2007 - 2008 Series

Midtown Concerts: 
October 2007  |  November 2007   |  December 2007  |  January 2008  |  February 2008
March 2008  |  April 2008  |  May 2008

November 2007

November 7
Sarah Davol
Baroque Oboe Recital

Sarah Davol performs some of the earliest solo music written for the oboe, including works by Locke, Schmelzer, and Pez. She will be joined by R.J. Kelley (natural horn), Tom Sefcovic (baroque bassoon), and Dongsok Shin (harpsichord).

Sarah Davol, oboist, has been praised for her "graceful and colorful solo playing" by the Philadelphia Inquirer. This year she recorded Vivaldi's Oboe Concerto in D minor for Lyrachord, and performed Bach's Concerto in F Major with Vox Ama Deus. She may be heard on the Audioguide for the Music Instrument Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her recording of Aphorisms for solo oboe by Sun Bin Kim won a national ASCAP award.
 

November 14
Audrey Axinn
Fortepiano Recital

Audrey Axinn will perform works including Mozart's Sonata in A minor (KV 310) and Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata (op. 27, no. 2).

Audrey Axinn teaches chamber music, fortepiano, and collaborative piano at The Juilliard School. She has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Bargemusic and The Edinburgh Festival. Critics have written:  "Her touch is magical and the fluidity of her playing exceptional. Her musical sensibility reminds one of Landowska." Ms. Axinn is a graduate of The Manhattan School of Music, The Curtis Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School.
 

November 21
New York Polyphony
Sacred Vocal Masterpieces

A program of sacred music from the 13th to 16th centuries, sung one-to-a-part by New York Polyphony, a newly-formed group devoted to dynamic small-ensemble singing.

New York Polyphony delivers dynamic, historically-informed performances in a range of styles. From the simplicity of plainchant to the dense chromaticism of contemporary works, the New York Polyphony sound is unified, energized and distinctive.

The members of the group maintain active performing lives, each bringing a diversity of experience to their craft. Alto Geoffrey Williams is in growing demand as an early music specialist throughout the United States, performing regularly with groups such as Vox Vocal Ensemble, St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, and Early Music New York. Tenor Geoffrey Silver, a native of the United Kingdom, began his musical career as a Chorister of Westminster Abbey and later sang at Trinity and St. John's Colleges in Cambridge. Baritone Scott Dispensa, a graduate of The Juilliard School, has performed extensively as a soloist equally at home in classical music as in contemporary musical theater. Bass-baritone Craig Phillips enjoys a successful operatic solo career, performing with companies throughout the United States including New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Florida Grand Opera.

New York Polyphony was founded in 2006 with its musical advisor, Malcolm Bruno. Current activities include "Footprints to Paradise: A Medieval Christmas" for Public Radio International; featured artists on the soundtrack to Breath - a multimedia presentation by visual artists The OpenEnded Group for Lincoln Center's 2007 Mostly Mozart Festival; and Mater Dei - a pairing of excerpts from the Worcester Fragments with newly commissioned compositions by Norwegian composer Andrew Smith for the New York Early Music Celebration 2007. Their debut CD, I sing the birth , is slated for international release on Avie Records Fall 2007.
 

November 28
Charles Weaver
Theorbo Recital

The theorbo or chitarrone , best-known for its versatility as a continuo instrument, also has a small canon of solo music. Charles Weaver presents a recital of this beautiful repertoire, including works by Alessandro Piccinini (1566-1638) and Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger (1580-1651).

Charles Weaver performs on lute, theorbo, guitar, and voice as a member of New York–based ensembles ARTEK, Repast, and Ensemble Viscera. He has also appeared in concert with Hesperus, Piffaro, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and the Yale Schola Cantorum. With his duo partner, soprano Elizabeth Baber, he has created programs of Renaissance song praised for their "imagination in programming." The Washington Post has described his performances as "captivating" and "splendid." He is on the faculty of the New York Continuo Collective, a semi-professional workshop that explores the courtly tradition of reciting Italian poetry to the lute and its relation to early opera. Last summer, he taught at the Western Wind choral workshop and was assistant music director of the Amherst Early Music Festival's Theater Project. This season will include recordings with Early Music New York and the Dryden Ensemble, concerts with Parthenia and the Yale Early Opera Initiative, and a medieval mystery play with the Folger Consort.