The D’Angelo Department of Music at Mercyhurst University
presents
Faculty Recital
Amanda Sage, flute Elizabeth Etter, piano
Walker Recital Hall
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 8:00pm
www.mercyhurst.edu/music
PROGRAM
Flute Concerto in D major “Il Gardellino”, RV 428 Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) I. Allegro II. Cantabile III. Allegro
Sur L’eau (“On the Water”) for flute and piano Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941)
Woodland Reverie for solo flute Daniel Dorff (b. 1951)
Mountain Air for piccolo and piano Steven Tung and Victor Wong
As the Clouds Parted for alto flute and piano Phyllis Avidan Louke (b. 1954) I. Romance II. Gallop III. Lullaby IV. Scherzo V. Finale
Flight of the Bumblebee Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from The Tale of Tsar Saltan (1844-1908)
Pie in the Face Polka from “The Great Race” Henry Mancini (1924-1994)
The use of recording devices is strictly prohibited. Please turn off and stow all electronic devices. Thank you.
NOTES
Antonio Vivaldi (also known as the red priest) was a master of the instrumental forms and genres of his time. Among his output are nearly 500 concertos, including both solo concertos and concertos written for different numbers of soloists in a variety of combinations. He was ordained a priest in 1703, but was also well known as a violinist. He was appointed violin teacher at the Ospedale della Pieta, a home for orphaned or illegitimate girls. Most of his concerti were written for his students there. His Flute Concerto in D major, RV 428 was published in a set of six in 1728. The concerto is nicknamed “Il Gardellino” (The Goldfinch) and is meant to depict bird-song, including trills, repeated notes, and arpeggios. Goldfinches are commonly kept and bred in captivity due to their distinctive appearance (red face, black and yellow wing pattern) and pleasant bubbling and twittering calls. Vivaldi must have been quite taken by this little bird!
Philippe Gaubert was a prominent French flutist, having held positions with the Paris Opera, and as Professor of Flute at the Paris Conservatory. He was also one of the prized students of acclaimed flute pedagogue Paul Taffanel, completing their Methode complete de flute after Taffanel’s death. Sur L’eau is a programmatic piece, beginning in the unusual tonality of G-flat major, shifting to D major, and back to G-flat major again to end the piece. In the style of a barcarole (from the Italian word “barcarola” or “boat man”), the piece is meant to be modeled on the songs of the Venetian gondoliers. We can most especially hear the motion of the boat lilting on the waves in the rhythmic accompaniment of the piano.
The music of Daniel Dorff has entered the standard repertoire for flute and piccolo, and is performed and recorded frequently worldwide. He received degrees in composition from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, and holds the position of Vice President of Publishing for Theodore Presser Company. In addition to his compositions and commissions, Dorff is also sought after as an expert on music engraving and notation. Woodland Reverie for solo flute is an atmospheric and dreamlike piece. It is gentle, expressive, and sets a rustic tone as we might imagine a colorful forest scene.
Mountain Air for piccolo and piano, written by the duo Steven Tung and Victor Wong, has been performed worldwide by renown piccolo artists such as Nicola Mazzanti and Nan Raphael. It is described as being “a clean and fresh new-age work featuring the high register of the piccolo.” In this piece, the piccolo is given a very sweet, melodic line, utilizing its song-like timbre to the fullest.
Phyllis Avidan Louke is Music Director of Rose City Flute Choir, and principal flute with Oregon Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and Oregon Symphonic Band. She adjudicates, maintains a private studio, and freelances in Portland, Oregon. As the Clouds Parted is a series of five character sketches for alto flute and piano and is a metaphor for happiness--when the clouds part, the sun comes out. The music in this suite is tied together with a theme of happiness. Happiness is finding true love in Romance, it is joy and freedom in Gallop, it is the sweet tenderness of singing a child to sleep with a Lullaby, it is enjoying a musical joke in the light-hearted Scherzo, and it is a fanfare and enjoying a happy ending in Finale.
Flight of the Bumblebee, by composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, was written as incidental music for the opera The Tale of Tsar Sultan, based on a fairy-tale poem by the great Russian author, Alexander Pushkin. The opera was written to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Pushkin’s birth. The piece is meant to evoke the rapidly changing and frantic flight pattern of a bumblebee, utilizing uninterrupted runs of rapid chromatic passages. In the opera, a magic swan turns Prince Gvidon (the Tsar’s son) into a bumblebee, so he can fly to meet with his father. Although originally written for orchestra, it has become immensely famous and utilized in popular culture, and arranged for various other ensembles and solo instruments.
Pie in the Face Polka, by Henry Mancini, was written for the 1965 motion picture film The Great Race. The piece accompanies a rather amusing and entertaining pie fight scene, where nearly 4,000 pies were needed to film the scene over the course of five days. The scene lasts just a little over four minutes, but cost $200,000 to shoot, $18,000 for the pies alone. Mancini is renowned as an award-winning composer, having written film scores for movies such as The Pink Panther, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Although he was born in Ohio, Mancini was raised in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, where his introduction to music began with studies in flute and piano at his father’s encouragement. Among his awards are 20 Grammys, 4 Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and two Emmy nominations.
BIOGRAPHIES
Amanda Sage has served as principal flute with the Pittsburgh Philharmonic, principal flute and second flute/piccolo with the Undercroft Opera, as well as substitute flute/piccolo for the Edgewood, Westmoreland, and Johnstown Symphonies. She also performs in various solo, chamber, and/or larger ensemble roles in a variety of venues throughout the Pittsburgh area, including the newly formed Bel Suono Ensemble of which she is a founding member. An ardent advocate of early music and historical performance, Amanda also plays the baroque flute. She has performed in masterclasses for baroque flutists Kim Pineda, Janet See, and Barthold Kuijken. As an educator, she has over a decade of experience in private instruction, in addition to her many years of experience teaching both instrumental and general music (K-12). As well as teaching at Mercyhurst, Amanda also teaches at West Virginia Northern Community College as an adjunct faculty lecturer in music. She also maintains a private studio in the Pittsburgh area.
Beyond music, Amanda is a Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She strives to incorporate her knowledge of health and fitness into her teaching, especially stressing the importance of proper body alignment, breath, and injury prevention with her students. Amanda has presented on the topic of performance health at several different universities and events including the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention in Washington D.C., the annual National Flute Association Convention, and in December 2019, published her first book called “Performance Health for Musicians: Exercises and Techniques for Staying Strong and Injury-Free”.
Elizabeth Etter holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Harpsichord performance and a Master of Music as a double major in Collaborative Piano and Harpsichord performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Anne Epperson and Doris Ornstein. She graduated from Allegheny College with a B.A., where she subsequently served on the piano faculty while maintaining a thriving independent studio from which many students were launched with illustrious careers. She founded the Summer Music Festival and Music Outreach Program at Allegheny College and served as Executive and Artistic Director of the celebrated international festival for young chamber musicians. She has performed on many stages throughout the eastern United States including the Chautauqua Institution, Cleveland Museum of Art, and Carnegie Music Hall. She has mentored and taught hundreds of young performers, and has served as a juror for national and international competitions, presented arts-in-education workshops for preschool through college audiences, and moderated as a panelist for national music conferences. Her performances and interviews have been aired on WQED, WCLV, and WQLN. Specializing in early keyboard performance and chamber music, her passion lies in the collaboration and communication involved in playing chamber music. Her performances include the Erie Philharmonic, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chautauqua Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Baroque Ensemble, Cleveland Camerata, Erie Chamber Orchestra, and the Holter Chamber Music Festival in Italy. Dr. Etter currently serves as piano faculty at Edinboro University and is a staff pianist at Mercyhurst University and Duquesne University.
Upcoming Events Fall 2020
LIVESTREAM ONLY—no live audiences permitted in performance spaces
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES Royce Strider, baritone Dr. Nathan Hess, piano Wednesday, October 21, 8:00pm Walker Recital Hall This event is only available via LIVESTREAM. Connect through www.mercyhurst.edu/music.
WIND ENSEMBLE* Directed by Dr. Scott Meier Sunday, November 8, 4:00pm Walker Recital Hall This event is only available via LIVESTREAM. Connect through www.mercyhurst.edu/music.
FACULTY RECITAL SERIES Eleanor Lee, cello Wednesday, November 11, 8:00pm Walker Recital Hall This event is only available via LIVESTREAM. Connect through www.mercyhurst.edu/music.
JAZZ ENSEMBLE* Directed by Dr. Scott Meier Saturday, November 21, 7:00pm Walker Recital Hall This event is only available via LIVESTREAM. Connect through www.mercyhurst.edu/music.
MERCYHURST CIVIC ORCHESTRA STRING ENSEMBLE* Directed by Jonathan Moser Sunday, November 22, 4:00pm Walker Recital Hall This event is only available via LIVESTREAM. Connect through www.mercyhurst.edu/music.
For a full list of department performances, visit our Concerts & Events page at www.mercyhurst.edu/music.