concert coming in june
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Program Note.
gothan requiem| solo PIANO, Op. 78
commissioned by daniel colalillo
When Daniel Colalillo asked me to write this piece, I felt an urge to give him and his audiences a small canvas painted with moments of church, of lockdown, of the dark, mahogany chords of early jazz. I spent all of the Spring 2020 lockdown in my NYC apartment on West End Avenue in the 70s, and once a week I'd put on my gloves and mask and force myself out the door of the comforting fortress of my building, and I'd walk the three blocks to George and Ira Gershwin's apartment building on 33 Riverside Drive, and then stroll in the park for a few minutes before proceeding home. During this completely topsy-turvy, terrifying time where every morning we woke up to a nightmare that didn't have edges or texture or even a face, I felt a new type of safety in the arms of my neighborhood and its inhabitants, present and former.
For Gotham Requiem, I've taken the Kyrie Eleison Gregorian chant, whose latin text means "God have mercy", and reshaped it with harmonies in comforting colors that remind me of George.... this is a work born out of that which gave me solace during such a strange chapter of humanity: the ancient, sacred space of higher powers, and the tangible echoes of a life whose artwork has provided so much joy in mine.
daniel colalillo, piano
Daniel Colalillo is a New York based classical pianist. As a soloist, he is known for delivering strong commanding performances and unique interpretations with a depth of musical integrity. He has been lauded by “The New York Times.”
Following his 2008 Concerto debut performance of Beethoven’s Concerto No. 2 with MK Symphony, Daniel has gone on to perform with the Purchase Symphony Orchestra and recently with The Spring Hill Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Daniel has given solo recitals at venues such as: Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Bargemusic, Symphony Space, Baruch College: PAC, Purchase: PAC, Columbia University, Princeton University, and has performed in various cities such as: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Nashville, Toronto, Montreal, and more.
Daniel’s dedication to new music led him to many premieres such as Julian Bennett Holmes – 1st Piano Sonata (2017), James G. Lindsay’s Metal Destroyer Etude (2017), and in a recently gave the Nashville premiere of “I Still Play” by (Pulitzer Prize Winning Composer) John Adams. While at Mannes he was selected to perform with MACE (Mannes American Composers Ensemble) directed by composer Lowell Liebermann (Grammy Nominee). The MACE performances included works by Louis Karchin, Shulamit Ran, Lewis Spratlan, Ned Rorem, and a concert version premier of Tobias Picker’s ballet score “Awakenings.” Daniel also took this opportunity to work closely with Lowell Liebermann studying his piano works.
In 2014 Daniel graduated with his Masters in Piano Performance at Mannes College: The New School for Music where he studied with Thomas Sauer (Student of Jorge Bolet) and Eteri Andjaparidze (Prize Winner of Tchaikovsky Competition.) Daniel also received a Bachelor of Music from Purchase: Conservatory of Music where he studied with Paul Ostrovsky (Student of Emil Gilels.) He has also had additional studies with MacArthur Fellow (Genius Grant) Jeremy Denk. Daniel began playing piano at the late age of 15.
Apart from his solo career Daniel is an active chamber musician, accompanist, and teacher. He is the Artistic Director of Classical Keys, where he runs a concert series in Denville, New Jersey. As a teacher he maintains a private studio in upper Manhattan; and as an accompanist he has been on staff at Columbia University’s Barnard College and SUNY Purchase and has done work at Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, The Juilliard School, and for Astral Artists in Philadelphia. He is also a professional page-turner at Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Lincoln Center, and Chamber Music Society.
Daniel’s debut album “Mostly Scriabin” was released in 2017 and has been featured on radio shows such as WWFM (Trenton, NJ) and WXNA FM (Nashville, TN.) CDs and downloads are on cdbaby, iTunes, and Amazon.
STEPHANIE ANN BOYD, COMPOSER
Michigan-born, Manhattan-based American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about women’s memoirs and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. Boyd’s five ballets include works choreographed by New York City Ballet principal dancers Lauren Lovette, Ashley Bouder, NYCB soloist Peter Walker, and XAOC Contemporary Ballet’s Eryn Renee Young. Eero, a ballet commissioned by Access Contemporary Music and Open House New York, was written for the grand opening of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Her music has been praised as “attractive lyricism” (Gramophone), “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald).
Boyd’s music has been commissioned and performed by concertmasters of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Faroe Islands Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal players in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Her music has been commissioned and/or played by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New England Conservatory Philharmonic, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, the New York Jazzharmonic, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Roosevelt University Orchestra, the Eureka Ensemble, the JVL Festival Orchestra, the Texas State University Symphony, the Cremona International Academy Orchestra, the UW La Crosse Symphony, the Detroit Civic Orchestra, and the El Paso Youth Symphony. Her work has been presented by the Thalia and her Sisters concert series, the Moirae Ensemble, and Sandcastle New Music in New York City; Æpex Contemporary Music in Michigan; Juventas New Music, Collage New Music, and the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston; Cincinnati Soundbox, and others. Stephanie has worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Lina Gonzales, Earl Lee, Nathan Aspinall, Cliff Colnot, Gill Rose, Julian Benichou, Kristo Kondakci, and Kevin Fitzgerald.
The 2020/2021 season includes commissions from the Wyoming Symphony, Astral Artists with cellist Tommy Mesa, violinist Megan Healy, pianists Lara Downes, Lise de la Salle, Marta Aznavoorian, Lucille Chung, Susie Maddocks, Adrienne Park, Diane Kaztenburg Braun and Music Street, Sarah Bob and the New Gallery Concert Series, Holly Roadfeldt, Marianne Parker, Eunbi Kim, the Kurganov-Finehouse Duo, and others. This season also includes performances by the Lincoln Trio, Juventas New Music, Jennifer Reason, Lisa Pegher, Shouthouse, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, including concerts at the Kaufman Center, the Boston New Music Festival, the Festival of New American Music, Pianoforte in Chicago, live on Chicago’s WFMT radio station, and elsewhere.
Stephanie holds degrees from Roosevelt University and New England Conservatory, and she was one of the last violin students of renowned pedagogue John Kendall.