benjamin verdery guitar
faculty artist series Music by Bach, Ingram Marshall, Hannah Lash, Benjamin Verdery, and more • With Rie Schmidt, flute January 25, 2014 • Morse Recital Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
Faculty Artist Series
benjamin verdery · guitar Saturday, January 25, 2014 • 8:00 pm • Morse Recital Hall
Benjamin Verdery b. 1955
Now and Ever
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750
Cello Suite in E-flat major, No. 4, BWV 1010 arr. Benjamin Verdery I. Prelude II. Allemande III. Courante IV. Sarabande V. Bourée I VI. Bourée II VII. Gigue Performed on a aritone classical guitar built by Otto Vowinkel
intermission
Ingram Marshall b. 1945
The Mentioning of Love written for the Schmidt–Verdery Duo Rie Schmidt, alto flute
Hannah Lash b. 1980
Play These Notes for electric guitar World Premiere Written for Benjamin Verdery
As a courtesy to the performers and audience, please silence all electronic devices. Please do not leave the hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is prohibited.
Benjamin Verdery, guitar
Robert Schumann 1810–1856
Mai Lieber Mai from Album für die Jugend, Op. 68, No. 13* arr. Andres Segovia
Felix Mendelssohn 1809–1847
Songs without words (Lieder ohne Worte), Op. 19, No. 4* arr. Andres Segovia *Manuscripts from the Irving S. Gilmore Library at Yale University
Manuel De Falla 1876–1946
Prince b. 1958 Randy Newman b. 1943 Otis Blackwell 1932–2002
Homenaje (Le Tombeau par Claude Debussy)
Three American Songs: arr. Benjamin Verdery Kiss In Germany Before the War Don’t Be Cruel
Artist Profiles
Benjamin Verdery · guitar Artistic director of 92 nd Street Y’s Art of the Guitar series since 2006, Benjamin Verdery is hailed for his innovative and eclectic musical career. Since 1980 he has performed worldwide in theaters and at festivals, including Theatre Carré in Amsterdan, the International Guitar Festival at Havana, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Metropolitan Opera in New York. His tours regularly take him throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. He has recorded and performed with such diverse artists as Andy Summers, Frederic Hand, William Coulter, Leo Kottke, Anthony Newman, Jessye Norman, Paco Peña, Hermann Prey and John Williams. Ben Verdery has released more than fifteen albums, the most recent being Happy Here, with William Coulter; and Branches, featuring works of Bach, Strauss, Jimi Hendrix, and Mozart along with the traditional “Amazing Grace,” both for Mushkatweek. His CD Start Now, also for Mushkatweek, won the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Award. Other recordings of note include Some Towns & Cities and his collaborations with John Williams (John Williams Plays Vivaldi) and Andy Summers (First you Build A Cloud). Many of the leading composers of our time have created music for Ben, including Ezra Laderman, Martin Bresnick, John Anthony Lennon, Anthony Newman, Roberto Sierra, Van Stiefel and Jack Vees. Of particular note was the commission by the Yale University Music Library of a work by Ingram Marshall for classical and electric guitars. Ben Verdery and Andy Summers premiered the work, Dark Florescence, at Carnegie Hall with the American
Composers Orchestra. Last December, the two guitarists appeared at the annual Amsterdam Electric Guitar Heaven. Benjamin Verdery is also a prolific published composer in his own right, with many of his compositions having been performed, recorded, and published over the years. In 2012, he was commissioned to compose two works: Penzacola Belongs To All, commissioned by the Pensacola Guitar Orchestra in celebration of their 30 th Anniversary (premiered in Pensacola October 2012) and Stand in Your Own Light for guitar and koto, commissioned by the Kyo-Shin-An Arts with funding from the New York State Council for the Arts (premiered in New York City November 2012). In 2010, the Assad Duo premiered Ben’s work What He Said. Commissioned by the 92 nd St Y, the work is dedicated to the late luthier Thomas Humphrey. Other recent works have included Now and Ever (for David Russell, Telarc), Peace, Love and Guitars (for John Williams and John Etheridge, SONY Classical), Capitola (John Williams, SONY Classical) and Give (for eight guitars). This last was composed specifically for Thomas Offermann and the guitar ensemble of the Hochschule for Music and Theatre (Rostock, Germany) and dedicated to the memory of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy. Ben’s Scenes from Ellis Island, for guitar orchestra, has been extensively broadcast and performed at festivals and universities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Europe, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet included it on their CD Air and Ground (Sony Classical). Doberman-Yppan (Canada) is currently publishing Verdery’s solo and duo works for guitar, and Workshop Arts (distributed by Alfred Music)
Artist Profiles
has published the solo pieces from Some Towns & Cities as well as instructional books and video. Many other compositions are available through his website. In addition to his performances, tours and recording, since 1985, Benjamin Verdery has been chair of the guitar department at the Yale University School of Music and artistic director of the biannual Yale Guitar Extravaganza. He was appointed an honorary board member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas in 2007. Each summer Ben holds his Annual International Master Class on the Island of Maui (Hawaii).
» benjaminverdery.com
Rie Schmidt · flute Rie Schmidt is a graduate of SUNY Purchase. In 1983, she made her Carnegie Hall debut as a winner of the Artists International Competition. Ms. Schmidt is a member of the Westchester Philharmonic and the American Symphony and has performed with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, and many Broadway shows. She was featured flutist and dancer in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass that was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Schmidt and her husband, guitarist Benjamin Verdery, concertize as a duo throughout the U.S. and Europe, and have recorded two CDs of music for flute and guitar: Reverie (Sony) and Enchanted Dawn (CRI). She is a founding member of Flute Force, a flute quartet, which has four CDs: Flute Force (CRI), Pastorale (VAI), Eyewitness (innova), and Silver Halo. She teaches at the Suzuki Music School in Westport, CT, the Bloomingdale School of Music, the AllenStevenson School, and the 92 nd Street Y in New York City. Her publications include Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé (McGinnis and Marx) arranged for flute quintet, and Barber’s Adagio arranged for flute quartet (Schirmer Music). Ms. Schmidt was the president of the New York Flute Club from 1995 to 1998.
Mihae Lee, Artistic Director
Guitarist
Jason Vieaux “Among the elite of today’s classical guitarists” — Gramophone “Jason Vieaux is a classical guitarist … actually, that doesn’t sound right. Let’s say that Jason Vieaux is a guitarist whose instrument happens to be a classical guitar.” — John Schaefer, WNYC
Sunday, February 9 at 3:00 pm
Student tickets only $12
P.O. Box 383 Essex, CT 06426 (860) 272-4572 essexwinterseries.com
Valley Regional High School, 256 Kelsey Hill Road, Deep River Tickets: $30, $12 Students Music by Mauro Giuliani – J.S. Bach – Isaac Albéniz – Paulo Bellinati Francisco Tárrega– Pat Metheny – Antônio Carlos Jobim José Luis Merlín www.jasonvieaux.com
Upcoming concerts — All Sundays at 3 pm March 2 “Celebrating Fats Waller” with Jeff Barnhart and
his Hot Rhythm
March 30 New Haven Symphony Orchestra with emerging artist Leelanee Sterrett, horn
April 13 Palm Sunday All-Bach Concert
T H E E I G H T H YA L E
GUITARa z n a g a v a r t Ex T R A D I T I O N + I N N O VAT I O N
February 22, 2014 A full day of concerts, master classes, talks, and more Tickets and passes let you select how much to attend, whether a single event, a series of concerts, or the all-day experience
Concerts by David Tanenbaum • René Izquierdo and Elina Chekan Van Stiefel and Sergio Sorrentino • and others
Classes, workshops, and talks with Benjamin Verdery • Aaron Jay Kernis • Jack Vees René Izquierdo • Van Stiefel • and more
203 432-4158 · music.yale.edu/guitar-extravaganza
Upcoming Events
Wendy Sharp and Friends january 26 Faculty Artist Series Morse Recital Hall | Sunday | 4 pm Leó Weiner: String Trio in G minor, Op. 6; Bartók: Sonata No. 2 in C major; Brahms: Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25. Free Admission
Pascal Rogé, piano january 29 Horowitz Piano Series Morse Recital Hall | Wednesday | 8 pm The acclaimed French pianist plays Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque and Preludes, Book 1, as well as Poulenc’s Les Soirées de Nazelles. Tickets start at $20 · Students $10
Arthur Haas, harpsichord february 1 Faculty Artist Series Morse Recital Hall | Saturday | 5 pm Music by Jean-Philippe Rameau.
Free Admission
Sarita Kwok, violin Wei-Yi Yang, piano february 3 Faculty Artist Series Morse Recital Hall | Monday | 8 pm Janácek: Sonata for violin and piano; Stravinsky: Duo Concertante; Prokofiev: Five Melodies for violin and piano, Op. 35b; Ravel: Sonata for violin and piano. Free Admission
New Music New Haven february 6 New Music New Haven Morse Recital Hall | Thursday | 8 pm Martin Bresnick and David Lang, featured faculty composers. With new music by graduate composers and members of the Yale Baroque Ensemble performing. Free Admission
Lunchtime Chamber Music february 12 Center for British Art | Wednesday | 12:30 pm Music for a colorful variety of ensembles. Free Admission
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