symphony through the
1983-84 season.
As a conductor and
soloist, Silverstein has
appeared with more
than 100 orchestras in
the United States,
Europe, Japan and
Israel. He has per-
iolinist Joseph Silverstein returns home to perform
formed with the Israel
with the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. His
Chamber Orchestra
appearances are scheduled June 13 and 14 at St.
and
taught at the
Hugo's Chapel, June 17 at Detroit Country Day
Jerusalem
Music
School and June 16 at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann
Center.
Arbor. Although it will be his first year in the program, he
"The intensity of the
knows all about it.
interest
in music in
"I'm quite familiar with the festival because many of my
Israel is really quite
colleagues, with whom I play chamber music in other festivals,
overwhelming," says the
have been participants. I look forward to having the chance to
musician,
who has been
work with them," says Silverstein, whose early music lessons
a
member
of the string
were given by his father, Bernard, a Detroit Public Schools
faculty
of
the
Longy
music teacher.
School
of
Music
in
"I'm particularly looking forward to playing the Dvorak
Massachusetts.
"I
hope
Sextet because it's a very favorite piece of mine. It happens to
that the tradition, stan-
have an unusual combination of instruments. There are very
dards and interest of
few string sextets in the romantic repertoire — two by Brahms
European Jews continue
and this wonderful one by Dvorak. This work has wonderful
through the upcoming
Slovak melodies and a lot of the Czech folk flavor."
generations
in spite of
Silverstein, music director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra
the
daily
preoccupation
from 1983-1998, has been filling his schedule with guest
with survival."
appearances around the country. In the first half of May, he
Silverstein, whose
had four concerts in New York, one in Cleveland, another in
Joseph Silverstein
last performance in
Boston and two in Salt Lake City
Michigan was with the
"I'm having a wonderful time," he says. "I'm traveling
Detroit Symphony
more than I have in the past and happily, my wife, Adrienne (Shufro), is
Orchestra two years ago, can be heard on many recordings, some featuring
able to accompany me on most of the trips. I have the opportunity to go
full orchestras and others chamber groups. He has done Dvorak pieces
to many interesting places now that I don't have a full-time administrative
with
the Utah Symphony and been part of the Chamber Music Society of
responsibility."
Lincoln
Center.
After Silverstein's formal training at the Curtis Institute of Music in
"I
think
James Tocco is very clever in his programming because its audience-
Philadelphia, he spent three seasons with the Houston Symphony, one with
friendly
and
yet has enough for the serious connoisseur so that it can appeal to
the Philadelphia Orchestra and one as concertmaster and assistant conductor
people
who
are
not regular chamber music listeners as well as people who are
of the Denver Symphony. He joined the Boston Symphony in 1955, was a
very experienced and sophisticated with that repertoire," Silverstein says.
member of the violin section for seven seasons and went on to become con-
certmaster in 1962 and assistant conductor in 1971, continuing with the
— Suzanne Chessler

Great Lakes festival
performances lure violinist
Joseph Silverstein home again.

V

last decade, is known for bringing modern sounds
to classical projects and has many stellar initiatives
on his calendar. Also a recording artist, he often
composes for his wife and has participated in many
residencies, including programs at Tanglewood,
Aspen, the International Hugo-Wolf-Akademie in
Germany and Bishop's University in Quebec.
Among the young artists he will coach at this
year's GLCMF Catherine Filene Shouse Chamber
Music Institute are the Gotham Quartet from
Houston, the Mendelssohn Piano Trio from
Baltimore, the Thoreau Quartet from New Haven,
Conn., the Moores Piano Trio from Houston and
the Griffiths Levine Duo (clarinet/piano) from
Chico, Cal.
The Michigan composer brings a rich back-
ground to the stage and to share with his students.
Although he is working on a composition to cele-
brate the 80th birthday of violinist Isaac Stern,

Bolcom's major project is A View From the Bridge,
an opera written with Arnold Weinstein in collabo-
ration with Arthur Miller, whose play serves as the
foundation for the opera.
A View From the Bridge premiered in October at
the Lyric Opera of Chicago and will be staged by
the Metropolitan Opera in 2002. Meetings about
the piece have brought Weinstein to Michigan.
"I compose in the quiet of my home outside
Ann Arbor," says Bolcom, who has collaborated
with Weinstein for 40 years. "I have a desk and
computer with a piano nearby, but I hear the
sounds in my head."
The men were introduced in Europe by Bolcom's
teacher, who suggested that Bolcom set a Weinstein
opera libretto to music. Since then, they have com-
pleted five operas and a number of song cycles.
"We like Miller's play very much, and it seems
to adapt itself to opera," Weinstein says. "Mr.

Miller approved the way we were conditioning it
and felt the opera would show a different side to
the piece."
Bolcom and Weinstein soon will be giving more
time to a new work based on Robert Altman's 1978
film A Wedding. It has been commissioned by Lyric
Opera of Chicago for the 2004-5 season.
"The music of William Bolcom is in very high
demand right now within the classical music corn-
munity," Tocco says. "We are absolutely thrilled
and honored to feature an artist of his experience
and acclaim at this year's performances."

❑

The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival runs June
10-24 with a subscription series and individual pro-
grams at various venues around Detroit as shown on
the accompanying schedule. $7-$30 per concert and
$95-$130 for ticket packages. (248) 362-6171.

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2000

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