Artistic Voyage's Music Series Continues With Quartet for the End of Time

Artistic Voyage's 2010/11 Chamber Music series continues with a performance on Sunday, December 12th, 2010, featuring Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time." Performers include members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Assistant Principal Cellist Ben Hong and Violinist Robert Gupta, Pacific Symphony's Principal Clarinetist, Benjamin Lulich and Artistic Director/Pianist Yana Reznik. Renowned author and Time Magazine's Music Critic Michael Walsh will survey Messiaen signature work prior to the concert; "For many people, the gateway to Messiaen's world is the Quartet for the End of Time," Alex Ross, New Yorker Magazine

Before the concert on Sunday evenings, patrons are treated to a complimentary wine reception with tasty hors d'oeuvres and an art gallery showing by local artists presented by Lark. These evenings often feature different vintages so patrons who come regularly will discover new wine, chamber music and new art before their concert experience.

Messiaen wrote of his piece, "Conceived and written during my captivity, the Quartet For the End of Time was directly inspired by a citation from the Apocalypse. Its musical language is at its heart immortal, spiritual, Catholic. This quartet consists of eight movements. Why? Seven is the perfect number, the creation through six days sanctified by the divine Sabbath: the seventh of this repose prolongs itself into eternity and becomes the eighth of flawless light of unalterable peace."
Newly formed last year, Artistic Voyage has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the arts in our community venues in Southern California. In the process, Artistic Voyage is fast becoming one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles in Southern California collaborating with many highly talented musicians, composers and artists.
YANA REZNIK is a versatile concert pianist with a modern view on presenting classical music. An ambassador and humanitarian for the arts, Ms. Reznik holds the belief that it is within each of us as a people to bring our talents to bear in the culture that we live in and that we have a responsibility to effect positive change in our society and to be instrumental in creating a more inspiring and fulfilling cultural life both locally and globally.

Originally from Moscow, Yana has performed as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras through North America, Europe and Russia. In 2004 she performed to a sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall in her debut as winner of the Artists International Competition. Called "phenomenal talent... expressing the extremes of human experience with textural refinement and blistering virtuosity", Reznik is founder and artistic director of the Artistic Voyage series.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Assistant Principal Cellist BEN HONG joined the LA PHIL in 1993, at age 24, making him the youngest member of the orchestra at that time. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Hong won his native country's National Cello Competition three years in a row before leaving home, at 13, for the Juilliard School. Later he studied with Lynn Harrell at the University of Southern California School of Music before joining the LA PHIL. In addition to performing with the LA PHIL, he also performs frequently as soloist and as a member of chamber music ensembles. Hong has collaborated with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Janine Jansen, Lang Lang, Cho-Liang Lin, Nicolai Lugansky, Bobby McFerrin, Christopher O'Riley, Shanghai String Quartet, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kyoko Takezawa, Sir Simon Rattle, and Lars Vogt. Hong's desire to grow musically has resulted in a number of diverse performance opportunities. In 2006, he performed a Bach Cello Suite with the local hip-hop orchestra, DaKah, at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the annual Grand Avenue Festival. That performance inspired a passion for improvisation, which he continues to develop with violinist/singer Lili Haydn. His improvisation with Lili was spotlighted by Alex Ross in a 2007 article in The New Yorker magazine focusing on the LA PHIL. Most recently, Hong was hired by Dreamworks to train several members of the cast of the upcoming movie The Soloist, including Jamie Foxx and Tom Hollander. He also serves as an on-set technical advisor. The movie is based on Steve Lopez's columns in the Los Angeles Times about Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a former Juilliard student who ended up on the streets of Los Angeles homeless and schizophrenic yet held tight to his music. Hong's playing will be featured on the film's soundtrack.

Violinist ROBERT VIJAY GUPTA joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in June 2007 at the age of 19. Before joining the orchestra, Gupta received a Master's degree in Music from Yale University and a Bachelor's degree in premedical biology from Marist College. Parallel to his undergraduate studies in biology, Gupta attended the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, Pre-College Division. His principal teachers have included Glenn Dicterow, Ani Kavafian, and Isaac Stern.

Gupta made his solo debut at the age of eleven in Tel Aviv with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta. He has performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Bombay Symphony Orchestra, among many others. He has also performed widely as a chamber musician and recitalist on an international scale since the age of eight, and frequently appears on the Philharmonic's Chamber Music and Green Umbrella new music series.

In 2010, Gupta led the LA Opera as concertmaster in the first ever Western hemisphere production of Franz Schreker's Die Gezeicheneten as part of the company's "Recovered Voices" project, directed by James Conlon. In the summer of 2009, Gupta performed as an associate concertmaster with the Orquesta Comunitat de la Valenciana at the Palau de Les Arts in Valencia, Spain in an internationally acclaimed production of the complete Wagner Ring Cycle, led by Mehta.

Gupta is passionate about education and outreach; he was featured in several articles by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, and in a 60 Minutes piece on Nathaniel Ayers, the subject of Lopez' book, The Soloist. Gupta has the privilege of working with Ayers as his violin teacher. Gupta brings his musical activism to homeless and mentally ill communities throughout Southern California.

Throughout his undergraduate course of study, Gupta was part of several extensive research projects in the field of neuro and neurodegenerative biology. He held Research Assistant positions at CUNY Hunter College in New York City, where he worked on spinal chord neuronal regeneration, and at the Harvard Institutes of Medicine Center for Neurologic Diseases, where he studied the biochemical pathology of Parkinson's disease. Robert Gupta is a TED Fellow.

Gupta plays on a 2003 violin made for him by Kansas City's Luthier Anton Krutz.
BENJAMIN LULICH was appointed Principal Clarinet of Pacific Symphony in May of 2007, coming to Orange County after spending a year as associate principal, 2nd and Eb Clarinets with the Kansas City Symphony. Lulich attended high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, where he was a student of Richard Hawkins and won the annual concerto competition and both the Fine Arts and Young Artist awards. He then received his B.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Frank Cohen and continued his studies at Yale University with David Shifrin. While in Cleveland, Lulich was an active freelancer, and performed with The Cleveland Orchestra on several occasions, including two tours. He has also performed with Opera Pacific, New World Symphony, and has spent summers at Marrowstone Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, and the Colorado Music Festival. Lulich has also won concerto competitions at Music Academy of the West, Cleveland Institute of Music, Marrowstone Music Festival and was a Theodore Presser Scholar. Additional clarinet teachers include Laura DeLuca, Alain Desgagne and Fred Ormand. A native of Oregon, Lulich started playing the clarinet at age 11, taking lessons with Ted Burton in his hometown of Bend.

Sunday, December 12, 2010, 6PM
Messiah Lutheran Church
4861 Liverpool Street, Yorba Linda

Wine Down Sunday's with Artistic Voyage
Artistic Director/Pianist Yana Reznik
With special guest, author, Michael Walsh
Ben Hong, cello
Robert Gupta, violin
Benjamin Lulich, clarinet

Wine Tasting & Gallery Viewing 6:30 pm
Performance 7:30 pm
Tickets: $30 Adult, $15 College Student
For Tickets go to: http://artisticvoyage.org/tickets.html
Or, call 714.528.0920 Mon - Thurs from 9 am - 4pm, Fri 9am - 1pm

 

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