AGO National Convention 2008

Olivier Messiaen Gala Concert
Tuesday, June 24 - Orchestra Hall

Program

Thème et variations (1932)
	(Leduc)
Stephanie Arado, violin; Judy Lin, piano

Three Songs from Poèmes pour Mi (1936)
	(Durand)
I.	Action de graces (Action of grace)
VIII.	Le collier (The necklace)
IX.	Prière exaucée (Granted prayer)
Tracey Gorman, soprano; Sonja Thompson, piano

Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus
	(Durand)
II.	Regard de l'Étoile (Gaze of the Star)
	The fall of Grace: the Star shines innocently, surmounted by a Cross…
IV.	Regard de la Vierge (Gaze of the Virgin)
	Innocence and tenderness. … The woman of purity, the woman of the Magnificat, the Virgin gazes upon her child…
XI.	Première communion de la Vierge (The First Communion of the Virgin)
	After the Annunciation, Mary adores Jesus within her … My God, my Son, my Magnificat! – my love without the sound of words …
Lydia Artymiw, piano

Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1940-41)
	(Durand)
III.	Abîme des oiseaux (Abyss of Birds)
VIII.	Louange à l'immortalité de Jésus (Praise to the immortality of Jesus)
Jennifer Gerth, clarinet; Stephanie Arado, violin; Judy Lin, piano

Fête des Belles Eaux (1937)
	(Leduc)
L’Ensemble d’Ondes de Montréal

Program notes click Here.

Following tonight’s concert, you are invited to remain for an additional 52-minute exploration of the intersection between music, religion, torment and ecstasy in a screening of Paul Festa's award-winning and critically acclaimed Messiaen film “Apparation of the Eternal Church.” "Mesmerizing." - New Yorker music critic Alex Ross "May be the best description of the Messiaen effect on record...a bravura performance, not to be missed." - The Village Voice "...devastating in so many wonderful ways...and radically reaffirming of organists and their purposes...it will be the talk of the convention." - James Frazier PLEASE NOTE that the film deals frankly with sex and violence in explicit language. CAUTION IS ADVISED, and you may wish to pass up this opportunity if you do not want to risk offense. However, DVDs are available for sale at the PIPEDREAMS booth in the hotel exhibition hall (or online), should curiosity get the better of you afterwards.

Artist Biographies

Since joining the Minnesota Orchestra in 1991, Assistant Concertmaster Stephanie Arado has appeared as soloist many times with the Orchestra, as well as with the St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. For more than ten years, she has been a member of the Bakken Trio. A Chicago native, Arado appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony when she was 12, playing the Mendelssohn Concerto. She earned degrees from Western Illinois University and the Juilliard School, studying with Roland and Almita Vamos, Paul Kantor and Dorothy DeLay. She was a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra led by Claudio Abbado and was twice awarded scholarships to the Aspen Music School.

Lydia Artymiw, on the faculty of the University of Minnesota since 1989, has succeeded in every facet of an important international career: as soloist with orchestra, in recital and chamber music, and in solo and chamber music recordings. She has appeared with over one hundred orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East. Her seven solo albums for the Chandos label in England have been critically acclaimed. Her debut record (Variations) was a Gramophone Magazine “Critic’s Choice” and “Best of the Year” disc, she was featured on the cover of Gramophone Magazine for the release of her Schumann record, her Mendelssohn record was hailed by Hi-Fi News and the Monthly Guide to Recorded Music as “Best of the Month,” and Ovation Magazine honored her Schubert recording as “Recording of Distinction.” Her Tchaikovsky Seasons (released in 1982) is still in print and has sold over 14,000 copies. She has also recorded for the Artegra, Bridge, Centaur, and Pantheon labels with Benita Valente, John Aler, Marcy Rosen, the Tokyo Quartet, and the Rosalyra Quartet. Ms. Artymiw was born in Philadelphia to Ukrainian parents and began piano studies at age four with George Oransky at the Ukrainian Music Institute. Her principal teachers were Freda Pastor Berkowitz and Gary Graffman. Artymiw graduated summa cum laude from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1973 and which honored her with a “Distinguished Alumna” award in 1991.

Katherine Ferrand has performed extensively in the Twin Cities, including seven seasons with the Guthrie Theater and many appearances with Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, The Old Log, Cricket, and Park Square Theatre (where she portrayed the title role in Shirley Valentine). She appeared in over 20 productions with the Children’s Theatre Company and was recently seen in the movie North Country. Katherine has performed in theaters throughout the United States as well as in Africa, Australia and Bangladesh. She received her M.A. in Speech and Theater from the University of Michigan where she was awarded an APA-Phoenix Professional Theatre Fellowship.

Jennifer Gerth is in her tenth season as principal clarinet with the Duluth-Superior Symphony. She is also an active member of the Twin Cities' musical community performing frequently with such ensembles as the Minnesota Orchestra and Vocalessence. A founding member of the Prospect Park Players, she continues her love for chamber music playing with the Festival of the Lakes chamber music festival. Her formal studies were undertaken at St. Olaf college, Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota. Ms. Gerth is an Instructor of Clarinet at Augsburg College and University of St. Thomas and maintains a private studio. During the summer she teaches and performs at the Birch Creek Performance Center in Door County, WI.

Soprano Tracey Gorman has gained a reputation for excellence in opera, recital, and concert. She made her professional opera debut with the Minnesota Opera in 2003. That same year was named the winner and “audience choice” of the Austin Lyric Opera Young Artist Competition in Austin, Texas and was a regional finalist in the 2002-2003 Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Ms. Gorman has also made recent appearances with the Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus, the St. Olaf College Choirs and Orchestra, the Rochester Aria Group, the Valley Chamber Chorale, Skylark Opera, and Music by the Lake.

Pianist Judy Lin is on the faculty of the MacPhail Center for Music, and is a founding member of the Bakken Trio of Minneapolis. She has performed solo recitals in Chicago, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh and has appeared with the Minnesota Chamber Symphony, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony. She received degrees from Indiana University and her awards include the Kimball Bosendorfer Piano Competition and the Young California Competition. The 2007-2008 season was Judy's 22nd with the Bakken Trio.

Sonja Thompson is active as a performer, educator and coach. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she has appeared locally and nationally in a wide variety of performance settings. Thompson resides in Minneapolis where she is Assistant Professor of Music at Augsburg College, Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota, and Assistant Music Director at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. Thompson's recent Music-Theater productions include Godspell with the New Plymouth Players, A Water Bird Talk (Argento) with Nautilus Music-Theater for the Chekhov Festival at Bryant Lake Bowl, A Three Penny Opera at Augsburg College, Bolcom's Dynamite Tonite for the “Illuminating Bolcom” festival sponsored by VocalEssence, and Mefistofeles and Maria de Buenos Aires at Theatre de la Jeune Lune.