CELLIST ROBERT MARTIN AND VIOLINIST ERIC WYRICK JOIN AMERICAN SYMPHONY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA IN PROGRAM OF WORKS BY TCHEREPNIN, MENDELSSOHN, AND BEETHOVEN AT BARD-VASSAR CONCERTS
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The American Symphony Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, concludes its 1999–2000 season with performances at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, May 5, at Olin Hall, Bard College, and Saturday, May 6, at Skinner Hall, Vassar College. The concerts, presented by The Bard Center, feature works by Tcherepnin, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven, with cellist Robert Martin and violinist Eric Wyrick. A preconcert talk begins at 7:00 p.m.
"Brilliant . . . satisfying and delightful playing," wrote the South China Morning Post about cellist Robert Martin, who will perform Alexander Tcherepnin's Rhapsodie Géorgienne in A Minor, Op. 25 with the ASCO. "I was really delighted to discover Tcherepnin's 1922 Georgian Rhapsody," says Martin. "His use of folk music from the Caucasus region I find particularly enchanting." Violinist Eric Wyrick will join the orchestra for Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64. The concert concludes with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36.
Cellist Robert Martin "offers polished, vital music making in an imaginatively conceived program," noted the Los Angeles Times. Martin is dean of graduate studies and associate dean of Bard College, professor of philosophy and music, and codirector of the Bard Music Festival. He was the cellist of the Sequoia String Quartet from 1975 to 1985, during which time the ensemble made many recordings and toured internationally. He was the assistant dean of humanities at UCLA and founded and produced the Los Angeles chamber music series "Music for Mischa," which is now presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Martin studied cello at the Curtis Institute of Music with Leonard Rose and Orlando Cole, and he studied liberal arts at Haverford College. He made his New York recital debut, with pianist Richard Goode, in the Young Concert Artist Series. During his doctoral studies in philosophy at Yale University, he was principal cellist of the New Haven Symphony and cellist of the Group for Contemporary Music, then at Columbia University. After receiving his Ph.D., he pursued a dual career in music and philosophy, holding joint appointments at SUNY Buffalo and Rutgers University.
Violinist Eric Wyrick is concertmaster of the American Symphony Orchestra and has performed at the Bard Music Festival since its inception in 1990. He was recently appointed concertmaster of the New Jersey Symphony. Wyrick is also an artistic director and frequent leader of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and concertmaster of L'Opéra Français de New York and EOS Music. An active chamber musician, Wyrick is a frequent guest of Houston's Da Camera Society and the Hudson Highlands Festival and a member of the Perspectives Ensemble in New York City. He has performed as a soloist with the Danish Radio Orchestra, the Orchestre de Toulouse, EOS Music, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded for Bridge and Vanguard Records, and with Orpheus, he has made numerous CDs for Deutsche Grammophon. He has also made solo television appearances in the American Playhouse production of Andre's Mother and the Dance in America presentation of Chausson's Poeme for the American Ballet Theater.
Leon Botstein
is music director of the ASCO, coartistic director and conductor of the Bard Music Festival, music director of the American Symphony Orchestra, and president of Bard College. He is editor of The Musical Quarterly and has published several books, including The Compleat Brahms and Jefferson's Children: Education and the Promise of American Culture.Tickets are $15, senior and students $10 at the door. For further information about the ASCO Bard-Vassar concerts, call The Bard Center at 914-758-7425.
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