On Monday evening March 16, the North/South Consonance Ensemble under the direction of Max Lifchitz celebrates the arrival of spring performing five nature-inspired works by composers from Israel, Hong Kong and the Americas.
The event will start at 8 PM and end approximately at 9:30 PM. It will be held at the intimate but acoustically superior auditorium of Christ & St Stephen's Church (120 West 69th St - between Broadway and Columbus) on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The auditorium is ADA accessible. Admission is free - no tickets required.
The compositions to be heard for the first time are:
Ari Ben-Shabetai's Wavelengths; Chan Kai-Young's Shimmers the Shivery Moon; Matthew Durrant's The Land of Standing Rocks; and Max Lifchitz's Yellow Ribbons Nos 47 & 49. Anne Ellsworth - the distinguished brass player who is now teaching at Brooklym College - will be the featured soloist in the performance of Mr. Lifchitz's recently completed work for French Horn and ensemble.
The composers will be present at
the concert to introduce their works and meet with the audience.
Since its inception in 1980, North/South Consonance has brought to the attention of the New York City public over 1,000 recent works by composers representing a wide spectrum of aesthetic views. It activities are made possible in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Ari Ben-Shabetai has taught at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalme since 1987. Perhaps the first Israeli composer to adopt a post-modern style, his music incorporates influences of heterophony, post-impressionistic harmony, minimalism, rock and jazz. His works have been championed by many conductors including Zubin Metha and
Lorin Maazel. Wavelengths (Tedarim in Hebrew) is a reflection on the effect this most basic physical element has on everyday life including hearing, speaking, dancing and composing. Its musical language approaches the selected instruments (flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano) in traditional and innovative ways.
Born in Hong Kong, Chan Kai-Young incorporates into his musical style elements from various Asian traditions as well as classical Chinese literature, Cantonese folklores and language. A
Benjamin Franklin Doctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Chan completed his Master of Music in composition as a student of Victor Chan at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also an active erhu artist having performed throughout the United States, Mexico, and Hong Kong. Shimmers the Shivery Moon was inspired by a verse of Li Shangyn's Poem Without a Title. The music recreates the conflict between darkness and light, between imaginary and reality, between fond memories and the bitter present.
Matthew Durrant has lived in Idaho and Utah for most of his life and has found inspiration in the majestic landscapes and history of that region. Currently completing his doctorate at the University of Utah, Durrant's works have been published by Cherry Classics and TrevCo Music Publishing. The Land of Standing Rocks was inspired by the innumerable pinnacles and buttes found in the Canyonlands National Park. The work's opening movement, titled Navajo Walls, depicts the smooth, flowing Navajo Sandstone landscapes of Arches National Park. The second movement, much different in nature, is set in the Monument Valley area of the Utah-Arizona border. The final movement is titled Waterpocket and was inspired by the Waterpocket Fold -- the striking geologic feature that runs the length of Capitol Reef National Park.
Active as composer and performer,
Max Lifchitz began studying music in his native Mexico City before attending The Juilliard School and Harvard University. The winner of the first prize in the 1976 Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of Contemporary Music, Lifchitz has appeared on concert stages throughout Latin America, Europe and the US. His Yellow Ribbons comprises a series of works begun during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and represent a way of celebrating the artistic and political freedom so often taken for granted in the West. Yellow Ribbons No. 47 was written on September 11, 2010 at the request of horn virtuoso Ann Ellsworth. Its musical discourse is built around the Dies irae -the medieval chant melody often associated with evil and considered a "death theme" during the 19th century. Work on Yellow Ribbons No. 49 began on January 7, 2015 when the attack on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo newsweekly took place in Paris. Indeed, "Je suis Charlie" might be an appropriate subtitle for the piece.
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