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Event
GetClassical@ZincBAR
GetClassical@Zinc Bar
(Doors 6.30 PM and concert at 7PM)
25 General Admission and 15 Students/Artists
Violinist Miranda Cuckson and pianist Blair McMillen are known for their excellence as performers, as well as for their imaginative collaborations and innovative concepts and presentations.
While fluent in performance of the classical idiom, their programs are also known to stretch the boundaries of both their instrument's traditions, as well as the conventional recital format.
Since first performing as a duo at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, ten years ago, both artists have since regularly collaborated in concert performances and recordings. Their latest mutual project is their recording of piano/violin duos by Bartok, Schnittke and Lutoslawski for ECM Records, this January.
Miranda Cuckson Praised for her "undeniable musicality," (The New York Times) "command of line and naturalness of expression," (Gramophone) and "seemingly inexhaustible arsenal and technical abilities," (AllMusic Guide) Cuckson is in high demand as soloist and chamber musician.
Her nine lauded solo CDs include music by Luigi Nono (a New York Times Best Recording of 2012,)Shapey, Hersch, Martino, Finney and recent releases of works by Carter, Eckardt, Sessions, Wyner, Haas, Murail, Wuorinen and Currier.
Her recent Carnegie Hall concerto debut featured Walter Piston's violin concerto in performance with the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein. She has also performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, Library of Congress, Miller Theater, 92StreetY, Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and the Marlboro, Bard, Lincoln Center, Bridgehampton, Golandsky, Portland and Bodensee festivals.
Active with many organizations and ensembles, she is founder/director of Nunc http://nuncmusic.org/ and a member of counter-induction. Nunc (Latin for "now") stands for Cuckson's efforts to present an array of music old and new, relevant to her sense of how the "immediacy of the present, reveals a context of historic continuity and evolution [through] interrelating works across time and divergent philosophies."
Cuckson studied at The Juilliard School, where her teachers included Felix Galimir, Robert Mann, Dorothy DeLay, and Shirley Givens and for chamber music, Fred Sherry and the Juilliard String Quartet. At Juilliard she received her DMA and won the Presser and Richard French Awards. She currently teaches as a member of the violin faculty at Mannes College the New School for Music.
Blair McMillen - The New York Times has described him as "riveting," "prodigiously accomplished and exciting," and as one of the piano's "brilliant stars."
Blair McMillen leads a multifarious musical life as pianist, chamber musician, conductor, and improviser. He thrives on playing a wide variety of musical styles: from medieval keyboard manuscripts to improvisation-based music of all types: from Classical/Romantic-era piano repertoire to the music of young 21st-century composers. Known for imaginative and daring programming, Mr. McMillen has premiered hundreds of new works both as a soloist and with numerous ensembles.
Mr. McMillen is pianist for the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players, the American Modern Ensemble, and the six-piano Grand Band, among others. He is the co-founder and co-director of the Rite of Summer Music Festival, an alt-classical outdoor concert series and has performed in major venues both traditional and avant-garde: ranging from Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Moscow Conservatory and Caramoor, the Miller Theater, Caramoor and the Library of Congress to (le)Poisson Rouge, Galapagos, and the Knitting Factory.
Blair McMillen holds degrees from Oberlin College, The Juilliard School, and Manhattan School of Music. He lives in New York City, and has served on the music faculty at Bard College and Conservatory since 2005.
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Notes on the program's premieres "I don't feel programs always have to have a "theme," just an effective juxtaposition of good pieces," remarks Cuckson, who, together with McMillen will provide audiences with their personal comments, complementing their performance program. Mentioned here are the program's two premieres:
"Boat of Ra, " (2014) by Robert Cuckson is a world-premiere by Robert Cuckson, Miranda's father, a distinguished faculty member of both the Mannes College and the Curtis School of Music. "The piece takes a highly nuanced approach to counterpoint and lyricism," suggests his daughter. As for Laura Schwendinger's New York premiere of "The violinists in my life," (2011) the composer points out that the music portrays some of the characteristics of the distinctive performance approach, of each of the admired violinists for whom she chose to write. The composer's homage includes a movement "for Miranda," dedicated to Cuckson's own musical gift and manner. Laura Schwendiger, the composer who was the first recipient of the American Academy's Berlin Prize will be present at the concert and talk about her piece.
Also featured on the program will be works by: Sergej Prokofiev, George Crumb, Anna Weesner, and David Rakowski.
Program:
Four Nocturnes George Crumb (b.1929)
For violin and piano (Night Music II) (1965)
serenamente
scorrevole, vivace possible
contemplative
con un sentiment di nostalgia
Boat of Ra (2014) for violin and piano Robert Cuckson (b.1942)
*premiere
The Nearness of Things (2007) for solo violin Anna Weesner (b.1965)
Five Melodies, Op. 35 bis (1925) for violin and piano Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Andante
Lento, ma non troppo
Animato, ma non allegro
Allegretto leggero e scherzando
Andante non troppo
Piano Etudes for solo piano David Rakowski (b.1958)
Toyed together (for toy piano and concert grand)
Extended Puppy (commissioned and premiered in early 2014 by McMillen)
Absofunkinlutely
The violinists in My Life (2011) for violin and piano Laura Schwendinger (b.1962)
* New York premiere for Eleanor, Wei,
Miranda, Desiree, and Curt
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LocationThe Zinc Bar (View)
82 West 3rd St.
New York, NY 10012
United States
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