Date: Saturday, July 7, 2012
Time: 8:00 pm
Tickets purchased ahead: $23; $18 seniors; $7 students
Tickets purchased at the door: $27; $21 seniors; $7 students
Reception in the Piano Performance Museum following the concert
This concert is generously supported by the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation in celebration of the life of Daničle Doctorow. Additional support is provided by The Hegardt Foundation
Location: Doctorow Center for the Arts, 7971 Main Street, Route 23A, Village of Hunter
More Information/Tickets: Call 518 263 2063
(Note: Clicking on this link will open a new window in your browser, and will take you to Ticket Turtle, our ticketing partner Web site)
Featuring performances by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, guitar, fiddle, bass and vocals; Michael Merenda, banjo; Dale Paul Woodiel, fiddle & program artistic advisor; Ira Bernstein, solo percussive dancer
Perspectives Ensemble: Sato Moughalian, Artistic Director & flute; Todd Palmer, clarinet; Monica Ellis, bassoon; Stephen Gosling, piano; Cornelius Dufallo, violin; Nardo Poy, viola; Wendy Sutter, cello
Aaron Copland's 1944 ballet for Martha Graham has become an emblem of pioneer life in the Eastern mountain ranges and the American frontier. But like so much art that has been burnished through the passage of time, this great work was actually a synthesis of influences: European composers of the early 20th century, and very notably, the traditional country music of England and Scotland as well as Shaker hymns and African-derived songs. It is these latter, popular influences which deeply and directly influenced the style and music of Appalachian Spring and which this concert explores in this 75 minute program. Copland's genius was to meld all these musical strands, and to create from them a new and immediately recognizable whole; one that would come to represent our country in music.
Perspectives Ensemble performs Appalachian Spring in its original version for 13 players, and is joined by celebrated guest artists to perform the traditional music and dance that inspired it. Ira Shapiro is one of the world's most acclaimed solo step percussive dancers. Dale Paul Woodiel, Jr. is renowned for his vibrant and historically-informed fiddling, headlining programs at the Caramoor and Bard Festivals, and a three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion. Jay and Molly are musicians of enormous talent who draw their repertoire and inspiration from a wide range of American musical styles: 19th-century classics, lively Appalachian, Cajun, and Celtic fiddle tunes and favorites from the golden age of country and swing, along with their own songs, fiddle tunes, and orchestral compositions.
Founded in 1993, Perspectives Ensemble creates musical events that present the works of composers in cultural or historical context. Its programs offer interpretations informed by the influences prevailing upon composers at the time of composition.
"[Performances by the Perspectives Ensemble are] ... first-rate ... exquisite ... full of electricity ... superb."
-- The New York Times
"Jay and Molly make music that is simple and overwhelming ... joyful and full of feeling ... an apotheosis of American traditional music."
-- Garrison Keillor, host and creator of A Prairie Home Companion
