Spring Concerts Announced At ASPECT Foundation For Music & Arts

Praised by Epoch Times "a very welcome addition to the chamber music landscape of New York, the Aspect Foundation for Music & Arts eagerly presents the latter half of its second New York City season, with illuminating performances, underscoring a different thematic concept each evening. With appearances by many of the most prominent performers and musical scholars of today, the Aspect Foundation has quickly become a favorite series among New York's classical concert-goers. The Foundation is housed by the elegant Italian Academy at Columbia University, further instilling Aspect's core sentiments of curiosity, intellectualism, and deriving pleasure from art.

On February 7, Russian violinist Philippe Quint leads the Illustrated Talk in a program which relates Taneyev and Arensky to their more recognizable contemporary, Tchaikovsky. As a part of the "Hidden Gems" series, "Taneyev and Arensky...In Tchaikovsky's Shadow" explores the dark and grippingly dramatic Piano Quintet of Sergei Taneyev, once a music student of Tchaikovsky and a lifelong friend, as well as Anton Arenksy's Second String Quartet written as a memorial and tribute to the great Tchaikovsky.

Taneyev and Arensky...In Tchaikovsky's Shadow
Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 7:30PM
Alexander Kobrin, piano
Philippe Quint, violin
Jiin Yang, violin
Milena Pajaro van de Stadt, viola
Zlatomir Fung, cello
Brook Speltz, cello
Illustrated Talk by Philippe Quint

TANEYEV Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 30
ARENSKY Second String Quartet No. 2 in A minor

Of the many who have speculated the final bars of J. S. Bach's immeasurable and unfinished work, The Art of Fugue, the ensemble Fretwork offers their insights on a restored closing passage. On April 12, Fretwork's Richard Boothby, viola da gamba player and founding member of the ensemble, theorizes whether Bach's death or another cause resulted in the incomplete final movement, and delves into the insurmountable genius of the undisputed greatest contrapuntal composer in musical history

The Art of Fugue
Thursday, April 12, 2018 at 7:30PM
FRETWORK
Asako Morikawa
Reiko Ichise
Sam Stadlen
Emily Ashton
Richard Boothby
Illustrated Talk by Richard Boothby

JS BACH The Art of Fugue

By popular demand, BBC 3 newscaster, writer, and composer Stephen Johnson returns to curate "Weimar: The Cradle of Musical Talent" on April 19. From the time of Bach through Strauss in the early twentieth century, the astonishing amount of musical output originating in Weimar is the discussion in a performance which juxtaposes Bach with later contemporaries, Mendelssohn and Liszt.

Weimar: The Cradle of Musical Talent
Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7:30PM
Vsevolod Dvorkin, piano
Sergey Antonov, cello
Illustrated Talk by Stephen Johnson

BACH Cello Suite No. 1 in G major
MENDELSSOHN Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major
LISZT Piano Sonata in B minor

The culminating performance of the season on May 14 is a part of the "Painting Music" series; "Fête Galante: The Anatomy of Melancholy" recalls the birth of the painting term, fête galante, created for the artist Antoine Watteau in his depictions of chicly dressed figures, romantically and often erotically parading among elegant outdoor scenery. As artistic movements historically tend to do, this concept transpired in the musical trends of the time, with composers such a Couperin and Rameau relishing the opportunity to reject the stodginess prevalent in Versaille prior to its fall. Four Nations Ensemble and its member Tav Holmes join soprano Sherezade Panthaki, highlighting the ways in which the visual arts can inform a musical movement.

Fête Galante: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Monday, May 14, 2018 at 7:30PM
Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
Four Nations Ensemble
Illustrated Talk by Tav Holmes

Works by COUPERIN, RAMEAU, CLÉRAMBAULT, and LECLAIR

Italian Academy
1161 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10027

About ASPECT Foundation
ASPECT Foundation for Music and Arts was established to introduce and promote a novel concert format - "Music in Context." We aim to transform a traditionally auditory experience into a fusion of various art forms. Our objective is two-fold - to support and promote the artists, and to enlighten and inspire the audience through an intellectually charged collaboration between musicians and speakers.

Our goal is to create a thought-provoking amalgam of performance, lecture, and discussion; and to present not only a recital, but an inspiring synthesis of music, art history and social culture. Ultimately, we strive to forge a connection between the artist, the music and the audience. It's more than a concert...