American Classical Orchestra Present Works By 18th Century Composers, Today

American Classical Orchestra on Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 8:00PM at Alice Tully Hall will present a program of works written by some of the greatest composers of the late 18th century during their youth: Mozart, Haydn, and Johann Baptist Vanhal. Works performed will be Haydn Symphony No. 31 in D Major, 'Hornsignal'; Mozart Symphony No. 1 in E Flat Major, K 16, Mozart Piano Concerto No. 4, K. 41 in G Major and Mozart Piano Concerto K. 107, No. 2 in G Major with pianist Audrey Axinn and Vanhal Symphony in d minor. The works of all three composers convey youthful energy, exquisite craftsmanship, and the unmistakable mark of creative genius even at an early age. A respected contemporary of Mozart in Vienna who lived to age 74, Vanhal wrote nearly all of his two hundred works before the age of 30. This concert will be conducted by Thomas Crawford.

PRE - CONCERT LECTURE

Maestro Thomas Crawford will present a Pre-Concert Lecture at 7:00PM on January 17.

QUOTE BY MUSIC DIRECTOR THOMAS CRAWFORD:

"Everyone knows that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy the likes of which the world has never seen since his untimely death in 1791 at the age of 35. But a symphonist at age 8? I contemplate what his doting father Leopold must have thought when his son presented him with a manuscript of his first symphony. 'Vater, heir ist mein erste sinfonia....let's discuss its premiere over milch und cookies'. It's not so hard for me to imagine the wonder of child prodigies, since I have met several of them. Prodigies have an uncanny gift of bypassing the daily disciplines that mortals must follow. They seem to skip years of training. There is a thrilling, and also disturbing, 6th sense from children who already have knowledge that could not have been taught to them by adults. But even in the greatest of these inexplicable gifts, the child composer is still in a very real sense derivative of his predecessors. Mendelssohn, a prodigy, heard other writers and almost instantly assimilated them in immature works that displayed an enormous grasp of technique. But Mozart at 8? His first symphony is not just a parody of a single work by a lesser mind that he happened to hear on his first tour. He already moved on from what others had created, in his first effort. He already made his first stamp of originality. He already experimented with his own ideas, however minimal. There is already expression, individuality, technique, charm, and even wit in the first symphony from a boy who did not yet have his secondary teeth. Similar wonders are found in his very early piano concerti, two of which we perform here. They were played by a boy whos feet did not reach the floor while he sat at the piano.

I chose to add an obscure symphony by Johann Baptist Vanhal. This composer wrote twice as many works as Mozart, most of them within the same number of years that Mozart lived, and then he stopped writing large works. Because he lived to the unusually ripe age of 74, Vanhal's life overlapped all of the titans of music: JS Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. He even played violin in a string quartet with Haydn and Mozart at one point in his long career. But his only compositions of note were written as a young man. These works embodied the passionate 'sturm and drang' period of Austrian literature and music. Vanhal's D Minor Symphony is replete with drive and angst". says Thomas Crawford.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

AUDREY AXINN, Pianist

Hailed by The Washington Post as a "truly admirable pianist," Audrey Axinn has appeared regularly throughout the United States and Europe performing on early and modern keyboard instruments. Critics have lauded her sensitive performances: "Axinn is an artist...her touch is magical and the fluidity of her playing exceptional. Her musical sensibility reminds one of Landowska."

Audrey Axinn is a vibrant and sensitive performer and teacher focused on applying linguistic fluency in the classical musical language to create fresh and compelling interpretations of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Her period instrument performances have included fortepiano recitals at Bargemusic; the Edinburgh International Festival; the Vleeshuis Museum in Antwerp; Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the 92nd Street Y. She has given masterclasses on the fortepiano and performance practice at the Central Conservatory in Beijing; The Curtis Institute of Music; The Juilliard School; The New England Conservatory; the Royal Conservatory in the Hague and Kyung-Won University in South Korea. Ms. Axinn has partnered many wonderful early music artists including Monica Huggett, Myron Lutzke, Nina Stern, Rufus Muller, Jesse Blumberg and Bart van Oort.

As a modern pianist and collaborative artist, Ms. Axinn has performed at major New York venues including Carnegie Hall; Alice Tully Hall; Merkin Concert Hall; the Museum of Modern Art; and the Caramoor Festival. In demand as a guest instructor, she has given masterclasses at Oberlin Conservatory, Beijing Normal University; Lawrence University; Cornell University and Wilfred Laurier University. Ms. Axinn has partnered numerous exceptional performers including Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Fred Sherry, Eugene Fodor, Matt Haimovitz, Bonnie Hampton, Gil Morgenstern and Daniel Heifetz . She has recorded with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra for the Koch International and Newport Classics labels, and was a featured soloist in a recording of Vaughan Williams for BMG. She has been heard in broadcasts on New York's classical music station WQXR and the National Public Radio network, and has been interviewed on the Leonard Lopate and John Schaefer shows on WNYC.

Ms. Axinn currently teaches fortepiano chamber music at The Juilliard School. From 2008 -2015 she was the Assistant Dean at the Mannes College of Music where she remains a member of the collaborative piano major lesson faculty as well as an instructor of courses in collaborative piano, chamber music, fortepiano and piano literature. Ms. Axinn has long trained with piano pedagogue, Zitta Zohar. She holds a Masters degree and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School, as well as an Artists Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music. She earned a Bachelors degree from The Manhattan School of Music.

THOMAS CRAWFORD, Conductor

Artistic Director and Founder of the American Classical Orchestra, Thomas Crawford is a champion of historically accurate performance styles in Baroque, Classical and Early Romantic music.

Mr. Crawford holds a Bachelor of Music in composition and organ performance from Eastman School of Music, where he studied choral and orchestral conducting under Samuel Adler. After graduation, he went on to train with Hugo Fiorato, Conductor of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and to earn an MA in composition from Columbia University.

During the 1980s, Mr. Crawford founded and led two Connecticut orchestras: the Fairfield Orchestra and the period instrument Orchestra of the Old Fairfield Academy. In 1999 Mr. Crawford founded the American Classical Orchestra, bringing along the internationally recognized period musicians already performing in his Connecticut ensembles.

Over the years, Thomas Crawford has attracted top guest artists including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, André Watts, Dawn Upshaw, Richard Goode, Monica Huggett and Vladimir Feltsman; and Mr, Crawford has produced recordings with - among others - the great American pianists Malcolm Bilson and Keith Jarrett.

A passionate activist determined to bring the beauty of period music to a wider audience, Mr. Crawford has been recognized for the orchestra's dynamic music outreach to New York City schoolchildren, and for the lively and informative talks he gives, that precede each ACO concert.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA

American Classical Orchestra, New York's Leading Period Instrument Orchestra, enriches the cultural landscape of the City through inspired performances of 17th, 18th, and 19th century music on the instruments for which it was composed. Sitting in a church, salon or great concert hall, ACO audiences experience music history coming to life, and feel closer to the sound world of composers they love - of the Classical, Baroque and early Romantic periods.

Founded by Artistic Director Thomas Crawford in 1984 as the Old Fairfield Academy in Fairfield, Connecticut, the American Classical Orchestra has made its permanent home in New York City. Since moving to New York in 2005, the ACO has established itself as a leading orchestra in Manhattan, with performances at Alice Tully Hall, St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, David Geffen Hall, the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and more.

Some highlights of the orchestra's past thirty-one years include the Lincoln Center Great Performers Series, a sold-out 25th Anniversary performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, staged performances of Handel's opera Alceste and Haydn's opera L'Isola disabitata at Alice Tully Hall, and internationally acclaimed commercial recordings. The American Classical Orchestra programs pieces ranging from audience favorites, such as Mozart's Symphony No. 40 and Bach's B Minor Mass, to rarely heard gems such as George Philipp Teleman's Der Tag des Gerichts and British composer Cipriani Potter's Symphony No. 10.

During the American Classical Orchestra's 2016-2017 season, the Lincoln Center Series will include performances at Alice Tully Hall, and a premiere performance at David Geffen Hall of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. The Orchestra's new organization of young professionals, the American Classical Orchestra's Cadenza Circle, has scheduled monthly social programs and live performances for New Yorkers under 45 who enjoy classical music.

MISSION STATEMENT

The American Classical Orchestra recreates the sound world of the master composers.

The ACO is devoted to preserving and performing the repertoire of 17th, 18th and 19th century composers. By playing the music on original instruments and using historic performance technique, we attempt to recreate the sounds an audience would have experienced when the music was written and first performed. We pass along skills and appreciation for this practice to future generations through concert performances and educational programs.

Because period instruments were made of different materials, they produce a profoundly different sound from the 20th century instruments used in modern orchestras. Historical instruments, with their softer and more transparent, yet sometimes edgier tone, produce a delicacy in the gentler phrases and a pungent bite in the stronger passages. Using period instruments, the ACO can, in the 21st century, bring audiences closer to the musical genius of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and other master composers.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets can be purchased on www.aconyc.org, lincolncenter.org or by calling Center Charge (212-721-6500), by calling the Alice Tully Hall Box Office(212-671-4050) or in person at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office.

$95 Prime I, $75 Prime II, $55 Standard I, $35 Standard II and $15 Student (only at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office with proper student ID).

WEBSITE

www.americanclassicalorchestra.org

PRESS CONTACT

Dan Dutcher PUBLIC RELATIONS, Dan Dutcher, 917- 566 -8413, dan@dandutcherpr.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017

7:00 PM PRE-CONCERT LECTURE

8:00 PM CONCERT

Thomas Crawford, conductor

Alice Tully Hall

Haydn -Symphony No. 31 in D Major, 'Hornsignal'

Mozart - Symphony No. 1 in E Flat Major, K 16

Mozart -Piano Concerto No. 4, K. 41 in G Major

Mozart -Piano Concerto K. 107, No. 2 in G Major

Audrey Axinn, piano

Vanhal - Symphony in d minor

American Classical Orchestra

Audrey Axinn, Pianist