NEC Composers in NYC

NEC Presents Evening of Music by Alumni Composers Based in New York, Jan. 24 at Third Street Music School Settlement

Faculty Composer John Heiss to be Special Guest

New England Conservatory presents Mosaic: An Evening of New Music by Alumni Composers, January 24 at 7:30 pm in the Third Street Music School Settlement, 235 E. 11th Street (at 2nd Avenue) in Manhattan.  The program is being curated by Eleanor Cory ’70 M.M. and Dan Cooper ’96 M.M. Special guest for the evening will be John Heiss, the greatly loved composer and teacher who has served on NEC’s faculty for 44 years (see biography below). Mr. Cooper will interview Mr. Heiss briefly just after the intermission.

Composers represented on the concert are some of the mid-career musicians who reside in New York City.  They include David Amram; Lynn Bechtold ’95; Daniel Felsenfeld ’96 M.M. ’97 G.D. ’01 D.M.; Sara Holtzschue ’95 M.M.; Geoffrey Kidde ’88 M.M.; Erik Lundbor ’71; Andrew Rathbun ’94 M.M.; and Cory and Cooper. Performers also include a number of alumni working in NYC. 

The concert is open to the public and free of charge.

The Program:

Introduction by Eleanor Cory ‘70

1) David Amram
 'Blues and Variations for Monk' for Horn Solo [4min]
John Clark ‘81M.M. – French horn

2) Dan Cooper ‘96 M.M.
 'Three Pieces' for Piano Four Hands [12min]
i. Unsubscribe
ii. Plural of Blue
iii. Walk-Up
Christopher Oldfather ’74 M.M., Robert Pace - piano four hands

3) John Heiss, NEC Faculty
'Episode' for Violin and Electronics [4min]
with electronic accompaniment by Frank Heiss
Lynn Bechtold ’95 - violin

4) Lynn Bechtold ’95
'Duo Die' for Violin, Cello, and Electronics [5min]
Lynn Bechtold - violin
Jennifer DeVore ’96 M.M.- cello

5) Daniel Felsenfeld ’96 M.M. ’97 G,D., ’01 D.M.
'From Sleepless Nights' for Mezzo Soprano and Cello [5min]
Ellen Putney Moore ’07 M.M.- mezzo soprano
Jennifer DeVore ’96 M.M. – cello

6) Eleanor Cory ’70 M.M.
  'Toward the Mind' for Soprano and Piano [9min]
          i. 'Poem 576' by Emily Dickinson
 ii. 'Mind' by Richard Wilbur
 iii. 'Inside' by Eleanor Cory
Eleanor Taylor ’93 - soprano
Christopher Oldfather ’74 M.M. - piano

INTERMISSION

Dan Cooper ‘96M.M. - brief interview with John Heiss

7) Geoffrey Kidde ’88 M.M.
'Bagatelle' for Piano and Electronics [7min]
Margaret Mills’59 M.M. - piano

8) Andrew Rathbun ’94 M.M.
 'Suite' for Soprano Saxophone and Piano [10min]
Andrew Rathbun - soprano saxophone
Gary Versace - piano

9) Sara Holtzschue ’95 M.M.
 'Dark August' for Voice, Guitar, Cello, and Piano [5min]
(text by Derek Walcott)
Sara Holtzschue ’95 M.M. - voice and guitar
Alec Berlin ’94 M.M. - guitar
Jennifer DeVore ’96 M.M.- cello
[possibly a percussionist TBA as well]

10) Erik Lundborg ‘71
 'Colors' for Two Pianos [10min]
Christopher Oldfather ’74 M.M.- piano
Robert Pace - piano

11) John Heiss
 'Quartet' for Flute, Clarinet, Cello, and Piano [8min]
Karen Bogardus ‘83 - flute
Christopher Cullen ’95 M.M. - clarinet
Jennifer DeVore ’96 M.M. - cello
Vivian Choi ’07 M.M., ’08 GD - piano

Biography of John Heiss

John Heiss is an active composer, conductor, flutist, and teacher. His works have been performed worldwide, receiving premieres by Speculum Musicae, Boston Musica Viva, Collage New Music, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Aeolian Chamber Players, Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, and Alea III. He has received awards and commissions from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, Fromm Foundation, NEA, Rockefeller Foundation, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, ASCAP, and the Guggenheim Foundation. His principal publishers are Boosey & Hawkes, E.C. Schirmer, and Elkus & Son.
Heiss has been principal flute of Boston Musica Viva and has performed with many local ensembles, including the BSO.

His articles on contemporary music have appeared in Winds Quarterly, Perspectives of New Music, and The Instrumentalist. Along with Juilliard faculty Joel Sachs, Heiss has designed and written a book/CD-Rom classical music primer for Blue Marble Music entitled Classical Explorer.

Starting in the 1970s, Heiss has directed many NEC festivals dedicated to composers or themes, and has spearheaded visits to NEC by many composers, including Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Berio, Carter, Messiaen, Schuller, and Tippett.

At NEC's Commencement 1998, John Heiss received the Conservatory's Louis and Adrienne Krasner Teaching Excellence Award.

For further information, check the NEC Website 

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY

Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory in Boston, MA offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 720 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world.  Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars.  Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide.  Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.

The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions.  On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, contemporary improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Programs and Partnerships Program, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors.  Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music, jazz, and contemporary improvisation.

NEC presents more than 900 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, century-old, beautifully restored concert hall.  These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz, contemporary improvisation, and opera scenes.  Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre or Paramount Theatre in Boston.

NEC is co-founder and educational partner of From the Top, a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.

Contact: Ellen Pfeifer
Public Relations Manager
New England Conservatory
290 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
617-585-1143
Ellen.pfeifer@necmusic.ed