Laura Usiskin, cello

laura usiskin ¡ cello Doctor of Musical Arts Recital

Music of Beethoven, Carter, Britten, Prokofiev, and Chopin Morse Recital Hall • Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 8 pm

Robert Blocker, Dean

Doctor of Musical Arts Recital

laura usiskin · cello September 12, 2013 • Morse Recital Hall • with Katsura Tanikawa, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770—1827

7 Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen,” WoO46

Elliott Carter 1908—2012

Figment (1994)

Benjamin Britten 1913—1976

Sonata for cello and piano in C major, Op. 65 I. Dialogo II. Scherzo – pizzicato III. Elegia IV. Marcia V. Moto Perpetuo

intermission

Sergei Prokofiev 1891–1953

Sonata for cello and piano in C major, Op. 119 I. Andante grave – Moderato animato II. Moderato – Andante dolce III. Allegro, ma non troppo

Frédéric Chopin 1810–1849

Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3

As a courtesy to the performers and audience, turn off cell phones and pagers.

Please do not leave the hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is prohibited.

Laura Usiskin • cello

Laura Usiskin’s musical interests span early Baroque to twenty-first century music and solo to orchestral playing. She has premiered dozens of works, commissioned works in her name, and performed with many new music ensembles, including Ensemble Pamplemousse, the BangOn-A-Can All Stars, and the Axiom Ensemble.

In addition, she has participated in many early music ensembles, including the Yale Baroque Ensemble, the American Baroque Orchestra, and the gamba consort, Temperaments.

Ms. Usiskin’s solo, chamber, and orchestral performing has taken her throughout the United States and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, Palazzo Chigi Saracini in Siena, Italy; Boston’s Symphony Hall, and New York venues including Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, Miller Theatre, Barge Music, Steinway Hall, Klavierhaus, the French Consulate, and many others. Recent performances include Dvorák’s Cello Concerto and Takemitsu’s Orion and Pleiades with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and performances of the complete Bach Cello Suites in New Haven, CT and Los Angeles, CA. Her

orchestral abilities have been recognized throughout her career, with appointments in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

Her most recent and proudest accomplishment is founding and directing the Montgomery Music Project, a nonprofit organization that provides intensive string music instruction to underserved children in Montgomery, AL. In two years, the program has served more than 100 students in the region. For more information, visit www.montgomerymusicproject.org.

Ms. Usiskin’s cello studies began at age five with Gilda Barston of the Music Institute of Chicago and continued with Richard Hirschl of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She graduated from Columbia University cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and Behavior and from the Juilliard School with a Master of Music in Cello Performance, where she studied with Fred Sherry. Laura studied at the Yale School of Music with Aldo Parisot, where she finished her doctoral coursework in 2009.

This performance is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

Upcoming Events

David Shifrin, Ettore Causa, and Wei-Yi Yang september 17 Morse Recital Hall | Tue | 8 pm Faculty Artist Series Trios for clarinet, viola, and piano by Bruch, Mozart, and Schumann.

Free Admission

Peter Frankl Plays Schubert october 2 Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 8 pm Horowitz Piano Series Schubert: Drei Klavierstücke and Winterreise.

With Randall Scarlata, baritone.

Tickets start at $12, Students $6

Ted Hearne, composition

Takács String Quartet

september 26 Morse Recital Hall | Thursday | 8 pm Doctor of Musical Arts Recital Free Admission

october 15 Morse Recital Hall | Tuesday | 8 pm Oneppo Chamber Music Series Beethoven: Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4 Janácek: Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters” Smetana: Quartet No. 1, “From My Life” Tickets start at $25, Students $12

Concert Programs & Box Office: Krista Johnson, Carol Jackson Communications: Dana Astmann, Monica Ong Reed, Austin Kase Operations: Tara Deming, Chris Melillo Piano Curators: Brian Daley, William Harold Recording Studio: Eugene Kimball P.O. Box 208246, New Haven, CT · 203 432-4158

music.yale.edu

Robert Blocker, Dean