Media and Newsroom
Contact: Graham Binder, Director, Public Relations
(703) 255-1917 or grahamb@wolftrap.org
Camille Cintrón, Manager, Public Relations
(703) 255-4096 or camillec@wolftrap.org
JACK Quartet
Derek Bermel, clarinet
Friday, January 11, 2013 at 8 pm
$35
JACK Quartet
New music pioneers JACK Quartet will take over The Barns at Wolf Trap, alongside composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel, for an evening of standard classics and contemporary gems of the chamber repertoire. The eclectic and challenging program includes a Ligeti String Quartet, Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, and a Wolf Trap commission composed by Bermel.
The members of JACK Quartet met while attending Eastman School of Music and officially formed the group in 2005. JACK’s mission is to broaden the audience for modern works through high-level performances and educational presentations, while increasing the exposure of composers of the new music genre. To date, the classically rooted, yet edgy quartet has performed in venues of national prestige, such as Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, and the Kimmel Center. JACK has also toured Europe, with highlights including recent performances in London, France, Germany, and Switzerland.
Derek Bermel
GRAMMY-nominated composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel will join JACK Quartet in a unique rendition of Brahms’s famed Clarinet Quintet, as well as in the world premiere of his Wolf Trap commissioned piece. As both a composer and performer, Bermel has been praised for his creativity, theatricality, and virtuosity. He is currently Artist-in-Residence at the Institute for Advanced Study, Composer-in-Residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Creative Adviser to the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. He is the recipient of various awards, including the Alpert Award in the Arts, and Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships. Bremel’s compositions have been performed and premiered by world-renowned ensembles, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony, among others.
Steven Isserlis, cello
Kirill Gerstein, piano
Friday, January 25, 2013 at 8 pm
$35
Award-winning musical powerhouses, cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Kirill Gerstein, will combine their outstanding talents on the intimate stage of The Barns at Wolf Trap. The long-awaited recital will highlight works by Liszt, Busoni, Brahms, and Bartók.
Steven Isserlis
British cellist Steven Isserlis leads an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and recording artist. Hailed for his outstanding technique and artistry, Isserlis has been featured in concerto performances with orchestras around the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra. He has also toured in recital to Australia, Hungary, England, Italy, and Poland. Isserlis has won various awards, including the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (1998) and the Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau (2000). He is also keen on educating and performing for children, having published two educational books and a CD entitled Children’s Cello.
Kirill Gerstein
Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein is a musical master of exceptional technique, musicianship, and charisma. He has performed with numerous prominent orchestras in the United States, including the New York Philharmonic, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Seattle, San Francisco, Detroit, and Atlanta symphonies. Gerstein has also widely performed in Europe with first-class ensembles, such as the Munich, Rotterdam, and Royal Philharmonics, London’s Philharmonia, and the Finnish and Swedish Radio Orchestras. His most recent accolades include the Gilmore Artist Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant, both awarded in 2010. Gerstein studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He is currently a professor of piano at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, Germany.
America’s National Parks
Through the Artist’s Lens, Vol. 2
Friday, February 15, 2013 at 8 pm
$35
The Barns at Wolf Trap will be the setting of America’s National Parks: Through the Artist’s Lens, Vol. 2, the second installment of a Wolf Trap original presentation. This year, the audience will again take a journey into the tuneful wilds of America’s National Parks through music and photography. Wolf Trap Opera Company (WTOC) Director and pianist Kim Pensinger Witman will lead an evening of musical exploration, featuring a quartet of WTOC alumni composed of Marcy Stonikas (soprano), Eve Gigliotti (mezzo-soprano), Eric Barry (tenor), and Craig Colclough (bass-baritone), as well as the nature photography of Terre Jones, Wolf Trap President Emeritus and master photographer. The stunning images of our country’s most beautiful landscapes will serve as inspiration for the singers’ musical musings.
Parker String Quartet
Friday, March 1, 2013 at 8 pm
$35
Parker String Quartet
Former Wolf Trap Debut Artists Parker String Quartet return to The Barns at Wolf Trap with youthful energy and polished musicality. Hailing from the New England Conservatory, the quartet began touring professionally throughout the United States and Europe in 2002. They went on to perform in world-renowned venues, such as Wigmore Hall, Stadthalle Marburg, Kultur im Oberäu, and Carnegie Hall. The ensemble has continuously garnered recognition by winning numerous competitions and awards, including the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France, and the prestigious biennial Cleveland Quartet Award. They also won the 2011 GRAMMY Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for their recording of Ligeti’s String Quartets No. 1 and 2. Parker Quartet served as Quartet-in-Residence with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra from 2008 to 2010, and was the first String Quartet-in-Residence at Barbès Bar and Performance Space in Brooklyn, New York.
Chatham Baroque
Friday, March 15, 2013 at 8 pm
$35
This project is partially supported by a grant from Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, a program developed and funded by the Heinz Endowments; the William Penn Foundation; the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; and The Pew Charitable Trusts; administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
Chatham Baroque
Members of the Pittsburgh-based trio Chatham Baroque bring their dazzling technique and lively interpretations of 17th and 18th century music to The Barns at Wolf Trap. Founded in 1990, the group performs baroque works on period instruments, featuring the violin, viola da gamba, theorbo, and baroque guitar. They host a series of concerts in Pittsburgh every year and have collaborated with renowned musical institutions, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera, Renaissance & Baroque, Phipps Conservatory, Renaissance City Choirs, and Attack Theatre. Over the past two decades, Chatham Baroque has consistently toured the United States, South America, Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and Canada. They have also recorded seven CDs on the Dorian label.
Peter Kolkay, bassoon
with Alexandra Nguyen, piano
and Deirdre Chadwick, oboe
Wolf Trap Debut Artist
Friday, April 5, 2013 at 8 pm
$35
Peter Kolkay
Bassoonist Peter Kolkay makes his debut at The Barns at Wolf Trap in a unique recital that includes works for double reed instruments and piano, in collaboration with pianist Alexandra Nguyen and oboist Deirdre Chadwick. The scheduled program will feature Moravec’s Andy Warhol Sez for Bassoon and Piano, Poulenc’s Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, and Lalliet’s Terzetto for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano.
Kolkay leads a vibrant musical career of solo and chamber performances, as well as recording projects. He has held concerto performances with the South Carolina Philharmonic, Waukesha Symphony, and Greater Grand Forks Symphony, and is a member of the Iris Orchestra and the South Carolina Philharmonic. He is the recipient of the First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition (2002), an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2004), and the Carlos Surinach Prize from BMI in recognition of “outstanding service to American music” (2006).
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Tickets can be purchased by calling 1(877)WOLFTRAP; or online at www.wolftrap.org.
For more information, call The Barns at Wolf Trap at (703) 938-2404 or our general information line at (703) 255-1900.