Arts & Entertainment

Leon Kirchner from page 51

string quartet with electronics!"
The pair worked for three days and
two nights at Subotnick's apartment and
studio, in what Kirchner remembers as a
fascinating experience.
"I was well equipped for the keyboard,
and, with his insightful coaching, I made
quite a few tapes and was able to realize
the sounds that I thought would prosper
in the quartet, still unformed but vaguely
in mind. I returned to Cambridge and
spent the next three to four weeks splicing
and creating. Finally the work was done
and performed."
In 1967, Kirchner received the Pulitzer
Prize in Music for that quartet, his String
Quartet No. 3.

Musician's Composer

This summer, audiences can hear all four
of Kirchner's string quartets on Monday,
June 18, at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township. The 7:30 p.m. concert, the only
all-Kirchner event at the Great Lakes festi-
val, features the Orion String Quartet.
The New York-based group commis-
sioned Kirchner's String Quartet No. 4 and
recently performed the four quartets at

Two Weeks
Of Music

Preview the 17
concerts of the
2007 Great Lakes
Chamber Music
Festival.

T

his schedule includes the
most current information on
concert programs and per-
formers, as updated by Great Lakes
Chamber Music Festival. Programs
and performers are subject to change.
Contact the GLCMF at (248) 559-
2097 for additional information and
updates.
Concert venues include Temple
Beth El in Bloomfield Township; St.
Hugo of the Hills Catholic Church and
Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church,
both in Bloomfield Hills; the Seligman
Performing Arts Center in Beverly
Hills; Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church
in Grosse Pointe; the Music Box at the
Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit;

54

May 31 2007

James Tocco

Jeremy Denk

Lincoln Center in New York City.
"These are not easy pieces for string
quartets to get their arms around:' said
Maury Okun, GLCMF executive director.
"I am especially proud that the Orion
Quartet is coming."
Pianist Jeremy Denk, who became a
Michigan favorite after his first appear-
ance at last year's festival, is another
foremost interpreter of Kirchner's music.
This year, he will perform several of the
composer's solo and chamber works, as
well as compositions by Mendelssohn and
others.
Denk, another of the composer's former
students, called Kirchner "a tremendous

and Kerrytown Concert House in Ann
Arbor, where non-subscription concert
tickets must be ordered through the
KCH box office, (734) 769-2999.
Performers include both established
artists and up-and-coming ensembles
that are funded through the Catherine
Filene Shouse Institute.
This year's Shouse ensembles are
the Ardeo Quartet, made up of four
French string players; the Westhuizen
Duo, two South African pianists; Trio
Lunaire, a pianist, a violinist and a
cellist who met at the University of
Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music;
and the Escher Quartet, proteges of
Pinchas Zukerman, who studied at the
Manhattan School of Music.
In addition, this year's festival intro-
duces the youngest ensemble in its
14-year history: the Starling Chamber
Orchestra, whose members range from
10 to 18 years of age. The orchestra is
a program of the Starling Preparatory
String Project at the University of
Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music.
Seven-Concert Series subscrip-
tion packages are available at $160.
Five-Concert Series subscription
tickets are offered for $125. Single
concert tickets are available begin-
ning June 1: $35 Saturday nights, all
seats reserved; $30 weekdays, open
seating; $10 age 25 and under for any

pianist" and "one of the most musical
people one could ever meet."
"Music means the world to him, and his
work deals with high stakes, has a serious-
ness of purpose — and you get that sense
from him that the work is never done, that
one must always try to do better," Denk
said.
"I am amazed by his music, and I have
always felt it was some of the most inter-
esting, deeply satisfying music of the 20th
(and now the 21st) century. He is a musi-
cian's composer, and the more you delve as
a performer into his pieces, the more they
seem to demand from you!"
On a personal note, Kirchner has an
enormous knowledge of many of the most
important figures of the 20th century,
Denk said, calling his teacher "a walking
repository of stories and accounts of these
figures and their various behaviors."
"I'm so deeply looking forward to this
festival," said Denk.
Artistic Director Tocco, an esteemed
pianist who performs at several of this
year's concerts, said that each year he
tries to impart a "feeling of discovery —
whether it be of new music of our time,

little-known music of a past era, young
artists at the threshold of their career or
established artists who — for whatever
reason — remain unknown to our audi-
ence!'
"This year's festival will certainly live up
to that expectation," said Tocco. I I

concert. Preludes are free to concert
ticket holders.
For tickets, call (248) 559-2098
or (877) 88-GLCMF (toll-free). Order
tickets online at www.greatlakescham-
bermusic.com .

Tuesday and Wednesday,
June 12-13, 7:30 p.m.
St. Hugo's Chapel

Saturday June 9, 8 p.m.
Seligman Performing Arts Center

Prelude: 7:15 p.m.: "On Beethoven and
Kirchner," Festival Overview with
Chee-Yun and James Tocco
Chee-Yun, violin; James Tocco, piano;
Starling Chamber Orchestra

Beethoven: Sonata No. 5 for Piano
and Violin
in F, Op. 24 "Spring"
Britten: Simple Symphony, Op. 4
Kreisler: Praeludium and Allegro
Piazzola: The Four Seasons

Sunday, June 10, 3 p.m.
Kirk in the Hills Refectory
Adams Foundation Recital

Ann Schein, piano

Beethoven: Sonata No. 26 in Eb,
Op. 81a ("Les Adieux")
Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6
Ravel: Sonatine
Debussy: L'isle Joyeuse
Liszt: Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli
(Annees de Pelerinage)

Study Music
With The Stars

Music-lovers and performers are invit-
ed to the following master classes,
led by Great Lakes Chamber Music
Festival artists. Classes have been
scheduled from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the
Alpert Room at Temple Beth El on the
following days. The program for each
master class had not been scheduled
at press time. There is no charge for
master classes. Call the festival office
at (248) 559-2097 for details:
Tuesday, June 12
Thursday, June 14
Tuesday, June 19
Thursday, June 21

— Diana Lieberman

Prelude: June 12, 6:45 p.m., Ardeo Quartet,
Mozart — String Quartet in E-Flat, K. 428
Prelude: June 13, 6:45 p.m., Trio Lunaire,
Mozart — Piano Trio in E, K. 542
Chee-Yun, violin; Paul Katz, cello; James
Tocco, Jeremy Denk and Ann Schein,
piano; Jane Schoonmaker Rogers, soprano;
Westhuizen Duo, piano duo; Detroit Chamber
Winds & Strings

Schubert: Fantasy in F minor for
Piano Four Hands, Op. 103
Lebenbom: Sephardic Songs
Beethoven: Quintet in E-Flat for
Piano and Winds, Op. 16
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in
D minor, Op. 49

Thursday, June 14, 7:30 p.m. and
Friday, June 15, 10:45 a.m.
Kirk in the Hills Refectory

Prelude: June 14, 6:45 p.m., Escher Quartet,
Shostakovich — String Quartet No. 5
Prelude: June 15, 10 a.m., Westhuizen Duo,
Brahms — Selected Waltzes from Neue
Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 65 and Corigliano
— Gazebo Dances
James Tocco, piano; Paul Katz, Andres Diaz,
cello; Trio Luniaire, violin, cello, piano; Escher
Quartet, string quartet

Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 5
in D, Op. 70, No.1 "Ghost"
Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in
G minor, Op. 19
Brahms/Brown: String Quintet in
F minor, Op. 34, transcribed for five strings