March Mutterings

Spring's full moon so bright on the eve of St. Patrick's Day. Last weekend, so many celebrating green in spite of the snow.  Bawdy sunshine yesterday.  A revue of birds at the feeder, dangling on the tips of the sumac:  Cardinals, Goldfinches, Chickadees, Eastern Bluebirds, Blue Jays, Tree Sparrows, Robins.
 For weeks, our feeders were quiet.  Not sure why, then they were rediscovered.  So glad they're back.

Women in Music Festival 2014

10th Anniversary

March 24-29, 2014

Jennifer Higdon, Composer and Pulitzer-Prize Winner
The Women in Music Festival is proud to welcome composer-in-residence and Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon.
Dr. Higdon’s residency at the Eastman School of Music will include coaching with Eastman performers, lecture at the Composers’ Forum, give a master class, rehearsal with the Greater Rochester Women’s Philharmonic, and attend two concerts of her music at Eastman and Nazareht College.
Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) is one of the most performed living American composers working today. Her list of commissioners range from the Cleveland Orchestra to the Philadelphia Orchestra; from eighth blackbird to the Tokyo String Quartet; and from The President’s Own Marine Band to such artists as Hilary Hahn. Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, with the committee citing Higdon’s work as a “deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” She has also received awards from the Serge Koussevitzky Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Letters (two awards), the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Meet-the-Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, and ASCAP. In January, 2010, Higdon received a GRAMMY for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto. She holds the Rock Chair in Composition at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.  jenniferhigdon.com

 

PRELIMINARY FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Monday, March 24

• Opening Noontime Concert, Lowry Hall, Eastman School of Music: 
• Poets:Anita Augesen , Kathy Van Schaick  and Laura Klinkon will read.
• Master Class with the Kaplan Duo (pianists), Ciminelli Formal Lounge, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, March 25

• Noontime Concert with the Kaplan Duo, Wilmot Hall, Nazareth College
• Master Class with the Kaplan Duo (pianists), Wilmot Hall, Nazareth College, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 26

• Noontime Concert, Sproull Atrium at Miller Center, Eastman School of Music Poets: Anne Coon, Kitty Jospe, Donna Marbach, Wynne McClure  and Patricia Roth Schwartz will read.
• Lecture/recital “Manifesting Night: Viola Music of Kaija Saariaho and Arlene Sierra,”Wendy Richman, viola, Ciminelli Formal Lounge, 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 27

• Noontime Concert, Eastman at Washington Square, First Universalist Church.Poet: Lori Norlasco will read.
• Master Class with Jennifer Higdon, in collaboration with the Rochester Flute Association, Messinger Hall, 3 p.m.
• Concert at SUNY Geneseo, Doty Recital Hall, 8 p.m.

Friday, March 28

• Noontime Concert, Schmitt Hall, Eastman School of Music, Poets:Claudia M. Stanek, Mary Lynn Broe, M.J. Iuppa,Leah Zazulyer , Victoria Korth and Celeste Schantz will read.
• Composers’ Forum with Jennifer Higdon, ESM 404, 3 p.m.
• All-Higdon Concert:  Solo & Chamber Works, Hatch Recital Hall, 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 29

• Noontime Concert hosted by the Eastman Community Music School, Lowry Hall
• Matinée Concert:  Greater Rochester Women’s Philharmonic, Linehan Chapel, Nazareth College, 2 p.m.
• Evening Concert:  The Music of Caroline Lizotte, Harpist & Composer, Ray Wright Room (ESM 120), 7 p.m.

 This is going to be an exceptional showcase. If you're in the area, make plans to attend these concerts.

No doubt. It will be inspiring.