Dedicated to the creation and performance of new music

SAINT PETER 'S CHURCHCITIGROUP CENTER

54TH STREET & LEXINGTON AVENUENEW YORK CITY

DECEMBER 20, 2011 8:00 PM

DINU GHEZZO'S70 T H BIRTHDAYCELEBRATION

NEW YORK COMPOSERS CIRCLE

DECEMBER 20, 2011 8:00 PM

Fancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eugene W. McBride 1. Times like These 2. a Man, a Woman, and a Dog

Kirk Dougherty, tenor Margaret Lancaster, flute Vasko Dukovski, clarinet Lynn Bechtold, violin Matthew Goeke, cello Yvonne Troxler, piano

Adagio for String Quartet . . . . . . . . . . . Richard D. Russell

Stanichka Dimitrova, violin Arthur Moeller, violin Kim Mai Nguyen, viola Hamilton Berry, cello

Beneath the Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacob E. Goodman 1. Under a Tree (Richard Wilbur) 2. Under the Oak (D.H. Lawrence) 3. This Tree (J.E.G.)

Ricardo Rivera, baritone Bethany Porter, piano

INTERMISSION

Breezes of Yesteryear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dinu Ghezzo

Margaret Lancaster, flute Vasko Dukovski, clarinetYvonne Troxler, piano

Songs of Anxiety * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gayther Myers

Kirk Dougherty, tenor Yvonne Troxler, piano

Three Shakespeare Sonnets * . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Halpern 1. That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold 2. No Longer Mourn for Me When I am Dead 3. Poor Soul, the Center of My Sinful Earth

Ricardo Rivera, baritoneStanichka Dimitrova, violin Hamilton Berry, cello

Gra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elliott Carter

Vasko Dukovski, clarinet

* World Premiere

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A RECEPTIONAFTER THE CONCERT

The NYCC thanks the staff and personnel of Saint Peter's Churchfor their assistance with this concert.

The New York Composers Circle gratefully acknowledges support by a grant from the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

Staff for this concert:Jacob E. Goodman, producer

Dana Richardson, stage managerDavid Katz, stagehand

Tamara Cashour and Josy Goodman, receptionEugene Marlow, at the door

Robert Anderson, sound recordistTamara Cashour, publicity

Jacob E. Goodman, programs

Fancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eugene W. McBride

I - Times like These

Times like these, if you please, are nothing but a passing fancy. May I indulge in fancy's meaning? There was a pristine place, where fishes swam, and people too. Now fancy that, as many do. Times like these, a passing fancy.

Fancy... a liking formed by caprice rather than reason, ... caprice not reason. We have a problem in this world called falsity. My friend it started long ago, that monstrosity. There were kings and there were serfs, Things have certainly got worse. It is a curse this moola driven falsity. Rights are trampled by that money, court decisions are not funny, Wealthy kings filled with derision for their serfs. Now a mega corporation can dole money to a nation, As a person-corporation wields the pow'r of the hour.

Went to a deli for some honey for my honey. Long lines of poorish serfs were hoping for big money, For to strike it rich with wealth untold would make them kings. As I waited for an hour the lott'ry line did flower. The serfs who would be kings they packed the store.

What think you of politicians? They've become today's magicians, Turning fancy into reason, So ubiquitous this season. Serf's honesty is now treason. Just read the papers, look at TV, do that please. The FOX is in the henhouse, reaping millions from their serfs who would be kings.

All of you who understand put your foot down, halt the lies. Now all together we must make a stand ... for our sacred, hallowed ground and laws. Let's hear footsteps all together now begin... My that stand was insecure, lacked conviction that's for sure. Let's try to make a strong committed stand, together let us make our stand; Or we will sink into the sea, the oily sea, thank you B. P., The oily Gulf, the oily sea, Halliburton and B. P., the oily sea. All together here we go now one-two-three, All together here we go now make our stand.

Copyright © 2011, Eugene W. McBride, BMI All rights reserved

SONG TEXTS

II – a Man, a Woman, and a Dog

He said, "Go forth and meet the world as it spins, spins, goes spinning,"

Said she, "Goes round and round, without a sound or motorman directing."

"Tis the magic of the spheres," said he, "I cannot understand it."

"Did you not go to school and learn – or was it you never listened?"

Spoken: Twas said through her teeth so white... they were so white they glistened. He found his words so easily, his retort was sharp and clever.

"Of course I'm schooled, I'm trained to think.

It's what I do almost daily.

I think of things so vast, so large I can hardly comprehend them."

"You're sure of that?" she said, "You're sure of that?... You think almost daily?"

"Daily may be a bit too strong – but I do think... I think I think."

"You are unique, one of a kind, I think you think, but you stink!"

Spoken: Grabbing her nose she said... with verve... while staring directly at him.

"When was your last bath?... a year ago or more?"

Spoken: Upon hearing these words the dog wagged her tail and barked in her inimitable fashion, all the while thinking to herself.

"Fancy, fancy. Where is it bred? 'Tis of the heart? Or of the head? And what of fancy?" 1

Spoken: You see... this was a rather erudite canine, amazing, really amazing! ... really! Said she to him, (though reading a dog's thoughts was indeed foreign to her), "I fancy you, you know. You hold on to your individuality... few do... I like that in you." He thought for a moment... then said... with righteous anger and intensity... "Humanity is outraged in me and with me." 2

"We must not dissimulate nor try to forget this indignation which is one of the most passionate forms of love." 2

1 William Shakespeare, from Merchant of Venice, Act III Scene 2, (paraphrase)2 Excerpted from George Sand (née Aurore Lucile Dupin) letter to Gustave Flaubert, Nohant, France, September 14, 1871.

Copyright © 2011, Eugene W. McBride, BMI All rights reserved

- Eugene W. McBride

Beneath the Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacob E. Goodman

Under a TreeRichard Wilbur

We know those tales of gods in hot pursuit Who frightened wood-nymphs into taking root

And changing then into a branchy shape Fair, but perplexing to the thought of rape:

But this, we say, is more how love is made— Ply and reply of limbs in fireshot shade,

Where overhead we hear tossed leaves consent To take the wind in free dishevelment

And, answering with supple blade and stem, Caress the gusts that are caressing them.

Under the Oak D.H. Lawrence

You, if you were sensible, When I tell you the stars flash signals, each one dreadful, You would not turn and answer me “The night is wonderful. ”

Even you, if you knew How this darkness soaks me through and through, and infuses Unholy fear in my essence, you would pause to distinguish What hurts from what amuses.

For I tell you, Beneath this powerful tree my whole soul's fluid Oozes away from me as a sacrifice steam At the knife of a Druid.

Again I tell you, I bleed, I am bound with withies, My life runs out. I tell you my blood runs out on the floor of this oak, Gout upon gout.

Above me springs the blood-born mistletoe In the shady smoke.

But who are you, twittering to and fro Beneath the oak?

What thing better are you, what worse? What have you to do with the mysteries Of this ancient place, of my ancient curse? What place have you in my histories?

This TreeJ.E.G.

This tree, whose foliage spreads across The darkened skies, Has sheltered other limbs than ours, And other eyes Have watched its gently swaying branches Fall and rise.

If we must leave this solitude, Once more to face The rigors of our lives, to run Our futile race, Then others, never fear, will come And take our place.

Songs of Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gayther Myers

II live in a shattered mirror worldHaving enlisted in an army of fused glass soldiersWhose weapons of mass destruction were fusedFrom shards of crystallized doll houseCreated by a master builder and his crewHis head gabbing and leeringSends out his glass tentaclesTo gather up the enemies of the people.At night I lie down under burnt blood skies Tossing, turning, fighting, biting, kicking, scratching, wishingWondering, wandering in my dreamsTo get back to you.

IIA pint of blood is on the sand A million martyrs hold belief and new religions

Crop up where old religions standOnly to die in blessed relief.For in days of yore as in days to comeLogic and belief fight hand in hand --For those who die, honor.But why? Why did no one hear the martyr's cry?The blood shadows lengthenOrganizers say we must strengthenLet no one know the gospel truthPeople follow what they are told.But all I saw was blood.People spurning, people chiding, people fighting, people dying.A pint of blood is all it takesTo create a barrier changing love to hate.Break it. I'm humanWhatever the color of my skin or eyesOr whom I take to bedOr whom I choose to wed.People laughing, people lovingPeople giving, people helpingPeople believe, dream and liveSo that the blood will clotStop shadow casting!

IIILightning cracked signsAnd thunderous mad laughs fill my nights.The echoing orders of a mad tyrantRinging through my daysAs we tramp through the cityEnforcing his Singaporean law.The sit-com mentalities proclaim The wonder of order.I and the other beast men run Through the steel trees rounding up your kind.When the rats try to subvert the mazeThe Minotaur in our group enactsThe punishment of Edward the SecondOr orders the most incompetent of usTo shoot at their thread.I tell myself this is for you:The wonder of order.

- Oliver Baer

Three Shakespeare Sonnets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Halpern

IThat time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold. Bare ruin’d choirs where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou see’st the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west.

Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie. As the death bed whereon it must expire,

Consumed with that which it was nourished by. This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

IINo longer mourn for me when I am dead Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell Give warning to the world that I am fled

From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell. Nay, if you read this line, remember not The hand that writ it; for I love you so

That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot If thinking on me then should make you woe.

Oh if, I say, you look upon this verse When I perhaps compounded am with clay. Do not so much as my poor name rehearse, But let your love even with my life decay,

Lest the wise world should look into your moan And mock you with me after I am gone.

IIIPoor soul, the center of my sinful earth,

Rebuke these rebel powers that thee array! Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,

Painting thy outward walls so costly gay? Why so large cost, having so short a lease, Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?

Shall worms, inheritors of this excess, Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body’s end?

Then soul, live thou upon thy servant’s loss. And let that pine to aggravate thy store.

Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross. Within be fed, without be rich no more.

So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men. And Death once dead, there’s no more dying then.

ELLIOTT CARTER, the dean of American composers and our newest Honorary Member, turned 103 a few days ago. Born in New York City, he began to be seriously interested in music in high school and was encouraged at that time by Charles Ives. He attended Harvard University where he studied with Walter Piston, and later went to Paris where for three years he studied with Nadia Boulanger. He then returned to New York to devote his time to composing and teaching. With the explorations of tempo relationships and texture that characterize his music, Carter is recognized as one of the prime innovators of 20th-century music. The challenges of works such as the Variations for Orchestra, the Symphony of Three Orchestras, and the concertos and string quartets, are richly rewarding. In 1960, Carter was awarded his first Pulitzer Prize for his visionary contributions to the string quartet tradition. Stravinsky considered the orchestral works that soon followed, the Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano, and two chamber orchestras (1961) and the Piano Concerto (1967), to be "masterpieces." Elliott Carter has been the recipient of the highest honors a composer can receive: the Gold Medal for Music awarded by the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the National Medal of Arts, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and honorary degrees from many universities. Hailed by Aaron Copland as "one of America's most distinguished creative artists in any field," Carter has received two Pulitzer Prizes and commissions from many prestigious organizations. Mr. Carter's Woodwind Quintet, written in 1948, has been called "a light-hearted, almost humorous two movement composition, but one with a significant degree of color, texture, and grandeur." Mr. Carter writes: “Gra (‘Play,’ in Polish) for solo clarinet was written as a tribute to my dear friend Witold Lutoslawski, to commemorate his 80th birthday. During the twenty-five or so years that I have known Witold, I have never ceased to admire his impressive works and his gracious personality. This clarinet piece combines frequently changing, playful characters (all based on the same material) and recalls to me my many delighted visits with the composer in America and Poland.”

DINU GHEZZO, whose 70th birthday we are celebrating with this concert, received his education in conducting, music education, and composition at the Romanian Conservatory in Bucharest (1964 and 1966), and subsequently earned a Ph.D. in composition at UCLA in 1973. He has concluded a thirty-four-year career at NYU as a professor of music and Director of Composition Studies. Dr. Ghezzo remains a Professor Emeritus at NYU, where the Music and Performing Arts Department instituted the Dinu Ghezzo Composition Award. He also teaches at Lehman College (CUNY). Much involved in national and international music projects, he is founder and president of Musica Nueva Malaga Festival (Spain), of ICIA Inc. (International Composers and Interactive Artists), and of the Summer Italian Arts Institute in Perugia and University of Rome II, Tor Vergata. Among many leading positions, he is president of NABLA Ensemble, in Residence at the University of Rome, founder and director of INMC Inc. (International Music Consortium), director of Assisi International Music Days, among others, and is past director of ANMC Inc., Todi International Music Days, Gubbio Festival, Molfetta Festival, CIPAM Festival in Montevarchi (Italy), Constanta International Music Days, The Week of Romanian American Music in Oradea, Romania, etc. He is a recipient of an honorary doctorate from Ovidius University, Constanta (Romania), and of many awards, prizes, residences, and commissions: Fulbright Senior Scholar (2006), visiting composer at the American Academy in Rome, composer-in-residence at Dresden Festival, and guest composer at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, at the

COMPOSERS

Hungarian Arts and Letters Academy in Budapest, at the Jerusalem Music Academy, and at the Music Academy in Krakow; he has received the CAPS Award - New York, George Enescu Awards, ASCAP Awards, NYSCA and NEA Grants, worked with leading international ensembles and soloists, and enjoyed residencies as guest composer, conductor, and performer. Dinu Ghezzo has been the conductor of the NYU/Washington Square Orchestra, second conductor of the Black Sea Symphony (ac. Constanta Symphony) and guest conductor of the Oradea Symphony, Timisoara Symphony Orchestra, Bucharest Music Academy Orchestra, etc. He was founder and co-director with Leo Kraft of the New York Repertory Ensemble (1976-84) and founder and co-director with Jack Kreiselman of the NYU Contemporary Players, appearing at Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, at Monday Evening Concerts, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, and with concert tours most notably at the Barbican Center, London, the Paris Conservatory, the Université de Paris-Sorbonne, Oldenburg University (Germany), Royal Conservatory Bruxelles, etc. His music is published by Editions Salabert of Paris, Lantro Music (Belgium), Musica Scritta, the AIM Press (Italy), Tirreno Gruppo Editoriale (Milan, Rome), the Calabrese Brothers, and Subito/Seesaw Music Corporation, New York. He serves on many national and international boards of directors and juries such as for the Pierre Schaeffer Composition Competition, Georges Enesco Competition, INMC Inc, etc. He has had major performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Recital Hall, Zankel Hall at Carnegie, Merkin Hall, Monday Evening Concerts in Los Angeles, and many appearances at international festivals and conferences in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Helsinki, Stockholm, Cologne, Rome, Florence, Venice, Budapest, Tokyo, Seoul, etc. His compositions are featured on several Orion Master Recordings albums, on several Capstone Records, on INNova and Ariel Records, as well as on TGE Switzerland, (Tirreno Gruppo Editoriale), WDR Cologne, Helsinki Radio, Raum Klang (Bayerischer Rundfunk), and Grenadilla label. Biographical entries in Baker Music Dictionary, Geschichte und Gegenwart, Who’s Who in Music, J. Machlis Contemporary Composers, etc. Breezes of Yesteryear was written in 1980 and revised in 1992, as a commission from Editions Salabert in Paris (France). This is a one-movement work of ca. 12 minutes which uses a free arch form, linking elements from several earlier works of Dinu Ghezzo's, as a moment of retrospect of the composer. The language is at times atonal and at times modal, with clear modal activity towards the end of the composition. This process of "filtration" became a trend in other earlier works of the composer, as a means of creating stylistic bridges. The three players (a flutist, on alto, piccolo, and flute in C, a clarinetist, and a pianist) are intended to create atmospheric moments through special techniques and effects, at times playing their instruments into the resonance plate of the piano in order to create echo situations related to the general purpose of the composition, which represents a breeze blowing from the past. The work is dedicated to Dinu Ghezzo's wife, Marta.

JACOB E. GOODMAN, founder of the New York Composers Circle in 2002, is Professor Emeritus of mathematics at City College (The City University of New York), the author of many books and research articles, and co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Discrete & Computational Geometry. He has composed and improvised all his life, and has studied composition with, among others, Ezra Laderman and David Del Tredici. Recent compositions include a set of six intermezzi for piano, two song cycles, a set of variations on a Beethoven theme, a quintet for piano and strings, Variations for a Rainy Afternoon for flute, violin, cello, and piano, Oui, J'Aime Brahms, for cello and piano, a set of nocturnes for violin and piano, and the score for the documentary film Meet Me at the Canoe, produced for the American Museum of Natural History by his daughter Naomi Goodman. He writes, “Beneath the Trees is a setting of three poems by three different authors, with vastly different moods, all relating to events that transpire under a tree. The first, by Richard

Wilbur, is a lighthearted prescription for making love in the shade of a tree; the second, a much darker poem by D.H. Lawrence, consists of the cry of an anguished lover; and the third, which I wrote many years ago, depicts, in a mood of resignation, a couple who have managed to escape for a short time from the realities of life but must now return to them.”

MARTIN HALPERN had a productive career as playwright, poet, and educator until, in 1994, he retired from the Theater Arts faculty at Brandeis University to earn a Master’s degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, and pursue a second career in music composition. Since then, there have been more than eighty performances of his vocal and chamber works, and fifteen productions of his one-act and full-length chamber operas, in the New York area. From 1996 to 2008 he served as concerts director of the Long Island Composers Alliance.

EUGENE W. McBRIDE’s compositions include works for orchestra and chorus, chamber music for various instrumental combinations, solo and four-hand piano works, and songs. He writes, “In the study of composition during my college years it became clear that the expression of our individuality is most necessary. Studies at W. Paterson College and Juilliard gave me some insight into some of the compositional techniques available. I draw from those techniques, sometimes tonal, sometimes not. Compositions express any composer’s point of view; political, or not, the composer’s point of view is ever-present. Being relevant is critical, or so is my belief. My songs on this program are most personal, as is true for all my compositions. Fancy is a tonal exploration of ethics in our society. So strong was my need to express my thoughts about the world we live in that I found it necessary to write the lyrics, with some help from Shakespeare and George Sand. Times Like These is indeed relevant, as it addresses greed, and exploitation... (Occupy Wall Street, the 99% vs. the 1%.). a Man, a Woman, and a Dog invites us into a dialogue where individuality and humanity become central. The words of George Sand (née Amantine Auora Lucile Dupin) close the collection. Her words of 1871 are totally appropriate today, they express this composer’s point of view. “This collection of two songs, composed for the Glass Farm Ensemble, is a reflection of the current economic and political situation. Times Like These is a statement of the insidious influence that money can bring to our lives, while a Man, a Woman, and a Dog is a dialogue between a man and a woman... with an intelligent dog having input as well.”

GAYTHER MYERS was artistic director of the Wooden O Theatre, a not-for-profit theatre company, which produced My Lord What a Morning and Papageno and Papagena, in addition to Elizabethan and Restoration plays. Mr. Myers directed Secondhand Kid by Craig Sodaro at the American Theatre of Actors in two productions; he also directed Hot Gilly Mo at ATA. He has written the plays Hot Gill Mo with David Martin, The Benz, Memphis Aside, Playing Othello, and the most recent A Word from Our Sponsor. He has written the three act opera A Miracle Now and Then with a selection performed by Opera Columbus, and the two-act opera Terezin about the visit of the International Red Cross to the Terezin concentration camp. He has also written the a capella opera Brothers, dealing with a conflict between half brothers, one slave, one free. He is about three-quarters-through transcribing and editing a volume of Hebrew liturgical music from the manuscripts of Samuel Gottschall (1719-1811). Mr. Myers attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and holds degrees from the Yale School of Drama, and Columbia University. His Sonata Solo for Bassoon, performed in the NYCC April concert, is forthcoming from TrevCo music. About Songs of Anxiety, he writes, “These songs were written at the request of Oliver Baer, a poet, a dear friend, and a supporter of the New York Composers Circle.”

A multi-year ASCAPlus winner, RICHARD D. RUSSELL’s music has been performed internationally and at prominent venues in New York. Highlights include a September 11,

2002 memorial performance of Remembrances at Merkin Concert Hall, and a performance of Design for Lightning by trombonist Haim Avitsur in Israel. As well, his music has been performed in Bulgaria and Japan. In New York, some venues have included Symphony Space Thalia, CAMI Hall, the Ethical Culture Society, and Mannes College of Music. Richard’s most recent successes were two commissions by the esteemed musicologist Lawrence Kramer: one, a song cycle for Fordham University’s “Poets Out Loud” faculty group (2010); second, a solo piano composition performed in conjunction with a two-day seminar sponsored by the journal 19th-Century Music (2011). He earned his B.A. in Music Composition from Blackburn College (Illinois), graduating magna cum laude, and is currently completing his Master's at SUNY Empire State. He has presented lectures on the interdisciplinary nature of creativity at Mannes College of Music, to the New York Composers Circle, and to the East Hanover School District (New Jersey). He publishes the online blog version of Creativity and Composition, available on his website. Richard has been active in the New York Composers Circle for several years, having served on its Steering Committee, and is a past Managing Director. He has also emceed several of the NYCC's "Community Encores" outreach projects. He is also the artistic consultant for In Mid Air Productions, which has presented several of Richard’s pieces. His website is RDRussell.com.

Violinist LYNN BECHTOLD has appeared in recital throughout the U.S., Canada, Holland, and Switzerland, and has premiered works by and/or collaborated with composers such as Gloria Coates, George Crumb, John Harbison, and Morton Subotnick, among others. In 2001, Alvin Lucier wrote a violin/electronics piece for her entitled Violynn. As a member of groups including East Village Opera Company band, Bleecker StQ, Lumina String Quartet, the SEM Ensemble, Zentripetal, and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, Ms. Bechtold has performed around the world and has been heard on CBC Radio, CBS-TV, NHK-TV, and WNYC. Other programs have been with Absolute Ensemble, DJ Spooky’s Telos Ensemble, North/South Consonance, Parsons Dance, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Vision Into Art, among others. In addition, she’s performed with artists such as Boyz II Men, Sheryl Crow, Roberta Flack, J-Pop band SMAP, Smokey Robinson, Donna Summer, and Pablo Ziegler. Ms. Bechtold holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, Tufts University, and the Mannes College of Music, where she was one of the last students of noted violinist Felix Galimir. In addition, she likes to compose works for strings and electronics. She is on the faculty of Greenwich House Music School in NYC. Her duo Zentripetal’s CD is coming out in early 2012 on CCR/Naxos Records.

Cellist HAMILTON BERRY’s eclectic taste has led him to pursue a range of musical projects. As a participant in Carnegie Hall’s “Porous Borders of Music” workshop, he performed Edgar Meyer’s Duet for Cello and Bass with the composer at Zankel Hall. He has appeared as soloist with the Macon Symphony Orchestra and the Columbia University Bach Society, and in diverse roles at venues including Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Miller Theatre, Terminal 5, and the Jazz Gallery. He has attended the Olympic, Yellow Barn, Sarasota, Banff, and Orford music festivals. In 2009, Berry received his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Timothy Eddy. In June 2010, he and several Juilliard colleagues presented master classes and interactive performances to children in the favelas of São Paulo, Brazil, in partnership with the Guri Santa Marcelina program. He is a member of Ensemble ACJW and a fellow of the Academy, a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education.

PERFORMERS

A winner of the 2010 Concerto Competition at Stony Brook University, STANICHKA DIMITROVA has also been a First Prize winner in the “Barbara Krakauer Scholarship Award” Competition at the Associated Music Teachers League in New York City, the “Hopes, Talents, Masters” International Competition in Dobrich, Bulgaria, and the “Svetoslav Obretenov” National Competition in Provadia, Bulgaria, and was a Top Prize winner of the National Competition for Austrian and German Music in Burgas, Bulgaria. Stanichka Dimitrova is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Sally Thomas. She is currently pursuing her D.M.A. degree at Stony Brook University, studying with Philip Setzer, Pamela Frank, Soovin Kim, and Philippe Graffin. An avid performer of contemporary music, Stanichka is currently involved in various new music groups such as the New York Composers Circle and Blind Ear Music, where she gets to work with new and upcoming composers from the New York City area. In 2007 she gave the premiere of Richard Russell’s Violin Sonata, which was written for and dedicated to her.

Tenor KIRK DOUGHERTY performed most recently with Tri-Cities Opera, Opera Louisiane, the North Shore Music Festival, and Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre. He also performed in opera and in concert with Opera Rochester (now Mercury Opera Rochester), Central City Opera, Bronx Opera, the Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Missouri Civic Orchestra, Greenwich Choral Society, Cortland Choral Arts Union, The Downtown Singers, Eastman Opera Theatre, the Rochester Bach Festival, and The Publick Musick, among many others. Recent opera performances from 2010-2011 at Tri-Cities Opera, where he was a resident artist and the recipient of TCO’s Carlotta Savoca Memorial Award, include Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'Amore), Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte), Alfredo (La Traviata), and Hoffmann (Les Contes d'Hoffmann). At Bronx Opera, he recently sang the title role in Auber's Fra Diavolo and Don Gomez in Mahler's Die Drei Pintos. This summer at the Utah Festival Opera, he performed the role of Boyar in their Russian production of Boris Godunov and covered the role of Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni). As a guest artist during the 2011-2012 season at Tri-Cities Opera, he returns as Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte). Originally from Sleepy Hollow, New York, Kirk Dougherty received the Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance and the Performer’s Certificate in Voice from the Eastman School of Music.

With his virtuosity and mellow sound, the Macedonian-born clarinetist VASKO DUKOVSKI has mesmerized audiences throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Dukovski is a winner of numerous competition prizes and awards including: First Prize at the International Woodwind Competition in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria; Special Prize at the Jeunnese Musicales Clarinet Competition in Bucharest, Romania; 2nd Prize at the National Clarinet Competition and 3rd Prize at the National Chamber Music Competition in Macedonia and at the first Andreas Makris Clarinet Competition in Fort Collins, Colorado; Fine Arts Award from the Interlochen Arts Academy; and Honors Award from the Eubie Blake Foundation in New York. Mr. Dukovski is a great champion of contemporary music and has premiered over one hundred works and collaborated with many established composers of our time, among them John Corigliano, John Adams, Helmut Lachenmann, Yehudi Wyner, and Gunther Schuller. He is a member of the Grneta Ensemble, Future In REverse F.I.RE, Mimesis Ensemble, Bloo Moon Ensemble, and Ensemble 212, and regularly performs with the Argento Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, and Either/Or Ensemble. As an orchestral player, Mr. Dukovski has played under the batons of many important conductors of our time such as James Conlon, Michael Tillson Thomas, Yves Abel, David Atherton, Otto-Werner Mueller, Diego Mason, Anne Manson, and Thomas Wilkins among others. Furthermore, Mr. Dukovski is the principal clarinetist of the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra, The Garden State Philharmonic, and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. Mr. Dukovski was born in Ohrid, the Republic of Macedonia, and began his clarinet studies at the age of nine. He made his first solo appearance at the age of ten, and in January of 2006 he

made his New York debut with the New Juilliard Ensemble performing the world premiere of the Triple Clarinet Concerto by Guus Jansen. Mr. Dukovski holds B.M. and M.M. Degrees from the Juilliard School as a student of Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima.

MATTHEW GOEKE, cellist, performs as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra player in a broad range of musical styles. He is a member of the Stamford Symphony, Musica Sacra, Eos Orchestra, the Cross Town Ensemble, SEM Ensemble, North/South Consonance, and the Kitchen House Blend. Solo performances include the Dvorak and Brahms "Double" concertos with the Centre Symphony and the Shostakovitch Concerto No. 1 with the New York Repertory Orchestra. He also performs and records with the bands Church of Betty (Tripping with Wanda, Fruit on the Vine), GIANTfingers (GIANTfingers) and Voltaire (The Devil's Bris, Almost Human, Boo-Hoo). Classical recordings include North/South Recordings (Howard Rovics: Retrospective, and Elan) and 4Tay, Inc. (Elodie Lauten: The Deus Ex Machina Cycle). He has also recorded for Opus One Records, Polygram, Elektra, Tzadik, and Koch International Classics.

“New-music luminary” (The New York Times) and “leading exponent of the avant-garde flute” (Village Voice), MARGARET LANCASTER has premiered well over 100 pieces and has built a large repertoire of new works composed specifically for her that employ extended techniques, dance, drama, multi-media, and electronics. Performance highlights include Lincoln Center Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Ibsen Festival, Santa Fe New Music, Whitney Museum, Edinburgh Festival, Tap City, New Music Miami, and Festival D’Automne. She has recorded on New World Records, OO Discs, Innova, Naxos, and Tzadik, and was selected for Meet the Composer’s New Works for Soloist Champions project. Noted for her interdisciplinary performances, Lancaster, who also works as an actor, choreographer, dancer, and amateur furniture designer, presents solo and chamber music concerts worldwide and acts in Lee Breuer’s OBIE-winning Mabou Mines Dollhouse …www.margaretlancaster.com.

ARTHUR MOELLER, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Juilliard School under the guidance of Cho-Liang Lin, Naoko Tanaka, and Ronald Copes. His musical career enthusiastically spans pop, classical, old, and new musics. Arthur has performed with the indie rock band Vampire Weekend on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and he has worked closely with RATATAT on material for their recent tours. He has appeared as soloist with the Pittsburgh Youth, Westmoreland, and Johnstown Symphonies, has toured China and Europe as a member of Juilliard orchestras, and, in 2010, Germany with the Arcos Chamber Orchestra. Arthur has performed chamber music in Alice Tully Hall, the Sculpture Garden at MoMA, Jordan Hall in Boston, and Harris Hall in Aspen, Colorado, and has collaborated with the New Juilliard Ensemble, Axiom, MuSE, and other groups that champion new music. He nurtures, as well, serious interests in portrait photography, literature, and food. Arthur lives in New York City.

Originally from France, violist KIM MAI NGUYEN’s principal teachers include Hsin Yun Huang and Heidi Castleman. Kim Mai is the recipient of many honors and awards, including second prize in the UFAM competition and third prize in the French Youth Competition. She has also performed as a soloist in France, Vietnam, and the United States. As an active orchestral musician, she was selected to participate at Tanglewood Music Center these past two summers, and in the New York String Seminar Program at Carnegie Hall with Jaime Laredo. More recently, she substituted in the Paris Opera Orchestra under conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi and at the Castleton Summer Festival under Lorin Maazel. Kim Mai also plays the baroque viola and was recently invited to perform with Jordi Savall, Monica Hugget, and at the Britten-Pears Baroque Festival in England. She has studied chamber music with members of the Ysaye, Orion, and Juilliard String Quartets, and other

distinguished artists including Charles Neidich, Ida Kavafian, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Earl Carlyss. Ms. Nguyen is currently pursuing an M.M. degree at the Juilliard School.

A native of Dallas, Texas, BETHANY PORTER received her Bachelor of Music degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she studied with Andrew Mihalso and Carolyn True. Active as both a choral and a vocal accompanist for the past several years, she has worked with such notable groups as the Turtle Creek Chorale and The Women's Chorus of Dallas, while pursuing her interest in musical theater as pianist in productions with Dallas-based Theater Three and the Garland Childrens' Theater. While at Trinity, she attended the Aspen Music Festival, where she studied with Robert Spillman. She currently holds the position of Director of Music at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Mt. Kisco, New York, and serves as the pianist and musical director for the Manhattan-based Seasoned Citizen's Theater Group. For the past 5 years, she has served as one of the vocal coaches and accompanists for the Mannes Extension Division Summer Opera Program and was featured as the pianist in the Frederick Byers production of 9/11 - The Book of Job for the 2004 NYC Fringe Festival. In the spring of 2005, Ms. Porter received her Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the Mannes College of Music in New York City, where she studied with Cristina Stanescu. She currently resides in Manhattan, where she maintains an active performing and coaching schedule.

RICARDO RIVERA, baritone, has performed in the world premiere of Alexander Berezowsky's The Seven Billion Names of God with the Contempo Ensemble in Chicago, has sung in Steven Stucky’s Four Poems of A.R. Ammons with the Flux Quartet, and has performed in the world premiere of Aaron Dai’s Con Furia, for soprano, baritone, and orchestra, with the Chelsea Symphony. Upcoming engagements include a performance with Contempo Chamber Players of Sophia Gubaidulina's Perception, a monumental piece for soprano, baritone, and chamber ensemble. In standard operatic repertoire, Mr. Rivera has sung Ford in Falstaff and Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte with the Mannes Opera under Maestro Joseph Colaneri, Le chat in L'Enfant et les Sortilèges and Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi with the Castleton Festival under Maestro Lorin Maazel, Moralès in Carmen and Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera North, and L'horloge comtoise and Le chat in L'Enfant et les Sortilèges and Roderick in La chute de la maison Usher (Debussy) with Pocket Opera of New York. Upcoming engagements include the role of Theseus in Christopher Park's opera Phaedra and Hippolytus at the Palacio das Artes in Brazil in 2012.

Pianist YVONNE TROXLER has performed throughout the United States and Europe. She is artistic director of the Glass Farm Ensemble, a new music group in New York City, which she founded in 2000 [www.glassfarm.org]. Troxler has premiered numerous works by established and emerging composers including Luigi Laveglia, Toshio Hosokawa, Elizabeth Hoffman, Peter Herbert, Wolfgang Heiniger, Rebecca Saunders, and Balz Trümpy. Her playing has earned critical praise. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes "…one could experience the fiery temperament of her interpretation, and [Yvonne Troxler] plays with a soft touch, warm sonority, and always delicate use of dymanic…" Troxler is also active as a composer, with original works performed in the U.S. and Europe, and has written music for films by Daniel Frei (off hour) and Suzan Al-Doghachi (Life Without Compromise). A particular passion of hers is the arranging of music (from Mahler, over Ives, to Ligeti) for the various instrumentations of the Glass Farm Ensemble. Troxler has received several awards including those from the International Mozart Academy in Prague, the Society of Swiss Interpreters, and the Swiss Cultural Fund. Yvonne Troxler has recorded with Innova Records, MGB, and World-Edition. Her most recent recording, of her own compositions of the last 10 years, played by the Glass Farm Ensemble, will be released in the spring of 2012.

The NEW YORK COMPOSERS CIRCLE is an artistic and educational organization of composers and performers, dedicated to new music, whose mission is to promote public awareness and appreciation of contemporary music through concerts, salons, and other events in the New York metropolitan area. For its members, the NYCC offers a variety of opportunities for testing works in progress at monthly salons open to the public, performing completed works in concert, and fostering collaboration and development, both artistic and professional. For nonmembers, the NYCC offers the opportunity of a public performance to winners of its annual composers’ competition. For the sophisticated concertgoing public, the NYCC offers four concerts a year of members’ works, curated by a jury of members headed by prizewinning composer John Eaton. And for members of the public who have not yet been exposed to much contemporary music, the NYCC sponsors an outreach program, in which we send performers to various institutions — including high schools and senior centers — at no charge to the institution, to perform works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Inspired by a workshop at the American Music Center, Jacob E. Goodman founded the New York Composers Circle in the spring of 2002 as an association of composers meeting regularly to play their music for one another. It soon became apparent that we had the artistry and commitment to present our music before an audience. In May, 2003, the NYCC produced its first public concert at Saint Peter’s Church, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici along with eleven of the NYCC's original members. This well-attended concert was favorably reviewed in the New Music Connoisseur. Under the continued leadership of Debra Kaye, more recently of John de Clef Piñeiro, and currently of Richard Brooks, the NYCC's membership has more than quadrupled since its inception, and the number of its concerts has grown from one each season to its current calendar of four concert presentations during the 2011-12 season. The group continues to expand its programs. Informal readings of new pieces allow composers to "test fly" their works with some of New York's finest professional and advanced student musicians. Such events, along with our monthly music salons and collaborations with other groups and institutions, support the creation and presentation of new music through the various stages of its development. In the 2004-05 season, award-winning composer Ezra Laderman joined members of the NYCC in its spring concert. In addition to its own two concerts, in March, 2006 the NYCC presented a joint concert with the performing ensemble ModernWorks; during the following season we collaborated with New York University in our first concert at NYU's Frederick Loewe Theatre, and in March 2010 we collaborated with the Italian “No Borders” Quartet in presenting a program of works by American and Italian composers that was performed both in this country and in Italy. In the summer of 2007 the NYCC held the first of its annual composers' competitions, open only to nonmembers. The winning work in the 2011 competition, our fifth, Max Giteck Duykers's Glass Blue Cleft, for string quartet,

will receive its premiere performance at our final concert of the season, on June 2, 2012 at the Symphony Space Thalia. Two seasons ago the NYCC launched a new outreach initiative—the New York Composers Circle Community Encores program. We send professional performers to institutions throughout New York City such as schools and senior centers, at no cost to the institution, with the aim of acquainting previously untapped audiences with concert music of the 20th and 21st centuries; each concert is emceed by a member of the NYCC, who introduces the performers and the music they play. The first concert in this series, featuring pianist/composer Nataliya Medvedovskaya, took place to great audience acclaim on February 24, 2009, at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale. To date, we have presented twelve of these free outreach concerts, at public high schools (Bronx Science, Stuyvesant, and Hunter College) and at additional senior centers (Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and JASA). Our most recent Community Encores concert, at Stuyvesant, featuring soprano Sofia Dimitrova and pianist Catherine Miller, garnered a rapt audience of 350 students, whose searching questions were fielded by the performers and by composer Richard Russell, who acted as emcee. These outreach concerts are being presented under the sponsorship of NYCC contributors, and the list of schools and senior centers is expanding. See the next page for how you can help support this project, which is bringing new music to new audiences.

Friends of the New York Composers Circle

Judith AndersonNaoko AokiOliver BaerWilliam and Marilyn BakerRoger BermasGary BloomNancy R. Bogen-GreissleHervé BrönnimannBarry CohenGloria ColicchioMary CronsonDavid Del Tredici and Ray WarmanGary DeWaal and Myrna ChaoRobert and Karen DewarMr. and Mrs. John EatonMichael and Marjorie EngberMargaret Fairlie-KennedyAnne FarberAllen C. Fischer and Renate BelvilleAmy Roberts FrawleyVictor FrostPeter and Nancy GellerLucy GertnerDinu GhezzoEssie GlusmanPerry GouldLinda HongCarl KanterDavid KatzDavid KaufmanBarbara Kaye

Richard KayeDaniel KleinAlvin and Susan KnottSusan KornHerbert and Claire KranzerGabriel and Carol LadermanMichael LadermanRaphael LadermanDorothy LanderArnold and Michelle LebowMr. and Mrs. Robert LeibholzStephen and Ann LeibholzErwin LutwakJoseph and Nina MalkevitchDavid MartinMartin MayerWilliam MayerChristopher MontgomeryWilliam and Beryl MoserBill NerenbergRichard Pollack and Lori SmithBruce S. PyensonMarjorie SenechalAbby Jacobs StuthersAlice and Al TeirsteinMr. and Mrs. Douglas TownsendRaymond TownsendGary and Katrine WatkinsSally WoodringThomas and Seyna ZaslavskyMartin Zuckerman and Susan Green

The NYCC gratefully welcomes donations large and small, which help make our concerts possible. Contributions to the New York Composers Circle are tax-deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Your donations may be sent to the address on the last page of this program, or you may click on the "Donate Now" button on our website, www.NYComposersCircle.org.

If you would like to help us in our efforts to build new audiences for new music, please become a Friend of the New York Composers Circle and send us your contribution.

New York Composers CircleBoard of Directors

John de Clef Piñeiro John Eaton Dinu GhezzoJacob E. Goodman David Katz Stephen Leibholz, Chair

AdministrationRichard Brooks, Executive Director

Donald Hagar, Associate Executive DirectorDavid Katz, Treasurer

David Picton, SecretaryEugene Marlow, Membership CoordinatorJacob E. Goodman, Outreach Coordinator

Tamara Cashour, Publicity CoordinatorRichard Russell, Webmaster

Honorary MembersElliott Carter John Eaton Dinu Ghezzo Ezra Laderman Tania León Paul Moravec

Composer MembersRoger BlancRichard Brooks

Hubert HoweCarl Kanter

Eugene W. McBrideRichard McCandless

David PictonKala Pierson

Madelyn ByrneTamara Cashour

Jonathan KatzDebra Kaye

Nataliya MedvedovskaYekaterina Merkulyeva

Frank RetzelDana Richardson

Robert S. Cohen Leo Kraft Scott Miller Richard RussellBrian Fennelly Stephen Leibholz Gayther Myers Inessa SegalJacob E. Goodman Patricia Leonard Miki Nakanishi Nina SiniakovaDonald Hagar Eugene Marlow Nailah Nombeko Cesar VuksicMartin Halpern Peri Mauer Joseph Pehrson Matt Weber

Performer Members Demetra Adams, soprano Marcia Eckert, piano Javier Oviedo, saxophone Christina Ascher, contralto Oren Fader, guitar Lisa Pike, horn Haim Avitsur, trombone Leonard Hindell, bassoon Anthony Pulgram, tenor Mary Barto, flute Jill Jaffe, viola Ricardo Rivera, baritone Virgil Blackwell, bass clarinet Sibylle Johner, cello Stephen Solook, percussion Allen Blustine, clarinet Craig Ketter, piano Patricia Sonego, soprano Sofia Dimitrova, soprano Michael Laderman, flute Jacqueline Thompson, soprano Stanichka Dimitrova, violin Maxine Neuman, cello Anna Tonna, mezzo-soprano Tiffany DuMouchelle, soprano Margaret O'Connell, mezzo Arlene Travis, soprano

ContactNew York Composers Circle

252 DeKalb AvenueBrooklyn, New York 11205

www.NYComposersCircle.org

Our next concert will take place at 3 PM on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, atSt. Mark's Church in the Bowery, 131 East 10th St. (near 2nd Ave.).

For more information, please check the NYCC website.