From his close friendship with Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe, to his contribution with the Kronos Quartet to the "Requiem for a Dream" score, to his relationships with choreographers Shen Wei and Benjamin Millepied, composer David Lang has always found ways to unlock his artistic potential through working with like-minded artists. Most recently, Lang has written "death speaks" for Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, Owen Pallett and Shara Worden. The piece is, in part, a companion for his Pulitzer Prize-winning composition "the little match girl passion." Both works will be performed at Stanford Lively Arts on January 25, 2012 and at Carnegie Hall on January 27, 2012.Given nearly free reign to create something to be performed with "the little match girl passion" by commissioners Carnegie Hall and Stanford Lively Arts, Lang found inspiration in Schubert lieder, particularly in the texts for such songs as "Death and the Maiden." He writes, "What makes these Schubert texts so interesting is that Death is personified. It isn't a state of being or a place or a metaphor, but a person, a character in a drama who can tell us in our own language what to expect in the World to Come." Just as the text for "the little match girl passion" is made up of Lang's paraphrases of texts from Bach's St Matthew Passion, the libretto for "death speaks" quotes every instance in Schubert of Death speaking directly to us, taken from 32 different songs.
While mostly seen outside of the classical sphere, all of the "death speaks" performers have a background in classical music. Shara Worden was trained as an opera singer; Owen Pallett is a violinist; Bryce has a degree in classical guitar; Nico Muhly graduated from Juilliard and is the youngest composer in history to be commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. The idea to team up with this set of artists was a natural choice for Lang. As he relates, "Art songs have been moving out of classical music in the last many years - indie rock seems to be the place where Schubert's sensibilities now lie, a better match for direct story telling and intimate emotionality. I started thinking that many of the most interesting musicians in that scene made the same journey themselves, beginning as classical musicians and drifting over to indie rock when they bumped up against the limits of where classical music was most comfortable. What would it be like to put together an ensemble of successful indie rockers and invite them back into classical music, the world from which they sprang? All of these musicians are composers, all of them can write all the music they need themselves, and it is a tremendous honor for me to ask them to spend some of their musicality on my music."
Stanford Lively Arts
January 25, 2012
8 p.m.
Ticket information: http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/event.php?code=HILL
Carnegie Hall
January 27, 2012
6 p.m.
Ticket information: http://www.carnegiehall.org/Event.aspx?id=1885
--Amanda Ameer, First Chair Promotion
Zuill Bailey to Perform Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites and Haydn's Cello Concerto with the National Philharmonic at Strathmore
Leading cellist Zuill Bailey will perform Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites on January 7, 2012 at 3:30 pm at the Music Center at Strathmore. Later that day at 8 p.m., Bailey will perform Haydn's beloved Cello Concerto with the National Philharmonic, conducted by Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski, at Strathmore. The 8 p.m. program will also include Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 and Mozart's Symphony No. 41 in C Major ("Jupiter").
Zuill Bailey has performed with the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Ft. Worth, Louisville, Milwaukee, Minnesota, San Francisco, Toronto, Utah and has appeared at the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. A member of the Perlman-Schmidt-Bailey Trio, he performs regularly with duo partner, pianist Awadagin Pratt, as well as with pianist Simone Dinnerstein. Telarc released their recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas for Piano and Cello in August 2009. Bailey's debut release on the label, "Russian Masterpieces," has received widespread popular and critical acclaim. He performs on a 1693 Matteo Gofriller cello. Bailey is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro Musica, Artistic Director Designate of the Sitka Summer Music Festival in Alaska and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas, El Paso. For more information, visit www.zuillbailey.com.
A free lecture will be offered at 6:45 pm on Jan. 7 in the Concert Hall at the Music Center at Strathmore. To purchase tickets to the Philharmonic's concert on January 7, 2012 at 3:30 pm and at 8 pm, both at the Music Center at Strathmore, please visit nationalphilharmonic.org or call the Strathmore ticket office at (301) 581-5100. Tickets are $32-$79; kids 7-17 are FREE through the ALL KIDS, ALL FREE, ALL THE TIME program (sponsored by The Gazette). ALL KIDS tickets must be purchased in person or by phone. Parking is free.
--Deborah Birnbaum, National Philharmonic
Music Institute of Chicago Launches Piano Concerto Competition for Young Artists
The Music Institute of Chicago has established a Young Artist Division of the Emilio del Rosario Piano Concerto Competition. Pre-college pianists, younger than 20, will compete for the opportunity to perform a complete concerto with Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra, a professional orchestra directed by Alan Heatherington, Sunday, March 11, 2012 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. Additional cash and scholarship prizes also will be available.
The Young Artist Division competition is open to pre-college pianists from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A preliminary round will take place Sunday, February 12 at the Evanston East campus of the Music Institute of Chicago. Three finalists will compete Sunday, February 19 at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston. Information regarding applications and repertoire requirements is available at EDRpianocompetition.org. The application deadline is January 14, 2012.
The new Young Artist Division is part of the larger Emilio del Rosario Piano Concerto Competition, which takes place in the spring of 2012 at Harper College. Competition Director and Music Institute faculty member Brenda Huang said, "The Young Artist Division is an important addition to our competition. Emilio del Rosario dedicated his life to the art of teaching and nurturing pianists to the highest of standards. We hope to continue his legacy of excellence by providing the next generation of pianists an opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra and help them realize their musical potential."
--Jill Chukerman, JAC Communications
Denis Matsuev U.S. Recital Appearances January 2012
World Acclaimed Pianist Visits Seattle, Los Angeles and New York City to Perform Repertoire of Schubert, Beethoven, Grieg, and Stravinsky.
In January, 2012, Denis Matsuev returns to the United States as part of a massive world-wide tour reaching Europe, Asia, Israel and beyond. The pianist received critical acclaim for his sold-out Carnegie Hall recital in February of 2010 – an evening about which the New York Times noted, "he superbly offered a primal performance….atmosphere was electric." In May 2011, Matsuev enjoyed another string of successful American solo appearances in Washington DC, San Francisco and Boston.
Matsuev begins the next leg of his U.S. recital tour on January 22ndat Benaroya Hall in Seattle. From there he goes on to Los Angeles to appear at UCLA's Royce Hall on January 24thand finishes the tour at New York City's Carnegie Hall on January 27th. For these engagements, Matsuev's program will include works by Schubert, Beethoven, Grieg and Stravinsky (complete program below).
About Denis Matsuev:
Known for his breathtaking virtuosity and clear artistic identity, prize-winning Russian pianist Denis Matsuev is one of the most sought after pianists on the international concert stage. Since his triumphant victory at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1998, Matsuev has appeared in hundreds of recitals at the most prestigious and legendary concert halls throughout the world including recent performances with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker with Valery Gergiev, The London Symphony Orchestra with Semyon Bychkov and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Matsuev has continually reengaged with such legendary orchestras as Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, appearing with the most prominent conductors on the stage today including Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Temirkanov, and Mariss Jansons.
The U.S. tour of Denis Matsuev is presented by Maestro Artist Management (MAM), a full-service production, touring and promotion company that focuses on presenting international artists in a variety of genres, from classical music and dance to theatre and world music, to audiences in the U.S. For more information about this tour and upcoming performances, visit www.maestroartist.com
Denis Matsuev January 2012 Recital Tour:
January 22 Seattle, WA Benaroya Hall
January 24 Los Angeles, CA Royce Hall
January 27 New York, NY Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium)
Recital Program:
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 14 in A Minor, Op. 143
Beethoven: Sonata in F Minor No. 23, op. 57 ('Appassionata')
Grieg: Piano Sonata in E Minor, Op. 7
Stravinsky: Three movements from the ballet Petrushka (arranged for piano)
--Rebecca Davis Public Relations
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