Sunday, July 7, 7:30 pm at The Otesaga Resort Hotel
Pre-concert talk, 7 pm
Francaix Quartet
Britten “Pan” from Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op. 49
Debussy Syrinx
Mozart Quintet in E flat major for Piano and Winds, K. 452
Robert Sirota Birds of Paradise
Poulenc Sextet
Opening Night features a 7 pm pre-concert talk by Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientist Ed Scholes, noted American composer Robert Sirota and Festival artistic director Linda Chesis. Scholes, an evolutionary biologist, spent 8 years and 18 expeditions scientifically documenting all 39 species of the birds-of-paradise family with National Geographic photographer Tim Laman.
Inspired by the incredible sights and sounds captured by Scholes’ Birds-of-Paradise Project, Chesis and Sirota are creating a new multi-media work that combines a live performance of his 2008 composition “Birds of Paradise” with videos from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. You will hear authentic bird calls interlaced with Sirota’s musical evocation of bird song. Experience this unusual synthesis of science, nature and music.
While there is a rich musical tradition of woodwinds representing birds, this program also displays their extraordinary range, from the insouciance of the Francaix Quartet and the evergreen charm of the Poulenc Sextet to the work Mozart referred to as “the best thing I have ever written.”
Performers: Linda Chesis, flute; James Roe, oboe; Marianne Gythfeldt, clarinet; Adrian Morejon, bassoon; Zohar Schondorf, French Horn; and Pedja Muzijevic, piano
Flutist LINDA CHESIS is founder and artistic director of the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival. She is a member of the flute faculty and chair of the Woodwind Department at the Manhattan School of Music. She has been hailed by critics on three continents as one of the most exciting and dynamic flutists of her generation. The top prize winner at the Paris and Barcelona International competitions, and at the National Flute Association Competition, Ms. Chesis has performed with orchestras and in solo recitals throughout the US, France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Korea. Her recordings can be heard on the EMI, Nonesuch and Music Masters labels. More about Linda Chesis…
Oboist JAMES ROE, made his Lincoln Center concerto debut opening the 2004 Mostly Mozart Festival, and in 2009 he performed Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Oboes in D Minor in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with The Little Orchestra Society. This season Mr. Roe makes solo appearances with The Knights at The Ravinia Festival, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Roe is a member of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Brooklyn-based chamber orchestra, The Knights (theknightsnyc.com), and Zéphyros Winds. He has toured internationally as a guest artist with the Imani Winds and regularly appears with An die Musik in New York City. He is artistic director of the Helicon Foundation helicon.org. James Roe plays oboes made by Gebrüder Mönnig in Berlin.
Clarinetist MARIANNE GYTHFELDT, a native of Norway, has distinguished herself in chamber music, orchestral and contemporary music performance on the international stage. She is the clarinetist of Zephyros Winds and Ensemble Sospeso. An active participant in New York City musical life, she also performs with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and St Luke’s Chamber Orchestra. Currently Ms. Gythfeldt is associate professor of clarinet at the University of Delaware, and recently won the 2012 established artist award from the Delaware Division of the Arts that funded four commissions of new electroacoutic works by New York composers. She can be heard on CBS Masterworks, CRI, Albany, Koch, Mode Records, a 2005 Albany Records release of two solo clarinet pieces by Robert Morris, and a 2010 release of Absolute Ensemble with Joe Zawinul.
Bassoonist ADRIAN MOREJON has established himself as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician. Praised for his “teeming energy” and “precise control” by the New York Times and having “every note varnished to a high gloss” by the Boston Globe, Morejon has appeared as a soloist with the Talea Ensemble, the IRIS Orchestra, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP). Mr. Morejon will be featured in a recording of Harold Meltzer’s Full Faith and Credit, double concerto for two bassoons and string orchestra, to be released by BMOP/Sound. An active chamber musician, Mr. Morejon is a founding member of Sospiro Winds, bassoon duo Dark & Stormy, and the Gene Project, and a member of the Talea Ensemble and Metropolis Ensemble. He was a recipient of Theodore Presser Foundation Grant, 2nd prize of the Fox-Gillet International Competition, and a shared top prize at the Moscow Conservatory International Competition. Mr. Morejon completed graduate studies at the Yale School while studying with Frank Morelli. Prior to this, he studied bassoon with Bernard Garfield and harpsichord with Lionel Party at the Curtis Institute of Music. He is on faculty at the Boston Conservatory, the Praxis Youth Leadership Orchestra, and the Composer’s Conference at Wellesley College. In addition, Mr. Morejon is currently Visiting Bassoon Professor at the Longy School of Music.
Born in Haifa, Israel, ZOHAR SCHONDORF, French Horn, served in the Israeli Army Band from 1989-92. With an Israeli-American Cultural Foundation Scholarship from 1986-1992, he attended the Juilliard School of Music. Graduating in 1995, he was appointed Associate Principal Horn in the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 1997 when he was appointed Principal Horn of the Israel Symphony/Opera Orchestra. While in Israel, he won an Oreq Communication award for his outstanding performance as Principal Horn in the Classical-Winter-in-Jerusalem Music Festival in 1993 and also played with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta. Mr. Schondorf relocated to New York City in 2001 and assumed the position of Associate Principal Horn of the American Symphony Orchestra and was been promoted to Principal in 2012. He routinely performs with Manhattan Philharmonic, Stamford Symphony, Westchester Philharmonic, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theater Orchestra, New York City Ballet, The Knights and at the Bard Music Festival, to name a few. He is a member of the Sylvan Winds Quintet and Zephyros Winds. Mr. Schondorf was featured in numerous Broadway Shows, such as “La Boheme on Broadway,” the Tony and Grammy award winning “Spamalot,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Addams Family,” and “Ghost–The Musical.”
Pianist PEDJA MUZIJEVIC has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Shinsei Nihon Orchestra in Tokyo, Orquesta Sinfonica in Montevideo, and Zagreb Philharmonic, among others. He has played solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall in New York, Casals Hall and Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile, Da Camera of Houston, The Frick Collection in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, DC, Lincoln Center’s What Makes It Great Series, and many others. His Carnegie Hall concerto debut playing Mozart Concerto K. 503 with the Oberlin Symphony and Robert Spano was recorded live and has been released on the Oberlin Music label. His many festival engagements include Tanglewood, Spoleto USA, Mostly Mozart, Newport, Melbourne, Aix-en-Provence, Dubrovnik, Merano and Bratislava festivals. Videos and recordings of his performances as well as other information can be found on pedjamuzijevic.com.
