Gabriel Kahane Featured as Composer-in-Residence at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music FestivalNew York, NY – Much has been made over Gabriel Kahane's ability to transcend rigid genre classifications. His compositions--which range from probing classical song cycles to joyous theater pieces to raucous indie hits--are far more concerned with exploring his musical potential than fitting in with a particular market niche. This summer, Kahane will be featured as the Composer-in-Residence at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, a six-week concert series known for its diverse programing and wide range of musical offerings. The two are a perfect fit.
As the Composer-in-Residence, Kahane will perform two nights of music and premiere a new commission, a short cycle of songs called
Come on All You Ghosts. On July 19, he will present one of the Festival's four "Soirées", at which audience members can enjoy food and drink while Kahane entertains from the piano. The program, entitled "An Evening with Gabriel Kahane: Music for the Ear, Intellect and Soul," will highlight in an intimate setting Kahane's lieder/songs shaped by wry stories and direct personal emotions. The following night, July 20, he offers "The Artistry of Gabriel Kahane," supported by an ensemble that comprises the Calder Quartet and seven New York-based instrumentalists, complete with the world premiere of
Come on All You Ghosts. The piece is based on poems by San Francisco poet Matthew Zapruder.
The Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival was founded in 1987 by John Giovando, an attorney with a love of classical music, with eminent violinist Ida Kavafian. Through world-class performances, dedicated leadership, and generous support from the community, the Festival has grown from attracting a handful of attendees to an annual audience of more than 60,000. This season, celebrated pianist Anne-Marie McDermott serves as artistic director. The festival is organized into ten different theme, including "Beethoven: Architect of Humanity," "Golden Twilight: The Music of Mahler," and "Big Music for Little Bands," among others. Nestled in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Bravo! will feature three of America's greatest orchestras: the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. In addition, more than fifty distinguished soloists visit the Vail Valley to perform in chamber ensembles and as soloists with the three world-class resident orchestras. The Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns observes, "Few if any classical music institutions west of the Mississippi have flourished as Bravo! has."
Writing and performing music that moves effortlessly from dense modernism to vernacular song, Gabriel Kahane has established himself as a leading voice among a generation of young composers redefining music for the 21st century. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times for "an all around dazzling performance" in his orchestral debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier this year (in the premiere of his song cycle
Orinoco Sketches, conducted by John Adams), Kahane moves with ease as a performer between musical realms. Performance highlights of the 2010-11 season included sold out concerts with artists as varied as Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau, the cellist Alisa Weilerstein, as well as with his father, the noted pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane, with whom he collaborated on a critically acclaimed duo recital. Throughout his career, Kahane has performed and/or recorded with Sufjan Stevens, Rufus Wainwright, Punch Brothers, and Audra McDonald, who has incorporated his songs into her repertoire. Launched by his 2006 song cycle "Craiglistlieder," Kahane's rapid ascent as a composer continues to bloom. He is also an in-demand theater composer, having received commissions from the Signature Theater in Arlington, VA, and the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts. A 2010 MacDowell Colony fellow, Kahane makes his home in Brooklyn, New York, in close company with a century-old piano and many books.
--Amanda Ameer, First Chair Promotion
Live From Jerusalem: The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by Zubin Mehta, with Soloists Renee Fleming and Joseph Calleja in One-Night Cinema EventNCM Fathom and Mod 3 Live Premieres Jerusalem Concert Event with Time Delayed Live Broadcast to More than 480 Theaters Nationwide on July 28
Centennial, Colo. – June 22, 2011: Zubin Mehta conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in the breathtaking city of Jerusalem with a special one-night event featuring soprano Renée Fleming and tenor Joseph Calleja. NCM Fathom and Mod 3 Live present "Live from Jerusalem: An Evening with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Conducted by Zubin Mehta with Soloists Renée Fleming and Joseph Calleja" on Thursday, July 28 at 7:00 pm (local time). Filled with majestic arias and duets, the performance includes a sweeping visual and audio experience that will bring down the curtain on the Jerusalem Season of Culture 2011.
Tickets for "Live from Jerusalem" are available at participating theater box offices and on-line at
www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations, please visit the Web site (theaters and participants are subject to change).
Set before the beautiful backdrop of the Jerusalem landscape, "Live from Jerusalem" will take audiences of all cultures and generations on a journey to Jerusalem to experience exclusive performances conducted and performed by the world's greatest talents.
Known as "America's Beautiful Voice," Renée Fleming has a devoted international following wherever she appears, whether on the operatic stage, in concert or recital, on television, radio or on disc. One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry and compelling stage presence. Known as "the people's diva" and named the No. 1 female singer by Salzburger Festspiele Magazine in 2010, she continues to grace the world's greatest opera stages and recently received her third Grammy-award for the Decca recording, "Verismo."
Already one of the tenors most sought after by leading opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic, Joseph Calleja has routinely been compared to "legendary singers from earlier eras: Jussi Björling, Beniamino Gigli, even Enrico Caruso" (Associated Press). The Maltese tenor's recent successes include role debuts at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Calleja's engagements have placed him in 28 leading roles and taken him to virtually every major European city, an outstanding achievement for a 33-year-old. An exclusive Decca Classics recording artist since 2003, his new recording The Maltese Tenor will be released in the U.S. this fall.
Internationally-renowned orchestral and operatic conductor Zubin Mehta has had a remarkable association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) for five decades. He was appointed the orchestra's music director in 1969, a position that was extended for life in 1981. The bond that was established between Mehta and the IPO, Israel's finest cultural emissary, has grown into what he calls a "lasting marriage" of creative prosperity. For his outstanding work with major orchestras and opera companies around the world Mehta has garnered numerous awards including a Kennedy Center Honor in 2006 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
--Susan Demler, Kirshbaum Demler & Associates
Marlboro Festival Celebrates Sixty YearsMarlboro Festival is celebrating sixty years this year, and there is a ton of stuff happening. Most relevant is that for the first time ever, recordings from years past will now be available on the Marlboro Recording Series imprint. Here are some details of the first three recordings:
CD #1:
Mozart:
Quintet in D Major, K. 593
Sarah Kapustin, violin
Diana Cohen, violin
Mark Holloway, viola
Sebastian Krunnies, viola
David Soyer, cello
Performance of July 16, 2005
Beethoven:
Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 "Archduke"
Performance of July 23, 2006
Schubert:
Piano Trio in E-flat Major, D. 929
Mitsuko Uchida, piano
Soovin Kim, violin
David Soyer, cello
Performance of July 13, 2008
CD #2:
Debussy:
Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10
Joseph Lin, violin
Judy Kang, violin
Richard O'Neill, viola
David Soyer, cello
Performance of February 17, 2002
Ravel:
Introduction et AllegroSivan Magen, harp
Joshua Smith, flute
Moran Katz, clarinet
Joseph Lin, violin
Benjamin Beilman, violin
Luke Fleming, viola
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, cello
Performance of July 18, 2010
Ravel:
String Quartet in F MajorSoovin Kim, violin
Jessica Lee, violin
Jonathan Vinocour, viola
Soo Bae, cello
Performance of April 1, 2007
CD #3
Respighi:
Il TramontoJennifer Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Ida Levin, violin
Yonah Zur, violin
Beth Guterman, viola
Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, cello
Performance of October 24, 2010
Cuckson:
Der gayst funem shturem (
The Spirit of the Storm)
Jennifer Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Sarah Beaty, clarinet
Angela Cordell Bilger, horn
Sivan Magen, harp
Ida Levin, violin
Yonah Zur, violin
Beth Guterman, viola
Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, cello
Zachary Cohen, double bass
Performance of October 24, 2010
Shostakovich:
Songs on Hebrew Folk Themes, for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Piano, Op. 79
Benita Valente, soprano
Glenda Maurice, mezzo-soprano
Jon Humphrey, tenor
Luis Batlle, piano
Performance of August 18, 1967
--Amanda Sweet, Bucklesweet Media