MAY 31, 2014, AT MERKIN CONCERT HALL: VERY YOUNG COMPOSERS OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC: THE CONTINUUM

Transcription

1 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) ; National Press Representative: Julia Kirchhausen (917) ; MAY 31, 2014, AT MERKIN CONCERT HALL: VERY YOUNG COMPOSERS OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC: THE CONTINUUM NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC MUSICIANS To Perform Works By Very Young Composers of the New York Philharmonic As part of the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, the New York Philharmonic will present Very Young Composers of the New York Philharmonic: The Continuum, a program that highlights the youngest composers of tomorrow through a performance of chamber works written by participants in the Philharmonic s Very Young Composers (VYC) and Composer s Bridge programs performed by the Orchestra s musicians, May 31, 2014, at Merkin Concert Hall. Conducted by Michael Adelson, featuring soprano Lucy Shelton, and co-hosted by Young Composers Advocate Jon Deak and New York Philharmonic Vice President, Education, Theodore Wiprud, the concert will showcase the breadth and depth of music created by these New York City area elementary and middle school students. The concert presents music by elementary, middle school, high school, and Teaching Artist composers participating in the Philharmonic s extensive education programs. The program will include works by middle-school student Milo Poniewozik (United States, b. 2001), who was featured on NPR for his composition The Globetrotter, which the New York Philharmonic performed at a School Day Concert in May 2012; Daniel Acosta (Venezuela, b. 2003), a member of the Jóvenes Compositores de Venezuela, a VYC-inspired program associated with Venezuela s El Sistema youth orchestra network; Farah Taslima (Bangladesh, b. 1995), matriculating at Columbia University in September, whose piece Serenity was played by Philharmonic and North Korean musicians on the Philharmonic s historic visit to Pyongyang, DPRK, in 2008; and Very Young Composers Teaching Artist Richard Carrick (France, b. 1971, now a U.S. resident), whose work Duo Flow was performed by Philharmonic violinist

2 2 Kuan Cheng Lu and cellist Eric Bartlett at a New York Philharmonic Ensembles concert in October Theodore Wiprud, New York Philharmonic Vice President, Education, said: An extraordinary community of composers is evolving through the Philharmonic s Very Young Composers program, and being part of the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is bound to have a big impact on these emerging voices. Since the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is an exhibition of what is happening today in music, it is only right that we also include a concert that points to what will be happening tomorrow. The New York Philharmonic s Very Young Composers program created by Young Composers Advocate Jon Deak, a noted composer and former Associate Principal Bass enables public school students with or without a musical background to compose music that will be performed by Philharmonic musicians. Graduates of the Very Young Composers program may join the Composer s Bridge program in middle school. High school age composers often return to assist Teaching Artists, who work with the younger students. In Very Young Composers, students make every compositional decision, including orchestration. Each season, more than 100 new works by Very Young Composers are premiered by ensembles of Philharmonic musicians, or by the full Orchestra at the Philharmonic s School Day Concerts. At least eight foreign countries have established their own VYC-inspired programs. Jon Deak said: It will be so exciting to be able to hear a cross-section of the entire continuum of the Very Young Composers program on the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, from grade schoolers through adults. Young people empowered to express themselves musically are giving us a glimpse of the future. A flagship project of the New York Philharmonic envisioned by Music Director Alan Gilbert, the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is a kaleidoscopic exploration of today s music showcasing an array of curatorial voices through concerts presented with cultural partners throughout New York City. Modeled on the great visual art biennials, the inaugural NY PHIL BIENNIAL, taking place May 28 June 7, 2014, brings the public together with a diverse roster of more than 50 composers, ranging from elementary school students to icons, for concerts of symphonies, concertos, staged opera, chamber music, and solo works, many of which will be premieres. Meet-up events, lectures and panel discussions, and online interactivity are planned to encourage audience members to directly engage with composers, scholars, and artists. The 2014 NY PHIL BIENNIAL partners include 92nd Street Y, The Museum of Modern Art, Orchestra of St. Luke s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Juilliard School, Gotham Chamber Opera, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Bang on a Can, American Composers Orchestra, and Kaufman Music Center s Special Music School High School. For complete information about the 2014 NY PHIL BIENNIAL, see press release. Artists Conductor, composer, writer, and educator Michael Adelson conducted his first major American orchestra in 1992 when he led the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has conducted many orchestras and opera companies including the New York and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, and the Stockholm Folkopera. Deeply committed to modern music, Mr.

3 3 Adelson was conductor of the Auros Group for New Music, and frequently guest conducts other major new-music ensembles. He has led world premieres on three continents (including at the Venice Biennale), and his own works have been performed worldwide. As an educator, Mr. Adelson teaches conducting, has led the New York Philharmonic s Young People s Concerts, and is in demand internationally as a conductor and clinician. He teaches at the Mannes College of Music, regularly guest conducts at the Cleveland Institute of Music, taught chamber music at Helsinki University and master classes at the Accademia di Musica in Sassari, and has conducted at Harvard, Columbia, and Brandeis universities. He also lectures widely on diverse subjects such as mathematics and music, great historical cities as centers of culture, and modern art. Currently he is writing a book for non-musicians on the art of conducting. Theodore Wiprud, Vice President, Education, The Sue B. Mercy Chair, has directed the Education Department of the New York Philharmonic since The Philharmonic s education programs include the historic Young People s Concerts (which he hosts), Very Young People s Concerts, School Partnership Program (one of the largest in-school programs among U.S. orchestras), Very Young Composers, adult education programs, and many special projects. Mr. Wiprud has also created innovative programs as director of education and community engagement at the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra; served as associate director of The Commission Project; and assisted the Orchestra of St. Luke s on its education programs. He has worked as a teaching artist and resident composer in a number of New York City schools. From 1990 to 1997, he directed national grant-making programs at Meet the Composer. Prior to that position, he taught at and directed the music department for Walnut Hill School, a pre-professional arts boarding school near Boston. Mr. Wiprud is also an active composer, whose Violin Concerto (Katrina) was recently released on Champs Hill Records. His music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and voice is published by Allemar Music. Theodore Wiprud holds degrees from Harvard and Boston Universities and studied at Cambridge University as a visiting scholar. Jon Deak is the Young Composer Advocate of the New York Philharmonic, and under his leadership the full Orchestra has given 86 World Premieres of works written and orchestrated by children under the age of 13. No other orchestra in the world can match this level of support for the creativity of children. In 1995 he founded the Very Young Composers (VYC) at the New York Philharmonic, a national, award-winning program that has since gone expended to be international in scope. In it public school children aged 9 13 have completely composed and orchestrated their own music for the New York Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, and other ensembles across the country and on four continents. Also a prominent instrumentalist, Mr. Deak was the Associate Principal Bassist of the New York Philharmonic for many years. As a composer, he has written more than 300 works, with his music being played by orchestras such as the Chicago and National Symphony Orchestras and the New York Philharmonic. His Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in His music can also be heard on several television series and numerous recordings. Soprano Lucy Shelton is the winner of two Naumburg Awards for chamber music and solo singing. She premiered Grisey s L Icone paradoxiale with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; sang

4 4 Boulez s Le Visage nuptial under the composer s direction in Los Angeles, Chicago, London, and Paris; appeared in London, Vienna, and Berlin with György Kurtág s The Sayings of Peter Bornemisza (with pianist András Schiff); made her Aldeburgh Festival debut in the premiere of Alexander Goehr s Sing, Ariel; and recently performed Carter s What Are Years for the New York City memorial tribute concert. Ms. Shelton has specialized in theatrical works, including Berio s Passaggio (with the Ensemble InterContemporain), Tippett s The Midsummer Marriage (for Thames Television), Dallapiccola s Il Prigioniero (her BBC Proms debut), Bernard Rands s Canti Lunatici, and staged performances of Schoenberg s Pierrot Lunaire (with Da Camera of Houston and eighth blackbird). As a collaborative artist, she has frequently performed chamber music at festivals such as Tanglewood, Ojai, Lincoln Center, Santa Fe, Marlboro, Aspen, Salzburg, Kuhmo, Aldeburgh, and the BBC Proms. Her extensive discography on the Nonesuch, Deutsche Grammophon, Koch International, NMC, Bridge, Albany, and Innova labels includes works by Adolphe, Albert, Baley, Benson, Carter, Crawford Seeger, Del Tredici, Druckman, Karchin, Kim, Knussen, LeBaron, Messiaen, Rands, Ruders, Schoenberg, Schwantner, Stravinsky, Wuorinen, Yannatos, and Ung. Ms. Shelton has taught at Third Street Settlement, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Britten-Pears School. She joined the artist faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center in 1996, and in 2007 joined the voice faculty for Manhattan s Contemporary Performance Program. In recognition of her outstanding career, Lucy Shelton has received two honorary doctorate degrees: in 2003 from Pomona College and in 2013 from The Boston Conservatory. Credit Suisse is the Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic. Major support for the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is provided by The Francis Goelet Fund, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, and The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation. Very Young Composers is sponsored, in part, by The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund. Additional support provided by the Ethel K. & Sanford L. Solender Memorial Music Fund of UJA-Federation. The New York Philharmonic gratefully acknowledges the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and the League of American Orchestras for their generous support of the May 31 performance of works by Very Young Composers of the New York Philharmonic. Classical FM WQXR is the Radio Home of the New York Philharmonic. Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

5 5 Tickets Tickets for this performance are free. Biennial Passes are $95 each and are available by calling (212) Select NY PHIL BIENNIAL tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) , 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic s Customer Relations Department at (212) Ticket prices subject to change. For press tickets, call Lanore Carr in the New York Philharmonic Marketing and Communications Department at (212) , or her at carrl@nyphil.org. For more information about all NY PHIL BIENNIAL events, visit nyphil.org/biennial.

6 6 VERY YOUNG COMPOSERS OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC: THE CONTINUUM A Presentation of the New York Philharmonic Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center 129 West 67th Street Saturday, May 31, 2014, 11:00 a.m. Michael Adelson, conductor Lucy Shelton, soprano Jazz Improvisation Group Eric Poretsky, Ethan Cohn, Jack Gulielmetti, Will Healy, and Nick Chomowicz New York Philharmonic Musicians Jon Deak, co-host Theodore Wiprud, co-host Works by students and Teaching Artists in the New York Philharmonic s Very Young Composers and Bridge Programs and the Jovenes Compositores de Venezuela: Daniel ACOSTA, Jake O BRIEN, Samantha DARRIS, Elli CHOI, Milo PONIEWOZIK, Farah TASLIMA, Julian GALESI, Richard CARRICK, David WALLACE, Daniel FELSENFELD ALL PROGRAMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE # # # Photography is available for the NY PHIL BIENNIAL at nyphil.org/newsroom/1314/biennial, or by contacting the Communications Department at (212) ; PR@nyphil.org.