08/7/1

貝多芬音樂節 Basically Beethoven Festival

華裔鋼琴家隆愛真,將在「貝多芬音樂節」(Basically Beethoven Festival) 中,應邀參加演出,其時間為七月十三日週日下午三時,地點在達拉斯植物園(Arboretum)。這是達福地區暑期的重要音樂活動,將由達福兩家交響樂團團員為主幹,邀請音樂界名流參加演奏。隆愛真今年是第三次參加。這音樂節原是效法紐約的「莫扎特音樂節 Mostly Mozart Festival」的盛舉。該音樂節每年暑假在林肯中心舉行,已有32年的傳統。達福地區的音樂節則有28年的歷史,均有盛名。紐約的音樂節固定在繁華的市中心,林肯中心舉行。達福地區的音樂節,今年將在達拉斯東郊的植物園,位於白石湖邊風光優美幽靜,在綠地鮮花中還可欣賞音樂演奏甚是宜人。
由於注重公益的公司社團捐款,並有熱愛音樂的社會名流資助,在達拉斯不收門票(按紐約則須購票),惟需要事先預約,主辦單位的電話為(219)520-2219。網址為 http://www.fineartschanberplayers.org/
這音樂節在七月間的每週日舉行,隆愛真則在第二場,與俄裔大提琴家安設維奇(Yun Anshelevich)同台演出,合奏貝多芬,拉赫曼尼諾夫等人的作品。此外隆愛真還獨奏李斯特,杜步西和麥克道爾( Edward MacDowell) 的名曲。這三位音樂家曾在十九世紀末互相認識,並頗富名聲,尤其麥克道爾為第一位成名的美國作曲家,年輕時在巴黎音樂院與杜步西同學過,後來他在德國深造,當時有音樂界教父之稱的李斯特,曾對這位年輕而鋒芒畢露的他印象頗深,引介大樂譜出版商Breitkopf&Bartel發行他的作品。這三位音樂家的因緣頗耐人尋味。 麥克道爾在歐洲成名後回美,與波士頓交響樂團定期出演,並在1896年出任哥倫比亞大學音樂系首任系主任,造就人才。不幸因病早年夭逝。其管絃樂作品與鋼琴曲,流傳甚久。布蘭諾鋼琴教師協會,今年春天曾邀隆愛真介紹並彈奏麥克道爾作品,給人深刻印象。這回藉著美國國慶期間在大眾面前演奏,藉以推廣第一位享譽世界聲譽的美國音樂家作品,頗有意義。
隆愛真的鋼琴獨奏曲目,包括李斯特的「鐘」( La Campanella),杜步西的「金魚」(Goldfish)及麥克道爾的「憂傷的圓舞曲」(Valse Triste)和「女巫之舞」(Witches Dance)。

08/6/1

June 7 - DALLAS MUSEUM of ART

June 7 - DALLAS MUSEUM of ART @ 1717 N. Harwood
Brahms' Quartet for Piano and Strings
No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60, performed by
members of the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphonies
with pianist Christina Long

BANCROFT FAMILY CONCERTS FEATURE IMPORTANT BRAHMS WORK
DALLAS – Fine Arts Chamber Players' (FACP) free Bancroft Family Concert for June will feature a major work for piano and strings by Johannes Brahms on Saturday, June 7, at 3:00 pm in the Horchow Auditorium at the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood Street, 75201. Admission to the concert is free and requires no reservation.
For more information, please call 214.520.2219

Bruce Wittrig - Dallas Symphony violinist, violist Dmitry Kustanovitch and cellist Nicole Hansen Strydom – both members of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and pianist Christina Long will perform Brahms' Quartet for Piano and Strings No. 3 in C Minor, Opus 60 ("Werther"). Laurie Shulman, program annotator for the Dallas Symphony will provide pre-concert commentary about the importance of this work in the chamber music literature.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) began composing this work during a difficult period for him and his friends Robert and Clara Schumann. When Robert entered a mental asylum, Brahms attempted to provide moral support for Clara and her children. However, Brahms' own emotions were extremely strained due to his affection for Clara herself. In a letter to a friend, he described the first movement of this work as a sort of musical corollary to the suicidal desperation of Goethe's Werther. This comment resulted in the quartet’s common subtitle “Werther.”
Fine Arts Chamber Players' Bancroft Family Concerts are made possible in part by the Sue & Christopher Bancroft Family, the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, The Dallas Museum of Art, TACA, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Dallas Arts District Foundation, People Newspapers and WRR-FM Classical 101.
For over a quarter of a century, FACP has presented free classical music programs for the enrichment of North Texas area residents. Concerts annually showcase over fifty outstanding Metroplex professional musicians. In addition to the free Bancroft Family Concerts, FACP presents the free Basically Beethoven Festival in July. Each year, FACP's educational outreach programs, Dream Collectors and Community Classics, provide over 350 free performances in area public schools.
Read an overview of the Bancroft Family Concerts

08/5/15

May 20-Eisemann Center, Richardson, Texas

The National convention of National Association of Composers USA is going to be at Dallas on May 20. There will an evening concert as an culmination of the whole-day event. This concert is a collaboration of living composers and instrumentalists from around the country.

The composers are from Dallas (Wieslaw Rentowski), New York (Carson Cooman, I-Uen Hwang), faculty of UCLA (Daivd Lefkowitz) ), UT at San Marcos(Dimitar Ninov) , UTD (Robert Rodriguez), and Southeastern Oklahoma State University (James Wintle) among others.

The featured artists includes the Long Duo -- Beatrice and Christina Long, one of the most sought-after piano duos in North America, Luca Bruno (piano, SMU), Mitch Weverka (guitar), Karen Lim (violin), Joel Adair (trumpet), Jason Hausback (trombone) Drew Lang and Greg White (percussion).

The concert is at 7:30 PM, May 20 (Tuesday) at Courtyard Theater of Eisemann Center of Performing Arts, Richardson.

For ticket information, please visit http://www.eisemanncenter.com/, or (972) 744-4650.
For Long Duo, please visit http://www.longduopiano.com/