2023-2024 CONCERT SEASON
The Orion String Quartet
Daniel and Todd Phillips, violins
Steven Tenenbom, viola Timothy Eddy, cello
Sunday, October 22, 2023
4:00 - 6:00pm
Over the past 36 seasons, the Orion String Quartet has been consistently
praised for the fresh perspective and individuality it brings to
performances. One of the most sought-after ensembles in the United
States, the members of the Orion String Quartet—violinists Daniel
Phillips and Todd Phillips (brothers who share the first violin chair
equally), the violist Steven Tenenbom and the cellist Timothy Eddy—have
worked closely with such legendary figures as Pablo Casals, Rudolf
Serkin, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, and Peter Serkin.
The Quartet remains on the cutting edge of programming with wide-ranging commissions from composers Chick Corea, Brett Dean, David Del Tredici, Alexander Goehr, Thierry Lancino, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Marc Neikrug, Lowell Liebermann, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis, and has enjoyed a celebrated creative partnership with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The Orion took its name from the eponymous constellation as a metaphor for the personality each musician brings to the group in its collective pursuit of the highest musical ideals.
Program
Schubert: Quartet in G Major, Op. 161/D 887
Beethoven: Quartet in
B-flat Major, Op. 130, with Grosse Fugue, Op. 133
A Q&A with the musicians will follow the performance.
This will be your last chance to see The Orion in Westchester County.
The Quartet has announced they will be retiring at the end of the
2023-2024 season, concluding their 36-year partnership.
The Alexander String Quartet
4:00 - 6:00pm
The Alexander String Quartet has performed in the major music capitals
of five continents, securing its standing among the world’s premier
ensembles, and a major artistic presence in its home base of San
Francisco, serving since 1989 as Ensemble in Residence of San Francisco
Performances and Directors of The Morrison Chamber Music Center
Instructional Program at San Francisco State University.
Program
Haydn:
Quartet in C Major, No. 3, Op. 33, “The Bird”
Ravel:
Quartet in F Major
Shostakovich:
Quartet in A Major, No. 2, Op. 68
Frisson Winds
Anna Urrey, flute
Tom Gallant, oboe
Bixby Kennedy, clarinet
Rémy
Taghavi, bassoon
Wilden Dannenberg, horn
4:00 - 6:00pm
Frisson Winds
features the brilliant wind musicians of the explosive group Frisson. These
virtuoso wind players perform a wide variety of music for winds of
various combinations as well as wonderful programs of music for piano
and winds. Concerts feature trios, quartets and quintets by such
composers as Beethoven, Mozart, Francaix, Poulenc, William Grant Still,
Valerie Coleman, Gershwin, Paquito d’Rivera and many more.
Frisson features the best and brightest of classical music's stars, and
the group showcases emerging young artists as well as seasoned
professionals. In just a few seasons the group has skyrocketed to
become one of the leading classical music groups in the field. The
members of Frisson all have impressive biographies and many have
performed at such prestigious venues as the Verbier Festival, Aspen
Music Festival, Marlboro Festival, and Ravinia Festivals as well as in
New York City at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.
Program
Reicha:
Quintet in A Minor, No. 5
Beethoven:
Variations in C Major on Mozart’s “La ci darem la mano” WoO 28
Françaix:
Divertissement
Debussy:
Syrinx
Villa-Lobos:
Bachianas Brasileiras, No. 6
D’Rivera:
Habanera
Ravel:
Le Tombeau de Couperin
The American Brass Quartet
Kevin Cobb, trumpet Brandon
Ridenour, trumpet Eric
Reed, horn
Hillary Simms, trombone
John D. Rojak, bass trombone
4:00 - 6:00pm
The
American Brass Quintet is
internationally recognized as one of the premier chamber music ensembles
of our time, celebrated for peerless leadership in the brass world. “The
most distinguished” of brass quintets (American Record Guide), ABQ has
earned its stellar reputation through its celebrated performances,
genre-defining commissioned works, and an ongoing commitment to the
education of generations of musicians.
A recipient of Chamber Music America’s highest honor, the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award for significant and lasting contributions to the field, the group's rich history includes performances in five continents, a discography of over sixty recordings, and the premieres of over one hundred fifty contemporary brass works. Since its founding in 1960, the commissioned works of esteemed composers have contributed significantly to both contemporary chamber music and the foundation of the modern brass quintet repertoire.
As part of WCMS's Youth Initiative, we are delighted to welcome a brass
quartet from Port Chester Middle School, a group nurtured by their
inspiring instrumental teacher, Ulysses Torres. They will be performing
three brief selections to open this afternoon’s program.
Program
A Suite of 17th Century Dances
(Raymond
Mase, ed.)
Thomas Simpson (1582–1628)
Intrada
William Brade (1560–1630)
Paduana
Simpson—
Brade Galliard—Galliard
Anthony
Barfield (1983– )
Samsara (2022)
Jennifer Higdon (1962– )
Book
of Brass (2022)
--INTERMISSION--
Reena Esmail
(1983– )
Khirkiyaan: Three Transformations
for Brass
Quintet (2015/2017)
I. Jog
II. Joota
III. Tuttarana
Three Madrigals
Carlo Gesualdo (1566–1613)
(Brandon Ridenour, ed.)
I. Deh, come invan sospiro
II. Io
pur respiro in così gran dolore
III. Itene, o miei sospiri
David Biedenbender (1984– )
Sacred
Geometry (2022)
1. Ripples
2. Gaudí
3. Nautilus
4. Helix
A Q&A with the musicians will follow the performance.
Momenta Quartet
Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin
Alex Shiozaki, violin
Stephanie Griffin, viola
Michael Haas, cello
4:00 - 6:00pm
Momenta: the plural
of momentum – four individuals in motion towards a common goal. This is
the idea behind the Momenta Quartet, whose eclectic vision encompasses
contemporary music of all aesthetic backgrounds alongside great music
from the recent and distant past. The New York City-based quartet has
premiered over 200 works, collaborated with over 250 living composers
and was praised by The
New York Times for
its “diligence, curiosity and excellence.” In the words of The
New Yorker’s
Alex Ross, “few American players assume Haydn’s idiom with such ease.”
The quartet came into being in November 2004, when composer Matthew
Greenbaum invited violist Stephanie Griffin to perform Mario
Davidovsky’s String Trio for events celebrating Judaism and Culture at
New York’s Symphony Space and Temple University in Philadelphia. A
residency through the composition department at Temple University
ensued, and the rehearsals and performances were so satisfying that the
players decided to form a quartet. Through this residency, Momenta gave
two annual concerts highlighting the talents of Temple University
student composers alongside 20th-century masterworks and works from the
classical canon, repeating the programs at the Brooklyn Society for
Ethical Culture. From the outset, Momenta treated all music equally,
devoting as much time, care and commitment to the student works as to
the imposing musical monuments.
As part of WCMS's Youth Initiative, we are delighted to present the SEAL String Quartet, a student ensemble from White Plains High School, mentored by Zachary May. The SEAL will "open" for the Momenta by playing the first movement of Hayden's String Quartet in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2 ("Quinten"). They will then receive feedback from the professional musicians in the form of a brief mini-masterclass prior to the Momenta performing their program
Program
Brown:
Just Visible in the Distance
Haydn:
String Quartet in F Minor ("Sun Quartets") Op. 20,
No. 5
Schubert:
String
Quartet No. 13 in A Minor ("Rosamunde") Op. 29/D. 804