Benjamin Verdery & Friends, January 30, 2020

Robert Blocker, Dean

faculty artist series

Benjamin Verdery, guitar with the Ulysses String Quartet Thursday, January 30, 2020 | 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall

Martin Bresnick b. 1946

Joaquin is Dreaming (Joaquin Soñando) (2008) written for Benjamin Verdery I. Joaquin Imagines a Part of His History

(Joaquin Imaginarse una Parte de su Historia) II. Joaquin Foresees a Future

(Joaquin Preve un Futuro) III. Joaquin is Sleeping, Joaquin is Dreaming

(Joaquin Durmiente, Joaquin Soñando)

Leoš Janáček 1854–1928

String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters” (1928) I. Andante – Con moto – Allegro II. Adagio – Vivace III. Moderato – Andante – Adagio IV. Allegro – Andante – Adagio Ulysses String Quartet

intermission

Program, cont.

Benjamin Verdery b. 1955

the rain falls equally on all things, a fantasy (2017, rev. 2019) 1. rain clouds approach 2. in rain 3. separate drops fall together 4. heavy water 5. as the wind sings to the rain 6. after a rain (the smell, the mist) 7. the wind’s forgotten melody 8. partial recall of a storm 9. gentle rain underwater 10. liquid sunshine 11. rain returns 12. a downpour’s secret 13. the calming of the water 14. a child’s first rainbow 15. discovering the rain falls equally on all things

Verdery

I Was Talking to Palestrina When My Mother Told Me Takemitsu Was On The Phone, an homage to Leo Brouwer, for solo guitar and pre-recorded voice of Leo Brouwer (2019–2020) Lothar Osterburg, video

Bryce Dessner ’98BA ’99MM b. 1976

Quintet for High Strings (2018) written for Benjamin Verdery Ulysses String Quartet

As a courtesy to others, please silence all devices. Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

Artist Profiles Benjamin Verdery, guitar

Ulysses String Quartet

Described as “iconoclastic” and “inventive”

by The New York Times, guitarist Benjamin Verdery enjoys an innovative and eclectic musical career. Verdery has given concerts at the International Guitar Festival (Singapore), the Festival International de Agosto (Caracas), the Schubert Festival (Germany), the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, and elsewhere.

Christina Bouey, violin Rhiannon Banerdt, violin Colin Brookes ’13MM ’14AD, viola Grace Ho, cello

Among the composers who have written works for him are Ingram Marshall, Jack Vees, Martin Bresnick, Ezra Laderman, Christopher Theofanidis, and Roberto Sierra. Verdery’s own works have been performed by such artists as John Williams, Sergio and Odair Assad, David Russell, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

As a recording artist, Verdery has released more than fifteen albums, all available on Amazon. On February 14 New Focus Recordings will release his new CD, Scenes from Ellis Island: The Guitar Music of Ben Verdery.

Verdery is Artistic Director of 92nd Street Y’s Art of the Guitar series and is an honorary board member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. He is Associate Professor (adjunct) of Guitar at the Yale School of Music and is Artistic Director of the School’s Guitar Extravaganza. Each summer Verdery holds his Annual International Master Class on the Island of Maui (Hawaii).

Benjamin Verdery uses D’Addario strings and plays a guitar built by Garrett Lee and Greg Smalllman.

The Ulysses String Quartet has been praised for their “textural versatility,” “grave beauty,” “the kind of chemistry many quartets long for, but rarely achieve” (The Strad) as well as “avid enthusiasm ... [with] chops to back up their passion” (San Diego Story), “delivered with a blend of exuberance and polished artistry” (Buffalo News).

Founded in the summer of 2015, the group won first prize in the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition and the grand prize and gold medal in the senior string division of the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Ulysses also finished first in the American Prize and won second prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2017. The quartet garnered a career development grant in the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition and were winners of the Vietnam International Music Competition this past August.

The Ulysses Quartet were appointed Lisa Arnhold Fellows of the Juilliard School.

Hailing from Canada, the United States and Taiwan, the Ulysses String Quartet has performed in such prestigious halls such as the Harbin Grand Theatre, Jordan Hall, and the Taiwan National Recital Hall. Recent performance highlights have included their debut at Alice Tully Hall, along with appearances at the Chamber

Artist Profiles, cont.

Music Society of Lincoln Center and La Jolla Music Society Summerfest. Other notable recent engagements include Mostly Music, Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts, Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem, Premiere Performances Hong Kong, the Vietnam Connection Festival, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Bargemusic and Eastman School of Music, a quartet residency for the Zukerman Young Artist Program, and returns to Jordan Hall and the Vietnam Connection Festival.

For the last three years, Ulysses was in residence at the Louis Moreau Institute in New Orleans, working with the composer Morris Rosenzweig. As a special project, the group will record the quartets of composer Joseph Summer at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, over the next several years. In 2020 Ulysses will embark on recording projects for five albums, including three quartet albums, and collaborations with artists flutist Ransom Wilson and guitarist Benjamin Verdery.

Upcoming performances include a Carnegie Hall debut, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, South Orange Performing Arts Center, Sprague Hall at Yale University, Cecilia Concerts in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Naumburg Orchestral Concerts Summer Series, the Idyllwild Festival in California, Quogue Chamber Music in Long Island, New York, Emory University in Atlanta, and Dumbarton Concerts in Washington, DC. The group’s name pays homage to Homer’s hero Odysseus and his ten-year voyage home. Additionally, the quartet’s members

live in close proximity to the resting place of former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in Upper Manhattan. The Ulysses String Quartet believes intensely in the power of music to inspire, enlighten and bring people together. The quartet is committed to sharing this passion by increasing access to and appreciation for classical music while enhancing audience engagement.

To this end, the quartet offers interactive programs and workshops for all ages that serve to demystify the traditional repertoire while introducing audiences to exciting new works. Their programs frequently enable participants to learn about the inner workings of a string quartet, and to explore the connections between classical music and our world today.

The members of Ulysses hold degrees from the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Yale University. The musicians perform on instruments and bows graciously on loan from the Juilliard School, Canada Council of the Arts Instrument Bank and the Maestro Foundation.

Lothar Osterburg, video Lothar Osterburg is a master printer in etching and photogravure whose work is held in numerous collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Art Institute of Chicago, New York Public Library, and Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts. He has collaborated with the artists Lee Friedlander, Sol Lewitt, Jim Dine, Kiki Smith, Judy Pfaff, Joel-Peter Witkin, and Brice Marden, among others.

Solo exhibitions include the Lesley Heller Gallery, New York; Moeller Fine Art, New York and Berlin; Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon; Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano, Lima, Peru; Rockland Center for the Arts, Nyack, New York; and Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, New York. Recent fellowships and awards include Cill Rialaig Art Centre, Kerry, Ireland; Bogliasco Foundation, Liguria, Italy; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship; Academy Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; and New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships. Osterburg previously taught printmaking at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, Cooper Union, and the Lacoste School of the Arts in France, in association with Bard.

Guitar Extravaganza February 15, 2020 Join us for a daylong immersion in all things classical guitar, featuring internationally celebrated artist David Russell.

10:00 Performance: Visiting Students am Morse Recital Hall free 11:15 Question & Answer Session with David Russell am Sudler Recital Hall Tickets $5, Students free 12:15 Discussion: Life after Music School, or How to Make a Living as a Guitarist pm Sudler Recital Hall Tickets $5, Students free 1:30 Performances: Party of One & The Great Necks Trio pm Morse Recital Hall Tickets $15, Students $8 2:45 Master Class: Benjamin Verdery pm Sudler Recital Hall Tickets $5, Students free 4:00 Presentation: Benjamin Verdery: Why the Music of Jimi Hendrix Matters to Me pm Sudler Recital Hall Tickets $5, Students free 5:00 Performances: Duo Noire & JIJI pm Morse Recital Hall Tickets $15, Students $8 7:30 David Russell, featured artist pm Morse Recital Hall Tickets $25, Students $14 All-Day Passes $45, Students $24 3-Concert Passes $35, Students $24 Âť music.yale.edu/guitar-extravaganza

Upcoming Events jan 31

feb 2

feb 2

Janna Baty & Friends Faculty Artist Series Songs by Schubert, Obrador, and more.

7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall free

Lunchtime Chamber Music School of Music students perform a lunchtime chamber music concert.

12:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall

free

Wendy Sharp & Friends Faculty Artist Series Chamber music by Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Amy Beach, with violinist Julie Kim, violist Marka Gustavsson, and cellist Mimi Hwang.

2:00 pm | Morse Recital Hall free

feb 6

Inspired by Song Collection of Musical Instruments Stefan Temmingh, recorders Dorothee Mields, soprano Michael Ducker, lute Domen Marincic, viola da gamba Wiebke Weidanz, harpsichord 3:00 pm | Morse Recital Hall Tickets $30, Museum Associates & Seniors & Yale Faculty/Staff $25, Students $15

feb 9

feb 5

feb 9

Martin Bresnick, faculty composer New Music New Haven Recent works by faculty composer Martin Bresnick, featuring violinist Elly Toyoda and pianist Lisa Moore; and new works by graduate student composers.

7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall free James Taylor, tenor Faculty Artist Series Songs by Hahn, Fauré, Enescu, Debussy, Boulanger, and Poulenc.

4:00 pm | Morse Recital Hall free Michael Friedmann & Friends Faculty Artist Series YSM faculty, students, and alumni perform works by Schumann and Schoenberg.

7:30 pm | Glee Club Room free

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