Two Visions: Music from Costa Rica and the US at Tenri Cultural Institute

The North/South Consonance Ensemble under the direction of Max Lifchitz continues its 44th consecutive season on Sunday afternoon, March 10 performing a free admission concert performing three works by composers from Costa Rica and the US.

Featured will be recent works by Alejandro Cardona, Daniel Kessner, and Max Lifchitz.

The in-person event will start at 3 PM and will conclude around 4:30 PM.

The concert will be held at the intimate and delightful auditorium of the Tenri Cultural Institute (43A W 13th St, New York, NY 10011) in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

Seating is limited. First come, first served.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC

Costa Rican composer and guitarist Alejandro Cardona studied at the Utrecht School for the Arts in Holland and at the National University of Mexico. He recently retired from his position as Professor of Composition and Theory at the National University of Costa Rica to devote his energies to composing full-time. His works have been performed throughout Latin America and as part of several European Festivals.

Cardona's Anancy is named after the trickster character that appears in West African, African American and West Indian folklore. Often depicted as a spider, Anancy is best known for his ability to outsmart and triumph over more powerful opponents through his use of cunning, creativity, and wit. A collection of ten contrasting pieces, Cardona's music employs clever transformations of Caribbean dance rhythms and melodic twists.

Daniel Kessner attended the University of California, Los Angeles before joining the faculty of the Department of Music at California State University, Northridge, where in addition to teaching composition and theory, he directed its highly regarded New Music Ensemble. His works have been performed throughout the US and abroad by among others, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble of New York, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Utrecht Symphony and the El Salvador National Symphony. Kessner's creative endeavors have
garnered prestigious national and international awards including the Queen Marie-José International Composition Prize in Geneva, two BMI Awards as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts International.

Kessner's Two Visions is a highly virtuosic and dramatic composition in two movements. The Los Angeles Time described the composition as follows: "the music often evokes Far Eastern sonorities and rhythmic displacement and follows a sensuous ebb and flow of densities. Taut unison lines give way to polyrhythmic rippling effects, and the players weave in and out of degrees of synchronization in a work of generous inventive spirit."

Max Lifchitz is active as composer, pianist, and conductor. He 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, “Mr. Lifchitz is as good on the podium as he is behind the piano.”

Lifchitz's Eulogy for Tyre was written in response to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, TN on January 27, 2023. The music aims to convey the anger and frustration felt after watching the video evincing the uncalled-for brutality that caused Tyre’s untimely passing. It also wishes to communicate a sincere hope for social justice and racial equality. The work's eclectic musical language employs harsh harmonies, disjunct melodies, violent percussive clusters, and quotes from African American spirituals.

Active since 1980, North/South Consonance, Inc. is devoted to the promotion of music by composers from the Americas and the world. Its activities are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; as well as grants from the Music Performance Fund, the BMI Foundation and the generosity of numerous individual donors.