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Mixed Doubles II:
Kathryn Lockwood and Sheila Browne
May 18, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church
152 West 66th Street (west of Broadway), New York City
Admission: New York Viola Society members: Free
General Admission: $15, Seniors: $10, Students: $5
More information: (212) 592-7785
Program
Witold Lutoslawski - Bucolics for Viola and Violoncello (Bukoliki)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Duet for Viola and Cello in E flat major, WoO 32 ("With eyeglasses obligato")
Rebecca Clarke - Two Pieces for Viola and Cello (1917)
Walter Piston - Duo for Viola and Cello
Dan Coleman - Dezembrum for Viola and Cello
Sheila Browne, Viola
Cheng-Hou Lee, Cello
Inessa Zaretsky - "Dervishes" - Pieces for Viola and Percussion
Written for the duo in 2004
I. Moderato
II. Scherzo
Glen Velez - "Homage" for Frame Drums and Viola
Commissioned by LSP in 2006
1. Moderato
2. Anime; Coda
John Patitucci - Scenes for Viola and Percussion
Commissioned by LSP in 2005
Part 1: Tempo Rubato, Tempo Nouvo
Part 2: Tempo Moderato
Part 3: Rubato; Andante - Majestic
Zhao Jiping - "Summer in the High Grassland"
David Krakauer - "Klezmer a la Bechet"
Enzo Rao - "a different world" Allegro
LOCKWOOD/SHERONICK PROJECT
Kathryn Lockwood, Viola
Yousif Sheronick, Percussion
About the Artists:
A dynamic and versatile artist, violist Sheila Browne has concertized in many of the world's major halls. A native of Philadelphia, she has performed in the Schauspielhaus-Berlin, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, London's Royal Festival Hall, Vienna's MusikVerein, Buenos Aires' Teatro Colon as well as in all of the major halls at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Saint Louis, Australia, and in the Far East. The only viola solo finalist at Carnegie Hall in the Pro Musicis International Awards 2004, she has also been a member of the prizewinning Arianna, Gotham and Pelligrini String Quartets. Ms. Browne has collaborated with such famous artists as James Buswell, Miriam Fried, Paul Katz, Gilbert Kalish, David Krakauer, Anton Kuerti, Ruth Laredo, Ransom Wilson, Richard Stoltzman and the Vermeer Quartet, and has recorded on the Nonesuch label with multiple Tony-winner and fellow Juilliard alum Audra MacDonald. She has been featured on PBS in a documentary with Michael Tilson Thomas as well as broadcast on many North and South American radio stations. A proponent of new music, she has premiered and recorded many contemporary composers' works. A CD of viola and cello duos was recently released on the Centaur label, of which the American Record Guide wrote, "Sheila Browne ... plays with admirable polish, tonal luster, and sensitivity ... this is a wonderful program from beginning to end, enriching the recorded repertoire on CD with ideal renderings of seldom-heard but very worthwhile music."
A CD of a virtuosic concerto written for Ms. Browne by Kenneth Jacobs titled Approaching Northern Darkness is to be released with the Kiev Philharmonic by ERM this year. She gave the southern hemisphere premiere of this work at the International Viola Congress in Adelaide, Australia in 2007, and has also been invited to tour South Africa and participate at the 2009 International Viola Congress in Pretoria playing this same concerto.
As an undergraduate at the Juilliard School Ms. Browne was Karen Tuttle's teaching assistant, a Naumburg scholarship recipient, and soloist and principal of the orchestra. She was also co-principal for two years of Alexander Schneider's New York String Seminar. She was awarded the prestigious German Academic Exchange Grant (DAAD) for graduate studies with soloist Kim Kashkashian at the Freiburg MusikHochschule, and earned a Masters degree while in Paul Katz's Quartet Program at Rice University. A dedicated teacher, she has also taught at the Universities of Tennessee and Missouri-St. Louis, and presently teaches college and high school violists at the North Carolina School of the Arts (www.ncarts.edu). She will be teaching at the California Summer Music and Green Mountain Chamber Music festivals this summer, and was recently elected to the Executive Board of the American Viola Society. She plays on a viola made especially for her by Marten Cornelissen.
Cellist Cheng-Hou Lee, a native of Taiwan, received both the bachelo's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School. He also earned a master's degree in chamber music at Rice University, where he was a founding member of the award-winning Gotham Quartet. Mr. Lee has worked with world-renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Harvey Shapiro, Janos Starker, Mistilav Rostropovich, Zara Nelsova, Paul Katz, Steven Iserlis, Raphael Wallfisch, Gary Hoffman, Tim Eddy, and members of the Juilliard, Tokyo, and Alban Berg Quartets. Cheng-Hou has won the Chi-Mei Foundation Award for Outstanding Talents, the concerto competition at the Manhattan School of Music, Tuesday Musical Club Competition in Houston and twice the National Cello Competition in Taiwan, and he has appeared on the WQXR radio station in New York City.
He was a recipient of a career grant from the Quanta Computer Education Foundation, and was a full-scholarship student at the New England Conservatory for his Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has made solo and chamber music appearances throughout the United States, and also toured in Germany, Italy, Hong-Kong, and throughout Taiwan. Mr. Lee served as a teaching assistant to Paul Katz for 5 years, and he has taught or conducted master classes at schools such as University of Connecticut, University of Delaware, East Carolina University, Southern Illinois University, and the Tainan Woman's College of Arts and Technology. He was also a faculty member at the Main Line Chamber Music Seminar in Pennsylvania, the "House of Cello" Festival, as well as the Bay Chamber Concerts "Next Generation" Program.
As a chamber musician, Mr. Lee performed with renowned pianist Ruth Laredo, the Boromeo String Quartet, the Miami String Quartet, and American composer William Bolcom. In addition, he has appeared in concerts for the David G. Whitcomb Foundation, Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute, Jordan Hall's 100th anniversary in Boston, the Omega Ensemble in New York City, the Charles Wadsworth and Friends Series, Robert Kapilowís "What Makes It Great?" Seiries at Lincoln Center, and the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.
Cheng-Hou is currently the cellist of the Avalon Quartet, which previously served as the string faculty at Indiana University at South Bend, and in August 2007 the Avalon Quartet succeeded the world-renowned Vermeer Quartet as the quartet-in-residence at Northern Illinois University. During summers, the quartet is on faculty at festivals such as the Interlochen Center for the Arts' Advanced String Quartet program and the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival.
Described by critics around the world for their "superb" and "extraordinary" musicianship, Kathryn Lockwood and Yousif Sheronick join forces in a rare combination of viola and percussion. With heritages stretching as far as Australia, Lebanon and the United States, the Lockwood/Sheronick Project is truly a duo of the world. Drawing from their melting pot home of New York City, LSP has commissioned composers in the fields of Jazz, European Classical and World Traditions encompassing diverse and creative repertoire that is both aurally and visually alluring. Along side the viola, the percussion batterie includes the durbahek (goblet drum) and riq (tambourine) from the Middle East as well as the West African djembe and frame drums from around the globe.
Kathryn Lockwood has been distinguished as a violist of exceptional talents in reviews around the country. The Cleveland Plain Dealer proclaimed, "...Lockwood played the vociferous viola cadenza with mahogany beauty and vivid character." 2005 marked the release of Kathryn's solo recital CD of Viola Music by Inessa Zaretsky, "Fireoptics", which Strad declared "Lockwood is absolutely inside the music's idiom finding appropriate tonal shadings". Kathryn is a member of the internationally renowned Lark Quartet, and has been guest artist with ensembles such as Trio Solisti, The Muir Quartet, and Triple Helix, and has collaborated with artists Branford Marsalis, Cho-Liang Lin, and the Bill T Jones Dance Company. A native of Australia, Kathryn moved to the US in 1991 and captured solo awards at the Primrose International Viola Competition, and The Washington International Competition for Strings. As a founding member of the Pacifica Quartet, she was heard live in residence on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" and on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and at The Ravinia Festival. She has recorded for Cedille records, including a collaboration with Guarneri String Quartet violist Michael Tree and for Arabesque and Bribie Recordings.
Recent faculty positions include University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mason Gross School of Music at Rutgers University, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and in the past, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Interlochen Academy, Music Institute of Chicago, and National Music Camp in Australia. She earned her master's degree with Donald McInnes at the University of Southern California and her Bachelor of Music degree from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with Elizabeth Morgan.
Hailed by the New York Times for his "dazzling improvisations" Yousif Sheronick appears internationally as soloist and chamber musician with world-renowned groups and artists such as Philip Glass, Ethos Percussion Group, Glen Velez, Foday Musa Suso, Simon Shaheen, Henry Threadgill and Paul Winter Consort. Mr. Sheronick's unique style encompasses traditions and instruments from the Middle East, North and West Africa, Brazil, India, and Europe. His ability to work in such diverse genres is due to having studied contemporary classical, jazz, world and rock music, which he seamlessly fuses into his playing. Critics in Spain say Yousif "is capable of creating hypnotic atmospheres" (Mundoclasico) where he "transported the listener to another dimension." (Ritmic). Prestigious venue performances include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall (London) and Wigmore Hall (London). Distinguished collaborators include Yo-Yo Ma, Branford Marsalis, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Marcel Khalife, Sonny Fortune, and the Lark and Pacifica String Quartets.
Mr. Sheronick recently released his critically acclaimed solo CD titled "Silk Thread" which Modern Drummer Magazine calls “a testimony to his genius”. He also released a Riq Instructional Video which Rhythm Magazine (UK) says “is a must to uncover the mysteries of this ancient instrument.” He has appeared throughout the US, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia with festival appearances including the JVC and Newport Jazz Festivals, Jazztel (Madrid), Renaissance Festival (Rethymno, Greece) Early Music Festival (Regensburg, Germany) and Jerusalem Festival (Palestine). He has performed live on NPR's "Performance Today" and John Schaffer's "New Sounds." An active clinician, Mr. Sheronick teaches masterclasses at home in the US and abroad. Mr. Sheronick holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Iowa and serves on the faculties of the University of Bridgeport and Concordia Conservatory.
About the Works:
Dervishes - Pieces for Viola and Percussion, by Inessa Zaretsky
Russian born pianist and composer Inessa Zaretsky burst on to the composition scene winning four ASCAP Composition Awards and a "Commission USA" Award from Meet the Composer Foundation. Her works have been performed by many prominent musicians such as members of the Boston, Orpheus and St. Luke's Orchestras, and ensembles including the Kent/Blossom Festival Orchestra, St. Lukes Chamber Ensemble, Cassat and Miro Quartets. Dervishes was the first piece written for the Lockwood/Sheronick Project and is a musical portrait of them. There are originally five pieces in this suite (only four are being performed on this concert), which are a blend of Western and Middle Eastern music, composed to represent both of their heritages. There is a short three note motivic element threading the four pieces together. Moderato is a dialogue of emotions brewing, surfacing and sinking. Scherzo is a Bodhran improvisation on a seductive and through composed viola melody. The next piece Lento has a very free viola part with interjecting insistence of the percussion part. The suite ends in a gigue-like Vivace, a combination of fun and drive. Dervishes is one of Ms. Zaretsky's most collaborative works as Yousif improvised on the Middle Eastern drums used in much of the piece.
"Homage" for Frame Drums and Viola, by Glen Velez
Grammy Award winner Glen Velez is a percussionist, vocalist, and composer, specializing in frame drums from around the world. Of Mexican/Texan ancestry, Velez is largely responsible for the increasing popularity of frame drums in the United States and around the world. Velez favors in his work the Irish bodhrán, the Brazilian pandeiro, the Arabic riq, the North African bendir, and the Azerbaijani ghaval. Homage was inspired by the idea of the drum as a melodic instrument. The drummer uses vocalizations to bring out the hidden melodies, which the viola can elaborate and comment on. The two instruments converse in a circular banter of rhythmic and melodic motifs. The combination of stringed instrument and drum recalls the ancient sound of a pre-electronic era. This piece endeavors to invoke the mood of old Roman times, when the familiar sounds of the rich toned frame drums were used in rituals and celebrations.
Scenes for Viola and Percussion, by John Patitucci
New York born bassist and composer, John Patitucci is a jazz legend. In 1986, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences voted Patitucci the MVP (Most Valuable Player) on acoustic bass. He has won three Grammy Awards (one for playing and two for composing). In addition, his first solo recording, John Patitucci, was number one on the Billboard Jazz charts. He has released five albums with the Concord Jazz label: One More Angel, Now, Imprint, Communion and Songs, Stories and Spirituals. Patitucci has won polls including: Best Jazz Bassist in Guitar Player Magazine's 1992, 1994 and 1995 Readers' Poll and Best Jazz Bassist in Bass Player Magazine's 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 Readers' Poll. Amongst his many commissions, such as Turtle Island Quartet and the Italian chamber orchestra Suono e Oltre in Pescara, Patitucci wrote Scenes for Viola and Percussion. He&'s given the viola an exotic sound harmonically, matching moods with the exotic hand percussion. The viola part has an improvisatory spirit and the percussion part with unspecified instruments, has intensity and groove.
Klezmer a la Bechet is part of a suite of pieces ("A Klezmer Tribute to Sidney Bechet") that I wrote in 1997 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sidney Bechet; renowned virtuoso on the clarinet and soprano saxophone and one of jazzs' first great soloists along with Louis Armstrong. The suite is a musical description of an imaginary meeting between Bechet and Naftule Brandwein, the legendery Eastern European Jewish klezmer clarinetist. The full work was premiered at the Saalfelden Jazz festival by my band "Klezmer Madness!" (with Ben Neill), and subsequently recorded on John Zorns' Tzadik label as part of the second recording under my name : "Klezmer NY". "Klezmer a la Bechet" takes the klezmer "terkisher" (Turkish influenced) dance rhythm as a base, and super-imposes both a funk feel and an across the bar line lyricism (remnicent of Bechet) on top of that. This piece remains in my bands' repetoire to this day and is totally representative of my work in writing new klezmer music for the 20th/21st century. This version for viola and percussion was adapted by the Lockwood/Sheronick Project, and brings the Middle Eastern flavor of the "terkisher" to the fore with the use of the Bodhran frame drum. David Krakauer 2008
Summer in the High Grassland - from the Silk Road Suite, by Zhao Jiping (b. 1945)
Zhao Jiping is one of the most respected film composers in China; his work includes the score for Farewell by Concubine. Taking its inspiration from the music of Mongolia, the syncopated rhythms and wide melodic leaps in Summer in the High Grassland are characteristic of music from that region, while the percussion represents traditions from all along the Silk Road. Zhao wrote "Summer" as part of the Silk Road Suite for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble in 2004. He used the inspiration of the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle), a traditional two-stringed instrument from Mongolia, which was introduced to Yo-Yo Ma in 1999. Here he has transferred many of the techniques used to play this instrument to one of its descendants, the cello.
a different world, by Enzo Rao
Enzo Rao was born in Palermo Italy. He works as a composer, and plays Violin, Oud, sadz, Jewish Harp, bass and other instruments. His heterogeneous musical background allows him to play Rock, Jazz, Blues and a variety of Ethnic music styles. His true passion is Sicilian and Mediterranean ethnical music, which clearly comes through in this light and folksy song, A different world. Originally for violin and drums, it was performed and recorded by Rao who changes the time signature in the main statement between 7/4 and 8/4, giving the piece an easy but uneven gait. A different world includes a violin (now viola) solo and a percussion solo before it returns to the opening statement.
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