Princeton Symphony Orchestra Un/Restrained Concert Features Klezmer Clarinetist David Krakauer

On Sunday, January 29 at 4 pm, virtuoso clarinetist David Krakauer and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) explore expressions of personal and cultural identity in performances of Wlad Marhulets' award-winning Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet and Osvaldo Golijov's intimate K'vakarat. Also featured on the Un/Restrained program are guest composer Saad Haddad's captivating fanfare Manarah and Dmitri Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a. Conducted by Music Director Rossen Milanov at Richardson Auditorium on Princeton University campus.

David Krakauer occupies the unique position of being one of the world's leading exponents of Eastern European Jewish klezmer music as well as a major voice in classical music. He has redefined the klezmer genre with major appearances at Carnegie Hall and internationally. Mr. Krakauer is in demand worldwide as a guest soloist with the finest ensembles including the Emerson, Orion, and Kronos String Quartets and as a soloist with the Dresden, Seattle, and Detroit symphony orchestras, among many others. David Krakauer is on the faculties of Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, NYU, and the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Composer Wlad Marhulet's Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet echoes the rapid fluctuations, microtonal variations, and droning quality of the synagogue cantor. The work earned him the inaugural Azrieli Prize in Jewish Music (2016) established by the Canada-based Azrieli Foundation to recognize and reward current excellence in the field of Jewish orchestral concert music. Osvaldo Golijov's K'vakarat is an instrumental version of a work originally written for quartet and cantor evoking hope against the backdrop of a world forever breaking down.

Guest composer Saad Haddad is a creator of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and electroacoustic music who achieves a "remarkable fusion of idioms" (The New York Times), most notably in his work exploring the disparate qualities inherent in Western art music and Middle Eastern musical tradition. The composer will be visible on stage at the PSO performance of his Manarah with his laptop, electronically altering the real-time sound of two trumpets beckoning to one another from the balconies. The work was premiered by the American Composers Orchestra in April 2016.

Rudolph Barshai's orchestral arrangement of Shostakovich's intensely personal Eighth String Quartet completes the concert program. Shostakovich wrote the original quartet in just three days, embattling his internal strife and anxiety through coded musical messages.

Tickets for Un/Restrained and other PSO concerts are on sale at the following price levels: $82, $65, $52, $33, and $25 (student). Includes admission to 3 pm Pre-Concert Talk. Purchase at princetonsymphony.org or call (609) 497-0020.

Concert Information:

Sunday, January 29, 2017 - 4 pm; Pre-Concert Talk - 3 pm; Richardson Auditorium

Un/Restrained

Rossen Milanov, conductor

David Krakauer, clarinet

Saad Haddad Manarah
"Wlad Marhulets Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet*

Osvaldo Golijov K'vakarat

David Krakauer Synagogue Wail

trad. arr. Krakauer Der Heyser Bulgar

Dmitri Shostakovich Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a

arr. Barshai

*Winner of the inaugural Azrieli Prize in Jewish Music (2016)

To post a comment, you must register and login.