Sylvan Winds Open Season with A GILDED AGE SALON At The National Arts Club

The Sylvan Winds announce the opening concert of the 2018 Spring Season celebrating music, art, and history. Performing in important cultural and historic New York City buildings, the ensemble creates imaginative and informative programs that reflect the environs of each space.

A Gilded Age Salon: With Love from Paris to New York

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 at 7:00 PM

The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South

The Sylvan Winds

Svjetlana Kabalin, flute; Kathy Halvorson, oboe; Nuno Antunes, clarinet;

Gina Cuffari, bassoon; Zohar Schondorf, horn

Program

Charles Lefebvre (1843-1917) Suite for wind quintet, Op. 57
Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) Woodland Sketches, Op. 51 (arr. by R. Taylor)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Petite Suite (arr. by G. Davies)
Poldowski (1879-1932) Suite Miniature (trans.by G. Barrère)
Katherine K. Davis (1892-1980) Musette (trans.by G. Barrère)
William Grant Still (1895-1978) Miniatures (arr.by A. Resnick)
May Aufderheide (1888-1972) Richmond Rag (arr.by D. Frost)
Charlotte Blake (1885-1979) Poker Rag (arr.by W. Meredith)

Program subject to change.

This concert is made possible, in part, with support from the
New York State Council on the Arts.

FREE ADMISSION to concert but RSVP REQUIRED

For reservations email http://www.nationalartsclub.org (click Events)

Charles-Édouard Lefebvre (Jun 19, 1843 / Paris - Sept 18, 1917 / Aix-les-Bains) was the son of a painter and studied law before entering the Paris Conservatory. After three years, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome and traveled to Greece and the Orient. In 1895 he succeeded Benjamin Godard as the head of the ensemble class at the Conservatory.

Edward MacDowell (Dec 18, 1860 / New York City - Jan 23, 1908 / New York City) was an American composer born in New York City, who was educated in Europe and began his music career in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. Upon his return, he first settled in Boston, and then was appointed as professor of music at Columbia University. He is best known for his second piano concerto and piano suites, as well as the establishment of the MacDowell Colony on the grounds of his summer home in New Hampshire.

Claude Debussy (Aug 22, 1862 / St. Germain-en-Laye - Mar 25, 1918 / Paris) showed musical talent at a young age and was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at age ten. He was a brilliant pianist and sight-reader, and enjoyed experimenting with exotic sounds and dissonances. He won the coveted Prix de Rome but discovered that he did not enjoy studying in Rome, nor Italian opera. He was more influenced by Wagner, the French poets Baudelaire and Verlaine, and the exotic sounds of the gamelan which he heard at the Exposition Universelle in 1889.

Poldowski (May 16, 1879 / Ixelles, Brussels - Jan 28, 1932 / London) was the professional pseudonym of the Belgian-born Régine Wieniawski, daughter of the Polish violinist Henryk Wieniawski. She studied piano and composition in Brussels, London, and Paris as a student of Vincent D'Indy at the Schola Cantorum. Married to the English aristocrat Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, they had three children. Devastated by the death of her first-born, she moved back to Brussels where her music was more recognized, and eventually separated from her husband.

Katherine K. Davis (Jun 25, 1892 / St. Joseph, MO - Apr 20, 1980 / Littleton, MA) wrote her first piece of music at the age of 15 and studied at Wellesley College where she won the Billings Prize. After graduating, she taught music theory and piano at the school while also studying at the New England Conservatory. Famous for her Christmas tune "The Little Drummer Boy", she wrote over 600 works, mostly choral music.

William Grant Still (May 11, 1895/Woodville, MS - Dec 3, 1978/Los Angeles, CA) Considered the "Dean of Afro-American" composers, Still was born in Mississippi and grew up in Arkansas. He played and arranged for W.C. Handy and attended the Oberlin Conservatory. He broke many barriers during his career, including being the first African-American composer to write orchestral works performed by major symphony orchestras, as well as being the first conductor of color to lead a major American orchestra. Still was also very curious about folk genres and explored early music from this country as well as Latin America.

May Aufderheide (May 21, 1888/Indianapolis IN - Sept 1, 1972/Pasadena CA) Probably the best known among female ragtime composers, she was trained in art music and visited Europe on a grand tour. Born in Indianapolis where there was a large community of ragtime composers, the popularity of her first published rag, Dusty in 1908, convinced her father to enter into the music publishing business. She went on to publish several successful pieces, including waltzes and other songs.

Charlotte Blake (May 30, 1885/Franklin County OH - Aug 21, 1979/Santa Monica CA) was an American composer of waltzes, marches, and ragtime. Born in Ohio, the eldest of six children, at 18 she got a job as a writer and arranger for Jerome H. Remick. Her first published work, King Cupid appeared in 1903 and was published in New York by major firms of the time.

Additional performances by the SYLVAN WINDS this season will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2018 at 7:00 PM at The Academy of Arts and Letters, Broadway between 155th and 156th Streets, in a program entitled "Memoría" featuring works by Oltra, Scarlatti, Marais, Turina, and Megías-Lopez and on Friday, May 11, 2018 at 7:00 PM at The Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 East 65th Street, in a program for "Winds and Harp" with guest Kristi Shade, featuring works by Kilar, Weigl, Chopin, Lutoslawski, Donizetti, and Addison.

Hailed by The New York Times for "venturesome programming and stylishness of performance," the Sylvan Winds has performed throughout the United States and abroad. The ensemble has established a reputation as one of the city's most versatile chamber music ensembles and has received many honors, including an invitation to perform at the New York Governor's Arts Awards. Dedicated to exploring the entire body of literature for wind instruments, the ensemble has consistently earned audience and critical acclaim.