International Music Festival “Contemporary East and West”

St. Petersburg Contemporary Music Center

presents

“Contemporary East and West”

Saint-Petersburg State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

Artistic director and Chief conductor, Alexander DMITRIEV

Saint-petersburg State Philharmonia

Sunday 23, May 2010

Glinka Hall

John Adams

“Shaker Loops” for string orchestra

Aaron Copland

“Appalachian Spring” Chamber Suite

Mehdi Hosseini

“Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra”

Nikolai Myaskovsky

Sinfonietta No.3 in A minor for string orchestra, Op. 68

Soloists of String Quartet:

Raisa Ulumbekova, Violin I

Evgeny Zvonnikov, Violin II

Anna Vainshtein, viola

Dmitry Yanov-Yanovsky, Violoncello

Conductor, B. Everett Cawyer

John Adams

From 1972 to 1982, John Adams worked at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As head of their new music program, he conducted the Conservatory orchestra and new music ensemble and taught various classes. Adams found the constant interaction with musicians stimulating, particularly his students’ reactions to his compositional ideas. To create Shaker Loops, which he regards as one of his first truly characteristic pieces—and one of the first in which he used the repetitive style known as minimalism—he used some material he had created for a string quartet called Wavemaker. Dissatisfied with the material, Adams rewrote the music for septet… Read More»»

Аарон Aaron Copland

INTERMISSION Although Copland composed in a variety of styles, including the moderately avant-garde, he won his most enduring successes with compositions that celebrate (and directly quote from) the folk culture of America. Topping his list of ‘hits’ are the ballets Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and above all, the pure, glowing miracle that is Appalachian Spring. The interests in simple, natural expression and American folk culture that Copland shared with choreographer Martha Graham inspired a mutual sense of admiration. Read More»»

Mehdi Hosseini

The world premiere of this concerto, which utilizes folk music material from the area surrounding the ancient city of Torbat-e Jam in Iran, is dedicated to Nigel Osborne, mentor to Hosseini.
Following the performance, the St. Petersburg State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra will be recording for Hosseini’s next compact disk, which will include the Concerto for String Quartet and will be issued in Iran.
The score for the concerto has been chosen for publishing by Kompozitor Publishing House in St. Petersburg, the oldest publishing house for music… Read More»»

Nikolai Myaskovsky

Nikolay Myaskovsky (1881-1950) was a 20th century Russian composer with one foot in the romantic late 19th century, as was his countryman Sergei Rachmaninov. His orchestral works often have the dramatic sweep and epic quality of the romantics yet within the expressions of our modern age. Myaskovsky was a symphonist, creating 27 such works during his lifetime. He also wrote many string quartets as well as concertos and 9 piano sonatas. During the tumultuous first half of the 20th Century, he became known as the father of the Soviet symphony and these works, not unlike Shostakovich and Prokofiev, often express the individual within the cogs and wheels of life… Read More»»

B. Everett Cawyer

Brad Everett Cawyer has recently emerged onto the international classical music scene following student years in Europe. His thorough absorption of that continent’s classical style of conducting displays his deep-founded musicianship via clear and enlightening technique. Everett’s affable approach to working with orchestra inspires an atmosphere uplifting to performers and audience alike. From 1999 to 2003 Everett studied at Texas A&M University, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree and worked as orchestra manager for the community’s resident orchestra. In addition to guest conducting for the Brazos Valley Symphony… Read More»»