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Shenson Chamber Music Concerts

2011–2012

National Museum of Women in the Arts

1250 New York Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20005

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NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE

PAID

PERMIT NO. 4434

BOWIE MD

www.nmwa.org

hGilan Tocco Corn, Artistic DirectorLinda Hohenfeld Slatkin, Co-Director Emerita

P r e v i o u s P e r f o r m e r s in the shenson Chamber music Concert series

TicketsAll shenson music Concerts are free.

ReseRvAtioNs are required: call 202-783-7370 or e-mail reservations@nmwa.org.

National museum of Women in the Arts is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC, 20005 two blocks north of Metro Center

PARkiNg

is available at Park America1100 New York Avenue, NWentrance on 12th Street phone: 202-789-1750

Open until midnight; $7 after 5:00 p.m.

Ahn TrioJulie AlbersElena BashkirovaChristine BrewerSara Davis BuechnerThe Claremont TrioSarah CoburnSasha CookeSara DaneshpourDenise DjokicRina DokshitskyEroica TrioIngrid Fliter

Miriam Fried and Jonathan BissJeanne GalwaySofja GülbadamovaLinda HohenfeldSharon IsbinKim KashkashianOlga KernYolanda KondonassisNina KotovaJessica Krash and The National

Gallery of Art String QuartetLisa-Beth LambertLark Quartet

Yura LeeValentina LisitsaThe Monarch Brass QuintetJoan Morris and William BolcomNational Symphony Orchestra

Wind EnsembleOlga OrlovskayaNavah PerlmanCynthia PhelpsMarina PiccininiRachel Barton PineJuana ZayasArianna ZukermanEugenia Zukerman

DeAr musiC Lover,

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to attend the NAtioNAL museum of WomeN in the Arts’

concert series featuring women musicians. This year marks the museum’s twenty-fifth anni-

versary and the fourteenth season of the Shenson Chamber Music Concerts. Named in honor

of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson, long-time supporters of the museum, these concerts carry

out the museum’s mission of recognizing and supporting women in all areas of the arts.

The first concert, Wednesday, March 14, 2012, features a special program created and performed by noted composer Lori LAitmAN , one of America’s most prolific composers of vocal music. On Wednesday, April 11, we welcome violinist CAroLiNe GouLDiNG , an extraordinary young talent and rising star. The season’s third concert, Wednesday, May 16, features CoNCertANte , a virtuoso string chamber ensemble. We end the season on Wednesday, May 30, with NiGht , featuring world-renowned pianist simoNe DiNNersteiN and tift merritt , a Grammy- nominated singer and songwriter. Uniting the realms of classical, folk, and rock music, it promises to be a thrilling evening.

Finally, I would like to thank my dear friend Linda Hohenfeld Slatkin, my irreplaceable partner in starting this series. Her talent and expertise have been critical to our success over the years. Though Linda will no longer be able to devote the time and attention she has so generously given in the past, both the museum and I recognize her immeasurable contribution as we begin our next season.

I look forward to presenting these fine musicians and hope to see you at many of these concerts.

Cordially, GiLAN toCCo CorN, Artistic Director

W e D N e s D Ay | m Ay 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 | 7 : 3 0 P. m .

NightSimone Dinnerstein, pianoTift Merritt, singer-songwriterClassical pianist Simone Dinnerstein and singer-songwriter Tift Merritt come from different musical backgrounds, yet their passion for music and performance makes them kindred spirits. Night, their unique collaboration, unites classical, folk, and rock genres, exploring common terrain and uncovering new musical landscapes.

Hailed as “the pianists’ pianist of Generation X” by The New Yorker, Simone Dinnerstein has been praised by TIME for her “arresting freshness and subtlety.” The New-York based pianist rose to prominence after the remarkable success of her self-financed recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many “Best of 2007” lists, including those of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker. Dinnerstein has performed with the New York Philharmonic, in Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series, and in three sold-out recitals at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Internationally, she has performed at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, and other major venues throughout Europe. An exclusive Sony Classical artist, Dinnerstein released her most recent album, Bach: A Strange Beauty, in January 2011; it immediately ranked No. 1 on the Billboard Classical chart.

With her long-time band, Grammy-nominated Tift Merritt has built a critically acclaimed body of work comprising sonic short stories and poignant performances. The Wall Street Journal applauds her “sound that weaves through country, folk, and rock…in the tradition of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Leonard Cohen.”

Shenson Chamber Music Concerts are partially supported by a generous gift from Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation, in memory of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson, and Steinway Piano Gallery, Washington, D.C., with locations at Tysons Corner Center and Rockville.

Shenson Chamber Music Concerts 2011–2012

NatioNal MuseuM of WoMeN in the arts

W e D N e s D Ay | m A r C h 1 4 , 2 0 1 2 | 7 : 3 0 P. m .

Lori Laitman, composerFeaturing three acclaimed recitalists: soprano Megan Monaghan, tenor Vale Rideout, and baritone Randall Scarlata, this concert will include a selection of Laitman’s renowned art songs as well as a scene from The Scarlet Letter.

“ it is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music.” —Journal of Singing

Lori Laitman is one of America’s most prolific and widely performed composers of vocal music. She has created two operas, an oratorio, and more than 200 songs, setting to music the words of classical and contemporary poets. Laitman graduated magna cum laude from Yale College and received her Master of Music degree in flute performance from the Yale School of Music. Since then, many of her songs have entered the standard repertoire and been performed internationally by celebrated artists, including soprano Elizabeth Futral, baritone Rodney Gilfry, baritone Randall Scarlata, and countertenor Brian Asawa. The Seed of Dream (2004), her settings of Abraham Sutzkever’s poems from the Vilna Ghetto, was performed by acclaimed Austrian baritone Wolfgang Holzmair in 2007. Laitman’s The Scarlet Letter, a full-length opera with new libretto by poet David Mason, will receive its World Premiere in May 2013, to close the thirtieth-anniversary season of Opera Colorado.

W e D N e s D Ay | A P r i L 1 1 , 2 0 1 2 | 7 : 3 0 P. m .

Caroline Goulding, violin“ A precociously gifted virtuoso. indeed, although Goulding

is still in her teens, she’s already a violinist of impressive technical polish and musical maturity…” —Gramophone

Only eighteen, violinist Caroline Goulding has already performed as a soloist with some of North America’s premiere orchestras, including the Cleveland, Sarasota, and Louisville Orchestras; Toronto, Dallas, Houston, Detroit, and Charlotte Symphonies; Buffalo Philharmonic; Columbus ProMusica; the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; and the Cleveland and Cincinnati Pops. Aside from her orchestral engagements, Goulding has appeared at venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, the Kennedy Center, and the Buffalo Chamber Music Society’s Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo. Despite her youth, Goulding has already won several major competitions. At age thirteen, she won the Aspen Music Festival’s Concerto Competition. Goulding was a First Prize winner in the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and is a 2011 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient.

W e D N e s D Ay | m Ay 1 6 , 2 0 1 2 | 7 : 3 0 P. m .

ConcertantePerformance in memory of Linda Shapiro Chemtob, Concertante’s beloved founding executive director

“ the musicians achieved such clear balance in the thick textures, phrased and breathed together as one, and kept perfect ensemble...” —Washington Post

After more than a decade before the public, Concertante has estab-lished itself as a chamber ensemble that combines in equal measure world-class virtuosity and an adventurous willingness to explore and enhance chamber music repertoire. The group performs in varied combinations of instrumentalists in a wide array of repertoire, ranging from works by established masters to less commonly performed composers. As solo performers who have won important national and international music competitions, they have appeared at such major venues as the Kennedy Center, New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Festival Hall, and Shanghai’s Grand Theatre.

LiNDA shAPiro Chemtob Concertante’s beloved founding executive director

CHRISTIAN STEINER

LISA-MARIE MAZZUCCO

SARAH MERRIANS

simoNe DiNNersteiN tift merritt

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