North/South Chamber Orchestra to Perform Works by Composers from England, Germany, Italy and the US

The North/South Chamber Orchestra continues its 44th consecutive season on February 4, 2024, performing four recent works by composers from England, Germany, Italy and the US.

The free-admission concert will start at 7 PM and end around 8:20 PM. It will be held at the intimate and acoustically superior auditorium of Christ & St Stephen's Church (120 West 69th St - between Broadway and Columbus) on Manhattan's Upper West Side. First come, first served. No registration or ticket required.

Wearing a mask while in the auditorium is optional, but strongly encouraged.

The program will introduce to the New York City public compositions by Aaron Alter, Peter Aviss, Lelio Di Tullio, and Dorothee Eberhardt. Soloists will include violinist Claudia Schaer and clarinetist Megan Shumate Beaumont. Max Lifchitz will lead the ensemble.

North/South Consonance's concert activities are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support from the BMI Foundation, the Music Performance Trust Fund, the Zethus Fund, and numerous generous individual donors is gratefully acknowledged.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS and THEIR MUSIC

California-based Aaron Alter trained at Northwestern and Princeton Universities. His works have been performed throughout the West Coast while garnering awards from the American Prize Competition and the Global Music Awards. Alter's Vival-Departures fuses stylistic elements characteristic of Antonio Vivaldi's music with features derived from Blues and Rock music.

British composer/conductor Peter Aviss was educated at the Guildhall School of Music. A Composition Fellow of Trinity College, Aviss is founder and music director of the Oare String Orchestra. Cast in the traditional fast-slow-fast mold, his Clarinet Concerto was commissioned by Peter Cigleris. A highly lyrical work, its musical language offers both the soloist and ensemble ample opportunity for technical display.

Lelio Di Tullio is on the faculty of the Lorenzo Perosi Conservatory in Campobasso, Italy. His compositions have been performed throughout Europe and South America. For three seasons, he served as composer-in-residence for Mexico's Viva Vivaldi Festival. His Al Horizonte (Towards the Horizon) was commissioned by the Guelfo Nalli Festival in Supino, Italy. Inspired by Jose Luis Borges' poem "Al horizonte de un suburbio," the music attempts to evoke the boundless Argentinean pampas which Borges sees as a metaphor of life and death.

Dorothee Eberhardt studied philosophy, musicology and composition both in her native Germany and in England. She has received commissions from renowned musicians and institutions, while her works have earned prizes at several international competitions. Her recently completed Streicher Pur (Only Strings) is a three-movement that explores the diverse timbric possibilities inherent in string instruments.

MEET THE PERFORMERS

Canadian Violinist Claudia Schaer is recognized internationally for her beautiful, intelligent and refreshing interpretations, her versatility as violinist and musician, and her intriguing programming. Ms. Schaer concertizes extensively throughout Europe and North America, including many all-solo-violin performances spanning the repertoire from Bach through Paganini, Ysaÿe, Bartók, Boulez, Honegger, Eckhardt-Grammaté, Peterson, Contreras, Semegen, Lifchitz, and Tower, among others. Her international commitment extends further to China, where she has given masterclasses in Guangzhou, Nanning, and Guilin, and is a Guest Professor of the Guangxi Arts College.

Clarinetist Megan Shumate Beaumont joined the Wicked orchestra on Broadway in October 2022. A sought-after freelance musician, she has performed with the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, and in Broadway's Phantom of the Opera. A native of West Virginia, Ms. Shumate-Beaumont earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University and also holds degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Florida State University.

A dynamic figure in America's musical life, Max Lifchitz was born in México City and has lived in New York since 1966. Active as composer, pianist, and conductor, Lifchitz was awarded first prize in the 1976 International Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of Twentieth Century Music held in Holland. The San Francisco Chronicle described him as "a stunning, ultra-sensitive pianist" while The New York Times praised Mr. Lifchitz for his "clean, measured and sensitive performances." The American Record Guide remarked that "Mr. Lifchitz is as good on the podium as he is behind the piano."

Albums featuring the North/South Chamber Orchestra are available for
streaming via YouTube @

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxGZWUfqPi8&list=OLAK5uy_nogbp-m9wXQs9RYNHdI4PlDgT-3gw1QfU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VIfAQ3e61A&list=OLAK5uy_kV8D24x7vXjZAhkLq8tuJ2bsLBPB6ezo0

For the complete North/South concert series schedule, please visit

www.northsouthmusic.org

To stream, download and/or purchase the more than sixty North/South compact discs, please go to

https://music.apple.com/us/search?term=North%20South%20Chamber%20Orchestra

Max Lifchitz

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