School a Mu ic

Presents a Faculty Recital:

Sean Osborn, accon'zpanied by Kimberly Russ,

May.fi, 2007 7:30 pm MEANY THEATER

PROGRAM c~ I>,~(~ f5 !OCo mPREMIERE RHAPSODIE...... CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862- I 9 18) !lJ c.CTW. \1U.MT '? CHARACTER PIECES ...... J. ?-:-~!. \.1: ...... SEAN OSBORN (b. 1966) 3 1. JMN 11. EM ME IV. RM V. FS Cc.--;\'\ ~T'> ) D '7 " '7 Q ~,..uc\e. ­ -- - G,f',1 e ''-()~ r- <--I I c.u v1Il~T.5 rom Motives in Verdi's Opera RlGOLETTO: FANTASlA ...... 1."2:,,1"- ...... LUIGI BASSI (I 833-187 I)

INTERMISSION (D--+r 15, L[ 11

C"'"" 'AA.e-0B v HI 2'/7­ IRDS IN WARPED TIME IT ...... 1. ...'...... SOMEI SATOH (b. 1947) dent in the accompaniment to this piece. This piece was originally writ1en for violin and ~ piano. Here, the clarinet uses a range o f sounds, from non vibrato, to slow p0l1amenti to c.c,'""n1 wlQM TS held notes with exaggerated v ibrato. To th e westerner, th e sound may be evocati ve o f 6J Japanese instruments - th e string in sD1J ment kokyu or th e wind in strument shakuhachi. SONATA FOR CLARINET AND PIANO IN F MINOR, At other times the calm, pen tatoni c melody line speaks a universal lang uage. OP. J20, No. J ...... ,z .S,''O'.8...... JOHANNES B RAHMS (1833- 1897) 1. Allegro appassionato Like many other composers (Mozart, Schubert, Nielsen, Bartok, Debussy, Poulenc), - 11. JOH ANNES BRAHMS composed hi s great clarinet works at the end of hi s life. He had Andante un poco Adagio written that he was retiring from composit ion when he hea rd the great clarinetist Richard ~ lIT. Allegretto grazioso Miihfeld perfonn. He was immediately inspired to take up composition again and write fE /V. Vivace four major works for the clarinet: the Trio, Op. 11 4 , the Quintet, Op. 115, and the ['wo clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120. The fi rst, in fminor and fou r movements contains many ele­ ments of Brahms' m ature style: hemiolas, beat displacement, strict formalism, counter­ point, variations, and motivic compositional style. This las t aspect is particularly strong in the first movment, as is Brahms' way of w ri ting music in several different meters The Paris Conservatoire held a competition every year for graduating sl1ld ents to playa s imultaneously. The second movem ent contains a beautiful falling theme that is varied newly composed piece they had prepared, and a piece for sig htreadin g by th e sa me com ­ several times. The third is a L ii ndler - a moderate dance in three with emphasis on the poser chosen that year. Many of the competition pi eces were good enough to survive and first beat. The last is a rollicking Rondo with quite a quick ma rking for Brahms: Vivace! join the stan dard repertoire, but none were so great as CLAUDE D EB USSY 'S 19 10 PIIEMIEIIE RHAf'SODIE. While originally for clarinet and piano, Debussy later set it for full and clarillet so lo . With th e designation "Premiere," it could be sunnised that he Praised as ..... an excellent cl arine ti st," by The New York Times, Sean Osborn, fonner meant to compose at least a second rhapsodie, but never got to it before he died the fol­ clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, has perfornled on fo ur continents since lowing year. A II 0 f the music in this p iece flows from the first three notes of the clari net. his recital debut at the Kennedy Center for th e Perfo nning Arts at th e age of 17. His perfonnance of Nieslen's C larinet with th e Philadelphia Orchestra was "espe­ CHARACTER P IECES is a musi ca l depiction of five people, designated only by th eir initials. ciall y admired" for the "beautifully inflected phrases" by th e critics of The Philadelphia There are four clarineti sts and three composers represented, and I w ill neither confinn nor Inquirer, and Gramophone Magazine call ed him "a master clarin eti st. " deny any g uesses as to who they are. W here the clarinetists are concern ed, I tri ed to Appointed over nearly 300 other app li cants to a position w ith the Metropolitan write music th at th ey like to play and in a style that they play it. Where the composers Opera Orchestra in 1989, Osborn was the youngest clarinetist in the history of th e M et. are concerned, I tried to write homages to their styles and their musical tastes. He has also perfonned as guest principal clarinet with the New Yo rk Philhannonic, Pitts­ burg h , Seat1le Symphony, and th e American Symphony Orchestra. During LUIGI BA SS I was th e clarinetist at La Scala, Italy's most famous opera house, when Verdi hi s orchestral career, he has been singled out for praise of hi s "bravura technique" (Oggi) was composin g and premi ering most of hi s early and middle works, including Rigoletto. and hi s "slenderly eloquent" solos (Village Voice). In solo perfonnances, he has been It was quite common during the 19th century for musicians and composers to writ e fanta­ praised for his "ability to describe at1 ractive ly shaped musical arcs w ith hi s fluid tone," sies on th e popular music of th e day, and every in strument has several such pieces in it s and "demonstrate[ingJ the effortlessness of hi s technique ill a perfonnance of Francaix's reperto ire. The Ri golet1o fantasy is quite good, and contains several popular themes, pyrotechnical Concerto." including "Caro Nome," the act III Quartet " Be lla figlia dell 'amore", and "Panne veder Touring the country extensively, Osborn has perfonned li ve and in recital on many Ie lagrime." It is interesting to note that th e most popular l1lne from Ri goletto, "La donna rad io stations and nationally o n N PR's Performance Today. He is a top prizewinner in e mobile" appears nowhere in thi s fantasia. I have performed this FANTA SIA many times, both the ARTS Competition and th e Inte m a ti onal Clarin et Society Competiti on, and in and th e opera Rigolet1o nearing 100 times. 1984 was named a Pres id ential Scho lar in the Arts. Osborn has also pal1icipated in the Marlbo ro, Colorado, Asp en, and Keystone music festival s. H e has record ed for Sony SOMEI SATOH was born in 1947 in Sendai (northern Honshu), Japan. He began his career C lassics, London, Deutsche Grammaphon, C Rl, and others. His solo CD Ame ri can in 1969 with "Tone Field," an exp eri mental, mixed media group based in Tokyo. In 1972 S pirit was released in 2003 on Albany Records. he produced "Global Vision," a multimedia arts festival, that encompassed mus ical A student of Stanley Hasty at th e Eastman School of Mus ic, Osborn is a graduate of events, works by visual artists and improvisational perfonnance groups. In o ne of his the Curtis Instihlte of Music and the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he received its most interesting projects held at a hot springs resort in Tochigi Prefecture in 1981, Satoh highest honor, the Young Artists Certifi cate. He also receiv ed a master's degree fro m places eight speakers approximately one kilometer apart on mountain tops overl ooking a Southern TIli nois University, where he shldied with Eric MandaI. Osborn has given huge valley. As a man-made fog rose from below, the music from th e speakers combined numerous master c lasses throughout the country at schools such as the Eastman School of with laser beams and moved the clouds into various fonnations. He has writ1en more Music, the Manhattan School of Music, Rice University, and the New World School of than thirty composit ions, including works for piano, orchestra, cham ber m usic, choral th e Arts, and has been a guest lechlrer at the Mannes Co ll ege of M usic. and electronic music, th eater pieces and music for traditional Japanese instruments. A frequent cha mber musician, Osborn has collaborated with James Levi ne, Donald As with the mus ic of Takemitsu, calmness, allied to religious ideas, pervades. Un­ Weilerstien, Richard Stoltzman, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, an d members of the like Takemitsu, he has been influenced by the repetitions of minimalist music, as is evi­ Co lorado String Quartet and Tokyo Stri ng Quartet, as well as members of the of New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and many others. He is also a composer; his works have been performed by members of the Marlboro Music Festival, the New York Philhannonil:, Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Philhar­ monic, the American Saxophone Qual1et, and the faculty of the Juilliard School, to name a few. An ASCAP award recipient, hi s Symphony #1 "September 11 th received an Accomplished Musician award from the Ibla Foundation, and his Quartet for four Bb , called "delectable" by The Clarinet, is publtshed by Presser Music.

Seattle Symphony Orchestra Pianist, Kimberly Russ, is recognized as an extremely accomplished ensemble player and collaborative pianist. Ms. Russ has performed with musicIans of the nation's finest orchestras as well as many other world­ renowned artists. Contin ually III demand as a collaborative pianist, she appears fre­ quently in conccrt throughout the Puget Sound region in recitals, festival s, and mas­ ter classes. M s. Russ can also be heard on several televis ion, radio, and film record­ ings as well as video game sou ndtracks. After moving to Seattle from New York, M s. Russ has appeared with the Seattle Opera Orchestra, th e Bellevue Ph ilhannonic, the Seattle Choral Company, and Choral Arts Northwcst She has been invited to perform for the Ladies Musical Club, th e Belle Arte, Barry and Friends, and the Shennan Clay Music for Lunch Series. Ms. Russ is the rehearsal pianist fo r both the Seattle Choral Company and the Seattle Symphony Chorale, Seattl e's premierc orchestral choirs. At th e Seattle Symphony, Ms. Russ pal'l ic ularl y enjoys assisting the conductors and soloists in preparatio n of their pelformances with the Orchestra. She also col­ laborates with many members of the orchestra in various concerts. While performing with the orchestra, Ms. Russ plays a variety of keyboard ins tru­ ments including p'iano , celesta, harpsichord, synthesizer, and occasionally, organ. While a s tudent at The Juilliard School, Ms. Russ played for many in s trumental and voice lessons, master classes, recital s, perfomlance juries, and admission audition s as a staff pianist. She was invited to continue as a staff piani st for The Juilliard School after graduation. She assis ted with The Juilliard Pre-College Chorus and coached th e Pre-College voice students weekly along with maintaining her schedule for th e college division . She also performed at many ins titutions in New York and New Jersey includIng Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of Mus ic, Stony Brook School of Mu s ic, and SUNY Purchase College School of Music. [n addition, she was the rehearsal pianist for the Can tabile Chamber Chorale in New Jersey. A native Floridian, Ms. Russ appeared as soloist, orchestral pianist, a nd c hamber musician with th e fonner Florida Symphony Orchestra, Central Florida Community Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Opera Orchestra, and tile Central Florida Percussion Ensemble. Ms. Russ was the rehearsal pianist for the Camerata Chorus of the Orlando Opera Company. She taught at the Engel School of Mu s ic, ValenCIa Community College, St. Luke' s School of the Arts, and the University of Central Florida College and Pre-College Division s. M s. R uss is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, Washington State Music Teachers Association, Seattle Mu sic Teachers Association and maintains a select private teaching studio at her Shoreline home where she resides with her husband, Christopher Olka, (PrinCipal Tuba, Seattle Symphony) son, James, and their cat, Berlioz.

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