Arts & I-4',ntertainment Musical Potpourri Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival combines 21st-century voices with the best of the classics. Diana Lieberman Special to the Jewish News I n classical music circles, 2006 has been celebrated as the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich. The 13th annual Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, which runs June 10-25, continues this tribute to two of music's greatest geniuses. However, along with featur- ing works by at least one of the birthday composers at each subscription concert, this year's festival makes a serious state- ment in favor of new music. Four composers-in-resi- . dente will be on hand during the two-week series. Each will enjoy fresh new performances of their work, and several will participate in discussions with concertgoers. The series also includes a healthy proportion of music by other contemporary and near- contemporary composers. "We are not a new music festival that's not our mis- sion," said Maury Okun, GLCMF executive director. "However, we want to promote a viable, healthy, creative view of the art form." The 2006 composers-in-resi- dence are: • The Brazilian-American pianist Gabriela Frank, whose works reflect not only her Latin American heritage but also her Chinese and Lithuanian-Jewish ancestry; • Gao Ping, a Chinese-born pianist who will be featured in his own exciting, avant-garde compositions; • University of Michigan Professor Michael Daugherty and his "Ladder to the Moon," a work for solo violin and cham- ber ensemble inspired by the works of assertively American artist Georgia O'Keeffe; • Detroit-born composer Paul Schoenfield, whose new "Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano" is a 20-minute riff on motifs by birthday boy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 2006 GLCMF SCHEDULE (Subscription and Non-Subscription Concerts – Highlights) Saturday, June 10, 8 p.m., Seligman Performing Arts Center and Sunday, June 11, 4 p.m., Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church: Performers: Yehuda Hanani, James Tocco, Audrey Luna, Ciompi String Quartet Works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Mozart, Elgar 72 june 1. 2006 Hot Off The Press James Tocco, series artistic direCtor, feels strongly that "bringing new music into the world is vital to keeping cham- ber music alive and healthy." With this goal in mind, the GLCMF — an inter-faith orga- nization founded by Tocco's brother, the Rev. Msgr. Anthony Tocco of.St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic Church — has estab- lished an endowment in Msgr. Tocco's name expressly for commissioning new music. The estate of Wilda Tiffany of Bloomfield Hills provided major funding for the endowment. Schoenfield is the first corn- poser partially funded through the endowment. Other funding for the commission came from the University of Cincinnati and from "Close Encounters with Music," a year-round fes- tival directed by cellist Yehuda Hanani. Hanani will perform in the premiere of Schoenfield's "Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano," Tuesday. and Wednesday, June 13-14, 7:30 p.m., Temple Beth El Chapel: Performers: Chee-Yun, Toby Appel, Paul Katz, Andres Diaz, Yehuda Hanani, Craig Rifel, Jeremy Denk, James Tocco, Audrey Luna Works by ,Mozart, Shostakovich, Schubert (with prelude) Thursday, June 15, 7:30 p.m. and Friday, June 16, 10:45 a.m., Kirk in the Hills Refectory: Performers: Toby Appel, Yehuda Hanani, Alexander Fiterstein, James Tocco, Ciompi String Quartet Works by Mozart, Paul Schoenfield, Beethoven (with prelude) which will take place 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 15, and 10:45 a.m.. Friday, June 16, at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills. The trio's other performers will be James Tocco, piano, and widely respected clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, a graduate of the Juilliard School who was born in Minsk and raised in Israel. "The trio is not what you'd call variations:' explained composer Paul Schoenfield. "It's basically mate- rial from [Mozart's] Paul Schoenfield, Gao Ping, Gabriela Frank and Michael Daugherty are among the diverse contem- porary composers ' whose works will be performed at this year's Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. Marriage of Figaro put through a meat grinder." Friday, June 16, 8 p.m., Kerrytown Concert House, Ann Arbor: Performers: Chee-Yun, Gao Ping, Jeremy Denk, Ciompi String Quartet Works by Faure, Gao Ping, Britten Saturday, June 17, 8 p.m., Seligman Performing Arts Center: Performers: Andres Diaz, Craig Rifel, Jeremy Denk, James Tocco, Gao Ping, Audrey Luna, Tarab Cello Ensemble, Ariel Quartet . Works by Shostakovich, Gao Ping, Villa- Lobos, Mozart (with prelude) Sunday, June 18, 11:30 a.m., Detroit Institute of Arts, Brunch with Bach: Performers: Chee-Yun, Paul Katz, Jeremy Denk, Gao Ping, California Quartet Works by Boccherini, Gao Ping, Faure Sunday, June 18, 7 p.m., St. Hugo of the Hills Chapel: Performer: James Tocco Works by Mozart, Mozart-Stadler, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Chopin Tuesday and Wednesday, June 20-21, 7:30 p.m., St. Hugo of the Hills Chapel: Performers: Ani Kavafian, Andres Diaz, Paul Katz, Peter Soave, Wu Han, James Tocco Works by Gabriela Frank, Mozart, Piazzolla, Brahms (with prelude)