at Lincoln Center, vast new audiences have a rare opportunity to experience the formative works of modern dance. PTAMD also brings to Lincoln Center outstanding works by leading choreographers of our own time. Thus far, PTAMD has presented Sara Mearns in Dances of Isadora, the Limón Dance Company in Doris Humphrey’s Passacaglia from 1938, the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels (1948), Lyon Opera Ballet in Merce Cunningham’s Summerspace (1958), Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in Donald McKayle’s Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder (1959), Trisha Brown Dance Company in Ms. Brown’s Set and Reset (1983), and Shen Wei Dance Arts in Shen Wei’s Rite of Spring (2004). PTAMD also provides choreographers with the invaluable opportunity to make dances on the Paul Taylor Dance Company in a nurturing atmosphere through the Taylor Company Commissions program. Those dances are then performed at Lincoln Center, and some go on national tour with the company. Commission recipients thus far include Larry Keigwin, who created Rush Hour; Doug Elkins (The Weight of Smoke); Lila York (Continuum); Bryan Arias (The Beauty in Gray); and Doug Varone (Half Life). Kyle Abraham received a Taylor Company Commission for 2018-19, and Margie Gillis and Pam Tanowitz were the season’s Guest Resident Choreographers. Since the marriage of live music and dance creates a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience, another major aspect of PTAMD at Lincoln Center calls for music to be performed live by Orchestra of St. Luke’s and guest artists whenever so
intended by the choreographer. (Exceptions to this include some magnificent Taylor works that require historic recordings, while some other choreographers use recorded pastiches.) Donald York, Mr. Taylor’s longtime music collaborator and composer, has returned to the company as music director, and divides conducting responsibilities with distinguished guest artists. Paul Taylor American Modern Dance has done more than breathe new life into a 65-year-old company. It has helped reinvigorate an art form.
PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY “The American spirit soars whenever Taylor’s dancers dance.” — San Francisco Chronicle Dance maker Paul Taylor first presented his choreography with five other dancers in Manhattan on May 30, 1954. That modest performance marked the beginning of 64 years of unrivaled creativity, and in the decades that followed, Mr. Taylor became a cultural icon and one of American history’s most celebrated artists, hailed as part of the pantheon that created American modern dance. The Paul Taylor Dance Company has traveled the globe many times over, bringing Mr. Taylor’s ever-burgeoning repertoire to theaters and venues of every size and description in cultural capitals, on college campuses, and in rural communities, and often to places modern dance had never been seen before. The Taylor Company has performed in more than 500 cities in 64 countries, representing the United States at arts festivals in more than 40 countries and touring extensively under the aegis of the U.S. Department of State. In 1997, the company toured throughout India in celebration of that nation’s 50th Anniversary. Its 1999 engagement in Chile was named the Best International Dance Event of 1999 by the country’s Art Critics’ Circle. In the summer of 2001, the company toured in the People’s Republic of China and performed in six cities—four of which had never seen American modern dance before—and has since returned on four separate multi-week tours. In the spring of 2003, the company mounted an award-winning four-week, seven-city tour of the United Kingdom. The company regularly tours throughout North America, South America, Asia, and Europe. While continuing to garner international acclaim, the Paul Taylor Dance Company performs more than half of each touring season in cities throughout the United States. In celebration of the Company’s 50th Anniversary and 50 years of creativity, the Taylor Foundation presented Mr. Taylor’s works in all 50 states between March 2004 and November 2005. That tour underscored the Taylor Company’s historic role as one of the early touring companies of American modern dance. Beginning with its first television appearance for the Dance in America series in 1978, the Paul Taylor Dance Company has appeared on PBS in 10 different programs, including the 1992 Emmy Award-winning Speaking in Tongues and The Wrecker’s Ball, which included Company B, Funny Papers, and A Field of
Grass, andwhich was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1997. In 1999, the PBS American Masters series aired Dancemaker, the Academy Award-nominated documentary about Mr. Taylor and his company. In 2013, PBS aired Paul Taylor Dance Company in Paris, featuring Brandenburgs and Beloved Renegade. The 2014 documentary Paul Taylor Creative Domain won critical and public acclaim for its revelation of Mr. Taylor’s creative process, as it followed the famously private choreographer and his company through the entire process of creating a new work from initial concept to opening night. www.ptamd.org
THE COMPANY BETTIE DE JONG (Rehearsal Director) was born in Sumatra, Indonesia, and in 1946 moved to Holland, where she continued her early training in dance and mime. Her first professional engagement was with the Netherlands Pantomime Company. After coming to New York City to study at the Martha Graham School, she performed with the Graham Company, the Pearl Lang Company, John Butler and Lucas Hoving, and was seen on CBS-TV with Rudolf Nureyev in a duet choreographed by Paul Taylor. Ms. de Jong joined the Taylor Company in 1962. Noted for her strong stage presence and long line, she was Mr. Taylor’s favorite dancing partner and, as rehearsal director, was his surrogate in the studio and on tour for more than 40 years. In 2019, she received the 2019 Balasarawati/Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching Award from American Dance Festival for her substantial contributions to the sustainment of the Taylor legacy.
ANDY LEBEAU (Rehearsal Director) was raised in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music with a B.F.A. in dance in 1993. He then moved to New York City to be one of the original members of Taylor 2. Two years later, he was invited to join Paul Taylor Dance Company. After retiring from the stage in 2005, Andy served as director of The Taylor School, then director of Taylor 2, company manager, and rehearsal assistant to Mr. Taylor. He works closely with Mr. Novak and Ms. Bettie de Jong.
ERAN BUGGE is from Oviedo, Florida, where she began her dance training at the Orlando Ballet School, and went on to study at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford under the direction of Peggy Lyman, graduating summa cum laude with a B.F.A. in ballet pedagogy in 2005. She attended The Taylor School and the 2004 and 2005 Taylor Summer Intensives. Ms. Bugge has performed in works by Amy Marshall, Katie Stevinson-Nollet, and Jean GrandMaître. She was also a member of Full Force Dance Theatre and the Adam Miller Dance Project. In 2012, Ms. Bugge was the recipient of the Hartt Alumni Award. In 2018, she danced in the feature film The Chaperone, choreographed by John Carrafa. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in fall 2005.
MICHAEL APUZZO grew up in North Haven, Connecticut. He studied economics and theater at Yale University, graduating magna cum laude in 2005.
Growing up in musical theater, he began his formal dance training in high school, then danced and choreographed in undergraduate companies. After being dance captain for an original production of Miss Julie choreographed by Peter Pucci, Mr. Apuzzo debuted professionally at the Yale Repertory Theater. He has since performed in numerous musicals at equity theaters across the country and in the national tour of Twyla Tharp’s Broadway show, Movin’ Out. He is a seconddegree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, author of Flying Through Yellow, a certified personal trainer, and co-producer of the new Hamptons charity event Dancers For Good. He joined Paul Taylor Dance Company in fall 2008.
HEATHER McGINLEY grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Through her early training with Lisbeth Brown, she attained a diploma in the Cecchetti method of classical ballet. She graduated from Butler University with a B.F.A. in dance performance in 2005. She was a member of Graham II for two seasons and went on to perform with the Martha Graham Dance Company from 2008 to 2011. With the Graham Company, she toured Italy in the original cast of Antonio Calenda’s Looking for Picasso, a dance and theater piece featuring restaged classic Graham ballets. In 2018, she danced in the feature film The Chaperone, choreographed by John Carrafa. She participated in the 2010 Intensives at The Taylor School, and joined Paul Taylor Dance Company in spring 2011.
GEORGE SMALLWOOD is a native of New Orleans. He earned a B.F.A. degree in dance performance and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an international focus from Southern Methodist University. He has been a member of the Parsons Dance Company, where he performed the signature solo Caught, and of the Martha Graham and Lar Lubovitch companies. As co-founder of Battleworks he performed, taught master classes and re-staged Robert Battle’s works across the country. He has been in regional productions of Spamalot, Chicago, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, Crazy for You, The Music Man, White Christmas, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and 42nd Street. He joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company temporarily in spring 2011 and rejoined in summer 2012.
CHRISTINA LYNCH MARKHAM grew up in Westbury, New York, and began dancing with Lori Shaw, then continued at Holy Trinity High School under the direction of Catherine Murphy. She attended Hofstra University on scholarship and performed works by Cathy McCann, Karla Wolfangle, Rachel List, Robin Becker, and Lance Westergard. During college she also trained at The Taylor School, and attended the company’s Summer Intensive Program. After graduating summa cum laude in 2004, she danced with the Amy Marshall Dance Company, Stacie Nelson, and The Dance Theater Company. She joined Taylor 2 in summer 2008, and made her debut with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in summer 2013.
MADELYN HO, M.D., is from Sugar Land, Texas, where she began dancing at Kinard Dance School and later trained with BalletForte under the artistic direction of Michael Banigan. She graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. in chemical and physical biology. While there, she was awarded the Artist Development Fellowship and attended the Taylor School Winter Intensive. She
was a member of Taylor 2 from 2008 to 2012 and left to attend Harvard Medical School, during which time she was a guest artist for Alison Cook Beatty Dance and performed with Urbanity Dance. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in spring 2015 and completed her Doctorate of Medicine in May 2018.
KRISTIN DRAUCKER was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in York, Pennsylvania. She began her training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under Marcia Dale Weary. In 2005, she was awarded a fellowship to study Horton and Graham at The Ailey School. Since moving to New York City, she has danced with Michael Mao Dance, ArmitageGone!Dance, New Chamber Ballet, and at Bard’s Summerscape in Les Huguenots. In 2009, she joined the 50th Anniversary International Tour of West Side Story and in 2010 performed in Tino Sehgal’s KISS at The Guggenheim Museum. Ms. Draucker began creating dances in 2014 and has shown her work in New York, Philadelphia, and as part of the LaMAMA Umbria Festival in Spoleto, Italy. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in winter 2017.
LEE DUVENECK grew up in Arlington, Texas, where he trained with Anne Oswalt and Gwen Price. In 2010, he earned his B.F.A. in dance performance from Southern Methodist University, where he studied with Taylor alumna Ruth Andrien and jazz dance icon Danny Buraczeski. While in New York, he has danced for Annmaria Mazzini, Mari Meade, and Jessica Gaynor. Mr. Duveneck joined Taylor 2 in 2012, and joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in summer 2017.
ALEX CLAYTON grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. He received his B.F.A. in dance with a minor in visual arts from Stephens College in 2013. He was a Graham 2 company member from 2014 to 2015. He also performed with companies including 10 Hairy Legs, Abarukas Project, Curet Performance Project, and Performa15. He served as rehearsal assistant for Paul Taylor American Modern Dance Taylor Company Commissions choreographer Lila York when she created Continuum in 2016. He joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in summer 2017.
DEVON LOUIS, who hails from Washington, D.C., is a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He attended the Ailey School as a recipient of the Oprah Winfrey Scholarship, and furthered his dance education at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival under the direction of Milton Myers. Mr. Louis has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Matthew Rushing, Christopher Huggins, Nathan Trice, Ronald K. Brown, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. He has also performed as a member of Ballet Hispanico’s junior company, BHdos; The Metropolitan Opera; and Nimbus Dance Works. Mr. Louis joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in summer 2018.
JOHN HARNAGE, a native of Miami, Florida, studied dance at the Miami City Ballet School and New World School of the Arts. He was a Modern Dance Finalist in the 2010 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts competition. In 2014, he graduated from The Juilliard School, where he performed works by Jose Limón, Alexander Ekman, Pina Bausch, and Lar Lubovitch, among others. He then began working with Jessica Lang Dance, and
joined the company in 2015, performing and teaching around the world. He also performed as a principal dancer in Washington National Opera’s 2017 production of Aida at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Harnage joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in fall 2018.
MARIA AMBROSE, grew up in Meredith, New Hampshire, and began her dance training at age 4 under the direction of Sally Downs. She furthered her training with Edra Toth and performed with the Boston Dance Company. She attended George Mason University where she was awarded the Harriet Mattusch Special Recognition in Dance and graduated magna cum laude with a B.F.A. in dance performance in 2011. She has performed with Elisa Monte Dance, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, LEVYdance, AThomasProject, and Earl Mosley’s Diversity of Dance. In 2018, she traveled to China as an ambassador for Parsons Dance to teach dance to young musicians, and then to Japan as part of the Dance International Program. She began studying at The Taylor School in 2012, and joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in spring 2019.
LISA BORRES, a native of Staten Island, New York, is a graduate of LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. At the Hartt School of the University of Hartford, from which she graduated in 2011, she studied with Stephen Pick and Katie Stevenson-Nollet and danced in works by Martha Graham and Pascal Rioult. She participated in Summer Intensives at the Joffrey Ballet School, Martha Graham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Parsons Dance, and has taught dance at The Hartt School. Since 2012, Lisa has been part of the selection process for Ballet Tech, Eliot Feld’s tuition-free school that draws its students from the NYC public school system, and whose diversity reflects the full American spectrum. She has performed with Amy Marshall Dance Company, Elisa Monte Dance, DAMAGEdance, Lydia Johnson Dance, and LEVYdance. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in spring 2019.
JADA PEARMAN, began dancing at the Motion School of Dance in Hamilton, Bermuda, where she trained extensively in all styles of dance. In 2013, Jada attended The Grier School in Pennsylvania, as a pre-professional dancer under the direction of Jocelyn Hrzic. While at The Grier School, she worked with choreographers such as Jon Lehrer, Melissa Rector, Kiki Lucas, Phil Orsano, and many more. As a member of Grier Dance, she performed at the Palm Springs Choreography Festival, Steps on Broadway Choreography Festival, and Koresh Artists Showcase. She attended Summer Intensives including Alvin Ailey, Point Park, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Hubbard Street. In spring of 2019, she earned her B.F.A. from the University of Arizona, where she performed works by Martha Graham, Larry Keigwin, and others. She joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in summer 2019.
SHAWN LESNIAK, from New Haven, Connecticut, began dancing at the age of 7. For most of his youth, Shawn trained in various dance techniques such as ballet, jazz, modern, and tap, and he danced competitively for more than a decade. He continued his training at The Ailey School and Point Park University. He has toured both internationally and domestically as a member of Parsons
uth, Shawn trained in various dance techniques such as ballet, jazz, modern and tap, and he danced mpetitively for more than a decade. He continued his training at The Ailey School and Point Park iversity. He has toured internationally and domestically as aTrey member of Parsons Dance, and has Dance, and has both worked with choreographers such as McIntyre, Matthew rked with choreographers such as and TreyEmery McIntyre, Matthew Powell Emery Neenan, Matthew Powell, LeCrone. Mr.Neenan, LesniakMatthew joined the Paul and Taylor Crone.Dance Mr. Lesniak joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Winter 2019. Company in winter 2019.
ADAM DICKERSON , was in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and after DAM DICKERSON, was raised in raised Colorado Springs, Colorado, began his formal dance training afte graduating beganJazz his formal dance training the Colorado duating high schoolhigh withschool, the Colorado Dance Company under with the direction of Zetta Alderman Dance Company underatthe direction of Zetta andby Holly Jones. d HollyJazz Jones. He continued dancing Colorado College andAlderman was mentored Patrizia Herminjard d Debbie During Adam’s college career he performed by Anna Sokolow, Trisha Lai a HeMercer. continued dancing at Colorado College and was works mentored by Patrizia ended three consecutive SummerMercer. Intensives at theAdam’s Marthacollege Grahamcareer, Schoolhe of performed Contemporary Dance. I Herminjard and Debbie During 13, after graduating withSokolow a B.A. inand Studio Art,Lai, he moved to New three York City to dance with Graham 2, works by Anna Trisha and attended consecutive Summer manda Selwyn Dance Theatre, Amy Marshall Dance H.T. Chen & Dancers, Lisa Fagan Intensives at the Martha Graham School ofCompany, Contemporary Dance. In 2013, after nce Problems and Fooju Dance Collaborative, and he performed as a guest artist with Dark Circles graduating with a B.A. in studio art, he moved to New York City to dance with ntemporary Dance in Dallas, Texas. He joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Winter 2019. Graham 2, Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, Amy Marshall Dance Company, H.T. Chen & Dancers, Lisa Fagan Dance Problems, and Fooju Dance Collaborative, and he performed as a guest artist with Dark Circles Contemporary Dance in Dallas, Texas. He joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in winter 2019.
REI AKAZAWA SLOAN PEARSON
REI AKAZAWA
JOHNNY VORSTEG JESSICA FERRETTI
JOHNNY VORSTEG
JAKE DEIBERT QUINTON GUTHIER
JAKE DEIBERT
Mr. Taylor established Taylor 2 Dance Company in 1993 to ensure that his SLOAN PEARSON JESSICA FERRETTI QUINTON GUTHIER works could be seen by audiences all over the world regardless of economic considerations and the logistical limitations of non-traditional venues. He Taylor established Taylor 2 Dance Company in 1993 to ensure that his works could be see worked with longtime colleague Linda Hodes to create a company that could nces all over the world regardless of economic considerations and the logistical limitations of accommodate performance requests, teach classes, and provide community onal venues. He worked with longtime colleague Linda Hodes to create a company that outreach. With six dancers, Taylor 2 is the same size as Mr. Taylor’s original mmodate performance requests, teach classes, and provide community outreach. With six dan selecting for Taylor 2, Mr. Taylor chose dances that reveal r 2 is company. the same In size as Mr. repertoire Taylor’s original Company. In selecting repertoire for Taylor 2 the broad spectrum of his work, sometimes reworking the original version to original fit r chose dances that reveal the broad spectrum of his work, sometimes reworking the ve the smaller ensemble. Taylor 2’s engagements are flexible and are customized the smaller ensemble. Taylor 2’s engagements are flexible and are customized to meet the nee to meet the needs of each community. oftenand consist of master classes and community. They often consist of masterThey classes lecture/demonstrations in additio lecture/demonstrations in addition to performances that often take place in nonrmances that often take place in non-traditional venues as well as in theaters. Former Taylor d traditional venues as wellofasTaylor in theaters. Former Taylor dancer Cathy McCann McCann was named Director 2 in 2019. was named director of Taylor 2 in 2019.
Taylor style and repertoire classes are held for professional dancers throughout
r style and repertoire classes are held for professional dancers throughout the year, taught by fo year, taught by former and current Taylor Company members. The school urrent the Taylor Company members. The School offers summer and winter intensives for stu offers summer and winter intensives for students fromTaylor aroundstyle the and world around the world interested in a more in-depth study of Paul choreography, as interested in a more in-depth study of Paul Taylor style and choreography, as uth and adult classes. It has been directed by Taylor alumna Raegan Wood since 2013.
r style and repertoire classes are held for professional dancers throughout the year, taught by fo urrent Taylor Company members. The School offers summer and winter intensives for stu aroundwell the as world interested in classes. a more in-depth study of PaulbyTaylor and Raegan choreography, as youth and adult It has been directed Taylorstyle alumna uth andWood adult classes. It has been directed by Taylor alumna Raegan Wood since 2013. since 2013.
with TAYLORNEXT, the dynamic younggroup patrons of PaulAmerican Mo closerMove with closer TAYLORNEXT, the dynamic young patrons of group Paul Taylor Taylor American Modern Dance. As the future generation of PTAMD cultural TAYLORN e. As the future generation of PTAMD cultural philanthropists and arts-lovers, philanthropists and arts-lovers, TAYLORNEXT members play a crucial roleand in continuin bers play a crucial role in preserving the cherished masterworks of Paul Taylor preserving the cherished masterworks of Paul Taylor and continuing the legacy y of the organization. www.taylornext.org Facebook, Instagram: @taylornext of the organization.
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MERCHANDISE
able onMERCHANDISE DVD: Dancemaker, the Academy Award-nominated documentary about Paul Taylor, r Dance Company in Paris, featuring stage performances of Brandenburgs and Beloved Reneg Available on DVD: Dancemaker, the Academy Award-nominated documentary Paul Taylor Creative Domain, a behind-the-scenes documentary about Mr. Taylor’s enigm about Paul Taylor; Paul Taylor Dance Company in Paris, featuring stage ve process. Copies of Mr. Taylor’s acclaimed autobiography, Private Domain; and Paul T performances of Brandenburgs and Beloved Renegade; and Paul Taylor Creative e Company souvenir books, are also available. To order, call (212) 431-5562. Domain, a behind-the-scenes documentary about Mr. Taylor’s enigmatic creative process. Copies of Mr. Taylor’s acclaimed autobiography, Private Domain, as well The taking of photographs and the use of books, recording are strictly prohibited. as Paul Taylor Dance Company souvenir are devices also available. To order, call Program and casting are subject to change. (212) 431-5562.
Latecomers will be seated only during intermissions. Please silence all mobile devices during the performance.
presents
NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN Cello
NOREEN CASSIDYPOLERA Piano SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2020 | 2:00 P.M. & 7:30 P.M. Squitieri Studio Theatre
Sponsored by
WARREN FAMILY FOUNDATION
Narek Hakhnazaryan Cello
Noreen Cassidy-Polera Piano
———————— Program Seven Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Ludwig van Beethoven Liebe fühlen,” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Solveig’s Song from Peer Gynt
Edvard Grieg
Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, for Cello and Piano, Op. 3
Frederic Chopin
Après un rêve
Gabriel Fauré
arr. Pablo Casals
Elfantanz (Dance of the Elves), Op. 39
David Popper
———————— INTERMISSION The post intermission part of the program will differ in the 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. performances.
— 2:00 P.M. — Sonata for Solo Cello
George Crumb
New York Honk
Thomas Demenga
Theme from Schindler’s List (arr. for cello)
John Williams
Sonata for Cello Solo
Adam Khudoyan
Nocturne
Edvard Baghdasaryan
Impromptu
Alexander Arutyunian
— 7:30 P.M. — Cello Sonata
Edvard Grieg
———————— PROGRAM IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Program Notes Seven Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen,” from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) Ludwig van Beethoven Born December 16, 1770, in Bonn; died March 26, 1827, in Vienna Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) was performed for the first time in 1791 and became very popular. In 1796, Beethoven composed and published two sets of variations for cello and piano: the Twelve Variations on a theme from Handel, and Twelve Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder weibchen,” a popular tune from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Five years later, in 1801, Beethoven composed Seven Variations for the same pair of instruments on “Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen” (“In men who know the feeling of love”) in E flat Major, in which the theme also was taken from The Magic Flute. Seven Variations was published in 1802. Both of Beethoven’s sets of variations for cello and piano on themes from Mozart’s opera were early works intended for the salon, although the exact circumstances of Seven Variations’ composition are not known. The dedication indicates that it was a gift to Count Johann von Brown-Camus, described as “the first patron of my muse.” Emanuel Schikaneder, producer, librettist, and a member of the original Die Zauberflöte cast, was also an enthusiastic promoter. Beethoven’s idea to choose this source may have been his own, but it was more likely to have sprung from Schikaneder’s intense and somewhat misleading publicity campaign, in which he claimed that Die Zauberflöte had had many more performances than had ever actually taken place. Beethoven intended this set of variations for Jean-Louis Duport, the principal cellist at the Prussian court in Berlin. The work takes the melody of the duet of Pamina and Papageno in the first act of Mozart’s opera and metamorphoses it into music that is much more characteristic of Beethoven than it is of Mozart. The variation technique, used as a way of adding interest to repetitions of melody, was first used by composers who began to write extended instrumental solo pieces in the 16th century. In this form, a theme is followed by a series of variations each with the same or very similar structure. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven all wrote variation-movements in their extended works, but composed few separate sets of variations. Those they did write were more likely to be either light, entertaining compositions for amateurs or brilliant display pieces for virtuoso performers. By choosing Pamina and Papageno’s duet in praise of love, Beethoven was able to give the instruments a dialogue in which they could be equals most of the time, even though the piano is actually prominent a few times. The structure of the piece is straightforward and conventional, with the variations varying considerably in mood from spirited and joyful to sorrowful. Each variation is distinct with its own rhythmic and textural contour. The theme, Andantino, has
features of a dance, but the dance-like features all but disappear in the virtuosic figurations both instruments display. The original form of the duet, with each singer presenting the melody separately, then both singing together, is preserved in the variations. The first variation deals with the four-note opening motive, emphasizing the rhythm. The second is full of runs, and the third replete with much ornamentation. The middle variation turns to the minor mode and is more introspective. The last three are all written in different meters. The most lyrical variation, Adagio, is richly ornamented. It comes just before the cheerful and protracted finale, Allegro, where the theme returns. The last variation is followed by a lengthy coda, where without the restrictions of variation, the music has a more conventional thematic development.
Solveig’s Song from Peer Gynt Edvard Grieg Born June 15, 1843, in Bergen, Norway; died there September 4, 1907 Edvard Grieg, Norway’s most notable composer, composed a new kind of music, specifically Norwegian in character. With his new personal and national style, he created a huge repertoire of 180 Nordic songs following the work of his model, Halfdan Kjerulf, who first set to music the work of Norwegian poets and understood the importance of simple, unaffected, folk-type melodies. In 1875, Grieg completed music for Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, based on a Norwegian folktale. Peer Gynt is a man whose life is devoted to gratifying his own desires while escaping responsibilities; he eventually reaches salvation through the trust, hope, and love of a woman who waits for his return. The moving Solveig’s Song, gives voice to Solveig’s emotion. The tender piano introduction and postlude are not related to the song’s melody, and the section that sounds a bit like humming depicts Solveig’s return to spinning, with optimism and loyalty, as she comforts herself. This cello version of Solveig’s Song gives special emphasis to the tenderness of the work.
Introduction and Polonaise brillante, in C major, for Cello and Piano, Op. 3 Frederic Chopin Born February 22, 1810, in Zelazowa Wola, Poland; died October 17, 1849, in Paris Chopin composed this early piece while he was visiting the home of Prince Antonin Radziwill (1775 1833), a governor of the province of Poznan. Radziwill was a cellist, a singer, and a talented composer whose incidental music for Goethe’s Faust, Chopin said “shows genius that I should never have expected from a Governor General.” The Radziwill version of this Polonaise did not have the Introduction.
In November of 1829, Chopin wrote in a letter to a friend, “Your last letter reached me at [Prince] Radziwill’s. I was there a week and you cannot imagine how much I enjoyed it. I would have stayed there till they turned me out, but my work forced me to abandon that paradise. There were two Eves there, young princesses, charming, kind, musical creatures. While I was there, I wrote an Alla polacca [or Polonaise] with cello. It is nothing but glittering effects and is a brilliant drawing room, a salon piece suitable for ladies. I wanted something for Princess Wanda to learn. She is seventeen and pretty, and what a joy it was to place her little fingers on the keys.” [Abridged] The polonaise was originally a stately court dance or a royal ceremonial march that was introduced to Poland by a French king who sat on the Polish throne in the 16th century. In the 18th century, when the Saxon Germans were the kings of Poland, the polonaise became a popular dance in the West, but in the hands of the 19th century Polish composers, it became a musical symbol of their people’s struggle for independence from foreign rule. It evolved into an instrumental work completely independent of its dance origins as it proceeded in its development. Many composers besides Chopin wrote polonaises, among them Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Weber, Wagner, and Liszt, yet Chopin is the composer inseparably linked with the polonaise, as he is the one who idealized it as a kind of national epic. The polonaise usually appears in a moderate triple meter, characterized by its general lack of upbeats as well as its repeated rhythmic figures. By the time Chopin wrote his first polonaises, when he was only 7 years old, the form had acquired a general structure, one not especially Polish in reference. Later, when he was no longer in his native Poland, his mature polonaises became symbols of Polish nationalism for him and for his countrymen. In Paris in 1830, Poland was in the news, with the attempted rising against Russia and its suppression; at that time, Polish things enjoyed considerable popularity, and Chopin gave the form a new level of complexity and expression. James Gibbons Huneker called the body of Chopin polonaises “heroic hymns of battle,” but while many do breathe a militant spirit, they are not battle cries; the melancholy, poetic Chopin also constantly peers through. Virtuoso elements, common in the later polonaises, are not as predominant in his early polonaises. With this polonaise for cello and piano, Chopin laid down secure foundations for what he would compose in the future, even though subsequently, he reserved this form of composition for the piano alone. Chopin saw his Polonaise as a pleasing, sparkling “divertimento” designed to entertain the listening audience in the salons. It is a dance in three-quarter time with clearly articulated rhythm and a majestic melody, inspiring thoughts of the Polish nobility. In April of 1830, Chopin added the Introduction to the piece to be played by a cellist named Kaczynski in a performance in Warsaw. Chopin later dedicated this piece as it now stands, a tour-de-force for cello, to Joseph Merk (1795-1852), the first cellist of the Opera Orchestra of Vienna, who later taught cello at the Vienna Conservatory.
Après un rêve Gabriel Fauré, arr. Pablo Casals Born May 12, 1845, in Pamiers, France; died November 4, 1924, in Paris The 70 years of France’s Third Republic, from 1871 to 1940, began and ended with military defeat at the hands of the Germans, but during those years, music and the other arts flourished in France. The music of Fauré became quite frequently performed during that time. For a long time, however, Fauré’s work was little known in the United States, perhaps because he wrote so little for orchestra. Only connoisseurs knew his exquisite chamber music, his gracious piano compositions, and his expressive songs, but his peers in the French musical world valued him immediately. He was Ravel’s teacher, and Ravel dedicated his String Quartet to him; the composer Arthur Honegger counted him among a small number he labeled “France’s greatest musicians ever.” When the acclaimed teacher of composers, Nadia Boulanger, instilled Fauré’s principles into the minds (and consequently, the works) of many young Americans who studied with her in Paris during the 50 years after the First World War, Fauré finally became known in America. Then Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Walter Piston, and Virgil Thomson were influenced indirectly, and, finally, directly by Fauré’s music. Copland once wrote of Fauré’s work: “To the superficial listener he probably sounds superficial. But those aware of musical refinement cannot help admire the transparent texture, the clarity of thought, and the wellshaped proportions. Together they constitute a kind of magic that is difficult to analyze but lovely to hear.” “Après un rêve” from Trois Melodies, Op. 7, is an early work, that was composed in 1878. It is one of the most famous of Fauré’s melodies and one of his most beautiful. He was inspired to write this song because his friend, Romain Bussine, a professor of singing at the Paris Conservatoire, had written a text for it. The words are based on an anonymous Tuscan poem, which describes the yearning of a lover for the return of a dream he had had about his beloved. Upon awakening, the lover wishes he could return to the dream state of the mysterious night just concluded. The renowned 20th century cellist Pablo Casals transcribed “Après un rêve” for cello. The piano part, with its repeated chords, is subordinate to the cello’s long lyrical lines; it serves to underline the intensity and passion of the song. Fauré’s subtle melody lends itself well to the sonority of cello, which here conveys serenity as well as anguish, both lyrically.
Elfantanz (Dance of the Elves), Op. 39 David Popper Born December 9, 1843 in Prague; died August 7, 1913 in Baden, near Vienna David Popper was a famous Czech cellist and composer. He studied cello with Julius Goltermann at the Prague Conservatory and began his career with a tour in 1863. Liszt’s then son-in-law, the pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow,
recommended Popper in 1863 to a position as Chamber Virtuoso at the court of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Konstantin von Hohenzollern, who had had a new residence with a concert hall built at Löwenberg. In 1865, Popper had a very successful appearance with the Karlsruhe Music Festival as a soloist and then became first cellist of the Vienna Court Orchestra. In 1872, he married Liszt’s pupil Sophie Menter, described by her teacher as his only legitimate daughter and the greatest woman pianist of the age. From 1896 until his death, he taught cello at the Budapest Conservatory. Popper also served for a time as cellist in the quartet led by Jenö Hubay. Popper, like Pablo Casals, is always included in the cellists who are credited for expanding the level of cellists’ technical proficiency; he is remembered for composing a number of very charming and idiomatic pieces for the cello that have been performed consistently from his time until ours. In all, he wrote close to 80 works, most of them for cello, including four cello concerti, many concert pieces, and several étude books. His studies continue to be familiar to many aspiring cellists today. The charming Dance of the Elves makes a substantial technical demand on the cellist. Popper wrote the piece in 1881, in Leipzig, when he was in his late 30s. It is brief but impressive as almost all of it is played using spiccato, a special bow stroke that can produce very short, light, and fast notes. In addition to the spiccato bowing, the very high register that is required also is very difficult, but the demands of the Dance of the Elves are characteristic of nearly all of Popper’s work. This showpiece highlights the cello’s unique sound and style.
Cello Sonata Edvard Grieg Born June 15, 1843, in Bergen; died there September 4, 1907 Edvard Grieg, Norway’s greatest composer, was taught piano by his mother and began to compose when he was only 9 years old. At the age of 15, he was sent off to the Leipzig Conservatory, where he found the curriculum unsatisfactory because it looked backward to the principles of Mendelssohn, who had founded the school in the year of Grieg’s birth. Grieg’s interests were progressive: he desired to write a new kind of music that would be Scandinavian and specifically Norwegian in character. A few other artists shared his nationalist ambitions, but most of the prosperous Scandinavian middle-class, like its American counterpart at the time, insisted that Germany was the only source of music of any value. The Cello Sonata is a relatively early work. Grieg composed it in Bergen in 1882, at a difficult time for him, after a period of illness and a busy season as conductor of the Bergen Symphony. He constructed the sonata on a substantial scale, characterized by marvelous writing for the solo instrument. Rich in tone and lyrical in line, the lengthy work is eloquent, but as Grieg expressed, he frequently despaired when writing it: “I am both spiritually and bodily unwell,
and decide every other day not to compose another note, because I satisfy myself less and less.” Just before beginning the sonata, he had abandoned work on a second piano concerto because he felt he lacked inspiration. Cellist Steven Isserlis surmises that this feeling may account for why the cello sonata is so closely related in both melodic and harmonic style to the famous Piano Concerto, also in the key of A minor. The work was part of a contract for several pieces Grieg made with Peters Publishing in Leipzig. He dedicated the work to his brother John, a talented amateur cellist. Friedrich Ludwig Grützmacher premiered the work with the composer at the piano on October 22, 1883, in Dresden. Even when the sonata was complete, Grieg felt, “it does not betoken any forward step in my development,” but by his later years, he included it in several important concerts, including one a year before his death, with Pablo Casals. At around the same time, he enjoyed a private performance, which Percy Grainger, who he had mentored, gave especially for him, with cellist Herman Sandby. Of the experience, Grieg then commented: “There were things that Grainger got much more out of than I myself did, and on the whole I received a grand lesson.” Since Grieg’s death, the sonata has had continuous popularity: it was featured in the only concert that Pablo Casals and Arthur Rubinstein gave together as well as in one of the few concerts that the renowned Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich gave with his countryman, pianist Sviatoslav Richter. It is now one of the three most performed Romantic sonatas for the cello; the others are by Chopin and Rachmaninoff. Stephen Isserlis explains that the severe criticism that the sonata has sometimes received has emphasized three perceived weaknesses. The first is “the selfderivative nature of the themes. The looming shadow of the piano concerto in the outer movements is not the only self-reminiscence here; the theme of the slow movement, also, is almost identical to that of the Triumphal (or Homage) March from Grieg’s incidental music to Sigurd Jorsalfar (where it is played by four cellos.)” Actually, Grieg also re-used themes from a funeral march and a wedding march that he had previously composed. Isserlis opines that the second criticism is more general, as it focuses on the nationalist nature of Grieg’s music. George Bernard Shaw, who was both playwright and music critic, called the distinctly Norwegian character of Grieg’s music a strength, not a weakness. The third weakness that has been pointed out draws attention to the sonata’s lack of adherence to classical forms. This criticism was deftly addressed soon after the work’s composition, by a London magazine, Musical Opinion, in April 1889: “For originality, spontaneity, melodic and rhythmical wealth and charm, variety and piquancy of harmony (quite apart from the Northern local colour), nervous force, stirring passion, [the sonata] is hard to match in modern chamber music. And if the working out of the first allegro chiefly in repetitions in different keys, let us have such repetitions—so novel and striking in the change of
tonality—by all means; whilst in the finale (of Schubertian length, but without a bar to spare) the truly organic development of the beautiful subject-matter, which rises at times to a lofty height, would do credit even to Brahms.” Despite having identified what many find are its weaknesses, Isserlis, giving his own opinion, praises the work highly: “It is a marvelous work, combining warmhearted charm with joyous excitement—and imbued throughout with what Grainger so aptly describes as ‘Grieg’s soaring ecstasy of yearning wistfulness.’” Transcending all the criticisms is the work itself, a nonpareil of emotional content and power, traversing a wide terrain with both accessibility and beauty. As historian Michael Parloff noted about the work as a whole, “Although the sonata has no extra-musical program, it creates a strongly narrative impression and represents Grieg at his most intense and passionate.” The first movement displays great drama with its communication of power, energy, and tonal beauty. Opening contemplatively and rather seriously, even stormily, the first movement goes on to explore an unusually wide expressive range. Here, Grieg offers a spirited lyrical theme and a warm second subject; he ends with a small, energetic cadenza. As the sonata begins in A minor, it seems natural to be reminded of Grieg’s famous piano concerto, in the same key. The slow movement begins innocently enough, with simple beauty. The shortest movement in the sonata, it is richly expressive, and as it progresses, it reveals its own rather intense inner turmoil. The storms pass as the music returns to the sweetly lyrical opening theme. It is in this movement that Grieg quotes his own Homage March from the incidental music to Sigurd Jorsalfar: the motive derives from music he originally composed for four cellos in the 1870s that turned into incidental music to accompany a play about King Jorsalfar. Grieg introduces contrasting material in the middle of the movement before returning to the march at the close. The extensive finale begins with a brief, quiet introduction, but quickly reveals pervading folk-dance rhythms. The cello underpins the restrained wildness with powerful pizzicati, which take on the role of the heartbeat of this movement. Emotional development again becomes evident as Grieg’s music explores intense passion, allowing sheer exhilaration and delight in the national music of Norway to hold sway. The finale also features another cadenza. The movement ends in A major, bringing the work to a positive conclusion.
Sonata for Solo Cello George Crumb Born October 24, 1929, Charleston, West Virginia The American avant-garde composer George Crumb, who came from a family of professional musicians, began to write music at an early age. He studied at the Mason College of Music and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, graduating from the latter in 1953, before attending the Berlin Hochschule für Musik as a Fulbright Fellow in 1955–1956. In Berlin, in 1955, while he was studying with
Boris Blacher, Crumb composed his Sonata for Solo Cello, which was his first published piece. The sonata bears a dedication to the composer’s mother, Vivian. Camilla Doppmann premiered the sonata on March 15, 1957 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Sonata for Solo Cello was influenced by the music of Paul Hindemith and Béla Bartók. Crumb’s biographer, David Cope, described it as being cast in Bartókian Classical-Romantic style without any inclusion of contemporary techniques. Soon after writing it, Crumb, displeased with it, actually wanted to remove the work from circulation, but he relented and published it in 1958. The first movement, a Fantasia, Andante espressivo e con molto rubato, feels improvisatory, almost like a long cadenza from a concerto. The movement develops the two ideas heard at the beginning, one from a group of pizzicato chords that reappears throughout the movement in many transformations, the other, a bowed line with a dotted rhythm. Some commentators have felt that the rhythmic elements Crumb uses are characteristic of Hungarian folk songs, as he combines dissonant pizzicato chords with a theme in descending thirds in the cello’s middle register. When the movement reaches a vigorous climax, it quickly returns to the main theme. The second movement, Tema pastorale con variaizoni, has a “gracious and delicate” theme, a swaying sicilienne (with characteristic dotted rhythms) consisting of two phrases, the first repeated and the second a kind of “answer.” Three variations with a coda follow. The speed of the first variation is fast, while the second is to be played as fast as possible, entirely pizzicato, drawing on the opening sequences of pizzicato chords. The third variation is slow and expressive and seems very far from the original theme. A coda recalls the first part of the theme. The last movement, a Toccata, begins with a dramatic introduction, a recitative, Largo e drammatico, whose ideas are extended and developed in the body of the movement, Allegro vivace, which is laden with chromatic tension. The center section contrasts strongly and borders on the lyrical. At the end, music from the opening movement makes its reappearance, helping to give the work a sense of cyclic organization.
New York Honk Thomas Demenga Born in 1954 in Bern, Switzerland The Swiss composer Thomas Demenga began playing cello when he was 6. He studied in Stuttgart with Antonio Janigro, at New York‘s Juilliard School with Leonard Rose, and in Basel with Mstislav Rostropovich. He has been teaching at the Basel Music Academy since 1982. In addition to his commitments as a soloist and chamber musician in the Swiss Chamber Players, Art Ensemble Basel, and Camerata Bern, Demenga is also active as a composer. He received first prize for his piece Solo per due at the Congress of the International Tribune of Composers in Paris in 1991. He has been musical director of the Davos Music Festival since 2001.
Of the witty score of New York Honk, which contains the distinctive urban sounds of banging, clanging, and screeching, Demenga has written: That I write primarily for the cello has to do with its being the instrument that fascinates me most; I also understand it best. And it‘s obvious that, having composed these pieces, I would want to play them, too. I have extremely little time next to my performing and teaching to get to know another instrument as well as I would need to, to compose for it. But recently the situation has changed slightly. My only piece that’s really meant as a joke is New York Honk, with its imitation of car horns. I started the piece when I was studying in New York and had to put it aside because, in my apartment, I was constantly being disturbed by the noise of the cars. When we play it, people hoot with laughter. But all my other pieces are serious.”
Theme from Schindler’s List (arr. for cello) John Williams Born February 8, 1932 in Flushing, New York John Williams is a pre-eminent American film composer and conductor, the son of a film studio musician. Williams attended U.C.L.A. and Los Angeles City College, and studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. After service in the Air Force, he returned to New York to attend The Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Rosina Lhevinne. While in New York, he worked as a jazz pianist, both in clubs and for recordings. On his return to Los Angeles, he began his career in the film industry, writing music for many television programs and winning four Emmy awards for his work. Williams has been awarded five Oscars, three British Academy awards, 18 Grammys, three Golden Globes, four Emmys, and numerous gold and platinum records. In January 1980, Williams was named conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He currently holds the title of Boston Pops laureate conductor, which he assumed following his retirement in December 1993. He also holds the title of artistin-residence at Tanglewood. In addition to leading the Boston Symphony at Symphony Hall and at Tanglewood, Williams has appeared as guest conductor with a number of major orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which he has appeared many times at the Hollywood Bowl. He made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1984 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Williams holds honorary degrees from 19 American universities, including Berklee College of Music in Boston, Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, University of Massachusetts at Boston, Eastman School of Music, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Williams has helped to give film composition viability and visibility. His output is voluminous and varied and ranges from the music to Goodbye, Mr. Chips to
Valley of the Dolls, from Jurassic Park through Jaws to ET and Schindler’s List. He has written all his film music for the symphony orchestra rather than for electronic instruments. In a different mood from his most familiar film music style, the music for the film Schindler’s List, written in 1993, is serious and elegiac. Zaillian’s screenplay from Thomas Keneally’s novel relates the story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who used Jewish labor in his factory in occupied Poland, initially exploiting the Jews for his own personal profit before coming to see his workers as human beings and becoming honor-bound to take care of the people he employed. Realizing what their ultimate fate might be, Schindler devised a plan to employ workers in his Czech factory and succeeded in saving more than a thousand of them from concentration camps. The film score’s most touching music can be found in the “Theme,” played on the film track by violinist Itzhak Perlman. “Theme,” Lente, style, was largely inspired by the Romantic composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; hence, Williams’ music for this piece could be described as in a Neo-Romantic style with some Jewish inflections. Written for Itzhak Perlman’s performance on violin, the piece includes an expressive statement of the film’s haunting, but essentially simple main theme. It is warm and dignified as well as compassionate. In it, Williams incorporates harmonies and idioms of the music of Eastern European Jews.
Sonata for Cello Solo Adam Geghami Khudoyan Born February 21, 1921 in Yerevan, Armenia; died there in 2000 The music of Adam Khudoyan is not well known in the United States, although he was one of Armenia’s most highly-regarded 20th century composers. Khudoyan graduated from Yerevan State Conservatory in 1945. Later, he directed the Composer’s House of Armenia and was the secretary of the Composer’s Union of Armenia. Khudoyan composed three cello sonatas and a cello duo sonata. The Sonata, an unaccompanied piece, composed in 1961, is modern and haunting with unmistakable Armenian themes. Including tempestuous mood swings, it is also beautiful and passionate. Khudoyan composed three Solo Cello Sonatas in 1961, 1984, and 1993. All three contrast slow, sonorous sections with more energetic, rhythmic segments. Khudoyan incorporates Armenian folk tunes as well as influences from various other composers: critics have mentioned Kodaly, Reger, Shostakovich, Janacek, and Bloch. Critic Shahan Ardzruni wrote: “I personally find strong parallels between Khudoyan’s approach to music and that of Mussorgsky. Like Mussorgsky, Khudoyan employed chordal progressions that are unusual, unbounded, even unacceptable to the traditional rules of harmony.” The Sonata, written in 1961, demands the soloist’s technical prowess. The work, his first, includes themes imbued with folk melodies, tricky combinations of
simultaneous bowing and plucking, and a passage in eerie, ghostlike harmonics. Abrupt transitions make the relatively brief but intense work seem restless. It has at its center an extended lament that travels between sorrow and anguish. The sonata contains many powerful and moving melodic lines.
Nocturne Edvard Baghdasaryan Born in Yerevan, Armenia, November 14, 1922; died there on November 4, 1987 Eduard Baghdasaryan, one of Armenia’s most prominent mid-20th century musical figures, studied composition with Gregori Egiazaryan at the national Komitas Vardapet Conservatory and later continued his education at the musical studio attached to the Armenian Cultural House in Moscow, followed by lessons at the Moscow Conservatory with Genrikh Litinsky. He graduated from the Yerevan State Conservatory where he concentrated on both composition and piano. After taking advanced training in Moscow between 1951 and 1953, he returned to Armenia to collect folk songs. He remained there, teaching at the music school established by the Armenian composer Romanos Melikian in Stepanakert before joining the faculty of the Yerevan Conservatory. He composed in many genres, writing orchestral, chamber, instrumental, and vocal works as well as incidental music and film and television scores.
Nocturne, a most appealing work, composed in 1957, includes fewer traditional elements from Armenian music than his music usually does. The piece displays restrained lyrical beauty before increasing in passion and then developing a romantic flow before the hushed coda.
Impromptu Alexander Arutyunian (Arutiunian) Born in Yerevan, Armenia, on September 23, 1920; died there on March 28, 2012 Alexander Grigori Arutiunian was an Armenian composer and pianist. He was one of the best known and most highly respected composers in the Soviet Union. In 1927, Arutiunian became a member of the Yerevan State Conservatory’s children’s group; when he was 14, he began studying piano with Olga Babasyan, as well as composition with Sergei Barkhudaryan and Vardges Talyan. He graduated from the Music Conservatory of Yerevan just before World War II began. After the war, he moved to Moscow, where he participated in the workshops of the House of Armenian Culture and studied composition with Genrikh Litinsky. In 1948, his graduation composition, the cantata Motherland, won the Stalin Prize. After graduation, he returned to Yerevan to teach at the local Conservatory. In 1954, Arutiunian was appointed artistic director of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, a post he held until he was 70. In 1965, he joined the faculty of the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory where he taught composition. Arutiunian composed various orchestral and chamber works, an opera and concertos for almost every wind instrument. He belonged to the Board of the USSR Composers Union and the Armenian SSR Composers’ Union.
He received many awards for his work, including the People’s Artist of the USSR in 1970, and numerous honors from his homeland, Armenia. The Impromptu, composed in 1948, is characterized by often exotically colorful themes, which include folk motives and singable melodies. After a short piano introduction, the cello displays a virtuosic style that embraces a folk-like theme, displaying the traditions of Armenian music. A lyrical but plaintive central section contrasts dramatically with the energetic music of both outer sections. — Program notes are copyright Š Susan Halpern, 2020
Narek Hakhnazaryan Cello Since winning the Cello First Prize and Gold Medal at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 at the age of 22, Narek Hakhnazaryan has inspired audiences with his artistry, securing a reputation as one of the world’s foremost cellists. Hakhnazaryan has performed with orchestras across the globe, earning praise from critics as “dazzlingly brilliant” (The Strad) and “nothing short of magnificent” (San Francisco Chronicle). In 2014, Hakhnazaryan was named a BBC New Generation Artist, and, in August 2016, made his BBC Proms debut to critical acclaim. The cellist’s 2019-2020 season features several notable debuts, including the Philharmonia Zurich with Gianandrea Noseda, Photo by Evgeny Evtyukhov Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with Manfred Honeck, Antwerp Symphony with Kerem Hasan, and Australia’s Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Giancarlo Guerrero, respectively. Hakhnazaryan appears for the first time in Portugal, in a performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Portuguese Youth Symphony. Return engagements this season include Hong Kong Chamber Music Festival, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Essen Philharmonic with Tomas Netopil. In Spring 2020, he embarks on a tour of China, performing the complete Beethoven cello sonatas in Shanghai and Guangzhu. Hakhnazaryan is honored to appear as a soloist at the finale concert of the renowned Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in Los Angeles in March 2020. Hakhnazaryan’s commitment to new and rarely heard repertoire is evident in his European and American programs this season. In Warsaw, at the Eufonie Festival, he performs the late Andrej Panufnik’s Cello Concerto, and in Washington, DC, Hakhnazaryan appears with PostClassical Ensemble in fellow Armenian Vache Sharafyan’s Cello Concerto No. 2, alongside acclaimed visual artist Kevork Mourad for Armenian Odyssey, a world premiere multimedia production in the Great Nave of the Washington National Cathedral. As a recitalist, he performs at the University of Florida Performing Arts and at the Aspect Foundation in NYC. With the Z.E.N. Trio, joined by colleagues Zhou Zhang and Esther Yoo, Hakhnazaryan tours North America with stops at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the Vancouver Playhouse, UC Santa Barbara’s Arts & Lectures Series, Boston’s Harvard Music Society, Miami’s Friends of Chamber Music, and Washington DC’s Phillips Collection. The Z.E.N. Trio released their debut album in 2017 on the Deutsche Grammophon label, and have toured the UK, China, and Hong Kong.
Hakhnazaryan was previously named one of the Vienna Konzerthaus’s Great Talents, and he has given performances in the Austrian capital with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra led by Jakub Hruša, as well as at the Musikverein with Daniil Trifonov and Sergei Dogadin. Last summer, Hakhnazaryan performed Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff sonatas with Trifonov, a longtime collaborator, at the Verbier and Rheingau festivals. In 2018-19, Hakhnazaryan took part in a residency at Wigmore Hall, offering a series of fascinating programs of classic and lesser-known solo repertoire. A distinguished international orchestral soloist, Hakhnazaryan has appeared with the Baltimore, St. Louis, Seattle, Toronto, London, WDR, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, New Zealand, and NHK Symphony Orchestras; the Royal Stockholm, Czech, Seoul, Netherlands, and Rotterdam Philharmonics; the Utah Symphony; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Orchestre de Paris; and the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. He has collaborated with acclaimed conductors such as Alsop, Belohlávek, Gergiev, Guerrero, Koopman, Hannu Lintu, Neeme Järvi, Pletnev, Robertson, Sarasate, Slatkin, and Sokhiev. An eager chamber musician and recitalist, Hakhnazaryan has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall; San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre; Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art; the Concertgebouw Amsterdam; Salle Pleyel Paris; Berlin Konzerthaus; Oji Hall Tokyo; Shanghai Concert Hall; and esteemed festivals such as Ravinia, Aspen, Piatigorsky, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Kissinger Sommer, Robeco Summer, Beethovenfest Bonn, Mikkeli, Pau Casals, Lucerne, and Verbier, among many others. Hakhnazaryan has received scholarships from the Rostropovich Foundation and the Russian Performing Arts Fund, and won awards including First Prize in the 2006 Aram Khachaturian International Competition in Armenia and First Place in the 2006 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players. As First Prize winner in the 2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Hakhnazaryan made his debuts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and in Washington, D.C. In 2017, he was made an Honored Artist of Armenia, by then-President Serzh Sargsyan. Narek Hakhnazaryan was born in Yerevan, Armenia, into a family of musicians: his father is a violinist and his mother a pianist. Mentored by the late Rostropovich, Hakhnazaryan received in 2011 an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Lawrence Lesser, following studies at the Moscow Conservatory with Alexey Seleznyov and at the Sayat-Nova School of Music in Yerevan with Zareh Sarkisyan. Hakhnazaryan plays the 1707 Joseph Guarneri cello and F.X. Tourte and Benoit Rolland bows.
Noreen Cassidy-Polera Piano The pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera ranks among the most highly regarded chamber artists of today. Recent performances include appearances at the Caramoor, Bard, Grand Teton and Cape Cod Chamber Music Festivals, as well as engagements at the Chamber Music Societies of Philadelphia and La Jolla. She has recorded for Sony, EMI, Audiophon and Centaur Records. Noreen Cassidy-Polera has collaborated with leading soloists including cellists Narek Hakhnazaryan, Matt Haimovitz, Carter Brey, Antonio Menesis, and Yo-Yo Ma, and won the Accompanying Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Ms. Cassidy-Polera’s mastery of the complete cello-piano repertory is widelyknown, as is her dedication to performing the works of living composers. In recent seasons, she has performed Elliott Carter’s Sonata for Cello and Piano on tour in Paris, New York and Philadelphia, along with new works by Lowell Liebermann, Benjamin C.S. Boyle, and Kenji Bunch to critical acclaim. Her CD Sound Vessels (with cellist Scott Kluksdahl) features works by Richard Wesnick, Robert Helps, Augusta Read Thomas, and Elliott Carter. Noreen Cassidy-Polera holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Martin Canin.
presents
PAULA POUNDSTONE FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020 | 7:30 P.M. Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
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PAULA POUNDSTONE Paula Poundstone is a humorist, author, and comedian known for her clever, observational humor and spontaneous wit. When she isn’t collecting hotel soaps while on tour or panel-ing on NPR’s #1 show, Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!, Paula hosts the popular Maximum Fun podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone. Nobody is a comedy field guide to life complete with taste tests, cats of the weeks, and leading experts in everything from beekeeping to ping pong to prosopagnosia (say that 3 times fast). Paula’s stand-up credentials are endless: Cats, Cops and Stuff, Goes to Harvard, Look What the Cat Dragged In, and numerous television appearances including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Last Call with Carson Daly, and Late Show with David Letterman. Famously, Paula provided backstage commentary during the 1992 presidential election on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and was the first woman to host the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. In 2017, Paula released her second book, The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness, in which she offers herself up as a guinea pig in a series of thoroughly unscientific experiments. Kirkus Reviews said ofcalled the book:, “A deeply revealing memoir in which the pathos doesn’t kill the humor—delivers more than it promises.” The book debuted at #1 on the Amazon Bestsellers List in Humor, and the audiobook was one of the five finalists for 2018 Audiobook of the Year. The book was recognized as one of eight semi-finalists for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, the highest recognition of the art of humor writing in the United States. Paula can be heard on the big screen as “Forgetter Paula” in Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out, winner of the 2017 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. She has also starred in her own series on both HBO and ABC, is included on Comedy Central’s Top 100 Comics of All Time, and won an American Comedy Award for Best Female Stand-Up. In February 2019, Paula’s stand-up special, Cats, Cops and Stuff, was named by TIME magazine and Tig Notaro as one of The 5 Funniest Stand-Up Specials Ever. Paula resides in Santa Monica, Calif., where you can find her cleaning the litter boxes of her 14 cats: Clue, Oreo, Luigi, Jem, Belle, Brittle, Mrs. Feziwig, Wednesday, Severus, Tonks, Theo, Sham Wow, Harrison, and Hardy. Website @ www.paulapoundstone.com Follow her on: twitter.com/paulapoundstone, facebook.com/paulapoundstone, and instagram.com/paulapoundstone
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Cinderella A holiday tradition since 1993 December 14, 2019, 1:30 & 7 p.m. Phillips Center
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March 14, 2020, 1:30 & 7 p.m. | Phillips Center Ticket Information — 352-371-0761 | 352-392-arts
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