Members of the Grammy nominated North/South Consonance Ensemble perform music by composers from Argentina, Korea, Mexico and the US.
Free Admission!
North/South Consonance, Inc. continues its 29th consecutive spring concert season with a chamber music concert showcasing works by composers from different ethnic backgrounds now living and working throughout the US. Most of the featured compositions will be heard in New York for the very first time.
Distinguished soloists for the occasion will include percussionist Frank Cassara; bassoonist Gilbert Dejean; flutist Kaoru Hinata; and pianist Max Lifchitz.
The event will be held on Monday, April 20, 2009 at 8 PM in the auditorium of Christ & St. Stephen’s Church (120 West 69th St) in Manhattan. Admission is free — no tickets necessary.
The program will open with the premiere of the Sonatina for Piano by Richard Brooks, the Brooklyn-based composer recently elected President of the American Composers Alliance. Neo-classic in outlook, the work’s three contrasting movements employ traditional shapes such as the rondo and fugue.
Rain Worthington’s Always Almost for piano will follow. A resident of Upstate New York, Worthington varied musical influences include world music, romanticism and minimalism. Musicologist Kyle Gann compared Ms. Worthington’s musical style to a “walk in a familiar, yet different park.” The composer explains that Always Almost is an expression of the profound realization that some of life’s deepest yearnings may remain unfulfilled, seemingly just out of reach — just “aways almost.”
Also on the program will be a recent work for flute and piano by Bernardo Feldman, the Mexican-born composer now residing in Los Angeles Sin Deposito, Sin Devolucion (No Deposit, No Return) is a two movement work with an environmental message. Somewhat sarcastically, each movement is named for a popular Mexican beer (Tecate and Negra Modelo) whose manufacturers do not require a deposit or return for empty bottles. John Henken, writing for the Los Angeles Times, described Feldman’s musical style as one “in which elements of rigor and fantasy coexist with each other.”
Summer Dialogues featuring the unusual ensemble of flute, bassoon and piano of by Dennis Kam will also be heard. A native of Hawaii, Kam has resided in Miami, FL since 1976 where he serves as Chair of the Music Theory and Composition Department for the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Educated at the Oberlin Conservatory, the Mozarteum in Austria, the East-West Center in Hawaii, and the Toho Gakuen in Japan, Kam is also active as conductor and serves as Composer-in-Residence for the South Florida Youth Symphony. The three movements of Summer Dialogues (June, July & August) seek to portray the evolving warmth and radiance of the summer months.
Percussionist Frank Cassara will premiere his own transcription for marimba of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint, a piece originally scored for live and pre-recorded clarinet. One of the pioneer’s of minimalism, Reich has enjoyed a very successful international career and was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2007.
Cassara will also perform Max Lifchitz’s Tansformations No. 3 for solo marimba, a highly demanding single-movement work Cassara recorded for the North/South Recordings label a few years ago. Lifchitz’s Ethnic Mosaic for flute, bassoon and piano will also be included. Written in 1978, the music for this three-movement eclectic work combines elements derived from jazz with rhythmic and melodic gestures from Latin American folk music.
To round-off the evening, pianist Max Lifchitz will perform Three Preludes by Astor Piazzolla, the The Argentinean-born composer and long time New York resident often associated with the revival of the Tango. These tango influenced works were recently published and will be heard live in New York for the first time.
Percussionist Frank Cassara has appeared at major festivals throughout the US and abroad as a member of both the Philip Glass Ensemble and the Steve Reich and Musicians. In addition to teaching at the Brooklyn College Conservatory, Long Island University and Vassar College, Mr. Cassara has performed with many outstanding ensembles throughout the tri-state area such as the American Composers Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Hudson Valley And Westchester Philharmonic orchestras. He has performed and recorded with North/South Consonance since 1989.
Flutist Kaoru Hinata is a graduate of Northwestern University and Yale. She has taught at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the Bloomingdale School of Music. A much-sought-after orchestral and chamber musician, she began performing with North/South Consonance during the 2007 season.
Bassoonist Gilbert Dejean is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Leonard Hindell and Steve Maxym, He is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New York City Ballet Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He is the featured soloist in the recording of Mary Jeanne van Appledorn’s Soundscapes for bassoon and string orchestra recently released on North/South Recordings No. 1045.
Pianist Max Lifchitz was awarded first prize in the 1977 Gaudeamus Competition held in Holland. A graduate of The Juiliard School and Harvard University, Lifchitz has performed throughout the US, Latin America and Europe. He has released nine solo compact discs featuring piano music by composers from the Americas. He is also active as composer and conductor and founded North/South Consonance, Inc in 1980.
The composers will be on hand to introduce their works and meet with the audience during intermission and after the concert. Musicians and composers participating in the event are available to the press for interviews and may be contacted through our office at
North/South Consonance’s 2008-09 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; grants from the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, the Keene Family Foundation and the Music Performance Fund from Local 802; as well as contributions by many generous individuals.
For further information about its activities, including upcoming concerts, recordings and the now open 2009-10 call for scores please visit http://www.northsouthmusic.org/
To listen and download all the available North/South discs please visit
http://www.classicsonline.com/North_South_Recordings/
This event is part of New York City’s
6th Annual Immigrant Heritage Week Celebration
http://www.nyc.gov/html/imm/html/home/home.shtml
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