At 7:30pm on Thursday, February 16, Gil Morgenstern’s celebrated Reflections Series continues the 2011-2012 season in its intimate home, WMP Concert Hall (31 East 28th Street, NYC).
Morgenstern, the series’ violinist and artistic director leads the evening in a program entitled A Trio of Duos. Morgenstern will be joined by acclaimed cellist Darrett Adkins. The program includes Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7; Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello; and Handel’s Passacaglia, arranged by Norwegian violinist Johan Halvorsen.
About the show: "A Trio of Duos reunites Gil Morgenstern and Darrett Adkins, whose recording of duos by Kodály and Ravel shot to the top of the classical charts when it was first released on the Engine Company Records label in 2008."
"The combination of violin and cello, while a constant in chamber music throughout the history of western concert music, did not come into its own as an independent ensemble until the early part of the 20th century. The cello had been used as a continuo instrument in baroque violin sonatas, but those works are not duos in the sense of equal partnership that we now associate with that word. Since Kodály’s groundbreaking duo (1914) established the virtuosic possibilities of this ensemble, a number of composers have fashioned duos for this combination that rank among their most important works. Tonight’s performance will include, in addition to the Kodály Duo and the Ravel Sonata, Passacaglia arranged by the Norwegian violinist Johan Halvorsen from the last movement of Handel's Harpsichord Suite in G Minor."
"The Reflections Series had its debut season at WMP Concert Hall last year. By placing musical works in their respective artistic, historic and social contexts, Morgenstern invites audiences to travel with him behind the scenes into composers' creative processes. Using both existing and original works, and through the collaboration of a superb ensemble of creative and performing artists representing all art forms, Reflections programs present works that both reflect upon one another and invite the audience to reflect anew on universal themes. The 2011-2012 Reflections Series will also be presented in Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, at An Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone, North Carolina, and in various cities throughout Italy, France, and England."
A sneak peek at April’s Reflections Series Concert: SHADES OF RAVEL
Gil Morgenstern, violinist and artistic director
Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at WMP Concert Hall (31 East 28th Street, NYC), 7:30pm
The final concert of the 2011-2012 Reflections Series season explores the colors of Maurice Ravel's musical palette. The program includes music by the jazz pianist Bill Evans who is often considered a direct descendant of the French school that included Ravel and Debussy; Germaine Tailleferre, a student of Ravel's and the only female composer in the group known as Les Six; and Amy Beach, the lone female composer of the group known as the Boston Six. The concert will end with Ravel's iconic Trio for violin, cello and piano.
About Gil Morgenstern: Acclaimed for his artistry and technical brilliance, violinist Gil Morgenstern is devoted to exploring and expanding the possibilities for inventive classical music programming. His vision is to present the audience with a more complete concert experience, meticulously curated from start to finish, by organically integrating music with other artistic disciplines in innovative and unexpected ways.
In addition to his work as artistic director of the Reflections Series, Morgenstern is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of Nine Circles Chamber Theatre, a creative organization dedicated to exploring the collaborative nature of inter-disciplinary performance, and of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, a diverse chamber group specializing in Classical, Romantic and contemporary works of mixed instrumentation.
A violinist with a long history of performing in the world’s great concert halls, Morgenstern’s career has taken him to international venues including Wigmore Hall, London; Cultural Center Concert Hall, Hong Kong; the American Academy, Rome; Salone dei Cinquecento, Florence; El Teatro Sucre, Quito; Arts Centre and State Theatre, Melbourne, Australia. He has also toured the U.S. extensively, performing in recital and as guest soloist with many leading orchestras including the symphonies of St. Louis, Baltimore, Louisville, Indianapolis, Denver, Milwaukee, New Jersey and North Carolina.
