In So Many (Musical) Words… Plays WMP Concert Hall 11/16

At 7:30pm on Wednesday, November 16, Gil Morgenstern's celebrated Reflections Series continues the 2011-2012 season in its intimate home, WMP Concert Hall (31 East 28th Street, NYC). Morgenstern, the series' violinist and artistic director, and recently praised for his "rich, penetrating tone" and "hauntingly beautiful interpretation" (New York Times) leads the evening in a program entitled In So Many (Musical) Words...Morgenstern will be joined by acclaimed pianist and 2011 Avery Fisher Career Grant Recipient Benjamin Hochman.

Morgenstern explains his inspiration for the program, saying, "J.S. Bach took 100 measures to be satisfied with his Fugue in G Minor for Solo Violin; Anton Webern needed only nine measures in a movement from his Four Pieces for Violin and Piano. Lukas Foss wrote four times as much material as György Kurtág did for similarly inspired works based on folk melodies. And what about Brahms? Was his expansive, almost symphonic, Sonata for Violin and Piano in D Minor written by ‘a giftless bastard' (Tchaikovsky) or by a ‘sentimental voluptuary; a composer with the brains of a third rate village policeman' (Shaw)?

This evening's program compares and contrasts composers' expressive needs and their resulting musical vocabularies. Divided into four parts, part one includes: Bach's Adagio from his G Minor Solo Sonata, Kurtag's Hommage à J.S. Bach and his Perpetuum Mobile, and Bach's Fugue from his G Minor Solo Sonata. Part two includes: Kurtág's Fanfare and his Im Volkston (Népdalféle), Foss' "Early Song" from Three American Pieces, Kurtág's Carenza Jig, and Foss' "Composer's Holiday" from Three American Pieces. Part three includes: Webern's Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op.7. Part four includes: Brahms' Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano, Op. 108 in D Minor.

The Reflections Series debut season at WMP Concert Hall last year enjoyed tremendous success, with every concert filled to capacity. By placing musical works in their respective artistic, historic and social contexts, Morgenstern invites audiences to travel with him behind the scenes into composers' creative processes. Using both existing and original works, and through the collaboration of a superb ensemble of creative and performing artists representing all art forms, Reflections programs present works that both reflect upon one another and invite the audience to reflect anew on universal themes. The 2011-2012 Reflections Series will also be presented in Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, at An Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone, North Carolina, and in various cities throughout Italy, France, and England.

A sneak peek at February's Reflections Series Concert:

A TRIO OF DUOS
Gil Morgenstern, violinist and artistic director
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at WMP Concert Hall (31 East 28th Street, NYC) 7:30pm

A Trio of Duos reunites violinist Gil Morgenstern and cellist Darrett Adkins, whose recording of duos by Zoltán Kodály and Maurice Ravel shot to the top of the classical charts when it was first released on the Engine Company Records label in 2008.The CD was a New York Times Critic's Choice in which Morgenstern and Adkins were hailed as "brilliant and musically curious artists." It was the No. 1 classical CD for over a month on eMusic.com, the largest online store for independent music in the world, and was one of the top ten best selling classical music albums on Amazon.com. The program will also include the violin and cello duos of Reinhold Glière.

About Gil Morgenstern: Acclaimed for his artistry and technical brilliance, violinist Gil Morgenstern is devoted to exploring and expanding the possibilities for inventive classical music programming. His vision is to present the audience with a more complete concert experience, meticulously curated from start to finish, by organically integrating music with other artistic disciplines in innovative and unexpected ways. The New York Times describes Morgenstern as a, "brilliant and musically curious artist."

In addition to his work as artistic director of the Reflections Series, Morgenstern is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of Nine Circles Chamber Theatre, a creative organization dedicated to exploring the collaborative nature of inter-disciplinary performance, and of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, a diverse chamber group specializing in Classical, Romantic and contemporary works of mixed instrumentation.

A violinist with a long history of performing in the world's great concert halls, Morgenstern's career has taken him to international venues including Wigmore Hall, London; Cultural Center Concert Hall, Hong Kong; the American Academy, Rome; Salone dei Cinquecento, Florence; El Teatro Sucre, Quito; Arts Centre and State Theatre, Melbourne, Australia. He has also toured the U.S. extensively, performing in recital and as guest soloist with many leading orchestras including the symphonies of St. Louis, Baltimore, Louisville, Indianapolis, Denver, Milwaukee, New Jersey and North Carolina. New York Times has hailed his playing as "a perfect demonstration of supreme ability;" "a rare poet of the violin" reported The South China Morning Post; "Morgenstern played a program that tested every part of a violinist's equipment and he did it all beautifully," wrote The Washington Post.

Morgenstern has also shared the stage with such eminent musicians as Lynn Harrell, Philippe Entremont, André-Michel Schub, Jeffrey Kahane, Sharon Isbin, and Heinz Holliger, and has collaborated with United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, and performance artist Laurie Anderson.

Morgenstern's discography includes works by Beethoven, Fauré, Copland, Ravel, Kodaly, Sessions and the award-winning American composer George Tsontakis. His latest recording, 20th Century Duos for Violin and Cello, was the No. 1 classical CD for over a month on eMusic, the largest online store for independent music in the world, and was one of the top ten best selling classical music albums on Amazon. Of the CD The New York Times raved, "the music is terrific and the performances compelling on this surprisingly exciting and excellently engineered recording." Morgenstern records for the MMC, Engine Company and Koch International Classics labels, and can regularly be heard on National Public Radio and classical music radio stations across the country.

Morgenstern's many honors include a command performance at the White House, a performance at the inaugural festivities for President Clinton, and a citation from the floor of the House of Representatives entered in the Congressional Record for outstanding service in the arts.

Highlights of Morgenstern's recent seasons include interdisciplinary performances with the Julliard Dance Company at Lincoln Center, and the Brooklyn Ballet; the premieres of staged versions of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Venus and Adonis with Claire Bloom and John Neville, and Samuel Beckett at 100 at New York City's 92nd Street Y and at Harvard University. Morgenstern's performance in the Nine Circles Chamber Theatre production of When Samson Met Delilah toured Holland to rave reviews and his recent appearance in Toronto was broadcast throughout Canada on CBC. He also appeared as violin soloist in U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky's translation of Dante's Inferno, which toured the country and was broadcast on PBS and NPR, for which it received a Peabody nomination.

Morgenstern lives in New York City. For more information, visit www.gilmorgenstern.com.

About Benjamin Hochman: Winner of 2011's prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, pianist Benjamin Hochman has achieved widespread acclaim for his effortless and thoughtful performances as an accomplished orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. After his successful recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he became a strong musical presence in New York through his concerts with the New York Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra, his Carnegie Hall debut with the Israel Philharmonic and appearances at the 92nd Street Y. Mr. Hochman has performed with the Chicago, Pittsburgh, American, Cincinnati, Houston Symphony and Istanbul State Orchestras, the Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, New Jersey and Portland Symphonies, the New York String Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada under eminent conductors such as Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Leon Botstein, Nir Kabaretti, Jaime Laredo, Jun Märkl, Daniel Meyer, Arthur Post, Lucas Richman, Bramwell Tovey, Kaspar Zehnder and Pinchas Zukerman. He has appeared in his native Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tel Aviv Soloists, the Raanana and Jerusalem Symphonies, and has joined conductor Pinchas Zukerman and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a Mozart Piano Concerto project with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. For more information, visit http://benjaminhochman.com.