DCINY "Shining Light" celebrating composer Morten Lauridsen Mar 31-Apr 1

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents Shining Light, an extraordinary weekend of illuminating events. Encompassing a premiere film screening alongside major concerts at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, DCINY celebrates the life and music of National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridsen, America's most frequently performed choral composer. DCINY will host the New York premiere of the documentary film Shining Night (March 30) and present major works by Lauridsen, who will be in residence throughout the weekend, in concerts at Avery Fisher Hall, conducted by Artistic Director Jonathan Griffith (March 31), and at Carnegie Hall, also featuring music by composer and conductor Eric Whitacre (April 1). This will be a truly a “shining” weekend in tribute to a treasured composer called an "American Choral Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen (documentary film)
Exploring the relationship of art, nature, and spirituality, Shining Night, a new film by Michael Stillwater, conveys the richness and breadth of composer Morten Lauridsen's life, with a soundtrack featuring his masterworks. The film received its world premiere in February at the American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs in advance of this DCINY New York premiere. Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout praises Lauridsen’s “radiantly beautiful music,” calling the film “a heartening rarity, a thoroughly intelligent classical-music program that strikes an appropriate balance between words and music.”

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the composer, filmmaker Michael Stillwater and Eric Whitacre.

Friday, March 30, 5:30pm
New York Society for Ethical Culture (2 West 64th Street)
Tickets: $25/$15 via www.DCINY.org/shininglight

Pianist Kirill Gerstein Returns to His Jazz Roots: Berklee College of Music Concert -Mar 30

Recording of World Premieres by Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau – and Original Jazz Band Rhapsody in Blue

Pianist Kirill Gerstein, whose masterful technique, musical curiosity and probing interpretations have led to explorations of classical music and jazz, brings those worlds together at Boston’s Berklee College of Music on March 30 with “An Evening with Kirill Gerstein: Rhapsody in Blue.” The Russian-born pianist will perform the world premieres of works by Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau, commissioned by Gerstein using prize money from his 2010 Gilmore Artist Award. The jazz-inspired program also features the original 1924 jazz-band version of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with a 25-piece ensemble consisting of Berklee faculty and students. Vibraphonist Gary Burton, clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen, and cellist/composer Eugene Friesen are special guests. Produced by Gerstein and directed by Berklee professor Phil Wilson, “An Evening with Kirill Gerstein: Rhapsody in Blue” is being recorded for future release internationally on the Myrios Classics label.

The concert is both a homecoming for Gerstein and a return to his jazz roots. Born in Voronezh, in southwestern Russia, Gerstein studied jazz at an early age in addition to his classical training. Vibraphonist Gary Burton, long associated with Berklee as a student, professor and administrator, met the pianist and invited him to study at the college, where at 14 Gerstein became the youngest student ever admitted. Burton will join Gerstein for the world premiere of Chick Corea’s The Visitors. The second world premiere, Brad Mehldau’s Variations on a Melancholy Theme, is for solo piano. Both premieres are by “great improvisers fixing and elaborating their thoughts through notation,” said Gerstein.
During his years at Berklee, Gerstein continued to study classical piano and attended Boston University’s summer program at Tanglewood. He eventually decided to focus on classical repertoire, and by age 20 had earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music. Now an internationally recognized artist who performs regularly with the world’s great orchestras, he continues to explore the intersections between classical music and jazz.

The March 30 concert includes music often termed “crossover” or “third stream,” a term coined by composer and historian Gunther Schuller in 1957. “Classical and jazz music are often presented as opposites,” comments Gerstein. “I am interested in tracing and blurring the borders between these styles, as well as illuminating the similarities between the two.”

Daniel R. Gustin, director of the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, has said, “Kirill Gerstein demonstrates what a remarkable artist he is by using some of his Gilmore Award monies to commission piano music from such an incredibly wide range of composers as he has, including two of the greatest jazz composer/pianists of our time—Brad Mehldau and Chick Corea. Not many pianists today could successfully champion such a wide-ranging and eclectic group of composers and their music, and be able to do so with such genuine passion and conviction.” These new pieces join Oliver Knussen’s “Ophelia’s Last Dance” and a new work by Timothy Andres also commissioned by Gerstein. “Ophelia’s Last Dance” is included on his most recent CD on the Myrios label.

In addition to the Corea and Mehldau world premieres, Gerstein performs Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the original 1924 jazz-band arrangement commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman. While audiences are familiar with the1942 version for large orchestra, the 1924 arrangement is not often heard. “I always wanted to do Rhapsody in Blue with jazz musicians playing the original band version of the piece,” says Gerstein. “I can’t wait to come back to my alma mater, Berklee College of Music, for this concert; to play again with Gary Burton, who was my teacher; and to collaborate with Anat Cohen, Berklee faculty and students.” In the first half of the program, Cohen, clarinet soloist in Rhapsody in Blue, will also perform arrangements from her 2007 recording Noir with Grammy Award-winning Berklee faculty cellist Eugene Friesen.

Colorado Symphony to Perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"

Colorado Symphony showcases Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony, the masterwork that changed the idea of what a symphony could be, in two different formats

The Colorado Symphony celebrates one of the most fundamentally important works in the repertoire, Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, "Eroica," in three upcoming concerts that promise to entertain, enlighten and inspire. On Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m., resident conductor Scott O'Neil highlights the "Eroica" Symphony as part of the Colorado Symphony's popular Inside the Score series. Designed for newcomers to classical music as well as returning concertgoers, Friday's performance will deconstruct this revolutionary work that was both huge in scale and daunting for listeners at its 1804 premiere. Then, on Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 25 at 2:30 p.m., the Colorado Symphony presents a Masterworks concert program featuring Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, "Eroica," as well as Kodály's Dances of Galánta and Haydn's Symphony No. 22 in E-flat major, "The Philosopher." Tickets are on sale now.

At Friday's Inside the Score performance, O'Neil and the musicians of the orchestra will explore Beethoven's "Eroica" through stunning visuals, musical sound bytes and clever anecdotes, and delve into the relationship with Napoleon, to whom the symphony was originally dedicated. Beethoven's "Eroica" marked the first time a composer "projected" himself as the hero of his own story. Musically, the symphony questions what it means to be human. From the first movement's energy and hope, to the third movement's joy, to the final fifth movement's unforgettable ending, Beethoven's "Eroica" was like nothing ever heard before. Inside the Score concertgoers will gain a deeper understanding of how this symphony caused such a sensation and why it remains a supreme test for any orchestra more than 200 years after its premiere.

At Saturday's and Sunday's Masterworks concerts, audiences will enjoy Haydn's extraordinary Symphony No. 22 in E-flat, "The Philosopher." It earns its nickname thanks to the formality of the music and use of the "tick-tock" effect, and remains one of the most popular of Haydn's early symphonies. Accompanying the Haydn and Beethoven symphonies on the concert program is Kodály's spirited Dances of Galánta, which takes inspiration from the folk music of Kodály's hometown of Galánta in Hungary (now Slovakia). Taking inspiration from gypsy dances and songs, Kodály captured the essence of the beloved favorite music of his childhood and transformed it into one of the most enjoyable works in the repertoire.

Tickets: Tickets are on sale now at www.coloradosymphony.org, the Colorado Symphony Box Office: (303) 623-7876 or (877) 292-7979 or in-person in the lobby of Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Hours are Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

One Month Reminder: 2013 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute

The Minnesota Orchestra and the American Composers Forum have announced details of the 2013 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, which will run from January 7-13, 2013, at the University of Minnesota's School of Music in Minneapolis.

Under the guidance of composer Aaron Jay Kernis, up to nine composers will have orchestral works rehearsed and performed by the Minnesota Orchestra and will participate in a series of seminars on musical, career, business and professional development issues.

Composers receive consultations with Kernis and Music Director Osmo Vänskä before and after the rehearsals. They also meet with Orchestra members and attend small-group sessions with leading music industry professionals. Composers’ travel and hotel will be provided.

All works selected for the Institute will be performed in a public concert, conducted by Music Director Osmo Vänskä on Friday, January 11, 2013, 8 pm.

San Diego New Music presents the Formalist Quartet

San Diego New Music is at it again! On Tuesday, March 27th at 7:30pm, we're presenting an incredible concert at the Atheneum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla by the Formalist Quartet with special guest singer Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist. This concert will feature Janacek's First Quartet, "Kreutzer Sonata" alongside Shostakovich's Fifth Quartet. Also on the concert are pieces by Toru Takemitsu and Harold Budd, with the soprano joining the quartet for songs from the 14th-century Cypriot Ars Subtilior manuscript and a set by Henry Purcell. The Formalist Quartet is an exciting LA-based group that plays both classical and contemporary works.

This is a great concert for people interested in getting to know contemporary music. We're pairing pieces from the classical repertory with recent works in these concerts, and providing a real variety of different listening experiences. This is an opportunity to bring friends who are curious about new music but who don't know much about it -- there will be something here for them to enjoy! Together we can build a strong audience for contemporary music in San Diego, and also come together to experience great music played by some of the most talented young performers on the scene today.

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall St., La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 454 - 5872
www.ljathenaeum.org

March 27, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

The Formalist Quartet, with Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist, soprano
Leos Janacek, String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata"
Dmitri Shostakovich, Quartet No. 5
Toru Takemitsu, Landscape I
Harold Budd, String Quartet 2001
Henry Purcell, selections from The Fairy Queen
and anonymous selections form the Cypriot art subtilior manuscript (ca. 1430)

The Formalist Quartet is
Andrew Tholl, violin
Mark Menzies, violin/viola
Andrew McIntosh, violin/viola
Ashley Walters, cello

$25 Athenaeum members, $30 general
For tickets, call (858) 454-5872

Historicaly Informed Bach's St. John Passion with LA Master Chorale Mar 31 Apr 1

The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents the Walt Disney Concert Hall debut of Bach’s oratorio St. John Passion – one of the greatest masterworks of all time – in two back-to-back historically informed performances with Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, performing on period instruments, on Palm Sunday weekend, Saturday, March 31, 8 pm, and Sunday, April 1, 2012, 7 pm. These concerts complete the Chorale’s multi-season trilogy of historically informed performances with the nation’s foremost Baroque ensemble of Bach’s three major choral works, which also includes the B Minor Mass, presented by the chorus in March 2008, and St. Matthew Passion, performed by the Chorale in March 2010. More vivid, dramatically intense and unbridled than its later counterparts, St. John Passion is scored for an intimate ensemble of soloists, four-part choir and instrumentalists ranging from lute and viola da gamba to oboe, strings and basso continuo. A core of 40 singers from the Chorale comprise the choir for this highly-anticipated performance, which also features Chorale member Pablo Corá as Evangelist.

“Our historically informed performances at Disney Hall of the great masterworks of Bach have become an important part of the Chorale’s artistic profile,” Gershon states. “I look forward to joining with our esteemed musical colleagues Musica Angelica to create another profound spiritual experience for our audience.”

Tickets range from $19 - $134. Group rates are available. For tickets and information, please call (213) 972-7282, or visit www.lamc.org. (Tickets cannot be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except on concert days starting 2 hours prior to the performance.) The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE
PRESENTS BACH’S ST. JOHN PASSION WITH
MUSICA ANGELICA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA

Saturday, March 31, 8 pm,
Sunday, April 1, 2012, 7 pm,
at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Music Director Grant Gershon Conducts
Soloists Include Chorale Member Pablo Corá as Evangelist

TwtrSymphony Enthusiasm Takes Social Networking to New Level

Have you been following the craze over TwtrSymphony? Have you heard the tweets and passed it off as another fad, another twitter flash and fade?

If so, than you're missing what's happen underneath all the tweets and public displays. Social media is about public displays, but what of the non-public communications? --the things that happen in email, over the phone and in the coffee shops?

You can't really tell what's happening in those places unless you're part of those hidden conversations. It's difficult to tell if something "viral" is really viral or just flash without participating in the background, underground, groundswell. The difference between momentary flashes and truly viral events are those 'hidden' conversations taking place. If you're not part of the underground movement, all you can do is sit on the surface of social media and watch.

Well, something happened today. You may not have seen it. With Twitter, posts go up and disappear in a manner of minutes. If you're following hundreds of people (or thousands in the case of some die-hards), random posts can be hard to spot, if you don't know what to look for. Since I'm intimately involved with TwtrSymphony, I did and it's amazing!

LessonSpark blogged about TwtrSymphony today. JodiBortz tweeted it at 7:30pm (Pacific Time). The article: "@twtrsymphony - Bringing Musicians Together from All Over" talks about the social media craze of TwtrSymphony. The words talk about the excitement Jodi feels at being involved, but between the words are the thoughts going on with musicians all over the world. Musicians who have day jobs, more important activities to deal with, concerts, recitals, auditions, can't help themselves. They are tweeting about it, exchanging emails, posting on Facebook. Random comments seemingly unrelated are cropping up all over. They may or may not mention TwtrSymphony. But for those of us involved, the meaning is clear, the excitement is infectious --we have caught the TwtrSymphony virus and we're reveling in our affliction.

While I can't share with you the vast number of emails I've received over the past week+, I can assure you, the dialog is not just about Twitter, not just about today, but looking into the future. This is not just flash, because while the people involved are excited about what's happening today, they are looking into the future, discussing the possibilities, making plans and working hard to make them reality. The difference between TwtrSymphony and other flash and faded phenomenon is TwtrSymphony has people talking about the future in subtle, obscure ways. Now that you know this, follow the people who are following TwtrSymphony. You'll see a common thread in many of the conversations, even if they aren't talking directly about TwtrSymphony.

Musicians from all over the world are becoming friends, working together to create something new and exciting. They are becoming more than just a collection of really good musicians, they are something so much more - a truly global orchestra.

Patrick Summers Conducts Don Carlos and Mary Stuart in Houston This Spring; Makes LA Opera Debut with La bohème

Patrick Summers continues his stellar first season at the helm of the Houston Grand Opera this spring, leading performances of Verdi’s Don Carlos (April 13-28) and Donizetti’s Mary Stuart (April 21-May 4). Summers – named HGO’s Artistic and Music Director in May 2011, following a 13-year period as Music Director – began his Houston season with rave reviews for his work on Verdi’s La traviata, promising further excitement in store when Don Carlos opens in April. The Houston Chronicle wrote: "Beyond the orchestra's polished playing and full, lush sound, the strength of Summers' conducting is its understanding of Verdi's dramatic purpose in every measure." Last fall, the conductor continued his long association with San Francisco Opera as principal guest conductor, leading the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier and, soon after, the company premiere of Handel’s Xerxes. He returns to the West Coast this spring, making his Los Angeles Opera debut by conducting Puccini’s La bohème (May 12-June 2).

With Don Carlos in Houston, Summers will lead the company in the five-act French version of this grandest of grand operas. The cast includes Brandon Jovanovich in the title role (a role debut for the Montana-born tenor), Tamara Wilson as Elisabeth de Valois, Christine Goerke as Princess Eboli, and Scott Hendricks as Rodrigue, with the staging directed by John Caird. Always a singer’s conductor, Summers has a legacy of working with the world’s most acclaimed singers, preparing them for important role debuts – from Renée Fleming and her first Violetta to Anna Netrebko and her first Elvira. Now he is doing the same in Houston with star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, for her debut in the title role of Mary Stuart – a part the HGO Studio alum will play next season at the Metropolitan Opera. It’s the supportive working conditions HGO provides for singers that makes such working relationships possible, with adequate rehearsal time and Summers’ guiding hand and experience on call – in his 13 years as Music Director of HGO, Summers has conducted 45 different operas across a full spectrum of repertoire, from Baroque and Classical works to seven world premieres. Alongside DiDonato, the cast for Mary Stuart includes Katie Van Kooten as Elizabeth I and Eric Cutler as the Earl of Leicester, with stage direction by Kevin Newbury.

Patrick Summers comments: “My first year as artistic director of HGO has been extraordinarily fulfilling, and I am particularly excited to close the season by conducting our mini-Schiller festival. For Verdi's epic Don Carlos, I look forward to working with a stellar cast. Donizetti's Mary Stuart is rarely performed, and we are proud that HGO Studio alumna Joyce DiDonato has chosen to debut the title role in Houston – a role that is bound to become hallmark in her already prodigious career.”

For his debut on the podium at the Los Angeles Opera, Summers will conduct La bohème, in the company’s signature staging by filmmaker Herbert Ross, closing the LA Opera’s season (May 12-June 2). The excellent young cast includes the “double rising-star” husband-and-wife team of Stephen Costello as Rodolfo and Ailyn Pérez as Mimi. Summers notes, “After several years of trying to find the time, I am thrilled to finally accept Plácido Domingo's invitation to conduct in Los Angeles, and I look forward to exploring Puccini’s perennial masterpiece with such a fine young cast.”

Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival Announces Renewal of Contract with Philadelphia Orchestra Through 2015

The Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival is delighted to announce the renewal of its contract with The Philadelphia Orchestra for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons. One of its three world-class resident ensembles, The Philadelphia Orchestra enjoys a strong partnership with the Vail Music Festival, having appeared there every summer since 2007. The orchestra’s music director designate, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, makes his Vail Valley debut this July in the Festival’s 25th anniversary season.

“We have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to take our Philadelphia Sound to the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival since 2007,” said Philadelphia Orchestra Association President and CEO Allison Vulgamore. “It offers the orchestra musicians a breathtakingly beautiful setting and venue in which to make music, for audiences that are dedicated and passionate. Our new music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, is excited to join the orchestra in Vail this summer, and we look forward to continuing our fruitful relationship with our colleagues at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra has cultivated an extraordinary history of artistic leaders in its 112 seasons, including music directors Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph Eschenbach, and the orchestra’s current chief conductor, Charles Dutoit. Under such exceptional guidance, The Philadelphia Orchestra continues to serve as an unwavering standard of excellence in the classical music world.

Debut Album from East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) to be Released on CD March 27th

Self-conducted Group of America’s Top String Players Brings Vibrancy and Virtuosity to Works by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Geminiani on eOne Music

“Passionate and refined are an unlikely pair of adjectives to use in the same breath to describe anything but, somehow, the words perfectly characterize the playing of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra.” Washington Post

On the eve of the March 27th CD release of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra’s eOne debut album, the group of vibrant and gifted young string players who have performed together as ECCO for more than a decade will appear at New York’s (Le) Poisson Rouge. The self-titled album of works by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and variations on Geminiani’s “La Follia” by ECCO violinist Michi Wiancko was originally released exclusively at iTunes Music Store on January 7th and will be available everywhere on March 27th. The virtuosity and spirit of the music-making on the album shows why some of the top young solo, chamber and orchestral musicians in the country take time from their 'day jobs' to come together a few times a year to make music. The performance at Le Poisson Rouge will be at 6:30 on Monday, March 26th and will include music from the new recording along with works by Beethoven, Stravinsky and Kenji Bunch (complete details below). The concert will be available for live online streaming on March 26th at www.concertwindow.com/lpr.

“La Follia” makes ECCO shine; Tchaikovsky's Serenade lets it soar; and Shostakovich's Sinfonia forces it to explore the dark side of human nature,” says ECCO member Raman Ramakrishnan, cellist of the Daedalus Quartet. “Together, the pieces highlight an ensemble capable of expressing everything from the giddiest joy to the most desolate pain, from coquettish gestures to savage attacks. At times, a single player in the rear of a section instigates the subtlest color change; at other times, every member of the group joins together to form a many-bowed behemoth that produces a sheer wall of sound.”

ECCO’s debut album begins with Tchaikovsky’s passionate Serenade for Strings in C Major, in which the listener is drawn into a deep, varied, and lush sound world. Offering thoughtful tempos and well-paced dynamic and textural development, the charisma and energy of the music leaps out of the recording. Next is Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony in C minor, a dark and moving commentary on the harshness of life under Soviet rule. Demonstrating an enormous color palate as a group, ECCO utilizes ferocious attacks and shimmering sustain to provide a glimpse into the terror, fear and melancholy that characterized life under a totalitarian regime. Last on the record is the exuberant and surprising "La Follia" Variations for String Orchestra, arranged by ECCO’s own Michi Wiancko after Francesco Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso No. 12 in D minor. The New York Times has praised the piece for having “taken on contemporary techniques, jazzy harmonies, subtle percussion and exuberant stomps.”

Harumi Rhodes, ECCO member and violinist of Trio Cavatina, expresses: “This debut album culminates our first decade of birth, friendship, and discovery and launches us forward into vaster waters. As we set sail on this journey, we are filled with purpose and excitement that we may share our musical voice with the rest of the world."

Ukrainian Phenom Valentina Lisitsa Debuts with Colorado Symphony

Pianist Valentina Lisitsa joins conductor Mark Wigglesworth and Colorado Symphony in performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3; Colorado Symphony shines in Schubert's "Great" Symphony No. 9

Music lovers should prepare for magnificent performances when Ukrainian piano phenomenon Valentina Lisitsa and acclaimed British conductor Mark Wigglesworth join the Colorado Symphony for concerts featuring Rachmaninoff's passionate Piano Concerto No. 3 and Schubert's "Great" Symphony No. 9 on Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17. Lisitsa makes her Colorado Symphony debut in these concerts, which promise not only keyboard fireworks but also a truly brilliant performance from start to finish. The concerts also spotlight Schubert's extraordinary Ninth Symphony, a work that remained unperformed for more than a decade after his death. When a young composer named Robert Schumann discovered it buried in a pile of manuscripts and shared it with fellow composer Felix Mendelssohn, one of the greatest works in the repertoire was – at last – heard by the public. Tickets are on sale now and start at $34. To learn more about this concert and the Colorado Symphony, visit www.coloradosymphony.org.

Lisitsa, who has a large international fan base thanks in part to her YouTube Channel (more than 28 million views, with an average of 50,000 listeners every day) has already established a reputation as a favorite of audiences and critics alike. In its review of her concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: "Lisitsa constantly made her scintillating technique the servant of her poetic conception of the piece." On her Ravinia performances, Chicago Classical wrote: "She played with flair and thoughtful insight as well as intense delight, racing through Liszt’s most manic, densely ornamented pages with blinding speed and machine-tooled precision. It was the kind of concert that left the audience exhilarated but exhausted. Lisitsa, on the other hand, finally wrapping things up with a serenely dappled Für Elise for an encore, looked like she could have played all night." For Colorado Symphony concertgoers, the choice of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto is particularly appropriate for Lisitsa's debut: Rachmaninoff composed it for his first tour of the United States during the 1909/10 season. It became a beloved cornerstone of his concert repertory after emigrating from Russia and settling in California.

Pianist Inon Barnatan's newest recording, Darknesse Visible, to be released on April 10

Darknesse Visible, pianist Inon Barnatan’s debut recording for Avie Records, will be released in the U.S. on Tuesday, April 10 and in Europe on Monday, April 23. This recording brings together colorful works by British and French composers which are inspired by literature and evocatively explore the interconnection of darkness and light.

The works on the CD are: Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit and La valse, opening and closing the CD respectively; Thomas Adès’s Darknesse Visible, from which the recording takes its name; Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque; and Ronald Stevenson’s Fantasy on Peter Grimes, based on themes from Benjamin Britten’s opera.

Mr. Barnatan, described by the London’s Evening Standard as “a true poet of the keyboard”, explains why he chose the CD title: “When British composer Thomas Adès titled his piano piece Darknesse Visible he was remembering two towering English figures: John Milton, who used the phrase "Darkness Visible" to describe the fires of hell in his epic poem, "Paradise Lost", as well as John Dowland, on whose song of 1610, In Darknesse Let Me Dwell, Adés based his own piano piece. Adés’s piece highlights the Dowland song not by illuminating it, but rather by emphasizing its darkest qualities. With a simple change of spelling (Darknesse instead of Darkness) Adés alludes to both Milton and Dowland, and thus simultaneously suggests the inspiration and its transformation. The title represents some of the aspects I find most fascinating about the music on this album. All the pieces are inspired by stories or poems; and in all of them the dark and the light are intertwined.”

In his liner notes for the recording (abridged below), Mr. Barnatan outlines the literary origins and inspirations of the other works on the recording. To further illustrate the themes of the works on this recording, Mr. Barnatan is collaborating with videographer Tristan Cook and artist Zach Smithey on a series of short video vignettes that will be available to view at the time of release in April at www.inonbarnatan.com and on YouTube.