Composer Paul Moravec, winner of of the 2004 Pulizter Prize for Composition, is the 2006–2007 Artist-in-Residence for our new interdisciplinary series, The Composers Project.

A PDF version of the Composers Project brochure is available here (3.4MB).

Special Thanks to the Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation and the Estate of Ruth Steinkraus Cohen and Herbert L. Cohen (Friends of Music).

Pianos: Provided by Steinway Piano Gallery of Westport.

Since 1997, the Grammy-nominatd Imani Winds has been enriching the traditional wind quintet repertoire with European, American, African, and Latin American traditions.  These unabashedly adventurous musicians have carved out a distinct presence in the classical music world with their dynamic playing and culturally poignant programming.  Winners of the 2007 ASCAP Award, the Imani’s goal is “nothing  less than to change the face---literally—of the classical wind quintet.  Imani Winds represents nothing less than the future of the once-quaint notion of the wind quintet…”  (Washington Post)
 

One of the many unique aspects of the Imani Winds is that two of the musicans are also highly regarded composers.  In their Composers Project concert, the Imani will feature the work of Jeff Scott and Valerie Coleman.  Valerie (b. 1970)  is the resident composer, founder and flutist of the Imani Winds and is on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music Advancement Program.  Jeff Scott (b.1978) frequently composes pieces for the group, as well as creating original transcriptions, arrangements, and adaptations for the quintet.

Program

Valerie Colman, Suite: Portraits of Josephine
Jeff Scott, Homage to Duke
Julio Medaglia, Suite: "Belle Epoque in Sud-Amerka"
Coleman, Libertango

Antares has the “gift of making whatever they’re playing seem the most important piece in the world,” recently declared Gramophone Magazine of our 2008 artist-in-residence ensemble. Comprised of four virtuoso instrumentalists, Antares draws from a vast and colorful repertoire for clarinet, violin, cello and piano.  The group’s high-energy performance style and remarkable ensemble dynamic led to the quartet’s selection as First Prize Winner of the  2002 Concert Artists Guild International Competition.

This concert will feature a work by composer James Matheson which will just have had its world premiere at the Ravinia Festival.  James Matheson has emerged as one of the most distinctive, vital and creative musical voices of his generation.  A 2000 Guggenheim Foundation fellowship recipient, Matheson’s music has bee programmed by the Chicago, Seattle, and Albany Symphonies; as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at music festivals including Spoleto, Santa Fe and Aspen.

Program

L. v. Beethoven, Piano Trio in E-flat, Op. 1 No. 1
James Matheson – Anatomy of Melanchony (2008)*
Mason Bates, Red River (2007)*
Bela Bartok, Contrasts
James Matheson, Buzz (2001) (encore)

* written for the ensemble

Composer Zhou Long (b.1953, Beijing) is internationally recognized for bringing together the aesthetic concepts and musical elements of East and West.  He is a pioneer in transferring the idiomatic sounds and techniques of ancient Chinese musical traditions to modern Western instruments and ensembles.  He came to the US in 1985 under a fellowship to attend Columbia University and was the recipient of the 2003 Academy Award in music, a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  Mr. Zhou has been a key collaborator with Yo-Yo Ma on the seminal “Silk Road Project” and has been commissioned by the world’s most influential orchestras and chamber groups, including the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Kronos Quartet, the vocal ensemble Chanticleer, and, as we’ll hear in this concert, the Peabocy Piano Trio. A US citizen since 1999, Zhou Long is married to the composer-violinist Chen Yi.

Join us for at pre-concert talk with Zhou long and the artists at 7:30pm. Music starts at 8:00pm.

Zhou Long, Spirit of Chimes (1999)*
Maurice Ravel, Piano Trio
Franz Schubert, Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 99

* written for the ensemble

The Composers Project concludes with a concert conceived by 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner and WAC Artist-in-Residence, Paul Moravec. His music has been described as "openly and ebulliently attractive, flowing with an effort-less lyric pulse" (Fanfare), "assured, virtuosic" (Wall Street Journal), and "¬resourceful but idiomatic-–richly melodic." (Commentary Magazine).

Moravec has invited Trio Solisti'­s sensational musicians, Maria Bachmann, Alexis Pia Gerlach, and Jon Klibonoff to perform. Trio Solisti performances have thrilled audiences across America. The New York Times hailed the Trio as "consistently brilliant." Program: Mendelssohn, C minor trio, Op. 66; Piazzolla, Le Grand Tango; and Moravec, Tempest Fantasy with Alan Kay (clarinet).

Presented with Symphony Space, NYC.