Yale in NY Presents Rarely-performed 20th-century Concerti Grossi

YALE IN NEW YORK presents the acclaimed Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale on Monday, February 28 at 7:30pm in Zankel Hall in a program entitled "Concertante: Rarely-performed Twentieth-Century Concerti Grossi."

The concerto grosso (a concerto in which a large ensemble alternates with a smaller one) reached its peak in the Baroque era, and then fell out of favor. It wasn't until the twentieth century that some composers resurrected the form, adding their own unique stylistic touches that both honored and pushed the boundaries of the older style. This innovative program by a chamber-sized Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale, with soloists Ransom Wilson, Jian Liu, David Shifrin and Frank Morelli under the orchestra's resident conductor Shinik Hahm, presents four eclectic takes on the concerto grosso.

Swiss composer Frank Martin's Second Ballade, originally written for saxophone, string orchestra, piano and percussion in 1938, will be heard in the U.S. premiere of the version for flute. This performance features the renowned flutist Ransom Wilson and pianist Jian Liu in solo parts.

Although best known for his works based on Jewish themes, Ernest Bloch wrote two concerti grossi. The Concerto Grosso No. 1 was written in 1925 and features a touching second movement, "Dirge," that in true concerto grosso style features solo work by a group of instruments (four violins, viola, cello), and a whirling closing "Fugue" that would have made Bach smile.
The Duet-Concertino of Richard Strauss comes from the fruitful burst of creativity the composer enjoyed at the end of his career. Written in 1947 (when Strauss was 83), the Duet-Concertino sings with a sweet lyricism. Strauss masterfully sets the two solo instruments, clarinet and bassoon, against the delicate sounds of strings and harp, while also using the string sextet with a chamber music-like intimacy. Clarinetist David Shifrin and bassoonist Frank Morelli are the soloists here.

Among the striking elements in Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera's Variaciones concertantes is his focus on the concertante style, which sets solo instruments apart from the larger ensemble. Ginastera's work features a theme and a set of 11 variations, with each variation highlighting a different solo instrument or ensemble. The work is rhythmically driven, highly colorful and deeply expressive.

PROGRAM INFO:
Yale in New York presents "Concertante: Rarely-performed Twentieth-Century Concerti Grossi" at Zankel Hall on Monday, February 28 at 7:30PM

Frank Martin: Second Ballade for flute, string orchestra, piano and percussion (1938) (U.S. Premiere); Ransom Wilson, flute.

Ernest Bloch: Concerto Grosso No. 1 for string orchestra with piano obbligato (1925); Jian Liu, piano.

Richard Strauss: Duett - Concertino for clarinet and bassoon with string orchestra (1947); David Shifrin, clarinet, and Frank Morelli, bassoon.

Alberto Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes, Op. 23 (1953)

UPCOMING YALE IN NEW YORK CONCERTS:

Monday, April 25, 2011 at 8:00PM in Weill Recital Hall
"Stylus Fantasticus"
The Yale Baroque Ensemble
Robert Mealy, director
Seventeenth-century composer-violinists broke new ground with an inventive and flamboyant style called Stylus Fantasticus. Acclaimed baroque violinist Robert Mealy-"New York's world-class early music violinist" (The New Yorker)-directs the period instrument Yale Baroque Ensemble from the first violinist's chair in a program of extravagant and experimental music. The concert will feature brilliant and rarely-heard chamber sonatas in the "stilo moderno" by Dario Castello, Biagio Marini, and G.B. Fontana, along with works from the very First Viennese School, including spectacular ensemble sonatas by Antonio Bertali, Johann Schmelzer, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, and others.

YALE IN NEW YORK
Yale in New York is the acclaimed series in which distinguished faculty members-many of them famous soloists-share the limelight with exceptional alumni and students on Carnegie Hall's stages, capturing the intense collaboration found on every level at the Yale School of Music. The 2009-10 season showcased the classical legacy of Benny Goodman; undiscovered Prokofiev works; the Oral History of American Music project; and Penderecki conducting Penderecki. The series is curated by David Shifrin.

PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA OF YALE
The Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale is one of America's foremost music school ensembles. The largest performing group at the Yale School of Music, the Philharmonia offers superb training in orchestral playing and repertoire. Performances include an annual series of concerts in Woolsey Hall, as well as Yale Opera productions in the Schubert Performing Arts Center. In addition to its season of six Woolsey Hall concerts, the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale has performed on numerous occasions in Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2008 the Philharmonia undertook its first tour of Asia, with acclaimed performances in the Seoul Arts Center, the Forbidden City Concert Hall and National Center for the Performing Arts (Beijing), and the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

SHINIK HAHM
"The orchestra, conducted by Shinik Hahm, offered warm, sympathetic support." - New York Times
A dynamic and innovative conductor, Shinik Hahm is the newly appointed chief conductor of the KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra. Concurrently, he is a professor of conducting at the Yale School of Music, where he leads the Yale Philharmonia. Recently, Maestro Hahm led the KBS Symphony on tour with concerts at the General Assembly of the United Nations, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. His debut with the Nordwest-deutsche Philharmonie at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw resulted in an immediate re-engagement for the 2010 season. Hahm's extensive work in China includes collaborations with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony, and Shanghai Opera. He was named an honorary professor of Hwa Gong University in China. In 2006 Hahm successfully completed his tenure as the artistic director and principal conductor of the Daejeon (Korea) Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he toured the U.S. and Japan. Hahm served as music director of the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 2003 and was profiled on ABC's World News Tonight for his role in rejuvenating the Abilene community. His leadership has been similarly vital to the Tuscaloosa Symphony, where he has been music director for ten years. Similarly inspirational to young musicians, Hahm is Professor in the Practice of Conducting and Conductor in Residence of the Yale Philharmonia. He has led the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale at Carnegie Hall and in Boston, Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai, and his Yale students have won top prizes in prestigious conducting competitions. Hahm has won the Gregor Fitelberg Competition for Conductors, the Walter Hagen Conducting Prize from the Eastman School of Music, and the Shepherd Society Award from Rice University. In 1995 Maestro Hahm was decorated by the Korean government with the Arts & Culture Medal.

JIAN LIU
Pianist Jian Liu has appeared on concert stages in China, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States, and with the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra, and Chandler Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Liu's performances were broadcast by various radio and TV stations including KPHO in Phoenix and Suisse Romande Radio in Switzerland. Since winning the First Prize at the Sixth Missouri Southern International Piano Competition in 1996, Mr. Liu has been honored at various national and international competitions, including the Third Horowitz International Piano Competition in Ukraine and MTNA Chamber Music Competition in 2002. Mr. Liu has been a featured artist alongside pianist Maria João Pires, cellist Jian Wang, clarinetist David Shifrin, Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Alexandre Lecarme, and violinist Sarita Kwok. His artistry has taken him to some of the most prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall in New York, and Rose Theater of Lincoln Center. Currently, Mr. Liu serves as a collaborative pianist at the Yale School of Music. In March 2011, Mr. Liu will join the piano faculty at New Zealand School of Music in Wellington, New Zealand, as an assistant professor.

FRANK MORELLI
"Frank Morelli's sound is the consummation of stability, flexibility, and sensuality." - American Record Guide
A former student of Stephen Maxym at the Manhattan and Juilliard schools of music, Professor Morelli holds the distinction of being the first bassoonist to be awarded a doctorate by the Juilliard School. He has appeared as a soloist in New York's Carnegie Hall on nine occasions. Active internationally as a soloist and with chamber and orchestral ensembles, he has over one hundred fifty recordings for major record labels to his credit. His performances and recording of the Mozart bassoon concerto with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra on the DG label met with international critical acclaim, and his recording of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for winds and orchestra with Orpheus for Nonesuch Records was named Recording of Special Merit by Stereo Review. Mr. Morelli's recording with Orpheus of music by Stravinsky, "Shadow Dances," won a Grammy in 2001. In addition to two solo CDs on MSR Classics, "Bassoon Brasileiro" and "Baroque Fireworks," he recently released "Romance and Caprice," also on MSR Classics, with Gilbert Kalish, piano. Mr. Morelli has appeared often with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including at the final state dinner of the Clinton presidency. He is principal bassoonist of the New York City Opera Orchestra, Orpheus, and the American Composers Orchestra, and is a member of the acclaimed woodwind quintet Windscape. He is the editor of Stravinsky: Difficult Passages, a collection of excerpts published by Boosey and Hawkes, and has written several transcriptions for bassoon and for woodwind quintet, published by TrevCo. In addition to the Yale School of Music, he serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School, SUNY Stony Brook, and the Manhattan School of Music. He hosts a cyber master class at www.morellibasoon.com, where he shares information about reeds and bassoon playing. Mr. Morelli joined the Yale faculty in 1994.

DAVID SHIFRIN
"David Shifrin is one of the world's great clarinetists." - Los Angeles Times
Winner of the 2000 Avery Fisher Prize, clarinetist David Shifrin has appeared with the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras and the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Denver symphonies. He has appeared in recital at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In addition he has appeared in recital and as soloist with orchestra throughout Europe and Asia. A three-time Grammy nominee, he has been the artistic director of Chamber Music Northwest since 1980 and a faculty member at Yale since 1987. An artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1989, he served as its artistic director from 1992 to 2004. He has been a professor at the Yale School of Music since 1987.

RANSOM WILSON
"The flutist Ransom Wilson soared and shimmered..." - New York Times
Ransom Wilson was educated at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Juilliard School, and continued his postgraduate studies as an Atlantique Scholar in France with Jean-Pierre Rampal. As flute soloist he has appeared with the Israel Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, I Solisti Veneti, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the chamber orchestras of Nice, Stuttgart, Cologne, and the Netherlands. He is an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As a conductor, Mr. Wilson is the music director and principal conductor of Solisti New York, which he founded in 1981. He is music director of Opera Omaha and the San Francisco Chamber Symphony, as well as artistic director of the OK Mozart Festival in Oklahoma. He was honored by the Austrian government with the Award of Merit in Gold in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Mozart's music in America, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alabama. A strong supporter of contemporary music, Mr. Wilson has had works composed for him by Steve Reich, Aaron Jay Kernis, Ezra Laderman, Randall Woolf, Peter Schickele, Joseph Schwantner, John Harbison, Jean Francaix, Jean-Michel Damase, George Tsontakis, Tania Léon, and Deborah Drattel. He joined the Yale faculty in 1991.

THE YALE SCHOOL OF MUSIC
The Yale School of Music, established in 1894 and one of four graduate schools in the arts at the University, has a long tradition of leadership in the training of performers and composers. It is a graduate-professional school and the only school of music in the Ivy League. The school is highly selective, with approximately 200 students who come from the finest American and international conservatories and universities to study with a distinguished faculty. The school's alumni are found in major positions in virtually every sphere of music making and administration. Yale graduates perform in most of the major American symphony orchestras, and voice alumni have enjoyed great success in joining professional opera companies throughout the world, with over a dozen Yale graduates on the artist roster of the Metropolitan Opera. The list of composition alumni, faculty, and guest professors is a virtual Who's Who of the creators of new music of the past century. Along with artistic accomplishment, Yale School of Music graduates have demonstratEd Strong leadership in guiding the course of numerous academic and cultural institutions. The Yale School of Music engages in cooperative partnerships with several leading international conservatories and schools, including: the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing, China), Korean National University of the Arts-School of Music and Seoul National University-College of Music (Seoul, Korea), Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Russia), Royal Academy of Music (London), and the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (Budapest, Hungary). The Yale School of Music offers the Doctor of Musical Arts, Master of Musical Arts, and Master of Music degrees, as well as the Artist Diploma and the Certificate in Performance. In Fall 2005, the Yale School of Music received an unprecedented gift of $100 million, allowing the school to solidify its international position of leadership by expanding programs, renovating facilities, and offering full-tuition scholarships to all students.