2012 Cortona Sessions Program

www.cortonasessions.com

2 0 1 2j u n e 1 7 - j u l y 1

www.cortonasessions.com 2012 Cortona Sessions

CORTONA SESSIONS FOR NEW MUSIC | 2012


table of contents

welcome..................................................................................................................................................................4about the cortona sessions............................................................................................................................5faculty.......................................................................................................................................................................6daily schedules..................................................................................................................................................24concert programs...........................................................................................................................................27iron composer competition.........................................................................................................................34excursions ..........................................................................................................................................................41participant bios..................................................................................................................................................42 the duosolo foundation..................................................................................................................................48thank you..............................................................................................................................................................49


Welcome! Bienvenuto!

Welcome to the 2012 Cortona Sessions for New Music! We are so excited to again have the opportunity to share these ten days of creation, performance and la dolce vita with all of you here in Cortona. Over the course of the Sessions, we hope that you find inspiration and invigoration in the radiant light of the Val de Chiana, the sweet flavors of Tuscany’s magical wines, and the simple joy of passagiata. Most of all, we hope that the beauty, simplicity, and magic of Cortona, in combination with the intense musical collaboration at the Sessions will leave you with lasting memories, friendships, and musical partnerships for the rest of your lives.

Salute!

DuoSoloMary Fukushima & Michael KirkendollArtistic Directors of the Cortona Sessions


About the Cortona Sessions

Founded in 2010 by the members of DuoSolo and produced by the DuoSolo Foundation, the Cortona Sessions for New Music promote and foster relationships between young performers and composers, while advancing the general awareness and appreciation of music in the 21st Century. Participants study in both private and group settings with an esteemed faculty of contemporary music specialists while preparing for a series of world-premiere performances of music by festival composers. In addition to daily lessons, classes, and recitals, participants are given the opportunity to explore the historic city of Florence, bask in the glow of the Tuscan Sun, and immerse themselves in the charm and magic of Cortona’s steep hills.

FACULTY & GUESTS OF THE 2012 CORTONA SESSIONS

performance

KIVIE CAHN-LIPMAN | cello

MARY FUKUSHIMA | flute

AMIR KHOSROWPOUR piano

MICHAEL KIRKENDOLL | piano

JEFFREY LOEFFERT | saxophone

GREGORY OAKES | clarinet

SARAH ANDERSON | soprano

composition

FORREST PIERCE

KEN UENO

guests

h2 QUARTETGEOFFREY DEIBEL

JEFFREY LOEFFERTKIMBERLY GODDARD LOEFFERT

JONATHAN NICHOL______________________

JONAS FORSSELL


KIVIE CAHN-LIPMAN | CELLO

Kivie Cahn-Lipman, the founding cellist of ICE, has been teaching cello in a full-time position shared between Smith College and Mount Holyoke College since 2005. He holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School, and he is a Doctoral candidate at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

An avid performer of contemporary music, Kivie has played more than 500 solo and small ensemble world premieres and has worked with many of the world’s great living composers, including Pierre Boulez, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, and Kaija Saariaho. He has recorded with ICE on the Naxos, New Focus, Bridge, New Amsterdam, and Tzadik labels, with upcoming recordings of Xenakis and Jason Eckardt on Mode and John Adams on Nonesuch. Anticipated solo releases for 2010-2011 include the complete Bach Cello Suites, as well as a disc of unaccompanied electroacoustic commissions.

As a chamber musician, Kivie has performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and other major venues in both North America and Europe, as well as live on WNYC 93.9 in New York and WFMT 98.7 in Chicago. With the Elan Trio, he won top prize at the Coleman National Chamber Music Competition, performing George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae “with solid and expressive technique, imposing in both musical and theatrical conviction” (Los Angeles Times). Kivie plays on a 2003 William Whedbee cello, and additionally performs on baroque and piccolo cellos, viols, and lirone.


MARY FUKUSHIMA | FLUTE

A flutist for the Twenty-First Century, Mary Fukushima has established herself as a leading performer of contemporary music. Her 2006 Carnegie Hall Debut was praised as a “powerhouse performance” by critics from New York Concert Review, and led to performances in Italy, Singapore, and return engagements in New York. Her devotion to expanding the flute repertoire has resulted in nearly two-dozen world premiere performances, including several works by Pulitzer-Prize nominated composer David Rakowski. Mary’s unique contemporary abilities have led to multiple engagements with the Manhattan Sinfonietta conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky, as well as with the Gotham City Orchestra and Los Angeles Master Chorale for the New York Premiere of Steve Reich’s ‘You Are Variations’ in Alice Tully Hall. Also a composer, Mary is completing a collection of études on contemporary techniques. In 2008, Mary and her duo partner Michael Kirkendoll formed the DuoSolo Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the creation, performance, and education of new music. In 2010, DuoSolo presented the first annual Cortona Sessions for New Music in Cortona, Italy, bringing performers and composers together for 10 days of performance, study, and collaboration. The DuoSolo Foundation also sponsors an annual Emerging Composer Competition which has received over 100 new works for flute and piano since 2009.

While devoted to the music of living composers, Mary is equally at home in the classical flute rep-ertoire and has been a featured soloist with numerous orchestras, including a performance of Mozart’s D Major Concerto, K. 314 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She is currently principal flute with the Symphony Orchestra of Northwest Arkansas and a frequent substitute with the Tulsa Symphony, Tulsa Ballet, and Tulsa Opera. Mary has also held the position of principal flute with the Hunter Symphony in New York and performed with the Kansas City Symphony.

A passionate educator, Mary frequently appears as a guest artist at festivals and universities throughout the United States. Recently, Mary has been featured as guest artist and clinician at the University of Wyoming New Frontiers Contemporary Music Festival alongside Pulitzer-


Prize winner Jennifer Higdon, the Heidelburg University Festival of Contemporary Music, and at the University of Oklahoma, University of Michigan, Lewis and Clark College, Troy University, and Montana State University. As part of her educational outreach, Mary has created an interactive class on contemporary flute techniques, designed to introduce new techniques to students of all levels. The class has been presented to students of all ages around the U.S. Equally dedicated to encouraging and challenging pre-college flutists, Mary is currently co-founder and director of the Kansas Summer Flute Festival and the Stillwater Flute Festival for junior high and high school students. Previously, she also co-founded and directed the Maui World Music Workshop (HI) and Brooklyn Band Academy (NY), both designed to provide music education to students whose local schools were unable to do so.

Mary is currently Lecturer of Flute at Pittsburg State University (KS) and has also taught at the University of Kansas. She holds degrees from the University of Kansas (DMA), Manhattan School of Music (MM), and Long Island University (BFA), where her primary teachers were David Fedele, Linda Chesis, and Bradley Garner. She also studied extensively with David Shostac. In addition to her musical endeavors, Mary is a dedicated yogi, teaching and practicing in Stillwater, OK, as well as an avid connoisseur of great food and fine wine. If not in the practice room or yoga studio, you will likely find Mary running with her two black labs, Sam and Kona, or searching for that elusive first birdie on the golf course.

www.maryfukushima.comwww.duosolo.com


The performer. Maybe it’s because he’s a Libra, but Amir Khosrowpour believes in presenting programs that are balanced with new works and old works, siding neither with only the avant-garde or only the “dead white guys.” He has performed across the U.S., in China and Italy, and most recently in a month-long exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the City, Khosrowpour has worked with composers and performers in many new-music groups, including Red Light New Music, Ensemble Pamplemousse, JACK Quartet, and TRANSIT. He’s won numerous competitions, including the national title from the Music Teachers National Association, earning a Steinway grand piano as a prize. The composer. Khosrowpour is a company member of The Actors Company Theatre, having written music for their highly successful Off-Broadway production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce,and for several of their Salon Series productions. He is working with playwrights Jonathan Goldberg and Edith Freni on 2 musicals (one has zombies in it), and has collaborated with NYC dance choreographers Kathryn Wilkening, Susan Cherniak, Caron Eule, and Nicoll+Oreck on dance concerts for the 2010-11 season. There is also his duo, Corky Has a Band, which focuses on the surreal and ridiculous. In 2009, they presented a concert based on the popular (and fun) drinking game, PowerHour. The Instructor. Khosrowpour has developed programs for students in an advanced video-conferencing program, called Distance-Learning, at Manhattan School of Music. He has presented to students in New York State, Indiana, Florida, and even Norway, and has given professional development to teachers in Pennsylvania. He has also been

AMIR KHOSROWPOUR | PIANO


a faculty member at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp, the oldest arts camp in the country, and at the Manhattan School of Music Summer Camp.

The Student. Khosrowpour graduated with Distinction from the University of Kansas, earning a B.M. in Piano and Composition. Having completed the Masters of Music at Manhattan School of Music, he is now working on his Doctorate. He is most thankful for his mentors, Scott McBride Smith, Jack Winerock, and Phillip Kawin.

The Swell Guy. He lives in the Bronx with his Steinway, his fat cat, and the other half of Corky, pianist David Broome. Still practicing, still writing, still thinking up crazy stuff.


MICHAEL KIRKENDOLL | PIANO

Bridging the gaps between old and new, Michael Kirkendoll is a not your everyday pianist. Equally at home in the worlds of Beethoven and Haydn as in those of Frederic Rzewski and John Cage, Michael’s concerts are unique musical experiences leaving audiences eager for the next performance. His performances in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia have garnered great praise by audiences and critics alike. Michael’s recent appearances as a finalist in the American Pianists Association Classical Fellowship Awards were lauded as “inspired” showcasing “extraordinary” technical gifts and “superior intelligence.” His performance of John Corigliano’s Piano Concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra “dazzled from the moment he sat down at the keyboard” and his collaboration with the Parker String Quartet in the Shostakovich Piano Quintet “had you hanging on every phrase.” Michael’s 1999 tour of France’s Loire Valley featuring music by Chopin, Beethoven, and Ravel was heralded as “astonishing, regal, and eloquent” (La République, Orléans). Similar praise came after Michael substituted on 36 hours notice for a performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in Merkin Hall, New York City.

In recent years, Michael has become a dedicated advocate for the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. His talents for this music extend far beyond the typical pianistic arsenal of octaves and arpeggios. Michael possesses a deep and powerful voice and a lack of inhibition allowing him to perform with great skill some of the 20th-21st centuries most avant-garde works for theatrical pianist, including Frederic Rzewski’s De Profundis and Jerome Kitzke’s Sunflower Sutra. Michael’s work with Frederic Rzewski led to the 2007 premiere of the Nanosonatas, Book 1. Since 2006, Michael has premiered over a dozen new works as either a soloist or collaborator. In addition to the music of Rzewski and Kitzke, his programs feature a diverse range of contemporary styles, with music by such composers as David Rakowski, Charles Ives, Bruno Mantovani, Jacob Ter Veldhuis, Olivier Messiaen, and David Lang.

In 2002, Michael began a duo with flutist Mary Fukushima. Today, they are known as DuoSolo, and are devoted to promoting the music of living composers in genre-bending concerts featuring both solo and duo repertoire for flute and piano. In 2006, DuoSolo made their Carnegie Hall debut with a program of music from the last 60 years including the NY premiere of Gabriela Frank’s Sueños de Chambi: Snapshots for an Andean Album. The performers were deemed “powerhouses”by the New York Concert Review, and Michael’s playing was lauded as “thought-provoking” and “without fault.” DuoSolo has since performed around the U.S., Europe and Asia, giving world premieres of music by a diverse group of composers. The DuoSolo


Emerging Composer Competition has received 80 new works since its inception in 2009. The winning pieces from these competitions are featured prominently in DuoSolo’s recital programming. Michael is also president of the DuoSolo Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization to support the commissioning, performance, recording, and promotion of contemporary music. Under the auspices of the DuoSolo Foundation, DuoSolo directs the Cortona Sessions for New Music, a summer festival dedicated to bringing composers and performers together for world premiere performances, held in Cortona, Italy.

Michael’s programming philosophy is to make the concert experience filled with emotional hills and valleys of laughter, nervousness, and passion, keeping both himself and his audiences connected and involved throughout the program. With a repertoire spanning the centuries, Michael is dedicated to educating and finding new audiences, wherever he goes. A recent program for the PianoForte Foundation in Chicago entitled ‘Musical Gastronomy: Inspired by Alinea’ was designed to musically recreate the emotional experience of a 23 course dinner at Chicago’s acclaimed restaurant Alinea. Seeking out interesting venues from museums to jazz clubs and lecture halls, he always introduces his music in an informed and personal way, making concerts a shared experience for both performer and listener.

Michael is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at Oklahoma State University. He has earned degrees from the University of Kansas (DMA, BM) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM). When not at the piano, Michael can be found enjoying fine wine, cooking, golfing, or playing with his dogs, Sam and Kona. Michael is also the author of the food and wine blog, The Uncorked Pianist.

www.michaelkirkendoll.comwww.duosolo.com


JEFFREY LOEFFERT | SAXOPHONE

Dr. Jeffrey Loeffert is the Assistant Professor of Theory and Saxophone at Oklahoma State University. Prior to this appointment, he was the saxophone instructor at Alma College in Alma, Michigan.

Loeffert is a very active chamber musician. As a founding member of the h2 quartet, Loeffert has won numerous chamber music prizes including First Place – Gold Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and First Place at the North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition. The h2 quartet is featured on four commercially available discs and recently received an Aaron Copland grant for their newest disc, Times & Spaces.The h2 quartet was also featured on a PBS television episode of Backstage Pass, which offers viewers a first-hand look at the inner workings of a top-flight chamber ensemble through live in-studio performances and interviews with the ensemble members.

An advocate of new music, Loeffert has premiered works by Jongyun Choi, Benjamin Fuhrman, Takuma Itoh, David MacDonald, John Mackey, Victor Marquez-Barrios, Roger W. Petersen, Jesse Ronneau, Matthew Schoendorff, and Amy Williams, among others. He has performed in such prestigious venues as the ASEAN Nat Hall in Bangkok, Thailand, the Avalon Theatre in Easton, Maryland, the Canker Dom in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Clowes Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Times Center in New York City, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, in addition to university recital halls across the country.

Loeffert graduated Summa Cum Laude from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Music double major in Saxophone Performance and Jazz Studies. A Frank Huntington Beebe Scholar, Loeffert studied in Paris at the Conservatoire National de Région - Cergy-Pontoise where he received the Medalle d’Or Unanimité and the Conservatoire National de Région - Boulogne-Billancourt where he received the diploma Cycle d’Orientation Professionnel. Loeffert completed


graduate studies at Michigan State University (MSU) as the recipient of a University Distinguished Fellowship. He received a Master of Music degree in Saxophone Performance and a Master of Music degree in Music Theory Pedagogy. At MSU, he was awarded the Paul Harder Award for music theory and composition. Loeffert received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. Loeffert studied music theory under Gordon Sly, Bruce Taggart, and Leigh Van Handel. His primary saxophone teachers include Bob Chreste, Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Jean-Michel Goury, Frederick L. Hemke, Joseph Lulloff, and Scott Plugge. Loeffert has also had additional studies with Griffin Campbell, Mike Kocour, and Kelland Thomas.


GREGORY OAKES | CLARINET

Gregory Oakes is one of the most exciting and energetic clarinetists of his generation. From his Carnegie Hall debut with members of Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez to his performances as a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Oakes has been praised by critics for his “outstanding performance” (New York Times) and “jazzy flourishes” (Denver Post). American Record Guide says “Oakes is the rare player who has both excellent classical training and a mastery of the otherworldly procedures demanded by non-traditional repertoire,” and Fanfare Magazine lauds the “formidable technical armamentarium at his command.” He is a founding member of the new music and creative arts ensemble Non Sequitur, which was heralded by New Music Connoisseur as “utterly sensational.” In a performance with Non Sequitur, the Aspen Daily News highlighted him as a “particularly outstanding musician.” Non Sequitur has been in residence at Princeton University, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, and the Aspen Music Festival.

A flexible and versatile musician, Mr. Oakes has performed with notable musicians in prestigious venues around the world. He has been a concerto soloist with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Denver Brass, performed with Grammy® Award-winner Terence Blanchard at the Telluride Jazz Festival, and appeared at the Chicago Arts Club. His recordings have been released on Bridge, CRI, Gothic, Karnatic Lab Records, and Naxos and broadcast on National Public Radio. His recent solo CD, New Dialects, appears on the Centaur Records label.

As a soloist, Mr. Oakes has won awards or received commendations in the International Clarinet Competition, National Young Artists’ Competition, Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and the Kingsville International Young Artists Competition. He has given solo performances at multiple International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests, the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, the International Computer Music Conference, the Crested Butte Chamber Music Festival, Boulder’s Modern Music Festival (M2F), Colorado Music Festival’s Young Artist Series, and the Pendulum New Music Series. An international artist, Mr. Oakes has performed frequently in the Netherlands at Amsterdam’s venerable new music hall De IJsbreker, the Gaudeamus Competition, Concerten Tot en Met, the Karnatic Lab concert series, De Badcuyp, and Utrecht’s Theatre Kikker. He has also toured Brazil—performing in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and Campinas—and conducted masterclasses at notable Brazilian universities UnB, UNIRIO, and UNICAMP.


Mr. Oakes has been a member of several orchestras including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Ballet, Central City Opera, Colorado Music Festival, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Mr. Oakes has performed as a member of the woodwind quintet Category 5 and the award-winning clarinet quartet Ensemble Syzygy.

Mr. Oakes holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, a master’s degree from DePaul University, and a doctorate from the University of Colorado. His teachers include Bil Jackson, Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, and John Bruce Yeh. He has been honored as a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar Finalist, and an Aspen Music Festival Fellow. Mr. Oakes has presented masterclasses at such institutions as Michigan State University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of California Berkeley, Ithaca College, Eastern Michigan University, and the Aspen Music Festival. He has previously taught at the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS) and Bemidji State University (Bemidji, MN). Mr. Oakes is on the faculty of Iowa State University (Ames, IA).Gregory Oakes is a Buffet Crampon USA and a Vandoren Performing Artist.

www.gregoryoakes.com


FORREST PIERCE | COMPOSITION

Forrest Pierce composes genre-defying music steeped in Sufi mysticism and contemporary virtuosity. Sincere, often triadic, and blatantly tuneful, it draws on both non-western and rock-era traditions to depict an authentic world of sacred unity and natural beauty. His works have been performed in sacred and concert settings around the world, on noteworthy concert series and by diverse ensembles such as Brave New Works, the Chamber Players of the Society of New Music/ISCM, the BMOP chamber series, DuoSolo, the Chamber Orchestras of Portland and Kansas City, the Indianapolis and Walla Walla Symphonies, the Concord Ensemble, the Seattle New Music Ensemble, the Oregon and Northwest Repertory Singers, the Boston Choral Ensemble, the Dublin and Canadian International Organ Competitions, Songfest, and by numerous distinguished soloists in North America and abroad. Pierce is the past resident composer of the Seattle New Music Ensemble and the founding artistic director of Portland’s Friends of Rain Contemporary Ensemble. His catalog is led by over 50 works for voices, including operatic, choral, and solo vocal forces. He has been been the winner of the Boston Choral Ensemble and Boston Chamber Singers choral competitions, and is composer-in-residence of the International Meeting of Choral Music at the University of São Paulo—Riberão Preto, Brazil.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Forrest Pierce was raised in the empty Columbia Plateau region of eastern Washington State, the grandson of Dust Bowl emigrants. A pianist and cellist in his youth, Pierce began composing at an early age. It was on a steady stream of top-40 radio, record-store punk, new wave, and common-practice music from the local NPR station that Pierce’s compositional voice developed. Pierce’s private piano teacher was, by some lucky stroke, an expatriate New Yorker with a taste for Bartók and Schoenberg, and her exhortations for creativity over convention resulted in Pierce’s experimental 10-year old work being disqualified from a local competition due to its use of gestural notation and lack of barlines.

Pierce attended the University of Puget Sound, where he avoided practicing for four years, sinking all available time into composing, roaming beaches and mountains, and reading the classics of world religion. He graduated from the Honors Program in the Classics in


1994, summa cum laude, having won a Watson Fellowship to study the traditional music of Madagascar.

Two years of study under the great American operatist Dominick Argento at the University of Minnesota cemented for Pierce a passion for the vocal instrument and the people who wield it. A Doctorate at Indiana University, where he was awarded the Dean’s Prize, completed Pierce’s formal training, with the help of teacher Don Freund. Since that time, Pierce has enjoyed teaching positions at the University of Texas-Austin, at Lewis & Clark College, and at Kansas University.

In recent years, Pierce’s textural conception has become primarily heterophonic, largely derived from Rock root-position progression and florid Qawwali music. An avid student of both North Indian Classical Voice and Milonguero-style Argentine Tango, his rhythmic language has become an alternation and collision between freely improvisatory meditative landscapes and consistently pulsed motoric dance rhythms.

Major recent works include: Flying White, a concerto for flute and orchestra for Mary Kirkendoll; The All-Night Vigil of Rabi’a al-Adawiyya, an oratorio for womens’ chorus with amplified cello on the poetry of the Sufi saint of the same name; Picnic, an opera in three acts based on the play by William Inge; The Twelve Kisses, a symphony for coloratura and chamber orchestra; Need-Fire, an hour-long saga for soprano and piano; and Faces of Sorrow, a meta-sonata of mystery sonatas written for organist Michael Bauer.

Upcoming commissions include: Night Herons, a concerto for clarinetist Robert Walzel; From the Gradual Grass, for the 8-voice ensemble Octarium; Deep Flow, for the Allegrèsse trio, and two large improvisatory prayer cycles for sopranos Sarah Tannehill and Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins.


SARAH TANNEHILL- ANDERSON | SOPRANO

Sarah Tannehill Anderson, soprano, hales from Kansas City, MO, and is thrilled to be a part of this summer’s Cortona Sessions for New Music! Sarah has sung all over the world, performing with opera companies including the Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the Saarländisches Staatstheatre in Saarbrücken, Germany. Shortly after Sarah’s move to Kansas City in 2006, she received rave reviews for singing her first Ophelia in Thomas’ Hamlet with the Kansas City Lyric, after only a few hours notice.

Sarah has also performed with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, New Ear Ensemble of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Symphony.

This year of performances included two recitals featuring the new works of composer Forrest Pierce, a concert on the Friends of Chamber Music Series of Kansas City, and a Christmas concert with the Kansas City Symphony. Sarah also enjoyed her third season with the Lyric Arts Trio of Kansas City, and her sixth season with the Grammy Award-winning Kansas City Chorale.

Sarah teaches voice, diction and accompaniment at William Jewell College, and is a director and performer with the Jewell Early Music Summer Festival.


KEN UENO | COMPOSITION

Winner of the 2006-2007 Rome Prize and the 2010-2011 Berlin Prize, Ken Ueno, is a composer, vocalist, improviser, and cross-disciplinary artist. His music coalesces diverse influences into a democratic sonic landscape. In addition to Heavy Metal sub-tone singing and Tuvan throat singing, he is also informed by European avant-garde instrumental techniques, American experimentalism, and sawari or beautiful noise, an aesthetic in traditional Japanese music. Ken’s artistic mission is to champion sounds that have been overlooked or denied so that audiences reevaluate their musical potential. The music pushes the boundaries of perception and challenges traditional paradigms of beauty. In an effort to feature inherent qualities of sound such as beatings, overtones, and artifacts of production noise, Ken’s music is often amplified.

Ensembles and performers who have played Ken’s music include Kim Kashkashian and Robyn Schulkowsky, Frances-Marie Uitti, Mayumi Miyata, Teodoro Anzellotti, Alarm Will Sound, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the Nieuw Ensemble, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the American Composers Orchestra (Whitaker Reading Session), the Cassatt Quartet, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Prism Saxophone Quartet, the Atlas Ensemble, Relâche, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Dogs of Desire, the Orkest de Ereprijs, and the So Percussion Ensemble.

Ken’s music has been performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MusikTriennale Köln Festival, the Muziekgebouw, the Hopkins Center, Spoleto USA, and Steim. He has been the featured a guest composer at the Takefu International Music Festival, Norfolk Music Festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and the Intégrales New Music Festival, among others. Ken’s piece for the Hilliard Ensemble, Shiroi Ishi, has been featured in their repertoire for over ten years, with performances at such venues as Queen Elizabeth Hall in England, the Vienna Konzerthaus, and was aired on Italian national radio, RAI 3. Another work, Pharmakon, was performed dozens of times nationally by Eighth Blackbird during their 2001-2003 seasons. A portrait concert of Ken’s was featured on MaerzMusik in Berlin in 2011.

Awards and grants that Ken has received include those from the American Academy in Rome, the American Academy in Berlin, the Fromm Music Foundation (2), the Aaron Copland House, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music Recording, Meet the Composer (6), the National Endowment for the Arts, the Belgian-American Education Foundation, First Prize in the 25th “Luigi Russolo” competition, and Harvard University. Recent projects include works for SFCMP (featuring himself as vocal soloist, with a performance at the Manca Festival in Nice, France), Flexible Music at the Kennedy Center, the Pacific Rim Festival, and a portrait


concert in Berlin as part of MaerzMusik. Upcoming projects include works for Evelyn Glennie, Volti, the Del Sol String Quartet, and Volti. Recently, he performed as soloist in the premieres of his concerto for overtone singer and orchestra in Boston and New York with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project to wide acclaim. A monograph CD of three of his concertos was released on the Bmop/sound label.

As a vocalist, Ken specializes in extended techniques (overtones, throat-singing, multiphonics, extreme registers, circular singing), and has collaborated in improvisations with Joey Baron, Robyn Schulkowsky, Joan Jeanrenaud, Pascal Contet, Gene Coleman, David Wessel, Robin Hayward, John Kelly, Jorrit Dykstra, Kevork Mourad, Gilberto Bernardes, Hans Tutschku, James Coleman, and Vic Rawlings amongst others. Ken’s ongoing performance projects include collaborations with Tim Feeney, Matt Ingalls, Du Yun, and Lou Bunk.

In recent years, Ken has been collaborating with visual artists, architects, and video artists to create unique cross-disciplinary art works. With the artist, Angela Bulloch, he has created several audio installations (driven with custom software), which provided audio input that affected the way her mechanical drawing machine sculptures drew. These works have been exhibited at Art Basel as well as at Angela’s solo exhibition at the Wolfsburg Castle. In collaborating with the architect, Patrick Tighe, Ken created a custom software-driven 8-channel sound installation that provided the sonic environment for Tighe’s robotically carved foam construction. Working with the landscape architect, Jose Parral, Ken has collaborated on videos, interactive video installations, and a multi-room intervention at the art space Rialto, in Rome, Italy.Ken is currently an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. www.kenueno.com


h2 QUARTET

Declared “an ensemble to watch for years to come” by the American Record Guide, the award-winning h2 quartet has been wowing audiences since 2002. A dynamic and innovative chamber ensemble, h2 constantly seeks to defy perceptions and expectations; using the saxophone as an instrument uniquely empowered to provide listeners with a compelling range of musical experiences, h2 programs traditional, classical, avant-garde, minimalist, and jazz-influenced works in compelling ways. h2 has performed throughout the United States, in Europe, and in Asia, in venues from Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Hall to the Canker dom in Ljubljana, Slovenia to the Times Center in New York City. The group is also in demand for appearances and residencies at summer music festivals both at home and abroad, including the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan and the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Italy.

The ensemble has released three critically-acclaimed recordings: Generations, Times & Spaces, and Groove Machine. Each of these albums introduces audiences to a different side of the saxophone, with the latter two comfortably bridging the gap between the popular and avant-garde sides of American music. The h2 quartet has been featured on NPR and PBS programs, including the nationally-syndicated Backstage Pass, which offers viewers a first-hand look at the inner workings of music groups through in-studio performances and ensemble interviews.

h2 is dedicated to commissioning and performing compelling new works for saxophone quartet, and operates as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization for the express purpose of doing so. The growing list of composers the group has commissioned includes Drew Baker, Karl Blench, Claudio Gabriele, Murray Gross, Takuma Itoh, David MacDonald, John Mackey, Victor Marquez-Barrios, Roger Petersen, David Rakowski, Jesse Ronneau, and Daniel Wohl. Additionally, the ensemble has premiered works by Marc Mellits, Matthew Schoendorff, Elliott Sharp, and Amy Williams.

The h2 quartet has won prizes at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (First Prize, Gold Medals) and the North American Saxophone Alliance Saxophone Quartet Competition (first prize), among others, and has earned Honorable Mentions at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Chesapeake Bay Chamber Music Competition, and the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. The group was also a recipient of an Aaron Copland Fund Recording Grant in 2010 for their album Times & Spaces.


Jonas Forssell was born in Stockholm 1957.

He studied composition and instrumentation with Hans Eklund and Arne Mellnäs as well as jazz and arranging for Bengt-Arne Wallin from 1979-1982 at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

Forssell plays woodwinds, primarily clarinet and baritone sax, and works as a musician in various genres, not least as a theatre musician. He has written music for among others, the Swedish National Theatre Centre and the regional theatres in Göteborg and Uppsala.

JONAS FORSSELL | COMPOSITION


Saturday | 23 June8:00am - Noon | Cortona Piazza Signorelli Market Day

4:00pm - 5:00pm | Sala Beato Improv Session 1

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Sala Neumann Participant Contemporary Repertoire Recital

Sunday | 24 June10:00am - 11:30am | Sala Beato Woodwind Masterclass

1:00pm - 5:30pm | Sala Neumann Iron Composer Competition

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Sala Neumann Amir Khosrowpour Recital

Monday | 25 June9:00am - 10:00 am | Sala Beato Improv Session 2

10:30am - 12:00pm | Sala Chianti Composition Symposium

2:00pm - 3:00pm | Sala Neumann Saxophone Extended Techniques Class

3:00pm- 4:00pm | Sala Neumann Voice Masterclass

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Sala BeatoFaculty Chamber Music Recital

Tuesday | 26 June10:00am - 11:00 am | Sala Neumann Cello Extended Technique Class

11:00am - 12:30pm | Sala Chianti Composition Symposium

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Sala Beato Piano Masterclass

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Sala Neumann Jonas Forsell Lecture Recital


Wednesday | 27 June10:30am - 12:00pm | Sala Chianti Composition Symposium

3:00pm - 4:00pm | Sala Beato Piano Extended Techniques Class

4:00pm - 5:00pm | Sala Beato Improv Session 3

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Sala Neumann Michael Kirkendoll Recital

Thursday | 28 JuneWINE TOUR 7:45am: meet in lobby 8:00am: bus departs from Hotel Oasi 10:30am: Tasting and Tour at Fattoria dei Barbi (Montalcino) Noon: Tasting, tour, and lunch at Terra sole (Montalcino) 3:30pm: Visit to Montalcino 6:00pm: Depart Montalcino 7:30pm: Arrive back in Cortona

Friday | 29 June9:00am - 10:00am | Sala Neumann Session 2

10:00am - 11:30am | Sala Chianti Composition Symposium

3:00pm - 5:00pm | Sala Neumann Run-throughs

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Sala Neumann Premiere Recital 1

Saturday | 30 June8:00am - Noon | Cortona Piazza Signorello Market Day

2:00pm - 3:30pm | Sala Chianti Composition Symposium

3:00pm - 5:00pm | Sala Neumann Run-throughs

6:00pm - 7:30pm | Sala Neumann Premiere Recital 2

Sunday | 1 July7:30 am- 12:00pm | Lobby Check-out


2012 Cortona Sessions18 June | 6:00 pm

Sala Neumann | Hotel Oasi Neumann | Cortona, Italy

OPENING FACULTY RECITAL

Run in a Graveyard (2009, rev. 2012) Du Yun (b. 1977) Kivie Cahn-Lipman | cello

Preghiera par un’ombra (1954) Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) Gregory Oakes | clarinet

Arianna (1992) François Rossé (1945) Jeffrey Loeffert | saxophone

A (s)not-roc(ket) (2012) Amir Khosrowpour (b. 1981) Amir Khosrowpour | piano

Tadj (1999) Christian Lauba (b. 1952) Jeffrey Loeffert | saxophone

rapid.fire (1992) Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) Mary Fukushima | flute

Blackbird Variations (2005) Forrest Pierce (b. 1972) Sarah Tannehill Anderson | soprano Michael Kirkendoll | piano

Jazz Connotation (1999) Bruno Mantovani (b. 1976) Michael Kirkendoll | piano


2012 Cortona Sessions19 June | 9:30am


2012 CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE COMPETITION

The 2012 Cortona Sessions Contemporary Performance Competition is our first effort to directly encourage commissioning projects between participating composers and performers. The winning performer will

receive the HIEBERT PRIZE: a cash award, as well as funds to be used to commission a new solo work from a composer in attendance at this year’s Sessions. The Cortona Sessions are eternally grateful to Dave and

Gunda Hiebert for contributing to this award, and we are proud to name the prize in their honor.

CAITLIN FOSTER | PIANO Piano Suite in 3 Movements (2009) Amanda Seyler (b. 1987) “Première communion de la Vierge” (1944) Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) from Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant Jésus

ALICE HINSHAW | CLARINET Fantasie (1993) Jörg Widmann (b. 1973) Tricolo Capers (1980) Eric Mandat (b. 1957)

ANNA LOUISE HOARD | SOPRANO “Heart, we will forget him” (1951) Aaron Copland (1900-1990) from Twelve Proems of Emily Dickinson “Things Change, Jo” from Little Women (1998) Mark Adamo (b. 1962)

YAYU LI | FLUTE The Shepherd Boy’s Flute (1999) De-Qing Wen (b. 1958) Voice (1971) Toru Takemitsu (1930- 1996)

DANIEL LIU | PIANO Sonata No. 2, “Fire Sermon”, 3rd mvmt (1970) Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928) 8 Miniatures (2005-11) Mohammed Fairouz (b. 1985)


PAIGE MARTIN | SOPRANO “Monica’s Waltz” from The Medium (1946) Gian Carlo Menotti (1911- 2007) Wild Iris, 1. The Wild Iris (2005) Forrest Pierce (b. 1972)

JARED REDMOND | PIANO “D’Ombre et de Silence” & “Sur Un Meme Accord” (1973) Henri Dutilleux (b. 1916) from Trois Préludes Etude No. 12, “Entrelacs” (1994) Györgi Ligeti (1923- 2006)

THERESA SILVEYRA | PIANO Prelude No. 14 (1972) Maurice Ohana (1913- 1992) Etude No. 16, “Pour Irina” (1997) Györgi Ligeti 1923- 2006)

TOM STRAUSER | FLUTE Kokopelli (1990) Katherine Hoover (b. 1937) Mei (1962) Kazuo Fukushima (b. 1930)

MALLORY TURLINGTON | SOPRANO Bessie Bobtail (1934) Samuel Barber (1910-1981) Cuatro Canciones (1999) Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972)

SHARRA WAGNER | CLARINET Soliloquies (1976) Leslie Bassett (b. 1923) Agni Sakshi “Fire Witness” (2009) Andrew Seager Cole

JENNIFER WEIMAN | SOPRANO “La Lettera” from Canti della lonananza (1967) Gian Carlo Menotti (1911- 2007) “Perfect as we are” from Little Women (1998) Mark Adamo (b. 1962)




MUSIC OF KEN UENO

I screamed at the sea until nodes swelled up, then my voice became the resonant noise of the sea (2006)

Gregory Oakes, clarinet

Disabitato (2007) Michael Kirkendoll, piano

Crackle Box Ritual (2012) Gregory Oakes, clarinet

Ken Ueno, voice




MUSIC OF FORREST PIERCERuin of the Cypress (2007)

DuoSolo

Still Waters (1996) Amir Khosrowpour, piano

Moses and the Shepherd (2000) Sarah Tannehill Anderson, soprano

Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello

Ship on the Void (2005) Michael Kirkendoll, piano

Bison Circles (2009) DuoSolo

Wild Iris (2005)I. The Wild IrisII. Witchgrass

III. MatinsIV. Midsummer

V. VespersSarah Tannehill Anderson, soprano

Michael Kirkendoll, piano




h2 QUARTETGeoffrey Deibel, Jeffrey Loeffert, Kimberly Goddard Loeffert, Jonathan Nichol

Echolocation (2009) Takuma Itoh

Engrenages (2006) Alexandros Markeas featuring Michael Kirkendoll, piano

Microfluctuations in Plainchant (2012) Daniel Wohl *world premiere

Mantra (2011) Igor Karaca

Three Movements (2012) Karl Blench I. Nebulus II. Caccia III. Mania *world premiere

Compass (2010) David Rakowski I. W II. N III. S IV. E




PARTICIPANT RECITALprogram TBA




3RD CORTONA SESSIONS IRON COMPOSER COMPETITION

Inspired by the television cooking competition Iron Chef, the Iron Composer Competition will pit all composition participants against each other in three rounds of competitive speed composing on secret “theme ingredients.” Each themed composition will be up to one minute in length. Cortona Sessions performance participants will have brief periods of time to learn the new compositions for performance and judging by Sessions faculty. Fun prizes and laughs for all, including a “treasure-trove” for the ultimate winner!

Round 1: All Composers - Solos for flute or clarinetRound 2: 4 Composers - Duos for voice/pianoRound 3: 2 Composers - Saxophone Quartet




AMIR KHOSROWPOUR, PIANO

Open (2012) Amir Khosrowpour (b. 1981)

China Gates (1977) John Adams (b. 1947)

Glitch (2008) Ramteen Sazegari (b.1982 ) *premiered at 2011 Cortona Sessions

Short Thoughts (2008) Karl Canter 2. Allegro vivace 3. Allegro moderato 4. Andante 5. q=108

Intermit (2012) Amir Khosrowpour (b. 1981)

Phrygian Gates (1977) John Adams (b. 1947)




FACULTY CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

Gli Uccelli di Bogliasco (2006) David Rakowski (b. 1958) Mary Fukushima, flute Amir Khosrowpour & Michael Kirkendoll, pianos

Exact Change (2012) David Rakowski (b. 1958) I. Heads II. Tails Mary Fukushima, flute Jeffrey Loeffert, soprano saxophone

The Songs of Marguerite (1975) Moonyeen Albrecht (b. 1936) I. Trains II. Dreams III. Elise Mary Fukushima, flute Sarah Tannehill Anderson, soprano

Charisma (1971) Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) Gregory Oakes, clarinet Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello




MUSIC OF JONAS FORSSELL

Sette Peccati Mortali (1992-94) I. Invidia 2. Ira

3. Lussuria 4. Pigrizia 5. Golosità 6. Avarizia 7. Superbia

Gregory Oakes, clarinetMichael Kirkendoll, piano

Mia (1991)Jeffrey Loeffert, saxophone Amir Khosrowpour, piano




MICHAEL KIRKENDOLL, PIANO

Sunflower Sutra (1999) Jerome Kitzke (b. 1955)

De Profundis (1992) Frederic Rzewski (b. 1938)




PREMIERE CONCERT 1World Premieres by CS Composers and Performers

Tumuli Jason Charney Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello

Television Michael Catania Anna Hoard, soprano Theresa Silveyra, piano

heliotrope Tina Tallon Tom Strauser, flute | Sharra Wagner, clarinet | Jeffrey Loeffert, alto saxophone | Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello | Theresa Silveyra, piano

Current Friends and Strangers MoJiao Wang Mary Fukushima | Yayu Li | Laura Marsh | Tom Strauser, flutes

Voice within Instrument David Waugh Gregory Oakes, clarinet

Simple Carbs Jason Michael Gerraughty Jeffrey Loeffert, soprano saxophone | Jonathan Nichol, alto saxophone | Kimberly Godard-Loeffert, baritone saxophone | Jared Redmond, piano

Swarm Christopher Prosser Jeffrey Loeffert, saxophone Caitlin Foster, piano

Off Yangzhi Ma Jennifer Weiman, soprano | Yayu Li, flute | Tom Strauser, flute | Alice Hinshaw, clarinet | Jeffrey Loeffert, alto saxophone | Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello | Daniel Liu, piano




PREMIERE CONCERT 2World Premieres by CS Composers and Performers

Morningside, Riverside Yangzhi Ma Yayu Li, flute

Green I want you green. Kevin Laba Paige Martin, soprano | Jennifer Weiman, soprano | Mallory Turlington, soprano | Jeffrey Loeffert, alto saxophone | Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello | Daniel Liu, piano

Omofu Ryo Nakayama Tom Strauser, flute Jared Redmond, piano

Hills of Adamor Michael Catania Yayu Li, flute | Sharra Wagner, clarinet | Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello | Caitlin Foster, piano

phantosmia Tina Tallon Gregory Oakes, clarinet

Four Songs Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie1. I Only Know2. Read or Said3. Middle4. Room World Anna Hoard, soprano | Mallory Turlington, soprano | Tom Strauser, flute | Sharra Wagner, clarinet | Alice Hinshaw, clarinet | Kim Loeffert, alto saxophone | Jeffrey Loeffert, tenor saxophone | Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello | Theresa Silveyra, piano


THE EXCURSIONS

The Cortona Sessions offers two excursion opportunities, giving participants the opportunity to experience the magic of Italy’s history, culture, and way of life.

Florence Day-TripThe Cortona Sessions provides round-trip train transportation from Camucia-Cortona Station to Florence for a day of sight-seeing and exploration at your own pace. Participants can visit the historic Uffizi gallery, shop at the Mercato Centrale, tour the Boboli Gardens, climb to the top of the Duomo, or simply enjoy some gelato and people-watching.

Wine TourFor an additional fee, interested wine-lovers can enjoy a memorable and truly one-of-a-kind Tuscan Wine Tour arranged by Sessions director Michael Kirkendoll. Participants will travel by coach to the renowned wine region of Montalcino for tastings and tours at two esteemed producers of Brunello di Montalcino - one of Italy’s most sought-after wines. Fattoria die Barbi is one of the oldest and most esteemed produces of Brunello di Montalcino. We will tour the historic cellars and enjoy a tasting of two of Barbi’s three tremendous Brunellos. Terralsole is owned and operated by a music and art lover who is married to an acclaimed Irish-Fiddler. Our hosts at Terralsole will prepare an authentic Tuscan lunch to accompany a tasting of their complete wine portfolio. Following our visit to these vineyards, participants will have a few hours to stroll the beautiful town of Montalcino before returning to Cortona.


2012 Cortona Sessions Participants

Michael CataniaMichael Catania (b. 1979) is a composer, percussionist, and entrepreneur living in Los Angeles, California. He has achieved international recognition for his music, which blends Western virtuosity with the local music of Latin America and the Caribbean. As an active percussionist and steel pan player, Mr. Catania performs frequently throughout the southwestern United States. He received his BFA in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2001 and an MM from Florida State University in 2003, where his principal teachers included John Downey, Ellen Zwillich, and Mark Wingate. He has also attended sessions with Martin Bresnick, Shulamit Ran, and Michael Torke. Mr. Catania taught music composition and theory at the University of Massachusetts Lowell from 2008-2011.

Jason CharneyJason Charney (b. 1990), a Kansas native, writes tuneful music for voice and orchestral instruments, as well as electroacoustic and interactive media. He is completing an undergraduate degree in music composition and theory at the University of Kansas, where he won the Anthony B. Cius Award for Most Outstanding Student Composer and the Edward M. Mattila Award for Most Outstanding Electronic Music Composer.

Caitlin FosterPianist Caitlin Foster is active in Indianapolis’ musical community, performing classical, jazz and commissioned new music. Beyond work as a soloist, her love of performing includes accompanying and participating in jazz ensemble. She enjoys teaching private jazz and classical lessons to a variety of ability levels, while remaining active in her local Music Teacher’s National Association Chapter.

In the summer of 2011, Caitlin attended the Cortona Sessions where she premiered new works and studied with Dr. Michael Kirkendoll. In 2010, she worked as a student accompanist for La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy, performing regularly and studying privately with Jeffery Price and Kathy Kraulik. She has been fortunate to have participated in many programs such as the Brevard Music Center and Masterworks Music Festival, where she received instruction from many including Eugene Alcalay and Li-shan Hung.

In May 2012 Caitlin completed her Masters in Piano Performance degree at Butler University, under the instruction of Dr. Kate Boyd

Jason Michael GerraughtyJason Michael Gerraughty is a composer of vibrant, dramatic, and bold music. His musical influences are diverse, ranging from the small-town New England municipal bands he performed with in his youth, to the orchestral, chamber, and gamelan ensembles he has performed with as an adult. He has worked with such talented musicians such as Lucy Shelton, So Percussion, Beta Collide, and Fireworks New Music Ensemble. Gerraughty’s music has been performed recently at the International Horn Society Symposium 2011, and at the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 8 Conference at West Point, NY.

Gerraughty earned his B. M. at the Hartt School, and his M. M. at the University of Oregon; he has studied privately with Ingram Marshall, Robert Carl, Stephen Gryc, Robert Kyr, and David Crumb. His music has been recognized by his colleagues: recent awards include the American Composers Forum Finale® National Composition Competition (Honorable Mention), The Gamper Festival of New Music at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and The ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards (Finalist).

Gerraughty currently lives in Port Jefferson, NY, and is pursuing his Ph.D. at Stony Brook University. His current projects include commissions with the Equinox Sextet and with Bass Clarinetist Lisa Preimesberger.


Alice HinshawAfter studying clarinet for 6 years with Dr. Cindy Doggett at Central College, Alice moved to Iowa State University where she currently studies with Dr. Gregory Oakes. She will be a sophomore in the fall.

Anna HoardA singing actress with a taste for the weird and whimsical, Anna Louise Hoard began working with composers and other new music fanciers during her undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas School of Music. While at KU, she studied under soprano Julia Broxholm and enjoyed a wide breadth of performance opportunity, from major roles in several university operas to chamber work with the KU Composers Guild and Helianthus Contemporary Ensemble. Her most memorable credits include Baba the Turk in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Kaguya-Hime in the premiere of Eidson’s Bamboo Cutter and the Moon, and Pierrot Lunaire with Helianthus. Anna is also an alumnus of the Seagle Music Colony, where she sang Lucy in Pasatieri’s Hotel Casablanca and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Anna currently lives in Kansas City with her marvelous partner Caitlin and their incorrigibly cheerful dog, Buddy.

Kevin LabaKevin Laba made his first forays into music during his teenage years as a guitarist and drummer in punk, indie, and heavy metal bands. Years later, while finishing his B.A. in Music Education at Berklee College of Music in 2006, he became enamored with the sounds of contemporary mu-sic; this eventually led him to begin private composition studies with Andrew List in 2008, and later to enter in the master’s degree program at Tufts University under John McDonald. During the summer of 2011, he participated in the Etchings Festival in Auvillar, France, where he studied with Stefano Gervasoni, Lee Hyla, John Aylward, and Dominique Schafer; his participation in the festival led to his becoming involved with the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble as a branding and social media coordinator. His works have been performed by conductor Jeffrey Means, the QX Quartet, John McDonald, Philipp Stäudlin, The Esterhazy Quartet, and Ensemble l’Arsenale. Kevin lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

Yayu LiYayu Li, a flutist who shows a great interest in new music, has performed and recorded many new music works of famous composers in China, including Xuntian He, Deqing Wen, Wenjing Guo, and Liqing Yang.

She began to study flute at 14. After graduating from the affiliated middle school of Xinghai Conservatory of music in 2003, Ms Li was admitted to the orchestra department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she studied flute with Mr. Shengqi He. She got the “People’s Scholarship” of Shanghai Conservatory of Music every year. In 2005, she won the third prize of Da Yang Chamber Music Competition. In 2006, she won the “Scholarship of Denmark Prince”and was sent to Morzarteum International Summer Academy where she studied with Peter Lukas Graf. In 2007, with outstanding academic records, she was recommended for the Graduate Program as the top student in the Department of Orchestral Instruments at the Shanghai Conservatory, with all the entrance examinations exempted-- the highest honor for undergraduate students. That same year, she began to pursue a Master’s Degree of Flute Performance. Now, Yayu Li holds a Master’s degree from Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Ms. Li has been the principal flutist of Shanghai Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra during her time as a student. Additionally, she played in a lot of important concerts. She worked with famous conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, and Chung Myung-whun, and has also received guidance from international flute masters such as William Bennett, James Galway, Shigenori Kudo, and Emmanuel Pahud.

Currently, Ms Li is a flute Performance Tutor at Social Education Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music where she also performs with the New Shanghai Chamber Flute Ensemble.


Daniel LiuA native of Taiwan, Daniel Chia-Te Liu was accepted to the musically gifted class by Keelong Senior High School in Taipei County with highest honor at age fifteen. Liu went to Australia at the age of sixteen to pursue bachelor degree in music at Australian National University. Daniel has been awarded honors and prizes from the Chamber Music Competition at ANU, Margaret Smile Accompaniment Competition, Australian Eisteddfod Piano Competition and International Piano Competition in Taiwan. After completing his both bachelor and master degrees from ANU, he decided to come to America to continue his studies in the United States. He is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts in University of Kansas and studying with Dr. Scott McBride Smith.

Yangzhi Ma Yangzhi Ma, a composer who shows a great interest in new music, started her composition study in the year of 2010. She was sponsored by the China Education Ministry to pursue a duel Master’s Degree in Composition with Dr. Reiko Fueting and Aural Skills Teaching with Mr. Wenmin Jiang at the Manhattan School of Music and Shanghai Conservatory. Her works have been frequently performed. The publication of her aural skills textbook has been used as main teaching material in several conservatories in China. She was also the youngest member of the Jury Com-mittee in the 10th Chinese Proficiency Competition by China Consulate in New York. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory, and will begin her D.M.A. in Composition at Manhattan School of Music in September of 2012.

Paige MartinSoprano Paige Martin is a Junior Vocal Performance Major at Oklahoma State University where she studies with Anne Marie Condasce. She has attended numerous singing competitions including the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Oklahoma All-State, Tri-State Solo and Choral competition, FFA National and State Chorus, and others. Since coming to OSU, Paige has performed at Carnegie Hall with University Sing-ers, placed several times with regional and state National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and performed two roles with Oklahoma State University Opera Program. Paige is also a member of the Frontiers New Music Ensemble, with whom she has performed music by Phillip Glass, Forrest Pierce, Igor Karaca, and Terry Riley.

Ryo NakayamaA Japanese composer, Ryo Nakayama, received his diploma in music composition/film scoring from the Tokyo Music & Media Arts SHOBI in 2005, his B.M. in composition from The Boston Conservatory in 2010, and his M.A. in composition at The State University of New York at Buffalo in 2012. His award-winning compositions include those from ‘Tactus Young Composers’ Forum 2011 performed by the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Michel Tabachnik conducting, The Boston Conservatory Orchestral Composition Competition 2009-10, and The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble Composition Competition 2007-08. He has studied composition with Dalit Warshaw, Ken Ueno, Curtis K. Hughes, Jan Swafford at The Boston Conservatory, and with Cort Lippe at The State University of New York at Buffalo.

Christopher ProsserChristopher Prosser (b. 1978, San Francisco, CA) is a composer and conductor of contemporary art music. His compositional output is diverse and includes works for orchestra, the theater, various chamber ensembles, choir, art songs and solo pieces.

His music has been featured in a variety of venues which include the Cortona Sessions for New Music, Oregon Vanguard Series, the Oregon Bach Festival Composer’s Symposium, Portland State University’s Theater Arts program, the Brevard Music Center, and NACUSA. Christopher has had the great pleasure of hearing his music performed by DuoSolo, the Riverside Chamber Symphony, ITCH Ensemble, the Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, the Sospiro New Music Vocal Ensemble, the University of Oregon Women’s Choir, the Oregon Bach Festival’s American Creators Ensemble, the Louisiana Sinfonietta, and the LSU Men’s Choir. He has participated in readings with NYC’s Fireworks Ensemble and Beta Collide.


Christopher holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Oregon (2010) where he studied composition under composers David Crumb and Robert Kyr. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University (2007), where he studied with Dinos Constantinides, Stephen David Beck, and Liduino Pitombiera. He has also studied with composers Robert Livingston Aldridge and Donald Freund at the Brevard Summer Music Festival (2006, 2007).

Jared RedmondJared Redmond leads an active double life as a pianist and composer. In the former category, he has been finalist or semifinalist in events such as the International Russian Music Piano Competition, where he was awarded the prize for “Best Performance of Russian Music” in 2010, and in 2008 was named grand prize winner of the First Berkeley Piano Competition, receiving that event’s lavish award of a restored 1927 Steinway Model M. In 2009 he also appeared in the documentary “Miracle in a Box”, by Oscar-winning filmmaker John Korty.Jared’s repertoire is diverse and includes much music of the traditional canon, as well as lesser-known works by composers from William Byrd to Henri Dutilleux. He has performed in venues across California, New York, New England, and Texas. His teachers of piano have included Martha Wasley and the Michelangeli pupil Haggai Niv, and he has remained active as a performer even while undertaking compositional studies. Ad-ditional educational experiences include master classes with Aki Takahashi, among others.He has been educated at the University of California at Berkeley, Brandeis University, and in upstate New York where he was a private composi-tion student of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky. Upcoming appearances include performances on Martha’s Vineyard, in San Antonio, Berkeley, and in Boston. Jared maintains a full schedule as a piano teacher, and makes his home in the Boston area. He is currently an Affiliated Artist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Presidential Fellow at Brandeis University.

Kim RiveraKim Rivera is currently an undergraduate student in Mathematics and Music, studying Composition in the School of Music at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Raised on the island of Puerto Rico, Kim’s early cultivation of music was through the many years of violin perfor-mance and music theory at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico. As a teenager, her relocation to the U.S. presented an opportunity and interest in Computer Science and Mathematics, which took her away from music for almost 10 years; however, the call of music was always beckoning and she could not stay away for long. She is currently a student of Huck Hodge. She is also studying digital sound synthesis with Juan Pampin, and studied viola with Melia Watras.

Jacob Sachs-MishalanieJacob Sachs-Mishalanie is a Composer from Utica, NY. He began playing cello at the age of 7 and since then has studied double bass, percus-sion, guitar, and various electronic instruments. He is currently attending the SUNY Purchase conservatory of music for Classical Composition, studying under Du Yun and Huang Ruo. He has had many works premiered by the Purchase New Music Ensemble. Currently, he is working on a cello solo with electronics and a chamber orchestra piece for the Purchase New Music Ensemble. Jacob has been involved in organizing con-certs for the Marsyas Ensemble including a piano concert in Albany, NY, and a chamber concert at the Thalia Café at Symphony Space in NYC. Jacob is also a songwriter and drummer for the pop band “Bad Sound” which was recently featured in the NPR All-Songs-Considered blog.


Theresa SilveyraTheresa Silveyra began playing the piano when she was six years old, studying with Mrs. Judy Meyers for eight years before moving with her family to southern California. It was these beginning lessons that inspired her choice to pursue a career in music. This past May she completed her BM degree in Piano Performance, graduating magna cum laude with departmental honors, and receiving awards in the areas of new music and music history.

It was during her time at Chapman that she became greatly enamored with art music of the 20th and 21st century, participating in the con-servatory’s new music ensemble. taking an independent study (I.S.) course, as well as collaborating with the composition department in order to perform student works. She hopes to continue these collaborations in contemporary music while attending Portland State University in the fall, where she will be pursuing an MA in Music.

Theresa’s past private instructors, ensemble coaches, and I.S. professors include Dr. Janice Park, Dr. Grace Fong, Dr. Louise Thomas, Dr. Sean Heim, and Dr. Jeffrey Holmes.

Tom StrauserFlutist, Thomas Strauser, began his studies at the age of eight under the tutelage of Kansas City musician James Isaac. At the age of sixteen he began studying with David Fedele, Professor of Flute at The University of Kansas School of Music. Mr. Strauser has performed in ensembles at the Kansas Music Educators Association Convention in his sophomore, junior and senior years of high school. In his senior year he was selected to serve as Principal Flute of the KMEA Orchestra. At the KMEA convention he also performed in the state Jazz Band. Thomas received the highest rating at Kansas state-level Solo and Ensemble competitions for both solo and chamber music performances each of his four years of high school. In 2010, he progressed past the state level of the Music Teacher’s National Association senior competition to perform in the divi-sion level in South Dakota. Mr. Strauser is currently a freshman Flute Performance major at The University of Kansas School of Music where he continues his studies with Professor Fedele.

Tina TallonTina Tallon (b.1990) is a Boston-area composer, soprano, and music theorist currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Composition and Music Theory at Brandeis University. Born and raised in Pasadena, MD, she began playing the piano at age four and the violin at seven, although her penchant for improvisation and early forays into arranging pieces for her string quartet belied her later interest in composition. However, unaware of the existence of composition lessons or local composers willing to dole out such instruction, she received no formal compositional training until the second semester of her freshman year at MIT, where she received a S.B. degree in biological engineering and music in June 2011.

In 2010, Tina received a commission from the League of Imaginary Scientists for a piece to accompany a science-meets-art exhibit in Australia and later at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and has since had readings by ensembles such as Quartet X, Radius, the MIT Symphony Orchestra, and the UK’s Lontano Ensemble. Her music has been performed on the New Music Brandeis concert series, and her SATB choral arrangement of selections from Brian Eno’s Music for Airports has been performed internationally by Bang On A Can. While at MIT, Tina studied with Peter Child, and she currently studies with David Rakowski at Brandeis.

Mallory TurlingtonMallory is a masters student in voice at Oklahoma State University where she studies with Prof. April Golliver. Mallory has recieved outstanding music awards in her undergraduate studies, has had several leading performance roles, and recently won the concerto competition at Oklahoma State University allowing her to perform with the OSU Symphony Orchestra. Mallory is a member of OSU’s Frontiers New Music Ensemble and has sung works by Gabriela Lena Frank, Igor Karaca, Phillip Glass, and Terry Riley. This year, she will present her masters-theseis recital of entirely contemporary art song.


Sharra WagnerSharra Wagner is a DMA candidate in clarinet performance at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, studying under the tutelage of Dr. Jane Carl. Originally from Eveleth, MN, she earned her Master of Music degree in clarinet performance from the Uni-versity of Northern Iowa while studying with Jack Graham and her undergraduate degrees in Music and English from the University of Wisconsin - Superior while studying with Dr. Pamela Bustos and graduating Summa Cum Laude. While obtaining her Master’s degree, she was a graduate assistant, serving as a Group Piano instructor and collaborative pianist for the Chamber Singers and several voice studios and teaching the freshman clarinet weekly master class. She was a member of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2009, playing both soprano clarinet and bass clarinet. She also gave the UNI commencement speech at graduation in December of 2007. Her passion for collabo-ration has allowed her to premiere several new works, including the chamber opera Triumphant Love by Alan Schmitz in 2006 as well as several student compositions. At UMKC she performs with the Conservatory Wind Symphony and Musica Nova, a group dedicated to the performance and support of new music. A highlight of her career was working with composer Stephen Hartke, Barr Laureate at UMKC and looks forward to collaborations with famed composer John Corrigliano next fall.

MoJiao WangMoJiao Wang is currently a candidate for the Master of Music degree in Composition at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. She hold both a bachelors masters degrees in composition from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

David WaughDave Waugh (b. 1981) resides in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. He has studied at San Francisco State University, Kingston Univer-sity (UK) and California State University East Bay where he also teaches in the General Studies program for freshmen in the Music Department. His composition teachers include, Tim Ewers, Jeffery Miller, Robert Greenberg, and Nicholas Vasallo.

Dave worked at the California School for the Blind Music Department with his teacher Wayne Siligo from 2000-02, and apprenticed as a repair technician at Woodwinds Etc. a woodwind instrument repair shop in Berkeley California from 2006-07. As an instrumentalist Dave has special-ized in the saxophone, and doubles on flute and clarinet. His musical interests aside from contemporary composition span jazz, popular styles, improvisation groups, invented and reconstructed instruments, and Celtic music.Dave has worked as an administrator for Composers, Inc.—a San Francisco based non-profit chamber music presenter—since the fall of 2008 and was elected Executive Director in January 2011.

Jennifer WeimanJennifer Weiman is a recent graduate from Wichita State University receiving her Masters of Music in Opera Performance under Dr. Pina Moz-zani. Originally from Davenport, Iowa, she received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance from WSU in 2008. Ms. Weiman has performed many roles in WSU’s Opera Theater productions including Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Mère Marie in Les Dialogues des Carmé-lites, Jo in Little Women, Nerone in L’incornazione di Poppea and most recently she performed as Marchesa Melibea in the WSU performance of Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims. Along with performing at the collegiate level, Jennifer has performed with Opera Kansas in their summer produc-tion of The Ring of the Fettuccine’s, an original children’s opera, and was a member of the Young Artist Program with the Wichita Grand Opera for two seasons. With WGO, she sang the role of Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore and had the opportunity to share the stage with Wichita State alum and Grammy winner, Joyce DiDonato, as Bertha in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Last summer, Ms. Weiman participated in Opera in the Ozarks in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. While in Arkansas she performed the role of Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and reprised the role of Jo in Mark Adamo’s Little Women. She received an Outstanding Colleague award, and for her portrayal as Jo, Ms. Weiman was awarded Best Overall Performance by a Male or Female, the highest honor given at Opera in the Ozarks. Jennifer has sung with the Wichita Chamber Chorale and is currently a soloist at University Congregational Church in Wichita. She has been featured as a soloist in Mendolssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s Cantata No. 29 and John Rutter’s Magnificat. In the spring of 2011, Ms. Weiman was featured as the Alto Soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.


About the DuoSolo Foundation

Founded in 2008, the DuoSolo Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated new music creation, performance and education. Under the direction of flutist Mary Fukushima and pianist Michael Kirkendoll (collectively known as DuoSolo), the foundation supports and annual Emerging Composer Competition which has resulted in over 100 new works for flute and piano in three years, and produces the Cortona Sessions for New Music, in Cortona, Italy, bringing young performers and composers together for 14 days of intese collaboration, performance, and friendship. The DuoSolo Foundation believes that music has the power to affect social, political, and cultural awareness and seeks to offer audiences unique opportunities for musical exploration through innovative concert and educational programming.

To date, the foundation has awarded $2,000 to emerging composers in addition to scholarships for attendance at the Cortona Sessions. The foundation has also supported DuoSolo in the commissioning of new works from composers including Gabriela Lena Frank, David Rakowski, and Forrest Pierce.


Grazie Mille!

The Cortona Sessions would like to thank the Hotel Oasi Neumann for their help and assistance hosting the 2011 Cortona Sessions for New Music.

Our sincerest thanks also to Mr. Steve Foust, audio engineer at Oklahoma State University for his professionalism and enthusiasm recording all Cortona Sessions events.

Contact Information

Hotel Oasi NeumannVia Le Contesse, 1 - 52044 - Cortona (AR) - Tel. +39 0575630127

Michael Kirkendollmobile - 785.218.2422 (for emergencies only)

2012 Cortona Sessions Program

Documents

Transcript of 2012 Cortona Sessions Program