Worldwide search for aspiring new composers begins

UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

October 23, 2008

Worldwide search for aspiring new composers begins

A worldwide search for 21^st century compositional talent will begin this Friday (October 24) with the call for scores for the 2009 University of Aberdeen Music Prize.

The Aberdeen Prize – as it has become known in musical circles – is a unique, biennial competition for aspiring new contemporary composers from around the globe.

Established in 2005, it represents a unique collaboration between the University of Aberdeen and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (SSO), and will be judged by the pre-eminent Scottish composer James MacMillan.

Hundreds of scores from as far afield as Australia, China, India and Russia were submitted for the 2007 prize, with South Korea's Jun Lee eventually coming out on top.

He was awarded £5,000 in the form of a commission to write a full piece for orchestra, which will be premiered by the BBC SSO at Aberdeen Music Hall this Friday (October 24), before being broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The event will also see the launch of the global call for scores for the 2009 prize. Five works will be selected by a panel of experts and the composers brought to Aberdeen in November 2009 for a series of workshops with the distinguished composer James MacMillan and members of the BBC SSO.

Under the patronage of Dame Evelyn Glennie, the University of Aberdeen Music Prize competition forms the centerpiece of a wider celebration of contemporary musical creativity in the form of a weekend of hands-on events, workshops and concerts in Aberdeen.

Dr Paul Mealor, Senior Lecturer in Music and Director of the University of Aberdeen Music Prize said: "Since it was first launched, this search for creative talent has helped to develop Aberdeen's role as one of the major cultural centres in the UK. Hundreds of composers from every corner of the globe embraced the 2007 competition, many of whom wrote to us to express their gratitude that such an event exists.

"We are also honoured to have such a well respected judge in James Macmillan, and in the BBC SSO we have a body of musicians that understands the techniques of modern music better than anyone. We're delighted to be able to open the call for scores for the 2009 competition."

Gavin Reid, Director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, said: "The BBC SSO has an international reputation for promoting new music and developing the work of young composers, and so we're delighted to continue our partnership with the University of Aberdeen Music Prize."

Jun Lee will have his commission, Marea, premiered by the BBC SSO, under the baton of American conductor Andrew Litton, at Aberdeen Music Hall on Friday, October 24, 7.30pm. The concert will also include Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

The University of Aberdeen Music Prize is open to composers of any nationality, with no age limit or restrictions. Closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday, May 29, 2009.

For further information and application details for the Music Prize please visit www.abdn.ac.uk/aberdeenmusicprize, email musicprize@abdn.ac.uk or call + 44(0)1224 273 874. Alternatively, contact Aberdeen Music Prize, Office of External Affairs, University Office, King's College, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom AB24 3FX.

Le nouveau Prix de composition de CBC/Radio-Canada

ESPACE MUSIQUE ET CBC RADIO 2 LANCENT UN TOUT NOUVEAU

CONCOURS DE CRÉATION MUSICALE :

ÉVOLUTION

Montréal, 15 octobre 2008 Espace musique, la radio musicale de Radio-Canada, et CBC Radio 2, en partenariat avec le Banff Centre, sont fiers d'annoncer la naissance du concours ÉVOLUTION, le nouveau Prix national de composition de CBC/Radio-Canada.

Date limite d inscription : 15 décembre 2008 à Radio-Canada.ca/evolution

Ouvert à tous les compositeurs canadiens ou résidents permanents âgés de 19 à 35 ans au 15 décembre 2008, ÉVOLUTION accueille toutes les esthétiques musicales contemporaines, une vitrine unique sur la création musicale d'aujourd hui. En plus des 55 000 $ en prix remis par CBC/Radio-Canada et ses collaborateurs, le Banff Centre offre aux cinq finalistes une résidence de composition unique, un séjour de 25 jours (du 2 au 26 mars) au cœur d'un des plus imposants parcs nationaux canadiens. Cette résidence intensive et obligatoire culminera avec la présentation en concert des cinq œuvres finalistes, le 26 mars 2009, un événement diffusé en direct sur CBC Radio 2, à l'antenne d'Espace musique et en son et en images sur Radio-Canada.ca/evolution.

« ÉVOLUTION a pour but d'identifier et d'encourager les jeunes compositeurs les plus prometteurs au pays, et de démystifier, par différents moyens, le processus de création musicale. Nous espérons ainsi mettre en lumière l immense talent de ces artistes issus d un milieu encore trop méconnu, tout en jetant un regard attentif et très personnel sur les étapes de composition d'une œuvre », ont déclaré Christiane LeBlanc et Mark Steinmetz, respectivement première directrice d'Espace musique et directeur de la programmation musicale de CBC Radio 2.

À partir de toutes les candidatures reçues au 15 décembre 2008, un jury national sélectionnera cinq finalistes dont les noms seront dévoilés publiquement le 2 février 2009. Les cinq compositeurs obtiendront alors des indications leur permettant de procéder au travail préliminaire de composition de l uvre finaliste. Mais c'est à partir du 2 mars, à leur arrivée au Banff Centre, que les compositeurs vivront la partie la plus intense du concours, des moments que pourront suivre dans le détail les internautes sur Radio-Canada.ca/evolution. Des entrées de blogues, des vidéos, des entrevues et autres permettront au grand public de ne rien manquer de cette grande aventure.

CBC/Radio-Canada accordera une bourse de 5000 $ à chacun des cinq finalistes. De plus, à l'issue de la grande finale en concert le 26 mars 2009, le Grand Prix national de composition de 20 000 $ sera remis au lauréat par CBC/Radio-Canada et le Conseil des Arts du Canada. Le prix de l'Orchestre de la Francophonie canadienne, sous forme d une commande de 5000 $, sera quant à lui remis à l'un des cinq finalistes. Les auditeurs et les internautes seront appelés à faire connaître leur oeuvre préférée par un vote qui déterminera le lauréat du Prix du public d une valeur de 5000 $, offert par la Fondation Jeunesses Musicales du Canada.

CBC/Radio-Canada est le radiodiffuseur public national du Canada et l'une des plus importantes institutions culturelles du pays. Avec ses 28 services offerts sur toutes ses plateformes radio, télévision, Internet, radio par satellite, audio numérique, sans compter un service de distribution de disques et de musique, et ses services de messagerie sans fil WAP et SMS , CBC/Radio-Canada est de plus en plus accessible à tous les Canadiens, en tous lieux, à tout moment et d innombrables façons.

Radio-Canada.ca/evolution

CBC.ca/evolution

Henry Du Mont

New volume in the monumental edition of French baroque composer H. Du Mont

Before his installation in Versailles in 1682, the Sun King organized his official music around three talented composers : J.-B. Lully for secular music and, for sacred music, Henry Du Mont and his colleague Pierre Robert. This period was decisive in the creation of French musical style and of the splendour of Versailles. This scholarly edition of the music of Henry Du Mont sheds light on a little-known aspect of the history of baroque music in France and offers to performers, singers and choral groups the opportunity of rediscovering a remarkable musical heritage.

This volume, edited by Laurence Decobert and based on the original publication in 1681, collects a representative sample of sacred works composed before the installation of the King in Versailles. Du Mont, who was then 70, published 37 motets and 3 instrumental pieces mostly composed for the daily mass of Louis XIV. The composer, near the end of his career as choirmaster of the Royal Chapel, choose a sumptuous selection from his huge output.

The volume contains motets for one to four voices and also includes motets which can be performed with two choirs. Most of the works are accompanied by instruments ad libitum - often 1 or 2 violins (or treble viols; the composer use the ambiguous abbreviation "viol.") – but some require "symphonies" (a small string orchestra). The motets are elegant, varied, and relatively easy to perform.

In a very detailed preface, the editor presents the numerous printed and manuscript sources of these motets, describing and comparing them very precisely – dating, corrections by the composer, the meticulous details for the performers. The circulation of these works is discussed, with particular attention given to a copy made by the English composer John Blow, which was itself copied until the early 19th century. Also discussed are the vocal and instrumental requirements, innovations in notation (links between two chords in figured bass), the ossia, time signatures, the origins and functions of the sacred texts used, and much more.

This volume contains, in addition to the preface in French and English and the scores of these 40 pieces, all the texts of the motets (in Latin with French and English translation), 13 facsimiles and, at the end, a critical apparatus. Material for performance is also available separately in set of parts for singers and for instruments.

Laurence Decobert, who has a doctorate in musicology from the Sorbonne, is a librarian in the Department of Music of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. She devotes part of her research to religious music in France in the second half of the seventeenth century and has edited several volumes of grands motets by Henry Du Mont published by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. She is currently preparing a monograph on the choirmaster of Louis XIV. She also interested in collection of early music in the department of music of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and has just published an article on the collection Philidor in the Revue de Musicologie.

Du Mont suggests alternative voices for twelve of the motets. The original version is published in the critical edition. Vocal parts, which include original and all alternative versions, are also available. For example, the full score for the motet O nomen Jesu is available for 2 sopranos in the parts for "Motets à 2 voix, vol. 1 (voix de dessus)" and also in the alternative version suggested by Du Mont for high tenor and tenor in the parts for "Motets à 2 voix, vol. 3 (voix d'hommes 1)".

For more information, prices and ordering information, please visit the online shop of the Editions du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles: http://editions.cmbv.fr/achat/new.php?langue=en

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Henry Du Mont, Motets à II, III et IV parties (1681), édition scientifique de Laurence Decobert (CMBV)

Cette edition scientifique de la musique d'Henry Du Mont éclaire une partie peu connue de la musique baroque en France et permet aux interprètes, chanteurs ou chœurs, d'accéder à un remarquable patrimoine musical. Avant son installation à Versailles, le Roi-Soleil organise sa musique officielle autour de 3 talentueux compositeurs. Jean-Baptiste Lully se charge (principalement) de la musique profane et Henry Du Mont et Pierre Robert se partagent la charge de sous-maître de la Chapelle Royale. Tous trois orienterons de manière décisive le style musical français caractéristique de la splendeur de Versailles.

Ce recueil, publié par Christophe Ballard en 1681, rassemble un échantillon représentatif du répertoire exécuté à la messe de Louis XIV avant l'installation de la Cour à Versailles. En effet, Henry Du Mont, qui a alors 70 ans, présente au public 37 motets et 3 pièces instrumentales majoritairement composés pour la messe quotidienne de Louis XIV. Le compositeur organise et supervise de près cette édition : le choix des œuvres est somptueux, le sous-maître de la Chapelle royale, en fin de carrière, pouvant se targuer d'un catalogue important.

Le volume contient des motets pour des effectifs vocaux allant de 2 à 4 voix, mais aussi des pièces à 1 voix et 4 motets pouvant s'exécuter « à deux chœurs ». La plupart sont accompagnés par des instruments ad libitum – souvent 1 ou 2 violons (ou violes, le compositeur laissant planer une ambiguïté par l'usage de l'abréviation « viol. ») – et certains nécessitent des « symphonies » (un petit orchestre à cordes). On trouvera là des œuvres élégantes, de caractères variés et d'une exécution relativement aisée.

Dans une préface très détaillée, l'éditeur scientifique présente les nombreuses sources imprimées et manuscrites de ces motets en les décrivant et les comparant très précisément. La question de la circulation des œuvres est abordée – notamment des copies de la main du compositeur anglais John Blow qui furent elles-mêmes copiées jusqu'au début du 19^e siècle – la datation des œuvres, les corrections que le compositeur a portées sur les exemplaires imprimés, ses précisions méticuleuses pour les interprètes. Sont également traités la question des effectifs vocaux et instrumentaux, les innovations techniques d'écriture (liaison des chiffrages de basse continue), les ossia, les chiffres de mesure, l'origine et les attributions des textes utilisés, etc.

Ce volume contient, outre la préface en français et en anglais et la musique, tous les textes des motets (avec leur traduction en français et anglais), 13 fac-similés et, en fin de volume, un appareil critique.

Laurence Decobert est conservateur au département de la Musique de la Bibliothèque nationale de France et docteur en musicologie (Paris-Sorbonne). Elle consacre une partie de ses recherches à la musique religieuse en France dans la seconde moitié du XVII^e siècle, a également réalisé plusieurs volumes de grands motets de Henry Du Mont aux éditions du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles et prépare actuellement une monographie sur le sous-maître de Louis XIV. Elle s'intéresse par ailleurs à la mise en valeur des collections anciennes du département de la Musique et vient de publier un article sur La collection Philidor dans la Revue de musicologie.

Henry Du Mont propose des effectifs alternatifs pour 12 de ces motets. Présentés dans ce volume critique comme dans l'édition de 1681, ils sont transposés pour les interprètes dans nos « tirés-à-part ». Le motet O nomen Jesu, par exemple, se trouve dans :

• Motets à 2 voix, vol. 1 (voix de dessus), version originale pour voix de dessus et bas-dessus ;
• Motets à 2 voix, vol. 3 (voix d'hommes, 1), pour voix de haute-contre et taille, les voix ayant été, dans ce recueil, transposées à l'octave inférieure comme le suggère Du Mont.

Composers Young and Younger!

Music by three generations of American composers

works by

Elizabeth Bell, Canary Burton, Stephen Feigenbaum,Daniel Haldar & Max Lifchitz

Lisa Hansen, flute; Mioi Takeda, violin; John Pickford Richards, viola;
Bruce Wang, cello; & Max Lifchitz, piano

Sunday, October 12 at 3 PM

Christ & St Stephen’s Church

120 West 69th St (bet Bway & Columbus), NYC
Free Admission. No tickets required.

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North/South Consonance, Inc. will inaugurate its 29th consecutive season with a special event scheduled for Sunday, October 12 at 3 PM.

The concert will feature members of the acclaimed North/South Consonance Ensemble performing music by three generations of American composers. It will be held at the auditorium of Christ & St. Stephen’s Church (120 West 69th St) in Manhattan. Admission is free.

Two extremely talented teen-age composers will participate in the concert: Daniel Haldar –- the 17 year old composer from Cleveland, OH – and Stephen Feigenbaum — the 19 year old composer born in Boston and now an undergraduate at Yale University.

Mr. Haldar’s recently completed four movement Sonata for Piano will be heard in New York City for the first time. An ambitious and virtuosic work, its music is both somewhat dissonant and highly evocative. Haldar has studied piano and composition at the Preparatory Division of the Cleveland Institute of Music. A high-school senior, his other interests include mathematics, science and languages. He also serves as captain of his school’s Lincoln-Douglas debate team.

Stephen Feigenbaum will be represented on the program by his Trap for solo viola, a composition that explores “the paradox of being trapped by a sense of freedom.” Born in 1989, Feigenbaum was recently commissioned to write a work for the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra in California. He has won several scholarships and prizes and has also appeared on the popular NPR show “From the Top.”

The concert will mark the 80th birthday of Elizabeth Bell (b. 1948, Cincinnatti, OH) whose River Fantasy for flute, violin, viola and cello will open the second half of the program. A graduate of Wellesley College and The Juilliard School, Ms. Bell resides in Westchester County with her husband and their Siamese cat. The American Record Guide called her “one of our country’s leading composers.” And Fanfare Magazine referred to her as “a fine composer with a vivid, highly entertaining sense of instrumental color.” Ms. Bell is one of the founders of New York Women Composers, Inc. and also served on the Board of Governors of the American Composers Alliance for several years. Her works have been performed throughout the US as well as Armenia, Brazil and Russia. River Fantasy was premiered by the North/South Consonance Ensemble as part of an all Elizabeth Bell concert presented at Merkin Hall in 1993 and eventually recorded on a CD featuring some of her vocal and instrumental works (North/South Recordings 1042).

The music of long time Cape Cod, MA resident Canary Burton (b.1943) will open the concert. Her recently completed piano piece The Broken Record will be heard for the first time. Ms. Burton found inspiration for the work in one of her old jazz tunes as well as quotes from We Shall Overcome. In a manner somewhat similar to Charles Ives’ musical collages, Burton also employs quotes from military tunes and childhood songs. Burton studied jazz at the University of Idaho. Her work has progressed through jazz, pop and sound art into post-modern classical music.

The program will also include some works by Max Lifchitz, the Mexican-born composer and conductor who founded North/South Consonance, Inc. in 1980. A New York City resident since 1966, Mr. Lifchitz studied at Juilliard and Harvard and has taught at Columbia University, the Manhattan School of Music, New School University, Columbus State University and the University at Albany, SUNY. A tireless advocate of today’s composers, Lifchitz appears as conductor or pianist on more than 40 critically acclaimed albums.

Commissioned by the Organization of American States, Lifchitz’s Yellow Ribbons No. 22 (1982) for viola and piano belongs to a series of compositions being written as homage to the former American hostages in Iran. His Transformations No. 2 for solo violin was commissioned by the late Mexican virtuoso Manuel Enriquez. And his Mosaico Latinoamericano for flute and piano is built around folk-tunes from Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. The work was written at the request of flutist Lisa Hansen for a concert that took place in Zurich, Switzerland.

Flutist Lisa Hansen graduated from The Juilliard School before accepting the position of principal flutist with the Mexico City Philharmonia. She has performed and recorded with North/South Consonance since her return to New York in 1988. Ms. Hansen is the featured soloist in the recording of Harold Schiffman’s Concertino for Flute and Chamber Orchestra recently released on the North/South Recordings label (N/S R 1045).

Violinist Mioi Takeda studied with Itzhak Perlman at The Juilliard School and Brooklyn College. Much in demand as chamber and orchestral musician throughout the tri-state area, she performs regularly with The American Symphony Orchestra and the St Luke’s Orchestra.

John Pickford Richards studied at the Eastman School and has performed throughout the US and Europe. He collaborated with Pierre Boulez on a recent performance of Luciano Berio’s Chemins for viola and chamber ensemble at the Luzerne Festival in Switzerland.

Cellist Bruce Wang is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the country, Asia, Europe and Australia. He has also recorded music for many feature films, theater and media projects.

The composers will be on hand to introduce their works and meet with the audience during intermission and after the concert. All participants in the event are available to the press for interviews and may be contacted through our office at (212) 663-7566 or by e-mail at <ns.concerts@att.net>

North/South Consonance’s 2008-09 season is 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. Additional support comes from the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University in the City of NY; the Music Performance Funds of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians; and from many generous individuals.

The Waterloo Region Composers Choral Song Circle

The Waterloo Region Composers Choral Song Circle will feature the choral music of Glenn Buhr, Barrie Cabena, Leonard Enns, Jeff Enns, Michael Purves-Smith and Carol Ann Weaver.

Where: Kitchener City Hall Rotunda, 200 King Street West, Kitchener, Ontario

Date: Saturday, September 27, 2008

Time: 7:00 pm

Admission: Free

Information: 519 894-5308, or www.chestnuthallmusic.com/choral

Overview

A unique event patterned on the popular singer songwriter circles, the Waterloo Region Composers Choral Song Circle features the choral music of Glenn Buhr, Barrie Cabena, Leonard Enns, Jeff Enns, Michael Purves-Smith and Carol Ann Weaver.

The Event

The Waterloo Region Composers Choral Song Circle is a unique concert event, patterned after the Songwriter Circles that have become popular in the pop world. Audiences attend the events and have an opportunity to interact with the songwriters, who often introduce works that are new or unique, and perform them by themselves or with participation from other songwriters who are all present on stage.

The Choral Song Circle will be similar to this pattern, except choral classical composers are not obviously able to accompany themselves SATB on stage. With the help of a Waterloo Region Arts Fund grant, we have formed a professional core choir reinforced with the best singers from the region's two university music schools.

The choir conducted by Wilfrid Laurier University's Dr Lee Willingham will perform choral music of the composers who make their homes or places of work in the Waterloo region, with the six composers present on stage.

Hosted by Jurgen Petrenko, there will be opportunities to hear the composers talk about their music, and for audiences to meet with them and become familiar with who they are and to develop awareness of their craft and their sound, and how they are a vital part of the cultural fabric of the Waterloo region, Canada and abroad. Jurgen will moderate interaction between the composers and the audience as we talk about the music and the compositional process.

The Participants

• Six Waterloo region composers, including Glenn Buhr, Barrie Cabena, Leonard Enns, Jeff Enns, Michael Purves-Smith and Carol Ann Weaver.
• A newly formed professional choir joined by the Laurier Singers will be conducted by Dr Lee Willingham, who is an Associate Professor at WLU where he leads the Laurier Singers and is Director for the new Laurier Centre for Music in the Community.
• Jurgen Petrenko, former producer of CBC's Music and Company, will be acting as host for the event.

The Venue

The event is being held at the city of Kitchener's unique Rotunda, situated on ground floor of the building. The hall is very open and accessible to the public, and the choir, composers and audience will be arranged so that there is a close sense of interaction and community. The acoustics are amazing and the hall is four stories high, with a circular floor layout... perfect for a choral song circle.

Art & Fine Living with Jona

Composer Paul Desenne on Art & Fine Living with Jona Sept 7, 10, 2008

Venezuelan composer Paul Desenne's new work, Dragoncello for 6 cellos and orchestra, will see its world premiere in Montreal on September 17, 2007. The work was created as a tribute to cellist/conductor Yuli Turovsky, founder and conductor of I Musici de Montreal,one of Canada's most prestigious chamber orchestras. Turovosky is also a one of the cello's greatest pedagogues.

The interview and excerpts of the work can be heard on Art & Fine Living with Jona on CJRS 1650 in Montreal on Sunday, September 7 and again on Wednesday, September 10, 2008. The show can be accessed live stream on the radio's website at www.radio-shalom.ca. All shows are archived shortly on the radio website for downloading and/or listening.

Art & Fine Living with Jona is a veritable showcase of some of the world's renowned and emerging talents in music, theatre, cinema, dance, visual arts and more, and has been lauded as a unique platform combining insightful interviews, cultural news and coverage of new releases in classical music and jazz. The show also focuses on education and promotion of the arts in general and devotes a space for exploring upscale lifestyle trends. Guests who appeared on Art & Fine Living with Jona include, among many others, the prolific Lang Lang; Violinist Gil Shaham; Soprano Natalie Dessay; Film director Mike Newell; Cellist/Conductor Yuli Turovsky; Soprano Measha Brueggergosman; Choreographer Peter Quanz Compser Lori Laitman; Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin; Playwright Daniel Lillford; Violinist James Ehnes and Tenor Ben Heppner.


Jona Rapoport also represents the extraordinary talent of American art song and opera composer Lori Laitman.

Sound Worlds: Dialogue with the composer Hans Tutschku

Tuesday, April 15 2008 at 5 pm.
Goethe-Institut Montreal, 418 Sherbrooke East
English
Free Admission
514-499-0159
kultur@montreal.goethe.org

In this presentation, the composer and installation artist Hans Tutschku provides insight into his composition. The artist, who is German, has since 2004 taught electronic music at Harvard University. Tutschku is known for basing his sound installations and compositions on acoustic impressions from his surroundings. In his compositions, recordings from different sound worlds, often from far-away places, become the material for new electro-acoustic worlds. In addition to talking about his creative approach to his acoustic surroundings, Tutschku will also present the underlying concept of his work and discuss how our environment can be shaped acoustically and through composition.

Laitman's Latest Song Cycle Commemorates 40th Anniversary of Deaths of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.

March 23, 2008

For Immediate Release

A new song cycle by acclaimed composer Lori Laitman, commissioned to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the tragic deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, will premiere on April 18, 2008 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

For this commission by the Lyrica Society for Word-Music Relations, Laitman selected two unpublished poems which reflect on life, death and the notion of legacy. Titled "And Music Shall Not End," the cycle includes the works of poets Anne Ranasinghe and John Wood.

Holocaust-survivor Anne Ranasinghe's poem, "Partial Lunar Eclipse, September 7^th, 2006," reflects on the mystery and timelessness of the universe, as well as her realization that she is nearing the end of her life, while John Wood's poem, "A Pastoral Lament," dedicated to a colleague upon his death, is a message of love and grief and a celebration of an enduring legacy.

Mezzo Soprano D'Anna Fortunato will perform the works with composer Lori Laitman at the piano. The performance will be presented at the Lehman Hall Music Room of Dudley House, Harvard Yard, at 4pm on Friday, April 18, 2008. Admission to the event is free of charge.

Contact:

Jona Rapoport

Jona Rapoport Artist Management

www.jonarapoport.com

jonarapoport@gmail.com

[Montreal] Jona Rapoport to Represent Celebrated American Composer Lori Laitman

"It is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music." (Journal of Singing, 2007)

Canadian artist manager and publicist Jona Rapoport will be representing American composer Lori Laitman worldwide. Ms Rapoport has managed the career of several classical vocalists in the past, and is currently the producer and host of the radio program "Art & Fine Living with Jona" on CJRS 1650 in Montreal. She is listed in the international directory of Musical America.

Lori Laitman is one of America's most prolific and widely performed composers of art song. She has composed nearly 200 songs, setting the words of classical and contemporary poets to music, among them the lost voices of poets who perished in the Holocaust. The composer's first opera, "Come to Me in Dreams" premiered by Cleveland Opera in 2005, and her upcoming opera, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", to libretto by poet David Mason, will premiere at The University of Central Arkansas in the fall of 2008.

Laitman's songs have been released on Albany Records, Naxos, Channel Classics and others, showcasing the talents of some of today's top musicians. Among the many artists are: vocalists Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Jennifer Check, Patricia Green, Sari Gruber, William Sharp and Randall Scarlata; pianist Warren Jones; bassist Gary Karr; cellists Thomas Kraines and Marcy Rosen; saxophonist Gary Louie and violinist Juliette Kang.

In a review of her latest compilation, "Becoming a Redwood", the prestigious Gramophone Magazine remarked: "An extraordinarily impressive achievement… [which indicates] increasing evidence of a major talent. Lori Laitman's beautiful, sensitively crafted songs deserve to be performed widely". A review of her 2000 release, "Mystery – The Songs of Lori Laitman" by Opera News says: "Composer Lori Laitman knows how to let the voice soar and explore…spinning lyrical neo-romantic vocal lines over shifting post-modern sonorities". A Journal of Singing review of her 2003 album, "Dreaming", posits her firmly alongside another legendary composer: "This is a stunning collection of widely varied songs by one of the finest art song composers on the scene today...Lori Laitman deservedly stands shoulder to shoulder with Ned Rorem for her uncommon sensitivity to text, her loving attention to the human voice and its capabilities, and her extraordinary palette of musical colors and gestures".

Lori Laitman graduated magna cum laude from Yale College and received her Master of Music degree in flute performance from The Yale School of Music. Her recordings are available on her website, www.artsongs.com, as well as Amazon and ITunes. Sheet music can be ordered from Classical Vocal Reprints (1-800-298-7474), www.classicalvocalrep.com.

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For inquiries and interviews contact:

Jona Rapoport Artist Management

Montreal, Canada

jonarapoport@radio-shalom.ca

jonarapoport@gmail.com

Tel: 514 488 0246

[New York] Celebrating Harold Schiffman on March 9 at the Morgan Library & Museum

Harold Schiffman at 80!
performers will include

Gail Seaton, soprano; Jane Perry-Camp, piano;
The North/South Consonance Ensemble

Sunday, March 9 at 3 PM

The Morgan Library & Museum

225 Madison Ave (at 36th St)
New York City

Free Admission – RESERVATIONS REQUIRED!
E-mail reservation requests to ns.concerts@att.net
or

http://www.northsouthmusic.org

North/South Consonance, Inc. will mark the 80th birthday of the distinguished American composer Harold Schiffman on Sunday afternoon March 9.

The program will include vocal and instrumental works by Mr. Schiffman written between 1951 and 2007.

The concert will start at 3 PM and will take place at the Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum (225 Madison Ave) in Manhattan.

While admission to the event is free, reservations are required.

E-mail reservation requests directed to ns.concerts@att.net will be accepted until Friday evening, March 7.

Harold Schiffman (b. 1928; Greensboro, NC) studied composition with Roger Sessions and Ernst von Dohnányi. Following three years of service in the army, Schiffman joined the faculty of Florida State University in 1959 where he taught until 1983.

Schiffman has composed in virtually all media and has received commissions from among others, the Artea Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco; the North/South Chamber Orchestra in New York; the Mallarmé Chamber Players in North Carolina; and the Györ Philharmonic in Hungary.

In addition to performances throughout the US, Schiffman's music has been performed in Europe, Latin America and the Far East. A member of ASCAP, His publishers include Associated/G. Schirmer; Southern Music Co.; Robert King/Alphonse Leduc; and Harp Hungarica. His works are available on the Centaur and North/South Recordings labels.

The March 9 program will feature the premiere of Blood Mountain, a song-cycle based on poetry by Kathryn Stripling Byer, North Carolina's state poet. The recently completed song-cycle will be performed by soprano Gayle Seaton and pianist Jane Perry-Camp. Ms. Seaton is a versatile singer who has performed many operatic roles and now directs the Music Theatre Program at Florida State University. Pianist Jane Perry-Camp studied with Edward Kilenyi and Ernst von Dohnány. She has performed throughout the US and Europe and has recorded several Schiffman works.

The varied program will also include the world premiere of Duo Concertante for violin and clarinet; the Fantasy-Suite for solo viola; and Seven Bagatelles for flute and oboe. These works will be performed by members of the grammy nominated North/South Consonance Ensemble including Aaron Boyd, violin; Richard Goldmith, clarinet; Lisa Hansen, flute; Gary Hamme, oboe; and Ah-Ling Neu, viola.

The concert will conclude with a performance of Schiffman's monumnetal Sonata No. 1 for piano written in 1951. Pianist Max Lifchitz – who the American Record Guide referred to as "one of America's finest exponents of American piano music" – will be the featured performer.

Mr. Schiffman will be on hand to introduce his works to the audience. He will be joined by poet Kathryn Stripling Byer. All the artists will meet with the audience following the concert.

North/South Consonance's 2007-08 season is 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. For further information about its activities, including concerts and recordings, please visit http://www.northsouthmusic.org