Composer Robert Sirota's BIRDS OF PARADISE To Be Performed at Manhattan School of Music on Faculty Recital

On Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 2:30pm, composer Robert Sirota's Birds of Paradise - performed by flutist Linda Chesis, clarinetist David Valbuena, and pianist Alexandre Moutouzkine - will be presented on flutist Linda Chesis' Manhattan School of Music Faculty Recital, For the Birds, in the School's Greenfield Hall (120 Claremont Avenue). Birds of Paradise was commissioned and premiered by the Webster Trio in 2008 at the National Flute Association annual convention in Kansas City, MO. This performance will include commissioned videography by Jim Berman. Sirota explains, "In 2014, Linda Chesis programmed Birds of Paradise on the Cooperstown Music Festival. Having discovered the absolutely fantastic video footage of actual birds of paradise taken in New Guinea by the Cornell Birds of Paradise lab, she commissioned a video from Jim Berman to be performed with my piece."

Of Birds of Paradise, Sirota says, "Every culture has its images of paradise, all of which include the sights and sounds of birds. In my own experience, I have been fortunate to walk through an equatorial bird sanctuary in Singapore, as well as the woods surrounding my house in coastal Maine. While the sounds of these two environments are worlds apart, both evoke the same sense of wonder, peace and communion with God. It is this mystical dimension- the 'profuse strains of unpremeditated art' - of birdsong that has attracted me in composing Birds of Paradise, which was my tribute both to the twenty years of music-making by the Webster Trio and the twenty years of marriage of Leone Buyse and Michael Webster."

Curated by Linda Chesis, For the Birds features composers whose works are inspired by avians, imitate specific birdsongs, set music to bird-related poetry and include video footage and wildlife sound recordings of actual birds in nature. In addition to Sirota's Birds of Paradise, the program also includes François Couperin's Le Rossignol en Amour for flute and harp, Olivier Messiaen's Le Merle Noir for flute and piano, Lucas Foss'Thirteen ways of Looking at a Blackbird for soprano, flute, piano, and percussion, John Luther Adams' Strange Birds Passing for flute ensemble, and Mason Bates' Life of Birds for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello.

Over four decades, composer Robert Sirota has developed a distinctive voice, clearly discernible in all of his work - whether symphonic, choral, stage, or chamber music. Writing in the Portland Press Herald, Allan Kozinn asserts: "Sirota's musical language is personal and undogmatic, in the sense that instead of aligning himself with any of the competing contemporary styles, he follows his own internal musical compass."

Recipient of grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the United States Information Agency, National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, and the American Music Center, Sirota is recorded on the Capstone, Albany, New Voice and Gasparo labels. His music is published by Muzzy Ridge Music, Schott, Music Associates of New York, MorningStar, Theodore Presser, and To the Fore.

A native New Yorker, Sirota's earliest compositional training began at the Juilliard School; he received his bachelor's degree in piano and composition from the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Joseph Wood and Richard Hoffman. A Thomas J. Watson Fellowship allowed him to study and concertize in Paris, where his principal teacher was Nadia Boulanger. Returning to America, Sirota earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, studying with Earl Kim and Leon Kirchner.

Before becoming Director of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in 1995, Sirota served as Chairman of the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at New York University and Director of Boston University's School of Music. From 2005-2012, he was the President of Manhattan School of Music, where he was also a member of the School's composition faculty.

Photo Credit: Brian Hatton

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