how Did Pablo Villegas Win the 2014 Guitar Contestats Award

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1 The Classical Recording Foundation THIRTEENTH ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY MONDAY, NOVEMER 24, 2014 WEILL RECITAL HALL AT CARNEGIE HALL NEW YORK CITY

2 The Classical Recording Foundation THIRTEENTH ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall Monday, November 24, 2014, 7:30 PM 2014 FOUNDATION AWARDS 2014 Foundation Award Pablo Villegas 2014 Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award Brian Zeger 2014 Composer of the Year Award Paul Lansky 2014 Young Artist Award Paul Huang

3 CONCERT AND PRESENTATION OF 2014 AWARD WINNERS Opening Remarks Adam Abeshouse, President of The Classical Recording Foundation Talking Guitars... Paul Lansky I. Let s Talk II. Fast Talk Jiyeon Kim, guitar and Hao Yang, guitar Tango en Skaï... R. Dyens Un sueño en la floresta... A. Barrios-Mangoré Alma Llanera... P. Elías-Gutiérrez Pablo Villegas, guitar Presentation of the Foundation Award to Pablo Villegas David Starobin, Professor of Guitar, Manahttan School of Music and Curtis Institute of Music L Invitation au voyage... Duparc/Baudelaire Presentation of the Composer of the Year Award to Paul Lansky David Starobin Selections from the Paul Huang debut solo album... Various I. Mazurka (Aleksander Zarzycki) II. Valse Trise (Franz von Vecsey) III. Romanza Andaluza (Pablo de Sarasate) IV. Hungarian Dance No. 2 (Johannes Brahms) Paul Huang, violin and Jessica Xylina Osborne, piano Presentation of the Young Artist Award to Paul Huang Susan Wadsworth, Director of Young Concert Artists Le Balcon... Debussy/Baudelaire Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano, and Brian Zeger, piano Presentation of the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award to Brian Zeger Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean of The Juilliard School Closing Remarks Adam Abeshouse INTERMISSION 2 3

4 CLASSICAL RECORDING FOUNDATION AWARD WINNERS 2014 PABLO VILLEGAS Pablo Villegas is hailed by critics as one of the world s leading classical guitarists and celebrated as a natural ambassador of Spanish culture with performances in more than 40 countries since his auspicious debut with the New York Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at Avery Fisher Hall. His beautifully rounded guitar tone and soulful rendition (The New York Times) makes him one of the most soughtafter soloists by today s foremost orchestras, conductors and festivals. A champion and supporter of new repertoire for guitar, he performed the world premiere of Rounds, the first guitar piece to have been written by five-time Academy Award-winning composer John Williams. Pablo Villegas has performed in the presence of the Dalai Lama as well as the Royal Family of Spain and has the honor of being an Ambassador to Vivanco Foundation and its museum of wine culture in Spain, considered the world s best by UNESCO. Performance highlights for the 2014/2015 season include engagements with the Pittsburgh Symphony, National Orchestra of Spain, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and the Rheingau Music Festival. Known for his outreach programs, Villegas is the founder of The Music Without Borders Legacy, a program sponsored by Caixa Bank that seeks to bridge communities across cultural, social, and political borders for the benefit of children and youth, which has served more than 15,000 children. THE FOUNDATION AWARD The Foundation Award to Pablo Villegas went to underwrite his new disc, entitled Americano. The recording is an exploration of the rich and colorful tradition of the guitar in the American continents. The repertoire combines the emotions of the sensual Brazilian music, the nostalgic tango, the vivid Venezuelan rhythms, the humanity of John Williams, and the exciting and colorful American bluegrass. This disc will be released in

5 CLASSICAL RECORDING FOUNDATION AWARD WINNERS 2014 BRIAN ZEGER THE SAMUEL SANDERS COLLABORATIVE ARTIST AWARD Widely recognized as one of today s leading collaborative pianists, Brian Zeger has performed with many of the world s greatest singers including Marilyn Horne, Deborah Voigt, Anna Netrebko, Susan Graham, René Pape, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Piotr Beczala, Bryn Terfel, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves and Adrianne Pieczonka in an extensive concert career has taken him to the premiere concert halls throughout the United States and abroad. His current season has included a recital tour with Deborah Voigt, a collaboration with Susan Graham at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, recitals at the new Pace University vocal recital series, as part of the Marilyn Horne Foundation: The Song Continues festival at Carnegie Hall and at the Washington Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center. Upcoming concerts include a recital as part of the Bard Music Festival s Schubert and his World series with tenor Paul Appleby, a recital at the Schubertiade Festival with Adrianne Pieczonka, further recitals with Ms. Voigt and the Marilyn Horne Birthday Gala at Carnegie Hall with Ms. Graham. Mr. Zeger s critical essays and other writings have appeared in Opera News, The Yale Review and Chamber Music magazine. He has made frequent appearances on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts both on the opera quiz and as intermission host and performer and has the distinction of creating, narrating and performing in five intermission features devoted to art song, a first in the long history of the Met broadcasts. He has also made numerous musical appearances on livestreamed broadcasts from WQXR s The Greene Space. He has adjudicated many prominent competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Concert Artists Guild auditions, the Walter W. Naumberg Vocal Competition and Richard Tucker Music Foundation Auditions. Brian Zeger is the embodiment of the Samuel Sanders award: he improves his concertizing partners through collaboration. In addition, Mr. Zeger is continuing Mr.Sander s legacy as a Juilliard professor. Mr. Zeger is a true world-class artist. The Award went to underwrite the disc Dear Theo, comprised of 3 song cycles by Ben Moore featuring Paul Appleby, Susanna Phillips and Brett Polegato, released May 2014 by Delos. 6 ABOUT THIS AWARD The Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award commemorates Samuel Sanders, a consummate chamber musician and beloved teacher. Mr. Sanders was the recital partner of choice to many instrumentalists and singers including Itzhak Perlman, Mstislav Rostropovich, Robert White, and Paula Robison. Mr. Sanders had always preferred the term collaborator to accompanist, and so embodied the essence of chamber music in all of his performances. He helped each artist find his or her voice, always achieving the right balance between leading and following, anticipation and support. His range of tonal color was inspiring, without demanding the spotlight and always in service to the music. The Foundation has established this award in his honor and consequently it is reserved for chamber music of the highest caliber. 7

6 CLASSICAL RECORDING FOUNDATION AWARD WINNERS 2014 PAUL LANSKY From his pioneering work in computer music through his fresh and engaging instrumental compositions of the past fifteen years, Paul Lansky is regarded as a leading voice in contemporary American music. Until the mid-1990s, most of Lansky s work was in the computer music genre, for which he was honored in 2002 with a lifetime achievement award by SEAMUS (the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States). Lansky s recent instrumental music eschews attempts to break new ground, relying instead on fresh approaches to tonality and harmony. Born in New York City in 1944, Lansky attended Queens College, studying composition with George Perle and Hugo Weisgall. He later attended Princeton University, where he worked with Milton Babbitt and Earl Kim. Lansky was appointed to the Princeton faculty in 1969, and 45 years later, in 2014, retired as Princeton's William Shubael Conant Professor of Music. Paul Lansky has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim, Koussevitsky and Fromm Foundations, Lila Wallace/Reader s Digest, ASCAP and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2000 he was the subject of a documentary film My Cinema for the Ears. His music is well represented on recording including a dozen CDs on the Bridge Records label. Mr. Lansky is currently completing a woodwind quintet, commissioned by the Library of Congress and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. THE COMPOSER OF THE YEAR AWARD The Composer of the Year Award went to partially underwrite a new disc of Lansky s works entitled Contemplating Weather, encompassing works for piano, percussion and choir. The disc will be released March 2015 on the Bridge Records label. PERFORMING TONIGHT Jiyeon Kim, from Seoul, South Korea, has appeared on NPR s From the Top and has performed at the Great Mountains International Music Festival and School. She recently performed a solo recital at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and shortly after was invited as a guest artist for the Cleveland Institute of Music s Classical Guitar Weekend. As concerto soloist, she made her solo debut with the Kansas City Symphony in the season. Jiyeon entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2011, becoming one of the first two guitarists accepted in Curtis s distinguished history. She is now completing her studies at Curtis with renowned guitarists David Starobin and Jason Vieaux. Ms. Kim is the John J. Medveckis Annual Fellow at Curtis. Hao Yang, from Beijing, China, began playing guitar at the age of seven and was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music Middle School at the age of nine. She has studied with Zhi Chen, Yiping Yu, Qiang Xu and Yi Chen. She performed at Beijing International Guitar Festival in 2008 and the Tianjin International Guitar Festival in Ms. Yang was the first prize winner in the 7th Andres Segovia International Guitar Competition (Germany) Junior Division in 2012, and she won first place in the 2014 Division II Columbus State University Guitar Competition. Hao Yang entered the Curtis Institute of Music this year, becoming at age 14, the youngest student admitted to Curtis's guitar program. She studies at Curtis with renowned guitarists David Starobin and Jason Vieaux. Ms.Yang is the Nina von Maltzahn Annual Fellow at Curtis. 8 9

7 CLASSICAL RECORDING FOUNDATION AWARD WINNERS 2014 PAUL HUANG Hailed by the Washington Post as an artist with the goods for a significant career and praised by The Strad for his stylish and polished playing, Taiwanese-American violinist Paul Huang makes his Lincoln Center recital debut on the Great Performers series this season, and performs concertos, recitals, chamber music, and educational outreach around the country. As a concerto soloist, he performs the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 at the Brevard Music Festival, Vivaldi s The Four Seasons at Crested Butte Music Festival, the Vaughan Williams Violin Concerto in D minor with the Fairfax Symphony, and the Walton Concerto with the Symphony at WKU. He performs recitals at University of Georgia, the Lied Center of Kansas, the Ocean Grove Summer Stars Series, and the Paramount Theatre. He has also been re-engaged to perform with Camerata Pacifica, and gives duo recitals with pianist Louis Schwizgebel at Rockefeller University, Tannery Pond Concerts, the Macomb Center of the Performing Arts, and the Morgan Library and Museum. Mr. Huang has been selected as a member of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center s CMS Two program for Winner of the 2011 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and recipient of YCA s 2012 Helen Armstrong Violin Fellowship, Mr. Huang made critically acclaimed recital debuts in the Young Concert Artists Series in New York at Merkin Hall and in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. Other honors include First Prize at the 2009 International Violin Competition Sion-Valais in Switzerland, the 2009 Chi-Mei Cultural Foundation Arts Award for Taiwan s Most Promising Young Artists, the 2008 Juilliard Achievement Award, and the 2013 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant. THE YOUNG ARTISTS AWARD The Young Artist Award to Paul Huang went to underwrite his debut solo album. Mr. Huang has artistic maturity well beyond his years and plays with an old soul understanding of the violin repertoire. He has a rich, satisfying sound and musical integrity at every step of the process, both performing and recording. The recording will be released in early PERFORMING WITH MR. HUANG Hailed by the Washington Post as a pianist with a refreshing mellowness and poetic touch after her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, Jessica Xylina Osborne is one of the most intensely expressive, passionate artists of her generation. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, including performances in such venues as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center s Terrace Theater and Concert Hall, and the Seoul Arts Center. Radio broadcasts include NPR s Performance Today, WQXR in New York, WGMS in Washington D.C., and KUHF in Houston. Jessica Osborne has collaborated with some of the world s most distinguished performing musicians, including Miriam Fried and Felicia Moye, and with such rising stars as Benjamin Beilman, Paul Huang, and Yura Lee. As a founding member of Trio Dumka, Ms. Osborne has toured Western Europe, including performances in Venasque, Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Barcelona. An active proponent of new music, Jessica Osborne is a frequent collaborator with composers including Martin Bresnick and Christopher Theofanidis, and has premiered works by Matthew Barnson, Ted Hearne, and Hannah Lash. She recently performed with members of Opera Moderne at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, receiving praise from the New York Times, and is a frequent collaborator in the renowned New Music New Haven series

8 THE FOUNDATION MISSION AND HISTORY The Classical Recording Foundation (CRF) was formed to address the growing needs of classical musicians who have found it increasingly difficult to record their musical visions. It was founded by Adam Abeshouse, a Grammy-winning classical producer and engineer, whose passion in life is recording classical music of all periods and working with artists to achieve their ultimate performance on CD. From the outset, Mr. Abeshouse believed that the economic climate for most classical recording artists was bleak, and therefore many great projects that deserved to be preserved would not be recorded. Thus, it became the Foundation s mission to support classical music recording philanthropically, following the same model as most live performance organizations. The concept for the Classical Recording Foundation was formally launched in 2001 when Mr. Abeshouse was asked to produce a CD for the soprano Benita Valente and the Juilliard String Quartet. Ms. Valente was a year away from retiring, and she wanted to record several wonderful works by Ginastera, Harbison, and Wernick, which were written specifically for her and the Juilliard Quartet. Fortunately, the recording sessions happened, and in 2007, the Classical Recording Foundation supplied the funds for editing and mastering these works, and arranged for distribution. Because it was quite difficult to raise the funds necessary to make those three days of recording possible, it became obvious to Mr. Abeshouse that a philanthropic organization whose primary goal was to support recordings was critical if many more memorable recordings were to be produced. A number of people were involved in taking this original Foundation goal to fruition, and are responsible for the success it has enjoyed to date. Samuel Sanders was committed early on to the concept and suggested that Susan Rose be invited to nurture the idea. Elizabeth Edersheim also saw the power and potential of developing the idea and has worked tirelessly to make it a reality. Years of close friendship with Rob Jones have helped shape the Foundation and its mission. The Foundation is also grateful for the support, guidance, and enthusiasm of Dr. Julius Jacobson and Susan Rothwell. From the Foundation s early success, it was clear that for classical artists, the benefits of recording go beyond the physical product. Recording sessions provide artists with the time to reflect, analyze, and refine their performance and interpretation, and are therefore an important vehicle for artistic growth. The input of a trusted producer also adds benefit to this process. Another important byproduct of these recording sessions is the 12 ability to document a performer s life. Thus, the Foundation s mission is to provide artists and composers with an opportunity to create and promote classical recordings in a manner that captures ideal performances performances that define our era. The need for such a foundation is clear. Fewer and fewer classical artists have the opportunity to record their work in optimum conditions. Most recording companies, in response to the economic realities and fundamental difficulties with distributing classical recordings, have reduced their classical rosters. The Foundation believes the inherent value of the recording, both to the public and the artist, is not reflected by current market conditions, and thus must be supported through the Foundation s efforts. Since CRF s inception, it has released numerous single- and multi-cd sets to critical acclaim. It has presented eleven annual award ceremonies at Carnegie Hall. In addition, CRF has begun to help in the restoration of the landmark live recordings from the archives of the Library of Congress by supporting Bridge Records in that effort marked the first year of a Library of Congress collaboration with a remarkable disc featuring Samuel Barber and Leontyne Price, which garnered a Billboard Top 10 of the Year distinction. CRF received two grants from the Copland Fund for ongoing projects and one grant from the NEA to help support Bridge Records George Crumb Film/DVD. CRF was very pleased to be part of this historic document of this important composer s life. CRF s award winners continue to thrive. Susanna Phillips, CRF 2011 Young Artist of the Year, sang the starring role of Fiordiligi in the Metropolitan Opera s productions of Così Fan Tutte, and will was featured in the Met s Live in HD of that production in April The Claremont Trio, 2004 Samuel Sanders award-winners, recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto at Skywalker Studios with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. This exciting disc was released in December 2012 on Bridge Records. Producer Adam Abeshouse won an Echo Award for music Production, and received a Palm D Or nomination for the DVD production of The Little Mermaid featuring the music of Lera Auerbach performed by the San Francisco Ballet, Martin West, conducting. (continued) 13

9 THE FOUNDATION MISSION AND HISTORY (continued) In 2012, CRF supported the continuing series of 2003 Composer of the Year George Crumb -- recordings lovingly produced by David Starobin, engineered by Adam Abeshouse, to be released on Bridge Records. In the last 10 years, George Crumb has used American themes, creating a series of folk songs settings called American Songbooks, most recently, Voices from the Heartland. The piece featured soprano Ann Crumb, the composer's daughter, and Grammy-nominee baritone Patrick Mason along with pianist Marcantonio Barone and percussionists William Kerrigan, David Nelson, Brenda Weckerly and Greg Giannascoli. James Freeman conducted. These achievements illustrate CRF s commitment to its artists to provide the best possible recording environment to help them achieve the best possible results, wonderful performances that truly reflect the artists vision of the works recorded. Despite economic pressures, CRF has held true to this mission and will continue to do so. The Foundation wishes to thank you for attending its Annual Awards Ceremony as it honors not only this year s award recipients, but also those who have helped to guide it and ensure its future success. Mission Statement To provide great performing artists and composers with an opportunity to record, release, and promote new classical recordings in a manner that captures ideal performances that define our era, by providing established artists with awards and new artists with grants. Foundation Catalogue Please visit our website for a complete history of all awards, a total of 55 recordings to-date

10 THE FOUNDATION BOARD Adam Abeshouse, President Robert W. Jones Dr. Julius H. Jacobson II, MD Neil Yelsey Dimitri Sogoloff SPECIAL THANKS Friends and Advisors Christopher Beach David Bury Mario Davidovksy Lawrence Dutton Edward Houser Christina Jensen Susan Rose Thomas Shepard Thanks to Board Members Ed Court Silas Brown Paul Cox Dew Graphics Andy Ryder David and Becky Starobin Scott Starrett Laura Emert, Whitmore Group Please visit our website for Foundation news and events: 16