Gil Morgenstern's Reflections Series
Gil Morgenstern's Reflections Series presents "The Stuff Dreams Are Made On" at the Rubin Museum of Art
January 24, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 6pm
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St.
New York, NY
Tickets: $20.00 at www.rmanyc.org/tickets or 212.620.5000 x 344
The Stuff Dreams Are Made On inspired by the Rubin Museum of Art's exhibition The Red Book of C.G. Jung: Creation of a New Cosmology
Program includes musical works by Georges Enesco, George Crumb, & Franz Schubert
Text by Sylvia Plath, Edgar Allan Poe, & F. Scott Fitzgerald
Reflections Series Online: http://www.reflectionsseries.com
New York, NY— On January 24, 2010 violinist Gil Morgenstern's Reflections Series will continue with a second concert at the Rubin Museum of Art. The performance, entitled The Stuff Dreams Are Made On begins at 6pm, and admission includes a private tour of the Museum at 5:15pm. The Rubin Museum of Art is home to a comprehensive collection of art from the Himalayas and the surrounding regions, and is known its ground-breaking exhibitions and an array of engaging public programs.
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.
Inspired by the Rubin Museum of Art's landmark exhibition of Carl Jung's famous "Red Book" in which he details his theory of the collective unconscious, The Stuff Dreams Are Made On will explore the integral role dreams play in culture. Using music, prose and poetry, the program will invite the audience on a nocturnal journey from dusk through dawn, creating a narrative of memory, nightmare and fantasy through the use of music and words.
Musical works will include Georges Enesco's Impressions d'enfance (Impressions of Childhood), George Crumb's Night Music and Franz Schubert's Fantasy, with texts from Sylvia Plath's Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, Edgar Allan Poe's A Dream Within a Dream, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's Winter Dreams. The performance will include Pianist Don Berman, and an actor to be announced in early January.
The final concert on April 25, 2010 is called A Pilgrim's Progress – from Dante to Daoism and relates to the Museum's exhibit, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, which explores the ways that different cultures view their place in the universe. The exhibit runs December 11, 2009 to May 10, 2010. The concert will include songs of 15th century troubadours, music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, texts from Dante, Naguib, Mahfouz and others.
The series repeats in Miami, FL at the Bass Museum on February 24 and May 6, 2010.
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 of Tchaikovsky'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.
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.
