Bloomingdale School of Music Celebrates Women's History Month With CELEBRATING JOAN TOWER!

Come celebrate the legendary American composer Joan Tower. Regarded as one of the most important American composers living today, Joan Tower will join Bloomingdale School of Music faculty members violinist Claudia Schaer, bassoonist Gili Sharett and pianist Marc Peloquin in a celebration of her birthday and a tribute to her unique and beautiful artistry. Joan Tower has made lasting contributions to musical life for the past half century. With her iconic Silver Ladders, she was the first woman to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award, and the recording of her Made In America won three different Grammy awards.

This free concert on March 29th at 7:00pm continues the Bloomingdale School of Music's ongoing annual community concert series which highlights new music and diverse composers presenting the compositions of contemporary living composers and the work of women composers. The concert will be followed by a birthday reception held at the David Greer Recital Hall, located at the school's home site at 323 West 108th Street, between Broadway and 108th Street in Manhattan. Seating is limited.

About the Artists

Marc Peloquin, Piano, Series Curator - A New York Times critic recently declared that Marc Peloquin's "energetic approach yielded a performance that was refreshing and alive. Individual lines rang out with remarkable definition and clarity." The pianist, called an "innovative ivory tickler' by Time Out New York, has appeared in a wide range of venues. In New City he has performed at such venues as The Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Look & Listen Festival, Town Hall, Miller Theater at Columbia University, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall and Bargemusic in New York City. He has also performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C, The Chicago Cultural Center, The Round Top Festival in Texas, The Gardner Museum in Boston and at the San Francisco Conservatory. In Europe he has performed at the American Academy in Rome, the Darmstadt International Festival in Germany and the Cultural Center of Roubaix, France. In addition to his longstanding piano partnership with Roberto Hidalgo as the Split Second Piano Ensemble, Marc Peloquin also collaborates with the Pulitzer Prize winning American composer/pianist David Del Tredici, performing and recording his music. July 2012 saw the release of Gotham Glory, the first in a series of four recordings Marc is completing on the Naxos label of the complete piano works of the legendary composer. Gramophone's review of the disc stated: "A longtime Del Tredici champion and associate, Peloquin imbues these composer-supervised performances with idiomatic aplomb and a powerful yet flexible technique."

Gili Sharett - Bassoon, - Bassoonist Gili Sharett has performed with the Israel Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York City Ballet, American Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony and American Ballet Theatre. In addition, she has been the 2nd bassoonist of the Greenwich Symphony since 2005. Ms. Sharett has performed with Sylvan Winds, Quintet of the Americas, New York Chamber Soloists and has been featured with such jazz groups such as The Rafi Malkiel Ensemble, Dan Aran, Jason Lindner and Uri Sharlin's Dog Cat. Among her Broadway orchestral credits are The Phantom of the Opera, King and I, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, South Pacific, West Side Story, A Little Night Music, The Frogs and City Center's Encores! She also played in the Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of The Light in the Piazza. Her festival appearances include the Verbier Music Festival, Winter in Jerusalem, Vermont Mozart Festival and Bard SummerScape. Her honors include an America-Israel Cultural Foundation Award (1993-1995) and a solo recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill recital in 2005.Ms. Sharett earned her BA at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv Magna Cum Laude, and completed her doctoral studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. As an educator she is on the faculty of CUNY Queens College and The Bloomingdale School of Music.

Claudia Schaer, Violinist - With beautiful and intelligent interpretations, alongside intriguing programming, the versatile recitalist, chamber musician and soloist Claudia Schaer meets with accolades from audiences and musicians alike. Her recent recording of the Bach Sonatas and Partias for solo violin is hailed for its "elegant, light touch and lucid timbre ... a wonderful performance" (Japan Bach Review) and unique "small softness at the beginning of the bowstroke" (American Record Guide). In the all-solo-violin vein, Dr. Schaer has concertized extensively throughout Europe and North America in the all-solo-violin, spanning the repertoire from Bach through works by Paganini, Ysaÿe, Bartók, Boulez, Honegger, Eckhardt-Grammaté, Peterson, Contreras, Semegen, and Lifchitz, and others. Claudia Schaer is a champion of new music, inspiring many composers to write for her. This past season, she gave debuts of concerti by Andrew Thomas, Lan-Lin Winnie Yang, and Margarita Zelenaia, and the New York, American, and world premières of countless compositions, including the Lifchitz Violin Concerto, David Farrell's Re-Callings, and Zosha di Castri's La Forma dello Spazio.

Now in its 54th year, BSM has served more than 80,000 children and adults through group classes, private instruction, and performance opportunities in classical, jazz, and rock music. Each week, over 650 students of all ages participate in a wide range of music making, including early childhood classes, a comprehensive pre-college program, free community concerts, and internet-based music programs. With accessibility central to its mission, more than 20% of Bloomingdale's student body receives financial aid and scholarship assistance annually. For more information on Bloomingdale School of Music's programs and concerts, visit bsmny.org, call the office at 212-663-6021, or email info@bsmny.org

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