Philip Glass Festival:
Madrigal Opera
Directed by R.B. Schlather
Saturday, April 29th @ 7pm
Tickets
About the Show
National Sawdust is delighted to honor advisory board member Philip Glass during his 80th year. During 2017’s Spring Season, we will celebrate his groundbreaking oeuvre by showcasing solo and collaborative works, including his rarely performed MADRIGAL OPERA, directed by NS Artist in Residence, R. B. Schlather.
Written in 1980 and commissioned by the Holland Festival, this chamber opera is written for 6 voices, violin, and viola. “Madrigal Opera”, written for Dutch theater artist Rob Malasch, is conceived as an artful paradox: a music theatre work with no specific theatrical content. It was commissioned with the intent for creative interpretations by a theatrical director at hand, therefore differing itself from traditional opera form as it has no predetermined theatrical narrative. With NS Artist in Residence R. B. Schlather directing four outside the box performers – Vince Peterson leading Johnny Gandelsman, William Frampton, and Choral Chameleon – the audience will engage in an unforgettable musical experience not to be missed.
About the Artists
Phillip Glass
Philip Glass is one of America’s most celebrated composers and a founding member of the American school of minimalism. In the past 25 years, Glass has composed more than twenty operas,; ten symphonies; two piano concertos and concertos for violin, piano, timpani, and saxophone quartet and orchestra; and several soundtracks to films. His work has been inspired by the music of Africa, India, and the Himalayas.
R.B. Schlather
Celebrated American opera director R. B. Schlather, described as “having a gift-for drawing out vivid performances” (New York Times), and an “ability to demolish the barriers of propriety and politeness that seem to plague much of traditional operatic experience (Opera News).”
Johnny gandelsman
Johnny Gandelsman’s musical voice reflects the artistic collaborations he has been a part of since moving to the United States in 1995. Through his work with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Bono, Osvaldo Golijov, David Byrne, Bela Fleck, Kayhan Kalhor, Suzanne Vega, James Levine, Mark Morris, Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova, Nigel Kennedy and Martin Hayes, Gandelsman has been able to integrate a wide range of creative sensibilities into his own point of view. Combining his Classical training with a desire to reach beyond the boundaries of the concert hall, and a voracious interest in the music of our times, Johnny developed a unique style amongst today’s violinists, one that according to the Boston Globe, possesses “a balletic lightness of touch and a sense of whimsy and imagination”.
A passionate advocate for new music, Johnny has premiered dozens of works written for Brooklyn Rider and Silk Road Ensemble. In 2012-2013, he premiered works by Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, Vijay Iyer, Bela Fleck, Daniel Cords, Rubin Kodheli, Dana Lyn, Gabriel Kahane, Colin Jacobsen, Shara Worden, John Zorn, Christina Courtin, Ethan Iverson, Padma Newsome, Gregory Saunier, Evan Ziporyn, Bill Frisell and Nik Bartsch, as well as a violin concerto by Gonzalo Grau, commissioned for Johnny by Community Music Works.
Johnny was born in Moscow into a family of musicians. His father Yuri is a professor of Viola at Michigan State University, his mother Janna is a pianist, and his sister Natasha is a violinist as well. Johnny lives in Brooklyn with his partner Amber and their kids: Julius Ivry and Raiya Leone.
Choral Chameleon
Winner of the 2015 ASCAP/Chorus America award for Adventurous Programming, Choral Chameleon is known for championing New Music for voices within the context of mixed-genre thematic programming and experiments in non-traditional staging.
Founded in 2008, by Artistic Director Vince Peterson, the organization now encompasses: a roster of professional ensemble singers, a volunteer chorus of 30-40 adults and an annual week-long Summer Institute for emerging composers and conductors hosted in Brooklyn.
The culture of the organization marries informality, loving support and joyful curiosity, with the expectation of solidly technical musicianship, constant learning and openness towards the unexpected.
Choral Chameleon’s own programming ethos seeks to dilate audience sensibilities towards the new; by the way it is paired with the familiar and by treating both with the respect they deserve.
Guest appearances this season include: ‘Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music’ at St Ann’s Warehouse, Opera America’s ‘New Opera Showcase’ at Town Hall and Sxip Shirey’s album launch event in January 2017, and Caroline Polachek’s Album Release show of Drawing the Target Around the Arrow at National Sawdust.
William Frampton
Violist William Frampton has been praised by critics for his “impressive” performances (The New York Times) and “a glowing amber tone” (The Boston Globe). Since his New York recital debut in 2009 at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, William has enjoyed a career of diverse performances around the world as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral player, and teacher. Recent highlights include over 100 performances with a string quartet led by Midori Goto in tours of Asia and North America, numerous appearances as guest principal viola with the American Symphony Orchestra, appearances as guest artist with the Johannes Quartet, and world premieres of chamber music by J. Mark Stambaugh and a concerto by Peter Homans.
William is the Artistic Director of Music at Bunker Hill, a chamber music series in Southern New Jersey he co-founded in 2008 that brings five professional chamber music performances to Gloucester County, New Jersey every year. The community built as a result of Music Bunker Hill has brought regular collaborations with schools, libraries, orchestras, and civic organizations, contributing to the cultural life of Southern New Jersey. William has performed at festivals including Bard Music Festival, Bard Summerscape, Verbier, and IMS Prussia Cove, and as soloist with conductors Joseph Silverstein and David Hoose. He holds degrees from New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School, and studied with Kim Kashkashian, Samuel Rhodes, Choong-Jin Chang, and Byrnina Socolofsky. William teaches viola and chamber music at Queens College, CUNY.
