Star-Telegram: 'Variations on a Theme of Django Reinhardt by Leo Brouwer' has 'wistful melody'

[Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)]

Life & Arts>Arts Friday, Jul 31, 2009
“Marko Feri offers new classical guitar music that’s full of personality”

By CHRIS SHULLSpecial to the Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH — “You would characterize Marko Feri’s solo guitar concert Thursday as classical. But pieces by four living composers owed a huge debt to jazz, pop, folk, even rock — contemporary influences heartily embraced by today’s guitarists and composers. Each piece on the program at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth was serious and intelligently presented by Feri, a Slovenian who lives and teaches in Italy. Three of the works are sonatas and the fourth a theme and variations — epitomes of classical forms. But the sound and feel of the music was pop, its coherence conveyed through comfortable chord changes and rippling, repeated 'licks' familiar to any jazz player or garage-band rocker. Dissonant 'outside' notes brightened the colors and sharpened the musical poetry. Under Feri’s sensitive fingers, liveliness prevailed; he charged moody introspection with lovely stillness.”

“In Variations on a Theme of Django Reinhardt by Leo Brouwer of Cuba — the most renowned composer on the program — Feri brought delicate but decisive machinations to the patterns of the wistful melody. [The Afro-Cuban composer, guitarist and conductor Leo Brouwer (b. 1939) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]
Leo Brouwer
Afro-Cuban Composer
Variations on a Theme of Django Reinhardt
Marko Feri
Slovenian Guitarist
Classical Guitar

John Howland: 'Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz'

James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington are profiled at AfriClassical.com
University of Michigan Press
“Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz”
John Howland
“Explores a little-discussed yet truly hybrid American musical tradition lost between the canons of authentic jazz and classical music
About the Book
The story of the African American contributions to the symphonic jazz vogue of the 1920s through the 1940s.
During the early decades of the twentieth century symphonic jazz involved an expansive family of music that emulated, paralleled, and intersected the jazz tradition. Though now largely forgotten, symphonic jazz was both a popular music—arranging tradition and a repertory of hybrid concert works, both of which reveled in the mildly irreverent interbreeding of white and black and high and low music. While the roots of symphonic jazz can be traced to certain black ragtime orchestras of the teens, the idiom came to maturation in the music of 1920s white dance bands.

“Through a close examination of the music of Duke Ellington and James P. Johnson, Ellington Uptown uncovers compositions that have usually fallen in the cracks between concert music, jazz, and popular music. It also places the concert works of these two iconic figures in context through an investigation both of related compositions by black and white peers and of symphonic jazz—style arrangements from a diverse number of early sound films, Broadway musicals, Harlem nightclub floor shows, and select interwar radio programs.

“Both Ellington and Johnson were part of a close-knit community of several generations of Harlem musicians. Older figures like Will Marion Cook, Will Vodery, W. C. Handy, and James Reese Europe were the generation of black musicians that initially broke New York entertainment's racial barriers in the first two decades of the century. By the 1920s, Cook, Vodery, and Handy had become mentors to Harlem's younger musicians. This generational connection is a key for understanding Johnson’s and Ellington's ambitions to use the success of Harlem's white-oriented entertainment trade as a springboard for establishing a black concert music tradition based on Harlem jazz and popular music.” “Visit the author's website at:
http://web.mac.com/jlhowland/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html”

John Howland, Ph.D.
Rutgers University Professor
Duke Ellington
James P. Johnson
Birth of Concert Jazz
University of Michigan Press

Public Arts: Ellington “wrote serious pieces, suites and concertos including, 'Black, Brown, and Beige.'"

[Top: Ellington: Four Symphonic Works (Black, Brown and Beige; Three Black Kings; New World a-Comin'; Harlem); American Composers Orchestra; Maurice Peress, conductor; Nimbus 2511 (2008).
Bottom: Black, Brown and Beige: A Duke Ellington Tone Parallel to the American Negro, as played by the Composer and his Famous Orchestra at his Carnegie Hall concerts; RCA Victor DC 39 (1944)]

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was an African American composer, pianist and bandleader who wrote both jazz and classical music. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com.
PublicBroadcasting.net
Public Arts
“From Duke Ellington to Artie Shaw: 'Songwriting Bandleaders' of the 1930s
Innovative, far-reaching, elegant, urbane — are all words used to describe Duke Ellington. Ellington is widely recognized as the most important composer of early 20th century jazz. His long list of compositions include jazz standards like, 'Mood Indigo,' 'It Don't Mean a Thing' and 'Sophisticated Lady.' He wrote serious pieces, suites and concertos including, 'Black, Brown, and Beige.' And he was the first black composer commissioned to write the sound track for a major motion picture — Anatomy of a Murder in 1959. Becky Kilgore performs a trio of Ellington's lesser known pieces, including his 1946 composition, 'I Didn't Know About You.'" “Text based on script by Margaret Pick Copyright 2009 Riverwalk Jazz.”

Duke Ellington
African American Composer
Public Arts
Suites & Concertos
Black,Brown & Beige
Classical Composer

Support Sphinx by Taking the Community Foundation Arts & Culture Challenge on Aug. 18!

[Alivia, a Sphinx Overture student at her weekly lesson]

GIVE on "A" Major Scale!
Support Sphinx by Taking the Community Foundation Arts & Culture Challenge on Aug. 18!
Help Us Continue to Build Diversity in Classical Music by Giving Online!
Beginning August 18 at 10:00a.m. your online donations at http://www.cfsem.org will support Sphinx like never before-- ensuring that underserved youth have access to music education and that classical music will reflect cultural diversity in the everyday lives of young people. We are excited to announce that the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, through the Community Foundation Challenge - Arts & Culture, is providing up to $1 million to match general operating gifts to support participating arts and cultural organizations including, the Sphinx Organization!!

A match of $1 will be provided for every $2 contributed online. This means your gift of $50 will become $75. Support Sphinx programs at the $1000 level, and the Community Foundation will match it with and additional $500. Even a gift of $25 will be matched, and provide one lesson for an aspiring student in your local area. Matching Funds will be awarded on a "first gift, first match" basis. The matching program will end as soon as the $1 Million of match funds are gone. With dozens of organization eligible to participate in this challenge, the matching funds will go quickly!Beginning August 18, at 10:00 a.m. gifts for the Community Foundation Challenge can be made online to support Sphinx and other participating arts and cultural organizations. Through the website, donors can choose one or more organizations to support using a simple menu to locate organizations participating in the challenge.

Gifts must be made online by credit card or e-check and can range from $25 to $10,000 per contributor, per organization. Only donations will be matched- not pledges. For more details you can visit http://www.cfsem.org. Questions or Comments? Please contact Alison Piech by email: alison@sphinxmusic.org or by phone (313) 877-9100 ext. 709 at the Sphinx Organization.[The Founder/President of The Sphinx Organization is violinist Aaron P. Dworkin, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Sphinx Organization
Community Foundation Challenge
Arts and Culture
Online Donations
Matching Program Aug. 18
Diversity in Classical Music

Sodi Braide Plays Schubert This Week at Festival Pro Musica in France

[Sodi Braide: Franck, œuvres pour piano; Lyrinx\Talents LYR 249 (2006)]

AfriClassical has followed the exciting performance career of the Nigerian pianist Sodi Braide since 2007. Recently we asked if he was still touring for the French Government, and if he had any news. He replied on Sunday, July 26, 2009:

"Dear Bill, Thanks so much for writing. My apologies for this late reply, this summer has been (and is still) quite busy for me. I do not have any tours for the French government scheduled for the moment, but I do have quite a few concerts in France this summer, in different festivals, playing chamber music and recitals. I shall particularly be playing a lot of Schubert: I performed in a series of 6 concerts in May in Paris, presenting all Schubert's piano sonatas with 5 other pianists, and we shall be playing them again in a festival in the south of France this coming week.” “I hope you are doing well. All the best, Sodi."

Sodi's MySpace page shows the “Festival Pro Musica” in which he is performing opens today, July 28. A link to an audio sample of his playing can be found in the upper right corner of the blog. Sodi Braide now has a website in English and French:
http://www.sodibraide.com/index-EN.php

Sodi Braide
Nigerian Pianist
Festival Pro Musica
Franz Schubert
Complete Piano Sonatas
Paris Resident

WHPK-FM Airs & Streams Tenor Kenneth Tarver in Auber's Opera Comique 'Fra Diavolo' July 28

[Diavolo and Kenneth Tarver, Tenor]

Its website calls WHPK “a non-profit community radio station of the University of Chicago, broadcasting to Hyde Park and the South Side of Chicago for over 50 years.” Our friend Sergio Mims is an African American host of a classical music program on WHPK-FM. He sends this news:

“William hello! How are you doing? I wanted you and all your readers to know that this Tuesday (July 28) on my classical music radio show on WPHK-FM in Chicago I will be broadcasting a recording of Daniel Francois Esprit Auber's opera comique Fra Diavolo with the African American tenor Kenneth Tarver in the lead role and soprano Sumi Jo. A performance recorded earlier this year at the Opera Comique Theater in Paris in January 2009. My show is on WHPK-FM in Chicago (88.5 FM) and also can be heard on-line on http://www.whpk.org (12 noon – 3PM U.S. Central time).”

KennethTarver.com:
Kenneth Tarver is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Yale University School of Music. A Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner and former member of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Program, Tarver was also a member of the Staatstheater Stuttgart ensemble.

Kenneth Tarver has sung principal tenor roles for the Festival d'Art Lyrique d'Aix en Provence, the Edinburgh Festival, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Hamburgische Staatsoper, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Milano Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra, the Semperoper Dresden, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Kenneth Tarver
African American Tenor
Auber's Opera Comique
Fra Diavolo
Recorded in Paris 2009
WHPK-FM Chicago

Justin Holland, African American Guitarist, Arranger & Composer Born July 26, 1819

[Justin Holland (Photo Courtesy Douglas Back); American Pioneers of the Classic Guitar;
Douglas Back, guitar; Mento Music Press SMM 3023 (1994)]

"Justin Holland was born to free black parents in Norfolk County, Virginia on July 26, 1819," Barbara Clemenson writes in her article Justin Holland: Black Guitarist in the Western Reserve. Guitarist Douglas Back has made a recording which includes five works of the composer, American Pioneers of the Classic Guitar, Mento Music Press SMM 3023 (1994). His website is http://www.DouglasBack.com The CD can be ordered, or downloaded in MP3 format, at
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/douglasback2

The CD liner notes by Douglas Back tell us of two separate periods during which Justin Holland was a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, first for a year in 1841, when he was 22, and later for a shorter time in 1845. Douglas Back writes: “After returning to Oberlin in 1845, Holland married and soon moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he established himself as a teacher of guitar, mandolin, piano and flute, becoming the city's first black professional.” “Between the years 1848 and 1854 Holland participated as an assistant secretary and member of council at National and State Negro Conventions, where he worked alongside such noted activists as Frederick Douglass. He is known to have worked with the Underground Railroad...”

The liner notes continue: “ Although Holland seldom performed in public, he developed a national reputation as a composer and arranger for the guitar. To the average amateur guitarist of the day, his numerous arrangements made his a household name. Of his approximately 350 published works for the guitar, which include two acclaimed methods, only about one-third are extant.” “Justin Holland died at his son's home in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 24, 1887. His son, Justin Minor Holland and daughter, Claire Monteith Holland were also accomplished guitarists...” Donald Sauter informs us of Scraps From The Operas, an MP3 recording of 20 short pieces written by Justin Holland and performed by the JH Guitar Duo. The recording may be purchased at
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jhguitarduo

Prof. Clemenson tells us: “Maybe some day I will re-engage in the historical research on this fascinating man. I know I only scratched the surface, while learning just enough to pique greater interest, realizing that Holland would be a fascinating person to showcase in order to help all of us better understand many important threads in black history in the 19th century. Barbara Clemenson” [Justin Holland is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Justin Holland (1819-1887) African American Guitarist Douglas Back Donald Sauter American Pioneers of the Classic Guitar Barbara Clemenson

Scott Joplin's 'Treemonisha' Is Broadcast & Streamed by KDVS-FM, 2–4 AM Pacific Time July 26

[Scott Joplin's Treemonisha; Houston Grand Opera Original Cast Recording; Polygram 435709 (1992)]

Veteran broadcaster Ed Martin has a radio show, Cactus Corners, which airs Sunday morning on KDVS 90.3 FM, and streams on KDVS.org from 2:00 AM-4:00 AM Pacific Time, or 5:00 AM-7:00 AM Eastern Time Sunday. KDVS-FM is run by students at the University of California Davis. Ed has scheduled a complete performance of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha, the 1975 production of the Houston Grand Opera, for which Gunther Schuller produced the orchestration. The music will be heard on an original cast recording, Polygram 435709 (1992). The station's website has a page on Cactus Corners and Treemonisha,
http://kdvs.org/shows/view/show_id/862/date/2009-07-26/ It links to the libretto for Treemonisha. For those who miss the broadcast, it will be archived and available for listening for several months at KDVS.org.

The Scott Joplin page at AfriClassical.com explains Treemonisha was completed in 1910 but was first staged in January, 1972 in a concert performance. It was staged in Atlanta, Georgia by the Afro-American Music Workshop of Morehouse College and the Atlanta Symphony under Robert Shaw, conductor. The opera concludes with A Real Slow Drag. On January 30, 1972 The New York Times published a review by Harold C. Schonberg which said, in part: "This slow drag is amazing. Harmonically enchanting, full of the tensions of an entire race, rhythmically catching, it refuses to leave the mind. Talk about soul music!"

Scott Joplin
Treemonisha Opera
KDVS FM
Streamed on KDVS FM
University of California Davis
Cactus Corner Program Archive

Video Music and Gamez: William Grant Still's 'Africa' 'is close to being a symphony'

[William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony; Fort Smith Symphony; John Jeter, Conductor; Naxos 8.559174 (2005)]

On June 22, 2009 AfriClassical posted “Fort Smith Symphony Records Premieres of William Grant Still's 4^th & 5^th Symphonies on Naxos”. We wrote, in part: “The new disc is also a Naxos American Classics CD, and will feature William Grant Still's Symphony No. 4 (Autochthonous) (1947), Symphony No. 5 (Western Hemisphere) (1945, 1958) and Poem, for orchestra (1944) (12:30).” Today's post is a comment on the world premiere of Still's Africa (Symphonic Poem) (27:51) on the Fort Smith Symphony's earlier Naxos CD:
Video Music and Gamez
“William Grant Still - Afro-American Symphony • Africa
Posted by N on Friday, July 24th 2009

'With humble thanks to God, the Source of Inspiration.' Such is the inscription to be found on the scores of the works of William Grant Still, sometimes called 'The Dean of African-American Composers' and one of America’s most versatile musicians. African-American composer William Grant Still’s signature piece, Symphony No. 1 'Afro-American' is the only one of his many works that has seldom needed a recording. As such, it is a natural fit for Still’s entry in the Naxos American Classics series.

“However, Naxos has gone the extra mile for Still, including a key work never heard on record before, his symphonic poem Africa written between 1924 and 1930. Despite a widespread performance history gained in the wake of a successful 1931 launch by the redoubtable Howard Hanson and the Rochester Symphony, Africa was never published and ultimately withdrawn from circulation. It is hard to imagine why, as Africa is musically so very accomplished and attractive. It does spring from an idealized view of Africa common to African-Americans of the day, as expressed in the movement titles: 'Land of Peace,' 'Land of Romance,' and 'Land of Superstition.' It wasn’t until Baptist missionaries traveled to Africa that the continent’s other sides became apparent — a land of unending inter-tribal warfare, starvation, and poverty. Given the program of this symphonic poem, which is close to being a symphony, Still’s music is appropriately lush, dreamy, and owes something to the work of Ferde Grofé. By comparison, the 'Afro-American' is drawn from a more Dvorákian part of Still’s vocation. - AMG” [William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where a complete Works List by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma is also found]

William Grant Still
Africa (Symphonic Poem)
Fort Smith Symphony
John Jeter, Conductor
Naxos American Classics
Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American)

Puerto Rican Composer Juan Morel Campos (1857-1896) is Removed from AfriClassical.com

On June 23, 2009, Jose L. Rivera-Pietri of Ponce, Puerto Rico, the birthplace of Juan Morel Campos, wrote in the Guest Book at AfriClassical.com:
“I am very sorry to inform you that don Juan Morel Campos - the foremost Puertorican musician of the 19th century - was not Afro Caribbean. His father was a prominent notary public of Catalonian (Spanish) ascent and his mother while born in Mexico was also from a Spanish family. Morel Campos was born in a very handsome house right across Union Street from the Cathedral of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe in Ponce's Plaza de las Delicias. In 1857, the year of Morel's birth, only well to do persons could live in such centric and prominent addresses. This was mandated by law. Poor and Afro-Puertorican families were relegated to secondary streets and the outskirts of the city. If don Juan Morel Campos had been Afro-Puertorican this in no way would diminish his historic importance in our National culture. It just happens that he was not.”

We have subsequently reviewed the academic and reference sources which originally supported inclusion of Juan Morel Campos, and have also consulted the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago, http://www.colum.edu/cbmr Suzanne Flandreau, its Head Librarian and Archivist, informs us that Juan Morel Campos is not listed in the International Dictionary of Black Composers, edited by Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. and published by the CBMR in 1999, or in other “standard reference sources.” The web page on Juan Morel Campos has been removed from AfriClassical.com. We thank Jose L. Rivera-Pietri for his entry in the Guest Book.

Juan Morel Campos
Puerto Rican Composer
Composer of Danzas
Removed from AfriClassical.com
African Heritage
Center for Black Music Research

Irene Britton Smith, African American Composer Who Taught Reading in Chicago Schools for 40 Years

[Irene Britton Smith (1907-1999); Kaleidoscope: Music by African-American Women; Sonata for Violin and Piano, Irene Britton Smith, composer; Helen Walker-Hill, piano; Gregory Walker, violin; Leonarda 339 (1995)]

AfriClassical.com Launches Page on African American Composer Irene Britton Smith

Margaret Bonds was born in Chicago and Florence Price made it her adopted home town, but Irene Britton Smith (1907-1999) achieved a world-class music education in her spare time while devoting her life to teaching Reading in the Public Schools of her native Chicago for more than 40 years. Her exceptional success with the phono-visual method of teaching Reading made her a recognized specialist in Elementary Education. Today AfriClassical.com proudly launches a new web page on Irene Britton Smith, who was born in Chicago Dec. 22, 1907 and died in the city Feb. 15, 1999.

The principal source for the new AfriClassical.com page on Irene Britton Smith is the book From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music, written by Dr. Helen Walker-Hill and published by the University of Illinois Press (2007). Dr. Walker-Hill is a former member of the Piano faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder. She begins by explaining her purpose in interviewing Irene Britton Smith:

“Because she was reported to have known the composers Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, I contacted Irene Smith in the summer of 1989 and asked for an interview. She replied that, yes, she had known Margaret Bonds and Florence Price, and she would be willing to talk about them.” “Only in passing did it emerge that she herself composed. As she brought out her meticulously copied compositions, it became evident that hers was a highly trained and sensitive talent. She had learned her craft in relative obscurity during years of dedicated study with some of the leading musicians and teachers of the twentieth century. Although music and composing may have been the love of her life, most of her energy was required in her profession of teaching in the public schools.”

“She continued to take one music course each year, including violin and voice (she was also proficient in piano and organ), and in her last two years she studied composition with Leo Sowerby. She distinguished herself in these studies, receiving an Honorable Mention in theory and analysis at the 1938 commencement exercises of the American Conservatory of Music.” Smith's hymn Fairest Lord Jesus was published by G. Schirmer in 1946. In the same year a sabbatical enabled Smith to take two graduate courses at Juilliard from Vittorio Giannini. He was amazed by the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, when Smith showed him her setting of his text, “Why Fades A Dream?” Irene Britton Smith completed her Master's Degree at De Paul University in 1956, Dr. Helen Walker-Hill relates, and in 1958 studied in France with Nadia Boulanger.

One of Irene's works, her Sonata for Violin and Piano (15:07) was published by Vivace Press in 1996 and is the most prominent work on the CD Kaleidoscope: Music by African-American Women; Leonarda LE 339 (1995). The performers are Helen Walker-Hill, piano, and Gregory Walker, violin. Notes, the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association published one of many favorable reviews of the CD: “...good music that has been overlooked and underrepresented in the traditional repertory...”

Irene Britton Smith African American Composer Taught Reading 40 Years Part-Time Music Student Kaleidoscope: Music by African American Women Sonata for Violin and Piano (1947)

Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Involves African American Students in Classical Music

[“Once more, with feeling” (Copyright Listen: Life With Classical Music, http://www.listenmusicmag.com/)]

The dynamic and lushly graphic website of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas is: http://www.poamericas.org/
Musical Americans
How a classical orchestra is getting 'em while they're young

By Damian Fowler
Listen: Life With Classical Music
July/August 2009
“On a recent spring morning at the Harlem Day Charter School in New York City, an orchestra took to the stage in the school auditorium to give a concert. The audience was rowdy but enthusiastic – clapping, shouting, whooping and swaying. There was also some pushing and shoving, but no more so than one might find at Carnegie Hall at intermission. These concertgoers were comprised of several classes of fourth and fifth graders who were participating in an innovative educational program run by the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, led by their alluring twenty-eight-year-old maestra, Alondra De La Parra. The concert was the culmination of a yearlong program run by the orchestra's musicians to get children excited about classical music. And no doubt about it, they were excited. 'This was probably the first classical concert they'd ever seen,' explained De La Parra later.

“There was a tangible buzz in the auditorium when De La Parra addressed the group of mostly African-American boys and girls, who stared adoringly at her and the casually dressed musicians. 'Who played the melody?' she asked after one high-spirited piece. There was a forest of hands and a shy answer: 'The one in the green shirt.' For the children, the concert was doubly exciting because this was a world premiere of music they helped create. One of the pieces on the program, Hip Hop, had been collectively composed by the group, so everyone had a stake in the presentation. Other compositions included pieces written by children from two other schools.”

“'It's so great to see those faces and reactions,' says De La Parra, who founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas in 2004. Her idea was to promote music from the Americas, especially the rich tradition of concert music from south of the border, including Mexico (Marquez, Revueltas), Argentina (Piazzolla, Ginastera) and Brazil (Villa-Lobos), not to mention Àamerican works by Bernstein, Copland and Gershwin. The arts and educational component of the orchestra started two years ago and carries De La Parra's mission into the schools.

Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas
Alondra De La Parra
Listen Music Magazine
African American Students
Musical Americans
Classical Music in Schools

'Live From FM 91: Music of African American Composers' Now Available Online At WGTE.org

[Top: R. Nathaniel Dett; Center: David N. Baker; Bottom: Ellis Marsalis]

On July 2, 2009 AfriClassical posted: “Phoenix Park-Kim & Merwin Siu Play Ellis Marsalis, David Baker & R. N. Dett 'Live From FM 91' July 10.” Brad Cresswell is Classical Music Director of WGTE Public Radio, 91.3 FM, Toledo. He hosted the half-hour program of works by three African American Composers, performed by Merwin Siu, Second Violin with the Toledo Symphony, and Dr. Phoenix Park-Kim, Assistant Professor of Piano, Indiana Wesleyan University. The program can now be heard anytime by clicking on this link: “Live From FM 91: Music of African American Composers.”

WGTE.org
July 10, 2009
Merwin Siu, violin
Phoenix Park-Kim, piano
"The Fourth Autumn" - Ellis Marsalis
"Ethnic Variations on a Theme of Paganini" - David N. Baker, Jr.
"Cinnamon Grove" - R. Nathaniel Dett

About Merwin Siu
After spending five seasons as the Toledo Symphony Orchestra’s Associate Principal Second violinist, Merwin assumed the role of Acting Principal Second in 2005, and won an international audition to become Principal Second at the beginning of the 2006-07 season. Merwin’s numerous solo appearances with the TSO have ranged from performances of the Great Masters on their Mostly Mozart series to appearances on the Orchestra’s Pops, Family, Young Peoples, and Chamber series. Recent highlights include TSO premieres of Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra, Keith Jarrett’s Elegy for violin and strings, and John Corigliano’s Red Violin Chaconne. In March of 2007, Merwin appeared with former TSO music director Andrew Massey, premiering Massey's new violin concerto, Another Spring, in Racine, Wisconsin. He made his Classics Series debut in February of 2008, performing Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto funèbre.

About Phoenix Park-Kim
Pianist Phoenix Park-Kim joined the faculty at Indiana Wesleyan University in 2005, where she teaches Applied Piano, Class Piano, Keyboard Literature and coordinates the Accompanying Program. Dr. Park-Kim has won numerous scholarship awards and piano competitions, including 1st place in the Miami Concerto Competition, the Jefferson City Concerto Competition and Kansas City Philharmonia Concerto Competition. In addition, she has also appeared as a soloist with the Korean Philharmonic Orchestra, Marion Philharmonic Orchestra and the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra. She has also performed in various music festivals including the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Piano Texas, ARIA International Summer Academy, and the Summer Music School in Siena, Italy, and has collaborated with many ensembles including the Oxford String Quartet.

Music of Afrcan American Composers
Brad Cresswell, Music Director
Merwin Siu, Violin
Phoenix Park-Kim, Piano
D. Baker, E. Marsalis & R.N. Dett
Live From FM 91

Poster for Aug. 13 Piano Passions Concert at Kaufman Center, Conducted by Marlon Daniel

ARTIST World Concert Promotion and PIANO PASSIONS present
BEETHOVEN

Concerti at Kaufman Center

NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

ENSEMBLE DU MONDE
Marlon Daniel, Music Director & Conductor

Ludwig van Beethoven
1712 – 1773

Concerto No. 3 in C Minor Op. 37 – Richard Dowling

Concerto No. 4 in G Major Op. 58 – Kimball Gallagher

Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major Op. 73 “Emperor” – Beatrice Long

Thursday, August 13, 2009 7pm
Merkin Concert Hall (129 West 67th Street NYC)
$50 Premium Seats / $35 General Admission / $20 Seniors and Students
Tickets available on SmartTIX.com and kaufman-center.org

[Marlon Daniel]

On July 9, 2009 AfriClassical posted: “Marlon Daniel Conducts 'Piano Passions: Beethoven Concerti at Kaufman Center' Aug. 13.” Maestro Daniel has now provided us with a poster for the concert. He also stresses the importance of audience support for the orchestra and soloists:
“I am conducting Beethoven’s concerti No. 3, 4 and 5 'Emperor' at Merkin Hall, Thursday August 13, 2009 at 7pm. I ask that you please come to this concert. Not only do both I and my orchestra Ensemble du Monde need your support, but also the soloists for the concerti, pianists from Piano Passions (which is my other creative love child). This is the only New York City concert that the orchestra is performing this season and it is the finale for Piano Passions.

“This year has been hard for all the Arts and has been exceptionally hard for my projects in New York. I ask that you please buy a ticket and come to support. If you can’t come, buy a ticket and donate it to one of the many New York music students who can’t afford it or give tickets as a present to a friend. Support The Cause. Tickets are $50 for Premium seating, of which if you use the special online code “DANIEL” you can receive a fifteen-dollar discount. General Admission seats are $35 and senior and student tickets are $20. For a live orchestra concert with three fantastic soloists, this is very inexpensive! Tickets are available at
http://is.gd/1ndj6”