Imani Winds performs with Jasper String Quartet
The Grammy-nominated Imani Winds will join guest ensemble the Jasper String Quartet for a concert on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 8 pm in Sprague Hall (470 College Street, New Haven). The renowned wind quintet will perform a colorful variety of music – Bozza’s Scherzo for Wind Quintet, Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet, and Villa-Lobos’s Woodwind Quintet. The Jasper Quartet, the graduate quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music, will play Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 76 No. 1. The concert will culminate in a piece featuring all the performers: Sierra’s Concierto de Camara, a nonet for winds and strings. Along with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Imani Winds commissioned the Concierto de Camara from the Puerto Rican-born composer Roberto Sierra in 2008. At the work’s premiere, critic David Stabler of The Oregonian wrote: “Sierra’s exuberant nonet fairly danced off the stage… preserving the integrity of each ensemble while demanding intricate interplay among individual players. The cross-court volleys amid the rushing scales were exhilarating to behold.”
The name Imani, which means “faith” in Swahili, reflects the African-American and Latin American ancestry of the ensemble’s five members: Valerie Coleman, flute; Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe; Mariam Adam, clarinet; Jeff Scott, horn; and Monica Ellis, bassoon. The members of the Jasper Quartet, named for Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, are J Freivogel and Sae Niwa, violin; Sam Quintal, viola; and Rachel Henderson, cello. (more…)
Jasper Quartet performs Haydn, Auerbach, and Smetana
The up-and-coming Jasper String Quartet, rapidly becoming a favorite with audiences and critics alike, will offer a free recital on Monday, October 19 at 8 pm. The performance will feature the music of Haydn, Auerbach, and Smetana and will take place in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall. The evening will open with Haydn’s Quartet in G major, Op. 76, No. 1 and will continue with Lera Auerbach’s third quartet, the Cetera desunt – Sonnet for String Quartet, in which the structure of a sonnet influences the internal rhymes of the music. Concluding the program is Smetana’s introspective, deeply personal String Quartet No. 1, “From My Life.” The Jasper Quartet is the Fellowship Quartet-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music, where they study with the Tokyo String Quartet. The members are J Freivogel and Sae Niwa, violin; Sam Quintal, viola; and Rachel Henderson, cello. (more…)
Tokyo String Quartet to perform Haydn, Beethoven, and Bartok
The Tokyo String Quartet, one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles, will perform three powerhouse works on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 8 pm. Artists in residence at the Yale School of Music for the past 33 years, the quartet appears in recital every semester. Their performance this October will open with Haydn’s Quartet in D major, Op. 76, No. 5, and will continue with Beethoven’s “Serioso” Quartet in F minor, Op. 95. The evening will conclude with Bartók’s Quartet No. 6, the last work Bartók wrote in his native Hungary before emigrating to the United States in 1939.
The Tokyo Quartet’s performance, which is presented by the Chamber Music Society at Yale, will take place on Tuesday, October 20 at 8 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College Street, New Haven). The members of the Tokyo String Quartet are Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violins; Kazuhide Isomura, viola; and Clive Greensmith, cello. (more…)
Yale ensembles win silver, bronze medals in Fischoff Competition
Two ensembles from the Yale School of Music won accolades in the 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Ind. The Jasper String Quartet (J Freivogel, violin; Sae Niwa, violin; Sam Quintal, viola; and Rachel Henderson, cello) won the silver medal in the senior string division, and the Lorien Trio (Nicholas DiEugenio, violin; Ashley Bathgate, cello; and Ilya Poletaev, piano) won the bronze. The Grand Prize winner, the Linden String Quartet of the Cleveland Institute of Music, enjoys a Yale connection as well: the quartet will study at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival this summer.
The Jasper Quartet is the 2008-09 Fellowship Quartet in Residence at Yale, where they study with the Tokyo String Quartet. The Lorien Trio is a mix of alumni (Bathgate and Poletaev) and current students (DiEugenio). “We are all excited and proud to represent Yale on the national scene,” said DiEugenio.
The Fischoff Competition is the world’s largest chamber music competition. In 2009, ensembles representing 14 nationalities competed in five rounds of competition over three days.
Guitar Chamber Music in Sprague Hall April 29
Following on the momentum of March’s successful Guitar Extravaganza, the Yale School of Music offers a program of guitar chamber music on Wednesday, April 29 at 8:00 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College St., New Haven). This free event features a broad variety of music performed by graduate-level guitarists under the direction of Benjamin Verdery, who is coordinator of guitar at the Yale School of Music. Composer Aaron Jay Kernis, a member of the School of Music faculty, is featured on the program, as is graduate composer Richard Harrold. The program also features music by Niccolò Paganini, Rene Eespere, William Walton, and Dominick Argento.
Admission to the concert is free. For more information, visit the Yale School of Music website, music.yale.edu, or call 203 432-4158.
Chamber Music Society presents competition winners
The Chamber Music Society at Yale presents the winning ensembles of the Yale School of Music’s 2009 Chamber Music Competition in a performance on Tuesday, April 28, at 8:00 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College Street, New Haven). This showcase for the School’s renowned chamber music program will feature the trio Contrasts by the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, with Benjamin Charmot, violin, Sergiy Dvornichenko, clarinet, and Wei-Jen Yuan, piano; the Sextet for Winds and Piano by French composer Francis Poulenc, with Itay Lantner, flute, Carl Oswald, oboe, Xiaoting Ma, clarinet, Jeremy Friedland, bassoon, Leelanee Sterrett, horn, and Jason Wirth, piano; and Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25, by Johannes Brahms, featuring Anastasia Metla, violin, Mathilde Geismar Roussel, viola, Mo Mo, cello, and Juan Carlos Fernandez-Nieto, piano. (more…)
Lunchtime Chamber Music in Sprague Hall
The Yale School of Music presents Lunchtime Chamber Music on Wednesday, April 29 at 12:30 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College St., New Haven). This free event features a colorful variety of ensembles made up of graduate students at the Yale School of Music. Lunchtime Chamber Music concerts often feature favorite works of the chamber repertoire as well as more unusual pieces. Violinist Wendy Sharp is director of the chamber music program.
Admission to the concert is free. For more information, visit the Yale School of Music website, music.yale.edu, or call 203 432-4158.
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS
Yale School of Music presents Lunchtime Chamber Music
Featuring graduate students from the Yale School of Music chamber music program
Wendy Sharp, director
Date/time: April 29, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Venue: Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
470 College Street, New Haven
Tickets: Free
Phone/web: 203 432-4158 • music.yale.edu
April opens with Lunchtime Chamber Music
The Yale School of Music presents Lunchtime Chamber Music on Wednesday, April 1 at 12:30 in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College St., New Haven). This free event features a colorful variety of ensembles made up of graduate students at the Yale School of Music. Violinist Wendy Sharp is director of the chamber music program.
Admission to the recital is free. For more information, visit the Yale School of Music website, music.yale.edu, or call 203 432-4158.
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS
Yale School of Music presents Lunchtime Chamber Music
Featuring graduate students from the Yale School of Music chamber music program
Wendy Sharp, director
Date/time: April 1, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Venue: Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
470 College Street, New Haven
Tickets: Free
Phone/web: 203 432-4158 • music.yale.edu
Wendy Sharp performs chamber music for strings
Guests include cellist Scott Kluksdahl, violists Marka Gustavsson and Carol Rodland
The Yale School of Music presents a Faculty Artist Series recital by violinist Wendy Sharp on Saturday, February 29 at 8:00 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall. The program opens with Dohnányi’s Serenade in C major for String Trio, Op. 10 and continues with the Duo (1925) for Violin and Cello by the Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff. Culminating the evening will be Dvořák’s String Quintet No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97, dubbed the “American” quintet because it was written during the summer that the composer spent in Iowa. Sharp, who is director of chamber music and a member of the violin faculty at Yale, will be joined by guest artists Marka Gustavsson, viola; Scott Kluksdahl, cello; Carol Rodland, viola; and Lauren Basney, violin.
Admission to the recital is free. For more information, visit the Yale School of Music website, music.yale.edu, or call 203 432-4158.
Violinist Wendy Sharp performs frequently as a recitalist and a chamber musician. A sought-after teacher and chamber music coach, she is on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and California Summer Music. As the first violinist of the Franciscan String Quartet, she toured internationally, and was honored with many awards including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and top prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition. She attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with Distinction in Music and received her MM degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms. Sharp has served on the faculties of Mannes College, Dartmouth, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and participated in the Aspen, Tanglewood, Chamber Music West, Norfolk, and Music Academy of the West festivals. Currently Director of Chamber Music and a member of the violin faculty, Ms. Sharp has been a part of the YSM faculty since 1995.
Guitar Chamber Music
“Quaditorio” for 8 Electric Guitars by Jack Vees is featured, along with music by Australian Nigel Westlake, Canadian Patric Roux, and more traditional fare
The Yale School of Music presents Chamber Music for Guitar on Monday, December 15 at 8 pm in Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall (470 College Street at Wall Street). The program will feature the premiere of Quaditorio, a work by Jack Vees for eight electric guitars; a work by Australian composer Nigel Westlake for two guitars and double bass; a piece by Canadian composer Patrick Roux based on the tango; and music by Fernando Sor and Nikita Koshkin. Graduate artists from the School of Music will perform this varied program, which is directed by faculty guitarist Benjamin Verdery.
For additional information, please call the Yale School of Music Concert Office at 203 432-4158 or visit the Sprague Hall Box Office during regular business hours.
Distinguished as “an American original, an American master” by Guitar Review Magazine, Benjamin Verdery has enjoyed an innovative and eclectic musical career. Since his 1980 New York debut with his wife, flutist Rie Schmidt, Benjamin has performed throughout Europe, Asia and North America and has recorded and performed with such diverse artists as Leo Kottke, Hermann Prey and John Williams. Benjamin has released over 15 albums, his most recent, Branches (Mushkatweek) featuring arrangements of works by Bach, Mozart, Strauss, and Hendrix, and the traditional Amazing Grace. A prolific composer, many of Benjamin Verdery’s compositions have been performed and published over the years. Most recently, Now and Ever for David Russell and Peace, Love and Guitars for John Williams and John Etheridge. Benjamin Verdery is Artistic Director of the Yale Guitar Extravaganza and Art of the Guitar at the 92nd St Y (NYC), conducts an annual master class week on the Island of Maui (Hawaii) and is an honorary board member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, Inc.
