News and Events

On Saturday, Sept 14th, esteemed chamber ensemble Urban Nocturnes will present a concert "Urban Impressions" featuring recent new music written for them by composer Glenn Stallcop. The 9/14 program will be at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix and will feature works written for the ensemble and other chamber works. The concert will also be performed again in Prescott, AZ at Trinity Presbyterian on Sat. September 21, at 7pm.

Notes on the program: Episodes is a trio for violin, cello, and piano that evokes the emotional rollercoaster experienced in the continuing quest for social change.  

Alt Shift, a sextet for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano, explores in 3 movements (Tether, High Wire, and Fantasia) alternate lifestyles in the search for meaning and purpose. 

Also on the program is Nuance de Noir for flute/alto flute, tenor saxophone (or bass clarinet), viola, and double bass.  Commissioned by the Telluride Chamber Music Association in the Spring of 2022, Nuance de Noir’s unusual instrumentation triggered a comparison of modern stresses to the nuclear shadow which triggered the "Noir" period in cinema during the 50s and 60s. 

Tickets are $25 – student discount tickets are $5 and both are available at the door. Or tickets online here.

Saturday, September 14, 2024
2:00 PM 
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix
4207 East Lincoln Drive
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

Saturday, September 21, 2024
7pm
Trinity Presbyterian Church
630 Park Ave
Prescott, AZ 86303

Glenn Stallcop is a composer, pianist and bassist who performed with the Phoenix Symphony for 47 years. He has published more than 100 compositions for orchestra, chamber music, vocal works, solo piano and double bass. He has recorded multiple albums of piano improvisation over the last 20 years.

As a professional double bassist with a major symphony orchestra, several of his works feature the double bass.  He has written works for double bass and orchestra, for solo bass, bass with accompaniment, two sets of bass duets and several chamber music works.  He won the annual International Society of Bassists Composition Competition for solo double bass with his work entitled Vision Quest, for double bass and piano. It was premiered at the ISB conference in Michigan. 

The Phoenix Symphony has performed many of his orchestral compositions, including Millennial Opening, Calypso Round, City Music, Sunscape (commissioned by the Arizona Diamond Jubilee Commission), Couplet for a Desert Summer, Concerto for Double Bass, Concertino for Harp & Strings and the Suite from Reggie (originally written for dance). His music has been performed by symphonies, festivals, chamber musicians and youth orchestras around the country.

Kaufman Music Center will be presenting five recent works, including three premieres, by Louis Karchin on Sunday, Sept. 22nd at 4 PM. Two song cycles are based on texts of the 17th century English poet George Herbert and contemporary Boston poet Steven Withrow (who will be present at the concert). Performers will include esteemed artists who are long-time collaborators of Karchin.

Program:

Karchin: Sonata-Fantasia
Karchin: Two Sacred Songs
Karchin: Sonata quasi un capriccio
Karchin: Compositions on Canvas: Two Art Songs
Karchin: Trio for violin, cello, and piano

Tickets are available through the Merkin Hall Box office (212) 501-3330, or at https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/louis-karchin-a-retrospective/

The National Flute Association annual convention will take place August 1-4 in San Antonio. Events include a concert honoring winners of the Newly Published Music Competitions, including Fasting Heart for solo flute by Judith Shatin, which will be performed August 1 by Yooh Jung Huh. Other winning works by Malena Kuss, Adolphus Hailstork, and Cynthia Folio are also scheduled for this concert.

Celebrating Israeli composer Marc Lavry’s 120th anniversary, Seven Hills Symphony (Cincinnati) performed an orchestral concert featuring Lavry, along with Aaron Avshalomov and Ernest Bloch. Violin professor from Northern Kentucky University, Dr. William Herzog performed the Baal Shem Suite. Directed by Dr. Aik Khai Pung, Conductor and Matthew Lee, Assistant Conductor.

• Aaron Avshalomov: Four Biblical Tableaux (1928)
  • Queen Esther’s Prayer
  • Rebecca by the well
  • Ruth and Naomi
  • Processional
• Ernest Bloch: Baal Shem, “Three Pictures of Chassidic Life” – Dr. William Herzog, violin
  • Vidui (Contrition)
  • Nigun (Improvisation)
  • Simchas Torah (Rejoicing in the Law)
• Marc Lavry: Emek, Symphonic Poem, op. 45
• Marc Lavry: Negev, Symphonic Poem, op. 251

Formerly named Seven Hills Sinfonietta, the Seven Hills Symphony was founded in 1974 and is now recognized as a leading community orchestra in Cincinnati, Ohio. Under the baton of Dr. Aik Khai Pung, the orchestra holds concerts that energize, entertain, and educate the public. The orchestra is composed of well-trained, non-professional musicians that perform a variety of music – everything from classical masterpieces to jazz, rock, and world music.

Edeta Arts will feature world-renowned percussionist and composer, Michael Udow, at their festival in Llíria - a UNESCO Creative City of Music located on the outskirts of the city of Valencia. Michael was commissioned to compose a series of works about his residency in the city, titled “Impressions of Llíria." The closing festival concert of Michael’s commissioned World Premiere will include a celebration of Llíria’s important archeological sites including:

• Campanas de iglesia de Llíria - for Llíria’s bell towers,
• Tower Music featuring Germany’s Brassarie Ensemble,
• Baños Árabes de Llíria featuring Agrupació Musical Edetana "Vicente Giménez" (plucked string orchestra)
• Llíria Legends featuring Unio Musical (Symphonic Band)
• Pau – featuring Canada’s A Capella, Horizon Prairie Voices
• Llíria Impressions featuring Orquestra de Plectro "El Micalet" de Llíria, (plucked string orchestra)
• Twelve Labors of Hercules for choir, Jota musicians, brass quintet, plucked string orchestra, string orchestra, and selected percussionists from the United States and Spain. Actor Ignasi Diaz, serves as Narrator with Maestro Cristóbal Soler, conducting the 200+ musicians along with the animated film created for this event, which highlights the 1917 archeological dig that uncovered an ancient Roman 18’x15’ stone mosaic floor in the heart of Llíria.
• Edeta Fantasy (Symphonic Band), Comunidad (a Happening), and Jota (music for dance) will be premiered later.

LINK: https://edetaartspercussionfestival.com/about-us/

The Missouri Symphony (MOSY) will perform Treemonisha Overture by Scott Joplin, orchestrated by T. J. Anderson in three upcoming performances:

- Performance #1: July 3 at 7pm at the Missouri Theatre (Columbia, MO). Conductor Wilbur Lin

- Performance #2: July 6 at 7pm at Moberly High School Auditorium (Moberly, MO). Conductor Jacob Schnitzer.

- Performance #3: July 7 at 2pm at Camdenton High School Auditorium (Candemton, MO). Conductor Jacob Schnitzer.

All in the DC area are invited to a free recital Sunday June 30 at 3 PM.  This recital of oboist William Wielgus includes the premiere of a concerto by Dario Argentesi, the first performance in almost 90 years of the "Solitude" for English horn, harp and strings by the legendary horn virtuoso, John Barrows, and premieres of Venezuelan composers Lamberto Piumi and Miguelangel Garcia Marquez, a "post-premiere" of Paul Oehlers, and a rare performance of the 'swing' Quintet for Oboe and String Quartet by Robert McBride in addition to music by Orlando di Lasso, Bach, and Telemann.

In addition to this concert on Sunday at Katzen Hall, American University, Wielgus will also present a program of McBride's music  including this 1939 oboe quintet at this summer's IDRS conference, in Flagstaff, July 23rd. 

Oboe professor William Wielgus was a member of the oboe section of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1990 to 2017 upon appointment by Mstislav Rostropovich. Prior to his appointment with the NSO he also served as principal oboe of the South Bend Symphony and English horn with the Oklahoma Symphony. He is presently on the oboe faculty at American University and has taught at West Virginia University and St. Mary’s College. He has also appeared at many major summer music festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, and Spoleto, and was the winner of the 1990 Aspen Woodwind Soloist Competition. Mr. Wielgus is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University, and the Cincinnati College Conservatory. His principal teachers include Marc Fink, Jerry Sirucek, and Ray Still.

New Focus Recordings announces the June 28, 2024 Naxos international release of Richard Cameron-Wolfe's album "Passionate Geometries" in streaming and CD formats. It features three of Cameron-Wolfe's micro-operas, three duos, and two quartets: the 48EDO microtonal guitar quartet "Mirage d'esprit" and "Telesthesia", recorded in Belgium by the Antwerp Cello Quartet. It is now available at many internet outlets and streaming services.

https://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/richard-cameron-wolfe-passionate-geometries/

Conductor Kevin Scott returns to lead the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in a free concert featuring a collection of classical and spiritual music. With powerful themes of freedom, hope, and unity, we hope you will join us for an afternoon of celebration, inspiration, and pure musical joy!

Flag raising ceremony at 2pm, followed by the concert.

Symphony Hall 34 Court Street Springfield, MA 01103

The Long Island Composers Alliance will feature the work of Edward Smaldone, Dana Richardson, and Jay Gach at a concert Sunday, June 9th. Smaldone's challenging and lyrical Solo Sonata for Violin will be performed by Gergana Haralampieva, Richardson's introspective Serenity will be performed by Mika Sasaki, and Gach's Nigunim will be performed by both.

Details: Sunday, June 9th at 2:30pm, The South Huntington Library: 145 Pidgeon Hill Road, Huntington Station. Long Island, NY.