Stephen Adams ’59 awarded Yale Medal
Among the recipients of this year’s Yale Medal is Stephen Adams ’59, a member of the School of Music’s Board of Visitors and a donor whose generosity has transformed the School. The medal will be awarded tonight at the annual Yale Medal dinner.
Inaugurated in 1952, the Yale Medal is the highest award presented by the Association of Yale Alumni and is conferred solely to recognize and honor outstanding individual service to the University. Since its inception, the Yale Medal has been presented to 272 individuals, all of whom not only showed extraordinary devotion to the ideals of the University, but also were conspicuous in demonstrating their support of Yale through extensive, exemplary service on behalf of Yale as a whole or one of its many schools, institutes, or programs. (more…)
Yo-Yo Ma premieres cello concerto by Angel Lam ’10AD
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of music director Robert Spano, will present the New York premiere of Angel Lam’s Awakening from a Disappearing Garden on Saturday, November 7, at Carnegie Hall. The piece, a concerto for cello and orchestra, was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and was first performed in Atlanta Symphony Hall on October 15 and 16, 2009. This is Lam’s third commission from Carnegie Hall, which describes her as “a young composer whose work sounds both Chinese and Western, contemporary but also timeless.” (more…)
Members of the Berlin Philharmonic to work with YSM students
Klaus Wallendorf, horn
The Yale School of Music is pleased to announce a special Philharmonia session with members of the Berlin Philharmonic on Tuesday, November 10 at 2:30 pm. Nine members of the Berlin Philharmonic will travel to Yale to lead the Philharmonia in sectional coachings, followed by a side-by-side reading of the first movement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor.
School of Music students who are not participating are invited to observe the reading session, which will take place in the Glee Club Room from 4:00 to 5:15 pm. (more…)
Poet, translator Peter Cole to give pre-concert talk
The poet and translator Peter Cole will give a free talk on Friday, November 6 at 7 pm about the texts for Aaron Jay Kernis’s Symphony of Meditations. The talk precedes the 8pm performance, which features Kernis himself conducting the Yale Philharmonia, Yale Camerata, Yale Glee Club, and Yale Schola Cantorum in the symphony’s East Coast premiere. Cole translated the texts that Kernis used in the Symphony of Meditations. The original Hebrew texts, by the 11th-century Andalusian poet Solomon Ibn Gabirol, are a lyrical meditation that addresses the universal themes of life, death, and one’s relationship to God. Kernis was introduced to Gabirol’s work in Cole’s translations after the death of his parents, and he considers the work – the first symphony he has written in 17 years – “a statement of my Jewishness.” Kernis reflects, “[the work] has made me ruminate and meditate a great deal upon how it is that we human beings and our souls are created and shaped, and what makes us into our own selves.”
Peter Cole (b. 1957, Paterson, NJ) is the author of three books of poems, most recently Things on Which I’ve Stumbled (New Directions, 2008). His many volumes of translations from Hebrew and Arabic include The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492 (Princeton), Aharon Shabtai’s J’accuse (New Directions), Taha Muhammad Ali’s So What: New & Selected Poems 1973-2005 (Copper Canyon), and Hebrew Writers on Writing (Trinity). Cole who lives in Jerusalem and co-edits Ibis Editions, has taught at Yale University, Wesleyan University, and Middlebury College.
Cole has received numerous honors for his work, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the National Jewish Book Award for Poetry, the Association of American Publishers’ Hawkins Award for Book of the Year, the PEN Translation Award for Poetry, the MLA Scaglione Translation Award, and a TLS Translation Prize. In 2007, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.
Alumni success in San Antonio International Piano Competition
Ryo Yanagitani ‘04MM, ‘05AD, ‘08MMA and Andrea Lam ‘04AD won major prizes in the Tenth San Antonio International Piano Competition. Yanagitani won the Gold Medal – the competition’s top prize – and Lam won the Silver Medal. In addition, Yanagitani was awarded prizes for the best performance of a Romantic work and of a work by a Latin American composer, as well as the prize of the junior jury. Lam was awarded prizes for the best performance of a Classical composition and best performance of a Russian work.
As the gold medal winner, Yanagitani will appear in performances with the San Antonio Symphony, St. Mark’s Music Series, and Symphony of the Hills (Kerrville).
The San Antonio International Piano Competition is a non-profit organization formed in 1983. Once every three years, it presents a unique series of events, held over a one-week period, featuring some of the finest young rising pianists to be found in the world of music. (more…)
Composer John Adams to lecture on campus Oct 28-29
New Haven, Conn. — Master American composer John Adams will deliver the 2009 Tanner Lectures on Human Values on October 28 and 29 at the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall Street. His first talk, “Doctor Faustus and His Composition: Reflections on Thomas Mann’s Fictional Composer,” will be held on October 28, and his second, “Doctor Atomic and His Gadget: Composing the American Mythology,” on October 29. Both talks will take place at 4:30 pm.
Recognized worldwide for the expressive depth, technical range, and compelling themes of his work, Mr. Adams has broadened the aesthetics of contemporary American concert music, moving it away from academic modernism and toward a more expansive, profoundly humanist musical language. His groundbreaking compositions include the symphonies Harmonium, Grand Pianola Music, Harmonielehre, and El Dorado as well as the politically controversial operas Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, based on a 1985 terrorist hijacking and murder, and Doctor Atomic, about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. His multilingual nativity oratorio, El Niño, was written to mark the millennium. On the Transmigration of Souls, a choral tribute to the victims of the World Trade Center attacks, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and won three Grammys, including Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Mr. Adams’s recent memoir, Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life, has been lauded as an explication of the creative process and named a New York Times Notable Book. In his teaching, writing, and composition, Mr. Adams has been hailed as a “philosopher/craftsman, attempting to reflect and render the truth as he observes and feels it, in all its complexity and its simplicity.” (more…)
YSM launches new Community Engagement Think Tanks
The Yale School of Music is pleased to launch its new Community Engagement Think Tanks, in which visiting lecturers will bring their expertise to small-group conversations with graduate students in music.
The Community Engagement Think Tanks are designed to focus on broad topics led by recognized leaders in the field of classical music. Each Think Tank will pose a series of questions intended to spark discussion among participating students and visiting lecturers.
Topics covered will include vital issues such as audience development, marketing, education programs, technology, and new ways to present concerts. This is an important opportunity for Yale School of Music students to engage with experts in the field and help create solutions to issues relevant to classical music in the twenty-first century. Getting the broader community engaged in this work is part of the School’s goal of shaping the field of classical music and ensuring its success in the coming years. (more…)
Luthier Andrew Dipper offers talk on Stradivari
Master luthier and historian of string instruments Andrew Dipper will present a talk entitled, “What Makes a Stradivari: The Mysteries of a Great Violin Maker,” on Thursday, Sep. 17, at 5:30 pm, at the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments.
Mr. Dipper is a sought-after lecturer and has taught violinmaking and restoration in Cremona and London. He has also published important texts on various aspects of stringed instruments which include a translation of the violin-making notes of Count Cozio de Salabue, the first collector of instruments by Stradivari and Guarneri and the patron of J. B. Guadagnini; a book on the theory of violin geometry and F-shaped sound-hole construction; and three articles in The Violin Society of America Journal on the works of the Italian makers, their varnishes and working methods. In addition, he edited the translation of The Secrets of Stradivari by S. Sacconi from Italian to English. He is currently working on a translation of La Chelonomié, ou, Le Parfait Luthier, compiled by the Abbé Sibire from the workshop notes of François Lupot.
After studying sculpture and violinmaking in London and Cremona, he founded Andrew Dipper Restorations in London, England in 1975. (more…)
Educators honored and challenged at Second Symposium on Music in Schools
The stage is set in Sprague Hall for Symposium panel discussions
Check out the media galleries of the Symposium!
Honoring 51 distinguished public school music educators from 37 states, welcoming an additional 60 music teachers from New Haven, probing critical educational issues, building skills in panels and workshops, and drawing national attention to the value of music and music teachers in the lives of our children, the Yale School of Music’s second biennial Symposium on Music in Schools was a resounding success. Taking place on June 10 and 11, 2009, the Symposium was sponsored by the Yale College Class of 1957 and the Yale School of Music as part of the Music in Schools Initiative.
“The symposium was a wonderful opportunity for the School of Music to contribute to music education in our country and to recognize the wonderful work done by so many music teachers,” said Associate Dean Michael Yaffe, who oversees the School’s Music in Schools Initiative. “It really exceeded my expectations. There was so much high level conversation about the topics, and teachers were really energized about what they were doing. They left feeling that they could go back and conquer the world — which is just what we were hoping they would do.” (more…)
Music at Yale magazine now available online
The Yale School of Music’s annual publication, Music at Yale, has released its first online issue. The 2008-09 issue of the magazine highlights Denise and Stephen Adams, donors who have transformed the Yale School of Music with their generosity. An article by Susan Hawkshaw traces the career of the legendary Aldo Parisot, who this year celebrates his fiftieth year on the School of Music faculty.
Other featured news items include the Philharmonia’s first tour of Asia in July 2008, the new alumniVentures program, the 2008 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Messiaen Centenary Celebration in December 2008, and announcements of events such as the 2009 Symposium on Music in Schools and the new Yale Institute for Music Theatre. As in previous issues, the magazine also includes student, alumni, and faculty news, music briefs, and many other items about the Yale School of Music.
View the 2008-09 issue of Music at Yale here.
Emanuel Ax to serve as Visiting Professor of Piano
The Yale School of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of Emanuel Ax as Visiting Professor of Piano for the 2009-2010 academic year. One of the world’s leading pianists, Ax has longstanding ties to Yale and to the School of Music, including an honorary doctorate from the university.
Boris Berman, Coordinator of Piano at YSM, notes that “for many years we felt honored to present recitals and master classes of this wonderful artist to the Yale community. His addition to the roster of the piano faculty will give our talented students an invaluable opportunity to work closely with one of the greatest masters of the piano.” (more…)
Gallery: Highlights from the Guitar Extravaganza
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Guitarists from across the United States came to the Yale School of Music for the Guitar Extravaganza VI, which took place on March 7, 2009. Under the artistic direction of Benjamin Verdery, the daylong event covered topics from baroque to electric. Among the performers and presenters were several Yale alumni, including Eliot Fisk ‘76BA, ‘77MM, who gave a special benefit recital; Seth Josel ‘94DMA, who performed in a double-bill with guitarist and composer Gyan Riley; Jerald Harscher ‘90MM, who offered a workshop on body mapping; and Kevin Vigil ‘90MM, who led his student guitar ensemble in concert and then teamed up with Kim Perlak ‘01MM for a lecture on the guitar’s role in education.
Other guest artists included David Madsen, who led the Hartt School Guitar Ensemble, and Jerry Willard, who performed on two period guitars and offered a master class, as well as faculty composers Ingram Marshall, Martin Bresnick, and Jack Vees, who participated in a panel discussion on composing for the guitar. Hundreds of people came to attend the workshops, lectures, master classes, and concerts offered throughout the day.
Photos by Vincent Oneppo and Dana Astmann.
Yale Guitar Extravaganza VI:
From Baroque to Electric
Featured recital by acclaimed guitarist Eliot Fisk
The Yale School of Music presents the Guitar Extravaganza VI on Saturday, March 7 in Sprague Memorial Hall and Leigh Hall. Under the artistic direction of Benjamin Verdery, renowned guitarist and longstanding chair of the guitar department at the Yale School of Music, the Extravaganza brings together guitarists for a day of concerts, workshops, lectures, exhibits, master classes, and a panel discussion. In keeping with the theme, From Baroque to Electric, the event will cover topics from the Baroque to the electric, from composing to body mapping, and will include guitars from period instruments to electric guitars. Performances will feature both students and established artists.
Highlights include Jerry Willard performing on guitars from the Baroque and Classical periods, as well as giving a master class on repertoire for those instruments. Kim Perlak and Kevin Vigil will speak on the guitar’s role in education. A panel discussion will feature composers from Yale’s esteemed faculty, moderated by Benjamin Verdery. The renowned young guitarists Seth Josel and Gyan Riley will pair up for a 5:30 pm performance. Capping off the extravaganza is an 8 pm benefit appearance by one of the world’s most eminent guitarists, Yale graduate and former faculty member Eliot Fisk.
Registration for the day’s events is $40, $30 for students and members of the Classical Guitar Societies of Connecticut and New York. Groups of six or more receive a 20% discount. Concert passes, valid for the 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm concerts, are $15, $12 for groups of six or more, $10 for students and members of the CCGS and NYCGS.
Check out the complete schedule for the Guitar Extravaganza, along with biographies of presenters and performers. This event is supported by the D’Addario Foundation for the Performing Arts.
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS
Yale School of Music presents
Yale Guitar Extravaganza VI: From Baroque to Electric
Date: March 7, 2009
Venue: Sprague Hall, 470 College Street, and Leigh Hall, 435 College Street
Tickets: Registration (includes admission to all events) $40, $30 for students and members of the Classical Guitar Societies of Connecticut and New York, 20% discount for groups of six or more.
Concert passes (for admission to the concerts at 5:30 pm and 8 pm) are $15, $12 for groups of six or more, $10 for students and members of the Classical Guitar Societies of Connecticut and New York.
Phone/web: 203 432-4158 • music.yale.edu • music.yale.edu/events
Yale University to host trumpeter Wynton Marsalis
Chubb Fellow Wynton Marsalis will hold a “musical conversation” on February 5 at 4:30 p.m. in the United Church on the Green, corner of Temple and Elm streets. The event is free and open to the public.
Wynton Marsalis is the most outstanding jazz musician and trumpeter of his generation. He is a big band leader in the tradition of Duke Ellington and also a prolific composer, educator, advocate for the arts, and public leader. Born in New Orleans, at age 14 he made his debut with the New Orleans Philharmonic and was a member of the New Orleans Symphony Brass Quintet, New Orleans Community Concert Band, New Orleans Youth Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony, and local jazz and funk bands. A year after moving to New York at age 17 to attend Juilliard, Mr. Marsalis joined Art Blakey’s band, the Jazz Messengers.
Marsalis has produced over 60 record albums. With his own band, Marsalis performed over 120 concerts a year. He has played with Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sweets Edison, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, and other jazz legends, and has garnered recognition for the earlier generation of jazz musicians and prompted the re-issuance of jazz recordings worldwide. (more…)
