Mixed Media

Concert Spotlight: Duo Concertante and the Tarab Cello Ensemble perform at Ithaca College

Violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves — together known as Duo Concertante — will give a free guest recital at Ithaca College on Wednesday, March 18. The performance will begin at 8:15 p.m. in the Hockett Family Recital Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music.

The program will include a Beethoven sonata, a duo by R. Murray Schafer, and a fantasy by Schubert. The program will conclude with three lighter selections: “A Night in Tunisia” by Dizzy Gillespie, the traditional Irish tune “The Lark in the Clear Air,” and “Tico Tico.”

Since forming in 1997, Duo Concertante’s performances have been acclaimed throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad for brilliance, subtlety, passion, and stunning ensemble. Hailed for their “artistry, poetry, and impeccable technique” (“La Scena Musicale”), “exceptional warmth and intimacy” (“Ottawa Citizen”), Dahn and Steeves have been described as superb musicians who “work together with uncanny perfection” (“Waterloo Gazette”). Their teamwork and powerfully-charged performances set them apart from more conventional violin/piano collaborations, with a critic from “La Scene Musicale” observing, “One doesn’t listen to a program of violin music here, but to real chamber music, as it should be.”

The Ithaca College Concert Series will continue on Friday, with the Tarab Cello Ensemble, eight   cellists dedicated to the performance of new music for cello choir, performing a free concert at Ithaca College on Friday, March 20 at 8:15 pm in Ford Hall.  They will be joined by Ithaca College faculty cellist Elizabeth Simkin.  With one exception from 1996, their entire program will consist of music composed in the 21st century.

Tarab Cello Ensemble is dedicated to the commissioning and performance of twenty-first century American music for eight cellos, with the goal of establishing a vital contemporary repertoire for this instrumentation. Since its inception in 2000, the ensemble has premiered more than twenty works, from such composers as Larry Bell, Caleb Burhans, Garrett Byrnes, Dennis DeSantis, David Liptak, Brad Lubman, Gregory Mertl, Joe Michaels, Sam Pellman, Martin Scherzinger, Aaron Travers, and Dan Trueman. Its repertoire also includes such compositions as Pierre Boulez' /Messagesquisse/, Arvo Pärt's /Fratres/, Augusta Read Thomas’ /Blizzard in Paradise /and Luciano Berio's /Korot/.

More information about these performances and about Ithaca College's Concert Series can be found here.

Concert Spotlight: Verdehr Trio performs at Ithaca College

The Enduring Masters series at Ithaca College will continue on Wednesday, March 4, with a performance by the Verdehr Trio, an ensemble acknowledged for its leadership in the world of new   music. Free and open to the public, the concert will start at 8:15 p.m. in the Hockett Family Recital Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. Members of the trio will also conduct a series of master classes on March 4.

Entitled “Music of the 21st Century,” the program will consist of works by Jennifer Higdon, David Liptak, Lee Hoiby, Roberto Sierra, Gernot Wolfgang, and Augusta Read Thomas. These works were commissioned by the Trio and Michigan State University, where the ensemble is in residence.

For more than 30 years, the Verdehr Trio has concentrated on molding and defining the personality of the violin-clarinet-piano trio. With violinist Walter Verdehr, clarinetist Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, and pianist Silvia Roederer, the Trio has created a large repertoire by commissioning nearly 200 new works from the worlds’ most prominent and exciting composers — known and unknown, young and old, from the United States and abroad.

The Verdehr Trio has performed throughout the world, including 17 European countries, the former Soviet Union, South and Central America, Asia, Australia, and all 50 United States. Among the major concert halls where the Trio has appeared are the Kennedy and Lincoln Centers, Vienna’s Brahmssaal, Sydney Opera House and London’s Wigmore Hall.

The Enduring Masters Series is a partnership of the Ithaca College School of Music and the Gerontology Institute’s Linden Center for Creativity and Aging, a part of the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies. The series is funded by the New York State Music Fund established by the New York Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

For more information, contact Susan Harris, coordinator of Enduring Masters, at (607) 274-7007 or sharris@ithaca.edu; or visit www.ithaca.edu/enduringmasters.

The Guarneri Quartet marks a farewell in Ithaca

The Guarneri Quartet will open the yearlong Ithaca College Concerts season, “Ensembles Great and Small,” with a stop on its Farewell Tour Friday, Oct. 3. The performance will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. The program will include string quartets by Bartok and Mozart, as well as Dvorak’s “American” quartet.

The Guarneri String Quartet "is among the most revered and enduring ensembles of its kind in the world" (National Public Radio) and has circled the globe countless times since it was formed in 1964, playing in the most prestigious halls in North and South America, Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia. They have been featured on many television and radio specials, documentaries and educational presentations in both North America and abroad.

Members of the Guarneri String Quartet will retire upon completion of the 2008–9 season. In its final season, the quartet will celebrate by doing what it does best—touring extensively throughout the United States as its members have for nearly 45 years. Performances include the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art concert series, instituted in 1965, as well as a collaboration with the Johannes String Quartet. The ensemble will also make its annual European tour this winter.

Visit the Ithaca College Concerts website for more information or call (607) 274-3717.

Concert Spotlight: Hotel Cafe in Ithaca

Ever since the sweet sincerity of artists like Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver and Dan Fogelberg, singer-songwriters have been vying with elevator Muzak for the distinction of least hip in the world of music.

But at the Hotel Cafe in downtown Hollywood, singer-songwriters rule the roost. And after eight years of hard work, the small club is turning the tide of hip.

Performers have to elbow their way through the Hotel Cafe crowd to climb onto the tiny stage jammed into a nook by the front window. But since the venue opened in 2000, capacity has grown from 49 to 165.

"It was beg, borrow and steal from day one, 'cause you know initially we had no booze at all, not even beer and wine, just a coffee shop," says club co-owner Max Mamikunian. "We used to charge $5 for a bucket of ice and people could bring in their own beer. And every dime we made went back into the club in some way."

Today, the small club has sent its artists out on an international tour playing much larger venues. And on a recent night, it celebrated the first release on its fledgling record label — a CD by long-time regular performer Jim Bianco. According to Mamikunian, the club's coterie of singer-songwriters has helped put the Hotel Cafe on the map, and the success of the club has, in turn, helped launch the artists' careers.

The Hotel Cafe 2008 Tour will stop at the State Theatre in Ithaca on March 26th. Tickets for these shows are selling out all across the country so if you want to catch the Ithaca performance, get your tickets soon.

Listen as NPR's Christian Bordal visits the club where singer-songwriters still draw a crowd.

Concert Spotlight: Ithaca College Wind Ensemble performs 'Circus Maximus'

In a performance called “monumental” by its conductor, the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble will feature John Corigliano’s “Circus Maximus,” a piece of music which literally surrounds the audience with sound. The free concert will take place in Bailey Hall on the Cornell University campus on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m.

“The music involves huge forces, including 11 surround trumpets, surround flutes, clarinets, percussionists, and a saxophone quartet,” said conductor Stephen Peterson, a professor of music performance at Ithaca College. “There will also be a small marching band, which will make its way through the hall during the climax of the 37-minute work.”

The percussion section includes two sirens and a shotgun, Peterson added.

“The only venue in the area that could accommodate this piece is Bailey Hall, and the Cornell Department of Music graciously offered the use of Bailey for this event. We’re grateful to so many people at Cornell, as well as 30 additional Ithaca College musicians, to make this program possible.”

The piece has been performed by college wind ensembles and the U.S. Marine Band, always to rave reviews that have noted the overwhelming reaction of audiences to the huge work. The “Austin Chronicle” wrote that, “What was most powerful and extraordinary about ‘Circus Maximus’ was the way it reflected those pressures and the character of our culture—the violence, the pride, the impatience, the disconnectedness, the sense of menace and of mourning—to a degree that was unnerving.”

Also on the program of music by American visionaries are works of Copland and Ives, and “Lollapalooza” by John Adams. The guest conductor for these works will be Cynthia Johnson-Turner, Cornell’s director of wind ensembles.

For more information, call (607) 274-3717.

Concert Spotlight: The Tallis Scholars perform at Ithaca College

On Thursday, Feb. 28, the Tallis Scholars — an ensemble of vocalists specializing music of the Renaissance — will perform the second of three performances in the Ithaca College Concerts year-long season “Legends.” The concert will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music.

The 2007–2008 season has been named “Legends” because it offers concerts by world renowned performers who have established themselves as popular and enduring figures. The season will conclude in April with the 30-year reunion tour of Tashi, the renowned chamber music ensemble.

Entitled “Music of Spain and Portugal,” the Tallis Scholars performance features the “Requiem” for six voices by Tomás Luis de Victoria. Music in Latin by several other Spanish and Portuguese composers rounds out the program.

The Tallis Scholars were founded in 1973 by Peter Phillips, their tireless and inspirational Oxford-educated director. Phillips has worked with the ensemble to create, through good tuning and blend, the purity and clarity of sound that he feels best serves the Renaissance repertoire, thus allowing every detail of the musical lines to be heard.

The ensemble has established itself as a leading exponent of Renaissance sacred music through its approximately 70 concerts a year and over 50 award-winning recordings on the Gimmel label. They are among the busiest ensembles in the world, with regular tours throughout Europe, North and South America, and the Far East.

Individual tickets are on sale at the Clinton House Ticket Center and at Ithacaevents.com.
For more information on Ithaca College Concerts, call (607) 274-3717.

Concert Spotlight: Violinist Rachel Barton Pine at Ithaca College

Violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine will give this year’s Louis K. Thaler Concert Violinist Series performance at Ithaca College on Saturday, Feb. 2. The free concert will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. With pianist Matthew Hagle, Pine will perform two works honoring Black History Month: Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata, which was written for an Afro-English violinist, and a set of spirituals form the first half of the program. Pine will also perform Richard Strauss’s Violin sonata and the Sarasate “Carmen” Fantasy. In addition to her public performance,
Pine will give a master class on Sunday, Feb. 3, at 1 p.m. in the Hockett Family Recital Hall. The series was established in 2002 to honor Louis Thaler’s lifelong love of the violin.

American violinist Rachel Barton Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Montreal, Vienna, New Zealand and Iceland Symphonies. Acclaimed collaborations include Daniel Barenboim,
Christoph Eschenbach, William Warfield, Christopher O’Riley and Mark O’Connor.

Her festival appearances include Ravinia, Marlboro, and Salzburg. She has been featured on “St. Paul Sunday,” “Performance Today,” “From the Top,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” and NBC’s “Today.” She holds top prizes from the J.S. Bach (gold medal), Queen Elisabeth, Paganini, Kreisler, Szigeti, and Montreal international competitions, and has twice been honored as a Chicagoan of the Year. Her charitable activities include serving as a trustee of the Music Institute of Chicago and president of the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation.

Pianist Matthew Hagle lives and works in the Chicago area, having performed at the Ravinia Festival’s Martin Theater, Symphony Center, the Chicago Cultural Center, and live from radio station WFMT, among other venues. He has performed in England, Australia, and Japan, as well as throughout the United States.

 

Concert Spotlight: Alexis P. Suter Band

Alexis P. Suter Band will perform on Sunday, January 20th at 7:30 p.m. at the Blarney Stone Pub (formerly the Music Shop Pub), 26 South Broad Street, Norwich, NY. For tickets and more information, call 607-336-2630.

Concert Spotlight: John Hammond in Binghamton

From coffeehouses to concert halls, festivals and beyond, John Hammond has spent forty years entertaining blues, folk and rock audiences around the world, performing intense solo-acoustic blues. A Grammy Award winner and four time nominee, Hammond is also a multiple W.C. Handy award winner who has shared the stage and/or recorded with many of the masters, including Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf.

John Hammond will perform on Friday, January 11th at the Night Eagle Cafe, 200 State Street, Binghamton.

Concert Spotlight: Slambovia Returns to Binghamton

One of my all-time favorite groups returns to Binghamton Saturday night. Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams has been described as 'hillbilly Pink Floyd folk' and 'bohemian americana' - all I know is that they offer a potent brew of genre-smashing music and songwriting that ranges from the inspirational ("Talking to the Buddha") to plain ol' foot-stompin' fun ("Alice in Space").

While the Circus' CD releases are fine to get you through the dark times when they're not touring in your area (my particular favorite is the 2005 release, Flapjacks in the Sky,) the real magic lies in their live concerts. Walk into one of their shows and you'll come out not simply a new fan, but quite possibly a convert into this strange new religion that fans call "Slambovia."

In 1998, The Circus emerged from the misty hills of Sleepy Hollow, New York and exploded upon the Hudson Valley music scene with their stunning self-produced debut release, "A Good Thief Tips His Hat". The quirky quartet then began touring throughout the northeast and rapidly developed a fiercely loyal, all-ages following. Featured in Relix Magazine, the New York Times and on the CBS hit show, Joan of Arcadia, the band's charismatic live performances and blend of folk, rock, hillbilly and pop have made them friends all over the world.

Here's a tasty sampling of what you can expect at a show:

 

Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams is playing on Saturday, November 24th at 8 p.m. at the Night Eagle Cafe, 200 State Street, Binghamton. Visit the Night Eagle Cafe's website for more information and to order tickets for the show.

- by Crystal Sarakas