“Portraits of Women in Baroque Music” A Concert
Transcript
“Portraits of Women in Baroque Music” A Concert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Italian Cultural Institute of New York presents: “Portraits of Women in Baroque Music” A Concert Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 6:00pm Location: Italian Cultural Institute New York, 686 Park Avenue, NY 3/14/2012: The program will focus primarily on 16th and 17th centuries opera repertoire but will also include various pieces of chamber music performed by violin and basso continuo as well as a sonata by Vivaldi and one by Isabella Leonarda. The work of the latter, who is defined as the “Muse of Novara,” is one of the earliest examples of musical writing by women. The multi-faceted and vivid world of the psychology of women, as perceived by Baroque and 18th century musicians, will be explored. Fascinating glimpses of female characters drawn from opera arias of the Italians Vivaldi, Paisiello and Cavalli as well as music from Handel and Haydn, will be performed. Different heroines will take many forms through the virtuosic arias of the Baroque opera repertoire. 1 Performers: • • • Elvira Di Bona (violin) Yasue Takahashi (soprano) Lucy Yates (piano) The program will be introduced by: Will Crutchfield, Director of Opera at Caramoor Festival The artists: Elvira di Bona Elvira Di Bona earned a degree in violin from the Music Academy of Terni in 2004 and also studied privately with Judith Hamza. She completed the “High Specialization Course in Music Studies – Solo Violin”, held by Rodolfo Bonucci and Domenico Nordio, at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome. She also attended many international masters classes led by Reiner Honeck, concertmaster of the Wiener Philarmoniker, Juliu Hamza, first violin of the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, Emanuel Hurwitz, first violin of the London Philarmonic Orchestra, Mariana Sirbu, Konstatin Bogino and Anatoly Liebermann. She has worked with several orchestras such as the “Orchestra Città Aperta”, “I Solisti Aquilani” and the “Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese”, where she played with Enrico Dindo, Massimo Quarta and Benedetto Lupo. She performed as soloist in the presence of the President of the Republic of Italy Giorgio Napolitano, at the ceremony for the "Benedetto Croce Prize” 2006. She has also played as soloist for the “Uto ughi per Roma Youth” orchestra and in the Vatican for the Christmas concert in 2004. She has earned an MA degree in Philosophy and is a Ph.D. candidate at the university Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan. She is currently a Fulbright Grantee at the New York University. Yasue Takahashi Yasue Takahashi graduated in 1998 in vocal music under soprano Etsuyo Tachikawa and tenor Yoshiaki Shinozaki as First Class Performer at Tokyo Musical University. She also completed a post-graduate course at the same university. She earned a diploma in vocal music – opera at the Nikikai, Tokyo, in 2002. Yasue attended several masters classes such as the Korean-Euro Music Festival, Pusan, and the Universitaet fuer Musik Sommer Seminars, Vienna, and studied under the soprano Miwako Matsumoto. In Italy, she attended vocal music courses at the Conservatorio Nicolo’ Piccinni, Bari, at the Accademia Internazionale di Musica and at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Yasue Takahashi performed in many important Japanese institutions such as the Kyu Tokyo Ongaku Gakkou Sougakudou, the Katsushika Symphony Hills Hall and the Nihonbashi Koukaidou Public Hall, where she played as Contessa in Mozart’s “Nozze di 2 Figaro” and as Adina in Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore”. In 2002 she performed at the Tokyo FM Music Hall and, the following year at the Tokyo Opera City. She was also active in Italy, especially in Rome, where she performed at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia Concert Hall and where, in 2009, she played for the Radio Vaticana broadcast. Lucy Yates Lucy Yates holds degrees in piano and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in voice from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Warren Jones and Thomas Muraco; and a diploma "Ottimo" from the Accademia Italiana di Lingua di Firenze. She has also completed courses at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia and L’Abri Fellowship in Lausanne. She also was a founding member of the coaching program at the Manhattan School of Music and has taught at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Elon University, and Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. She has spent much of her career as a soprano. In 2002, she made her Italian debut as Violetta in “La traviata”, a production directed by Franco Zeffirelli and conducted by Plácido Domingo. She has been a guest of festivals including Ravinia, Aldeburgh, Bard, and Boston Early Music; and ensembles such as the Orchestra Verdi di Milano, Prague Radio Symphony, New-York Collegium, and New York Ensemble for Early Music. As a pianist and a harpsichord player, Lucy Yates has traveled through Europe and North and South America, performing with musicians from Christopher Hogwood to Carly Simon. In recent seasons she has played piano for the New York premiere of Grigori Frid's “Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank”, and has sung premieres of vocal works by Marcus Maroney, Armand Qualliotine, Richard Thompson, and Sebastián Zubieta. She was heard on two occasions at Symphony Space, playing and singing the works of Tom Cipullo. From 2000-2005 she served as music director and principal pianist for the vocal quintet ArtSong Nouveau. Lucy Yates teaches Italian grammar, poetry and conversation for Bel Canto at Caramoor, under the direction of Will Crutchfield. The program: • • • • • • Isabella Leonarda (1620 – 1704) o Sonata Duodecima in D minor for violin solo and continuo from “Sonate a 1,2,3,4 istromenti op. Decima sesta” Bologna 1693 Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) o Sonata for violin and basso continuo in D minor (RV 14) o “Sposa son disprezzata” from Opera “Bajazet” Giovanni Paisiello (1740 – 1816) o “Nel cor piu’ non mi sento” from Opera “La Molinara” Francesco Cavalli (1602 – 1676) o “Aria di Artemia” from Opera “La Calisto” Georg Friedrich Handel (1685 – 1759) o “Ombre, Piante, urne funeste” from Opera “Rodelinda” Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) o “Ragion nell’alma siede” from Opera “Il mondo della luna” 3 The Italian Cultural Institute of New York Founded in 1961, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York is an office of the Italian government, dedicated to the promotion of Italian language and culture in the United States through the organization of cultural events. Under the guidance of its trustees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its advisory board, and its staff, the Italian Institute of Culture of New York conforms to this commitment by fostering the cultural exchange between Italy and the US in a variety of areas, from the arts to the humanities to science. Central to the Italian Cultural Institute’s mission is a constant effort to encourage the understanding and enjoyment of Italian culture by organizing and promoting cultural events in collaboration with the most prominent academic and cultural institutions of the East Coast. The Italian Cultural Institute of New York focuses on the development of initiatives aimed at showcasing Italian excellence in various fields, such as science, technology, the arts and design. The development of academic exchanges, the organization and support of visual arts exhibitions, the grants for translation and publication of Italian books, the promotion of Italian studies, and the cooperation with local institutions in planning various events that focus on Italian music, dance, cinema, theater, architecture, literature, philosophy etc., are just a few examples of the Institute’s initiatives. In conclusion, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York provides an “open window” on the cultural and social aspects of past and current Italy. For more information please visit: [email protected] Press contact Eva Zanardi Director of Communications Italian Cultural Insitute of New York Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 212 879 4242 ext. 333 Fax +1 212 861-4018 4