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Event
music/poetry | poetry\music
"The flame that is naturally clear always gives the most light and heat. If I could blend my talent for poetry and music into one, the light would burn still clearer, and I could go far."
- Robert Schumann
For hundreds of years, the relationship between musical composition and poetic verse has been a source of inspiration, frustration, and occasionally controversy. In this evening-length production, some of New York's finest young musicians will explore the current state of the text/music marriage by presenting recent pieces, including three world premieres, by NYC composers Alex Burtzos and Kim Sherman. Each of the works is based on a poem or set of poems (ranging from ancient to contemporary), but they differ widely in their musical language and approach. Featured performers include poet/baritone Daniel Neer, pianist Yumi Suehiro, and oboist Stuart Breczinski. Before each performance, the poetry which inspired the piece will be performed, and the composer will briefly describe their experience incorporating the poems into their work.
The concert begins at 8:00 PM, and wine and refreshments will be served. Cost of admission is $15 ($10 for students). Doors open at 7:40 PM.
PROGRAM:
"He Never Heard That Fleshless Chant"
Alex Burtzos (2011), based on poetry by Emily Dickenson
Stuart Breczinski, oboe
"Summer 1976" *
Kim Sherman (2015), based on poetry by Daniel Neer
Daniel Neer, baritone
Megan Atchley, violin
Allison Mase, violin
Nick Pauly, viola
Maria Hadge, cello
"Gursky Songs" *
Alex Burtzos (2015), based on poetry by Daniel Neer
Daniel Neer, baritone
Megan Atchley, violin
Maria Hadge, cello
Jing Yang, piano
"Wilfred Owen at the Gates" *
Alex Burtzos (2015), based on poetry by Wilfred Owen & Dante
Yumi Suehiro, piano
* = World Premiere Performance
Baritone & poet DANIEL NEER enjoys a uniquely diverse career as a singer, librettist and lyricist. Concert appearances range from Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, Guggenheim Museum and Morgan Library to The Apollo, Chicago Art Institute and Aspen Music Festival. On Broadway he has performed in two original companies: the Tony-award winning production of Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème and the UK's National Theatre production of Coram Boy, directed by Melly Still. Other NYC collaborations include Experiments in Opera, Rebel Baroque Orchestra, Gotham Chamber Opera, Metropolis Ensemble, Vox Vocal Ensemble, Opera Slavica, Ekmeles, Two Sides Sounding, Vertical Player Repertory and Mark Morris Dance Company.
Daniel is a frequent collaborator on new works including Matt Aucoin's Crossing (American Repertory Theater, directed by Diane Paulus), Pete Wyer's Numinous City (Royal Opera House Covent Garden), Petr Kotik's Many Many Women (Ostrava Days Festival, Czech Republic), Simon Bainbridge's Tenebrae (Roulette), Douglas Cuomo's Arjuna's Dilemma (New York City Opera's Vox on the Edge), Michael Dellaira's The Secret Agent (Center for Contemporary Opera), Stephen Schwartz's Séance on a Wet Afternoon (American Opera Projects), Chandler Carter's Strange Fruit (Harlem School for The Arts), Yoav Gal's Three Weeks (LABA Productions), Robinson McClellan's BQE (Queens New Music Festival), Daniel Felsenfeld's Bruce Bailey (BEAT Festival) and Ronnie Reshef's The Good Dr. Windhager (The Secret Opera). He has portrayed over 100 roles in theater, opera, operetta and musical theater, receiving critical acclaim for his diverse range of characterizations, and has recorded for Dreamworks, Albany, Newport Classics and Naxos labels.
STUART BRECZINSKI is a New York-based oboist, improviser, composer, and educator whose early interest in making unusual sounds on the oboe has developed into a passion for creating and sharing innovative audio with audiences of all backgrounds. A proponent of chamber and contemporary music, Breczinski is a member of the City of Tomorrow, a traveling woodwind quintet dedicated to the promotion and performance of contemporary works. He has also performed as a chamber musician with Bang on a Can, Contemporaneous, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), ensemble mise-en, the New York New Music Ensemble, NOVUS NY, Signal, and the Talea Ensemble. He recently completed his tenure as the oboist with Ensemble ACJW, a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education.
Pianist YUMI SUEHIRO is one of New York's most committed interpreters of new music. She has won numerous national and international competitions, including the top prize at the KOBE International Competition in Japan (their youngest winner). In 2007 and 2008, she was invited to perform her debut at the Carnegie Weill recital hall as a winner of AMTL audition. Yumi performs regularly with ensemble mise-en.
ALEX BURTZOS is a composer/conductor living in New York City. His work has been performed across the United States and in Europe. Alex's sophisticated approach to composition demonstrates a synthesis of diverse styles, blending sounds without regard to school or style, and his works comment on every aspect of life -- from American prehistory ("A Country of Vast Designs") to naughty text messages ("SXTG"). Alex is the recipient of 2015 Brian Israel Prize, and a two-time finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould competition. Recently, he has collaborated with JACK Quartet, Manhattan Saxophone Quartet, ensemble mise-en, the Society for New Music, Fresh-Squeezed Opera, and many others.
KIM SHERMAN is a composer whose music covers the spectrum of musical genres from opera to chamber and orchestral to musical theater. Her work has been hailed by the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Dallas Morning News, and others. For ten years she taught "Collaboration for Composers, Sound Designers and Directors" at the Yale School of Drama. And since 1998, she has been a volunteer composer and mentor for the 52nd Street Project, an organization dedicated to the kids from Hell's Kitchen in NYC, bringing them together with theater professionals to create original theater, and in the process, engaging their sense of self worth, literacy skills and appreciation for the arts.
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LocationThe National Opera Center (View)
330 7th Ave. #1600 (7th Floor)
New York, NY 10001
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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