Unveilings -- New and Recent works by New York Composers.

June 3, 2011 - PRLog -- On Tuesday, June 7 at 8 PM The North/South Chamber Orchestra performs new and recent works by New York composers Allen Brings, Max Lifchitz, Robert Martin & Dosia McKay.

Distinguished soloists will include flutist Lisa Hansen; oboist Richard Kravchak; and clarinetist Julia Heinen.

The concert will take place at the acoustically intimate auditorium of Christ & St’ Stephen’s Church (120 West 69th St — bet Bway & Columbus) in New York City. Free admission (no tickets necessary). The composers will be in attendance and will introduce their works to the public.

North/South Consonance’s 2010-11 season is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; grants from Columbia University’s Ditson Fund and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 802); as well as contributions by many generous individuals.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC

Dosia McKay’s composition portfolio includes scores for film, dance, and multimedia, works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, choir, symphony orchestra, as well as synthesized sound. Her musical language fluently weaves elements of classical harmony, baroque counterpoint, jazz, pop, avant-garde, and folk melodies from her native Poland. She writes that “Unveiling for string orchestra is an exploration of layers of sounds. Beginning with one solitary note, new aural strata gradually unfold in which multiple layers of counterpoint constantly shift, weave, and intersect until the tension is finally broken in an unveiling of a tender and fleeting soundscape. The work looks back at her Polish heritage with echoes of the string writing by Grazyna Bacewicz, Romuald Twardowski, or Henryk Gorecki.

A native of New York City, Allen Brings at Queens College, Columbia University, and Boston University. His teachers included Otto Luening, Roger Sessions and Gardner Read. Brings’ published compositions, which include works for orchestra, band, chorus, a wide variety of chamber ensembles, piano, organ, harpsichord, guitar, and voice, have been recorded for Navona Records, Capstone, Centaur, Grenadilla, Contemporary Record Society, North/South Consonance, Arizona University Recordings, and Vienna Modern Masters. He is a Professor Emeritus of Music at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College of the City University of New York and is a director of the Weston Music Center and School of the Performing Arts in Weston, Connecticut, where he teaches piano and theory.  Brings comments that his Concerto da camera No. 3 for flute and strings was written in 1974 while he was living in Rome. In three contrasting movements, the music is lyrical and passionate while providing ample opportunity for virtuosic display.

Born in Mexico City but a New York resident since 1966, Max Lifchitz is active as pianist, conductor and composer. His works have been performed throught the US, Europe and Latin America and appear on several recordings. The Yellow Ribbons is a series of compositions written as homage to the former American hostages in Iran. These compositions are a personal way of celebrating the artistic and political freedom so often taken for granted in the West. Recent tragic events in New York City and elsewhere convinced the composer that returning to work on this series begun in the early 1980’s was both appropriate and worthwhile. Yellow Ribbons No. 48 is a kind of concerto grosso for oboe, clarinet and strings. In three contrasting but interrelated movements, the work was written at the request of oboist Richard Kravchak and clarinetist Julia Heinen who will be acting as soloists for the premiere.

The evening concert will conclude with the premier of One Year the Milkweed for flute and orchestra by Robert Martin. Trained at the Peabody Conservatory and winner of a prestigious Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Martin spent close to 20 years working in the finance world before returning to music full time a few years ago. His work was inspired by an Arshile Gorky painting of the same title. It is in two movements and demands that the soloist switches between the alto and regular flutes. Lisa Hansen will be the soloist for this piece and also for Brings’ Concerto da camera.

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