American Brass Quintet Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary - Friday, November 6 at 8 PM in Juilliard's Paul Hall
The American Brass Quintet (Raymond Mase and Kevin Cobb, trumpets, David Wakefield, horn, Michael Powell, trombone, and John D. Rojak, bass trombone) celebrates its 50th anniversary this season and is featured in their annual performance at Juilliard, Friday, November 6 at 8 PM in the School's Paul Hall. The Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital features the New York premiere of Juilliard instructor Shafer Mahoney's Brass Quintet (2009); Ludwig Maurer's Five Pieces; Osvaldo Lacerda's Fantasia e Rondó (1977); Josquin des Prés' Chansons (edited by Raymond Mase); English Consort Music (edited by Raymond Mase with selections by John Ward, Anthony Bassano, and Giovanni Coperario); and Giovanni Gabrieli's Venetian Canzoni (edited by Raymond Mase). The American Brass Quintet will be joined by Juilliard students: Caleb Hudson and Stuart Stephenson (trumpets); Kelly Csillam (French horn); David Westen (trombone); and Matthew Wolford (bass trombone). These students were participants in the American Brass Quintet's recent seminar.
FREE tickets are available October 23 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM. For further information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.
Shafer Mahoney's Brass Quintet has its New York premiere in this recital. The work, which was commissioned by the ABQ with funds from the Jerome Foundation, is in three contrasting movements (I. Hushed, mysterious, II. Melancholy, III. Fast and rhythmic). Mr. Mahoney teaches advanced orchestration at Juilliard and is an associate professor at the City University of New York. Born in Albany in 1968, he graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and earned graduate degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a Sproull Fellow. He studied composition with Samuel Adler, Warren Benson, Steven Mackey, and two recipients of the Pulitzer Prize in Music, Christopher Rouse and Joseph Schwantner. Mr. Mahoney's compositions have been performed around the world and at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center.
Ludwig Maurer was well-known as a violinist and composer who split his career between his native Germany and St. Petersburg. The five pieces performed on this recital are taken from a set of 12, originally scored for two B-flat trumpets, two E-flat horns, and trombone. They are among some of the earlier brass chamber works of significance heard in St. Petersburg.
Osvaldo Lacerda graduated from the Carlos Gomez Conservatory of Music in 1960 with studies in piano, harmony, and composition with Camargo Guarneri. In 1986, he received a Guggenheim Foundation grant to study in the U.S. for a year, where he studied composition with Vittorio Giannini and Aaron Copland. The composer says of his work: "Since there are few brass ensembles in Brazil, there are very few original works of Brazilian composers for brass. This made me write the Fantasia e Rondó for brass quintet in 1977. It is scored for two trumpets, horn, tenor trombone and tube (or bass trombone). The Fantasia has a very free form. The Rondo is in five parts....In some parts of both movements, one can hear some of the ecclesiastical modes, in the way they appear in Brazilian folk music."
Josquin des Prés is often regarded as the most important composer of the High Renaissance. His chansons are masterful in counterpoint and variety of spirit and stand as some of the earliest music the American Brass Quintet has adapted for modern performance. ABQ has recorded Josquin's Chansons on their 40th anniversary compact disc, American Brass Quintessence (Summit DCD 263).
Consort music played by groups of instruments of two to six players was an essential part of English music by the year 1620. The repertoire of these instrumental consorts included the well-known English fancies, as well as dance music and adaptations of madrigals. ABQ will perform selections representing English Consort Music by John Ward, Anthony Bassano, and Giovanni Coperario on this program.
While Giovanni Gabrieli's organ music and madrigals occupy a place in the repertoire, it is his ceremonial music - motets and canzoni - that is most frequently performed today. Gabrieli's canzoni were published in several major collections during his lifetime. ABQ will perform Canzon duo decimi toni a 10 No. 3 (1597) and Canzon XIV (1615).
Celebrating its 50th year during the 2009-2010 season, the American Brass Quintet has been internationally recognized as one of the premiere chamber music ensembles of our time. The ABQ's rich history includes performances in Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and all 50 of the United States; a discography of more than 50 recordings; the premieres of more than 100 contemporary brass works, and in the last decade, mini-residencies that have brought the ABQ's chamber music expertise to countless young musicians and institutions worldwide. ABQ commissions by Samuel Adler, Bruce Adolphe, Daniel Asia, Jan Bach, Robert Beaser, William Bolcom, Elliott Carter, Jacob Druckman, Eric Ewazen, Anthony Plog, Huang Ruo, Steven Sacco, David Sampson, Gunther Schuller, William Schuman, Ralph Shapey, Joan Tower, Melinda Wagner, and Charles Whittenberg, are considered among the most significant contributions to the modern brass quintet repertoire.
In the last three seasons the ABQ has premiered new works by Gordon Beeferman, Justin Dello Joio, Shafer Mahoney, David Sampson, and Grammy-winning, composer-pianist Billy Childs, and released two new recordings-Cheer Boys Cheer (volume two of civil war brass music of the 26th N.C. Regimental Band, and Jewels (ABQ concert favorites). In commemoration of their 50th anniversary, the ABQ will soon release their eighth recording on the Summit label-a double CD of new works called The State of the Art-the ABQ at 50.
Equally committed to the promotion of brass chamber music through education, the American Brass Quintet has been in residence at The Juilliard School since 1987 and at the Aspen Music Festival since 1970. Since 2001, the ABQ has offered its expertise in chamber music performance and training with a program of mini-residencies as part of its regular touring season. Designed to offer young groups and individuals an intense chamber music experience over several days, ABQ mini-residencies have been embraced by schools and communities throughout the United States and internationally.
Through its acclaimed performances, diverse
programming, commissioning, extensive discography and educational mission, the
ABQ has created a legacy unparalleled in the brass field. Hailed as "the
high priests of brass" by Newsweek,
"positively breathtaking" by The
New York Times, and "of all the brass quintets, the most
distinguished" by the American
Record Guide, the American Brass Quintet has clearly defined itself among
the elite chamber music ensembles of our time.
2009-2010 DANIEL SAIDENBERG FACULTY RECITAL SERIES AT JUILLIARD
Tickets available at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard, 155 West 65th Street, NYC
Box Office hours: Monday through Friday, 11 AM to 6 PM
(212) 769-7406 or www.juilliard.edu
Wednesday, October 21, 8 PM, Paul Hall
Joel Krosnick, Cello
Gilbert Kalish, Piano
Musical Transitions
Roberto Gerhard - Sonata for Cello and Piano (1946)
Ralph Shapey - Sonata for Cello and Piano (1954)
Paul Hindemith - Cello Sonata, Op. 11, No. 3
Gabriel Fauré- Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 117
Ernst Bacon - A Life
FREE tickets available beginning October 7 at the Juilliard Box Office
Friday, November 6, 8 PM, Paul Hall
American Brass Quintet
50th Anniversary
Ludwig Maurer - Five Pieces
Osvaldo Lacerda - Fantasia e Rondó (1977)
Shafer Mahoney - Brass Quintet (2009)
Josquin des Prés - Chansons (edited by Raymond Mase)
English Consort Music (edited by Raymond Mase) (with selections by John Ward, Anthony Bassano,
and Giovanni Coperario)
Giovanni Gabrieli - Venetian Canzoni (edited by Raymond Mase)
FREE tickets available beginning October 23 at the Juilliard Box Office
Tuesday, December 1, 8 PM, Alice Tully Hall
Juilliard String Quartet
Limited FREE tickets available beginning November 17 at the Juilliard Box Office
Thursday, January 21, 8 PM, Paul Hall
Enescu Chamber Players
Donald Weilerstein, Violin
Jennifer Curtis, Violin
Nicholas Mann, Viola
Claire Bryant, Cello
Vivian Weilerstein, Piano
FREE tickets available beginning January 7 at the Juilliard Box Office
Thursday, February 11, 8 PM, Paul Hall
New York Woodwind Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet
Monday, February 22, 8 PM, Paul Hall
FREE tickets available beginning January 27 at the Juilliard Box Office
Monday, February 22, 8 PM, Paul Hall
Juilliard String Quartet
Limited FREE tickets available beginning February 8 at the Juilliard Box Office
Wednesday, March 31, 8 PM, The Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Carol Wincenc
40th ‘Ruby' Anniversary
Joan Tower - new work (world premiere)
Shih Hui Chen - Becoming (world premiere)
FREE tickets available beginning March 17 at the Juilliard Box Office
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