Folio Presents Franz Schubert’s 'Winterreise'

Clayton Brainerd, baritone
Judith Cohen, piano

Franz Schubert – Winterreise, D. 911

A Schubertiade evening, with complimentary Viennese food and wine. Franz Schubert’s beloved song cycle Winterreise ("Winter Journey") is one of the most esteemed art-song stories ever composed, and Schubert is the master and inventor of the form. True to the spirit of these performances, Folio will have wine and pastries before and after the program, as well as some discussion of the poems that are the basis of the cycle and the singer’s experience in song recitals.

Baritone Clayton Brainerd, a Portland native, appears in major opera houses and with major orchestras all over the world. In addition to opera, he is a specialist in lieder or art songs.

Pianist Judith Cohen, a regular performer at Folio, is the director of several local groups – including one specializing in art song and the Governors’ Mansion chamber music series.

About Clayton Brainerd

https://www.claytonbrainerd.com/

About Judith Cohen

Judith Cohen began piano studies at the age of five with Ruth Schein, and continued at the Chicago Musical College with Saul Dorfman until the age of eighteen. She completed graduate studies with Randolph Hokanson at the University of Washington, and has performed in the public masterclasses of Aldo Ciccolini, Alexis Weissenberg, Daniel Pollack, and Murray Perahia.

Ms. Cohen made her European recital debut in 2002, performing two solo recitals in Budapest, Hungary, and since then has returned three times for concert tours of Hungary. She has performed solo recitals in Mexico, under the sponsorship of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. Critic Robert Somerlott of the Mexico City News hailed her as "an artist of unusual talent who captivated the audience with both her musicianship and stage presence." She has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout the Pacific Northwest, in Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Kentucky, and Texas. She has also been presented in solo recitals by the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series in both Chicago and Los Angeles, and by the Florence Conservatory of Music in Italy.

Ms. Cohen is the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Governor's Chamber Music Series in Olympia, Washington, and the pianist in the acclaimed TangleTown Trio. She has performed and toured with Donald Byrd's Spectrum Dance Theater as piano soloist between 2009-2016, with music of Erwin Schulhoff, Robert Schumann, and Andy Tierstein. Her discography includes recordings on the Pear Records, Capstone, and Byzantium labels. In a 2012 review of two of these recordings, Radu Lelatiu of Fanfare Magazine reported, "She is without doubt a first-rate artist…if you have ever wondered how Wilhelm Kempff might have sounded playing Prokofiev, here is your chance to find out."

In 2005, Ms Cohen received the honor of becoming a Steinway Artist. She enjoys the distinction of being part of this elite society of pianists.

"Cohen's individualistic and intriguing take on [Prokofiev's] Visions Fugitives as a whole is one of the finest I have heard… If you have ever wondered how Wilhelm Kempff might have sounded playing Prokofiev, here is your chance to find out." – Fanfare Magazine