Organist Nancianne Parrella Presents Organ Plus! Recital 3/16

On Wednesday, March 16, 2011, at 7:30 PM, organist Nancianne Parrella is joined by Jorge Ávila (violin), Victoria Drake (harp) and Arthur Fiacco (cello) in a program of original works and transcriptions for various combinations of this unique instrumentation. The program begins with Antonio Vivaldi's Sonata No. 6 for Violoncello and Basso Continuo, RV46, using the cello, portative organ and harp, and Concerto No. 2 in A Minor for Two Organs, here with harp and organ, by Vivaldi's contemporary Antonio Soler. Violin and cello are featured in Three Duets of Rheinhold Glière. The cello and harp get respective solo turns with the organ in the Scherzo from Ludwig van Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major and Aria from Suite for Harp and Organ by Louie White. Harp and organ will serve as the orchestra in a transcription of Ernest Chausson's Poème, Op. 25, with solo violin. Sarabande from Josef Rheinberger's Suite for Violin, Cello and Organ, Op. 149, and two solo organ selections-Hymne d'Actions de graces (Te Deum) by Jean Langlais and the US premiere of Sounding Heaven and Earth by Cecilia McDowall round out the program.

All St. Ignatius recitals on the N.P. Mander organ are enhanced by the presence of a large-screen video projection unit. Audience members are invited to a tour and demonstration of the organ following the recital.

All concerts take place at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Avenue at 84th Street, New York City, easily reached via the 4/5/6 subway lines or buses on Madison, Lexington, and Fifth Avenues, and on 86th Street. The church is accessible to the physically challenged.

Choral and organ series subscriptions are available at a savings of up to 15%. Single tickets for all concerts are also available. Concert information and tickets are available by calling the concert information line at 212-288-2520 and through Sacred Music in a Sacred Space's website at www.smssconcerts.org. Email inquiries may also be sent to music@saintignatiusloyola.org. Cash, checks and all major credit cards are accepted.

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola
980 Park Avenue at 84th Street, New York, NY 10028
212-288-2520 · music@saintignatiusloyola.org
ª www.smssconcerts.org ª

The 2010-2011 Sacred Music in a Sacred Space Concert Season

The Mander Organ Recital Series

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 7:30 PM

Organ Plus! NANCIANNE PARRELLA, ORGAN
with
Jorge Ávila, violin
Victoria Drake, harp
Arthur Fiacco, cello

VIVALDI: Sonata No. 6 for Violoncello and Basso Continuo, RV 46 (cello, harp and organ)
SOLER: Concerto No. 2 in A Minor for Two Organs (harp and organ)
GLIÈRE: Three Duets from Opus 39 (violin and cello)
LANGLAIS: Hymne d'Actions de graces (Te Deum) (organ)
CHAUSSON: Poème, Op. 25 (violin, harp and organ)
BEETHOVEN: Scherzo, from Sonata for Cello in A Major, Op. 69 (cello, harp and organ)
WHITE: Aria, from Suite for Harp and Organ
RHEINBERGER: Suite for Violin, Cello and Organ, Op. 149
MCDOWALL: Sounding Heaven and Earth (US premiere) (organ)

All general seating: $20 or $15 (students & seniors)
To order: www.smssconcerts.org (no fee) or 212-288-2520

Program subject to change.

Nancianne Parrella is Associate Organist of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, where she works closely with director Kent Tritle in the Church's extensive liturgical music program and is featured frequently on the concert series, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space. During the 2009-2010 season she was organist for the November 11 SMSS concert and she played a pre-concert recital of organ works of Purcell, Howells, and Eben. Later in the season, she headlined an Organ Plus! recital with Arthur Fiacco, cello; Victoria Drake, harp; and Jorge Avila, violin.

Ms. Parrella's signature Organ Plus! recitals, which demonstrate the versatility of the organ with various combinations of instruments, have become audience favorites. In addition to performances at St. Ignatius Loyola, she has brought Organ Plus! to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, NJ; New York's Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church; Calvary Church, Summit, NJ; and at St. Agnes Cathedral, Rockville Center, NY. Ms. Parrella has also been featured with Mr. Fiacco at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Organ Series in Charleston, SC.

Continuing her active performance career, in the spring of 2009, Nancianne Parrella was one of two organists with the New York Philharmonic for Music Director Lorin Maazel's farewell concerts of the Britten War Requiem, and in July she performed on the prestigious Methuen Memorial Music Hall 2009 Organ Recital Series in Massachusetts.
In the summer of 2008, the first Gettysburg Festival in Pennsylvania invited Nancianne Parrella to be Artistic Director of the Interlude Concerts, a chamber music series based on the popular intermezzo series she introduced to the Spoleto Festival USA in the 1970s. During the 2008-2009 season she performed recitals at All Saint' Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, Texas, and at the Princeton University Chapel. She was part of the American Guild of Organists' celebration of the International Year of the Organ, both in New York City and as soloist with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Symphony Orchestra, where she performed the Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani and Stephen Paulus's Concerto for Organ, Timpani, Percussion, and Strings.

In 2007, Ms Parrella performed the Paulus concerto for the New York City Regional Convention of the AGO. Other notable recent performances have been with both Musica Sacra and the Oratorio Society of New York conducted by Kent Tritle; with Voices of Ascension under Dennis Keene; with the Choir of Trinity Church, Wall Street; and with the Women's Ensemble AMUSE. At Spoleto Festival USA, she played the Poulenc Concerto and Julian Wachner's Cymbale, of which the Charleston Post and Courier reported that "...Nancianne Parrella as featured soloist took charge of Mr. Wachner's vigorous complexity with gusto and aggressive control."

Among America's preeminent choral accompanists, Nancianne Parrella is an Emeritus Faculty member of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Princeton, NJ, where she was accompanist and assistant director of the famed Westminster Choir and Symphonic Choir, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt. She toured and recorded extensively with Westminster Choir and can be heard on their most recent CD Heaven to Earth, released by AVIE.

Ms. Parrella was long associated with America's pioneering choral conductor, Robert Shaw, with whom she toured and recorded in the U.S., France, and Brazil. She has also collaborated with noted conductors: Kurt Masur, Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic; Wolfgang Sawallisch and The Philadelphia Orchestra; Zdenek Macal and Neeme Järvi and the New Jersey Symphony; and James Bagwell and Louis Langreé in New York's Mostly Mozart Festival.

Previous church music collaborations include with Frederick Grimes at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New York City, and its Bach Vespers, and with John Bertalot at Trinity Church, Princeton, NJ. She was also for many seasons organist for the Bethlehem Bach Festival, directed by Greg Funfgeld, and co-director with William Trego of the renowned Princeton High School Choir.
Nancianne Parrella has recorded on the MSR, AMDG, AVIE, Chesky, Delos, Gothic, Dorian, Telarc and Teldec labels. The American Organist magazine hailed her CD Les Corps Glorieux, performed with cellist Arthur Fiacco and harpist Victoria Drake as one that "...exudes a spirit of lovely serenity...," and her Jubilations, recorded with St. Ignatius Brass as "...sweeping, dramatic and awe inspiring..." She is featured in two remarkable DVDs: The Organistas and Creating the Stradivarius of Organs, which reveal the development of the King of Instruments and the design and installation of the N.P. Mander Organ at St. Ignatius Loyola, both released by Pheasant Eye Productions.
Jorge Ávila has won attention as an outstanding young violinist through numerous appearances as a soloist, recitalist, concertmaster, and chamber musician. A recipient of numerous awards and honors, Jorge received his resident status in the United States under the "Extraordinary Talent" category. He was also awarded first prize at the 2001 Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Competition.

Hailed as "a strong violinist" by the New York Times after his performance as a soloist and concertmaster in The Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Haydn Symphonia concertante; Jorge has also performed as a soloist with orchestras in Europe, the U.S., Central and South America. In the New York City area, he has appeared as a soloist with the Colonial Symphony, Riverside Orchestra, Hofstra Symphony, New Amsterdam Symphony, City Island Chamber Orchestra, and The Bronx Arts Ensemble.

Jorge has appeared as concertmaster with numerous groups in the tri-state area, including the Stamford Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Westfield Symphony, Oratorio Society, Musica Sacra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, St. Patrick's Cathedral Orchestra, Grace Church Orchestra, Gotham Opera, National Chorale, Verismo Opera, José Limón Dance Company, Sonos Chamber Orchestra, Bachanalia, the New Amsterdam Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Mannes College of Music Orchestra.

He is also the Concertmaster of the Colonial Symphony Orchestra, The Ridgefield Symphony, in Connecticut, Long Island Masterworks, Distinguished Concerts International New York, and Manhattan Concerts Productions, among many other choral groups in New York City.

Jorge is a founding member of the Chalfonte Quartet. In addition, he performs as a chamber musician with the Bronx Arts Ensemble, Simon String Quartet, Abaca String Band, Willow Ensemble, Prism Ensemble and Musicians' Accord. Jorge also appears with the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble and performs with numerous Broadway orchestras such as South Pacific, West Side Story and Wicked.

Born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Jorge began his violin studies at age 14. During his studies in Honduras, he received first prize in the "La Botonia" competition. In 1987, Jorge moved to the U.S. to study at the University of Georgia as a full scholarship student, where he served as concertmaster of the orchestra and member of the Pre-College faculty. In 1988, Jorge won the Atlanta Music Club Concerto Competition. That same year, Jorge moved to New York City where he began his studies as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music; from Mannes he received both his Bachelor of Music and Professional Studies diplomas. Jorge's major teachers include Jorge Corpus, David Nadien, Charles Castleman, and Jose Chaín-Barbot.

While attending the Tanglewood Music Center as recipient of the "Omar del Carlo" Fellowship, Jorge studied chamber music with members of the Juilliard Quartet and the Galimir Quartet, as well as with Leon Fleisher, Gilbert Kalish and Timothy Eddy.

Jorge has recorded for the Naxos, Nonesuch Records and other labels. He has also performed live on both television and radio. Previous season's highlights include recitals in NYC, Minneapolis, and Costa Rica; performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto and Mozart's 3rd Concerto; and a memorable performance of The Beethoven's Triple Concerto with David Finckel, Wu Han and the Salem Chamber Orchestra. On April 20th of 2008, Jorge appeared as Concertmaster for His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, at a televised Mass held at Yankee Stadium.

Harpist Victoria Drake is a multi-faceted artist who stretches the boundaries of music for the harp. She has been concerto soloist with more than a dozen orchestras, many with return appearances, including Philharmonia Virtuosi, the Concordia Orchestra, the American Classical Orchestra, and the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra. She appears often as solo recitalist and as chamber musician, especially with David Fedele, flutist. She has received numerous awards, and achieved finalist status at the 10th International Harp Contest in Israel. She has a very active free-lance schedule and performs with many orchestras in the New York area including American Symphony Orchestra, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Orpheus, Berkshire Opera Company, Greenwich Symphony, the Oratorio Society of New York and the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series at St. Ignatius Loyola. She has also participated at the Aspen, Bard, Cabrillo, Cape May, Fontainebleau, and Vermont Mozart Festivals, Summer Music in Connecticut, and L'Association des Rencontres Culturelles d'Orbec in France.

Ms. Drake has four solo recordings on the Well-Tempered Productions label: Harping on Bach, the critically acclaimed Scarlatti's Harp, Spanish Gold, and the new From the Bach Notebook of harpist Victoria Drake: the complete cello suites transcribed. She performed and recorded Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti, and the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp on period instruments with the Old Fairfield Academy (now the American Classical Orchestra) on the Musicmasters label. She has also recorded contemporary music for the Arabesque, ESS.A.Y, CRI, Koch and Spectrum labels. She is featured on the CD, Les Corps Glorieux, released by the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. She was in the orchestras for the Broadway shows 42nd Street and The Light in the Piazza. More information is available on the web at www.VictoriaDrake.com.

Arthur Fiacco, cellist, has performed at the Caramoor, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart and Lincoln Center Festivals. As soloist he has appeared with Broadway legend Patti LuPone, harpsichord virtuoso Igor Kipnis, The Mark Morris Dance Group and the celebrated performance artist Meredith Monk.

Mr. Fiacco is a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke's. He serves as principal cellist for the Musica Sacra Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Oratorio Society of New York, and the Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola. At St. Ignatius Loyola he performed the American premiere of John Tavener's Requiem and the world premiere of Paul Moravec's Pulitzer-nominated cello concerto Montserrat on the acclaimed Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series. Other premieres include compositions by Lou Harrison, Meyer Kupferman, Gerald Busby and the infamous punk rock band The Pixies.

Noted as a "distinguished chamber musician" of " impressive virtuosity" (Consort magazine), Mr. Fiacco's recording of the late Mozart Symphonies in Hummel's piano quartet transcriptions has garnered praise as "first rate" and "definitive" by The New York Times.

Mr. Fiacco plays a cello made by the Venetian master Carlos Tononi dated 1730. His favorite composers are George Frederick Handel, Frédéric Chopin, Meredith Monk and Erik Satie.