This is Just to Say: Live Art II, produced and directed by composer Inhyun Kim, features works by Ms. Kim, as well as composers Judith Ring, Nomi Epstein, and Sonia Megias, and performances by soprano Megan Schubert and pianist David Kalhous. This interdisciplinary concert, which also features work by Naho Taruishi, video artist and dancers/choreographers Coco Karol and Luke Gutgsell, takes place at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, New York City on Saturday, June 16th, 2012 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20; Members; Students, Seniors $10; Children are free. For more information, call (212) 864-5400 or visit www.symphonyspace.org.

“This is Just to Say” refers to the poem of the same title by William Carlos Williams – which inspired Ms. Kim and Ms. Karol in putting together this program in terms of its meaning, rhythm, structure, simplicity, and view on a relationship.

Ear to Mind is a New York City based arts organization which strives to present innovative programs that allow the public to experience contemporary music in non-traditional contexts, as well as by producing publications that allow the public to gain intimate knowledge of the contemporary music field, simultaneously providing composers and performers with a platform for their work.

According to Inhyun Kim, founder of Ear to Mind, “in this concert series, Live Art is defined as art work that broadly embraces ephemeral, time-based, performing and visual arts events that include a human presence and broaden, challenge or question traditional views of the performing arts or classical concert music.”

COMPLETE PROGRAM:

• Inhyun Kim: This is Just to Say (2012, World Premiere), for voice, piano and dance
• Judith Ring: Mouthpiece (2006, US Premiere), for electronics
• Nomi Epstein: piano and soprano (2004, NY premiere) for voice, piano, and video
• Sonia Megias: as yet untitled music composition (World Premiere) for voice and visual art
• Coco Karol: as yet untitled solo dance work (World Premiere)

As a frequent collaborator with choreographers, visual artists, and filmmakers, composer Inhyun Kim challenges her audience think in new and unconventional ways about music as a performing art. Ms. Kim has been commissioned by White Wave Dance Company, The Actor’s Theatre, Hudson Saxophone Quartet and Brooklyn Independent television, and her works have been performed at the DUMBO dance festival, Wave Rising series, Joyce Soho theatre, What We Want!!!, The Tompkins Square gallery at the New York Public Library, Dance New Amsterdam, Ceres Gallery as part of 2008 Make Music NY, the Museum of Modern Arthur as part of the 12th annual Art Under the Bridge festival, Galapagos Art Space, Symphony Space, and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Music degrees, she studied with Julia Wolfe, Susan Botti and Reiko Fueting. Ms. Kim’s music can be heard on her CD “Music =”, released in 2010 by Carrier Records. Ms. Kim is a recipient of the Jordan Berk Memorial Prize in composition, Manhattan School of Music president’s award and was recently awarded a NYFA mentorship with composer Vivian Fung. Ms. Kim is founder and director of the contemporary music nonprofit organization, Ear To Mind.

Coco Karol (Dancer/Choreographer) graduated with a BFA in Dance from Tisch School of the Arts. Inspired by many different artistic mediums, Karol has always been compelled to make work that seeks out a collaboration of form through the collaboration of ideas, and has worked with a range of artists from different disciplines. Karol has had the pleasure of getting to work closely with the singer Bjork and film collective Encyclopedia Pictura, designer Jennifer Gonzales, director Steven Cook, architect Marcos Zotes, filmmaker Morrisa Maltz, sculptor Eve Bailey, and magazine Beautiful Decay. Karol is also proud to be an existing member of Misnomer Dance Theater. In Addition to performing works at an experimental performance space she built in Brooklyn, called the Petri Space— a small petri dish concept, dedicated to experimentation, education, community, and roof top gardening, her choreography and collaborations have been shown at D.U.M.B.O Under the Bridge Festival, New York Studio Gallery, Galapagos, Brooklyn Ballet, Death By Audio, and Aunts collective, among some unique community events for neighborhood youth and gardening.

Nomi Epstein is active as a composer, curator/performer, and music educator. In addition to participating in several international composers festivals, which included performances at Ostrava Days, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Darmstadt, and Bang on a Can, she has attended Stuttgart’s Akademie Schloss Solitude summer residency, and has been twice invited as an Artist in Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.  Epstein is a 5-time ASCAPLUS winner, and a 2-time CAP Grant winner (American Composers Forum).  Contributing works to Australian flutist Janet McKay’s 2009 US tour “Those Vanished Hands,” guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan’s “New Lullaby Project” and percussionist Joe Bergen’s new works for vibraphone collection “For Semy,” her compositions have been performed throughout the US and Europe by such ensembles as ICE, Ensemble SurPlus, Mivos Quartet, Wet Ink, and Dal Niente.

Irish Composer Judith Ring has received commissions from ensembles including Concorde, Crash Ensemble, Trio Scordatura and Percusemble as well as composing a series of works with performers such as singer Natasha Lohan, clarinetist Paul Roe, percussionist Damien Harron and pianist Rolf Hind. Her works have also been used in works by the Dance Theatre of Ireland. Her piece ‘Accumulation’ won first prize in the 2000 Concorso Internazionale Luigi Russolo in Varese, Italy, and was subsequently performed in Dublin, Belfast and at EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany. She has written music for two short films, and she co-composed music for video artist Clare Langan’s work ‘Glass Hour’. The work was exhibited at the Tate Liverpool, RHA Dublin and MoMa New York. Ring recently completed her PhD in composition at the University of York, England. Born in Dublin, Judith graduated with a MPhil in Music and Media Technologies from Trinity College Dublin.

Spanish composer Sonia Megias has been living in New York since 2010 as part of a Fulbright Grant. Her works have been performed in different music halls and festivals, including Auditorio 400 at the National Museum of Contemporary Art “Queen Sophia”; Houston University, at Opera Vista Festival; Consulate of Argentina in New York, at a Tribute to Alfonsina Storni; Embassy of France in Spain; United Nations Headquarters; Carlos Arniches theater, at Festival de Música Contemporánea de Alicante; City Museum of Aosta (Italy), and at Festival des Jeunes Musiciens Européens. Her work has been supported by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, the artists residency Casa de Velázquez, the National Orchestra of Jazz of Spain, Doce Notas music & dance magazine, Gruñidos Salvajes cultural association, Fundación Entredós , Associazione Nuova Consonanza, I-Park artists residency (Connecticut), Cervantes Institute of New York, and the Erasmus Foundation. She conducts the experimental vocal group CoroDelantal.

A collaborator with over 40 premieres to her credit, vocalist Megan Schubert is a devoted ambassador of new and experimental music. Versatile and sensitive to style and context, she has been heard singing everything from jazz standards to Webern to solo works of Meredith Monk. Schubert has shared the stage at Zankel Hall and Merkin Hall with such luminaries as Meredith Monk and the Bang on a Can All Stars, and Schubert’s solo show at John Zorn’s venue The Stone was listed as a Critic’s Pick in Time Out New York Magazine. Schubert performed music by Stockhausen in Sakura Park; world premieres at Carnegie Hall; with robots while locked inside a Van de Graaff Generator at Boston’s Museum of Science; on a bike flying by the audience in an installation piece at McCarren Park Pool; a tribute to Pablo Neruda at the Winter Garden; with experimental jazz composers at the Brooklyn Lyceum; in live concert footage used as part of a promotion for Alex Ross’s book, The Rest is Noise; with many New York-based ensembles championing art music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Schubert holds degrees from Bennington College and Manhattan School of Music.

Pianist David Kalhous has appeared as a soloist with Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, Prague Philharmonia, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic, Chamber Philharmonia Pardubice, West-Bohemia Symphony Orchestra, Northwestern New Music Ensemble, and Plzeň Philharmonic, among others, performing piano concerti by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Brahms.  As a recitalist and a chamber musician, he performed at the Prague Spring Festival, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, Bargemusic, Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Series, and Czech Radio’s Studio Live Rising Stars Series.  He also performed at the Prague and Vienna Academies and at the Tel-Aviv, Northwestern and Yale Universities, among others. He has recorded for Czech Radio and Television, and has written, produced, and hosted programs devoted to piano music for Prague’s Classic FM Radio. A CD containing newly commissioned works for piano by six leading young Czech composers will be released in the next season. Kalhous studied at the Prague Conservatory with Jaroslav Čermák.  He subsequently attended Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University, and Yale University. He is completing a DMA at Northwestern University, working with Ursula Oppens.  He resides in New York City and is currently an Assistant Professor of Piano at Florida State University.

Born in Tokyo, videomaker Naho Taruishi lives and works in New York City. Her site-specific installations and video projections have been exhibited at Exit Art, Ise Cultural Foundation, Artists Space, White Box and PS122 in New York; RK Projects in Providence, RI; 1708 gallery in Richmond, VA; and RealArtWays in Hartford, CT. Her single-channel video work has also been presented at international film and video art festivals in the US, Canada, France, Spain, Sweden, Greece, Norway and Japan. Her recent collaborative Livres d’Artistes is in institutional collections, including New York Public Library, Library of Congress, Harvard University and Rochester Institute of Technology.

Luke Gutgsell is a 2004 B.F.A. graduate in Dance Performance from Ohio State University and also attended the Naropa Institute. Arriving in New York City in 2004, he trained on scholarship at the Merce Cunningham Studio and apprenticed and performed with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Shen Wei Dance Arts. He has worked with such artists as David Dorfman, Chris Elam, Risa Jaroslow, JoAnna Mendl Shaw, Tiffany Mills, Jody Oberfelder, Laura Peterson and Christopher Williams . Danspace Project, LaMaMa Theater, and West End Theater have produced Luke’s work.

Having recently completed a lively and popular series of Bay Area performances, Baroque ensemble Musica Pacifica, is pleased to present “300 Years On – A Dance Collection from the Reign of Louis XIV” on Wednesday, June 6, 8 PM at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley. Tickets are $45/35/25 and are available at www.berkeley-festival.org or by calling 510.642.9988.

Instrumentalists of Musica Pacifica and dancers led by Baroque dance specialist Linda Tomko collaborate to present theater and ballroom dances from the end of Louis XIV’s reign.  The theatre pieces were danced by the likes of Mlle Guyot and M. Dumoulin, well known performers at the Paris Opera, and the ballroom dances were performed by noble people at court.  Clad in elegant period-style costumes, the dancers in 300 Years On let audiences savor lively gigues, dreamy sarabandes and fleet rigadouns, the best of a remarkable collection of choreographies, the Nouveau Recueil de Dance, c. 1713, and the music from period operas by Campra and Marais and Destouches which accompanies the dances. The program showcases as well instrumental music of French Baroque composers Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau and one of Telemann’s delightful “Paris Quartets.”

Musicians: Judith Linsenberg, recorder; Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin; Debra Nagy, oboe; Josh Lee, viola da gamba; Charles Sherman, harpsichord; and John Loose, percussion.

Dancers: Linda Tomko, Ken Pierce, Olsi Gjeci, and Jennifer Thorp.

Early music professionals and fans from around the globe will gather in Berkeley June 3 to 10 for the 2012 Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, presented by the San Francisco Early Music Society, Cal Performances, and Early Music America in association with American Bach Soloists, Agave Baroque, Chanticleer, Musica Pacifica, New Esterházy Quartet, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Voices of Music. Since its inauguration in 1990, the biennial Festival has been recognized worldwide as one of the premier events of its kind, bringing together early music performers, scholars, instrument makers, publishers, and enthusiasts for a week of concerts, lectures, conferences, and master classes centered in and around the First Congregational Church and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley.

Linda Tomko, historian and dancer, embodies dances past and choreographs in period style.  For a number of years, she co-directed with Wendy Hilton the annual Stanford University Summer Workshop in Baroque Dance and its Music.  With fellow dancers Richard Semmens, Nena Couch, and Bruce Roberts, she founded Les Menus Plaisirs, a Baroque dance troupe, and she has danced as a soloist in the U.S., Canada, and Japan.  She is a faculty member in the Department of Dance at the University of California, Riverside, and a past president of the Society of Dance History Scholars.  Ms. Tomko edits the Dance and Music book series for Pendragon Press.

Described by the press as “some of the finest baroque musicians in America” (American Record Guide) and “among the best in the world” (Alte Musik Aktuell), Musica Pacifica performs 17th- and 18th-century music on varying combinations of recorder, violin, cello/gamba, harpsichord, and percussion. Their very recent Dancing in the Isles CD has continued to get rave reviews from music journals all over the world, including American Record Guide; the German magazine Concerto; Early Music Today from the UK, and the prestigious Gramophone from the UK, who called it “one of the zestiest recordings of recent vintage to present works that once had them dancing and listening with joy.” And the online journal, Musica dei Donum said: The playing is first-rate: full of bounce, stylish, and technically immaculate.”

Core Members of Musica Pacifica perform with Philharmonia Baroque and American Bach Soloists, and also appear with prominent early music ensembles nationally and abroad. They have performed on such prestigious concert series as The Frick Collection and Music Before 1800 (NY), the Getty Museum (LA), Tage Alter Musik (Regensburg), Cleveland Art Museum, and the Berkeley Early Music Festival (3 times), among others. They have performed at festivals in Germany and Austria and have been featured on German National radio as well as on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and “Harmonia.” Musica Pacifica’s eight CD releases on the Virgin Classics, Dorian, and Solimar labels have won national and international awards, including Chamber Music America/WQXR’s 2003 Record Award, being featured on Minnesota Public Radio, and being chosen as “CD of the Month” by the early music journal Alte Musik Aktuell (Regensburg). Full bios of all musicians are at www.musicapacifica.org.

On Saturday, May 12th at 7pm, pianist Inna Faliks plays Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church 149 West Brush Hill Road Elmhurst, IL. The season finale program also includes the Hebrides Overture by Felix Mendelssohn and Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. The performance will be conducted by Stephen Alltop.

Pianist Inna Faliks has set herself apart in thousands of performances as a sincere, communicative and direct performer whose virtuosity, power and risk taking serve the depth, intelligance and poetry of her interpretations. Inna’s command of standard solo and concerto repertoire is highlighted by her love of rare and new music, and interdisciplinary and audience-involving programs and lectures. These include her award winning Music/Words, where she alternates music with readings by contemporary poets, her program of piano music of the poet Boris Pasternak (on MSR Classics Sound of Verse, which drew comparisons to Argerich and Cliburn), 13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg – new variations on Bach’s Aria , music of women composers, and many other programs. She makes sure to present programs that include both beloved crowd pleasers and music that is new and challenging, creating an adventurous, moving and involving experience for the audience. She is a musical omnivore. Faliks debuted as a teenager with the Chicago Symphony and at the Gilmore Festival to rave reviews, and has been exciting and moving audiences worldwide since then.

Stephen Alltop has built a career based on excellence in several disciplines, conducting both orchestral and choral ensembles, and performing as a keyboard artist. The 2010-11 season marks Mr. Alltop’s fifteenth anniversary season as Music Director of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. This year will also be Dr. Alltop’s eleventh season as Music Director of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago. He also serves as Associate Conductor of the Peninsula Music Festival in Wisconsin and on the faculty with the Green Lake Festival in Wisconsin. Dr. Alltop has been a member of the conducting faculty of Northwestern University since 1992. In addition to conducting, he has appeared extensively as keyboard soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, and recording artist. Between June and October of 2006, he conducted concerts in the Italian cities of Perugia, Bologna and Rovereto.

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage month and, of course, Mother’s Day, A-Squared Theatre Workshop, Chicago’s only pan-Asian dramatic theater company, presents My Asian Mom, an evening of eight 10-minute one-act plays directed by Joe Yau at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont, May 4 – 26. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $15 general admission, $13 for students and groups of 10 or more, and may be purchased by calling 773.327.5252 or visiting www.stage773.com. For more information on the performance go to www.a-stw.org.

From saving the meat of a deer hit in the road to forcing piano lessons onto small children, Asian mothers are weird, funny, and nurturing in their own inexplicable ways.  With the Confucian command to honor and obey elders in their upbringing, it is often culturally taboo for Asians to divulge public emotion and opinion about their mothers. As artists, the mostly Asian American cast members and writers of My Asian Mom are compelled to express their truths about their families and mothers.

When A-Squared Theatre Workshop founding member, Mia Park (www.miapark.com), conceived My Asian Mom in 2011, she was surprised by the reactions from her community. Some Asian actors felt threatened by the overwhelmingly complicated emotions they have towards their mothers. She was told, “This is too close to home. I can’t do it.” From the other end of the spectrum, Asians who’ve never performed before wanted to be a part of the show, excited about the rare opportunity to share stories about their moms with an audience. Park knew that My Asian Mom would provide a special forum for these eager and emotional voices to be heard.

Of the eight acts, three are about Korean moms, three about Filipino moms, one about Chinese moms, and one about every Asian mom. Some of the works are devised by the performers, some are excerpts from longer plays and some were chosen from a nationwide call for submissions. The cast includes an adoptee, a hapa (person of half Asian descent), and artists from Burmese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Caucasian and Chinese backgrounds. This multi-ethnic collaboration of talents fully express the humorous, touching and aggravating experiences they’ve had with their Asian moms. Expect complex comedy, poignant drama and total honesty from the collaborative efforts from Second City directors and instructors, Mia Park of “The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow” and Chic-A-Go-Go fame, Helen Young (u/s Steppenwolf, Goodman) and other seasoned cast and crew.

The eight one-act plays are:

·      “Autumn Moon” by Marie Yuen. Directed by Masami Maggard and Miriam Solon. Featuring Ginger Leopoldo, Arvin Jalandoon, RJ Silva, Ramona Kywe, Amy Shi, Ben Albovias. A mother struggles with the loss of her husband only to realise the Autumn Moon links them eternally.

·      “Eight Turkey Sandwiches” written and performed by Mia Park. Directed by Helen Young. A daughter dreams of her Korean family lineage and contemplates how she’s supposed to fit in when she doesn’t eat turkey or mayonnaise.

·      “MamaSiHero” by Conrad A. Panganiban. Directed by Jin Kim. Featuring Aimee Algas Alker, Lovien “Joey” Flores (5/11-5/26), Ben Albovias, Ginger Leopoldo (5/4 & 5/5). A comic book artist is under pressure to deliver a new superhero and draws her inspiration from her mom.

·      “Organic Meatballs” by Damon Chua. Directed by John Hildreth. Featuring Rio Shigeta, Noelle Lynn, Ramona Kywe. A brother and sister check in with one another only to realize that the meeting is guided by the invisible hand of mom.

·      “Piano” by Hope Kim. Directed by Joe Yau. Featuring Hope Kim. A Korean woman tells of her time growing up with piano lessons and how that’s affected her life and her mom’s.

·      “TAB” by Susan H. Pak. Directed by Marc Rita. Featuring Aimee Algas Alker, Hope Kim, Noelle Lynn. A mother relates her last meeting with her older daughter while trying to reestablish her relationship with her younger one.

·      “This Is Why I Don’t Drink” by Neal Ryan Shaw. Directed by Neil Jacobsen. Featuring Ginger Leopoldo, Alex Wu. A son visiting his mom share a drink and catch up on what’s most important to her, the lives of fictional characters on a Filipino soap opera.

·      “Tiger Mom” by Colleen Dilts and Mike Gillespie. Directed by Jay Sukow. Featuring Colleen Dilts, Patrick Woods. A Caucasian mom decides to raise her child in the tradition of a Tiger Mom.

A-Squared Theatre Workshop (www.a-stw.org) is a Chicago based collective that creates an artistic environment of risk taking and growth for Asian American theater artists by dynamically bringing Asian American stories to the stage for general theater-going audiences. A-Squared is a 501c3, non-profit organization, dedicated to: (1) Sharing Asian American stories and experiences to the Chicago community through live theatre; (2) Expanding perceptions and contexts about Asian Americans of all generations and their part in the history of America and (3) Creating a safe, artistic environment for Asian American theater artists to explore, express and grow in traditional and non-traditional roles both on and off the stage in Chicago.

My Asian Mom, an evening of eight 10-minute one-act plays directed byJoe Yau at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont, May 4 – 26. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. The press performance is Saturday, May 5 at 8 p.m. followed by a reception hosted by Angel Island Theatre Company and presented by ENERI Communications. Tickets are $15 general admission, $13 for students and groups of 10 or more, and may be purchased by calling 773.327.5252 or visiting www.stage773.com. For more information on the performance go to www.a-stw.org.

Genre bending group performs original works rooted in jazz, classical, tango, & rock for violin, cello, voice, keyboards, and percussion.

The Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble, led by composer Steve Hudson – piano/melodica, and featuring Zach Brock – violin, Jody Redhage - cello/voice, and Martin Urbach – cajon/ percussion, returns to play a live show backing their critically acclaimed album “Galactic Diamonds” – on Saturday, May 19th, 2012 at 8pm, at the Hudson Opera House, 327 Warren St., Hudson, NY. Tickets are $20, ($18 for members) and can be purchased at the door. Call (518) 822-1438 for more information.

Praised by Keyboard Magazine for his “exquisite compositions” and for “a quest for beauty in his lines that evoke the masters,” Steve Hudson has worked with Steven Bernstein, James Zollar, Marcus Rojas, and Claire Daly. Zach Brock has performed and recorded with Stanley Clarke, Joel Harrison, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, while Jody Redhage currently tours with bassist Esperanza Spalding and has performed with the Tokyo String Quartet, and Bang on a Can.  Martin Urbach has shared the stage with Lee Konitz and Dave Liebman. In 2011, the ensemble performed at Chamber Music America’s national conference in New York and toured Italy and Austria to promote ”Galactic Diamonds.”

Their newest recording, Galactic Diamonds has been called “a collection of little gems” by All About Jazz; “so disarmingly fun that it’s impossible to resist…a good-naturedly eclectic mix of third stream jazz with a catchy, quirky pop edge” by Lucid Culture;  and “consistently engaging” by Christian Carey, Signal To Noise.

A Kite’s Tale, created by Chicago’s Blair Thomas & Company is the story of a little girl who sets out to fly her kite and takes a magical journey through her own imagination.  Employing hand puppets, bunraku puppets and giant costumed characters, this wordless narrative is accompanied by a live performance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, performed on solo piano by Kathryn Goodson.

The performance will take place at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave. in Detroit, on Saturday and Sunday May 12 and 13, 2012 at 2pm as part of Family Sundays at Rivera Court. The event is free with museum admission (which is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for youth ages 6-17). For more information, call 313-833-7900.

This delightful 40 minute long family show has been seen at venues such as Sherwood Conservatory of Music, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Music Institute of Chicago, and at the National Puppetry Festival, in Atlanta.

A Kite’s Tale was conceived, directed and designed by Blair Thomas. The story is by Blair Thomas in collaboration with the puppeteers: Sam Deutsch, Sarah Fornace, Dan Kerr-Hobert, and Julia Miller.

Blair Thomas & Company is a Chicago-based company that creates and performs contemporary puppetry and visual theater locally, nationally, and internationally. They are dedicated to the art of the puppet and its relationship to live music as an expressive form, in addition to the art as a spectacle form. They create unique, artistic experiences that are vital to the cultural life of Chicago and influential to the field of contemporary performance nationally and internationally. BT&C have twice received the UNIMA award for excellence in puppetry, and Mr. Thomas was also the first artist to be awarded the Jim Henson Artist-In-Residence position at the University of Maryland. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune says: “very few cities have a native theater company such as Blair Thomas and Company, where visual delicacy and an open heart are at the core of the art.”

Pianist Kathryn Goodson is an international performer, teacher and coach, and has appeared in recital throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan with leading wind instrumental and vocal artists. At the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor since 2005 she has served as collaborative pianist-coach; in 2008 her position expanded to include musical direction for Robert Swedberg’s opera studio. Recordings of Goodson’s work include Barn Burner and Melodrama (Albany) with Randall Hawes, Voices of the Holocaust (Block M-University of Michigan) with Caroline Helton, In Transit (Innova) with saxophonist Timothy McAllister, as well as international radio and television broadcasts. At schools such as Stanford University, the Conservatoire de Genève and the Musashino Music School in Tokyo, Goodson has taught classes in solo and collaborative repertoire, returning often to the Karlsruhe Music School in Germany to teach American Art Song. Educational outreach also involves concerto soloist appearances for Detroit Symphony Orchestra youth concerts, and, since 2005, musical coordination of a children’s series for the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. As artistic director Goodson has served in Stuttgart for the Internationale-Hugo-Wolf-Akademie, in Ann Arbor for two Charles Ives festivals with the Phoenix Ensemble and currently for Concerts4aCause of Northside Community Church. Goodson received a doctorate and master of collaborative piano with Martin Katz at the University of Michigan, studying also with Eckart Sellheim. As a Fulbright Scholar to Germany 1992-1994, she received the Konzertexam in Art Song with highest honors with Hartmut Höll at the Karlsruhe Music School. Her bachelor of music in piano performance was earned with Robert Shannon at Oberlin Conservatory.

Chai Shuai

Performing a program entitled Dialogue between the Traditional and the Modern, including folk and Chinese Opera works as well as contemporary works by both Chinese and Western composers such as Xie Wenhui and Victoria Bond, the Chinese Hua Xia Chamber Ensemble (pronounced HWA SHA) makes their Lincoln Center Debut at Alice Tully Hall on Monday, May 7 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.lincolncenter.org and at Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway (65th Street between Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue); For more information, call 212 671 4050.

Founded in 1995, and currently touring the United States with performances in New York and Boston, the Chinese Hua Xia Chamber Ensemble of the China Conservatory has become one of the most dynamic and technically impressive chamber ensembles of China. Under the strong leadership of Professor Zhang Weiliang and Maestro Tsung Yeh, the ensemble has achieved international acclaim. Its musicians, who are mainly young conservatory teachers, have won numerous instrumental competition awards in China and abroad. Their repertoire ranges from traditional Chinese folk music and Chinese opera music to contemporary Chinese and international classical music. The ensemble has recorded several CDs and has performed in the United States, France, Portugal, Australia, and in Asia and Africa. For this performance, the program will feature six world premieres commissioned by the ensemble for this US tour.

The Program includes:
Lang Tao Sha (Traditional)
Feng Qiu Huang, by Liu Qing (World Premiere)
Five Impressions, by Gao Ping (World Premiere)
Wild Geese in the Sandbank (Traditional)
Graceful, by Wang Dan Hong (World Premiere)
Nodes, by John Mallia (World Premiere)
Deep Night (Traditional Chinese Opera)
Less, but More, by Xie Wen Hui (World Premiere)
Bridge, by Victoria Bond (World Premiere arrangement for this ensemble)

Performers include: Huang Mei (guqin); Wang Yidong (Chinese percussion); Mark Baekbum Yee (cello); Chai Shuai (erxian & erhu); Qiu Ji (zheng); Ge Yong (pipa); Chen Yue (flute); Wu Huanghuang (yangqin); Huang Mei (ruan); Chen Yue (flute); Tomoya Aomori, Justin Doute (western percussion); Zhang Weiliang (xiao); Han Shi (violin), Eric Umble (clarinet), Sun Pei (piano). Tsung Yeh, conductor, Zhang Weiliang Artistic Director. Zhao Talimu, President of China Conservatory, serves as leader of this delegation.

Music/Words (www.musicwordsnyc.com), an interdisciplinary series founded and curated by NYC- based pianist Inna Faliks (www.innafaliks.com), continues its fourth season on April 23 and 30 on WFMT at 8pm CST. Faliks will play CPE Bach, Eric Satie, Schubert, Chopin. L.B. Thompson, Whiting Award winner, is the poet.

The series MUSIC/WORDS was recently praised by Lucid Culture as being “surreal, impactful, and relevant” and was described as “a throwback to the Paris salons of the late 1800s.” It celebrates links between poetry and music by presenting collaborations between exciting solo performers and acclaimed contemporary poets in the form of a live recital/reading.

Inna Faliks created the series in order to foster a chance for poets and musicians to work together and inspire each other, as well as to allow different audiences to come together for these musical-literary events. New published and unpublished works are read alongside performances of music old and new and connected by content, intuition, and inspiration.

According to Faliks, “I pair performers together based on their personalities and styles, and encourage them to choose the poems and music in varied ways that are strongly and intuitively connected.”

Chicago’s Chinese Fine Arts Society is pleased to announce the second of their 2012 Migratory Journeys Premiere Concerts which feature works by top Chinese composers alongside a selection of winning works from CFAS’s Third International Music Composition Competition where composers were invited to participate by creating original music inspired by the wandering, resettling, and emigration of Chinese diaspora population through the world.

Winning compositions were selected by a panel of esteemed judges comprised of composers Chen Yi and Huang Ruo as well as Fulcrum Point New Music Project Director Stephen Burns. Curated by CFAS Guest Music Director Yuan Qing Yu, assistant concertmaster to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, this all-Chinese music concert will be performed by acclaimed Chicago professional musicians, including members of chamber music Civitas, and members of the CSO. This free concert will take place at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall on April 29, 2012 at 3pm. The Chicago Cultural Center is located at 78 E. Washington, in Chicago.

Drawing upon the submission of original work by emerging as well as seasoned composers, the CFAS International Music Composition Competition seeks inspires creativity and innovation in the global music community.

“We’re very excited about this program.” says curator Yuan-Qing Yu. “We’re featuring a variety of compositions and instrumentations, from traditional Chinese to modern, including cross-cultural pieces that use western instruments to reproduce sound that resembles Chinese instruments.”

The Program is as follows:

·       Yearning by Chen Yao (COMPETITION WINNER)
·       Moon Lullaby by Tonia Ko (COMPETITION WINNER)
·       Book of the Forgotten by Huang Ruo (MIDWEST PREMIERE)
·       Seven Desires for Guitar by Tan Dun (MIDWEST PREMIERE)
·       The Willows are New by Chou Wen Chung
·       Taiping Drum by Zhou Long
·       A Journey into Desire by Lei Liang
·       Tibetan Dances by Bright Sheng

Musicians include: Yuan-Qing Yu* (Violin); Catherine Brubaker (Viola); Ken Olsen* (Cello); Daniel Armstrong (Double Bass); Kuang-Hao Huang (Piano); Scott Hostetler (Oboe); Lawrie Bloom* (Clarinet); Cynthia Yeh (Percussion); YuQi Deng (Zheng); You Wang (Guitar); (*denotes member of chamber ensemble Civitas)

Percussionist Lisa Pegher performs Kevin Puts’ Marimba Concerto with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra as part of  ”Old and New Worlds” on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Palace Theatre, Greensburg, PA. Thomas Hong, guest conductor, will lead this performance of the WSO in a program that also includes Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 1 and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 “Italian”.

Tickets can be purchased online or by calling (724) 837-1850.

Lisa Pegher is an American solo percussionist who has been described by the Boston Globe as “Forcefully Balletic” and by another critic as “a gifted passionate artist, with a rock-star aura.” She has been featured in Symphony Magazine as one of the top six performers of her generation and continues to carve a new path for percussion as a solo instrument. Prior to the launch of a full-time solo career, she performed as the Principal Timpanist of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Section Percussionist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.