This Thursday, December 2, 8pm at the DiMenna Center Composer Marilyn Shrude Dear friends,
Happy post-Thanksgiving recovery! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend, and if you traveled, I hope it wasn't too crazy... Since most of you are in the New York area, I am suggesting that you travel down (or up) to Midtown Manhattan for a rare Manhattan appearance of the Momenta Quartet, with one of our favourite sopranos, Ariadne Greif (of Wagner's Liebestod renown, if you made it to the Bronx in September) and composer Marilyn Shrude: Thursday, December 2, 8pm EST: Marilyn Shrude at 75 The DiMenna Center for Classical Music 450 West 37th Street, NY, NY 10018 Tickets: $20 Momenta met Marilyn for the first time last night in a rehearsal of "Secrets" (2004) with Ariadne Greif. The world being small - it turns out she was the composition teacher of Annie Neikirk, whom we worked with when she was doing her doctorate under Matthew Greenbaum at Temple University. (We even recorded HER piece for soprano and string quartet...) Marilyn also taught Garth Sunderland, the director of the Lost Dog Ensemble, who is producing this Thursday's concert, AND of New Thread’s tenor saxophonist Erin Rogers. ABOUT THE CONCERT: Three dynamic ensembles - Lost Dog New Music Ensemble, New Thread Saxophone Quartet, and Momenta Quartet - join with guest artists John Sampen and Ariadne Greif, to present the 75th Birthday Celebration Concert for the distinguished American composer Marilyn Shrude. LOST DOG NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE Sotto Voce (2012) A Window Always Open on the Sea (1990) Within the Wall (2018; 2021*) *WORLD PREMIERE OF NEW VERSION WITH PERCUSSION NEW THREAD QUARTET energy flows nervously ... in search of stillness (2015) Evolution V (1976) John Sampen, alto sax MOMENTA QUARTET Secrets (2004) Ariadne Greif, soprano In accordance with New York City policy, proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is required. Masks must be worn in all public areas of the Dimenna Center. The concert celebrates Shrude’s 75th birthday, a ground-breaking composer, known for music of exquisite texture and detail. Her catalog features a large body of chamber and orchestral works, and a particular interest in saxophone. She is the first woman to receive the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award for Orchestral Music (1984) and the Cleveland Arts Prize for Music (1998). “I’ll never forget hearing Marilyn’s trio A Window Always Open On The Sea for the first time, a work whose mysteries and depths meld her exquisitely detailed craftsmanship with a fathoms-deep well of emotion. As a teacher, Marilyn’s nurturing heart and wise counsel have had an incredible impact on multiple generations of American composers, and it’s always been frustrating to me that her own extraordinary music isn’t more widely known. In this 75th birthday concert, featuring three terrific ensembles, world-class soloists, and major works from the entirety of Marilyn’s career, we hope to let New York audiences in on the secret of this marvelous and pathbreaking American composer.” - Garth Edwin Sunderland, Artistic Director, Lost Dog New Music Ensemble The music of composer Marilyn Shrude is characterized by its warmth and lyricism, rich timbre, multi-layered constructions, and blending of tonality and atonality. The result is a bright, shimmering and delicately wrought sound world that is at once both powerful and fragile. Her concentration on color and the natural resonance of spaces, as well as her strong background in pre-Vatican II liturgical music, give the music its linear, spiritual, and quasi-improvisational qualities. Shrude taught both Lost Dog director Garth Sunderland and New Thread’s tenor saxophonist Erin Rogers. Both have long felt that Shrude’s dazzling music should have greater presence in New York, and have been planning this event for several years. The works on the program span from 1976’s Evolution V, with one of the world’s leading concert saxophonists John Sampen as guest soloist, to the world premiere of a new version of 2018’s Within the Wall. Shrude’s catalog of music is deep and varied, and the chamber music presented here reflects that diversity – both with regards to instrumentation and aesthetic. Thanks for reading and we hope to see you soon! Comments are closed.
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