Guest Cellist Reveals Powerful, Prolific and Unknown Composer

 Cellist Elizabeth Grunin performs two works by 20th century composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg in an intimate Guest Artist lecture and recital on Saturday March 26 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 “Mieczyslaw Weinberg is a name hardly known in the classical music world. However his works and life story certainly demand recognition,” said Dr. Grunin. “We will be become acquainted with this incredible composer and his life as well as explore his abilities at combining the traditions of classical and baroque composers with modern, 20th century harmony, exhibited in his works for unaccompanied cello.” 

 Elizabeth Grunin was last heard at HSU almost exactly a year ago, when she performed with the Lancaster Trio. She is a founding member of that ensemble. Born in Ukraine, she grew up in Sacramento, performing there and in the Bay Area. She currently teaches at several Midwestern universities.

 Composer Weinberg, writes music journalist Martin Anderson, “was one of the 20th century’s most powerful and prolific composers, and one of its least well known, certainly outside of his adoptive Russia.” After fleeing the Nazi invasion of Poland, Weinberg became close friends with the famous Russian composer Shostakovich, who called Weinberg “one of the most outstanding composers of the present day.” 

 Dr. Grunin will perform Weinberg’s Sonata No. 1 for Violoncello and Prelude 21 for Cello. The audience for this lecture-recital will be seated on the Fulkerson Recital Hall stage with Dr. Grunin for a more intimate musical experience. 

Cellist Elizabeth Grunin performs on Saturday March 26 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $10 general/$5 seniors, children and students, from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.This Guest Artist Series concert is produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Mad River Union, Times-Standard Urge, North Coast Journal, HSU Now.

Elizabeth Grunin Lecture Recital: Notes and Program

Mieczyslaw Weinberg is a name hardly known in the classical music world. However his works and life story certainly demand recognition. Weinberg escaped Nazi-invaded Poland, became best friends with one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and never stopped composing even when all that was required from him was cartoon music. We will be become acquainted with this incredible composer and his life as well as explore his abilities at combining the traditions of classical and baroque composers with modern, 20th century harmony, exhibited in his works for unaccompanied cello.”--Elizabeth Grunin 

More information about the composer:
Weinberg site by Anton Uzunov (contains additional links)
Martin Anderson at Classical.net

Program

 Prelude 21 of 24 Preludes for Solo Cello

Sonata No. 1 for Violoncello Solo Op. 72
Adagio
Allegretto
Allegro

Guest Artist Biography

Dr. Elizabeth Grunin began studying cello at the Special Music School in Kharkov, Ukraine. In 1992, her family moved to Sacramento, California where she continued her musical studies. Elizabeth was an active member of the musical community in Sacramento, performing in numerous orchestras including the Camellia Symphony, the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, Merced Symphony Orchestra, and North Bay Opera. In 2008, Elizabeth entered the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she completed both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in the studio of Jennifer Culp.

Dr. Grunin has participated in such summer music programs as the Zephyr Chamber Festival in Italy, the Classical Music Festival in Austria, and the Kornberg Music Festival in Germany. She moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to pursue her Doctorate degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in the studio of Dr. Karen Becker which she completed in 2015.

Currently, Dr. Grunin is adjunct faculty at Nebraska-Wesleyan University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and, Wayne State College and is a coach at the Navarro River String Camp in California. She holds a full-time position with the Lincoln Symphony and is a founding member of the Lancaster Trio.

Guest Conductor for Humboldt Symphony 

Humboldt Symphony hosts a guest conductor and guest pianist to join HSU pianist Daniela Mineva on Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos on Friday evening May 8 and Sunday afternoon May 10 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 Guest conductor Anna Binneweg is music director and conductor of the Londontowne Symphony Orchestra and the Anne Arundel Community College Symphony, where she teaches. Both are in Maryland. She has conducted at the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, among other prestigious venues. The Baltimore Sun called her “a rising national star.” 

 “We’re excited to have Anna here to conduct and to work with our student in the week leading up to the concerts,” said Humboldt Symphony director Paul Cummings. “Daniela Mineva knows her as a colleague from Michigan State, and she is also a colleague of mine—we’ve both served as officers of the College Orchestra Directors Association.” 

 Professor Mineva will play the Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos with guest pianist Dahao Guo, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music who has performed in China, Germany and Spain as well as the U.S. This work has been called one of Mozart’s most engaging concertos, which he wrote for himself and his sister to play. 

 Dr. Binneweg will conduct this concerto as well as Symphony # 8 by 19th century Russian composer Antonin Dvorak. In selecting this Dvorak work as one of the 50 greatest symphonies, music critic Tom Service praised it for “indelible melodies” cast in “crystal-clear orchestration.” 

 Paul Cummings will conduct “Songs of Eternity” by contemporary American composer Mark Del Porto. “It’s a short piece but it has real epic dimensions,” Cummings said. “It calls upon the whole symphony, and the full potential of every instrument." This piece won the composition award from the College Orchestra Directors Association in 2013. 

Humboldt Symphony performs on Friday May 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday May 10 at 3 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall. Tickets from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door: $8 general, $5 seniors and children, HSU students with ID admitted free.  Produced by HSU Music department.

Media: cover of Times-Standard Urge Magazine, Mad River Union, Humboldt State Now.

Humboldt Symphony: Program Notes

Piano Concerto #10 for Two Pianos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Daniela Mineva performs
Mozart concerto

"Although the music that Mozart wrote for more than one pianist was usually designed for himself and the company of a wealthy patron or a star pupil, it was probably inevitable that he would compose a concerto expressly to perform with his sister. The Double Concerto in E-flat major, written in the late 1770s, was conceived for the famous sibling act that was now grown up and had long ago stopped going on the road. It is one of his most engaging concertos. Throughout the work, Mozart delights in the almost operatic interplay of the two instruments, not to mention the wondrous racket of racing scales, rumbling Alberti bass lines, and clangorous trills—all in duplicate. The piece, however, is no mere stunt. It is a work of maturity, significance, and—particularly in the glorious slow movement—truly personal expression, but the sheer joy of sociability—of sharing music and friendship across two keyboards—is never absent."
--Phillip Huscher, Program Notes for the Chicago Symphony


Symphony No. 8 by Antonin Dvořák

Dr. Anna Binneweg conducts
Dvorak symphony

"Dvořák does have a gift that neither of his symphonic predecessors had in the same way, which is that he could compose a seemingly unending torrent of indelible melodies, and he could cast them in crystal-clear orchestration. What's more, in the Eighth Symphony he found a way simultaneously to serve his melodic over-endowment while also creating a kind of symphonic discourse that was definitively his own."
--Tom Service, "50 Greatest Symphonies" series, the Guardian 

"Something remarkable happened in the history of music during the 19th century: composers of symphonic music increasingly turned away from happy or cheerful feelings in favor of dramatic or even tragic ones. Instead of the light and unclouded tone found in many major works by Haydn or Mozart, Romantic composers predominantly used darker colors...

 There were two great exceptions to this general trend: Mendelssohn in the first half of the century, and Dvorák in the second half. Both had the unusual gift of writing radiantly happy music in an era where such an approach was often taken for either conservatism or naïveté. It was neither: it was merely a sign of a different artistic personality...

 Dvorák's Eighth opens with an expressive melody in G minor that prepares the entrance of another theme, a playful idea in G major first given to the solo flute. A dynamic sonata exposition soon gets underway. Dvorák "overshoots the mark" as he bypasses the expected secondary key, D major, in favor of a more remote but even brighter-sounding B major. The development section works up quite a storm, but it subsides when the playful main theme returns, now played by the English horn instead of the flute (two octaves lower than before). The recapitulation ends with a short but very energetic coda.

 The second movement ("Adagio") begins with a simple string melody in darker tonal regions (E-flat major/C minor) that soon reaches bright C major where it remains. The main theme spawns various episodes, in turn lyrical and passionate. After a powerful climax, the movement ends in a tender pianissimo.

 The third movement ("Allegretto grazioso") is neither a minuet nor a scherzo but an "intermezzo" like the third movements of Brahms's First and Second Symphonies. Its first tune is a sweet and languid waltz; its second, functioning as a "trio," sounds more like a Bohemian folk dance. After the return of the waltz, Dvorák surprises us by a very fast ("Molto vivace") Coda, in which commentators have recognized a theme from one of Dvorák's earlier operas. But this Coda consists of exactly the same notes as the lilting "trio" melody, only in a faster tempo, with stronger accents, and in duple instead of triple meter...

 Dvorák's handling of form is indebted to Beethoven and Brahms, but he filled out the form with melodies of an unmistakably Czech flavor and a joviality few composers at the time possessed... The music is always cheerful and optimistic, yet it doesn't lack grandeur."

'Gentlemen, in Bohemia the trumpets never call to battle -- they always call to the dance!' (Conductor Rafael Kubelik during a rehearsal of the trumpet fanfare opening the last movement of Dvorák's Eighth Symphony.)"
  --Peter Laki, Kennedy Center Program Notes

Songs of Eternity by Mark Del Porto

Paul Cummings conducts
Del Porto work

"This piece is so new there isn't much information about it but certainly you would say it is neo-Romantic, of the style of the late 19th century.  So think in terms of Bruckner or Mahler, or in the early 20th century, Strauss and Sibelius.  It's strongly neo-Romantic in its sweeping, epic proportions.

It's only about ten minutes long but it has real epic dimensions to it.  It calls upon the entire symphony, often playing in extreme ranges, at the very top of the potential of all instruments.  It's got a lot of rises and falls, peaks and valleys and swells.  It doesn't follow any traditional form but it's a very well constructed piece.

This piece won the 2013 composition award from the College Orchestra Directors Association, so it's being played all over the country now.  I met Mark Del Porto at a CODA conference in 2014 and he was thrilled.  Getting a premiere is great, but composers are much more excited by the second, third, fourth performances of their work."
--from an interview with Paul Cummings, who conducts the Humboldt Symphony in this work.

Voice of the Whale with the Lancaster Trio

 A cellist from Sacramento, a flutist from Venezuela and a pianist from Florida walked into a university in Lincoln, Nebraska. The result is the Lancaster Trio, performing a program at HSU that includes a work inspired by whale songs, on Thursday March 26.

 Born in Ukraine, cellist Elizabeth Grunin grew up in Sacramento, and performed there and in the Bay Area. Award-winning pianist Jelena Dukic was born in Serbia, and taught and performed widely in South Florida. A native of Venezuela, flutist Nicaulis Alliey won prizes in Latin America and Europe. They met while pursuing advanced degrees at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and formed the relatively new Lancaster Trio. 

 Their scheduled program at HSU features Vox Balaenae, or “Voice of the Whale” by contemporary American composer George Crumb, who was inspired by the first recordings of humpback whale songs in the late 1960s. Crumb, who won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy, requested that performers wear masks, and be bathed in blue light. 

 The concert begins with the lively and haunting Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano by Bohuslav Martinu. A Czech composer, Martinu fled from the Nazis to America, and wrote this piece influenced by the sounds of the New England countryside. 

 Carl von Weber’s highly melodic Trio also emerged from a bucolic setting, the composer’s summer home outside mid-19th century Dresden in Germany.

The Lancaster Trio performs on Thursday March 26 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $10 general/$5 seniors, children and students, from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This Guest Artist Series concert is produced by the HSU Music Department. 

Media: Mad River Union, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now

Lancaster Trio: The Program

Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano H. 300 by B. Martinu 
Poco Allegretto
Adagio Andante-Allegretto Scherzando

Trio in G Minor Op. 63 by C.M. Weber
 Allegro moderato
 Scherzo. Allegro vivace
 Schafers Klage:Andante espressivo
 Finale. Allegro

Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) by G. Crumb 
 Vocalise- Sea Theme
 Archeozoic
 Proterozoic
 Paleozoic
 Mesozoic
 Cenozoic
 Sea Nocturne


Additional Notes

Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano H. 300 by B. Martinu 

"After an arduous departure from Hitler’s Europe, where his music had been blacklisted, Martinů and his wife arrived in New York in 1941. Serge Koussevitzky of the Boston Symphony Orchestra had championed his orchestral music since the early 1930s, and he encouraged the disheartened immigrant by commissioning his First Symphony and offering him a summer teaching position at Tanglewood. Martinů never really settled anywhere, but lived briefly in various locations across New England, including Cape Cod.

The three-movement Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano from 1944 is close kin to the Flute Sonata of the following year. A Poco allegretto opening has a genial spirit and infectious motoric rhythms. The following Adagio starts in a quietly reflective mood and then shifts to a more declamatory bardic vein before coming to a peaceful close. After a brief slow introduction, the concluding Andante–Allegretto scherzando launches its main section with a turbulent, running first theme that alternates with a more measured second subject, though energetic bustle predominates throughout.

The Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano meets the expectations of the listener-reader: inexhaustible invention. I would add only that the cello, that most soulful of instruments, lends the Trio a welcome gravitas and warmth."
--Fenwick Smith

Trio in G Minor Op. 63 by C.M. Weber

"On 25 July 1819 Weber completed the Trio for flute, cello and piano in G minor in Hosterwitz, his peaceful summer residence up the Elbe above Dresden. It had its first playthrough in the Spohrs’ house on 21 November, when, he noted in his diary, ‘it went very well, and came off just as I wanted’...

 As always with Weber, the opening movement has a highly personal approach to sonata form. It is melodically rich, with a graceful opening theme and a gentle second subject, a figure in octaves between cello and piano that comes to dominate the entire movement. Though the warm and impassioned development section begins with the second subject, and brings with it yet another new melody in the major key, it is with the opening theme that the movement ends.

The Scherzo has no real trio section, but contrasts a violent, drumming theme in the minor with a graceful major-key flute melody for which Weber might have found room in his next work, Invitation to the Waltz. It is, however, the pounding piano octave theme that concludes the movement.

The thematic richness of the work takes a new form with the Finale, which compresses into its eight opening bars a wide-ranging piano line and its answer in the bass.. The immediate answer is not development of them, but a completely new tune from the flute. This melodic profusion, in all its variety, permeates the movement, and it is in the extremes of contrast that the essence of the whole work lies. Even within a classical framework, Weber’s Romantic imagination is running high."
 from notes by John Warrack © 2005 

Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) by G. Crumb 

"As the environmental movement took hold in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and “save the whales” became more than just a bumper sticker, George Crumb’s groundbreaking Vox Balaenae [1971] provided a distinct musical voice to this cause while creating a richly vivid landscape (or seascape) of sound and texture.

 Crumb puts the contemporary relationship between man and whale on a much broader scale, painting a picture that encapsulates the vast spans of history that predate man’s interaction with the sea and its inhabitants before introducing the inevitable conflict. This chronological musical journey touches upon elements of science, history, religion and existential philosophy, as well various moral and ethical questions.

The players each wear black half-masks throughout the performance of the work. In Crumb’s own words, “by effacing a sense of human projection, [the masks] will symbolize the powerful, impersonal faces of nature,” while the oft-used blue lighting enhances the figurative immersion into the sea. Although inspired by recordings of humpback whale song, Crumb bypasses the use of tape and instead calls upon the three musicians to produce sounds naturally aided by amplification and extended technique, allowing for a remarkable scope of range in dynamics, color and emotion."
--Musiac

The Lancaster Trio: Biographies

Elizabeth Grunin cello

Elizabeth Grunin was born in Ukraine where she began taking cello lessons at a special music school. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was six years old and settled in Sacramento, California. From that point on, Elizabeth became an active member of the Sacramento and Bay Area musical communities. She has performed with symphonies including Camellia Symphony, San Francisco Youth Symphony, Merced Symphony, UC Davis Symphony, and the North Bay Opera orchestra.

 Miss Grunin also performed regular solo recitals in Sacramento. She has participated in many chamber music festivals such as Mendocino Music Festival, Youth Music International Oxford, England, CSU Summer Arts Fresno, and the Zephyr Chamber Music Festival in Courmauyer, Italy.

 Elizabeth is a founding member of the Lancaster Trio along with Jelena Dukic and Nicaulis Alliey. Miss Grunin holds a Bachelors and Masters of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied in the studio of Jennifer Culp. Elizabeth teaches regularly at Navarro River String Camp in Santa Rosa, CA and she holds a faculty positions at Union College and Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is also a member of the Lincoln Symphony. Currently, Miss Grunin is working on her doctoral degree in the studio of Dr.Karen Becker at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Jelena Dukic piano
Born in Novi Sad, Serbia, Jelena Dukic, received her Bachelor of Music Degree at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia in the studio of Professor Vladimir Ogarkov and her Master of Music Degree from Florida International University in the studio of Professor Kemal Gekic.

 She has been the winner of several competitions and awards including: the Glen Korff School of Music Concerto Competition 2013, the Florida International University Concerto Competition 2009, the Concorsi internazionali di musica-Citta di Stressa, Italy, the International Competition of Pianists "Nikolai Rubinstein", Paris, France, and the award of the County Council of Vojvodina Republic of Serbia. In 2010, Miss Dukic became a member of The Golden Key International Honor Society.

 Jelena has performed with FIU Symphony Orchestra under conductor Huifang Chen. She has also participated in ensembles such as UNL University Choral, the Wind Ensembles, the New Music Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra at Florida International University and at other venues in the South Florida. Miss Dukic has recently joined the Music Teacher National Association. Jelena is a founding member of the Lancaster trio. Currently, she is working on her Doctorate of Musical Arts in the Glen Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the studio of Dr. Paul Barnes.

 Nicaulis Alliey flute 
First Prize of the Ville de París –Unanimous- in 1994, and First Prize at the Latin American Flute Competition (Caracas, 2000), Nicaulis Alliey is regularly invited as a soloist, chamber musician and flute teacher by presenters, institutions and festivals, performing in prestigious venues in France, Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean Area.

As soloist, Nicaulis has performed with most of the major orchestras in Venezuela, with conductors such as Eduardo Rahn, José Luís Castillo, Arnaud Pairier. Her experiences in chamber music include performances with Armand Simon, Ney Alliey, Marlon Titre, and Luis Quintero. Nicaulis Has been Flute Solo at the Orchestre International de Paris and Assistant Flute at the Orquesta Sinfónica de Lara and and at the Orquesta Sinfónica de Maracaibo.

 Nicaulis’ pedagogical career in flute includes Universidad de Los Andes (Faculty), Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira (Visiting Professor), and at the Music School of the Universidad del Zulia (Faculty), where she was appointed Founder Director (2005-2009). She has also been featured teacher at “El Sistema”, Venezuelan youth orchestras. Her work was recognized in 2011 with the Rafael Rincon Gonzalez Award, offered by the Universidad del Zulia. 

Nicaulis Alliey holds a Maitrise en Musique at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne (1995), Etudes Superieures de Flute (1994) in Flute with M. Raymond Guiot at Hector Berlioz Conservatory (Paris), and the Degree of Profesor Ejecutante at the Escuela de Musica Jose Reyna, in Caracas. She currently attends the DMA program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she has been granted a Graduate Teaching Assistantship and a Hixson-Lied Fellowship.

An Adventurous Program by Guest Pianist Sang Woo Kang

Internationally renowned pianist Sang Woo Kang performs a concert of contrasts: works by contemporary American composer John Corigliano introducing a Mozart sonata and pieces by Chopin, in an HSU Guest Artist recital on Saturday January 24 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

 Sang Woo Kang has performed throughout Europe, Asia and South America as well as in New York’s Carnegie Hall. The Los Angeles Times called him a “prodigiously talented pianist with great technical virtuosity and interpretive gifts.” His latest solo album, “Mozart Piano Music: Fugues, Rondos and Fantasias,” was released last month. With degrees from Juilliard and the Eastman School of Music, he currently chairs the Music Department at Providence College.

 At Fulkerson Recital Hall he will perform what Daniela Mineva, HSU professor of piano calls an “adventurous and truly wonderful program.”

 It begins with “Fantasia on an Ostinato” by John Corigliano, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, four Grammy awards and an Oscar for “The Red Violin.” “Ostinato” is a term for an obstinately repeated motif or phrase—in this case, from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. 

 Reviewing a prior Sang Woo Kang performance of this same program, Rorianne Schrade wrote in New York Concert Reviews that he made “sensitive choices” in this “haunting, almost post-apocalyptic” opening piece. 

 Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C major, she wrote, was “dramatic and effective, “ and Sang Woo Kang’s approach to Etude Fantasy, a second Corigliano piece, “was fearless and solid,” while Chopin’s Noctune in D-flat major was “deeply stirring,” and Chopin’s Polanaise-Fantaisie “concluded the program with sweep.”

 Schrade also praised the structure of the program as a whole for the illuminating relationships produced by Sang Woo Kang’s performance of these very different selections.

 “Through these sharp juxtapositions,” Sang Woo notes, “this program also offers an exploration of the range and capabilities of the instrument."

 Pianist Sang Woo Kang performs on Saturday January 24 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $10 general/$5 seniors, children and students, from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This Guest Artist Series concert is produced by the HSU Music Department. 

Media: Times-Standard Urge, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now

Sang Woo Kang: Biography

Cited by the Los Angeles Times as a “prodigiously talented pianist with great technical virtuosity and interpretive gifts,” Sang Woo Kang is an active performer and educator who has presented master classes and recitals in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe. He successfully balances his performance career with teaching at Providence College, where he is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Music.

 Sang Woo’s recent international performances include the Auditorio Piazzolla in Argentina, Bari International Festival in Italy, Sehjong Cultural Center in Korea, multiple venues in Japan and Thailand, the Moulin d’Ande Festival in France, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Steinway Hall in NY, to name a few. Upcoming events include chamber, solo, and orchestral concerts in New York, Providence, Chicago, and Boston.

 Sang Woo recorded the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas on the EMI Korea label in 2007 and his performances has been featured on various programs in the US and abroad, including the WXXI, WGBH, and MPBN classical music stations. Sang Woo’s latest solo album, “Mozart Piano Music: Fugues, Rondos and Fantasias,” was released on the NAXOS label in December 2014.

Over the summer, he directs the Piano Institute and Seminar at the Atlantic Music Festival at Colby College, an annual intensive four-week series of concerts and events focused on promotion and performance of new music.

 In addition to his other activities, Sang Woo writes for publications such as the American Record Guide and Clavier Companion.

 Sang Woo is a graduate of Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music, where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

Sang Woo Kang: Concert Program and Notes

The Program

Fantasia on an Ostinato by John Corigliano

 Piano Sonata in C major, K. 330  by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I. Allegro Moderato
 II. Andante Cantabile
 III. Allegretto

 INTERMISSION

 Etude Fantasy by  John Corigliano
I. Left Hand Alone
 II. Legato
 III. Fifths and Thirds
 IV. Ornaments
V. Melody

 Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 by Frederic Chopin

 Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61 by Frederic Chopin

Program Notes by Performer, Sang Woo Kang

 This program is a study in contrasts: dynamic contrasts, contrasts of character, and contrasts of texture. Corigliano’s Fantasia on an Ostinato and Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C major may seem like polar opposites, but through their dissimilarity offer productive resonances. The obsessive rhythms and relentless ostinato of Fantasia on an Ostinato throws Mozart’s lyricism into relief. In the latter half of the program, the extroversion of the Etude Fantasy further serves to emphasize the intimacy and delicacy of the Nocturne in D-flat major. Through these sharp juxtapositions, this program also offers an exploration of the range and capabilities of the instrument.



Program Notes by Composer John Corigliano


Fantasia on an Ostinato (1985)

“The first half of my Fantasia On An Ostinato develops the obsessive rhythm of the Beethoven [Symphony No. 7] and the simple harmonies implicit in the first half of his melody. Its second part launches those interlocking repetitions and reworks the strange major-minor descending chords of the latter part of the Beethoven into a chain of harmonies over which the performer-repeated patterns grown continually more ornate. This climaxes in a return of the original rhythm and, finally, the reappearance of the theme itself.”

 Etude Fantasy (1976)
 My Etude Fantasy is actually a set of five studies combined into the episodic form and character of a fantasy...

The first etude is for the left hand alone—a bold, often ferocious statement which introduces both an opening six-note row (the first notes of the work) and a melodic germs which follows the initial outburst. This etude reaches a climax in which both the row and the thematic germ are heard together, and ends as the right hand enters playing a slow chromatic descent which introduces the next etude: a study of legato playing.

 In the short second etude both hands slowly float downward as a constant cross of contrapuntal lines provides melodic interest. The sustaining of sound as well as the clarity of the crossing voices is important here.

 The third etude, a study on a two-note figure, follows—a fleet development on the simple pattern of a fifth contracting to a third. In this section there is much crossing of hands; during the process a melody emerges in the top voices. A buildup leads to a highly chromatic middle section, with sudden virtuosic outbursts, after which the melody returns to end the etude as it began.

The fourth etude is a study of ornaments. Trills, grace notes, tremolos, glissandos and roulades ornament the opening material (Etude 1) and then develop the first four notes of the third etude into a frenetically charged scherzando where the four fingers of the left hand softly play a low cluster of notes (like a distant drum) as the thumb alternates with the right hand in rapid barbaric thrusts. This leads to a restatement of the opening 6-note row of the fantasy in a highly ornamental fashion.
 
 After a sonorous climax comes the final etude, a study of melody. In it, the player is required to isolate the melodic line, projecting it through the filigree which surrounds it; here the atmosphere is desolate and non-climactic, and the material is based entirely on the melodic implications on the left hand etude, with slight references to the second (legato) study. The work ends quietly with the opening motto heard in retrograde accompanying a mournful two-note ostinato.

Pianist Jeremy Samolesky in Guest Concert

 Pianist Jeremy Samolesky performs a Prokofiev sonata and works by Bach and Chopin in a Guest Artist concert at Humboldt State University on Saturday September 27.

 Dr. Samolesky was featured in a Canadian television documentary on 20th century Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Among his many solo and chamber pianist performances in North America, Europe and Asia was a recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington, broadcast nationally on American Public Radio’s Performance Today program.  His debut solo CD will be released this fall.

 Originally from Canada, Dr. Samolesky holds two doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music, and is currently a professor of piano at Auburn University. He performs as a concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S. and Canada, and is noted for working with living composers to present new works. 

 His program at HSU is scheduled to feature the sonata in A major by Prokofiev, also known as Piano Sonata No. 6, the first of Prokofiev’s three “war sonatas” composed in the 1940s. Other scheduled selections are an aria from Cantata No. 127 by Johann Sebastian Bach, a piano piece by Canadian composer Denis Gougeon, and two pieces by Frederic Chopin: Fantasie in F minor and Etude in B minor. 

 Pianist Jeremy Samolesky performs on Saturday September 27 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $10 general/$5 seniors, children and students, from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This Guest Artist Series concert is produced by the HSU Music Department. 

Media: Times-Standard Urge, HSU Now, Mad River Union

Guest Artist Jeremy Samolesky: The Program

Die Seele ruht in Jesu Händen  from Cantata No. 127 by J.S. Bach/Harold Bauer

Piano-Soleil” from Six Thèmes Solaires (1992) by  Denis Gougeon

 Fantasie in F minor, Op. 49 by Frederic Chopin
 Etude in B minor, Op. 25 no. 10 by Frederic Chopin

 INTERMISSION

Sonata in A major, Op. 82 by Sergei Prokofiev
 I Allegro moderato
 II Allegretto
 III Tempo di valzer lentissimo
 IV Vivace

Guest Artist Biography: Jeremy Samolesky

Jeremy Samolesky, a native of Manitoba, Canada, currently serves as Associate Professor of Piano at Auburn University, where he teaches piano performance majors and serves as Piano Area Coordinator.

Known for his passion for both solo and collaborative performances, Samolesky has appeared in concert as a soloist and chamber pianist throughout the U.S., Canada, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Serbia, including a full recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., which was broadcast nationally on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.”

 As a concerto soloist, Samolesky performs regularly with orchestras throughout the U.S. and Canada, with concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, and Rachmaninov. Festival appearances include the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Orford Arts Centre (Quebec), the Agassiz Music Festival (Winnipeg), the Courtenay Music Festival (B.C.), the Methow Music Festival (WA), the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival (Bonefro, Italy), and the Chigiana Music Academy in Siena. Broadcasts of his performances have been heard on Seattle’s KING FM, Canada’s CBC, CJOB, WDAZ (ND), and Troy Public Radio (AL). Dr. Samolesky was also featured in a documentary on the piano music of Sergei Prokofiev, produced by the Manitoba Television Network.

Samolesky enjoys maintaining a rigorous performance schedule, with recent concert tours of China and Hong Kong, along with over 75 recitals and masterclasses at universities spanning 15 different states throughout the U.S over the past five years. In the summer of 2013, he was featured as a lecturer and soloist at the World Piano Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia, and also made his third annual residency in Malaysia, sponsored by the Perak Society of Performing Arts.

 Dedicated to the promotion of new music, Samolesky often works directly with living composers in preparing performances of their works, having given recent premieres by composers such as David Maslanka David Plylar, and Carl Vollrath.
Samolesky’s debut solo CD will be released on the Centaur label in the fall of 2014.

 Dr. Samolesky achieved the rare distinction of graduating with two doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music: Piano Performance and Literature under the direction of Barry Snyder, and Accompanying and Chamber Music with Jean Barr. Eastman has permitted this double-doctorate just once before in the school’s history.

 In his four years at Eastman, Samolesky garnered many top honors, including the Barr Award, the Barbara M. King Scholarship, the Brooks Smith Scholarship, the “Excellence in Accompanying” award for three years in a row, 1st place in the Kneisel Lieder Competition, and was awarded the Performer’s Certificate for distinguished artistry in performance. He also holds the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Washington and the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Manitoba.

As a teacher, Dr. Samolesky’s students are frequent competition winners and regularly receive prestigious scholarships and assistantships at renowned graduate music programs throughout the U.S. For his achievements, he was awarded the 2012 “Excellence in Teaching” award from Auburn University. Samolesky currently serves on the executive board of the Alabama Music Teachers’ Association and would like to thank the Manitoba Arts Council for their continued support throughout his career.

  San Francisco Rising Stars at HSU 

 San Francisco’s popular Farallon Quintet showcases the clarinet of rising star Natalie Parker in concert at HSU on Monday April 7. 

 Principal clarinet with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and performer with the San Francisco Symphony, Natalie Parker co-founded the Farallon Quintet in 2012. “Come hear one of the Bay Area's most sought after musicians,” counsels one of the Quintet’s violinists, Matthew Oshida. “ She’s an up-and-coming clarinetist who may not be local to California for much longer.” 

 The other members of the Quintet are Elizabeth Prior (viola), Jonah Kim (cello) and Dan Flanagan (violin.) Appearing at HSU will be guest first violinist Emanuela Nikiforova. 

 The program to be performed at HSU called "The Virtuosic Clarinet" includes works by Mozart and Carl von Weber, plus some lesser known pieces written for this unique combination of instruments: a string quartet plus virtuoso clarinet.

 These include works by 19th century virtuoso clarinetist and composer Heinrich Baermann and 19th century conductor and composer Louis Spohr. Baermann, Spohr and von Weber are all known for their clarinet compositions. 

The Farallon Quintet website contains videos and more information on the ensemble.

 The Farallon Quintet performs a Guest Artists concert on Monday April 7 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. Tickets are $10/$5 students and seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Produced by HSU Music department.

Farallon Quintet: Biographies

A native of South Carolina, NATALIE PARKER is currently the Principal Clarinet of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. She joined the Ballet Orchestra in January 2012 and received her M.M. degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music the following May. In 2010 she won second prize in the International Clarinet Association’s Young Artist Competition and performed in recital at their annual ClarinetFest. Since arriving in San Francisco, Natalie has played frequently with the San Francisco Symphony as well as with several regional orchestras and enjoys performing chamber music throughout the Bay Area.

 DAN FLANAGAN currently serves as Concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, the Modesto Symphony, Lecturer of Violin at U.C. Davis, and Instructor of Violin at U.C. Berkeley. Described as a “stellar musician” (Nevada Reviews), he has been praised for his “exquisite tone” and “forthright brio” (Sacramento Bee). A dedicated orchestral player, he has performed as concertmaster with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, the California Symphony, California Musical Theater, the Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, and Symphony Silicon Valley. Dan has played as soloist and chamber musician with many orchestras and ensembles. Born in New Jersey and trained in New York and Michigan, he holds a B.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music and M.M. from the University of Oregon, where he was a graduate teaching fellow.

 Violinist and San Jose native MATTHEW OSHIDA has performed with orchestras throughout the country including the San Jose Symphony, Utah Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Sarasota Opera, and Tulsa Symphony, Opera, and Ballet. He has appeared in principal positions with the orchestras in Berkeley, Fremont, Sacramento, San Jose, and Modesto, recorded with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and accompanied such popular artists as Sarah Brightman, Michael Bolton, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mannheim Steamroller, and Harry Connick, Jr. As a chamber musician, he studied with members of the Cleveland and Juilliard Quartets, performed with members of the Emerson Quartet, and participated in live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. He received a B.M. from Indiana University and M.M. from SUNY Stony Brook.

 An active Bay Area violist, ELIZABETH PRIOR is Principal Violist with the Santa Rosa Symphony and is a season substitute with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. She is also associate principal with the Marin Symphony and performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. A native of South Africa, she was a prizewinner in the International String Competition in Pretoria and gave her debut at Carnegie Hall with the Russian Chamber Orchestra. She tours regularly as a soloist with the Chamber Ensemble of Cologne in France and has done two recent tours with the New Century Chamber Orchestra.

 Cellist JONAH KIM made his solo debut with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2003. The same year, he also appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra in DC where the Washington Post called him simply, “the next Yo-Yo Ma.” He graduated from the prestigious Curtis Institute in the spring of 2006 while only 17 years old, and has soloed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonia, Symphony of the Americas, Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional and many others. Mr. Kim’s recitals at venues like the Kimmel Center, Kravis Center, Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collections and the Arsht Center have been streamed live and re-aired on podcasts, radio and TV programs for WETA, WHYY, WITF, MPBN, WXEL, NPR, NBC, CBS and PBS. Currently he is Associate Principal Cello of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, of which he is also the youngest member.

 Educated in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as the United States, Bulgarian violinist EMANUELA NIKIFOROVA has performed professionally as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestra member since age 13. Emanuela has performed as a soloist at the International Menuhin Music Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland, Festival Lysy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and as a member of the Nikiforova-Pilibossian duo at Sofia and Varna Summer Festivals. She has recorded as a soloist for Bulgarian Radio and TV, as a member of Camerata Bariloche, and as Principal Second Violin of Camerata Lysy for Revista Classica and Claves. Currently, she is a freelance musician in the Bay Area and Artistic Co-director of The Annual May Celebration of Bulgarian Arts & Culture in San Francisco.

Farallon Quintet: The Program

The Virtuosic Clarinet

Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet in Bb Major by Carl Maria von Weber

            I.  Allegro 

            II. Fantasia:  Adagio

III. Menuetto

IV.  Rondo:  Allegro

Intermission

  

Allegro in Bb, KAnh. 91 (516c) (Quintet Fragment) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 

Adagio in Db Major by Heinrich Baermann

      

Fantasy and Variations, Op. 81 by Louis Spohr

   

 Introduction, Theme and Variations Carl Maria von Weber

    

East Meets West at HSU with Silk Road Junction 101

 According to two Fortuna musicians, the place that East meets West is Highway 101. On Saturday February 22, East and West will meet musically when their duo, Silk Road Junction 101, performs at Humboldt State’s Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 As Silk Road Junction 101, Sarah McClimon and Rahman Abdur perform an international array of music on both eastern and western instruments. She plays the flute, harmonium and the Japanese string instrument called the koto. He plays the South Asian tabla drums, which he began studying as a child in Bangladesh.

 “We draw on our experiences living in Bangladesh, India, Japan, Hawaii, and California to explore the rhythms and melodies of Asia and the United States,” Sarah explained. “The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that linked Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Highway 101 links three states along the U.S. West Coast. Our music is a junction between these worlds—old and new, East and West.” 

 Their program at HSU features music from Japan, the Middle East, South Asia and the West. Another Fortuna musician, Sherry Hanson, joins them on viola.

 Sarah McClimon grew up in Fortuna, where she studied piano with her mother, Ruth McClimon. She then studied flute at a college in the midwestern U.S. and the koto in Japan. With a PhD in ethnomusicology, she teaches at Fortuna High School and at HSU. 

 Rahman Abdur studied in India and Japan, also earning an ethnomusicology doctorate. He performs with a fusion ensemble (SquarPeg) and with the Scotia Band. 

 Silk Road Junction 101 performs on Saturday February 22 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. $10/$5 students and seniors, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This Guest Artists concert is produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Tri-City Weekly, Mad River Union, HSU Now

Silk Road Junction 101 at HSU: Program and Notes

Part One: Japan and the Middle East
( Songs in the first part are performed on koto and tabla unless otherwise noted.)

 Kazoe Uta Hensōkyoku (Variations on Counting Song)
Arranged by Kikushiro Masaaki. Koto solo. A Japanese song that celebrates the New Year. This arrangement includes many ornaments, chords, and left hand techniques, demonstrating the range of sounds characteristic of the koto.

 Haru no Sugata (Arrival of Spring)
 composed by Eto Kimio.  Koto solo.This work for koto solo is a little gem that celebrates the coming of spring. There are many special techniques for the left hand including pitch bends, plucking with the left hand, and vibrato.

  Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)
 Traditional Japanese, arranged by Miyagi Michio. Perhaps the most famous Japanese song, Sakura celebrates the fleeting beauty of the delicate cherry blossoms that bloom for a short time in spring. Japanese cherish cherry blossoms and often arrange “cherry viewing” parties called hanami. This arrangement showcases the many techniques and tone colors that the koto can produce.

 Mugon Kashū: Gypsy no Uta (Song Without Words: Gypsy Song)
 By Yuize Shin’ichi. In the summer of 1955, kotoist Yuize Shin’ichi took a trip around Europe. During that time, he enjoyed listening to the folk songs of many nations. He used three of them to create the suite “Songs Without Words.” The final movement, “Gypsy Song,” is based on the Israeli folk song, “Zum Gali Gali.”

 Sasurai Warabe Uta Shū (Songs of Wandering)
By Tsutomu Sakamoto. Koto with daf. Sakamoto Tsutomu (1926-1996) was a blind kotoist and prolific composer who represents the postwar period of Japanese traditional music. This work represents a feeling of restless wandering. The scales and musical feeling depicts the Middle East. The left hand creates a tango-like rhythm in the main theme. Rahman accompanies on the Iranian frame drum daf.

 Haru no Umi – Spring Sea, Miyagi Michio (1894-1956)
 Koto and viola duet with Sherry Hanson, viola.  Miyagi Michio was Japan’s most notable koto performer and composer. He was born in late 19th century Japan and spent much of his childhood in Korea. He lost his eyesight at a young age and took up a traditional path for blind people at the time- that of a professional musician. His genius was the ability to blend traditional Japanese and Western classical musical elements, and he was a pioneer in the new koto movement. “Spring Sea” was composed in 1929 for shakuhachi bamboo flute and koto, but it is frequently performed with violin and koto as we will perform it this evening.

 Part Two: South Asia and Beyond
(Songs in the second part will be performed on flute and tabla unless otherwise noted.)

  Raga Bhupali: classical music of North India. A Raga is a framework for improvisation that includes a mood, time of day, scale, melody, patterns for improvisation, and a rhythmic cycle. Raga Bhupali portrays a feeling of devotion. It is best performed in the evening. Every raga begins with a slow section (alap) in free rhythm introducing each note of the raga. Then the tabla joins in, providing the rhythmic accompaniment to the melody. After playing the melody (gat), the flute alternates fragments of the gat with improvisational patterns (tan). After a period of call and response between solo and drum, the melody is played again. Then a series of fast passages set up for the ending. As the music becomes faster and faster, the final pattern (tihai) is played three times before a rousing end.

 Lahora: Tabla improvisational solo accompanied by harmonium.Lahora is a solo tabla improvisational piece. This lahora is based on Tintal, a 16 beat cycle improvisation, accompanied by the flute, showing the myriad tone colors and virtuosic rhythms of the tabla.

  “Bourée angloise” from Flute Partita in A minor by J.S. Bach.
 “Badinerie” from Suite in B Minor for flute by J.S. Bach.
What if Johann Sebastian Bach had a chance to visit India? He certainly would have written something for tabla… Here is an arrangement of two Bach classics for flute and tabla.

  Gram Chara (Remembering My Hometown)
 Lyrics and music by Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Anjan Ganguly. Flute and khol. This is a song written by the famous Bengali poet, composer and writer Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913 for his book of poetry Gitanjali: My king’s road that lies still before my house makes my heart wistful. It stretches its beckoning hand towards me; its silence calls me out of my home; with dumb entreaties it kisses my feet at every step. It leads me on I know not to what abandonment, to what sudden gain or surprises of distress. I know not where its windings end- But my King's road that lies still before my house makes my heart wistful.

Majhi Nao Chairya De (Bangladeshi Boatman’s Song)
 Lyrics by S. M. Hedayet, music by Ahmed Imtiaj Bulbul. Flute and dhol. Oh Boatman, let’s start the boat, raise the sails and as we sail, you may sing as much as you like.

 Ektara Bhajayo na (The Importance of Preserving Tradition)
 Popular song of Bangladesh.  Harmonium and tabla. Ektara is a popular song of Bangladesh that reminds young people to cherish and preserve their traditional culture. It humorously juxtaposes traditional food, clothing and music with imported popular culture. Here is a translation: Don’t play the ektara (one-stringed lute); don’t play the doutara (two stringed lute). Play the conga drums and guitar instead. If you play the one-stringed lute and the two-stringed lute, I will remember that I was once a Bengali. Don’t wear a sari; don’t decorate your feet with henna. Wear pants and a maxi dress instead. If you wear a sari and paint your feet with henna, I will remember that I was once a Bengali. Don’t cook shukto (bitter gourd); don’t make pais (rice pudding). Make Mongolian barbeque and Chinese food instead. If you make bitter gourd and rice pudding, I will remember that I was once a Bengali.

  Purano Sei Diner Kotha (When I think of my Hometown—Bengali)
 Hotaru no Hikari (By the Light of the Fireflies—Japanese);
Auld Lang Syne (English), traditional Scottish Harmonium and tabla.
While “Auld Lang Syne” is very popular in the English-speaking world, its lovely melody has spread around the world. Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) visited English in 1878 and was enchanted by the folk songs of English and Scotland. He adapted the melody and added a Bengali poem about the importance and persistence of memories. The same melody was adapted for use in Japanese schools during Japan’s period of modernization in the second half of the nineteenth century. Inagaki Chikai published “The Light of the Fireflies” in his 1881 book of Children’s School Songs. Bengali: How is it possible to forget the old days of my life? Japanese: Time piles up, reading by the light of fireflies/ And snow by the window/ Years have gone by without notice. /Now the day has dawned on the cedar door/ And it’s time to say “farewell.”

Good Vibes at HSU with Vibraphonist Ted Piltzecker

 Renowned jazz vibraphonist and composer Ted Piltzecker comes to Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU for a solo performance on Saturday February 8.

 With three successful solo albums and another with his group Steppe Forward, Piltzecker has won praise for his originality and flair. One jazz magazine described his solo album Standing Alone as “43 minutes [of ] expressive grace.” 

 A former director of the Aspen Music Festival, Piltzecker plays in concerts and festivals around the world. “Ted is not just a great jazz vibraphone player, he is an artist,” said HSU Music professor Eugene Novotney. “He plays with a full sense of the history of his art form, but he always sounds current and fresh. He is an amazing musician!”

Piltzecker will be on campus for several days working with HSU music students, so his concert may feature "special guests." 

 Ted Piltzecker performs on the vibraphone at 8 p.m. on Saturday February 8 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. $10/$5 students and seniors, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist concert produced by HSU Music Department.

Ted Piltzecker Biography
From his website:

Vibraphonist/composer, Ted Piltzecker toured internationally with the George Shearing Quintet as well as with his own unique ensembles. He has recorded three albums as a leader. His debut album, Destinations, climbed to number eight in national jazz airplay, and his second release, Unicycle Man on the Equilibrium label (featuring Bob Minter, Harvie S, James Williams, and Dave Meade) remained on the Gavin Jazz Chart for months. The Victory Music Review calls it "a thoughtful recording filled with tasteful flair, the product of confident mature musicians who are committed to the ensemble." Jazz writer and critic, Nat Hentoff praised the album as "a lyrical, thoughtful, relaxing meeting of mutually appreciative improvisers whose time is timeless."

 His most recent recording, Standing Alone, a collection of standards for solo vibraphone has also been critically acclaimed. All About Jazz reports that "He fills the 43-minutes with expressive grace, maintaining interest throughout." Muse calls it "a simultaneously technically impressive and deeply relaxing listening experience."

 The National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts have awarded grants to Ted in both performance and composition. His percussion music is available through Bachovich Music Publications, and his chamber works have been aired on National Public Radio’s "Performance Today" and the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s "Arts National."

 Ted has held faculty positions at the University of Michigan, William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, and the Manhattan School of Music. He is an associate professor at the Purchase Conservatory of Music, State University of New York, and he remains a popular clinician in universities across the country.

 For eight years, Ted directed the jazz program at the Aspen Music Festival where he regularly performed with many of the great names in jazz. (Jimmy Heath, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, Mel Torme, Ernie Watts, Hubert Laws, Slide Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and many more.) Ted has performed in New York area concerts and clubs with guitarists Gene Burtoncini and Vic Juris, bassists Rufus Reid and Todd Coolman, drummers Lewis Nash, Dennis Mackrel, and Clarence Penn, pianists Jim McNeeley, John Hicks, and Bill Charlap, and with saxophonists Chris Potter and Javon Jackson. Jazz USA commented on his recording with the Shearing Quintet featuring John Pizarrelli for Telarc - "The vibes are glassy and glamorous - this is Ted Piltzecker, who always finds the right thing to say."

 Ted appears as a featured soloist in percussion festivals around the world, from Hannover's Deutsches Percussion Symposium and London's Percussive Arts Society (UK) to Brazil's Ritmos da Terra. He performed at Puerto Rico Conservatory, at the Festival in La Patagonia, Argentina, at the Festival Internacional de Percusiones in Monterrey, Mexico, at the Festival de Vibráfono y Marimba for the US Embassy in Lima, Peru, and at the Encontro Internacional de Percussåo in Tatui, Brazil.

His appearances with orchestras, including the Tucson Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Regina Symphony Orchestras have variously spotlighted Ted as a performer, composer, and conductor. European engagements as a jazz headliner include the esteemed UMO Jazz Orchestra in Helsinki (guest soloist/composer) and several tours of German clubs and concert halls. His diverse performing interests have included tours with the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble of Tokyo, appearances at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York with organist Dorothy Papadakos, and concerts with classical cellists, Yehuda Hanani and Julia Lichten, violinists Calvin Wiersma and Rubén Gonzales, clarinetists Ayako Oshima and Dick Waller, and harpists Nancy Allen and Emily Mitchell.

 Ted is a graduate of the Eastman and Manhattan Schools of Music. He is also a licensed pilot and unicyclist.