Reflections Series International to Perform NATURE'S BOUNTY, 5/21

NEW YORK, NY - On Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 7:30pm, violinist and artistic director Gil Morgenstern's acclaimed Reflections Series International will present its final concert of the 2014-2015 season, "Nature's Bounty," at Avenues: The World School (259 Tenth Ave.). The program will feature Morgenstern with violinist Harumi Rhodes, violist Kathryn Lockwood, cellist Astrid Schween, and percussionist Yousif Sheronick, performing music and text inspired by composers' personal encounters with both natural and man-made landscapes; immortalizing them through works of unparalleled beauty and drama. This artistic journey, from flowing crystalline streams in China to the haunting terrain of the Middle East to the wide-open prairies of the American Great Plains, includes music by Antonin Dvo?ák, Zhou Long, and Riyad El-Soumbati, along with text from the works of Mary Shelly, Naguib Mahfouz, and Gaetano Cipolla, narrated by Obie Award-winning actor Bill Camp.

This is Reflections' second season at Avenues, presenting four engaging concerts throughout the school year. The relationship between Reflections and Avenues is particularly appropriate as both seek to integrate learning across subject areas in a globally aware setting. The Avenues New York campus, adjacent to New York's High Line Park, is the perfect venue for Reflections' sophisticated but relaxed performances. After Reflections Series International's tremendously successful inaugural season at Avenues: The World School, Gil Morgenstern has been named Artist-in-Residence for Interdisciplinary Studies beginning with the 2014-2015 season. This unique yearlong residency, during which Morgenstern will work with students and faculty of all academic subjects, is a key part of the school's mission to "graduate students who are artists no matter their field."

Reflections Series International presents solo and chamber music along with works of different artistic disciplines, engaging its audiences in combinations of music, text and images. Through its unique contextualization of historical artistic styles and events of their time period, its innovative programming entertains and enlightens the 21st century audience. Using both existing and original works, and with the collaboration of a superb ensemble of creative and performing artists representing all art forms, Reflectionsprograms present works that both reflect upon one another and invite the audience to reflect anew on universal themes.

About Gil Morgenstern
Acclaimed for his artistry and technical brilliance, violinist Gil Morgenstern is devoted to exploring and expanding the possibilities for inventive classical music programming. His vision is to present the audience with a more complete concert experience, meticulously curated from start to finish, by organically integrating music with other artistic disciplines in innovative and unexpected ways. The New York Times describes Mr. Morgenstern as a, "brilliant and musically curious artist."

A violinist with a long history of performing in the world's great concert halls, Mr. Morgenstern's career has taken him to international venues including Wigmore Hall, London; Cultural Center Concert Hall, Hong Kong; the American Academy, Rome; Salone dei Cinquecento, Florence; El Teatro Sucre, Quito; Arts Centre and State Theatre, Melbourne, Australia. He has also toured the U.S. extensively, performing in recital and as guest soloist with many leading orchestras including the symphonies of St. Louis, Baltimore, Louisville, Indianapolis, Denver, Milwaukee, New Jersey and North Carolina. The New York Times has hailed his playing as "a perfect demonstration of supreme ability;" "a rare poet of the violin" reported The South China Morning Post; "Morgenstern played a program that tested every part of a violinist's equipment and he did it all beautifully," wrote The Washington Post.

Morgenstern has also shared the stage with such eminent musicians as Philippe Entremont, Lynn Harrell, André-Michel Schub, Jeffrey Kahane, Sharon Isbin, and Heinz Holliger, and has collaborated with United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, and performance artist Laurie Anderson.

Morgenstern's discography includes works by Beethoven, Fauré, Copland, Ravel, Kodaly, Sessions and the award-winning American composer George Tsontakis. His latest recording, 20th Century Duos for Violin and Cello, was the No. 1 classical CD for over a month on eMusic, the largest online store for independent music in the world, and was one of the top ten best selling classical music albums on Amazon.com. Of the CD The New York Times raved, "the music is terrific and the performances compelling on this surprisingly exciting and excellently engineered recording." Morgenstern records for the MMC, Engine Company and Koch International Classics labels, and can regularly be heard on National Public Radio and classical music radio stations across the country.

Highlights of Morgenstern's recent seasons include interdisciplinary performances with the Juilliard Dance Company at Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Ballet; the premieres of staged versions of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Venus and Adonis with Claire Bloom and John Neville, and Samuel Beckett at 100 at New York City's 92nd Street Y and at Harvard University. Morgenstern's performance in the Nine Circles Chamber Theatre production of When Samson Met Delilah toured Holland to rave reviews and his recent appearance in Toronto was broadcast throughout Canada on CBC. He also appeared as violin soloist in U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky's translation of Dante's Inferno, which toured the country and was broadcast on PBS and NPR, for which it received a Peabody nomination. Mr. Morgenstern continues to tour the United States and Europe, and his highly acclaimed Reflections Series has recently been presented in London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice. Mr. Morgenstern lives in New York City. For more information, visit www.gilmorgenstern.com.

About Bill Camp
Film credits include: Midnight Special, Aloha, Love & Mercy, Birdman, 12 Years a Slave, The Maid's Room, Lincoln, Lawless, Compliance, Tamara Drewe, Public Enemies, Deception, Black Mass, Manhattan, Reversal of Fortune, In & Out, and The Guitar. TV credits include: co-lead with John Turturro in the HBO limited series Crime directed by Steve Zaillian, recurring roles on Boardwalk Empire, Damages, and Brotherhood and Guest Star roles on The Good Wife, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Joan of Arcadia, and New York Undercover. Partial theater credits include Broadway: Death of a Salesman (directed by Mike Nichols,Drama Desk Nomination), Jackie: An American Life, and Heartbreak House. Off-Broadway: Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul(OBIE Award), The Misanthrope (Drama League Nomination), Beckett Shorts, Hamlet and Macbeth. Co-Adaptor and lead: In a Year With 13 Moons (Yale Rep) and Notes From the Underground (Baryshnikov Arts Center, Yale Rep, LaJolla Playhouse). The Juilliard School.

About Kathryn Lockwood
Kathryn Lockwood has been hailed as a violist of exceptional talents in reviews around the country. The Cleveland Plain Dealer proclaimed, "Lockwood played the vociferous viola cadenza with mahogany beauty and vivid character." Lockwood is the violist of both the internationally renowned Lark Quartet and the unique viola and percussion duo with her husband Yousif Sheronick, duoJalal. Additionally she performs with numerous other prestigious groups including Music from Copland House, Trio Solisti, and Triple Helix.

Before relocating to New York in 2001, Lockwood held the position of violist of the Pacifica Quartet since its inception. Lockwood collaborated with violist Michael Tree on an all Dvorak CD and composer Easley Blackwood on recordings released by Cedille Records. 2005 marked the release of Kathryn's solo recital CD of Viola Music by Inessa Zaretsky, Fireoptics and 2011 saw the release of duoJalal's first CD A Different World.

Kathryn moved from her homeland of Australia to the United States in 1991 only to capture some of the most sought-after awards in the country including the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, Grand Prize at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, Concert Artists Guild Management Award, and awards at solo competitions such as the Primrose Competition, Washington International Competition, and the Pasadena Instrumental Competition. She is currently on faculty at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and was previously on the faculty at Rutgers University, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Music Institute of Chicago, and National Music Camp in Australia. Lockwood earned her Master's Degree with Donald McInnes at the University of Southern California, and her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with Elizabeth Morgan.

About Harumi Rhodes
Harumi Rhodes is an assistant professor of music and string area coordinator at the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music. Acclaimed by the New York Times as a "deeply expressive violinist," Rhodes is gaining broad recognition as a multifaceted musician with a distinctive and sincere musical voice. Her generosity of spirit on stage is contagious, making her one of the most sought-after violinists and chamber musicians of her generation.

As a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning ensemble Trio Cavatina, Rhodes has enjoyed appearances at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, Wolf Trap (Washington, D.C), and San Francisco Performances, as well as its debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 2009. Continuing to build its reputation as one of today's leading piano trios, Trio Cavatina has been touring internationally over the last few seasons, with recent notable performances in Pablo Casals Symphony Hall in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Filharmonija Hall in Vilnius, Lithuania. Rhodes has been a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and has performed on several Musicians From Marlboro tours as well as at the festivals of Seattle Chamber Music, Bard, Caramoor, Bridgehampton, Music in the Vineyards, Mainly Mozart, and the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan. After completing her residency with Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society Two, Rhodes was appointed the newest member of the Boston Chamber Music Society in 2009, where she performs regularly at Sanders Theater at Harvard University and Kresge Hall at MIT.

An avid supporter of contemporary music, Rhodes is a frequent guest artist with Music from Copland House, and has recorded Milton Babbitt's Sixth String Quartet on John Zorn's Tzadik label. Deeply committed to the process of commissioning and premiering new music, Rhodes has collaborated with many composers, including Richard Danielpour, Leon Kirchner, Benjamin Lees, Paul Moravec, William Bolcom, David Ludwig, and Lisa Bielawa.

Rhodes is a member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), a conductor-less chamber orchestra made up of world-class chamber musicians and soloists. A graduate of The Juilliard School and the New England Conservatory, her principal teachers have been Shirley Givens, Earl Carlyss, Ronald Copes, and Donald Weilerstein.

About Astrid Schween
Cellist Astrid Schween is an internationally recognized soloist and chamber artist. She has performed in some of the world's most prestigious venues, recorded numerous CDs, and received the profession's highest honors as a member of the Lark Quartet, including the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and Gold Medal at Russia's Shostakovich Competition.

She made her debut as soloist with the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta and received her degrees at the Juilliard School, where she was twice awarded the Juilliard Cello Prize. Her teachers there included Harvey Shapiro, Leonard Rose, Channing Robbins and Ardyth Alton. She also studied with Bernard Greenhouse, Dr. H.T. Ma, Eugene Moye and in London with Jacqueline Du Pré. She participated in the Marlboro Music Festival and the William Pleeth Cello Master Classes at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh. Astrid Schween serves as cello professor at the University of Massachusetts, The Hartt School of Music, Mount Holyoke College, and as Valade Faculty Fellow at Interlochen.

A frequent guest artist with the Boston and Memphis Chamber Music Societies, she recently joined the celebrated Boston Trio, an ensemble-in-residence at the New England Conservatory. She also performs regularly with celebrated pianists Randall Hodgkinson and Michael Gurt. This season, she performed the Elgar Concerto in 70th anniversary tributes to her mentor Jacqueline Du Pré. She is represented by Rile-Gallant Artists.

About Yousif Sheronick
Yousif Sheronick has performed around the globe to critical acclaim, genre hopping with leading artists in the classical, world, jazz and rock music arenas. The New York Times hails Sheronick for his "dazzling improvisations" and his "wizardry on a range of humble frame drums." Of Lebanese descent, he is considered one of the world's most versatile percussionists. Sheronick has collaborated with artists and composers such as Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Lark Quartet, Ethos Percussion Group, Branford Marsalis, Sonny Fortune, Evan Ziporyn, Derek Bermel, Kenji Bunch, and John Patitucci.

Also in demand as an educator, Sheronick teaches private lessons and classes at his home in New York and has conducted residencies and master classes at top universities including Manhattan School of Music and New York University, the Queensland Conservatorium and National University in Australia. "A testimony to his genius" raves Modern Drummer Magazine about Sheronick's album Silk Thread, and Rhythm Magazine(UK) says his Riq Instructional DVD "is a must to uncover the mysteries of this ancient instrument."

Of Lebanese decent, Sheronick was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, IA. His first exposure to Arab music came from his mother singing over the drone of the vacuum cleaner. As with many first generation Americans there was a separation between the house (Arab) and the outside (American) world.

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