Gil Morgenstern's Reflections Series
concludes its 2009-2010 season at the Bass Museum of Art with “A Pilgrim's Progress”
May 06, 2010
A Pilgrim's Progress
Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 7:30pm
Bass Museum of Art
2121 Park Ave
Miami Beach, FL
Tickets: $20 members, $25 non-members
at 305.673.7530 ext 1001
Information:www.bassmuseum.org
Music by Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Francis Poulenc and Bruce Saylor
Text by Dante Alighieri, Federico García Lorca, and Carl Sagan
Special guests Obie Award-winning actor Bill Camp and pianist Donald Berman
Reflections Series Online: http://reflectionsseries.com/
Miami, FL—At 7:30pm on Thursday, May 6, 2010 violinist Gil Morgenstern’s Reflections Series concludes its 2009-2010 season with a third concert entitled A Pilgrim’s Progress at the Bass Museum of Art (2121 Park Avenue). The Bass Museum of Art has the most encyclopedic art collection in the region with a permanent collection that includes some 3,000 works of art, as well as an annual schedule of exhibitions that draw on its own holdings as well as loans from other institutions and private collections. The Bass Museum also offers lectures, music and dance performances, and free family days.
How do we interpret our place in the universe, and how is our interpretation informed by religion and culture? A Pilgrim's Progress explores these questions through music including Heinrich Ignaz Biber’s Mystery Sonatas, Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Violin and Piano and Bruce Saylor’s Dante Suite. In addition, Obie Award-winning actor Bill Camp will read prose and poetry by Carl Sagan, Federico García Lorca and Dante Alighieri. Mr. Morgenstern will be joined by pianist Donald Berman.
As Artistic Director of the Reflections Series, Gil Morgenstern utilizes innovative programming to contextualize historical styles and arts movements for a 21st century audience. The performances merge artistic mediums, encouraging audiences to engage numerous senses and reflect anew on universal themes. The Reflections Series mixes solo and chamber music with visual art, poetry, and prose from around the world.
More about Gil Morgenstern: Acclaimed for his artistry and technical brilliance, violinist Gil Morgenstern has performed in many of the world’s great concert halls. The New York Times has hailed his playing as “a perfect demonstration of supreme ability;" “a rare poet of the violin” reported The South China Morning Post; “Morgenstern played a program that tested every part of a violinist’s equipment and he did it all beautifully” wrote The Washington Post.
Mr. Morgenstern’s career has taken him to international venues including Wigmore Hall, London; Cultural Center Concert Hall, Hong Kong; the American Academy, Rome; Salone dei Cinquecento, Florence; El Teatro Sucre, Ouito; Arts Centre and State Theatre, Melbourne, Australia. He has also toured the U.S. extensively, performing in recital and as guest soloist with many leading orchestras. Of his interpretation ofTchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major the Santa Barbara News Press raved, “Violinist Morgenstern – that's the name to remember. While he dazzled everyone with his dexterity, he realized all the artistic nuances. His bowing was magnificent; his tone just plain gorgeous.”
Mr. Morgenstern has also shared the stage with such eminent musicians as Philippe Entremont, Lynn Harrell, André-Michel Schub, Jeffrey Kahane, Sharon Isbin, and Heinz Holliger, and has collaborated with United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa and performance artist Laurie Anderson.
Mr. Morgenstern’s discography includes works by Beethoven, Fauré, Copland, Ravel, Kodaly, Sessions and the award-winning American composer George Tsontakis. His latest recording, 20th Century Duos for Violin and Cello, was the No. 1 classical CD for over a month on eMusic, the largest online store for independent music in the world, and was one of the top ten best selling classical music albums on Amazon.com. Of the CD The New York Times raved, “the music is terrific and the performances compelling on this surprisingly exciting and excellently engineered recording.” Mr. Morgenstern records for the MMC, Engine Company and Koch International Classics labels, and can regularly be heard on National Public Radio and classical music radio stations across the country.
In addition to performing, Mr. Morgenstern is the artistic director of the Reflections Series, which presents performances in New York, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florence and Capri, Italy. The 2009-2010 season is inspired by art exhibits at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York and features solo and chamber music, with visual art, poetry, and prose from around the world, in combinations that invite the audience to reflect anew on universal themes. Mr. Morgenstern is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of Nine Circles Chamber Theatre, a creative organization dedicated to exploring the collaborative nature of inter-disciplinary performance, and of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, a diverse chamber group specializing in Classical, Romantic and contemporary works of mixed instrumentation.
Mr. Morgenstern’s many prizes and honors include a command performance for President Ford at the White House, Gold Medals in The Washington International and National Society of Arts and Letters Competitions, and the Jaycees of America's “Outstanding Young American" award.
In 1998, Mr. Morgenstern appeared as violin soloist in U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky’s translation of Dante’s Inferno which toured the country and was broadcast on PBS and NPR, for which it received a Peabody nomination. The violin plays a central and unique role in this production and is an integral part of the dramatic action.
Highlights of Mr. Morgenstern's recent seasons include performances with the Julliard Dance Company at Lincoln Center, NCNY Dance Company at An Appalachian Summer Festival and with the Brooklyn Ballet; the premieres of staged versions of The Epic of Gilgamesh, Venus and Adonis with Claire Bloom and John Neville, and Samuel Beckett at 100 at New York City’s 92nd Street Y and at Harvard University. Morgenstern’s performance in the Nine Circles Chamber Theatre production of When Samson Met Delilah toured Holland to rave reviews and his recent appearance in Toronto was broadcast throughout Canada on CBC. In addition, his “Falling Bodies,” an original Nine Circles Chamber Theatre work of music and words based on the lives of the scientist-poet Galileo Galilei and poet-scientist Primo Levi, sold-out performances in New York and is now touring internationally.
Mr. Morgenstern lives in New York City. For more information, visit www.gilmorgenstern.com.
About Bill Camp:Bill Camp is a graduate of the Juilliard School. The recipient of several awards and honors, including Obie, Eliot Norton and Boston Critics Association awards, Mr. Camp has appeared on and off Broadway, as well as in numerous films and television episodes. Theater credits include Coram Boy (Imperial Theatre); Jackie: An American Life (Belasco Theatre); Saint Joan and The Seagull (Lyceum Theatre) on Broadway. Off Broadway credits include The Beckett Plays, Dante’s Inferno, numerous Shakespeare productions and The Misanthrope, for which he was nominated for a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. For television, Mr. Camp played recurring roles on ABC’s One Life to Live (Bik), and Showtime’s Brotherhood (Hawkish), guest roles on Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Joan of Arcadia and New York Undercover. He has also appeared in A&E and PBS movies, including Hamlet, directed by Kevin Kline. He has appeared in numerous independent films, including Coach, Love and Roadkill, The Guitar, The Dying Gaul, Pants on Fire and Ten Hundred Kings; as well as feature films, including Public Enemies (Universal); Deception (20th Century Fox); Rounders (Miramax); In and Out (Paramount) and Reversal of Fortune (Warner Bros.). He is married to Elizabeth Marvel.
More about Donald Berman:Pianist Donald Berman is a champion of new works by living composers, overlooked music by twentieth century masters, and recitals that link classical and modern repertoires. His recent CDs The Unknown Ives volumes 1 & 2, and The Uncovered Ruggles on New World Records have been internationally acclaimed. He is the Artistic Director for the American Academy in Rome Concert series in New York and subsequent four-volume CD on Bridge Records. He has presented recitals, lectures, and masterclasses recently in Israel, Italy, and throughout the United States. He has performed to critical acclaim in New York City at Miller Theater, Zankel Hall, Merkin Hall, and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. Other recent work has ranged from Mozart concertos with the Columbus Symphony to American music retrospectives, to recitals linking Haydn and Schubert with new music, called "thrillingly clear" (The New York Times). He is a prizewinner of the 1991 Schubert International Competition and a member of the Dinosaur Annex New Music Ensemble since 1987. Berman has been presented by League/ISCM, Masters of Tomorrow in Germany, French Cultural Services (Fauré Sesquicentennial), and many others. He has premiered concertos, solo and ensemble works with many organizations including Collage, Real Art Ways, Pro Musica Symphony, and on his series Firstworks and Pioneers and Premieres.
Berman co-directs the New Music Ensemble at Tufts University. He studied with Leonard Shure, John Kirkpatrick, George Barth, and Mildred Victor.
