Bard College Conservatory of Music Presents
Celebrating György Kurtág: 40 Musicians Perform Works for Piano and Chamber Groups at 2 p.m.
Pre-Concert Talk by Julia Galieva-Szokolay, at 1 p.m.
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Bitó Conservatory Building
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST/GMT-5
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Works for children and adults by one of the greatest living composers, who built a new musical language one note at a time.
Celebrating György KurtágSunday, February 16, 2020, at 2:00 p.m.
László Z. Bitó '60 Conservatory Building
Pre-concert talk by Julia Galieva-Szokolay at 1 p.m.
Program
Fanfare à Olivier Cuendet from Brefs Messages, Op. 47 (2010) György Kurtág (b. 1926)
Adam Shohet, trumpet
Henry Shankweiler, trombone
Selections from György Kurtág’s Játékok (“Games”), Book I (1973) performed by students in the Preparatory Division. Note: Please hold applause until the end of this series of short pieces.
Prelude and Waltz in C
Ada Wilson
Staggering
Ezra Kupferberg
Fox and Bunny
Marcus Stephens
Out and In
Anna Roomberg
Twittering
Ciel Haas and Lumi Haas
Gallop
Ella Xu
Sound and Soundball I
Rinchen Posel
Sound and Soundball II
YiSheen Travaglione
Homage to Tchaikovsky
Ryan Hilliker
The concert has been made possible by the László Z. Bitó and Olivia Cariño Foundation as
part of a multi-year project dedicated to the great Hungarian composer, György Kurtág.
We are grateful to Gergely Szokolay and Julia Galieva-Szokolay for their assistance with the preparations for today’s performance.
Selections from György Kurtág’s Jelek, Játékok és Üzenetek
(“Signs, Games & Messages”) for String Trio (1989-2005)
Perpetuum Mobile
Hommage à Ránki György (Pizzicato-keringő)
Zongheng Zhang, violin
Yushi Pan, viola
Nick Scheel, cello
Jelek VI
A very slow waltz for Walter Levine
Gigi Hsueh, violin
Javen Lara, viola
Nathan Matsubara, cello
Hommage à J.S.B. (Dem Trio Orlando)
Ligatura Y
Laura Andrea Pérez Rangel, violin
Jonathan Eng, viola
Alex Levinson, cello
Bagatelles, Op. 14d (1981) Kurtág
Rea Ábel, flute
Elizabeth Liotta, double bass
Vera (Yihong) Lu, piano
Tre Pezzi (1979) Kurtág
Gitta Markó, violin
Helen (Yichun) Wu, piano
Fanfanfaren (1993) Mauricio Kagel (1931-2008)
Ricardo Chinchilla, Joel Guahnich, Viveca Lawrie, & Adam Shohet
trumpets
INTERMISSION
Note: Please hold applause until the end of this series of short pieces.
Selections from György Kurtág’s Játékok (“Games”), Book II-VII (1973-2005),
& Átiratok (“Transcriptions”) for Two Pianists (1974-91)
Waltz from Játékok, Book II
Antiphony in F-sharp from Játékok, Book II
Nita Vemuri
Sarabande from Játékok, Book IV
Nita Vemuri and Leo Gurevich
Stop and Go from Játékok, Book III
Play with Infinity from Játékok, Book III
Leo Gurevich
Quiet talk with the devil from Játékok, Book III
Thistle from Játékok, Book III
Yilin Li
Die sieben Worte Jesu Cristi am Kreuz Heinrich Schütz, arr. G. Kurtág
Yilin Li and Leo Gurevich
Hommage à Schubert from Játékok, Book III
Hommage à Mussorgsky from Játékok, Book III
Carol Liu
Furious Chorale from Játékok, Book IV
Carol Liu and Jimmy Berger
Les Adieux from Játékok, Book V
Prelude and Chorale from Játékok, Book V
Jimmy Berger
Hommage à Paganini from Játékok, Book IV
Anna Sofia Botti and Jimmy Berger
Very last conversation with László Dörnyei from Játékok, Book V
Capriccioso-Luminoso from Játékok, Book V
Anna Sofia Botti
Les Adieux (In Janáčeks Manier) from Játékok, Book VI
Ivy Wu
Fantasia on One Note from Játékok, Book VI Henry Purcell, arr. G. Kurtág
Ivy Wu and Harrison Jarvis
Ligatura X from Játékok, Book VI
Harrison Jarvis
All'ongherese from Játékok, Book VII
Francis Huang
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BMV 38 J. S. Bach, arr. G. Kurtág
Francis Huang and Sindy Yang
Hommage à Pierre Boulez from Játékok, Book VII
Sindy Yang
In Memoriam Edison Denisov from Játékok, Book VII
Jiangli Liu
Ligatura for Ligeti from Játékok, Book VII
Nathan Ben Yehuda
Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BMV106 J. S. Bach, arr. G. Kurtág
Nathan Ben Yehuda and Jiangli Liu
György Kurtág was born at Lugoj in the Bánát region of Romania on February 19, 1926. After moving to Budapest, he enrolled at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in 1946, and married the pianist Márta Kinsker in 1947. Beginning 1957, he spent a year in Paris working with the Hungarian art psychologist Marianne Stein and studying with Messiaen and Milhaud. Beginning in 1958 Kurtág coached students at the Béla Bartók Music Secondary School in Budapest and worked with soloists of the National Philhamonia. In 1967 he began teaching piano at the Liszt Academy, and then served as professor of chamber music until his retirement in 1986, though he continued to teach at there until 1993. As his work become more widely celebrated and travel outside Hungary became easier in the 1990s, he spent more time outside Hungary, as composer in residence with the Berlin Philharmonic (1993-94), Vienna Konzerthaus (1995), in the Netherlands (1996-98), in Berlin again (1998-99), and in Paris (1999-2001) at the invitation of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Cité de la Musique and the Festival d’Automne. Kurtág won the prestigious 2006 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his '...concertante...'. His opera Fin de Partie, based on Samuel Beckett's play, was premiered by La Scala Milan in 2018 to great acclaim.
For more information, call 845-758-7196, e-mail [email protected],
or visit https://bard.edu/conservatory.
Time: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Bitó Conservatory Building