This Weekend At Music Mountain: New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players And Tabea Debus, Recorder & Adam Cockerham

Now in its forty-seventh year of operation, New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP) is America's preeminent professional Gilbert & Sullivan repertory ensemble. Under the dynamic leadership of Artistic Director Albert Bergeret, who has been hailed as "the leading custodian of the G&S classics" (New York Magazine), NYGASP has created its own special niche in the cultural mosaic of New York City and the nation. Since its founding in 1974, the company has presented over 2,500 performances of the G&S masterpieces throughout the United States, Canada, and the U.K. captivating audiences of all ages.

The company has in its repertory thirteen different complete G&S operas (cast, orchestra and crew of 50-80 people), special versions of the most popular operas designed for children's audiences, and a variety of charming concert programs created especially for NYGASP's "Wand'ring Minstrels" ensemble. The company has also produced a unique cabaret act. I've Got a Little Twist, created and directed by David Auxier, won a 2010 Bistro Award, is currently touring throughout the country, and appeared at Lincoln Center's 2011 Atrium series. "Take Gilbert & Sullivan, add a TWIST of Broadway, and stir!" is Twist's recipe. Highlighting Musical Theatre's roots in Gilbert & Sullivan, the show is entertaining for all ages.

The company's celebrated ensemble of G&S experts, developed by introducing new singers each year from New York's immense pool of vocal and theatrical talent, has collaborated with such guest artists as world-renowned G&S exponent the late John Reed, O.B.E. in numerous comic baritone roles, Tony winner John Rubinstein and Frank Gorshin both as King Gama in Princess Ida, John Astin as Sir Joseph in H.M.S. Pinafore, Hal Linden and Noel Harrison as the Major General in The Pirates of Penzance, Pat Carroll as Little Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, and Steve Allen as The Mikado.

TABEA DEBUS, RECORDER & ADAM COCKERHAM, LUTE

+ 1:30 pm: Pre-Concert Talk with Tabea Debus

Works by MONTEVERDI, J.S. BACH, PURCELL, DOWLAND, and other composers from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe, plus Diaries of the Early Worm by Gareth MOORCRAFT (b. 1990)

Described by The Times as a charismatic virtuoso, Tabea Debus is constantly exploring the horizons of music for recorder and has performed widely across Europe, Asia, North and South America.

Tabea's keen interest in contemporary music for recorder has led to numerous collaborations with composers throughout the UK and beyond. She has premiered new works at LSO Soundhub, at the Barbican Centre's Sound Unbound and Baroque at the Edge festivals, and has appeared as soloist in contemporary recorder concertos with the WDR Rundfunkchor at the Funkhaus in Cologne and the English Chamber Orchestra at Cadogan Hall.

As a soloist and chamber musician Tabea regularly appears with La Serenissima and The English Concert, and has performed at the Wigmore Hall, at Early Music Festivals in London, York and Brecon, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Musica Antiqua Bolzano, Edinburgh International Festivals, and many more. She is a regular guest on the BBC Radio 3's In Tune and Early Music Show, and has released five solo discs to date, most recently 'Ohrwurm' (Delphian Records).

Awards include the 2020 CAG/Richard S. Weinert Award for Innovation in Classical Music, the soloist prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 1st prize at the Society of Recorder Players/Moeck International Solo Recorder Competition in London (both 2019), as well as at the 2014 Johann Heinrich Schmelzer and 2011 Hülsta Woodwinds International Competitions. Tabea was also a City Music Foundation Artist (2016-2018), Handel House Talent (2016-17) and St John's Smith Square Young Artist (2015-16), and held scholarships from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. She was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2018, and subsequently joined the Concert Artists Guild (CAG) roster in 2019.

Passionate about outreach work, Tabea teaches recorder at Wells Cathedral School and has led composition and chamber music workshops at the Royal Academy of Music and Cambridge University. She has collaborated with Music Masters, Jackdaws Music Education Trust, and the RAM's Open Academy in London-based primary schools and at the Royal London Hospital, and thus aims to make the music she enjoys performing accessible to children from all backgrounds. In collaboration with other musicians, artists and actors she is constantly developing new outreach projects, including the 'Endo the Earthworm' series, the music-art-game 'soundshapes', and play-along library 'Continuo Lines'. Tabea has also been an adjudicator for the British Composer Awards and the German youth music competition Jugend musiziert.

Born in Würzburg, Germany, Tabea studied at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Michael Schneider and at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Pamela Thorby. Graduating with the Principal's Prize, she went on to be appointed Meaker Fellow at the RAM for 2016-17, and is now based in North London.

ADAM COCKERHAM, LUTE

Early music artist Adam Cockerham specializes in theorbo, lute and baroque guitar. Beginning his performance career as a classical guitarist, he then gravitated toward historical plucked strings, preferring the collaborative opportunities of chamber music from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. As an accompanist and continuo player, Cockerham has performed with numerous ensembles - Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, the Mostly Mozart Festival, Tenet Vocal Artists, Four Nations Ensemble, Artek, New York Baroque Incorporated, New Vintage Baroque, the Academy of Sacred Drama and J415. He founded voice and plucked string duo Jarring Sounds with mezzo-soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah, and helped form chamber ensemble Voyage Sonique.

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Cockerham is a doctoral candidate at the Juilliard School after completing a Master of Music degree in Historical Plucked Strings. He also holds Master and Bachelor of Music degrees in Classical Guitar Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory. His discography includes recordings with Jarring Sounds, El Mundo, Artek, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, NOVUS NY, Augusta McKay Lodge, Emi Ferguson + Ruckus and Pacific Guitar Ensemble.

Tickets

To buy tickets, please visit musicmountain.org or call the box office at (860) 824-7126.

Tickets for Five Play are $35. Tickets for the Arianna String Quartet range from $45-55, with General Admission Lawn Tickets (Audio Only) available for $15. No fees will be charged. Student Tickets are $15; free for ages 18 and under. Ticket Packages are available. Saturday evening Jazz concerts start at 7 PM and Sunday afternoon Chamber Music concerts start at 3 PM. Each concert lasts approximately 2 hours, with a 20-minute intermission.

Music Mountain is located at 225 Music Mountain Road, in Falls Village, Connecticut, where a short scenic drive will bring you to Gordon Hall atop Music Mountain. Free parking and picnic facilities are available. This year all seats in Gordon Hall are reserved, and front seats sell at a premium. Lawn Tickets are available for General Admission on Sunday concerts. Patrons will be able to purchase specific seats from a seating map when buying tickets. Every seat will be a bit larger, too.

Since 1930, generations of music lovers have come to Music Mountain for an exceptional concert experience and, today, audiences continue to praise the outstanding quality and consistency of the events at Music Mountain, the exceptional acoustics of air-conditioned Gordon Hall, and the beauty and peaceful serenity of Music Mountain"s mountaintop grounds. Recent concertgoers see Music Mountain as a peaceful green oasis" and highlight its amazing venue, ambience, and experience."

Music Mountain, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, began as the unique vision of Jacques Gordon, Chicago Symphony concertmaster from 1921 to 1930 and the founding first violinist of the Gordon String Quartet, one of the leading quartets of its time. The buildings at Music Mountain form a well-designed campus in the Colonial Revival style. They were built by Sears, Roebuck & Company"s prefabricated housing division and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Nicholas Gordon, the son of Jacques Gordon, was president of Music Mountain from 1974 until his death in 2017. With an encyclopedic knowledge of chamber music and performing quartets, he expanded the teaching programs, and arranged for broadcasts of Music Mountain concerts that reach over one million listeners nationwide and in 45 countries. As artistic and executive director, as well as principal fundraiser, Nick's guidance included not only traditional chamber music classics, but also the introduction of Twilight Jazz Concerts on Saturday nights. Nick believed Music Mountain's longevity is due to the fact it has been faithful to its mission and is supported by a dedicated community sharing a passion and love of music--traditions that are alive and well today.

Today, artistic director Oskar Espina-Ruiz and Music Mountain's dedicated board of directors steer Music Mountain through a period of continued growth.

Music Mountain is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development Office of the Arts; Connecticut Humanities; the Peter N. Krysa Designated Fund and the Kahn Moller Family Fund from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and the Khurshed Bhumgara Fund and the Lucia Tuttle Fritz Fund from the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation.

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