|
Barbara Siesel,
Artistic Director Storm King Music Festival, Flutist. Ms. Siesel is a
Flutist who performs traditionally and is also active in experimental
new media and performance projects. Ms. Siesel has appeared as soloist
in principal halls of China, Korea, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and the
United States. She has made extended tours of the Far East, Spain and
China including three weeks of workshops, master classes and recitals
at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and appearances in Japan and Taiwan
sponsored by the Altus Flute Co., Ltd. In 1995, representing women in
the arts, she appeared in solo concert at the United Nations Conference
on Women in Beijing. Ms. Siesel served as soloist at Jornados de Musica
del Siglo XX in Segovia, Spain, California's Redwood Festival, the Adirondack
Festival of American Music, the Derriere Guard Festival in New York City,
and the Festival of the Performing Arts at Florida International University.
Continuing her long-standing interest in interdisciplinary work and multimedia,
Ms. Siesel was asked to create and direct an experimental interdisciplinary/
multimedia program at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida.
She serves as the Artistic Director of Art Culture & Technology, ACT,
a pioneering organization at the crossroads of art and digital media;
creating classical music videos, installations, and fostering cross-disciplinary
collaborations for the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia,
The Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Downtown Arts Festival in New York,
the Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, and more.
In progress is a collaboration with composer Sidney Corbett on a video
performance piece in full evening recital. The work will explore the cultural
impact of one family's escape from Germany through a montage of computer
imagery and new music in a traditional setting.
In 1982 Siesel co-founded the Andiamo Chamber Ensemble, serving as Artistic
Director from 1984 to the present. Andiamo has commissioned and premiered
works by such noted American Composers as Aaron Kernis, Michael Torke,
Ronald Caltabiano, Jay Yim,Zhou Long, and Stefania de Kenessey among others.
Known for its' innovative and thematic programming, Andiamo over the years
has presented various adventurous series including: The Millennium Project:
a lecture/concert series looking at 20th century composition through the
issues of the century, concerts exploring the Second Viennese School,
and other recitals that presented multicultural collaborations (notably
Chinese and Western). Andiamo has held residencies at the New School and
Florida International University, and been the recipient of grants from
the National Endowment of the Arts, the New York State Council on the
Arts, and the Manhattan Fund among others.
During 1999, she served as a panelist for the NY State Council on the
Arts Composers Commissions and participated in the Manhattan School of
Music's Careers in the 21st Century. Recently, she organized with ACT
a session on music and new technology for Chamber Music America's Annual
Conference.
In Summer 2001 Ms. Siesel will release her first solo CD on the ERM label
playing works by "New Traditional American Composers" including
Lowell Liebermann, Stefania de Kenessey, Elena Ruehr and others. She will
also release two music videos co-produced with ACT of works by composers
Fredrick Kaufman and Elena Ruehr, incorporating the visual art of noted
filmmaker and painter Donna Cameron. She can also be heard on CRI, Opus
One and BMG.
Ms. Siesel received her Bachelor's and Master's degree's from The Juilliard
School where she was a student of Samuel Baron. She has had further studies
wit Julius Baker, Gerardo Levy, and Thomas Nyfenger; and master classes
with Jean Pierre Rampal and James Galway.
Other works of Ms. Siesel can be seen on her website www.BarbaraFlute.com
Top
Executive Producer
Iva Kaufman is the
founder of Art, Culture & Technology. She is a specialist in designing
programs that address contemporary issues, including artist and community
access to new media and technology. Most recently, she co-produced public
art installations for the Downtown Arts Festival in New York; Art Center
South Florida; the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia; and
the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Ms. Kaufman has helped
initiate programs in the public interest that range from conflict resolution
to women's financial and economic empowerment. She directs the Sun Hill
Foundation's program on the environment, community development, and arts
education and outreach. Ms. Kaufman has assembled the team of program
and technical consultants, curators, and multimedia producers to carry
out the work of ACT.
Top
Development Director
James Kraft is a director of development
for arts organizations. He was a Senior Vice President at Brakeley, John
Price Jones where he advised and directed campaigns at Arena Stage, Cleveland
Museum of Art, John F. Kennedy Library, and London Symphony Orchestra,
among others. He was Assistant Director at the Whitney Museum of American
Art where he was responsible for development and membership, and Vice
President for Development at Manhattan School of Music. He is now a private
consultant and directs the capital campaign at the American Craft Museum.
He has a Ph.D. in English and has taught at the University of Virginia,
Université Laval in Quebec, and Wesleyan University.
Top
Technical Director
Howard Weiner is responsible for
coordinating and managing technology and engineering for the Storm King
Music Festival. He is the leading specialist in integrating computers
and video in film environments. In addition, his company, Video 35, has
provided videowalls and computer displays for commercial productions and
the advertising campaigns of Lucent Technology, AT&T, MCI, NEC, Microsoft,
Federal Express, Chrysler Corporation, and others. As Director of Systems
and Technology for Art Culture & Technology his credits include equipment
and technical support for festivals such as "CrossWaves/Performance =
Technology," the Alternative Museum, and the recent antigun violence launch
event of PAX. He engineered the 26-monitor videowall for the 1992 Democratic
National Convention and works regularly on feature films and episodic
television.
Top
Co-Producer
Robin Hastey, Co-Producer, web
site designer, graphics work. After 15 years in the banking industry,
Robin switched to music working primarily with folk artists. She has been
creating publicity materials and web sites while managing a small crafts
business locally.
Top
Composers
Stefania de
Kenessey
 is
a leading figure in the current contemporary classical music revival.
Honored repeatedly with awards from ASCAP, her music has been heard on
five continents as well as throughout the US. She is founder and artistic
director of The Derriere Guard, an alliance of traditionalist contemporary
artists, architects, poets and composers. Highly regarded as a composer
of instrumental works her concerto for trumpet virtuoso Christopher Gekker
will be released on Helicon Records. She has written for, among others,
flutist Elizabeth Mann and the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the Meridian
String Quartet, the San Jose Symphony, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra,
and the Absolute Ensemble. Her popular piano sonata Sunburst has been
honored with three different recordings and is available simultaneously
on the North/South, E.R.M. and Leonarda labels; "Shades of Light,
Shades of Dark", a CD of her chamber music performed by the Andiamo
Chamber Ensemble is also available.
Top
Harold Farberman
(biography taken from Bard
faculty site ) Harold Farberman was born on November 2, 1929, on New
York City's Lower East Side. Coming from a family of musicians (his father
was the drummer in a famous 1920s klezmer band led by Schleomke Beckerman;
his brother was also a drummer), it was inevitable that he would pursue
music as a career. After graduating from the Juilliard School of Music
on scholarship in 1951, Farberman became the youngest member of the Boston
Symphony Orchestra (BSO) when he joined its percussion section.
With a performer's knowledge of percussion instruments and a dissatisfaction
with their conventional treatment by most composers, Farberman became
an early advocate for the use of percussion sonorities as a major voice
in compositional structures. During his twelve-year tenure with the BSO,
Farberman earned a master's degree in composition from the New England
Conservatory of Music. His very first work, Evolution, written in 1954
for soprano, French horn, and seven percussionists, is scored for over
one hundred percussion instruments and has been recorded four times, once
by Leopold Stokowski.
After hearing Evolution in 1955, Aaron Copland invited Farberman to study
composition with him at Tanglewood. In 1956 his Quartet for Flute, Oboe,
Viola and Cello received first prize in the New England Composer's Competition
with Walter Piston as head of the jury. In 1957 Greek Scene, a trio for
mezzo soprano, piano, and percussion, was chosen to represent the United
States in an International Composer's Symposium held in Paris. Within
the next few years a growing interest in his music led to several commissions
and awards.
During the summer that Farberman studied composition with Copland, he
was also one of three active conductors in Maestro Eleazar de Carvalho's
conducting class, and in 1963 Farberman left the Boston Symphony to embark
on a conducting career that has earned him an international reputation.
He has been music director of the Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Oakland,
California symphonies, and principal guest conductor of the Denver Symphony
and the Bournemouth (Great Britain) Sinfonietta. Farberman has been a
frequent guest conductor and recording artist of major orchestras, including
the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, BBC, Stockholm Philharmonic,
Swedish Radio, Danish Radio, Hessischer Rundfunk, and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
For his dedication to the music of Charles Ives through performance and
recordings, Farberman was awarded the Ives Medal. He is the founder of
the Conductors Guild and also created the Conductors Institute, the premiere
training ground for young conductors from around the world. His text The
Art of Conducting Technique is published by Warner Brothers.
Like Farberman the conductor, the music of Harold Farberman is well traveled
and has been heard in numerous international venues. Albany Records released
four CDs featuring works written by Harold Farberman, and his Cello Concerto
was premiered by the American Symphony Orchestra in November 2000 at Lincoln
Center's Avery Fisher Hall. Among his many works that have received awards
and commissions are:
An opera for Lincoln Center for the opening of the Juilliard Opera Theater.
Symphonies for the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, Oakland, California; Denver
Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra, Colorado;
Concordia Symphony Orchestra, New York; and Bournemouth Sinfonietta, England.
Chamber works for the Kroumata (Sweden) Chamber Ensemble, Stuttgart (Germany)
Chamber Ensemble, and the Lenox String Quartet.
Music for dance performances for the Murray Lewis Company and the Emily
Grankel Dance Drama Company.
Music for the Academy Award–winning film The Great American Cowboy
(1974).
Commissions from PBS New York, Channel 13.
Grants from National Endowment of the Arts, Colorado Arts Council, New
York State Arts Council.
Top
Kyle Gann,
is a composer and has been new music critic for the Village Voice
since 1986. He is the author of The Music of Conlon Nancarrow (Cambridge
University Press, 1995) and American Music in the 20th Century (Schirmer
Books, 1997). He studied composition with Ben Johnston, Morton Feldman,
and Peter Gena. His music is often microtonal, using up to 37 pitches
per octave. His rhythmic language, based on differing successive and simultaneous
tempos, was developed from his study of Hopi, Zuni, and Pueblo Indian
musics. His music has been performed on the New Music America, Bang on
a Can, and Spoleto festivals, and across Europe. He received a 1994 commission
from Music in Motion for his Astrological Studies, and in 1996-97 a National
Endowment for the Arts Individual Artists' Fellowship. He teaches music
history and theory at Bard College, and has taught at Columbia University,
Brooklyn College, and the School of the Art Instutute of Chicago. His
writings include more than 1500 articles for over 30 publications, including
scholarly articles on La Monte Young (in Perspectives of New Music), Henry
Cowell, Mikel Rouse, and other American composers. Website: http://home.earthlink.net/~kgann/
Top
Wendy Griffiths
 Wendy
Griffiths' music has been performed in New York beginning in the 1980's
when she performed with her band at clubs like CBGB's. Since then she
has composed chamber works, art songs, dance scores and an opera, "The
Quiet American," funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Her
music has been performed on the Composers Concordance series, at the Merce
Cunningham studio and the Manhattan School of Music, at the Yale-Norfolk
Chamber Music Festival and in Stockholm as part of a festival of American
Chamber Music. Ms. Griffiths has an M.M. from the Mannes College of Music
and a D.M.A. from CUNY where she studied with Thea Musgrave, Bruce Saylor
and David Olan. She currently teaches in the Extension and Preparatory
Divisions of the Mannes College of Music and directs the vocal music division
of Music Under Construction of which she is a founding member. Ms. Griffiths
appears as a keyboard player with the Greenwich Village Orchestra and
with her ensemble Changing
Modes.
Top
Jonathan Hallstrom
 Jonathan
Hallstrom (b.1954) teaches music theory and composition at Colby College,
Waterville, Maine, where he also conducts the Colby Symphony Orchestra
and directs the electronic music studio. He has been the recipient of
grants and fellowships from the Rockefeller, Exxon, and Sloan Foundations
and has been a featured composer at many national and international conferences
and festivals, including SEAMUS, SCI, ICMC, The New Music America Festival,
The Bourges "Sonneries Utopiques" festival and IRCAM's Portes
Overtes series. In 1989-90 he was a visiting lecturer at the University
of Keele's Center for Music Technology, and from 1990-1995 served as Consulting
Director for the Juilliard Music Technology Center . He has been a visiting
composer at The University of Lancaster (England), Marshall University,
and Colgate University. As a conductor, Mr. Hallstrom has appeared with
the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, the Keele (England) Symphony Orchestra,
L'orchestre du Dixième (Paris), The Bangor Symphony Orchestra,
The University of Iowa and University of Wisconsin New Music Ensembles,
The Oregon State University Symphony Orchestra, and The Central Oregon
Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared as a conductor/clinician at numerous
high school orchestra festivals throughout the United States.
Peter Kirn
 Peter
Kirn (b. 1978) has had his eclectic music and collaborative works presented
at numerous venues including the Seoul, Korea International Computer Music
Festival, NWEAMO Festival in San Diego and Portland, OR, Dance Theater
Workshop, PS 122, HERE Arts Center, Williamsburg Arts NeXus, New Jersey
City University, Composers Collaborative Non Sequitur Festival at the
Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center and Dynamic Duos at The Slipper
Room, and Location 1's AudioStream, among others. He has collaborated
with poets Christina Springer, Tyrone Henderson, and Todd Colby, writer
Elizabeth Zimmer, and choreographers Kathy Westwater, Kate Taylor, and
Christopher Williams. His choral music dedicated to St. Nicholas Greek
Orthodox Church, destroyed on 9/11, was recently featured on a documentary
by CBC Television shown throughout Canada and Europe. He holds a BA in
music from Sarah Lawrence College and is currently working towards a doctorate
in composition at the City University of New York Graduate Center, where
he co-founded the CUNY Graduate Center Contemporary Ensemble with percussionist
Robert Romeo. His principal teachers have been Tania León, Thea
Musgrave, Chester Biscardi, and George Tsontakis. www.peterkirn.com
 Bruce
Lazarus
Bruce Lazarus' 2002-2003 choral, chamber ensemble, and dance compositions
include: StarSongs, inLight, and Lasyrenn in Bright Moonlight for the
Juilliard PreCollege Chorus directed by Rebecca Scott; Two Winter Madrigals
and Guide to the Winter Sky for the Cantabile Chamber Chorale (http://community.nj.com/cc/cantabile);
Ordinary Stars and Dog Star for the Storm King Music Festival; and Pandora's
Project, a full-evening work commissioned by New York Dance Affinity (www.nyda.org).
He studied composition at Juilliard in the 1970s with Vincent Persichetti
and Andrew Thomas, and earned an B.M. and M.M. in music composition.
Top
Carman
Moore
is both a composer and conductor, who played the French horn with the
Columbus Symphony before moving to New York. He studied composition privately
with Hall Overton and at the Juilliard School with Luciano Berio and Vincent
Persichetti. Moore began composing for symphony and chamber ensembles
while writing lyrics for pop songs, gradually adding opera, theatre, dance
and film scores to his body of work that reflect his upbringing in black
culture, his classical training and his voracious curiosity. Moore is
the Founder, Conductor, and principal composer of the electro-acoustic
SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE. In-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
his Intermedia Mass for the 21st Century, commissioned by Lincoln Center,
attracted the largest outdoor audience in history. Among Moore's scores
for theatre are Yale Rep's production of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens
and When The Bough Breaks at LaMama E.T.C. A well-known composer for dance,
his scores for dance include Goddess of the Waters, choreographed by Alvin
Ailey for the Ballet Company of La Scala, and several major works for
Donald Byrd and Ruby Shang with whom he was awarded coveted Meet-the-Composer
Readers Digest Composer/Choreographer Awards. A dedicated educator, Moore
has taught at the Yale University Graduate School of Music, Carnegie-Mellon,
and The New School for Social Research. In 1995 he served as consultant
to Wynton Marsalis on the PBS-broadcast series for children, Marsalis
On Music. Carman Moore has served as music critic and columnist for the
Village Voice and has contributed to The New York Times, The Saturday
Review of Literature, and Essence among others. He is the author of two
books: Somebody's Angel Child: The Story of Bessie Smith (Dell), and Rock-It.
His work for string trio and synthesizer The Mystery of Tao had its world
premiere in February 2001 with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
In the Spring of 2002 Moore's large intermedia work for children RASUR,
GOD OF PEACE will have its premiere in San Jose, Costa Rica, opening their
International Festival of the Arts.
Top
Yuzuru Sadashige
Yuzuru
Sadashige received his MM in composition from Manhattan School of Music
and a BM in composition from Berklee College of Music. His composition
teachers include Elias Tanenbaum and James Russell Smith. Mr. Sadashige
has received the Brian M. Israel Award from the Society for New Music,
honorable mentions from Vienna Modern Masters and Percussive Arts Society.
His score for an independent film ANA: Portrait in Days won the New York
University 54th Annual First Run Festival's award for best original film
score. Mr. Sadashige has written several theater scores for The Actors
Company Theatre and dance scores for Music under Construction composer-choreographer
collaboration series. His works have been featured by NewEar, Synchronia,
Civic Orchestra of Chicago, The New York Clarinet Quartet, the ONIX New
Music Ensemble of Mexico City, Music Under Construction and Nota Bene
Ensemble In 1999, Mr. Sadashige was a composer-in-residence for the American
Chamber Music Festival at Edsvik, Sweden. He is a cofounder and co-artistic
director of the New York based new music group NeWorks. He is a member
of an alternative rock band Changing
Modes.
Top
Eric Somers
began his career as a classical music television producer for network
television where he worked with many noted musicians including Eugene
Ormandy, Thomas Schippers, Wolfgang Sawallisch, William Steinberg, Benita
Valente, Richard Goode, Radu Lupu, Paul Zukofsky, Rudolf Bookbinder, Ruth
Laredo, and others. He maintains a sound design practice called The
Sandbook Studio which creates fine art sound recordings and electronically
produced sound compositions for theatre, dance, film, video and art gallery
installations. Mr. Somers is senior Editor of the Newsletter of the Society
for Electro-Acoustic in the United States and President of the International
Community for Auditory Display. Eric Somers has taken master classes in
electro-acoustic composition with Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio and Joel
Chadabe.
Top
Raymond
Torres-Santos - Composer and Conductor
 Raymond
Torres-Santos's multifaceted career encompasses amazing wide range of
musical talents as a composer, conductor, educator, pianist and arranger,
equally at home in both classical and popular music. His style bears the
hallmark of no particular orthodoxy, but rather shows the effect of an
assimilating musical ear, subtle and sophisticated but also startling
and novel as well. In recent years his versatility and music has attracted
audiences in Europe, Latin America and the United States. (He is considered
one of the leading composers of his generation.) His works have been performed
by the American Composers Orchestra, Boston Pops, Pacific Symphony, Bronx
Arts Ensemble, Continuum, New Jersey Chamber Music Society, Queens Symphony,
Quintet of the Americas, the orchestras of London, Vienna, Taipei, Virginia,
Puerto Rico, and México City, as well as many other independent
groups in the USA, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Argentina. Featured at the
Casals Festival, World Fair in Seville and Op Sail 2000, his music has
been used for television and radio programs, and choreographed by dance
companies.
Born in Puerto Rico, he studied at the Pablo Casals Conservatory of Music
and at the University of Puerto Rico. He holds a Ph.D and M.A in composition
at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and completed advance
studies at Stanford and Harvard University. He furthered his studies in
Europe, at the Ferienkurse fur Neue Musik in Germany, and at the University
of Padua in Italy. His major professors were Henri Lazarof, David Raksin
and Alberto Ginastera. He is the former Chancellor of the Casals Conservatory
in Puerto Rico and has taught at City University of New York, California
State University and is a Professor at the University of Puerto Rico.
In addition to composing, Torres-Santos is an accomplished arranger,
conductor and pianist, equally at home in both classical and contemporary
music. His arrangements have been nominated for the Grammy Awards and
have worked with the best performers such as: Plácido Domingo,
Julio Iglesias and Frank Sinatra. Recipient of the Frank Sinatra Award
in jazz composing and arranging, he has also served as orchestrator for
film composers in Hollywood, such as Dave Grusin, Lalo Schifrin, Ralph
Burns (Vacation, Phanton of the Opera), Ron Jones (Star Trek), and Ry
Cooder (Brewster's Millions). A studio jazz pianist, he has worked with
Maynard Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Shew, and Tito Puente.
As conductor he has conducted the Queens Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic,
Cosmopolitan Symphony Orchestra, México City Philharmonic, Puerto
Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Darmstader Ensemble, Bronx Arts Ensemble
Orchestra, and members of the London Symphony with whom he has recorded.
He has also conducted the symphony orchestras and choruses at UCLA, Manhattan
School of Music, Northwestern University and California State University.
In addition, conducted Hollywood studio orchestras in films and served
as music director for pop singer Vikki Carr and Dianne Schuur.
Top
The Performers
Mary Jo Carlsen
 Mary
Jo Carlsen, originally from Montana, earned her degrees from the University
of Washington, then moved to New York, where she freelanced while studying
with Itzhak Perlman. She has performed with the Festival dei Due Mondi
in Charleston, South Carolina and in Spoleto, Italy. Mary Jo is currently
a recitalist in the New England area on violin, viola, and Baroque violin,
performing music from the Renaissance through the 21st century. She performs
with the Portland Symphony, the Portland Opera Repertory Theatre, the
Bangor Symphony, and many small chamber groups. At Colby College since
1985, Mary Jo teaches violin and viola, coaches chamber music, and is
concertmaster of the Colby Symphony. She has recorded for Capstone Records
and Telarc.
Top
Junie Cho
Pianist Junie Cho has performed solo and chamber music recitals, and
with orchestra, throughout the United States, as well as in Asia. For
the recent performance of Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto with
Prime Symphony Orchestra in New York City, Ms. Cho was acclaimed for her
"majestic resonance and graceful melodies." As a founding member
and principal pianist of the New York Contemporary Music Band, she has
given numerous performances of the World and U.S. premieres. Her recent
world premiere presentations in 2003 include a performance at the Kennedy
Center Millennium Stage, as part of the Fulbright Scholar Program of the
U.S. Department of State, and a Soundclock benefit concert at Merkin Hall.
She has given a New York debut recital at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie
Hall, in the Winners Series of the Artists International Presentations.
Ms. Cho studied at Indiana University, the Mannes College of Music, and
Manhattan School of Music where she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts' degree.
She has been on the piano faculty of the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory
of Music, Diploma Programs, in New York City, where she currently serves
as Dean of Students.
Top
Laura Harrison
performs with the Riverside Orchestra, City University of New York Graduate
Center Contemporary Ensemble, Lost Dog New Musik, the Devil Music Ensemble
at Boston's Berwick Research Institute and oxo Ensemble, a new music collaborative
based in and around Brooklyn. She has played with the Boston Chamber Orchestra,
New England Philharmonic, Boston Civic Symphony, Opera Aperta, the Indianapolis
Chamber Orchestra and has appeared at Brandeis University's Composers
Series concerts, Brooklyn College's Festival of Electroacoustic Music
and the American Composers Forum. Ms. Harrison serves on the faculty of
Yonkers Music Academy and is a teaching artist with the Midori Foundation
in New York City.
Top
Emily Manzo
 Emily
Manzo enjoys performing a wide variety of music, from Ligeti to Feldman
to alt-country. Donald Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer described
her performance of Cage's Sonatas and Interludes with praise: "Manzo
. . . proved to be a superb Cage champion. She played the works with utmost
attention to clarity and detail, underlining the kaleidoscope of sonorities
and pacing each piece with remarkable concentration."
Emily has won numerous awards throughout the U.S. for her interpretation
of new music, including first prize at the 2001 Athena International Piano
Competition in Kentucky and second prize at the Crane New Music Competition
in New York. She has premiered the works of John Luther Adams, Kyle Gann
and Rob Reich, among others. She is looking forward to several recitals
in the spring with her keyboard duo, Shrimpie and Sharkie.
Emily completed her Bachelors of Music in piano performance at the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music where she was a recipient of Dean's Scholar Award.
She is currently pursuing her Masters in Music Education at the Columbia
University Teachers College. Her principal teachers have included Lydia
Frumkin, Stephen Drury, Jeanne Golan, Jean Stackhouse and Bajka Voronietsky.
Top
 Barbara
Siesel
Flutist, Artistic Director Storm King Music Festival. Ms. Siesel is a
Flutist who performs traditionally and is also active in experimental
new media and performance projects. Ms. Siesel has appeared as soloist
in principal halls of China, Korea, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and the
United States. She has made extended tours of the Far East, Spain and
China including three weeks of workshops, master classes and recitals
at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, and appearances in Japan and Taiwan
sponsored by the Altus Flute Co., Ltd. In 1995, representing women in
the arts, she appeared in solo concert at the United Nations Conference
on Women in Beijing. Ms. Siesel served as soloist at Jornados de Musica
del Siglo XX in Segovia, Spain, California's Redwood Festival, the Adirondack
Festival of American Music, the Derriere Guard Festival in New York City,
and the Festival of the Performing Arts at Florida International University.
Continuing her long-standing interest in interdisciplinary work and multimedia,
Ms. Siesel was asked to create and direct an experimental interdisciplinary/
multimedia program at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida.
She serves as the Artistic Director of Art Culture & Technology, ACT,
a pioneering organization at the crossroads of art and digital media;
creating classical music videos, installations, and fostering cross-disciplinary
collaborations for the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia,
The Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Downtown Arts Festival in New York,
the Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, and more.
In progress is a collaboration with composer Sidney Corbett on a video
performance piece in full evening recital. The work will explore the cultural
impact of one family's escape from Germany through a montage of computer
imagery and new music in a traditional setting. In 1982 Siesel co-founded
the Andiamo Chamber Ensemble, serving as Artistic Director from 1984 to
the present. Andiamo has commissioned and premiered works by such noted
American Composers as Aaron Kernis, Michael Torke, Ronald Caltabiano,
Jay Yim,Zhou Long, and Stefania de Kenessey among others. Known for its'
innovative and thematic programming, Andiamo over the years has presented
various adventurous series including: The Millennium Project: a lecture/concert
series looking at 20th century composition through the issues of the century,
concerts exploring the Second Viennese School, and other recitals that
presented multicultural collaborations (notably Chinese and Western).
Andiamo has held residencies at the New School and Florida International
University, and been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment
of the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Manhattan
Fund among others.
During 1999, she served as a panelist for the NY State Council on the
Arts Composers Commissions and participated in the Manhattan School of
Music's Careers in the 21st Century. Recently, she organized with ACT
a session on music and new technology for Chamber Music America's Annual
Conference.
In Summer 2002 Ms. Siesel will release her first solo CD on the ERM label
playing works by "New Traditional American Composers" including
Lowell Liebermann, Stefania de Kenessey, Elena Ruehr and others. She will
also release two music videos co-produced with ACT of works by composers
Fredrick Kaufman and Elena Ruehr, incorporating the visual art of noted
filmmaker and painter Donna Cameron. She can also be heard on CRI, Opus
One and BMG.
Ms. Siesel received her Bachelor's and Master's degree's from The Juilliard
School where she was a student of Samuel Baron. She has had further studies
wit Julius Baker, Gerardo Levy, and Thomas Nyfenger; and master classes
with Jean Pierre Rampal and James Galway.
Barbara's website is www.BarbaraSiesel.com
Sound clips from Barbara Siesel's CD - New Traditions in American
Flute Music
Stefania de
Kenessey - Sonata in D Minor - Andante (Real Audio)
Top
Eric Thomas
The L.A. Times says "[he] drew a pallet of musical color from [his]
instrument", the New York Times called him a "superb musician,
an important addition to the musical scene", and Downbeat Magazine:
"[a] remarkably clean and inventive improviser" while the Boston
Globe says he shines as "a wizard at subtle, super-quiet playing."
Concert Artist Guild winner Eric Thomas has appeared as a guest artist
with several groups including the Apple Hill Chamber Players, the Boston
Pops Traveling Ensemble, the Hermosa Chamber Ensemble (CA), the Wellesley
Composers Forum, the Sylvan Winds and the New York Festival of Song. This
summer Mr. Thomas was the guest clarinetist/saxophonist at the Bravo!
Vail Valley Music Festival where, among other performances, the premiere
of his "Kid Blues" took place in a duo concert with Dr. Billy
Taylor. Formerly an assistant to Opera Co. of Boston director, Sarah Caldwell
Mr. Thomas takes up his baton as the resident conductor of the Wind Ensemble
and Jazz Bands at Colby College (Waterville, Maine) this fall. When not
conducting or playing Mr. Thomas can be found composing at his residence
in Tampa, Fl. Mr. Thomas can be heard on New World Records, Koch International,
CRI and Albany Records.
Top
Lynne Vardaman (voice)
Soprano, Lynne Vardaman demonstrates her versatility as both singer and
actress in performances ranging from light-hearted operetta to world premiere
productions. A respected performer of contemporary music, Ms. Vardaman
has performed new works in the Festival Camarissima at the Auditorio Blas
Galindo in Mexico City, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
in Washington, D.C., the Chicago Cultural Center and on the island of
Guam. Her strong commitment to the development of American art song has
brought about the premieres of works by many composers including Jack
Beeson's "operina" Practice in the Art of Elocution written
for her in 1999.
Ms. Vardaman spent several seasons with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan
Players. At home and on tour she sang eight of the G&S heroines to
considerable audience and critical acclaim. In January 2000 she returned
to the company to play the title role in Princess Ida opposite veteran
comedian Frank Gorshen. She has performed with the American Chamber Opera,
the Augusta Opera, and at Wolf Trap. She has recordings on the Opus One,
North/South and Newport Classics labels. Ms. Vardaman is an alumna of
Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Judith Raskin and taught
voice at the Kingsborough campus of the City University of New York from
1989-1995. She is the former chair of the Voice Department of the Manhattan
School of Music Preparatory Division and is currently the director of
the Ensign-Darling Vocal Fellowship at the Bushnell Center for the Performing
Arts in Hartford Connecticut.
Top
AMBROSIA AND FRIENDS
has rapidly become one of the sought-after chamber music ensembles in
New York City. Formerly known as The Ambrosia Trio, the ensemble continues
to demonstrate chamber music at its best. Individual virtuosity, coupled
with a heightened ability to listen and respond are the hallmarks of these
fine musicians. This season includes concerts in Philadelphia, various
cities in New Jersey, Maine and in New York City. Their appearance on
Hofstra University's International Concert Series resulted not only in
immediate re-engagement for the following season, but also the following
review: "the warmest treatment that the composers themselves could
have hoped for." The ensemble has premiered two works by Davide Zanoni
– “Future Fears” for piano trio and “Dowsing”
for string trio; and has performed other well known contemporary works
by composers such as Eric Ewazen. Other accomplishments include a residency
at the Banff International Centre for the Arts and two CD’s. The
group has collaborated with the Buglisi/Foreman Dance Company performing
to sold-out audiences as well as the Dutchess Ballet. In addition to appearances
on National Public Radio and WNYC's live performance studio "Around
New York," the ensemble maintains a busy schedule, coaching student
musicians and continuing to bring their love of chamber music to as wide
an audience as possible.
Beulah Cox, Violinist,
 Beulah
Cox is the founding member of Ambrosia and Friends. Ms. Cox has appeared
as soloist with the Virtuoso Strings in New York City, the Allegro Chamber
Ensemble at the Festival Saint Louis en L'Ile in Paris, and in London
at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Solo performances with the Doansburg Chamber
Orchestra were reviewed in the Gannett Suburban Newspapers: "Cox
had a sweet tone and much sensitivity, conveying delicate emotion."
Miss Cox is a frequent guest artist with chamber music ensembles –
frequently filling in on short notice. She is a member of several orchestras
in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey and performs across the United
States as well as in Europe. A committed teacher as well, Ms. Cox is on
the faculty of Fordham University, the Ethical Culture School and the
Riverdale YMHA-YWHA as well as teaching privately. Before coming to New
York City, Ms. Cox was a Baroque violinist with the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation making several recordings under that label. Her teachers and
coaches include Ani Kavafian, Hamao Fujiwara, Joyce Robbins and Joseph
Fuchs.
Martin Fett, Cello
Martin Fett, cellist, is an active freelancer in the New York City area
performing in orchestras and chamber ensembles across the USA and Europe.
He is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where he received his
M.M. and taught cello. As a soloist, he has performed with the Manhattan
Philharmonia and the Brooklyn Pro Arte Chamber Ensemble. He has played
on the Today show and been heard on WQXR. Mr. Fett has held principal
positions in many orchestras. He has recently toured with the New York
City Opera National Company as principal cello. Having performed about
2000 performances on Broadway in over ten Broadway shows, Mr. Fett is
in demand as a musician who is comfortable in many different styles. Martin
Fett co-founded the Ambrosia Trio in 1990 with Beulah Cox and has performed
extensively in the Piano Trio literature. A committed teacher, Mr. Fett
travels to Connecticut to teach and maintains an active teaching studio
in Manhattan.
Sachiko Kato, piano
Versatile pianist Sachiko Kato has enchanted audiences all over the United
States with her beautiful sonorous sound in a wide range of repertoire.
A winner of the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition and the
Pro-Piano Recital Series Audition, Ms. Kato made her Carnegie Weill Hall
recital debut in 1994. Her other past engagements include recitals at
the Los Angeles County Museum, Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library,
the Donnell Library, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Steinway
Hall in New York, Greenwich Arts Council in Connecticut, Norris Theater
of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and Old First Church in San Francisco,
etc. Her pianism was also feature-broadcast by the classical station,
KMZT FM.
Musically curious and innovative in programming, Ms. Kato has performed
and recorded relatively unknown pieces by Nicolai Kapustin, an emerging
Russian composer. In September 2003, she participated among 21 cutting-edge
talents to premier works written for 21 pianos by Italian avant-garde
composer, Daniele Lombardi at the World Financial Center Winter Garden.
In addition to the “seasons” concert series at Klavierhaus which
she started last spring, Ms. Kato will launch an original series “Japanese
Modern Music” in March 2004, in conjunction with Klavierhaus, featuring
works of Japanese contemporary composers such as Takemitsu, Miyoshi, Ichiyanagi,
as well as Yoshimatsu, Yashiro and others. Ms. Kato’s other 2003-4
engagements include a solo recital in Boston’s LiveArts program,
and a concerto appearance playing Bach’s d-minor concerto with Bloomingdale
Sinfonietta, among others.
A native of Osaka, Japan, Ms. Kato grew up in Los Angeles, California
where she started to gain recognition as a promising artist at an early
age. She made a debut performance with the Brentwood Symphony Orchestra
at age 15. After receiving her Bachelor of Music from California State
University Northridge, she received a scholarship to enter The Juilliard
School for her Master of Music degree. Among her teachers are world-renowned
pianists Russell Sherman and Jerome Lowenthal.
|
