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Dawn Upshaw Performs Premiere by Hyper-Accordionist and works by Golijov, Bruce, and Dowland, Nov. 2
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Carnegie Hall News
Back to Press Release List > 10/03/2008 - Dawn Upshaw Performs Premiere by Hyper-Accordionist and works by Golijov, Bruce, and Dowland, Nov. 2
Most current program information 
CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS SOPRANO DAWN UPSHAW
ON NOVEMBER 2 AT 7:30 P.M. IN ZANKEL HALL
Progam Includes the World Premiere of A New Work by
Hyper-Accordion Player Michael Ward-Bergeman
Ms. Upshaw is Joined by Bass-Baritone Evan Hughes,
Pianist Stephen Prutsman, and Members of Ensemble ACJW
On Sunday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall presents soprano Dawn Upshaw in recital performing the world premiere of a new work by composer and hyper-accordion player Michael Ward-Bergeman. Ms. Upshaw is joined by bass-baritone Evan Hughes, pianist Stephen Prutsman and members of Ensemble ACJW. The Ward-Bergeman work was commissioned by The Terezin Chamber Music Foundation (TCMF), a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and advancing the resilience of the human spirit as expressed in and inspired by the music and art created in the Terezin concentration camp. TCMF encourages the commission of chamber music compositions by emerging composers. Ms. Upshaw and Mr. Ward-Bergeman are the first artist and emerging composer to be chosen as part of this program. For this commission, Mr. Ward-Bergeman selected text from the poetry of the 16th century Polish writer Jan Kochanowski who is considered to be one of the greatest Polish and Slavic poets of his time.
Ms. Upshaw will perform additional works including songs by John Dowland (arranged by Stephen Prutsman), Osvaldo Golijov’s "Lua Descolorida”, and American Folk Songs (to be announced from the stage). Mr. Prutsman will conduct David Bruce’s Piosenki, a Carnegie Hall commission that was premiered in Weill Recital Hall in April 2007. Bass-baritone Evan Hughes will join Ms. Upshaw on Piosenki and Ensemble ACJW—including recent alumni and current members of The Academy—will perform with her on this work and throughout the program. See below for more details; complete program is to be announced.
Soprano Dawn Upshaw has achieved worldwide celebrity as a singer of opera and concert repertoire ranging from the sacred works of Bach to the freshest sounds of today. Ms. Upshaw’s acclaimed performances on the opera stage include the great Mozart roles (Pamina, Ilia, Susanna, Despina) as well as modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Messiaen. She began her career at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984 and has since made nearly 300 appearances there. Ms. Upshaw has championed numerous new works created for her including The Great Gatsby by John Harbison, L’Amour de Loin and La Passion de Simone by Kaija Saariaho, John Adams’s nativity oratorio El Nino, and Osvaldo Goljjov’s chamber opera Ainadamar and song cyle Ayre. Ms. Upshaw collaborates with many leading musicians, including Richard Goode, the Kronos Quartet, James Levine, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
In 2007, Ms. Upshaw was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, the first vocal artist to be awarded the five-year “genius” grant, and, in 2008, she was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a four-time Grammy Award winner featured on more than 50 recordings, including the Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Gorecki, performed by the London Sinfionetta, which has sold more than one million copies. In November 2008, she returns to Lincoln Center with violinist Geoff Nuttall in performances of Kurtág’s “Kafka Fragments” staged by Peter Sellars, which was originally staged in Zankel Hall as part of a Carnegie Hall commission. On December 7, Ms. Upshaw returns to Carnegie Hall for a concert version of Golijov’s Ainadamar with conductor Robert Spano and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Beginning in October 2008, Ms. Upshaw and Mr. Golijov will lead a two-part Professional Training Workshop at Carnegie Hall with young composers and singers that will culminate with performances in Zankel Hall in May 2009. Ms. Upshaw is Artistic Director of the Bard College Conservatory Vocal Arts Program.
Bass-baritone Evan Hughes graduated from UCLA with a degree in music in 2006 and, in the same year, won the grand prize at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition. Mr. Hughes is currently enrolled at The Curtis Institute of Music where he is a student of Marlena Malas.
Pianist, composer, and arranger Stephen Prutsman moves from classical to jazz to world music styles in his quest to explore and seek common ground in the music of all cultures and languages. Mr. Prutsman first began playing the piano by ear before moving on to formal music studies. In his early teens, he was the keyboard player for several art rock groups, including Cerberus and Vysion. Mr. Prutsman awards include medals at both the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth piano competitions as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Perhaps best known for his instrumental invention—the hyper-accordion (an acoustic accordion with extended range and capabilities)—Michael Ward-Bergeman has performed around the world with composers and artists including Osvaldo Golijov and Yo-Yo Ma, and on the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s movie Youth Without Youth.
Ensemble ACJW is composed of fellows of The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education—which serves post-graduate musicians embarking on their careers. The Academy—an innovative two-year fellowship for post-graduate musicians from leading music schools, provides extensive performance opportunities, intensive training, and education work in New York City public schools—begins the 2008–2009 season with 33 fellows—15 new musicians who will join the 18 returning fellows. The program is designed to develop the skills and values leading to careers that combine musical excellence with education, community engagement, and advocacy. As Ensemble ACJW, fellows of the Academy perform in concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School. Each fellow is also matched with a New York City public school, where they work with students throughout the school year, bringing their unique artistry into K–12 classrooms.
Program Information
Sunday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
DAWN UPSHAW, Soprano
Evan Hughes, Bass-Baritone
Stephen Prutsman, Conductor and Pianist
Michael Ward-Bergeman, Hyper-accordion
Ensemble ACJW
Elizabeth Janzen, Flute
Carol McGonnell, Clarinet
Eric Reed, Horn
Nathan Botts, Trumpet
Anna Elashvili, Violin
Owen Dalby, Violin
Meena Bhasin, Viola
Claire Bryant, Cello
Kristoffer Saebo, Bass
Jared Soldiviero, Percussion
Program to include:
MICHAEL WARD-BERGEMAN New work (World Premiere)
JOHN DOWLAND Songs (arr. Stephen Prutsman)
"Come again, sweet love doth now invite"
"Can she excuse my wrongs"
"Weep you no more, sad fountains"
"Now, O now I needs must part"
Songs to be announced (arr. Stephen Prutsman)
OSVALDO GOLIJOV "Lua Descolorida"
DAVID BRUCE Piosenki
This concert and the Pure Voice series are sponsored by the Jean & Jula Goldwurm Memorial Foundation in memory of Jula Goldwurm.
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
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Ticket Information
Tickets, priced at $44 and $52, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, www.carnegiehall.org.
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