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…)
Obituary: Isabelle DeWitt, first editor of Music at Yale Magazine
Isabelle Hollister Tuttle DeWitt, the first editor of Music at Yale Magazine, died Saturday, September 26th at her home in New Haven, Conn. She was 82 years old.
Mrs. DeWitt was born November 14th, 1926, in Boston, MA, to Isabelle Hollister Tuttle and H. Emerson Tuttle. She spent much of her childhood in New Haven, where her father was the first Master of Yale’s Davenport College. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle were artists whose etchings and paintings have been shown and collected worldwide.
Mrs. DeWitt was educated at the Foote School in New Haven, St. Timothy’s School (Catonsville, MD), and the Yale School of Music. She married H. Daniel DeWitt, MD, in 1960. They settled in New York City, where their three children were born, and spent summers on Nantucket, where the couple first met. After Dr. DeWitt died in 1969, Mrs. DeWitt returned with her children to New Haven. There she became the founding editor of both Music at Yale and Foote Prints, alumnae periodicals for her alma maters.
She was the senior accompanist for New Haven’s Classical Ballet Academy during the 1970s and taught piano at various times in her life. Mrs. DeWitt also flourished as a New Haven real estate agent, working with the late Barbara B. Tower and H. Pearce Company. She retired from real estate in 2007 after more than 25 years in the business. (more…)
Sō Percussion receives grant from Chamber Music America
Faculty composer Aaron Jay Kernis among those commissioned by CMA grant recipients
Chamber Music America (CMA) announced today that it will award $181,500 in grants for ten commissioning projects in six states. The commissions, made through CMA’s Classical Commissioning Program, are funded by a generous multi-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Since its creation in 1982, the CMA Commissioning Program has made more than 100 grants. Works that have been funded include Yale faculty member Aaron Jay Kernis’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Quartet No. 2 (“Musica Instrumentalis”); George Tsontakis’s String Quartet No. 4 (“Beneath Thy Tenderness of Heart”), recipient of the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award; Joan Tower’s Night Fields; Richard Danielpour’s Urban Dances; and Steve Mackey’s Indigenous Instruments.
Among the grant recipients is the ensemble Sō Percussion, whose membes – Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting – are all graduates of the Yale School of Music. The quartet has commissioned Steve Mackey to composer an extensive work for percussion quartet. (more…)
William Westney ’76DMA named Hans Christian Andersen Guest Professor at the University of Southern Denmark (Odense) for 2009-10
William Westney (DMA ’76, Piano Performance) has been named the Hans Christian Andersen Guest Professor at the University of Southern Denmark (Odense) for the 2009-10 academic year. This six-month university-wide interdisciplinary residency is granted annually to one scholar in any field. During his time in Scandinavia he will also perform as guest artist at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
In June 2009 he was the principal guest artist/presenter at the Singapore Piano Teachers’ Association “Pedagogy Symposium,” playing a solo recital and giving five days of workshops and lectures. While in Asia he also returned to Tonghai University in Taiwan as guest clinician. Earlier in the year, Dr. Westney, who holds two endowed positions at Texas Tech University, was given the university’s highest teaching honor, the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award (only one award is given out of a faculty of over 1200). An in-depth interview with William Westney entitled “Breakthroughs – the Sweetest Moments in Teaching” comprised the cover article of the May/June 2009 magazine Clavier Companion – a new publication resulting from the merger of two well-established pedagogy magazines, Clavier and Keyboard Companion. His book The Perfect Wrong Note (Amadeus Press), now in its second printing, has sold over 10,000 copies worldwide.
Andrea Lam ’04AD reaches Van Cliburn semifinals
Pianist Andrea Lam ’04AD has been selected as one of the twelve semi-finalists in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition. On the Van Cliburn Blog, Mike Winter has written: “With breath-taking pianissimos and phrasing, she found colors and depths in the music I never knew existed.” In the semi-final round, pianists perform a one-hour recital as well as a chamber music program with the Takács Quartet. The competition can be viewed live at www.cliburn.tv; Lam will perform with the Takács Quartet on the evening of Saturday, May 30.
Read a Q&A with Lam here, and read some reviews of her performances here, here, and here. (more…)
David Kurtz ’MM80 garners three Emmy nominations
David Kurtz, right, receiving the School of Music Alumni Certificate of Merit in 2004, with Dean Robert Blocker
David Kurtz ’MM80, a composer and lyricist, has been nominated for three Emmy Awards.
One nomination is for Outstanding Achievement In Music Direction And Composition For A Drama Series; Kurtz, along with fellow composer Jack Allocco and music supervisors Mike Dobson and Bryan Harrison, was nominated for his work on The Young and the Restless. Kurtz also received two nominations in the category of Outstanding Original Song for a Drama Series: one for “All My Days Filled with You” and the other for “For All Time,” both co-written with Jack Allocco.
In addition to his work on The Young and the Restless, Kurtz has contributed to the music for The Bold and the Beautiful, By the Sea, Alien Nation, Charles in Charge, and many other television productions, as well as movies including The Big Chill, Instant Justice, and Hunk. Kurtz is also a member of the Yale School of Music Board of Visitors.
John Sipher ’08MM appointed principal trombone of Syracuse Symphony
John Sipher ’08MM has been appointed principal trombone of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. He will begin performing with the orchestra of its summer season and will begin full time in September. (more…)
Violinist Nicholas DiEugenio ’08AD appointed Assistant Professor at Ithaca College
Nicholas DiEugenio ’08AD has been appointed Assistant Professor of Violin at the Ithaca College School of Music. The position is tenure-track and begins this August.
BIOGRAPHY
Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for his “invigorating, silken” playing and “mysterious atmosphere,” violinist Nicholas DiEugenio leads a versatile musical life as a multi-faceted performer of composers from Buxtehude to Carter. This year’s projects include concerts at Town Hall in Seattle and Merkin Hall in New York, as well as concerts at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Recently, Mr. DiEugenio performed Ezra Laderman’s Violin Duets in Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) along with violinist Katie Hyun. He has premiered chamber works by composers Yevgeniy Sharlat, Matthew Barnson, and Timo Andres at Yale, as well as at Roulette in New York, and by Stephen Gorbos at Cornell. (more…)
John Mangan ’94MM appointed Vice President & Dean of Curtis Institute of Music
John Mangan, a graduate of the Yale School of Music and a lecturer in the Department of History, has been appointed as the next Vice President and Dean of the Curtis Institute of Music. Dr. Mangan will oversee the academic, musical studies, and performance curricula, as well as all areas relating to students and faculty. He succeeds Robert Fitzpatrick, who retires in May after a twenty-nine-year tenure at Curtis.
According to Roberto Díaz, president and chief executive officer of Curtis, Dr. Mangan brings to Curtis broad experience in academic administration, teaching, and music performance. For the last seven years, he has held administrative and teaching posts at Yale University, most recently as assistant dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and lecturer in the Department of History. From 2002 to 2006 he worked in undergraduate academic and student affairs at Yale as dean of Jonathan Edwards College, long regarded as Yale’s music and arts residential college. Dr. Mangan holds a Ph.D. in History and Education from Columbia University. A classical guitarist with extensive performing experience, he earned a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. (more…)
Chad Burrow ‘01MM appointed professor of clarinet at University of Michigan
Chad Burrow ‘01MM has been appointed to the prestigious position of professor of clarinet at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The winner of prizes and awards from the 2001 Young Concert Artist International Competition in New York City, the 2000 Woolsey Hall Competition, the 2000 Artist International Competition, and the 1997 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the European press has said that Chad Burrow performs with “brilliant technique and tonal beauty mixed with an expressive ferocity.” In a summer of 2007 review, the Danish critic Henrik Svane went on to describe a Burrow performance as virtuosity, energy, and power without compromise. It is no surprise that Burrow was the only American clarinetist invited to participate in the 2003 Munich Competition. (more…)
YSM students and graduates win positions
Ji Hye Jung ‘09 MM, a student in percussion, has recently been appointed to the faculty at the University of Kansas, where she will teach percussion.
In addition, violinist Sun-Mi Chang ‘08 AD has won a position with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Korean percussionist Ji Hye Jung burst into the spotlight during the 2006-2007 season with consecutive First Prizes at the 2006 Linz International Marimba Competition and the 2007 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition in Baltimore. At twenty-five years old she is already sought after around the world as a soloist and teacher of marimba, percussion, and chamber music.
(more…)
Pianists Amy Yang and Andrea Lam to compete in the Cliburn Competition
Two pianists from the Yale School of Music, alumna Andrea Lam ‘04AD and current Artist Diploma student Amy J. Yang, will be among the thirty competitors in the preliminary round of the upcoming Cliburn Competition. Lam and Yang were selected from hundreds of recitals to compete in the prestigious event, which will take place in May. Named for the spectacular pianist Van Cliburn, winner of the First Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow (1958), the competition is one of the most prestigious of its kind worldwide. It was first held in 1962 and has been repeated every four years since then. A complete list of the thirty finalists for 2009 is available on the Cliburn Competition’s website. After the Preliminary Round, twelve pianists will compete in the semifinal round; six will vie for top honors in the final round.
Australian pianist Andrea Lam began her musical training at age five, and at thirteen won the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Quest Competition Viewer Choice Award, which led to debuts with the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. Since then she has played with all of Australia’s major orchestras, and has also performed in Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States, collaborating with such conductors as Michael Christie, Edo de Waart, Alan Gilbert, and Christopher Hogwood. A graduate of Yale University and the Manhattan School of Music, she will record two Mozart concertos with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in July 2009. More information is available at her website: http://www.andrealam.com
Amy Jiaqi Yang immigrated to the United States with her family in 1995, settling in Houston. First-prize winner of the Corpus Christi Young Artist’s Competition and the Kosciuszko Foundation’s National Chopin Competition, she has performed throughout the United States and in China, Poland, Switzerland, and Turkey. Ms. Yang is an avid chamber musician and has recently participated in the Marlboro Festival, toured with Musicians from Ravinia, and performed with ensemble for former first lady Laura Bush at the White House. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, a master’s degree from Juilliard, and is currently enrolled at Yale, where she also studies sculpture and classical guitar. Audio clips are available at Ms. Yang’s MySpace Music site.
Shizuo Kuwahara ’01MM wins 2008 Solti Competition
Frankfurt, November 9, 2008 – The Fourth International Conductors’ Competition Sir Georg Solti has a winner: the 32 year old American Shizuo Kuwahara picked up first prize. Eugene Tzigane (26, also from the USA) received second prize, and Andreas Hotz (27) from Germany came in third place. He was the first German candidate to reach the final round of the International Conductors’ Competition Sir Georg Solti. In 2006 Shizuo took second place in the Solti Competition.
First prize is €15,000, second prize €10,000 and the candidate in third place receives €5,000. The first and second prize winners also received bonus prizes: invitations to conduct for the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra, the hr Symphony Orchestra as well as other German and international orchestras. The public finale concert today, Sunday morning, in Frankfurt’s Alter Oper saw three finalists at the conductor’s stand of the hr Symphony Orchestra performing the following works (selected by drawing lots): Gioacchino Rossini’s “William Tell” overture (Andreas Hotz), Carl Maria von Weber’s “Oberon” overture (Shizuo Kuwahara) and Giuseppe Verdi’s “The Force of Destiny” overture (Eugene Tzigane). Then all three candidates each conducted Igor Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” (from No. 4 to the end). After a short break to discuss the winner, the jury chairman Rolf-E. Breuer announced the decision, unanimously agreed by the members of the jury after evaluating the two rehearsal days, Friday and Saturday, and the public finale today, Sunday.
To conclude the morning’s thrilling events there was a performance of Michael Glinka’s “Ruslan and Ludmilla”, conducted by Shizuo Kuwahara, the first prize winner.
The members of the jury for the final round, as chaired by Rolf-E. Breuer, were: Lady Valerie Solti (Patroness of the Competition and widow of the legendary conductor Sir Georg Solti), Ulrich Edelmann (First Concertmaster of the hr Symphony Orchestra), Zdenĕk Mácal (Head Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic), Andreas Mölich-Zebhauser (Director of the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden), Matthias Pintscher (composer and conductor), Sebastian Weigle (General Music Director for the City of Frankfurt am Main, Head Conductor of the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra) and Lothar Zagrosek (Head Conductor of the Konzerthaus Orchestra in Berlin).
Shizuo Kuwahara • www.shizuokuwahara.com
The audience in Frankfurt will still remember Shizuo Kuwahara well as the second prize winner of the last Solti Competition. Since then he (32) has been invited to be a guest conductor by numerous orchestras, such as the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie (German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra) as well as the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, which he conducted at the Weilburger Schloss concerts. He received his training at Yale University and the Eastman School of Music, where he graduated with distinction. His first positions were as Associate Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, before he was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the IPPO Philharmonic in Tokyo.
