Kaufman Center Press Releases
Merkin Concert Hall presents ISRAEL AT 60! Prologue & Epilogues: Israel Moves On (Oct. 28, 2008)
September 30, 2008 – Merkin Concert Hall continues the celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday with a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s beloved Quartet for the End of Time performed by an international group of Israeli, French and American musicians. Written in the German POW camp Stalag VIII-A, Messiaen’s work flew in the face of Nazi oppression and solidly established him as one of the most important composers of his time. This concert brings together the virtuoso clarinetist Charles Neidich and a group of top performers representing the younger generation including clarinetist Moran Katz, cellist Gal Nyska, violinist Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Vincent Balse. The concert will honor the composer’s centenary while also highlighting the multi-cultural music of Israeli composers.
Messiaen’s free spirit and eclectic use of eastern modes and rhythms inform the chamber music of the Israeli composers on the program—Ben-Haim, Weisenberg and Zorman—as they adopted the music of their surroundings and created a voice all their own. This performance is a copresentation of Merkin Concert Hall and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
About Charles Neidich
American clarinetist Charles Neidich has been described as one of the most mesmerizing
musicians performing before the public today. He regularly appears as a soloist and a collaborator
in chamber music programs with leading ensembles including the Saint Louis Symphony,
Minneapolis Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, I Musici di Montreal, Tafelmusik,
Handel/Haydn Society, Royal Philharmonic, Deutsches Philharmonic, MDR Symphony, Yomiuri
Symphony, National Symphony of Taiwan and the Juilliard, Guarneri, Brentano, American,
Mendelssohn, Carmina, Colorado and Cavani String Quartets. Mr. Neidich has performed
throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. At age seven he began studying clarinet with his
father, Irving Neidich, while already having started piano lessons with his mother, Litsa Gania
Neidich. At 17 he continued studying with the noted clarinet teacher Leon Russianoff. After four
years at Yale University, where he majored in anthropology, Neidich went to the Moscow State
Conservatory as the first recipient of a Fulbright grant to study in the Soviet Union. He studied in
Moscow for three years as a student of the clarinetist Boris Dikov and the pianist Kirill Vinogradov.
Mr. Neidich was one of the first soloists to improvise cadenzas and ornament classical concertos
and has performed his restoration of the Mozart Concerto throughout the world both on modern
and period instruments. Mr. Neidich has been influential in restoring original versions of works and
bringing them before the public. Mr. Neidich is also an ardent exponent of new music and has
premiered works by Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Edison Denisov, Helmut Lachenmann, William
Schuman, Ralph Shapey, Joan Tower, Katia Tchemberdji, Vasilii Lobanov and others. He has
championed John Corigliano's Concerto and has performed it throughout the United States,
notably with the Syracuse and Jacksonville Symphonies in performances many have called
definitive. His recordings are available on the Sony Classical, Sony Vivarte, Deutsche
Grammophon, Musicmasters, Hyperion and Bridge labels. For Aaron Copland's centennial, he
released the world premiere recording of his reconstruction of the original version of Copland's
Clarinet Concerto with “I Musici di Montreal” for the Chandos label.
Mr. Neidich has turned his attention in a serious way to conducting and has appeared with the Avanti Chamber Orchestra; Tapiola Sinfonietta, Helsinki; the Kirishima Festival in Japan; the New World and the San Diego Symphonies (in a triple role of conductor, soloist and composer) and in Bulgaria with the Plovdiv State Philharmonic. Very active in education, he is on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Queens College of the City University of New York, the Manhattan School and the Mannes College of Music, and has held visiting positions at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, the Yale School of Music and Michigan State University. He is in demand for master classes around the world and for innovative lecture concerts he has devised such as "Old is New: how playing old music on period instruments is like playing new music on modern instruments" and "Craft and Drama: how understanding how Brahms composed makes for a more compelling performance." With his wife, Ayako Oshima, he has published a book on the basics of clarinet technique for the Japanese publisher, TOA Ongaku Inc. Last spring Mr. Neidich was the recipient of the William Schuman Award given by the Juilliard School for outstanding performance and scholarship.
About Moran Katz
Israeli clarinetist Moran Katz has toured extensively through the United States, Europe and East
Asia as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Recent engagements included performances in
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, England, Israel, North Carolina, California,
Illinois, Texas, Washington D.C. and New York as well as collaborations with the Ariel, Carmel,
Contemporary and Benaim String Quartets.
Ms. Katz is the winner of numerous prizes and awards, such as the 2008 Eastern Connecticut Symphony Instrumental Competition, 2006 Francois Schapira First Prize for Woodwinds at the prestigious Aviv Competitions, the 2004 Artists International's Young Artist Chamber Music Award (as a member of the "Nesher Trio"), First Prize at the 2004 Lions Clarinet Competition, Second Prize in the Lions European Musical Prize 2004 for Clarinet in Rome, the 2003 Juilliard Nielsen Concerto Competition, the 2001 Brown-Roger-Ziegl Woodwind Competition in Jerusalem and the 2002 "Thelma Yellin" prize for excellence in Music and Clarinet Performance. She is also the recipient of America-Israel Cultural Foundation grants with distinction since 1999.
About Arnaud Sussman
21-year-old French violinist Arnaud Sussmann has performed as a soloist with the Cannes Orchestra, the Monaco Chamber Orchestra, the Nice Orchestra, the Orchestre des Pays de la Loire and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and presented recitals in France, Italy, Russia, Central America and the United States. Mr. Sussmann has won first prizes at the International Andrea Postacchini Competition in Fermo, Italy and the Vatelot/Rampal International competition in Paris, France. Most recently the New York Salon de Virtuosi concert series awarded him with their prestigious fellowship grant, resulting in a live concert broadcast on WQXR's "Young Artists Showcase" radio show.
About Gal Nyska
Israeli cellist Gal Nyska has been praised as an "agile soloist" by the New York Times and as a
"prodigious" and "spellbinding" talent by the Classical Voice of North Carolina. He recently made
his New York solo debut with the Juilliard Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall under the baton of
Dennis Russell Davies. Past performances include appearances at Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street
Y, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Jerusalem Music Center and concerto performances with the
Las Vegas, North Carolina, Bangor, Raleigh and Durham Symphony Orchestras. Nyska has
performed at the International Musicians' Seminar in Prussia Cove, Accademia Chigiana,
Kronberg Academy, Aspen Music Festival, Innsbrook Institute and Festival, Music in the Valley
Festival, Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall and Itzhak Perlman's Chamber Music Workshop.
About Vincent Balse
Vincent Sangaré Balse began playing the piano at the age of six under the tutelage of Zoya Zorin.
He is a graduate of the Sienna Academy (Italy) and of Bordeaux Conservatory, where he obtained
a gold medal with honors and a first prize in chamber music. In 2002, he graduated with another
first prize in piano and chamber music from the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris, where
he studied with Nicholas Angelich, Christian Ivaldi and Alain Meunier. In addition to piano,
Vincent Sangaré Balse studied harmony, counterpoint and composition.
Currently, Mr. Balse lives in Paris and New York, where he graduated with a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School in Jerome Lowenthal’s studio. He studied conducting both at the Paris Conservatory and the Juilliard School and is now the principal conductor of the Orchestre des Graves in France.
The concerts in Merkin Concert Hall’s Israel at 60 series are partially underwritten by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation in celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday.
The America-Israel Cultural Foundation supports and develops artistic life in Israel by awarding scholarships and grants to young artists and cultural institutions. AICF is the largest private supporter of artistic study in Israel, having awarded more than 11,000 scholarships since 1939. AICF has been a vital partner in the development of the Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Habima Theatre, Sam Spiegel Film School, and the Jerusalem Music Centre. Renowned artists nurtured at a young age by AICF include Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Menashe Kadishman, Michal Rovner, Ohad Naharin, Rina Yerushalami, and Daniel Libeskind. AICF also promotes Israeli culture through events and literature, helping shape Israel's image throughout the world.
Listings Information:
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center presents
ISRAEL AT 60!
Prologue & Epilogues: Israel Moves On
Clarinetist Charles Neidich
Thursday, October 28, 2008 at 8pm
129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)
Tickets at 212 501 3330 or http://www.kaufman-center.org
Single tickets are $30 (members $20)
EDITORS: Please refer to the series by its name, ISRAEL AT 60!,
and its location, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center
Press Only: Hi-res photos for download at http://kaufman-center.org/press/image-library
About Merkin Concert Hall
Renowned for its acoustics, accessibility and innovative programming, the recently renovated Merkin
Concert Hall is the recipient of multiple awards for adventurous programming, most recently from
ASCAP/Chamber Music America in 2002–03. The Hall is a division of Kaufman Center, which also includes
Lucy Moses School (a community arts school) and Special Music School (a New York City public school for
musically gifted children). A not-for-profit organization founded in 1952, Kaufman Center occupies its own
facility, the award-winning Goodman House, located in Manhattan’s Lincoln Square arts district. The Center
is an unsurpassed cultural resource where people of all ages can experience the joy of artistic creation,
expression and appreciation.
Kaufman Center’s presentations in Merkin Concert Hall are made possible in part by institutional support from the Amphion Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Edward T. Cone Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Fink Foundation, Inc., Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Herman Goldman Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Florence Gould Foundation, The Edith Meiser Foundation, Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation, Starr Foundation, Phyllis Fox and George Sternlieb Foundation, and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.