Your first stop on this journey is London, via Britten’s “consummately crafted” work evoking the English countryside and 16th century folk style. Next is Budapest and Dohnányi’s earthy, Hungarian folksy-ness. Finally 1924 Russia, for a work originally commissioned as a ballet while Prokofiev was an expat living in Paris...adventurous and circus-like, full of evocative textures and clashing harmonies. Robert Chausow, violin; Ah-Ling Neu, viola; Roberta Cooper, cello; Gregg August, bass; Kathy Halvorson, oboe; Benjamin Baron, clarinet
Phantasy, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Serenade in C major, Op. 10, Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960)
Quintet in G Minor, Op. 39, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
This concert is made possible, in part, with the generous support of the Brian Wallach Agency, White Plains, New York. Personal and Commercial Insurance since 1949.
Robert Chausow has been a vital member of New York's musical world for over three decades, performing with most of the finest ensembles in virtually all venues. He is the Concertmaster and solo violinist of Westchester Philharmonic, a position he has held since 1989, and in addition has been involved in the orchestra's fine education program. He is also currently the Assistant Concertmaster of both American Composers Orchestra and Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and Associate Concertmaster of New York City Ballet Orchestra.
An avid chamber musician, violist Ah Ling Neu was a member of the renowned Ridge String Quartet for three seasons, and was invited to the Marlboro Music Festival for four summers and was a member of New York Philomusica for 20 years. She is presently a member of the North Country Chamber Players in New Hampshire and the Brooklyn Library Chamber Players and is a frequent guest at the Barge Music in Brooklyn, NY. She has participated in festivals such as the Bridgehampton Festival, the White Mountains Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival and International Musician’s Seminar in Cornwall, England.
Born in Japan of Chinese parents, Ah Ling started viola in the San Francisco public school system at the age of 13. She continued her studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Gennady Kleyman and Nobuko Imai at the Hague Royal Conservatory in the Netherlands. Ah Ling performs frequently with several orchestras in the NYC area and is currently on the faculty of Columbia University and is the Artist Associate at Williams College.
Roberta Cooper, cellist, won the Artists International Competition which sponsored her Carnegie Hall debut. She is a member of the Walsh-Drucker-Cooper Trio, which has performed extensively on major series in Washington, D.C., New Orleans and New York City and in Europe. Ms. Cooper is the assistant principal cellist of the American Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the American Composers Orchestra and the Westchester Philharmonic. She has performed in the Berlin Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the New York City Opera and the ballet orchestras of both the NYC Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She has been a guest cellist with the Emerson Quartet in concerts in the US and Europe. Ms. Cooper has been the continuo player with the Berkshire Bach Society since 1993. She has been a regular participant at many music festivals, most recently at Classical Tahoe, Festival Napa, and the St Bart’s Music Festival (in the Caribbean).
A favorite project was as featured soloist on pop singer Linda Ronstadt’s recording of jazz standards, titled “Hummin’ to Myself”. This group, filled with jazz legends performed for a A&E TV special and at Jazz@ Lincoln Center.
Ms. Cooper was a scholarship student of Lorne Munroe and Harvey Shapiro at the Juilliard School, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and the William Henderson Prize for outstanding achievement.
Bassist and composer Gregg August spans the classical, avant-garde, jazz and Latin jazz worlds making him one of the most versatile musicians on the scene today. He is member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Associate) as well as the American Composers Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Gregg is also the former Principal Bass of La Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona and the Brooklyn Philharmonic.
As a jazz bassist Gregg is a member of the JD Allen Trio, having recorded 9 albums with the group, as well as Arturo O’farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, with whom he’s won 5 Grammy awards. In 2003 Gregg formed his own record label, Iacuessa Records, for which he has recorded three critically acclaimed albums of entirely original music: Four by Six ( 2012), One Peace (2007) and Late August (Iacuessa Records 2005).
In August of 2020 Gregg will release Dialogues on Race (Iacuessa Records), the result of a commission from the Jazz Gallery and Jerome Foundation. An extended suite for a 12 piece large jazz ensemble, plus 3 vocalists, strings and narrator, the extended work deals with the subject of race relations in the United States. He utilizes poems by Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Marilyn Nelson and others to create a musical conversation that is intended to help bring awareness and foster understanding on the issue of race.
Gregg has also composed many full length concert works, including “Una Rumba Sinfonica,” a commission from the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute and Earshot, which was premiered by the Buffalo Philharmonic. He has also performed and/or recorded with The New York Philharmonic, Steve Reich, The Bang on a Can All Stars, Alarm Will Sound, as well as Ornette Coleman, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis and Ray Barretto. Gregg was on the Downbeat Magazine Critics’ Rising Star Poll in 2017, 2015 and 2013.
An adjunct professor at New York University and the University of Connecticut, Gregg has also been on faculty at the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA) since 2003.
Gregg received his bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and his master’s from the Juilliard School.
Originally from Wisconsin, Kathy Halvorson studied at the University of Wisconsin, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Netherlands. In Boston she was an active performer in contemporary classical, jazz, ethnic and third stream ensembles as well as classical orchestras and chamber music. In 1995, Kathy moved to the Netherlands, where she studied with Dutch oboist Bart Schneemann and she performed with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Bach Soloists, Calefax Reed Quintet, the Netherlands Opera, Ballet, Symphony and Radio Orchestras, Het Nieuw Ensemble and the Stravinsky Ensemble.
Now residing in New York City, Kathy has performed with the Argento New Music Project, American Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Opera Company, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Opera Orchestra of New York, Brooklyn Philharmonic, SEM Ensemble, The Bronx Opera, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and frequently in the pit of Mary Poppins and Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. With pianist Francine Kay, and bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson, Kathy has performed many collaborative concerts. Kathy is also a member of the Sylvan Winds.
Kathy has recorded several CDs for the Naxos label as Principal Oboe with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra under Kevin Mallon and Nicolas McGegan. She is also a member of the Network Winds in Toronto.
The New York Times praised clarinetist Benjamin Baron for “evoking sounds of nature” in his performance with the Locrian Chamber Players and encouraged audiences to “listen for the lone clarinet” in the Encores! production of The Light in the Piazza. His solo recording for the Chamber Orchestra of New York on Naxos was lauded by American Record Guide for its “clean, incisive clarinet playing,” while The New York Sun described his performance of Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps as “played with reverence.”
Baron has performed with all of the Lincoln Center orchestras and made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in Weill Hall, performing Copland’s Clarinet Concerto to a sold-out audience. He is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra and has served as guest principal clarinet with the American Composers Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, New York City Opera Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic, and Orchestra Lumos. Additional highlights include performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Pops, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Brussels Philharmonic. Baron has toured Europe with the London Winds and performed throughout Japan playing the concertos of Mozart and Weber, including Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has performed on nearly a dozen productions, most notably serving as principal clarinet for the revival of Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town and its critically acclaimed cast album.
Author of The Audition Method for Clarinet, Volumes 1 and 2, Baron is currently on the clarinet faculty at Montclair State University and serves as director of the Montclair Woodwind Quintet. He maintains artist relationships with Buffet Crampon Clarinets and D’Addario Reeds. More information is available at www.benjaminbaron.com.