Thursday, June 17th, 7:30pm As if a dream...

MARGARET FAIRLIE-KENNEDY - WIND QUINTET (1962) for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon.
Second Instrumental Unit

ROBERT CEELY - TRIO FOR HORN, FLUGELHORN, AND TROMBONE (2010) World Premiere
Second Instrumental Unit

RICHARD CAMERON-WOLFE  - ROERICH RHAPSODY: LIAISON (2010) United States Premiere
Lawrence Zoernig, cello; David Witten, piano

MATTHEW DAVIDSON - MUSIC FOR VIOLA AND PIANO (2006) New York Premiere
Rudolf Haken, viola; Robert Auler, piano

ALEXANDRA DU BOIS TRIO FOR PIANO, VIOLIN, AND CELLO: L'Apothéose d'un Rêve (Apotheosis of a Dream)(2004) New York Premiere
Second Instrumental Unit: David Fulmer, violin; Andrea Lee, cello; Molly Morkoski, piano.

CONCERT LOCATION: LEONARD NIMOY THALIA AT SYMPHONY SPACE;
THURS. June 17, 7:30PM TICKETS LINK

PROGRAM NOTES

MARGARET FAIRLIE-KENNEDY - WIND QUINTET (1962) New York Premiere
Second Instrumental Unit

Jonathan Engle, flute
Michelle Farah, oboe
Carol McGonnell, clarinet
Danielle Kuhlmann, horn
Adrian Morejon, bassoon
David Fulmer, conductor

 

WIND QUINTET, by Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, composed for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon was published in 2002 and has been widely performed throughout the USA.The first two movements are serially composed.

The first, Andante Sostenuto, opens on a single pitch introducing all the instruments as they alternate on this tone.  Later the three upper winds begin an ascent which accelerates and crescendoes to a flute cut-off. Eventually the movement ends with a return to the original pitch.  Movement II, a Scherzando, has an easily followed contour. The third, and last movement is based on the single interval of a major 2nd. Beginning as Allegro giusto, it finally accelerates to Molto Allegro with the entire ensemble furiously engaged.

Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy (b. 1925) writes for chamber groups, voice, orchestra, contemporary dance and mixed media. She was Composer in Residence for Dance and Theater Arts at Bennington College and Cornell University. Awards and Grants include the NEA and NEH Endowments, the Georgia Commission on the Arts, Meet the Composer grants ,and the Cornell Council for Creative and Performing Arts. She was a winner in the Philadelphia Classical Symphony/Maxfield Parrish and Women Composers' Showcase, New Jersey City University, competitions.

Commissions include the Walker Art Center, Cornell Theater Arts Dept., several choreographers and commissions for 20th and 21st century works. Performances include the Alabama Symphony. Atlanta String Quartet and Relache Ensemble; venues at Eastman School of music, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, the Bowling Green College of Musical Arts Festival,''05, and abroad in Paris, Upsala and Beijing. She is published by ACA, in the SCI Journal of Music Scores, and EC Schirmer Publishing. CDs are on Capstone, and Euterpe labels. Fairlie-Kennedy is a member of ACA, SCI, AMC, IAWM, NYCC and BMI.

Reviewers have commented: "Expressive use of a 12 tone row...eloquence and energy... atmospheric and dreamy" N.Y. Times. "extended the usual sonorities of the instruments... its emotional focus was strong and the expressive range of the instruments spoke well for the composer's gift." Philadelphia Inquirer; "Mr. Ueyama's opening dance was set to urgent and atmospheric music by Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy" N.Y. Times Dance Review. '05.

 

ROBERT CEELY - TRIO FOR HORN, FLUGELHORN, AND TROMBONE (2010) World Premiere

Second Instrumental Unit:
Danielle Kuhlmann, horn
Jeff Missal, flugelhorn
Stephen Dunn, trombone
David Fulmer, conductor

 

I received a bugle  for my 8th birthday and spent my time trying to find high C with little success. I did learn to play a great many military calls including an amazing number belonging to the French Army. At the age of twelve I obtained a real  trumpet which I loved, but I was still unable to hit high C with either confidence or consistency.

I did play in a “jazz”band which  was established by the town to keep youngsters off the street. (There was a War on!) We played most week- ends at the Recreation Hall which we all called the RECK Hall. I still remember our limited repetoire which included: “Long Ago and Far Away”, “Moonglow”, “The Bells are Ringing” and “My Heart Tells Me”. The band consisted of a trumpet, three saxes, drums, and piano. Occasionally  the band would finish while the pianist was still boom-chicking.      

Soon I became less interested in playing as I began  composing; I would upon occasion get out my trumpet to prove that I still could not hit high C. But an amazing thing happened: I found and bought a flugelhorn. If only I had discovered it earlier! Here was a mellow instrument with which one should not attempt to play high; rather, one should exploit the middle and lovely lower range.

Flash forward to my TRIO. I have always admired the capabilities and uniqueness of the trombone which in a sense constructs a new instrument for each harmonic series. And,  as with the horn, can produce multiphonics (beyond the common “play the root hum the 5th, and produce the root,5th, and 10th"). I also like mutes and other distractions but in this trio I for the most part am interested in the open, unncluttered sound of the brass. I especially like the mixture of flugelhorn and trombone with horn. Hope all enjoy.

Robert Ceely  grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He spent his youth playing trumpet, delivering newspapers, and listening to “Big Bands” performing at Williams College dances. After graduating from Williston Academy he attended Hobart College and Williams College for one year each. After which he went to the New England Conservatory where he studied with Francis Cooke. Further studies were with Darius Milhaud and Leon Kirchner at Mills College, and with Roger Sessions. Edward Cone and Milton Babbitt at Princeton University. In 1963-64 he worked in the Electronic Music Studio in Milan as guest of The Italian Government.

His compositions include solo, chamber, and orchestral music as well as music for tape alone and tape with instruments. His ballet “Beyond the Ghost Spectrum”, with choreography by James Waring commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation, was performed at Tanglewood in 1969 with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting. His opera” Automobile Graveyard”, after a play by Fernando Arrabal, was presented at the New England Conservatory in 1995.

He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ditson Fund, the Manon Jarrof dancers, the Massachusetts Arts Council, the Brookline Arts Council the Fromm Music Foundation and others. In 1995 he was a recipient of an outstanding alumni award from the New England Conservatory. He has taught at the Naval School of Music, The Lawrenceville School, Robert College in Istanbul, and for thirty-eight years at the New England Conservatory where he established and directed the Electronic Music Studio and taught composition. In 2003 he retired from teaching, and presently devotes all his time and energy to composition.

 

RICHARD CAMERON-WOLFE - ROERICH RHAPSODY: LIAISON (2010) United States Premiere
Lawrence Zoernig, cello; David Witten, piano

Roerich Rhapsody was written for the 2009 Festival “Days of Modern Music in Astrakhan”. Its thematic material is derived from the composer’s chamber opera Liaison, with Roses. The opera celebrates the life and art of Nikolai Roerich, as reflected in the poetry of a beautiful singer of old-style “romances”. The character of Roerich is represented in pantomime, with a contrasting modern musical accompaniment. In this Rhapsody, the two characters are explored through their contrasting musical languages.

Composer-pianist Richard Cameron-Wolfe was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and received his music training at Oberlin College and Indiana University. His principal piano teachers were Joseph Battista and Menahem Pressler; his composition teachers included Bernard Heiden, Iannis Xenakis, Juan Orrego-Salas, and John Eaton.

After brief teaching engagements at Indiana University, Radford College (Virginia), and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Cameron-Wolfe moved to New York City, where he performed and composed for several major ballet and modern dance companies, including the Joffrey Ballet and the Jose Limon Company. In 1978 he began a 23-year Professorship at Purchase College, State University of New York, teaching music theory and history, composition, and music resources for choreographers. He resigned in 2002 - while he could still walk and think - in order to dedicate his life to the piano and to composing.

As a composer, one of his particular interests is micro-opera, a very short theatrical work of 5 to 15 minutes duration, developed through the collaboration of composer, writer (preferably a poet), a scenic/costume designer (preferably a visual artist), and a videographer. The work is intended to be staged in small spaces and could be broadcast on television or the web. See Cameron-Wolfe's Composition Catalogue below, where his micro-operas are marked ***.

As a pianist, Cameron-Wolfe has in recent years focused on the "missing links", composers of the early 20th century who provided the transition from late Romanticism into post-World War II "sound art" but whose music is now seldom heard. Examples in his current repertoire include works by Leo Ornstein, Dane Rudhyar (with whom he studied and whose music he has recorded on the Furious Artisans label), and Charles Ives.

Devoted to the promotion of modern classical music (which he prefers to call “sound art”), Cameron-Wolfe has served as an administrator for several musical organizations: Friends of American Music (1974 to the present), the New Mexico Music Festival (1978-82), Music from Angel Fire (1984), The Charles Ives Center for American Music (1990-92), and as Executive Director of the American branch of CESAME: the Center for Soviet/American Musical Exchange (1989-93).

He now lives in the mountains of northern New Mexico, where he teaches piano and composition, occasionally writes music articles for Horse Fly, a monthly journal of politics and culture [*ARTICLES REPRINTED HERE IN MY BLOG*], and hosts a monthly three-hour, web-streaming “Sunday Morning [Un]Classics” radio show (dominated by 20th-century music).

 

MATTHEW DAVIDSON - MUSIC FOR VIOLA AND PIANO (2006) New York Premiere
Rudolf Haken, viola; Robert Auler, piano

I. Bulun Bat Eta Bulun Bi
II. Douce Dame Jolie
III. Kurkku-Viili Kastike

 In this work, the first movement uses two Basque melodies (one of which is a Basque lullaby whose text contains only Basque nonsense words) for the first group and a "Bulgarianized" version of a Hungarian folk melody for the second in this short sonata form. The second movement is an arrangement of a 14th-century melody by Guillaume de Machaut, and the last owes something to Scandinavian folk music (the obscure title refers to a favorite Finnish dill-infused salad dressing that I like to make on occasion).   It is dedicated to the violist, Rudolf Haken and to John Melby, my former counterpoint instructor.

Matthew de Lacey Davidson (b. 1964, Toronto, Canada; now res. Montreal, Canada) holds degrees from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, the University of Toronto, Canada, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Apart from concertizing in Canada, New Zealand and the United States, with ragtime, early jazz, “classical” and contemporary music concerts, he actively promotes the work of other composers (both as performer and impresario) and his work has received radio broadcasts in New Zealand, North America, and Europe.

Dr. Davidson studied piano privately with John Powell and Rae de Lisle in New Zealand (through whom a lineage may be traced to Franz Liszt), with Bruce Greenfield and Phillipa Ward at the Wellington Polytechnical Institute’s Executant Music Course in New Zealand, privately with Lawrence Pitchko and Harold Heap in Canada and with William Heiles at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States. As a composer, his works encompass almost every medium, including book, music and lyrics for two musical comedies, chamber music, improvisatory works, theater pieces, electronic and orchestral music.

Davidson is the recipient of commissions and awards from Victoria University, the Queen Elizabeth II (New Zealand national) arts council, the American (formerly Minnesota) Composers’ Forum, the University of Illinois, Meet the Composer/California, The Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, and he has been associated with the New York piano virtuoso of twentieth century music, Anthony De Mare, the Kronos Quartet, and the Zukofsky Quartet. He has studied theory with Alexander Rapoport at the Royal Toronto Conservatory of Music (through whom a lineage may be traced to the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna) and his principal composition teachers have been Jack Body in New Zealand, John Beckwith in Canada (through whom a lineage may be traced to Nadia Boulanger), and Salvatore Martirano in the United States. His music is published by Honeyrock Publications in Everett, Pennsylvania, and the Composers Association of New Zealand. His unpublished works are distributed by the Canadian Music Centre, The American Composers Alliance, SOUNZ, and the Bibliotheque Internationale de Musique Contemporaine in Paris, France. His complete works are held in archive at the Canadian Music Centre in Montreal, Quebec; and at the Alexander Turnbull Library division of the New Zealand National Library.

Davidson also has a Masters degree in Social Work, and has written a 200 page non-fiction novel about his experiences in America’s Health Care system and social services.   He has published cartoons and short stories in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. 

Critical praise for Davidson has come from such diverse sources as Gramophone Magazine (”…a remarkably talented pianist…as a performer Davidson has few peers…”), to Steve O’Keefe in Cadence Magazine (”…this disk by…Matthew Davidson is extraordinary.”), to recording artist for Vanguard, Epic, New World Records and Omega Classics, Max Morath (”…his [Davidson’s] stunning premier performances… mark… this pianist for landmark status and accolades – adjectives for which one reaches for the Thesaurus: prodigious, consummate, mighty. Well – sublime.”). Mauro Carli, in ALIAS, praised Davidson’s compositions as “…simultaneously complex and communicative, very original, and with a well-defined identity. [Davidson is] a young composer who merits attention in the world of new music.”  Of his latest album, Talencourt, www.hbdirect.com said: ”He has…achieved a fine reputation as a concert pianist…and…his chamber music experience has given him exceptional insight into the workings of solo and chamber string music.” Prominent violinist of the violinfutura project, Piotr Szewczyk, has described Davidson’s compositions as “…very charming, sophisticated, and very innovative…”.

He is currently working on a singspiel for singer/actors and orchestra based on "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe, for which he is also writing the text in blank verse, and lyrics in Rennaissance poetic forms.

ALEXANDRA DU BOIS*
 Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello: L'apothéose d'un rêve (Apotheosis of a Dream) (2005)  New York Premiere
Second Instrumental Unit: David Fulmer, violin; Andrea Lee, cello; Molly Morkoski, piano

I. Introduction
II. Adagio cantabile, semplice
III. Molto vivo – Misterioso
IV. Andante cantabile – Passionato
V. Misterioso – Adagio cantabile, semplice

 

Piano Trio: L'apothéose d'un rêve (2005) was commissioned by pianist Menahem Pressler for the Beaux Arts Trio and was premiered by the Beaux Arts Trio at The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on 16 January 2006 with consecutive performances throughout the Netherlands during the Trio's 50th anniversary season. Composed during Autumn 2005 and inspired, initially, by the breadth, length and depth of the Beaux Arts Trio's presence, the composition of the work began to internalize certain influences; Cathedral bells at Notre Dame de Paris on several storm-filled afternoons; Indiana's countryside--where I was based while pursing my Bachelor's degree while writing this piece, and other flat, Midwestern, land-locked landscapes.

At the heart of the piano trio is an emotionally suspended D-Minor theme that occurs, in its purest form, during the two Adagio cantabile, semplice movements near the beginning and at the very end of the work. The theme is first passed from cello to violin. The emotional differences in these two instruments' tessitura and the order in which the theme is heard represent specific meaning. The second time it is reversed: violin passes to cello--which is then interrupted by "bells" and the final notes. Throughout the middle movements, variations of this theme meander through different memories, atmospheres and times in my life in the five main sections made up of eight movements--all of which were composed and felt as if it were a dream.

Born 16 August 1981, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Alexandra du Bois grew up in
Cambridge, Massachusetts where she studied full-time at the University of
Massachusetts-Boston and the Longy School of Music and while still in high school.
She then received her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Violin from the
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she was the recipient the Dean’s
Prize in Composition, the Kuttner Quartet Composition Award, the Dean’s Award
Scholarship and the Emma E. Clause Scholarship. Alexandra du Bois then received her
Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School where she studied with Christopher
Rouse and was the recipient of the Sylvia and Milton Babbitt Scholarship, the Piser
Scholarship and the E. & J. Brenner Scholarship. Her teachers in composition include
Sven-David Sandström, Christopher Rouse, Claude Baker, Don Freund, Osvaldo Golijov,
Howard Frazin and David Patterson. Her teachers in violin have been Federico
Agostini, Henryk Kowalski, Lynn Chang, Peter Haase and Suzanne Schreck.

Alexandra du Bois’ music has been performed on five continents and has been
commissioned by ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, Bargemusic, Orchestra of St.
Luke’s, The Beaux Arts Trio, Merkin Concert Hall, The Anchorage Symphony Orchestra,
Southwest Chamber Music, Present Music with the Milwaukee Choral Artists and the
Milwaukee Children’s Choir, The Piano Project at the Kaufman Center in New York, The
Savannah Music Festival, Bang on a Can Festival, Ascending Dragon Music Festival,
Azure Ensemble, The University Chorus and Chamber Singers at the University of
Massachusetts-Boston, Duo Diez, MAYA, as well as musicians including Daniel Hope,
Menahem Pressler, Wendy Sutter, Sato Moughalian, Mary Rowell, DaXun Zhang, Carson
Cooman, Espen Jensen, Zefir Brezeanu, Aurélie Entringer, Sergio Puccini, Ian Ding,
Randall Craig Fleischer and many others. Further performances of her music have been
presented by ensembles such as JACK Quartet, Felici Trio, Southwest Chamber Music
and American Modern Ensemble.

*Young Composer Project participant, with funding provided by the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

PERFORMING ARTISTS FOR THIS CONCERT:

 

R. Haken by Armgard Haken 208R. Haken by Armgard Haken 208Rudolf Haken has been on the music faculty of the University of Illinois since 1996, previously having served as viola professor at West Virginia University.

 A CD of concertos composed by Rudolf Haken was chosen as an American Record Guide “Critics’ Choice” for 2007. The CD (Centaur 2826) features oboist Nancy Ambrose King, clarinetist Bill King, conductor Julien Benichou, as well as Professor Haken playing a five-string “Pellegrina” viola pomposa built by David Rivinus. According to The Clarinet (journal of the International Clarinet Society), “This disc is highly recommended not only for the clarinet work, but also for Haken’s exuberant Americana fiddling style of the viola work and the beautiful and engaging Oboe Concerto.........a joy to experi­ence. This is a winner – guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.” 

Having conducted his first orchestral works at the age of ten, Rudolf Haken studied composition and piano privately for ten years with Hubert Kessler, and viola with Guillermo Perich. Professor Charles DeLaney also had a great influence on Haken’s musical development.

As a composer, he has received commissions for compositions in a great variety of styles. Violinist Rachel Barton Pine commissioned his solo violin work “Faust”, in heavy metal style. Korean conductor Maestro Nanse Gum has commissioned Haken to compose an orchestral work based on Korean traditional music. In 1996, Professor Haken was commissioned by the Radiological Consultants Association to compose a trumpet concerto, which was premiered by Paul Merkelo, principal trumpet of the Montreal Symphony. Haken has composed commissioned solo works for violinist Stefan Milenkovich, flutist Jean Ferrandis, Nobel Prize laureate Paul Lauterbur and numerous others. Rudolf Haken’s compositions, recordings and teaching materials can be found on his website, www.rudolfhaken.com.

ROBERT MARSHALL AULER is an award-winning American concert pianist who maintains a national and international performing career. Auler has won numerous competitions, including the Society of American Musicians First Prize. Following his success in the Young Keyboard Artists’ Association Piano Competition, Auler was invited to perform throughout Germany, France, the Netherlands and Denmark. He has also presented concerts throughout Venezuela, most notably at Caracas’ Festival A Tiempo. In April 2008, Auler presented concerts throughout Austria, including an appearance on the Alte-Shmeide Gallery Series in Vienna, as well as a concert at the international Ignaz Pleyel Musuem in Ruppersthal.
He is a keen advocate of new music, having worked with William Bolcom, Steve Reich, Leslie Bassett, Martin Bresnick, Rudolf Haken, and Frederic Rzewski, Jonathan Pieslak and Carter Pann. Festival performances have included appearances at the Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, the MUSIC 200x Series in Cincinnati, and Brave New Works-Ann Arbor. His recent compact disc release, American Century, features music of the last 100 years influenced by the American vernacular.

 

Residing in New York City, the Second Instrumental Unit is currently in the midst of their sixth season.  Throughout past seasons, the Unit has been featured both as Resident-ensemble, and as Guest-artists at Queens College, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Rutgers, Ball State University, Bates College, University of Western Michigan, University of California San Diego, Juilliard, the New England Conservatory, and the Boston Conservatory.  The Unit has developed a very special relationship with Queens College (Aaron Copland School of Music), where they have just completed their fifth season as ensemble-in-residence for the composition department, astonishingly commissioning and premiering over 120 new works by student composers. The Unit has also had an annual engagement at the Monadnock Music Festival.  In the late summer of 2007, the Unit was invited to lecture, present, and perform in Porto Alegra, Brazil at the Universidad.  As a result of the tour to Brazil, the Arts Council and Minister of Education of Brazil issued a special citation to David Fulmer and Eliot Gattegno (co-directors) for their outstanding artistic excellence. The Unit made its Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in the spring of 2006 in a 90th birthday celebration concert in tribute of American composer Milton Babbitt.  The American Composers Alliance (ACA) has also embraced the ensemble, choosing to showcase the Second Instrumental Unit at their annual festival for the past four years.

 

 

Pianist David Witten’s international career has included numerous concert tours in Ireland, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Mexico and South America. As the recipient of a 1990 Fulbright Scholar Award Witten spent five months teaching and concertizing throughout Brazil, and he is frequently invited back to give concerts and master classes. Closer to home Witten’s performances have included solo appearances with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and various chamber music collaborations with members of the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Witten has recorded the piano music of Nicholas Van Slyck (Titanic Records) and has commissioned over a dozen new works for Soli Espri, a chamber trio he founded in Boston with clarinetist Chester Brezniak and mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato. With flutist Sue Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, Witten formed Duo Clasico: their recording is available on the Musical Heritage Society label. Most recently Marco Polo records released Witten’s solo album, Piano Music of Manuel M. Ponce.

 

Lawrence Zoernig has been principal 'cellist of many New York symphony
and chamber orchestras, including New York Chamber Orchestra, Bachanalia and Opera Manhattan. Mr.Zoernig premièred Lars-Erik Larsson’s Concertino for 'Cello and String Orchestra at Trinity Church with the New York Scandia Symphony, for which he is also principal 'cellist. As a chamber musician, he has performed frequently with the Goliard Ensemble and Bachanalia. He has appeared as soloist and chamber musician at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall in New
York and the Phillips Collection and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. As a concert artist on the international scene, Mr. Zoernig has been presented at theTeatro Amazones in Manaus, Brazil and the World Expo in Seville, Spain. Lawrence Zoernig received a Bachelor of Music degree from theCleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Alan Harris, and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Harvey Shapiro.

 

Composer, violinist, and conductor David Fulmer maintains a unique position in today’s musical world.  His audacious compositional style, courageous programming, and thrilling performing abilities have garnered him numerous international accolades.  He was just announced the winner of the 14th International Edvard Grieg Competition for Composers; the first American ever to receive the award.  He has also been named a winner of the 56th annual BMI Composer Awards, and was recently presented the prestigious Charles Ives Award (Scholarship) from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his original compositions.

Other honors and awards include a special citation from the Minister of Education of Brazil for his cycle of musical lectures and presentation, the Hannah Komanoff Scholarship in Composition (2006-07) and the 2005 Dorothy Hill Klotzman Grant from the Juilliard School, and the highly coveted 2004 George Whitefield Chadwick Gold Medal from the New England Conservatory.  David graduated from the Masters program at Juilliard pursuing studies in composition with Milton Babbitt and violin with Robert Mann, and is currently completing his studies there as a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow.  He appears frequently and records often with the premiere new music ensembles Speculum Musicae, the Group for Contemporary Music, the New York New Music Ensemble, and also with the Second Instrumental Unit, an ensemble that he co-founded and directs. Upcoming performances of his music will be featured this summer at the Grieg Festival in Oslo, the Mozarteum Summer Festival in Salzburg, and numerous festivals across the United States.  After the success of his recent Violin Concerto (2010), commissioned and written for the New Juilliard Ensemble, David is now working on a number of recently commissioned projects, including a cello concerto for Fred Sherry, to be premiered in the fall of 2010. 

While just having premiered his Fourth String Quartet (June, 2010), another quartet is already being sketched for the iO Quartet; In the fall of 2010, the iO’s will present a showcase concert exclusively of David’s quartet cycle, including the newly commissioned work that is made possible through support from Meet The Composer.  The Quartet will record his complete string quartets for commercial release later this year. Other upcoming commissions include a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and string ensemble for the Monadnock Music Festival, a new work for the MuSE Ensemble, and a new work for violinist Stefan Jackiw.  In addition to academic and performing engagements, he often presents lectures on myriad musical topics around the globe, with recent appearances at the Philadelphia Modern Languages Association Conference; International Society of the Arts, Mathematics, and Architecture (Germany); BRIDGES International Mathematics Conference (Maryland); Banff Centre; Hildegard Von Bingen Society.  David was just appointed to serve on the faculty of Columbia University where he will teach violin performance and chamber music.