Vivian Fung's Trumpet Concerto Will Receive World Premiere By Erie Philharmonic And Mary Elizabeth Bowden

On Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 8:00pm, the Erie Philharmonic gives the world premiere of JUNO Award-winning Canadian composer Vivian Fung's Trumpet Concerto featuring acclaimed trumpet soloist Mary Elizabeth Bowden. Led by Music Director Daniel Meyer, the concert also includes Verdi's Ballet Music from Macbeth, Debussy's Three Transcriptions for Trumpet and Orchestra, and Dvořák's Symphony No. 8.

Vivian Fung's 14-minute long Trumpet Concerto (2019) is a virtuosic, tour de force work displaying the capabilities of the Eb, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpets and stretches the imagination to what is possible for the instruments. Written for trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden, the concerto originally was inspired by a conversation about Mary's journey in her solo career in general, and as a woman in a male-dominated field. Fung says, "Ideas of striving, overcoming challenges, frustration, passion, and ultimately joy and celebration are all explored in this piece. Rather than composing the work in movements, I have chosen to organize the piece as a continuous work with various episodes, including a toe-tapping march, a lamentful and stormy chant, a more contemplative section for flugelhorn leading to a hip-hop inspired dance. The materials ultimately culminate in a chaotic frenzy that recaps many of the materials and builds to a triumphant ending on the piccolo trumpet." This is the first concerto written by a North American female composer for a female trumpet soloist and was awarded a New Music USA grant.

After the Erie Philharmonic world premiere, the concerto will be toured to a consortium of orchestras including the Anchorage Symphony (April 4, 2020), Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, San José Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, San Diego State University's School of Music & Dance, Shenandoah Conservatory, and Waynesboro Symphony.

Performance Information

Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 8:00pm
Warner Theatre | 811 State St | Erie, PA
Erie Philharmonic
Daniel Meyer, conductor
Mary Elizabeth Bowden, trumpet

Tickets: $23-56. Students with Valid ID $12
Link: http://eriephil.org/calendar/2019/9/21/verdi

Program:

Verdi - Ballet Music from Macbeth
Debussy - Three Transcriptions for Trumpet and Orchestra
Fung - Trumpet Concerto (World Premiere)
Dvořák - Symphony No. 8

About Mary Elizabeth Bowden

Classical Trumpeter and Gold Medal Global Music Award Winner Mary Elizabeth Bowden has been described by Gramophone Magazine as "brilliant" and "radiant in new repertoire for trumpet." Bowden, a Yamaha Performing Artist, is highly regarded for her artistry and virtuosity as a soloist, and has been praised for the clarity, purity and power of her sound. Bowden released both her second solo album, Rêverie (with the Kassia Ensemble), and her debut album, Radiance (featuring new American works), on Summit Records. She has been featured on MPR's "New Classical Tracks" with Julie Amacher, which is being aired on NPR stations across the United States.

Bowden's 2019-20 performance highlights include the premiere of her Vivian Fung commission, Fung's "Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra" with the Erie Philharmonic and Anchorage Symphony. In 2020, Mexican composer Gina Enríquez Morán will write a new concerto for Mary to be premiered by the World and European Brass Association in Summer 2020. Bowden gave the Spanish premiere performance of James Macmillan's Seraph with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria at the Maspalomas International Trumpet Festival in Gran Canaria, Spain. She made her German debut in Eisenach at the Wartburg Castle and her French debut at the Château de Courances, both through the World and European Brass Association. She will make her Russian debut with a performance in Sochi with Otto Sauter's 10 of the Best. Bowden will tour Florida and Mexico with the Kassia Ensemble and will return as a soloist in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with the Chamber Music Society of Virginia. She will perform James Stephenson's "Concerto No. 1" with the Shenandoah Conservatory Wind Ensemble. With her brass group, Seraph Brass, she will perform at the Busan Maru International Music Festival in South Korea and will perform more than 40 concerts and residencies throughout the United States, including one at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Bowden is also the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Shenandoah Conservatory beginning in Fall 2019.

Bowden is the First Prize winner of the International Women's Brass Conference Trumpet Competition. She is also the 2nd Prizewinner of the 2019 American Prize in Instrumental Performance. She has performed as a soloist with China's Hunan Symphony Orchestra at the Hunan Spring Festival Concert, Montana's Big Sky Festival, Evansville Philharmonic, Peninsula Symphony (California), Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, Croatian Army Wind Band at the Velika Gorica Brass Festival, Chameleon Arts Ensemble (Boston), Festival Amadeus Strings (Montana), Springfield Symphony (Missouri), Naples Symphony, Fifth Avenue Chamber Orchestra (Florida), Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra, San Juan Symphony, Springfield (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra and New Haven Chamber Orchestra, among several others. She has performed with trumpet soloist Jouko Harjanne at the Lieksa Brass Week in Finland, where she also served on the jury of the Lieksa International Trumpet Competition. At the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada, she performed Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Trumpets with trumpeters Jens Lindemann and Ryan Anthony. She was also awarded the Public Prize from the Perrenoud Foundation International Music Competition. Bowden frequently performs in recital both in solo programs and as the Dash Duo with her husband, trumpeter David Dash. Bowden and Dash teach at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Dash as the Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Bowden as a Resident Artist.

Bowden is a founding member of both Seraph Brass and the Chrysalis Chamber Players, a recipient of a Yale Alumni Grant. Seraph Brass, First Prize winner of the 2019 American Prize in Chamber Music, was the guest ensemble at the 2019 International Trumpet Guild Conference in Miami, was the featured ensemble at the International Women's Brass Conference in 2017, and at the Lieksa Brass Week in Finland in 2017 and 18. The group's debut album, Asteria, released on Summit Records in 2018, won the Silver Medal Global Music Award. Bowden and other members of Seraph Brass performed many dates on Adele's 2016 North American tour.

Bowden has collaborated in chamber music programs at the Marlboro Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, The Banff Centre and at the Sydney Opera House (under the baton of Håkan Hardenberger). She has served on the adjunct faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University and at The Curtis Institute of Music's Young Artist Summer Program.

An experienced orchestral musician, Bowden is currently Principal Trumpet of the Artosphere Festival Orchestra and a member of the Iris Orchestra. She has served as Principal Trumpet of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, Lakes Area Music Festival Orchestra, New Zealand's Auckland Philharmonia, the Daejeon Philharmonic in Korea, and with Seraphic Fire's Firebird Chamber Orchestra. At the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, she held the principal chair in Pierre Boulez's performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 6, which was released on CD in 2011. The Luzerner Zeitung described her playing in one word - "outstanding." Bowden is also a member of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. More information at www.marybowden.com.

About Vivian Fung

JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung has a unique talent for combining idiosyncratic textures and styles into large-scale works, reflecting her multicultural background. NPR calls her "one of today's most eclectic composers."

Highlights of Fung's 2019-2020 season include the UK premiere of Birdsong, performed by violinist Midori at Kings Place in London, world premiere performances of a new trumpet concerto with trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden and the Erie Philharmonic, performances of Dust Devils by The Philadelphia Orchestra led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra led by Peter Oundjian, Fanfare with the Florida Orchestra, Aqua by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under conductor James Gaffigan, Earworms with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra led by Bramwell Tovey, Pizzicato with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra led by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Fung will also write new works commissioned by Standing Wave Ensemble in Vancouver and L'arc Trio in San Francisco.

Recent highlights include A Child Dreams of Toys, commissioned by the 2019 Winnipeg New Music Festival; a new Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra for the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra; the world premiere of String Quartet No. 4 "Insects and Machines" performed by the American String Quartet; Earworms, which musically depicts our diverted attention spans and multi-tasking lives; and The Ice Is Talking for solo percussion and electronics, commissioned by the Banff Centre, using three ice blocks to illustrate the beauty and fragility of our environment.

With a deep interest in exploring different cultures, Fung traveled to Cambodia in 2019 to connect with her roots and collect research for a new opera. She traveled to Southwest China in 2012 to study minority music and cultures, and has also explored North Vietnam, Spain, and Bali.

Fung has received numerous awards and grants, including the 2015 Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award for achievement in new music from SOCAN, a Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the New York Foundation for the Arts' Gregory Millard Fellowship, and grants from ASCAP, BMI, American Music Center, MAP Fund, American Symphony Orchestra League, American Composers Forum, and the Canada Council for the Arts. She is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and currently serves as Vice Chair of the board of the American Composers Forum. Passionate about fostering the talent of the next generation, Fung will mentor young composers this summer in programs at the American Composers Forum, San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players, and Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

In 2012, Naxos Canadian Classics released a recording of Fung's Violin Concerto [No.1], Piano Concerto "Dreamscapes," and Glimpses. The Violin Concerto earned Fung the 2013 JUNO Award for "Classical Composition of the Year." Several of Fung's other works have also been released commercially on the Telarc, Çedille, Innova, and Signpost labels.

Born in Edmonton, Canada, Fung received her doctorate from The Juilliard School. She currently lives in California with her husband Charles Boudreau and their son Julian and is on the faculty of Santa Clara University. Learn more at www.vivianfung.ca.

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