HUDSON VALLEY CHAMBER MUSIC CIRCLE JUNE 15 CONCERT AT BARD COLLEGE FEATURES WINDSCAPE WITH PIANIST JEREMY DENK Windscape shows the "sheer beauty of a wind quintet's sound."-Washington Post
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.-The second of three concerts in the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) June series will feature a performance by the woodwind quintet Windscape, with pianist Jeremy Denk, on Saturday, June 15. The concert, presented by The Bard Center, will begin at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall.
The program includes Bach's Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor (arranged for woodwind quintet by Alan R. Kay); Mozart's Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, with pianist Denk; Saint-Saëns's Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs; and Dvorák's String Quartet in E-flat Major (arranged for woodwind quintet by David Jolley).
An innovative woodwind quintet, Windscape performs both standard and new repertoire with daring virtuosity, passion, and energy. Created in 1994 by five of New York City's most eminent soloists-flutist Marya Martin, oboist Randall Wolfgang, clarinetist Alan R. Kay, bassoonist Frank Morelli, and hornist David Jolley-Windscape has delighted audiences throughout the United States and the world with an arsenal of dazzling tone, fresh and lively programming, and innovative presentations. They design their programs to take an audience on a virtual journey, evoking-through music and commentary-vivid cultural landscapes of distant times and places. Highlights of the quintet's 2001-02 season are performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at Finland's prestigious Kuhmo Festival. Windscape has been featured on Minnesota Public Radio's St. Paul Sunday, where they played selections from their recording The Roaring Twenties, and also on the Canadian Broadcasting Company's Live from Glenn Gould Studio. The quintet is the ensemble in residence at the Manhattan School of Music.
"Hearing Mr. Denk's bracing, effortlessly virtuosic, and utterly joyous performance, one would never guess how phenomenally difficult the piano part is," writes Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times of a recent performance of Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2. Pianist Jeremy Denk has established a formidable reputation as one of today's most compelling young artists. A 1998 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, he also won the 1997 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, which helped launch his career as a recitalist and concerto soloist nationwide. He has given recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; New York's Town Hall; Alice Tully Hall; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Highlights of his 2001-02 season include performances with the Charleston Symphony and the Riverside Symphony, as well as returns to the Bard Music Festival, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Boston's Gardner Museum. His 2000-01 season included recitals in Philadelphia and New York, and his orchestral engagements were highlighted by appearances with the Eos Orchestra. His career is marked by a commitment to chamber music; Denk was honored with the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, given to a pianist who makes an outstanding contribution to chamber music. Denk received both a B.A. in chemistry from Oberlin College and a B.Mus. from the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Joseph Schwartz. In 1992, Denk earned a master's degree in music from Indiana University, where he now serves on the faculty. He is a doctoral candidate at The Juilliard School.
The series will conclude with a performance on Saturday, June 29, by the Tokyo String Quartet. The quartet will perform Janácek's String Quartet No. 1 ("Kreuzer Sonata"); the Hudson Valley premiere of Bard music professor Joan Tower's string quartet "In Memory"; and Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, "From My Life."
Acclaimed for a remarkable cohesiveness that melds passionate playing with a rich, succulent tone, the Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences and critics alike since it was founded more than 30 years ago. Regarded as one of the supreme chamber ensembles of the world, the quartet consists of violist Kazuhide Isomura, a founding member of the group; second violinist Kikuei Ikeda, who joined the ensemble in 1974; first violinist Martin Beaver, a founding member of the Toronto String Quartet and Triskelion; and Clive Greensmith, formerly principal cellist of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The members of the quartet have served on the faculty of the Yale School of Music since 1976 as quartet-in-residence. They perform on "The Paganini Quartet," a group of renowned Stradivarius instruments named for legendary virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who acquired and played them during the 19th century.
The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, celebrating its 52nd season this year, was founded by Helen Huntington Hull and two friends from Staatsburg, New York. They enlisted the help of violinist Emil Hauser, a member of the Bard College faculty and original first violinist of the Budapest Quartet, to invite performing artists for concerts at the Mills and Vanderbilt Mansions. In 1979, the concert series began its association with Bard College. The HVCMC remains an association of chamber music lovers and a venue that attracts many of the world's preeminent chamber music artists.
These performances are made possible, in part, through the generosity of the Homeland Foundation and the Leon Levy Foundation at Bard College. A subscription to the three-concert series is $60; individual tickets, $25; senior citizens, $15; and students, $5. For further information, call 845-340-0044.
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[Note to editors-Photographs are available, in electronic form, by request. Call 845-758-7512 or e-mail [email protected] for information.]