MSM Faculty Recital: Charles Neidich, clarinet

• Charles Neidich, clarinet
• Ayako Oshima, clarinet
• Mohamed Shams, piano

Alice Mary Smith — Clarinet Sonata in A major
Ursula Mamlok — Aphorisms II: Six Pieces for Two Clarinets (written for Charles Neidich & Ayako Oshima)
Joan Tower — Fantasy (…those harbor lights)
Dorothy Rudd Moore — Night Fantasy
Keiko Fujiie — Manin aeide, Thea
Julia Perry — Serenity
Ethel Smyth — Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 7 (transc. Charles Neidich for clarinet)

Clarinetist Charles Neidich performs a concert at Greenfield Hall of the Manhattan School of Music. For this concert Mr. Neidich will be joined by his partner, clarinetist Ayako Oshima, and pianist Mohamed Shams. Known for performing complex and challenging repertoire, Mr. Neidich has dedicated this pogram to contemporary female composers and selected works by Ursula Mamlok, Joan Tower, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Keiko Fujiie, Julia Perry, and Ethel Smyth.

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About Manhattan School of Music

https://www.msmnyc.edu/

About Charles Neidich, clarinet

Clarinetist and conductor Charles Neidich has gained worldwide recognition as one of the most mesmerizing virtuosos on his instrument. With a tone of hypnotic beauty and a dazzling technique, Mr. Neidich has received unanimous accolades from critics and fellow musicians both in the United States and abroad; but it is his musical intelligence in scores as diverse as Mozart and Elliott Carter that has earned for Mr. Neidich a unique place among clarinetists. In the words of The New Yorker, "He's an artist of uncommon merit — a master of his instrument and, beyond that, an interpreter who keeps listeners hanging on each phrase."

In their most recent collaboration on the WA Concert Series, Mr. Neidich and Mr. Shams performed Alban Berg's Vier Stücke, Op. 5 for clarinet and piano at the Tenri Cultural Center in fall of 2019. Rorianne Schrade of the New York Concert Review wrote: "The duo captured these remarkable miniatures with vivid expressiveness and cohesion. Mr. Neidich, as ever, was one with the music in ways that impress it indelibly upon 'the mind’s ear.'" (October 28, 2019)

An ardent exponent of new music and a composer himself, he has expanded the technical and expressive possibilities of the clarinet and has championed the works of many of the world's most important composers. He is a leading performer on period instruments and has restored and reconstructed original versions of works of composers from Mozart to Copland.

With a growing discography to his credit, Mr. Neidich can be heard on the Chandos, Sony Classical, Sony Vivarte, Deutsche Grammophon, Musicmasters, Pantheon, and Bridge labels, and most recently in the Mozart Basset clarinet Concerto on historical instruments for Bremen Radio Hall Recordings. He is publishing editions of major clarinet and wind chamber music for Lauren Keiser Music and Southern Music, has made instructional videos for Play with a Pro, and together with Ayako Oshima publishes a monthly column in the Japanese magazine, Pipers.

Under Mr. Neidich's direction, along with his wife, fellow clarinetist Ayako Oshima, the popular Wa Concert Series, held at Tenri Cultural Institute, brings lesser-known composers and works to the attention of the international music community, synthesizing Mr. Neidich's lifetime of musical knowledge, exploration, and thoughtful reflection. In recent seasons, Mr. Neidich has added conducting to his musical accomplishments. He has guest conducted throughout the country and continues to serve as conductor of the Queens College Chamber Orchestra with whom he has performed the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in historically informed interpretations.

In wide demand as a soloist, Mr. Neidich has collaborated with several of the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Halle Staatsorchester, Orpheus, the St. Louis Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, San Diego Symphony, New City Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, the Yomiuri and Tokyo Philharmonic, Hyogo PAC Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Juilliard, Guarneri, American, Mendelssohn, and Parker Quartets.

A native New Yorker of Belorussian and Greek descent, Charles Neidich studied with the famed pedagogue Leon Russianoff. He received a BA, cum laude, in anthropology from Yale University. In 1975 he was granted a Fulbright grant for study in the former Soviet Union, and he attended the Moscow Conservatory for three years studying with Boris Dikov and Kirill Vinogradov.

In 1985, Mr. Neidich became the first clarinetist to win the Walter W. Naumburg Competition, which brought him to prominence as a soloist. He then taught at the Eastman School of Music, and during that tenure, joined the renowned New York Woodwind Quintet, an ensemble with which he still performs. His European honors include top prizes at the 1982 Munich International ARD Competition, the Geneva, and the Paris Accanthes International Competitions. Mr. Neidich has achieved recognition as a teacher in addition to his activities as a performer, and is currently a member of the artist faculties of CUNY Graduate School, The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Mannes College of Music. He held the post of Associate Professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College for many years. In 2004, he was awarded the William Schuman Award for performance and scholarship at The Juilliard School. The Kitakaruizawa Music Seminar, now in its 13th season, was co-founded by Mr. Neidich and Ms. Oshima. In 2018 he was awarded a lifetime membership in honor of his artistic achievements by the International Clarinet Society and a medal for lifetime achievement from the National Society of Arts and Letters.

https://www.charlesneidich.net/

About Ayako Oshima, clarinet

https://www.ayakooshima.com/

About Mohamed Shams, piano

Pianist Mohamed Shams enjoys a varied musical life as performer with a strong emphasis on chamber music and neglected and rare composers of the late nineteenth and an advocate of twentieth century music. He has performed a diverse repertoire as chamber music and soloist throughout the United States, as well as in England, Scotland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungry, Tunisia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Egypt.

Mr. Shams has performed as a soloist in historically significant venues around the world such Weill Hall/Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Usher Hall, Dundee Concert Hall, Manasterly Palace, Beethoven Saal, Stadthalle in Göttingen, The Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and Bruno Walter Auditorium/Lincoln Center. Along with having performed in such venues he performed as soloist with world-renowned orchestras such Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Batiz, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Kluxen, Manhattan School Orchestra/Entremont, Royal Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra/Danzmayr Göttingen Symphoniker/Abbassi, and Cairo Symphony Orchestra/Mueller. As a chamber music collaborator, he worked with world-class musicians, including Mr. Neidich, as well as Fred Sherry, Ayako Oshima, Suren Bagratuni, Jonthan Plowright, Steven Osborne, and Vers Beths.

Mr. Shams has been featured in WQXR young artist showcase three times including one time exclusively devoted to his live recordings. He was semi-finalist at Washington International Piano Competition and Scottish International Piano Competition. Mr. Shams was also invited to many international music festivals such as Beethoven Festival in Bonn, String Academy in Pilsen, Brevard Music Festival in NC, and Pianofest in the Hamptons and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Piano festival.
As recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship grant in 2006 in research of 20th century American composers, Mr. Shams has performed masterpieces of such eminent composers like Elliot Carter, John Corigliano, Leonard Bernstein, and John Musto. He is also a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians in London in 2012.

Mr. Shams's musical studies earned him M.M., with Harold Bauer award from The Manhattan School of Music and B.M with distinction from Cairo Conservatoire. He also earned another M.M from The Royal Scottish Conservatoire where he was awarded the Governor's prize for outstanding achievements. His primary teachers were Edgar Davilianidzi, Douglas Weeks, Elena Dizamshvilli, Marc Silverman, Aaron Shorr, Steven Osborne, and David Westfall. Currently work as a part-time faculty at Purchase College of Music-SUNY and currently a chamber music coach at RWS entertainment group.

https://www.mohamedpianist.com/