BARD MUSIC PROGRAM PRESENTS FREE RECITAL BY PATRICIA SPENCER, FEATURING LINDA HALL, WILLIAM ZITO, AND BARD STUDENT ASHLEY BATHGATE ON JUNE 15 The program, “Flute Americana,” will feature works by Aaron Copland, Robert Beaser, Leo Kraft, Joan Tower,

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard College Music Program will present a free recital by the renowned flutist Patricia Spencer on Tuesday, June 15. The program, “Flute Americana,” will begin at 8:00 p.m. in Bard Hall, and is the opening of a 5-day seminar devoted to the study of new flute works. The “Americana” part of the recital will feature Aaron Copland’s Duo for Flute and Piano (a masterpiece from the early ’70s), Robert Beaser’s Mountain Songs for flute and guitar (settings of “Barbara Allen,” “Hush You Bye,” and songs from the mountains of Appalachia), Leo Kraft’s Second Fantasy, and Joan Tower’s now classic Flute Concerto (flute and piano version by the composer, who is the Asher B. Edelman Professor of Music at Bard). The program will also include Iranian Folk Song Set, No. 9, by Reza Vali. Spencer will be joined by pianist Linda Hall, guitarist William Zito, and cellist Ashley Bathgate for the concert. The flute seminar with Patricia Spencer is presented every June by the Bard College Music Program. Flutists from across the country and from diverse backgrounds (including college students, public school music teachers, adult amateurs, and professionals) join in playing contemporary flute repertoire with Spencer. For further information, call 845-758-6822 or e-mail [email protected]. -continued- About the Artists: “Ashley Bathgate is a very talented young cellist, whose tone was right on pitch. She certainly has the makings of becoming a top performer in her field,” wrote Lakeville Journal critic Peter Marshall. She has just completed her second year at Bard College, where she studies with Luis Garcia-Renart, professor emeritus of music at Bard. A member of the Empire State Youth Orchestra for five years, Bathgate served as the orchestra’s principal cello, sections coach, and coordinator of string ensembles. She received the Barry L. Richman Award in 2002, and is an unprecedented two-time winner of the Lois Lyman Concerto Competition. Bathgate appeared as a soloist with the Empire State Youth Orchestra at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in 1999 and 2001. She was also a featured young artist at the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, performing with pianist Pascal Rogé, violinist Chantal Juillet, and pianist Vanessa Benelli. Bathgate has appeared in recitals, benefit performances, and with the American Symphony Chamber Orchestra and the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra. In summer 2003, she performed with pianist Todd Crow and violinist Marcello Defant in Normandy, France. In January 2002, she was among the first young musicians to receive a grant from the New York Philharmonic Players Fund. Pianist Linda Hall coaches singers and accompanies singers and instrumentalists throughout the United States and abroad. She is assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera; in recent seasons she has prepared the casts for Corigliano’s Ghosts of Versailles, Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, Death in Venice, and Billy Budd, among others. She recently appeared on stage at the Met, as the pianist in the party scene in the premiere and subsequent performances of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. Hall has recorded with cellist Jascha Silberstein on the Musical Heritage Society label, and with flutist Patricia Spencer on two Neuma Records CDs that feature works by Boulez, Talma, Jaffe, and Shatin. Hall received her undergraduate degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and the Salzburg Mozarteum. She holds a graduate degree in piano performance from The Juilliard School. “Patricia Spencer’s presence was striking and her playing was extraordinary in its control over minutiae of dynamics, pitch, and timbre, particularly in relationship to the complex, fluid electronic environment that surrounded her. The performance was the tour de force of technique, emotion, and spirituality that the piece requires; it will stand as one of the highlights of the musical season,” wrote Richard Dyer in the Boston Globe. Recent high points in Spencer’s career, devoted to new music, include her recital in Moscow for the Alternativa Festival; her premiere of Shulamit Ran’s flute concerto, Voices, at the National Flute Association convention; and her premiere of solo flute works by Louis Karchin and Eugene Lee at the Sonic Boom Festival. An exciting repertoire of pieces has been written for her, including Thea Musgrave’s Narcissus and Judith Shatin’s Kairos, which was featured on her solo CD, (Neuma Records). An earlier CD, with pianist Linda Hall, features Boulez’s Sonatine, plus works by Carter, Perle, Korde, Talma, Martirano, Kreiger, and Jaffe. Both CDs received rave reviews from Fanfare and the American Record Guide. Spencer has received awards for her solo recordings and commissioning projects from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music. As a recitalist and Da Capo Chamber Players member, she has commissioned more than 80 solo, duo, and chamber works for flute. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Robert Willoughby, Spencer also has studied with Marcel Moyse, John Wummer, and Josef Marx. She teaches flute and chamber music at Bard College and Hofstra University. William Zito, a native New Yorker, began studying guitar at the age of twelve. While enrolled at Nassau Community College and Hofstra University, Zito studied guitar with Stanley Solow. He has also studied lute with Rodrigo DeZayas, guitar with Rey de la Toree, and composition with Julian Orbon. Following his critically acclaimed 1975 debut at Alice Tully Hall, Zito was chosen by Hi Fidelity magazine as one of the young artists of the year. In 1980, he was an Artist International Competition prize winner. He has continued to receive critical acclaim for both his solo and ensemble work,. He tours extensively throughout the United States and Europe and has performed in concert on WQXR, WNCN, WBAI, and National Public Radio. Zito is on the faculties of Hofstra University and Nassau Community College. # # # (06.07.04)

This event was last updated on 06-16-2004

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