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Back to What's New Table of Contents
October 2004 |
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MidAmerica Productions Presents
a Thanksgiving Feast of Concerts
MidAmerica Productions Presents
its 200th Concert at Weill Recital Hall, the ARCO Chamber Orchestra
MidAmerica Productions Presents
Two Great Masses by Mozart and Haydn
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For Immediate Release
October 25, 2004
MidAmerica Productions Presents a Feast of Concerts
New York, NY - MidAmerica Productions presents the New England Symphonic Ensemble in
Handel's Messiah at 2 PM and a concert featuring works by Bach, Vaughn Williams and
Poulenc at 8:30 PM on November 28th, the Sunday following Thanksgiving.
2 PM
Handel's Messiah
Donald Neuen, Conductor
Rachelle Durkin, Soprano, Kristina Martin, Mezzo-soprano, Sean Fallen, Tenor, Bryce Smith, Bass
Featuring choruses from California, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas
8:30 PM
Poulenc's Gloria
Jonathan Griffith, Conductor
Liesl Odenweller, Soprano
Featuring choruses from Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio, South Dakota and Nova Scotia
Bach's Magnificat, BWV 243
Vaughn William's Fantasia on Christmas Carols
John Rutter, Conductor
Liesl Odenweller, Soprano, September Bigelow, Mezzo-soprano, Vale Rideout, Tenor, Paris Cheffer, Baritone
Featuring choruses from Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and New Jersey
Tickets, at $85, 50, 35, may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800,
going online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West
57th Street and Seventh Avenue in NYC. For more information, call our Box Office at (212)
239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.
Donald Neuen, conductor and artistic director of the Angeles Chorale since 1995, has been
referred to as "...the great choral conductor of his generation" by musicologist Julius Herford.
In addition, as Distinguished Professor and Director of Choral Activities at UCLA, Mr. Neuen heads
one of the most respected graduate choral conducting programs in the United States Prior to UCLA,
he served for twelve years in the same position at the Eastman School of Music. Hailed by Don Hinshaw
as "the driving force of choral music education in America," Neuen also conducts the Crystal Cathedral
Choir at the landmark Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA, and appears weekly on their
internationally-televised "Hour of Power" broadcast. A student and protégé of Robert Shaw, Neuen
went to Atlanta in 1970 at Shaw's request to create the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and to
serve as Assistant Conductor and Director of Choral Activities for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Maestro Neuen has made it his personal mission to build on the standards of excellence set by Shaw.
John Rutter, conductor, a native of London, is well known on both sides of the Atlantic as a composer,
conductor, and recording artist. His compositions span choral and orchestral works, carols, school
operas, popular music, and music for television. He was director of music at England's Clare College
from 1975-79, later forming the Cambridge Singers, a mixed-voice choir that has recorded over two
dozen albums, many for his own label, Collegium. In the last few years, several of his recordings
have reached Billboard magazine's Classical Top 25 chart. Recently, he initiated the Collegium Choral
Series, a music publishing project aimed at making available to choral groups works performed by the
Cambridge Singers.
Jonathan Griffith, Principal Conductor-in-Residence with MidAmerica Productions in New York City,
has guest conducted for the Bialystok State Philharmonic, Poland, Virtuosi Pregensis Chamber Orchestra,
Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, Dvorak Chamber Orchestra and Bohuslava Martinu Philharmonia,
Czech Republic, The European Symphony Orchestra, Spain, Manhattan Philharmonic, New York, Mormon
Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake City, and several regional orchestras and choruses throughout the U.S.
He has served as chorus master for the Utah and Portland opera companies, founded the Kansas City
Chorale and the Jonathan Griffith Singers, and was on the faculties of the Conservatory of Music at
the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Wichita State University, Marylhurst University, and Warner
Pacific College. His more than 35 Carnegie Hall appearances include the major works of the classical
repertoire. A native of St. Louis, he received his B.M.E. from the University of Kansas, a M.M.E.
from Wichita State University, and his D.M.A. in conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas
City.
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For Immediate Release
October 19, 2004
MidAmerica Productions Presents its 200th Concert in Weill
Recital Hall, the ARCO Chamber Orchestra
New York, NY - MidAmerica Productions presents the ARCO Chamber Orchestra at Weill Recital
Hall at Carnegie Hall, Tuesday, November 23rd, 2004 at 8 PM.
ARCO Chamber Orchestra
Levon Ambartsumian, violin and conducto
Vivaldi: Le Quarttro Stagioni (The Four Seasons)
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Twelve Characteristic Pictures (arr . Bulakhov)
General admission tickets to Weill Recital Hall concerts are $35; $15 for students and seniors.
Tickets may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, by going online at
www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue.
Weill Recital Hall is located at 154 West 57th Street. For more information, call
MidAmerica Productions at (212) 239-0205 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.
MidAmerica Productions reaches a landmark with its November 23rd concert at Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall, the 200th concert that MAP has produced at Weill. The ARCO Chamber Orchestra, under
the direction of Levon Ambartsumian, will be celebrating nature in this concert which features Vivaldi's
beloved The Four Seasons and Tchaikovsky's The Seasons. Mr. Ambartsumian will also serve as violin soloist
for this event. MidAmerica Productions General Director and Artistic Director Peter Tiboris says "We are
always proud to present the ARCO Chamber Orchestra and it is particularly gratifying that this outstanding
group perform in our 200th concert presented at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall."
The ARCO Chamber Orchestra was founded, in 1989, by Levon Ambartsumian at the world-renowned
Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he served as Professor of Violin. Among its handpicked charter members
were a few instructors, some of his students, and several recent graduates from the Conservatory. Almost
immediately ARCO performances throughout Europe drew high critical praise and enthusiastic audience responses.
The international acclaim grew in subsequent years, following ARCO's concert tours in Italy, Spain, Germany,
Romania, France and Korea.
In 1995, Mr. Ambartsumian joined the University of Georgia's School of Music as the Franklin Professor of
Violin, while remaining the artistic director and conductor of ARCO. Because he was able to bring some of
his students to the United States with him, the home base of the orchestra shifted to this hemisphere, where
the ensemble has now become a talented international blend of musicians. In 2002 ARCO has made its New York
debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, in a concert produced by MidAmerica Productions followed by
invitation to come back there every year.
While ARCO Chamber Orchestra places special importance on the performance of Russian and contemporary
music, the ensemble has a diverse repertoire, which includes standard chamber orchestra literature,
showpieces, and world premiers.
ARCO has released several CD's with music by Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Vasks,
Bronner, and Nielson.
Levon Ambartsumian, conductor and violin, studied in the Moscow Central Music School and
then in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 1977 he became the First Prize winner of Zagreb International
Violin Competition headed by Henryk Szeryng. Two years later he was a prizewinner in the Montreal International
Competition, and in 1981 he won the All-Union Violin Competition in Riga. Levon Ambartsumian was distinguished
as Honored Artist of Armenia in 1988 and Honored Artist of Russia in 1997.
Since 1977, Mr. Ambartsumian has performed regularly in all the main cities of the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe (he was initially not permitted to accept invitations to travel to the West). Since 1988
he performed in the USA, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Brazil, and South Korea. In 1989
Mr. Ambartsumian founded the Moscow Chamber Orchestra ARCO that regularly performed in Russia and abroad
and now resides in Athens, Georgia, USA. He has collaborated with conductors and composers such as Valery
Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Maxim Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, Alfred Schnittke, and many others.
Mr. Ambartsumian joined the faculty of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1978, where he
taught for 15 years. For two years, he was a Visiting Professor at Indiana University School
of Music (Bloomington, Indiana). In 1995, Mr. Ambartsumian accepted the position of Franklin
Professor of Violin at the University of Georgia School of Music (Athens, Georgia).
Mr. Ambartsumian devotes himself to contemporary Russian, Armenian and American music and has
made several important world premiers. He has released several CD's including music by
Wieniawski, Sarasate, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, Stravinsky, Bartok, Shostakovich,
Schnittke, Bronner, Arutiunian and other contemporary composers.
As a teacher, Mr. Ambartsumian has given master classes in Russia, Armenia, South Korea,
Canada, Brazil, and France. His former students hold principal positions in major
European orchestras in Germany, France, Portugal, and Denmark, and many have been
prizewinners at international violin competitions.
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For Immediate Release
October 18, 2004
MidAmerica Productions Presents Two Great Masses by Mozart and Haydn
New York, NY - MidAmerica Productions presents Mozart's "Coronation Mass" and Haydn's "Paukenmesse"
in Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Sunday, November 21st, 2004 at 8:30 PM.
Mozart, Mass in C major, K 317 ("Coronation")
Earl Rivers, Conductor
Featuring choruses from Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee
Haydn, Mass in a Time of War in C major, H. XXII, 9 (" Paukenmesse")
Kenneth Sheppard, Conductor
Featuring choruses from New York and Texas
Both works feature
Kristen Plumley, Soprano, Kathleen Clawson, Mezzo-soprano, Coke Morgan, Tenor, Weston Hurt, Baritone
New England Symphonic Ensemble, Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse, Music Director
Tickets, at $85, 50, 35, may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800,
going online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West
57th Street and Seventh Avenue in NYC. For more information, call our Box Office at (212)
239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.
Earl Rivers, conductor, is Music Director of the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati,
a professional chamber choir celebrating its 25th Anniversary Season in 2004-05. At the University
of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) he is Director of Choral Studies, leading one of
the country's outstanding conducting programs that is the recent recipient of the Dale Warland
Singers Score Library. Last season he led CCM's Chamber Choir on a concert tour of Portugal and
conducted South Korea's Inchon City Chorale, a professional chorus. In June he received Choral
America's "Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Choral Art," honoring a lifetime
of significant contributions to the professional choral art. A member of the national board of
directors of Chorus America, in May 2005 he hosts Chorus America's Conducting Workshop for Choral
and Orchestral Conductors at CCM. This season he celebrates thirty years as Director of Music at
Cincinnati's Knox Presbyterian Church.
Kenneth Sheppard, conductor, is professor of music at Southwestern University
at Georgetown, Texas and artistic director for Chorus Austin. Under his leadership, the
Southwestern University Chorale has performed at the Orchestra of Santa Fe Bach Festival, with
the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and at several state and national conventions. As the artistic
director for Chorus Austin, Mr. Sheppard conducts several concerts each season
in Austin and elsewhere. He frequently prepares Chorus Austin for concerts with the Austin
Symphony - the performance of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov received the "Outstanding Choral
Performance Award" of the 2002-2003 season from the Austin Critics Table. Mr. Sheppard has
appeared five times as guest conductor with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.
Connecticut born soprano Kristen Plumley was recognized as a fine lyric soprano early in her career.
In November of 2000 she made her debut New York City Opera, singing the role of Barbarina in Le
Nozze di Figaro. Highlights of recent seasons include her debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni for
Virginia Opera, and her debut with Opera Français de New York as the Sultan of Egypt in Gluck's
Les Pelerins De La Mecque. At the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts she was
heard in the demanding role of Masha in a concert reading of Dubrovsky. Ms. Plumley made her
debut as Nanetta in Falstaff with the Opera Festival of New Jersey, and returned to the festival
the next season as Amor in Gluck's Orfeo Ed Euridice.
American mezzo-soprano Kathleen Clawson is consistently praised for the burnished, bronze
beauty of her voice enhanced by an innate musicality and a persuasive, sensuous manner of
communication. Highlights of last season include returns to the New Mexico Symphony for
Berlioz' Roméo et Juliette and Hindemith's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, to the
Calvin Oratorio Society for Elijah, to the Santa Fe Symphony for the Verdi Requiem and to
The Little Orchestra Society at Lincoln Center as the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors.
She made her New York début at Lincoln Center as soloist in A Herbert Centennial with The
Little Orchestra Society with whom she later starred in a rare performance of Herbert's
Cyrano de Bergerac.
Tenor Coke Morgan spent last spring and summer singing Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni for Opera
Illinois, followed by Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Frederic in Pirates of Penzance for Light
Opera of Oklahoma, in Tulsa, and a concert of operatic arias in the Hamptons. In Fall, 2003,
he made his New York recital debut, with two colleagues, at Merkin Hall, followed by his debut
with Fargo/Moorhead Opera as Ferrando in Così fan tutte. A former apprentice at Santa Fe
Opera and resident young artist at Los Angeles Opera, Mr. Morgan has also sung with Santa
Barbara Civic Light Opera, Palm Springs Opera, and with the American Singers Opera Project.
Musical theatre is also of interest, and to that end he has sung roles in South Pacific, Me
and My Girl, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
American baritone Weston Hurt made his Carnegie Hall debut in April as the baritone soloist in
Benjamin Britten's War Requiem under the baton of David Atherton. Mr. Hurt is a recent graduate
of The Juilliard Opera Center. He has completed apprenticeships with The Santa Fe Opera, Des
Moines Metro Opera, an artist residency with The National Opera Company and holds degrees from
Indiana University and Southwestern University. Engagements for the 2003-2004 season include
performances of Toante in Haldel's Oreste at Juilliard, as well as Mr. Hurt's return to Kentucky
Opera to sing the role of Sciarrone in Tosca and the role of 1st Nazarene in Salome.
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