Feb

07

Manhattan Chamber Players: A Year in Gabriel Fauré’s Life: A Love Story Manhattan Chamber Players: A Year in Gabriel Fauré’s Life: A Love Story

with Grace Park, Violin, Luke Fleming, Viola, Michael Katz, Cello & Mika Sasaki, Piano

Tue February 7th, 2017

7:00PM

Main Space

Minimum Age: All Ages

Doors Open: 6:00PM

Show Time: 7:00PM

Event Ticket: $15 / $20

Day of Show: $20 / $25

event description event description

Manhattan Chamber Players
(Pre) Valentine’s Day Concert
A Year in Gabriel Fauré’s Life: A Love Story

Table Seating: $20 advance, $25 day of show
Standing Room: $15 advance, $20 day of show

1877 was a turbulent year for Gabriel Fauré. The music he composed during those twelve months reflects his newfound love and eventual engagement to the daughter of a prominent musician who commanded his deepest respect; but it also shows his despair at her eventual, unexplained change of heart. This program will take the listener through all the hopeful promise of youthful love, the sting of rejection and, inevitably, its resulting heartbreak, then finally to bittersweet resignation, all with some of the most gorgeous music ever composed.

Program:

Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924)

Berceuse, Op. 16 (1878)
Après un rêve, Op. 7 no. 1 (1877)
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, Op. 13 (1877)

Intermission

Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15 (1877)

Manhattan Chamber Players

Grace Park, Violin
Luke Fleming, Viola
Michael Katz, Cello
Mika Sasaki, Piano

the artists the artists

Manhattan Chamber Players

Manhattan Chamber Players official site | Manhattan Chamber Players | Manhattan Chamber Players

The Manhattan Chamber Players is a chamber music collective of New York-based musicians who share the common aim of performing the greatest works in the chamber repertoire at the highest level.  Formed in 2015 by Artistic Director Luke Fleming, MCP is comprised of an impressive roster of musicians who all come from the tradition of great music making at the Marlboro Music Festival, Steans Institute at Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival and Perlman Music Program, and are former students of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, Colburn School, New England Conservatory, and Yale School of Music.

At the core of MCP’s inspiration is its members’ joy in playing this richly varied repertoire with longtime friends and colleagues, with whom they have been performing since they were students.  Building upon that foundation, new works commissioned from its composer members keep the ensemble firmly grounded in the music of both the past and present.  Its roster allows for the programming of virtually all the core string, wind, and piano chamber music repertoire—from piano duos to clarinet quintets to string octets.  While all its members have independent careers as soloists and chamber musicians, they strive for every opportunity to come together and again share in this special collaboration.

Members of MCP are current and former members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, ACJW, and the Amphion, Attacca, Dover, Escher, Vega, and Ying Quartets, and the Lysander, Madison, and Sheridan Piano Trios.  They are top prizewinners in the Banff, Concert Artists Guild, Fischoff, Melbourne, Naumburg, Osaka, Primrose, Queen Elisabeth, Rubenstein, Tchaikovsky, Tertis, and Young Concert Artists Competitions, and are some of the most sought after solo and chamber performers of their generation.  During its inaugural season, in addition to numerous concerts across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia, the Manhattan Chamber Players has been featured multiple times on NPR’s Performance Today, and is the Ensemble-in-Residence at both the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico and the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival in New Orleans. Upcoming seasons add tours of Israel, France, China, and Brazil to MCP’s busy concert schedule in NYC and across the U.S.

Manhattan Chamber Players is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Photo credit: Sophie Zhai

Grace Park, Violin

Grace Park is a dynamic violinist, dedicated chamber musician, and passionate pedagogue. Her diverse career has carried her from the world’s foremost concert halls to universities around the country as a soloist, collaborator, coach, and educator. As a soloist, Ms. Park has been the featured soloist at The Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Walt Disney Hall, Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Grace Rainey Auditorium in the Metropolitan Museum, the Rudolfinum in Prague, and Glinka Hall in St. Petersburg – with orchestras including North Czech Philharmonia, Russian Chamber Philharmonic, Napoli Chamber Orchestra, and, most recently, an engagement with Maxim Vengerov at the Cartegena Music Festival. For the 2016 – 2017 season, upcoming engagements include concerto debuts in Mexico and Poland.

A devoted chamber musician, Ms. Park has performed with a variety of ensembles around the world and has led chamber orchestras from the principal chair. Ms. Park has performed and worked personally with renowned composers Steve Reich, Brett Dean, and Georg Freidrich Hass. Upcoming commissions include a concerto by Andy Akiho and a violin sonata by Samuel Carl Adams, Composer-in-Residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Recent collaborations include working with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Company, members of Silk Road Ensemble, principal dancers of La Scala Ballet Theater, the Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and New York City Ballet, as well as leading the Orpheus and Australian Chamber Orchestras. Ms. Park has performed at many of the leading music festivals including Vail, Music@Menlo, IMS Prussia Cove, Yellow Barn, and the Perlman Music Program’s Chamber Music Workshop.

Beyond the concert stage, Ms. Park has demonstrated a strong commitment to teaching and community engagement. She has taught and coached ensembles at Washington and Lee University, North Dakota State University, Skidmore College, and at the Innsbrook Institute. Ms. Park currently coaches and teaches at the Mannes School of Music Preparatory Division as a guest faculty member.

Photo credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

Luke Fleming, Viola

Luke Fleming official site

Praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for his “glowing refinement,” violist Luke Fleming‘s performances have been described by The Strad as “confident and expressive…playing with uncanny precision,” and lauded by Gramophone for their “superlative technical and artistic execution.”  Festival appearances include the Marlboro Music School and Festival, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, Perlman Music Program, the Norfolk and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festivals, the Melbourne Festival, Bravo!Vail, and the Virginia Arts Festival, as well as concerts and residencies across North and South America, Europe, and Asia.  From 2009 – 2015, Mr. Fleming was violist of the internationally acclaimed Attacca Quartet, with whom he served as Quartet-in-Residence for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School.  He was also awarded First Prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and top prizes at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, as well as the National Federation of Music Clubs Centennial Chamber Music Award.  Mr. Fleming currently serves as Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, Director of Outreach Activities at Louisiana State University’s School of Music and Dramatic Arts, and Lecturer-in-Residence for Project: Music Heals Us.

In 2015, Mr. Fleming became the Founding Artistic Director of both the Manhattan Chamber Players, a New York-based chamber music collective, and the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival, a mission/outreach-centric festival held every summer in his hometown, New Orleans. Mr. Fleming has been featured on a Live from Marlboro CD release on the Archiv Music label, and his recordings with the Attacca Quartet on Azica Records were released to widespread critical acclaim.  He has performed as a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Sejong Soloists, Ensemble ACJW, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Classical Players, and the Serafin String Quartet, and has given masterclasses at UCLA, Louisiana State University, Syracuse University, Melbourne University, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, among others.  He has also served on the faculties of the Innsbrook Institute, Renova Music Festival and Houston ChamberFest. Mr. Fleming holds the degrees of Doctor of Musical Arts, Artist Diploma, and Master of Music from the Juilliard School, a Postgraduate Diploma with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a Bachelor of Music summa cum laude from Louisiana State University.  He is represented by Arts Global, Inc.

Photo credit: Sophie Zhai

Michael Katz, Cello

Hailed by the press for his “bold, rich sound” (The Strad) and “nuanced musicianship,” (The New York Times), Israeli cellist Michael Katz has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, Tokyo’s Oji Hall, and Jerusalem’s Henry Crown Auditorium. His musicianship has been recognized with many awards, among them all three prizes at the 2011 Aviv Competition and first prizes at the Juilliard School’s 2010 Concerto Competition and the 2005 Turjeman Competition.

As the cellist of the Lysander Piano Trio, Mr. Katz was a winner of the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition, and was awarded First Prize in the 2011 Coleman Competition and 2011 J.C. Arriaga Competition. He has performed with Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Laurence Lesser, Anthony Marwood, Donald Weilerstein, Peter Frankl, David Finckel, Roger Tapping, Charles Neidich, and others. His festival appearances include performances at Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn, Sarasota, Malaga Classica, and the Holland Music Sessions.

Born in Tel-Aviv, Mr. Katz began his cello studies at age seven, and his early teachers included Zvi Plesser, Hillel Zori and the late Mikhail Khomitzer. Mr. Katz received his Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory as a student of Laurence Lesser and his Master of Music from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Joel Krosnick. He has completed a Doctor of Music degree at SUNY Stony Brook as a student of Colin Carr. Mr. Katz is currently a Fellow in Ensemble ACJW, a program of Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School which trains the next generation of performers to be artists and teachers that hold a deep commitment to the communities in which they live and work.

Photo credit: Sophie Zhai

Mika Sasaki, Piano

Mika Sasaki official site

Pianist Mika Sasaki has established herself as a sought-after chamber musician, soloist, and emerging educator. Since her solo debut with the Sinfonia of Cambridge (U.K.) at age seven, she has appeared twice with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, more recently with the 92Y Orchestra in New York City, and has performed at venues including the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Steinway Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Palazzo Chigi Saracini (Italy), Minatomirai Hall (Japan), Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (Japan), and live on WQXR radio. Her solo debut album “Obsidian” was released on Yarlung Records in 2016, highly acclaimed by Online Merker as “illuminat[ing] the artistic inspiration and creative exchange between these three Romantic souls,” Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms.

A versatile pianist praised for her musicianship, Ms. Sasaki recently joined Ensemble Connect—a program of Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and the Weill Institute in partnership with the NYC Department of Education. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has been invited to festivals such as Estherwood (U.K.), Aspen, Mannes Beethoven Institute, Chigiana (Italy), Yellow Barn, Icicle Creek, Taos, Tanglewood and Music@Menlo. She has performed and taught at pianoSonoma in New York and California, and will be teaching at the Danbury Music Centre’s Chamber Music Intensive in Connecticut this summer.

Born in Atlanta, Ms. Sasaki grew up in Demarest, New Jersey, and moved to Tokyo, Japan, in 2001. She returned to the U.S. to study with Benjamin Pasternack at the Peabody Conservatory, and is currently completing her doctoral studies as a C.V. Starr Fellow at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Joseph Kalichstein. At Juilliard, she has taught as an adjunct faculty member in the College Division, and currently teaches piano and keyboard skills in the Evening Division. She also teaches at I.S. 025 in Queens as part of her fellowship with Ensemble Connect.

Photo credit: Arthur Moeller

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