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| World Premiere of a New Classical Work by Wynton Marsalis Wynton Marsalis will debut new music he has written for The Orion String Quartet in a concert entitled Double Hearing on Thursday-Saturday, May 11, 12 and 13 at 8pm at Rose Theater in Jazz at Lincoln Center's home, Frederick P. Rose Hall. The new opus, in six-movements based upon the dance rhythms of tango, bossa nova, blues, chacarera, choro and rhumba, will be performed by The Wynton Marsalis Quartet and the Orion String Quartet, one of the most admired chamber ensembles on the international music scene. The Orion String Quartet, which recorded Mr. Marsalis' first classical composition for strings in 1995, is renowned for its fresh perspective and individuality. The group brings a broad range of repertoire to performances. Double Hearing reunites the ensemble with Mr. Marsalis. Praised for their eloquence and individuality, the Orion String Quartet is one of the most sought after ensembles in the United States. They remain on the cutting edge of programming with numerous commissions from composers Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, Leon Kirchner, Marc Neikrug, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis, and enjoy a creative partnership with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. With over fifty performances this year, the members of the Orion String Quartet - violinists Daniel Phillips and Todd Phillips (brothers who share the first violin chair equally), violist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Timothy Eddy - have worked with such legendary figures as Pablo Casals, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Serkin, András Schiff, members of TASHI and the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as the Budapest, Végh, Galimir and Guarneri String Quartets. Their repertoire this season includes cycles of Beethoven and Mozart, in addition to mixed programs of Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Dvorák, Bartók, Zwilich and Schulhoff. The Orion serves as Quartet-in-Residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and New York's Mannes College of Music. Last summer, the Orion String Quartet returned to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival after giving performances in Lofoten, Norway, Canada's National Arts Centre, at Chamber Music Northwest and the Bard College Conservatory of Music. In the 2005-2006 season, they have been re-invited to Indiana University to perform a series of six concerts presenting the complete cycle of Mozart's viola quintets with Atar Arad, along with an extensive residency schedule. Additional engagements include the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia, Houston, Montreal, Corpus Christi and Phoenix. In May 2006, the Quartet continues its long-standing relationship with Wynton Marsalis by giving the world premiere of his new work for string quartet at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Quartet recorded Marc Neikrug's piano quintet with Chick Corea's The Adventures of Hippocrates for Spring 2006 release on Koch Records. Heard frequently on National Public Radio's Performance Today and WNYC Live, the Orion String Quartet has appeared three times on ABC's "Good Morning America, " and also on A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts" and PBS's "Live from Lincoln Center." In October 2004, they participated in the first WNYC Radio collaboration with BBC World Service's popular syndicated program "Music Party." Formed in 1987, the Quartet chose its name from the Orion constellation as a metaphor for the unique personality each musician brings to the group in its collective pursuit of the highest musical ideals. Wynton Marsalis (Music Director, Trumpet) is the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961, Mr. Marsalis began his classical training on trumpet at age 12 and soon began playing in local bands of diverse genres. He entered The Juilliard School at age 17 and joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Mr. Marsalis made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and since he has recorded more than 30 jazz and classical recordings, which have won him nine GRAMMY Awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz GRAMMYs in the same year and repeated this feat in 1984. In 1997, Mr. Marsalis became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music, for his oratorio Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 1999, he released eight new recordings in his unprecedented "Swinging into the 21st" series, and premiered several new compositions. Recent recordings include All Rise on Sony Classical; The Magic Hour, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson and Wynton Marsalis: Live at The House Of Tribes on Blue Note records. Mr. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education, and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of universities and colleges throughout the U.S. He has also written three books: Sweet Swing Blues on the Road in collaboration with photographer Frank Stewart; Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life with Carl Vigeland; To a Young Musician: Letters from the Road with Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and Jazz ABZ, an A to Z collection of 26 poems celebrating jazz greats. In 2001, Mr. Marsalis was appointed Messenger of Peace by Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and he has also been designated cultural ambassador to the United States of America by the U.S. State Department through their CultureConnect program. Mr. Marsalis serves on Lieutenant Governor Landrieu's National Advisory Board for Culture, Recreation and Tourism, a national advisory board to guide the Lieutenant Governor's administration's plans to rebuild Louisiana's tourism and cultural economies. He has also been named to the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin's initiative to help rebuild New Orleans culturally, socially, economically, and uniquely for every citizen. He helped lead the effort to construct Jazz at Lincoln Center's new home - Frederick P. Rose Hall - the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, which opened in October 2004. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |