The Sylvan Winds announce the final concert of the 2018 Spring Season celebrating music, art and history. Performing in important cultural and historic New York City buildings, the ensemble creates programs that reflect the environs of these distinguished venues. Winds & Harp, FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2018 at 7:00 PM, The Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 East 65th Street.
The Sylvan Winds with Kristi Shade, harp, Svjetlana Kabalin, flute; Kathy Halvorson, oboe; Nuno Antunes, clarinet; Gina Cuffari, bassoon & voice; Zohar Schondorf, horn
Program
Kilar (1932-2013) Wind Quintet (1952)
Barboteu (1924-2006) Esquisse for flute, horn & harp
Donizetti (1797-1848) "Una furtive lagrima" for oboe, bassoon & harp
Chopin (1810-49) 3 Polish Songs, Op. 74
Weigl (1766-1846) Concertino for harp and woodwind quartet
Lutoslawski (1913-94) Trio for oboe, clarinet & bassoon (1945)
Méndelssohn (1809-47) Concertpiece No. 1 in F minor, Op. 113 for clarinet, bassoon & harp
Program subject to change.
Tickets $45 adults / $25 for students & seniors.
Tickets for a Post-Concert Reception are available for an additional $55 - 205.
This concert is made possible, in part, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts.
For reservations & program information, please call 212 / 222-3569
Or email sylvanwinds@att.net
Wojciech Kilar (July 17, 1932 / Lvov - Dec 29, 2013 / Katowice) Having to flee Lvov in 1944 due to the Bolsheviks, Kilar settled in Katowice. He studied both piano and composition, taking part in the International Summer courses of New Music at Darmstadt in 1957, and studying with Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1959-60. Winning many awards for his compositions, he also was an active pianist and served as vice-president of the Polish Composers' Union, and was a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Gaetano Donizetti (Nov 29, 1797 - Apr 8, 1848 / Bergamo) Born to a poor family, at the age of nine, Donizetti was enrolled and excelled in a music academy founded by Simon Mayr. After nine years of study, he was admitted to the Bologna Academy where he wrote he first one-act opera. He would write almost 70 operas, at first achieving success in Italy, but then crossing Europe from Naples, to Paris to Vienna with his later masterpieces including L'elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale, and Lucia di Lamermoor.
Georges Barboteu (Apr 1, 1924 / Algiers -Sep30, 2006 / Paris) Of Catalan origin in Algiers for several generations, he continued in his father's footsteps after moving to Paris where he played horn in top-notch orchestras, taught at the Conservatory, recorded progidiously from Baroque to jazz, and composed for his instrument.
Witold Lutoslawski (Jan 25, 1913 - Feb 7, 1994 / Warsaw) The youngest of three sons of a family of landed Polish nobility, his father was executed by the Bolsheviks when the family fled to Russia during World War I. Returning to Poland, other family members helped to support the family. He began studying piano at six, violin at 12, initially studied mathematics at university, and then enrolled in the Conservatory in 1932. Escaping German capture during the war, he played in bars to support himself. Initially, his early compositions were influenced by Polish folk music and his style encompassed rich atmospheric textures. In the late 1950s he began developing his own techniques, developing harmonies from specific music intervals, incorporating aleatoric processes and complex rhythmic patterns.
Joseph Weigl (Mar 28, 1766 / Eisenstadt, Austria - Feb 3, 1846 / Vienna) The son of Joseph Franz Weigl, the principal cellist in the Esterhazy court orchestra, he counted Haydn as a close family friend. A student of both Albrechtsberger and Salieri, he became the Kapellmeister at the court theatre in Vienna in 1792, and from 1827-1838 was the vice-Kapellmeister of the court. He composed some 30 operas in both German and Italian, the best known of which is Die Schweizerfamilie.
Claude Debussy (Aug 22, 1862 / St. Germain-en-Laye - Mar 25, 1918 / Paris) The founder of impressionism - a term he detested - spent his youth traveling, first as the house pianist with Chaikovsky's patroness Mme v. Meck, in Italy as the winner of the Rome Prize, later visiting the Wagner shrine at Bayreuth to hear Parsifal, then became fascinated with oriental music heard at the Paris Exposition in 1889.
Frederic Chopin (Mar 1, 1810 / Warsaw - Oct 17, 1849 / Paris) A child prodigy, he completed his education and wrote some early works, before leaving Poland for Paris at 21. He preferred performing in the intimacy of the salon, as he only performed publicly 30 times during the next 18 years. He formed a close friendship with Liszt, and was admired by many of his contemporaries, including Robert Schumann. While all of his works include piano - and mostly solo piano - they include two concerti, some chamber music and 19 songs set to Polish lyrics.
Jacques Ibert (Aug 15, 1890 - Feb 5, 1962 / Paris) was the son of a successful businessman and pianist mother who encouraged his musical curiosity. He began the violin at four, and then the piano, and was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatory. Interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, where he served as a naval officer, he then resumed his studies and won the Prix de Rome. The success of his orchestral work Escales burnished his reputation, and he became very active as a music administrator, becoming director of the Académie de France at the Villa Medici in Rome.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (Feb 3, 1809 / Hamburg - Nov 4, 1847/ Leipzig) A prodigy comparable to Mozart, he received his first music instruction from his sister Fanny - a distinguished composer herself - before their move to Leipzig in 1816 from French-occupied Hamburg. He later conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra, founded the Leipzig Conservatory, and was responsible for the revival of J.S. Bach's music.
John Addison (Mar 16, 1920 / Chobham - Dec 7, 1998 / London) Born into a military family, Addison entered the Royal Conservatory of Music at sixteen, studying composition, oboe, and clarinet. His education was cut short by the war, where he served as a tank officer. He returned to London to teach at the Royal College of Music, but became best known for his film scores, notably for Tom Jones for which he won both an Academy and Emmy award.
Kristi Shade A principal harpist with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, began playing her instrument at the age of two. With degrees from the University of Miami and Manhattan School of Music, she is the recipient of several awards, appeared as a soloist with orchestras, and is a member of several chamber ensembles. Her harp duo's Scorpion Tales won a triple Grammy nomination.
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.
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