Chamber Music Society: Competition Winners

Competition Winners chamber music series Wendy Sharp, Director april 28 2009 music of Bart贸k Brahms Poulenc

Robert Blocker, Dean

april 28, 2009 · 8 pm Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall

Competition Winners béla bartók 1881-1945

Contrasts Verbunkos (Recruiting Dance) Pihenő (Relaxation) Sebes (Fast Dance) Benjamin Charmot violin Sergiy Dvornichenko clarinet Wei-Jen Yuan piano

francis poulenc 1899-1963

Sextet for Piano and Wind Instruments Allegro vivace. Très vite et emporté Divertissement: Andantino Finale. Prestissimo Itay Lantner flute Carl Oswald oboe Xiaoting Ma clarinet Jeremy Friedland bassoon Leelanee Sterrett horn Jason Wirth piano intermission

johannes brahms 1623-1234

Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Allegro Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo Andante con moto Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto Anastasia Metla violin Mathilde Geismar Roussel viola Mo Mo cello Juan Carlos Fernandez-Nieto piano

program notes

béla bartók Contrasts

clarinetist to play both B-flat and A clarinets – not at all uncommon – the movement also requires two separate violins so that one can be Jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman (who was born tuned non-traditionally (scordatura). On the 100 years ago this May) joined Hungarian scordatura violin, the E string is tuned down violinist Josef Szigeti in commissioning this trio and the G up one half-step each. The resulting from Bartók in 1938. The piece was originally a two tritones on the instrument's open strings Hungarian-style rhapsody in two movements, allow for gleefully astringent folk-inspired with each movement intended to fit on one side sonorities. Rhythmically, too, Bartók explores of a record. However, it seems that Bartók folk influences, with a passage veering into a couldn’t help imagining a third movement. A Bulgarian meter of thirteen eighth notes per year after the initial premiere, Bartók himself bar. Clarinet chirps lead into an intsense violin played the piano part to debut (with Goodman cadenza, after which the music drives relentand Szigeti) the new version, now named lessly to the sweeping finish.

Contrasts – a title that aptly characterizes this vibrant work’s depth of tone colors, moods, - Dana Astmann rhythms, and textures.

The first movement opens with pizzicatos that recall the bluesy second movement of Ravel’s violin sonata. The clarinet introduces a jazzy lilt, but overall the musical language is characteristically Bartók’s. The verbunkos, a military recruitment dance, lends an appropriate strut to the virtuoso figurations. After an expressive clarinet cadenza, the violin and piano return just in time for the movement to slink away.

Long melodic lines, colorful trills and tremolos, and calm rhythms enhance the atmosphere of the slow second movement, called Pihenő (“relaxation”). From this repose, the third movement explodes with an energy alternately fierce and playful. In addition to requiring the

francis poulenc Sextet for Piano and Wind Instruments The raucous and beautiful sextet for piano and winds captures the spirit of the Paris nightlife that Poulenc frequented. The piece shares thematic material with passages in the composer’s Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor, written contemporaneously. Along with Honegger, Milhaud, and others, Poulenc belonged to a group of avant-garde composers who became known as Les Six. They were a volatile and influential force defining France’s musical character after WWI and the death of Debussy.

In the 1920’s, Les Six, including Poulenc, were caught under the spell of American jazz, which

As a courtesy to the performers and audience members, turn off cell phones and pagers. Please do not leave the concert hall during selections. Photography or recording of any kind is not permitted.

program notes

had infiltrated Paris’s vibrant club scene. The Sextet, therefore, represents Poulenc’s appropriation of Harlem’s idioms, developing a language of stylized jazz. Written between 1932 and 1939, it is said to depict on one hand the rancor of an evening out, with city noises, dance tunes, and lasciviousness; on the other hand, it captures the deep loneliness and sorrow that is only temporarily sublimated by the nightlife’s festivities.

Some allege that the deep depression into which the gaiety of the first movement suddenly sinks with the sultry bassoon solo captures the bipolarity of Poulenc’s alcoholism. The same instrument that ushered in such melancholy breaks the spell with a rude honk, putting us back in the wild street scene. A lyrical second movement cleanses the emotional palate, and the third movement brings us beyond Paris, into the very heart of Harlem, with its seemingly unbridled exuberance. Nevertheless, the depression of the first movement returns. The transient pleasures of the night cannot assuage the melancholy. A “tick-tock” motive grows clearer in the accompaniment until the harmony opens up into a warm C major coda, perhaps suggesting that only the passage of time alleviated emotional crisis.

- David Kaplan

johannes brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Brahms may have made the first sketches of his G minor piano quartet as early as 1857. It was not until September 1861 however, after submitting it to Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim for criticism, that the G minor quartet, Op. 25 was finally revised and completed.Dedicated to Baron Reinard von Dalwigk, it received its first public performance with Clara Schumann at the piano on November 16, 1861. One year

later Brahms made his debut as a pianist in Vienna with the work. Contemporary critics were generally not enthusiastic, and even Brahms’s friend and colleague Joachim criticized aspects of the first movement. The work, however, found popular approval and Brahms, at his publisher’s request, arranged the quartet for piano four hands. This was not the last arrangement the work was to undergo. Arnold Schoenberg was so enthusiastic about this piano quartet that he referred to it as Brahms’s “fifth symphony” and masterfully arranged it for orchestra.

Schoenberg certainly appreciated the chromatic and rather severe melody introduced by the piano in the first four bars of the piece. Many of the memorable espressivo themes of the Allegro are characterized by a similar sense of apprehension and agitation. The original title of the second movement was Scherzo until it was changed, perhaps at the suggestion of Clara Schumann, to Intermezzo. Reasons for the change are obvious. The subtle, introspective characteristic here is anything but a Scherzo (“joke”). The following Andante is like a slow minuet and provides, with a change to major, a moment of relaxation. A delicate and heartfelt theme in the first section is successfully contrasted with a more rhythmic central section marked animato. The original theme returns in varied form to complete the movement.

A frenetic Hungarian dance, called csárdás, provides a rousing and jubilant finale with powerful rhythms and melody – a perfect contrast to the more intense sections that precede it. In his younger days Brahms accompanied the Hungarian violin virtuoso Eduard Remeny, and this is certainly where he became familiar with this alla Zingarese (“gypsy”) style. Joachim, also Hungarian, acknowledged Brahms’s genius for this dance, admitting: “You have completely defeated me on my own territory.”

biographies

Benjamin Charmot is currently enrolled in the Yale School of Music, where he studies with Syoko Aki. In 2006, he obtained his Premier Prix from the the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris under Régis Pasquier. His violin and chamber music teachers have been Syoko Aki, Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin, members of the Tokyo String Quartet, Régis Pasquier, Jean Mouilllere, Vladimir Mendelssohn, and Roland Pidoux.

Benjamin won first prize at the Academie Internationale Maurice Ravel de St. Jean de Luz, where he has been a frequent performer in various chamber music formations. He has appeared at many chamber music festivals in France, including Musique en Voutes with the Quatuor Manfred, Le Festival de l’Orangerie de Sceaux with pianist Jean François Heisser, Festival d’Arles, Journées Ravel de Montfort L’Amaury, and Le Festival Européen Jeunes Talents. In 2006, Benjamin performed fifteen concerts in Japan with Ensemble Nymphéas and violist Bruno Pasquier. The same year, he recorded for France Musique and performed live for Radio France. He was invited to be concertmaster for the Orchestre National de Lorraine, and the orchestra Forum Sinfonietta, and has performed regularly with the Orchestre National d'Ile de France.

Benjamin plays on an Andreas Guarnerius, loaned to him by the Fonds Instrumental Francais.

Rr Sergiy Dvornichenko began his music studies at age five under the tutelage of his father, Viktor Dvornichenko, at the Kharkiv School of Music (Ukraine). He moved to the United States in order to pursue his clarinet education at the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with Richard Hawkins. He received a

bm in 2006 from the Oberlin Conservatory. In 2008, Sergiy received his mm degree from the Yale School of Music, where he is currently pursuing an Artist’s Diploma under David Shifrin.

Sergiy has been the winner of numerous international clarinet competitions, including the International Competition in Lvov, Ukraine; the Second International Clarinet Competition in Moscow, Russia; the Selmer-Paris International Competition; and the Concursal International de Muzica in Bucharest, Romania.

Sergiy has performed in concert venues such as the Isaac Stern Auditorium and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Kennedy Center Opera House, and Boston Symphony Hall. He was a featured performer of the Yale School of Music Vista Chamber Music Performance Series in 2008, and has participated in master classes with Fred Ormand, Phillippe Cuper, Burt Hara, Valeri Sokalov, Frank Cohen, Eddie Daniels, and Anthony McGill. In 2007, Sergiy was invited to perform and give master classes at the Meeting with Aivazovsky Festival.

Rr Jeremy Friedland, bassoon, is currently a candidate for a master's degree at the Yale School of Music as a student of Frank Morelli.

Previously he studied with Harry Searing at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. Jeremy has attended the Sarasota Music Festival and the National Orchestral Institute, where he has participated in masterclasses with bassoonists William Winstead, Nancy Goeres, John Miller, Daniel Matsukawa, Christopher Millard, and Susan Heinemann. An experienced orchestral player, Jeremy has played bassoon with the Westchester Philharmonic, Colonial Symphony, Connecticut Masterworks Chorale Orchestra, Montclair State University

biographies

Orchestra, the Sarasota Festival Orchestra, and the National Orchestral Institute Orchestra.

After his performance of a new version of Harold Meltzer's concerto for two bassoons with the Colonial Symphony, the Daily Record called Jeremy's playing "vigorous and exuberant."

This summer, he will be continuing his musical studies by returning to the National Orchestral Institute in College Park, Maryland.

Rr Born in Spain in 1987, pianist Juan Carlos Fernandez-Nieto is currently pursuing a Master of Music under the guidance of Boris Berman at the Yale School of Music. He previously studied in Spain under Julia Diaz-Yanes and Claudio Martinez-Mehner, and received lessons and coaching from Joaquin Achucarro, Alexander Kandelaki, Antonio Baciero, and Maria João Pires.

He made his debut at the age of sixteen with the Granada Symphony Orchestra as the youngest pianist to solo with that orchestra, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor under the baton of Lutz Köhler to critical acclaim. Mr. Fernandez-Nieto also has concertized throughout Spain, Holland, Germany, the United States and Puerto Rico, performing solo recitals and collaborating with the Bari Symphony Orchestra, the Castilla y Leon Symphony Orchestra, and the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra. He has been the prize-winner of many competitions in Spain and USA, such as CSMTA Young Artists Competition, Infanta Cristina, Ciudad de Linares, and the National Piano Competition in Leon, among others.

age of 16, she was invited to play chamber music concerts in the Chateau de Canisy, France.

There, she performed with internationally renowned soloists, including Laurent Cabasso and Jerome Granjon. Two years later, she was chosen to play the viola solo in a professional operetta in the Chateau de Cormatin conducted by multiple prize-winner Alain Jacquon.

In addition to her talent for music, Mathilde has taken her academic studies very seriously.

At the age of 17, she received a first prize with high distinction in the Boulogne Conservatory (France) and her scientific Baccalaureat with high distinction. Mathilde studied further the relation between science and music, notably the musician pathologies, doing an internship in the Center for Musicians’ Reeducation in Paris under the guidance of Philippe Chamagne.

At the age of 17, Mathilde met Jesse Levine, who invited her to study with him at the Yale School of Music, where she is currently pursuing a Certificate in Viola.

Rr

Israeli-born flutist Itay Lantner is a graduate student at the Yale University School of Music.

He will be completing his Master of Music degree in May 2010. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Tel Aviv University Buchmann-Mehta School of Music. Since 2003–2008 he won the America-Israel Cultural Foundation’s scholarships. Itay served in the IDF’s prestigious Excellent Musicians Program.

He appeared as a soloist with the Thelma-Yelin Symphony Orchestra in Israel, and he has Rr participated in the master classes of worldViolist Mathilde Geismar Roussel gave her first renowned flutists Aurele Nicolet, Patrick solo performance with orchestra at the age of Gallois, Ransom Wilson, Michel Debost, and ten, playing the double Telemann concerto others. with the Pontarlier Orchestra (France). At the

biographies

Rr Xiaoting Ma, born in Xi’An, China, started studying piano at age of six and switched to clarinet at 13. Ms. Ma obtained hers bachelor’s degree at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2004 and after graduation was appointed as second clarinetist of Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2005, Ms. Ma came to the United States to further her music career. She was awarded a scholarship to attend the School of Music at Northern Illinois University and studying with Dr. Gregory Barrett. During her years of study, she was the winner of the Northern Illinois University Concerto Competition, a finalist in the Young Artist Competition of the International Clarinet Association, and a semifinalist in the Young Artist Competition of the Minnesota Orchestra Volunteer Association.

In the past few years, Ms. Ma has participated in music festivals such as Clarinet Festival of International Clarinet Association, Clarinet Festival at the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia, and the Orchestral Academy of Canton International Summer Music Festival with Charles Dutoit. Ms. Ma also has played principal clarinet with the NIU Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Youth Orchestra, Shenzhen Youth Orchestra, and Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra. She is currently studying with David Shifrin in the Artist Diploma program at the Yale School of Music.

In 2008 Anastasia graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory College, where her major teachers were Tatiana Kolchanova and Elena Demidenko. Ms. Metla received a scholarship from the Chevron Foundation. She also holds scholarships from numerous Russian foundations, including the Homecoming music festival competition award.

Anastasia has participated in masterclasses with Roman Nodel, Zvi Zeitlin, Gilles Apap, Lewis Kaplan, Edward Dusinberre, Robert Lipsett, Nahum Ehrilch, Oleg Krysa. Ms. Metla has collaborated with distinguished musicians including Warren Jones, Richie Hawley, Eli Epstein, Jerome Lowenthal, and David Jolley.

She participated in various music festivals including the Music Academy of the West (usa), Tunisian Summer Music Festival, and Cyprus Academic Music Festival. As a member of the Grieg Society, Anastasia played concerts in Norway and Hungary. She was also a participant of the Berwaldhallen Festival under the patronage of Valery Gergiev (Sweden).

Currently, Ms. Metla is completing her master’s degree at the Yale University School of Music under the guidance of Syoko Aki.

Rr

Mo Mo was born in Beijing, China into a musical family in 1989. He began studying cello Anastasia Metla was born in Ukraine. At the age with Professor Tao Song at age six. Four years of 5 her family moved to Petropavlovsk- later he entered the middle school connected with Kamchatsky (Russia), where she entered the the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. music school and studied piano and violin. In During his study in the Central Conservatory 2004 she graduated from the Regional Musical of Music, Mr. Mo won six Excellent Specialty College, where she received the ministry Prize in Academics and recorded a program with Jian Wang for the China Central TV station in scholarship as a distinguished student.

Rr

biographies

In addition to being active in orchestra and chamber music at Yale, Leelanee has been a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and the La Crosse and Fox Valley Symphony Orchestras in Wisconsin. Leelanee was the second-prize winner at the 2007 International Horn Competition of America, and a semiRr finalist in the Minnesota Orchestra Volunteer Carl Oswald began his oboe studies in the fall Association Young Artist Competition. She is of 1994, studying privately with Mary Poling at also a Yamaha Young Performing Artist. Leelanee the Peabody Preparatory School. Beginning in is an alumna of the Pacific and Sarasota Music 2003, Carl studied with Fatma Dagler, current Festivals, the National Orchestral Institute, and principal oboist of the Annapolis Symphony the Banff Centre's Summer Arts Programs. This Orchestra. Also in 2003, Carl won the Young summer she will be a Fellow at the Tanglewood Artists Concerto Competition in Baltimore Music Center.

County, performing the first movement of the Mozart Oboe Concerto with the Baltimore Rr Symphony Orchestra. Later that year, he performed with the All-Eastern Band in Providence, Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, pianist Jason Rhode Island. At University of Maryland, Carl Wirth has traveled and concertized extensively studied primarily with Mark Hill as well as with in both the US and Europe. Jason has had enRay Still. During his undergraduate studies, Carl gagements with several orchestras, including performed with the orchestras of Texas Music touring France with the Moscow Philharmonic, Festival, National Orchestral Institute, and with a concert at the famous Tours Festival, Eastern Music Festival. Carl graduated from the Dmitri Yablonsky conducting. He has also played University of Maryland in 2008. In November with the Oradea Philharmonic (Romania) and 2008, Carl performed the Goossens Oboe the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. A prizewinner Concerto with the University of Maryland in the International Piano Competition of Symphony Orchestra as a result of winning Escaldes-Engordany (Andorra) and the Dichlerfirst place in the school-wide concerto compe- Sato International Competition (Vienna), he tition in 2007. has also won prizes at the Fontainebleau Music School and the Mannes College of Music (the Newton Swift Piano Award).

Rr 2002. He also attended many masterclasses, including those with Bernard Greenhouse, David Greingas, and Andre Emelianoff. Mr. Mo is now studying with Professor Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music.

Originally from Manton, Michigan, hornist Leelanee Sterrett is pursuing a Master of Music degree at The Yale school of Music, studying with William Purvis. She previously earned a Bachelor of Music with Distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a student of Douglas Hill. Leelanee also studied with Julie Schleif at the Interlochen Arts Academy.

He began with Prof. Alexander Braginsky of the University of Minnesota at the age of five, and studied with him continuously until he was 18.

He next received his Bachelor of Music from Mannes College of Music in New York where he studied with Prof. Pavlina Dokovska. He is now pursuing his Masters of Music under Prof.

Boris Berman. Jason has played masterclasses for Abby Simon, Menahem Pressler, Stephen

Kovacevich, Claude Frank, Sontraud Speidel, and Vladimir Feltsman.

Rr Pianist Wei-Jen Yuan has appeared with the Taiwan National Symphony, Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Bach Society Orchestra, Hudson Philharmonic, and the Schenectady, Haddonfield, Utica, and Catskill Symphonies on numerous occasions. In 2009, he was a medalist at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, as well as a 5th place winner at the 2003 Taiwan International Piano Competition. As a recipient of the John Harvard Scholarship from Harvard University and the Herbert Stessin Scholarship, Wei-Jen is also a cultural youth musical ambassador for Taiwan. He recently appeared on Canada’s CBC Radio in 2008 and on the Rising Artist Recital Series in Southampton, New York.

Wei-Jen graduated from Harvard in 2006, obtaining an honors degree in economics. At Harvard, he studied privately with Robert Levin, a Mozart and fortepiano specialist.

Having obtained his Master of Music Degree this past year, Wei-Jen is pursuing an Artist Diploma in piano performance at the Yale School of Music with Peter Frankl.

chamber music society at yale David Shifrin, Artistic Director

Announcing the 2009-10 season!

9/22/2009 The Classical Legacy of Benny Goodman 9/10/2009 Tokyo String Quartet 11/17/2009 Imani Wind Quintet with the Jasper String Quartet 12/8/2009 Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos 1/26/2010 Tokyo String Quartet 2/23/2010 Orion String Quartet with pianist Peter Serkin 4/6/2010 Emerson String Quartet plays Czech music 4/27/2010 Hagen String Quartet 5/4/2010 Competition Winners

2008-09

PATRONS Chamber Music Society

The Yale School of Music expresses deep appreciation to those whose gifts provide vital support to our performance programs. You enrich the cultural community and support the School’s artistic and educational endeavors. Thank you for your generosity. the charles ives circle $600 and above Carole & Arthur Broadus Susan & Ronald Netter Bill Tower the paul hindemith circle $250 to $599 Laura & Victor Altshul Henry & Joan Binder Serena & Robert Blocker Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Crowley Veronika Grimm & John Matthews Peggy & Ramsay MacMullen Marc & Margaret Mann Barbara & Bill Nordhaus Harold & Mimi Obstler Ray Fair & Sharon Oster Norman & Mary Shemitz Josephine Shepard the horatio parker circle $125 to $249 Anonymous (2) Emily Aber & Robert Wechsler Phyllis & Joe Crowley Judith & John Fisher Nancy S. Gilliland Mark Bauer & Joseph W. Gordon Mr. & Mrs. Leroy Gould Jay & Marjorie Hirshfield Barbara & Ivan Katz Joseph & Constance LaPalombara Arlette & George Miller Dr. Leonard & Maya Munstermann Sidney Postol Rosemarie & Ernst Prelinger Mrs. Jane Roche Maryanne & W. Dean Rupp Maggie & Herb Scarf Lorraine Siggins & Braxton McKee Nathan M. Silverstein John & Laura Lee Simon Tom & Joan Steitz

In memory of Kenneth R. Todd Mary Weigand Abby N. Wells the samuel simons sanford circle $5o to $124 Anonymous Nina Adams & Moreson Kaplan Victor & Susan Bers Ethel & Sidney Blatt Eric & LouAnn Bohman Marie Borroff Charlotte Brenner Anne & Guido Calabresi Walter Cahn & Brenda Danet Sarah W. Coates Wayne & Dorothy Cook Sue & Gus Davis Mr. Drew Days & Ms. Ann Langdon Milton & Cyrille Farber Richard & Madlyn Flavell Anne-Marie & William Foltz William Goodman & V. Nemerson Lauretta E. Grau Elizabeth Haas Cyrus & Rosamond Hamlin Norman S. & Harriette R. Hewitt W. J. Hierholzer, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Herrick Jackson Jennifer Julier Alan & Joan Kliger Judith & Karl-Otto Liebmann Claire D. Lincoln Mr. & Mrs. Jean Mauro Colin & Suki McLauren William E. Metcalf William & Irene Miller Mary J. Mycek Peter & Kathryn Patrikis Jules Prown Bernice & Stan Richheimer Marc A. Rubenstein & Patricia D. Pierce Dr. & Mrs. Herbert S. Sacks Bryna Scherr Drs. Dorothy & Jerome Singer Clifford & Carolyn Slayman

Marian & Howard Spiro George & Kim Veronis Mrs. Rene Wellek Herbert & Hannah Winer Werner & Elizabeth Wolf Dr. & Mrs. B. D. Zuckerman the gustave jacob stoeckel Circle $25 to $49 Anonymous (3) Susan S. Addiss Henry E. Auer Richard & Nancy Beals Saul A. Bell David & Carolyn Belt Jerome & Bella Berson Arnold Chadderdon Mimi & John Cole Mr. & Mrs. Peter B. Cooper Mr. Bruce Dana Louise & Don Duke Kathryn Feidelson Ellen Cohen & Steven Fraade Geraldine Frei Howard & Sylvia Garland Gerhard Giebisch Paul Guida & Pat La Camera Kenneth Hanson Joyce & Addy Hirschhorn Elise K. Kenney Jack & Elaine Lawson Stanley Leavy Maurice Mahoney & Blanche Katz Constance B. Mermann Mrs. and Mr. Willa & Howard Needler Jane & Jack Novick Noemi & Paul Pfeffer Sophie Z. Powell David Reiss Cis & Jim Serling Penelope C. Sharp Lawrence & Betsy Stern Arthur & Sheila Taub Antoinette Tyndall Ken & Marge Wiberg Wei-Yi Yang

upcoming Visit music.yale.edu for full listings

yale school of music Robert Blocker, Dean 203 432 4158 Box Office concerts@yale.edu E-mail Us

concerts & media Vincent Oneppo Director Dana Astmann Assistant Director Monica Ong Design Manager Tara Deming Operations Manager Christopher Melillo Operations Assistant Manager Danielle Heller Box Office Coordinator Kelly Yamaguchi-Scanlon Accomodations & Travel Brian Daley Piano Curator William Harold Piano Curator

recording studio Eugene Kimball Director / Recording Engineer Jason Robins Assistant Recording Engineer

April 29 guitar chamber music 8 pm, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall Benjamin Verdery, director.

Music by Yale composers Aaron Jay Kernis and Richard Harrold, plus Rene Eespere, Niccolo Paganini, William Walton, and Dominick Argento. Admission free.

April 30 new music new haven 8 pm, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall David Lang, featured faculty composer, plus music by Yale graduate composers Timo Andres, Richard Harrold, Ted Hearne, Jordan Kuspa, Angel Lam, Polina Nazaykinskaya, Andrew Norman, and Naftali Schindler.

Admission free.

May 1 yale philharmonia 8 pm, Woolsey Hall Shinik Hahm, music director; Julian Pellicano, assistant conductor; Reinis Zarins, piano.

Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel; Ravel: Piano Concerto for Left Hand; Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor. Zarins is a winner of the 2008 Woolsey Hall Competition. Admission free.