Free Recital, "Flute, Wind, and Water," on June 12
“FLUTE, WIND, AND WATER,” FREE RECITAL ON JUNE 12 AT BARD COLLEGE
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—“Flute, Wind, and Water,” a recital by internationally known flutist Patricia Spencer and friends—pianist Linda Hall, flutist Don Hulbert, and harpsichordist Frederick Hammond—is offered at Bard College on Tuesday, June 12, at 8:00 p.m. in Bard Hall.
Images of water spark three of the works on the program: Carl Reinecke’s “Undine” sonata (about water nymph Undine); Couperin’s “L’Apothéose de Corelli” (in which Corelli drinks from the waters of the Hypocrene); and a piece by Linda Antas, for flute and electronic sounds, titled “River from the Walls.”
“Wind images have always invaded composers’ imaginations when writing for flute,” explains Spencer. This program features Harvey Sollberger’s “Riding the Wind II” (based on poetry by Lieh Tzu) and Elliott Carter’s “Scrivo in vento” (literally, “I write in wind”—a quotation from a poem of Petrarch). Spencer has recorded these works on the CRI and Neuma Records labels.
The June 12 recital is the opening event in a four-day seminar, directed by Spencer, devoted to the study of present-day flute repertoire. The exploration of old and new repertoire is one of the primary pursuits of the seminar: to hear today’s works with an ear to their connection to the musical language of the past.
No reservations are needed; seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For further information, call 845-758-6822.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Pianist Linda Hall pursued her undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Salzburg Mozarteum. She holds a graduate degree in piano performance from The Juilliard School. Hall coaches singers and performs with 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 and Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, Death in Venice, and Billy Budd, among others. Hall recently appeared on stage at the Metropolitan Opera, as the pianist in the party scene of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. She can be heard in recordingswith cellist Jascha Silberstein on the Musical Heritage Society label, and with flutist Patricia Spencer on two Neuma Records CDs, featuring works by Boulez, Talma, Jaffe, and Shatin.
Frederick Hammond, Irma Brandeis Professor of Romance Cultures and Music History at Bard, performs widely in Europe and the United States as solo organist and harpsichordist. He was the keyboard continuo player for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has appeared with such conductors as Christopher Hogwood, Nicholas McGegan, Simon Rattle, and Leon Botstein. Hammond specializes in baroque continuo playing and has performed as continuo harpsichordist in more than thirty operas. In 1986 he founded the E. Nakamichi Festival of Baroque Music in Los Angeles, and is music director emeritus of the Clarion Music Society of New York. His scholarly work includes three fundamental volumes on 17th-century Italian music. He was copresenter of the exhibition Ambiente Barocco at The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, and coeditor of the accompanying catalogue. The Italian government recognized his service to Italian music, as a performer and scholar, with the knighthood of the Order of Merit of the Republic.
Don Hulbert is “a gifted flutist who delights as much in versatility as in sheer virtuosity,” according to James Oestreich in the New York Times. An active freelance musician and recitalist in the New York area, Hulbert performs with groups as diverse as Friends & Enemies of New Music and Music Before 1800, and in venues as varied as Merkin Concert Hall and Performance Space 122 in New York’s East Village. He performs regularly with the American Virtuosi (an early-music ensemble) and is a founding member of the Castillo Cultural Center. He performed music by the late Lee Gannon at the National Flute Association’s annual convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Hulbert was a winner in 1982 of the New York Flute Club’s Young Artist Competition, and is a recipient of the Rathaus Family Memorial Award and the Karol Rathaus Memorial Award. He can be heard on the title track of Centaur Records’ Illegal Edge: Music by José Halac.
“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. Spencer is flutist with the Naumburg Award–winning Da Capo Chamber Players, performing with them in international festivals as well as in a high-profile annual concert series in New York City. In August 2004, as soloist in Joan Tower’s Flute Concerto (with Ransom Wilson conducting), she received a standing ovation from flutists attending the National Flute Association Convention. Spencer has appeared in solo performances at the Moscow Alternativa Festival and the ICMC in Beijing, China, as well as throughout the United States. She has recorded for the Bridge, GM Recordings, New World, CRI, Innova, and Neuma labels. An exciting repertoire of pieces has been written for her, including the title work of one of her solo CDs, Thea Musgrave’s Narcissus and Kairos (new works by Thea Musgrave and Judith Shatin) on Neuma Records. In May 2005 Spencer was honored, by the League of Composers / International Society for Contemporary Music, for a distinguished career in performance across a broad range of repertoire and for her commitment to new music. She teaches flute and chamber music at Bard College and Hofstra University.
PRESS PHOTOS
To download high-resolution (300 dpi) jpegs, click on thumbnail images below. If you would prefer to receive these by individual e-mail or on disc, e-mail [email protected] or call 845-758-7512.
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(6.4.2007)