Recent and older chamber music works by Max Lifchitz to be performed the afternoon of Sunday, March 16.
North/South Consonance, Inc. will present a special program devoted to the music of Max Lifchitz the afternoon of Sunday, March 16, 2008.
The concert will start at 2:30 PM and will take place at the auditorium of Donnell Library Center (20 West 53rd St) in Manhattan. Admission is free. No tickets required.
For further info about this event please contact Cheryl Raymond at (212) 621-0620 or visit http://www.nypl.org/events/branchevents.cfm?location=107
A native of México City, Max Lifchitz has resided in New York City since 1966 where he has been active as both composer and performer. A graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University, Lifchitz has appeared on concert stages throughout Europe, Latin America and the US. He appears as pianist, conductor and composer on numerous albums released by, among others, the Classic Masters, North/South, Opus One and New World labels.
Robert Commanday, writing for The San Francisco Chronicle described him as "a young composer of brilliant imagination and a stunning, ultra-sensitive pianist." The New York Times music critic Allan Kozinn praised Mr. Lifchitz for his "clean, measured and sensitive performances." Jack Sullivan, reviewing his latest compact disc devoted to American piano music inspired by the 9/11 tragedy for the American Record Guide called him “one of America’s finest exponents of contemporary piano music.”
The program will feature solo and chamber works written during the last four decades. It will open with Mr. Lifchitz performing one of his earliest piano compositions -- the neo-romantic Five Preludes for Piano completed in 1964.
Elegía (Elegy), the 1971 piano composition written during the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War will follow. This work will be preceded by a reading of the bilingual poem that is reflected by the music. The Spanish and English poem also penned by the composer speaks of the horrors and anxiety caused by the war.
Flutist Lisa Hansen will be on hand to perform Lifchitz’s Yellow Ribbons No. 1(1980) and Yellow Ribbons No, 39 (2005). These works belong to a series of compositions written as homage to the former American hostages in Iran. Ms. Hansen will also perform The Latin American Mosaic, a charming composition built around folk tunes from Mexico and the Caribbean.
The program will conclude with a performance of The Blood Orange, one of Mr. Lifchitz’s most recent works. Inspired by a text written by Kathleen Masterson, the incidental music for The Blood Orange was written at the request of narrator Norma Fire who premiered the work on June 13, 2006 in New York City. Ms. Masterson’s narrative deals with the life of Sam Abfajer (Fire), who emigrated from Poland in 1920 and was smuggled into the US from Canada. Once settled in New York, Fire arranged for his future bride, Miriam, to also emigrate from Europe and join him.
Narrator Norma Fire plays the role of Judge Jensen on Law & Order, the popular TV program. She has also appeared at various venues throughout the country including, among others, Lincoln Center, Public Theater, SoHo Rep, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.
The New York Times described Lisa Hansen's flute playing as "irresistibly lyrical"; while Fanfare wrote, "one might well prefer Hansen to Galway." Formerly principal flutist of the Mexico City Philharmonic, Ms. Hansen has performed and recorded with North/South Consonance since the 1988-89. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she was featured in the EMMY award winning CBS TV documentary: “Juilliard & Beyond - A Life in Music.”
Violinist Claudia Schaer has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. She also has appeared in Guangzhou, Guilin, and Nanning in southern China, where she is a Guest Professor of the Guangxi Arts College in Nanning. Currently a doctoral student at Stony Brook University, Ms.Schaer is a graduate of the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program at the Juilliard School in New York, where she assisted and studied with Sally Thomas.
North/South Consonance’s 2007-08 season is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For further information about its activities, including concerts and recordings, please visit http://www.northsouthmusic.org
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