The Coleman Sisters' Learning to Listen Series was established in memory of Elizabeth Coleman Mooney ’48 and in honor of Susan Norton Coleman ’45, who wanted future generations of students to derive the same great pleasure from music as they did. The Series features virtuosic musicians in a salon-like atmosphere with tasty refreshments and informative conversation.
Learning to Listen 2017-2018
Past Events
The Glory of Venice with the Princeton Singers
Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017, 7 p.m., Ely Room, Wyndham
Learning to Listen events are free and open to the public. No reservations or tickets are required. Birthday cake will be served.
The Princeton Singers were featured in a 450th birthday tribute to Claudio Monteverdi and his predecessors at the famed church of San Marco, with music of Monteverdi, Croce, Merulo and Gabrieli.
About the Princeton Singers
For 35 years, The Princeton Singers have captivated audiences and listeners through excellent singing and musicianship. Founded as a small, professional, independent ensemble in 1983 by John Bertalot, then choirmaster and organist at Trinity Church in Princeton, New Jersey, the Singers soon earned a reputation for “excellent tuning, impeccable control, and subtly-nuanced phrasing.”
Since being appointed Artistic Director in 1998, composer-conductor Steven Sametz has expanded the group’s repertoire. Under Dr. Sametz, the ensemble has been noted for its versatility and its mastery of works from Bach to Schoenberg, with forays into unexplored and exciting realms such as Aboriginal and native American ritual music, Igbe chanting and Arab-Andalusian muwashahat. Their season has come to include not only the local holiday favorite “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” when they bring to life traditional carols while Dylan Thomas’ classic story is read aloud, but also popular collaborations with the Princeton University Art Museum, when the Singers’ range and Dr. Sametz’s creative programming genius are given free rein, allowing them to pair Rothko with Ligeti and Jasper Johns with John Cage. Whatever the repertoire, the Singers have been hailed as “masterful choral singers” with a “rich vocal color” and “flowing choral tone.”
The Princeton Singers are also a vital force in the creation of new choral compositions. The Singers serve as choir-in-residence at the American Choral Directors Association annual Composers’ Forum, and each season they commission a new work by Dr. Sametz.
In addition to popular hometown performances, The Princeton Singers have been featured at conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the American Choral Directors Association, and Chorus America. Dr. Sametz has led the ensemble in collaborative concerts with Chanticleer, The American Boychoir, Westminster Choir College’s Schola Cantorum, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Lehigh University Choral Arts, and the Princeton Girlchoir. The Princeton Singers have been heard on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and “With Heart and Voice,” and have been broadcast by the BBC while on tour in Europe. A full listing of The Princeton Singers’ CDs may be viewed here.
Musicians from The Curtis Institute
Sarrah Bushara, Oboe
Yan Liu, Clarinet
Jack McCammon, French Horn
Alex Lombo, Flute
led by Hanul Park, bassoon
"A Very Open Rehearsal of Jean Françaix, Wind Quintet No. 1"
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018, 7 p.m.
Goodhart Music Room
Learning to Listen events are free and open to the public. No reservations or tickets are required. Refreshments will be served.
As the young musicians of the Curtis Institute work through dynamics, nuances and shadings of their work, our audience witnesses their challenges and comments, and enjoys the opportunity to ask questions. The second half of the evening is a full performance.
About Hanul Park
Bassoonist Hanul Park performs with ensembles large and small across the US, Canada, and Europe, playing music ranging from classical favorites to avant-garde world premieres. She is a member of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and has served as the principal bassoonist of the Yale Philharmonia, New Music New Haven, Symphony Number 1, the Occasional Symphony, and the Symphony and Concert Orchestras of the Peabody Conservatory. During the summer of 2016, she toured the Baltics with the Yale Schola Cantorum performing Arvo Pärt’s Passio. As an active chamber musician, she has performed in the Oneppo Chamber Music Series, and collaborated with diverse groups at summer festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Vermont Mozart Festival, Banff Centre, Domaine Forget International Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, the International Double Reed Society Conference, and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute.
Growing up in a family of musicians, Hanul began her musical studies playing the violin and piano at age four, and later picked up the bassoon, which quickly became her favorite instrument. In 2008, she attended the Rivers School Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied piano and bassoon.
Hanul holds Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from Yale University School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where her principal teachers were Frank Morelli and Phillip Kolker respectively. She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music in the studio of Daniel Matsukawa.
Arcadian Trio - Conjuring the Slavic Soul
Igor Szwec, violin, Vivian Barton Dozor, Cello, Diana Goldsmith, piano
Saturday, April 7, 2018, 7 p.m.
Goodhart Music Room
Learning to Listen events are free and open to the public. No reservations or tickets are required. Refreshments will be served.
The Arcadian Trio will present music from the turn of the 20th century and beyond by Czech composers Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů and Russians Sergei Rachmaninoff and Dmitri Shostakovich.
The trio will begin with Dvořák’s spirited Dumky Trio (1891)—named for the Slavic folk songs that are marked by sudden changes in mood, from mournful to optimistic, anguished to festive. This is a masterpiece of the chamber music repertoire and a work deeply felt by the group.
They will follow up with Rachmaninoff’s haunting Vocalise Op. 34, No. 14, which was originally written for high voice with piano accompaniment. This 1912 work, which captures the melancholy spirit of the Russian expanse, has been transposed for every imaginable vocal range and instrument and transcribed for every possible chamber ensemble and orchestra.
The trio will continue with Shostakovich’s passionate Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8, a work that grew out of his first love at age 16—a romantic obsession that continued for the next ten years. This 1923 work has some hallmarks of early 20th century music but clearly harks back to the Romantic era that Shostakovich would soon repudiate.
The group will conclude with a whirlwind selection from Martinu’s Bergerettes (1939), which evokes the folk dances of Eastern Europe and brings the program to an exuberant close.
About the Musicians
Composed of some of the most in-demand musicians in Philadelphia, the Arcadian Trio has been featured on prestigious concert series throughout the area and beyond. Hailed for its virtuosity and style, the ensemble presents themed programs with commentary and a visual presentation of images that enriches the concert-going experience.
Igor Szwec is concertmaster of the Academy of Vocal Arts orchestra, assistant concertmaster with Opera Philadelphia’s orchestra and a charter member of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. For many years, he was also concertmaster of the Philly Pops. He received his training at the Philadelphia Musical Academy and did further violin study with Karen Tuttle. Szwec has played chamber music with such notables as Bernard Greenhouse, Menahem Pressler, Anton Kuerti, and Samuel Baron, and is first violinist with the Meiravi Quartet, which performs new works by its violist Peter Nocella. He has been concertmaster for Orchestra 2001 and now continues in that capacity with First Editions.
Vivian Barton Dozor is principal cellist with the Academy of Vocal Arts orchestra and VoxAmaDeus and assistant principal with Opera Philadelphia’s orchestra. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Dozor has appeared with such distinguished artists as Yehudi Menuhin, Alexander Schneider, and Felix Galimir and has performed in the Marlboro Music Festival, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Brandenburg Ensemble, and the Santa Fe Opera. While she has played a number of premieres with the Network for New Music and First Editions, she also enjoys playing baroque cello and viola da gamba with Baroque and early music groups.
Diane Goldsmith maintains a busy schedule as a solo pianist, chamber musician, and vocal accompanist. She studied privately with Gary Graffman and holds a master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music. She also studied art song, opera, and chamber music at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. Along with some faculty from Manhattan School of Music, she commissioned new works for two pianos and percussion, which were premiered in what is now Weill Recital Hall. She has been a classical and jazz music critic and arts editor at major newspapers and a staff accompanist at Westminster Choir College of Rider University.
LEARNING TO LISTEN BUS TRIP - Prokofiev and Ravel
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Bryn Mawr Students are invited to this year's Learning to Listen outing to hear great music. This year we head to the Kimmel Center to hear The Philadelphia Orchestra’s presentation of Prokofiev and Ravel at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Saturday, April 21st at 8pm.
Tickets are limited. First come, first served. To reserve your ticket, a $10 deposit must be delivered to the Arts Office in Goodhart (M-F 10a-6p, call ahead at 610-526-5210).
The Philadelphia Orchestra
Prokofiev and Ravel
Stéphane Denève - Conductor
Vadim Repin – Violin
Verizon Hall
Kimmel Center
300 S Broad St
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Round trip transportation will be provided, leaving Pem Arch at 6:50pm.
Your deposit will be refunded and your ticket delivered at the bus.
Program
Connesson - Flammenschrift
Prokofiev - Violin Concerto No. 1
INTERMISSION
Strauss - Death and Transfiguration
Ravel - La Valse
From the Kimmel Center's event listing:
“We were delighted to learn that our Artist-in-Residence Hilary Hahn is expecting her second child in spring 2018. As Hilary welcomes her new addition to the family, she must withdraw from this performance of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1. We wish Hilary and her family the best during this exciting time.
We are deeply grateful that renowned violinist Vadim Repin has agreed to perform in place of Hilary Hahn. The program will take place as scheduled.
Also on the program, Maestro Denève offers another Philadelphia premiere from Guillaume Connesson, his Flammenschrift (Flaming Letters), a tribute to German music. Equally worthy of tribute: Richard Strauss's spiritual Death and Transfiguration and Ravel's whirling La Valse, described by the composer as “dancing on the edge of a volcano.”
The Coleman Sisters' Learning to Listen Series was established in memory of Elizabeth Coleman Mooney ’48 and in honor of Susan Norton Coleman ’45, who wanted future generations of students to derive the same great pleasure from music as they did. The Series features virtuosic musicians in a salon-like atmosphere with tasty refreshments and informative conversation.
Learning to Listen 2016-17
- The Jasper String Quartet in Shostakovich's 110th Birthday Celebration
- What Makes Music Expressive with John Andrew Bailey
- The Brass Project from The Curtis Institute of Music
Learning to Listen 2015-16
- Celebrate Erik Satie's 150th Birthday with Viktor Valkov (piano) and Luosha Fang (violin)
- A Very Open Rehearsal of Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 18 No. 6 in Bb Major with Musicians from The Curtis Institute of Music
- Exploring the Sonority of Strings with Christine Lamprea (cello) and Jordan Dodson (guitar)
Learning to Listen 2014-15
- Music of Shakespeare's Time, with Julianne Baird (soprano) and Richard Stone (lute)
- A Very Open Rehearsal of Poulenc's Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano with Michelle Cann (piano), Wade Coufal (bassoon), and Alexandra von der Embse (oboe).
- The Romantics with Andrea Lam (piano)
Learning to Listen 2013-14
- Sergei Prokofiev 60 Years Later with Christine Lamprea (cello) and Andrew Hauze (piano)
- A Very Open Rehearsal of Ernst von Dohnanyi's Sextet in C Major Op. 37 with Curtis Institute Musicians
- Vienna Dreams with Cheryl Seltzer (piano), Stephanie Griffin (viola), and Moran Katz (clarinet)