Argento New Music Project: Made in America
Suggested donation: $20 general, $10 student ($1 minimum)
- Han Chen, piano
- Sharon Harms, soprano
- Francesca Ferrara, flute
- Kathy Halvorson, oboe
- Carol McGonnell, clarinet
- Karl Kramer-Johansen, French horn
- Joshua Butcher, bassoon
- Brad Siroky, trumpet
- Jen Baker, trombone
- Sean Statser, percussion
- Josh Perry, percussion
- Conrad Harris, violin
- Giancarlo Latta, violin
- Clara King, violin
- Chala Yancy, violin
- Gregory Luce, viola
- Carrie Frey, viola
- Michael Katz, cello
- Aaron Wolff, cello
- Austin Lewellen, double bass
- Troy Rinker, Jr., double bass
- Michel Galante, conductor
William Grant Still — Mother and Child
Charles Ives — The Housatonic at Stockbridge
Charles Ives — Three Places in New England (Orchestral Set No. 1)
Sang Song — Hoarding Behaviors (world premiere)
The pianist Han Chen joins members of the Argento New Music Project in concert under the baton of maestro and Artistic Director of Argento Michel Galante at Benzaquen Hall at DiMenna Center, April 6, 2024, at 4 pm. Mr. Chen will participate in a performance of Three Places in New England by American composer Charles Ives, and the world premiere of Korea-born composer Sang Song's Hoarding Behaviors. Entitled "Made in America," all five works on this program were and are conceived and written in America.
Inspired by the case of the Collyer Brothers, Song took inspiration from Beethoven's "Diabelli" Variations (a set of 33 variations when Beethoven was commissioned to write just one), J.M.W. Turner's bequest to the National Gallery (a heap of 20,000 drawings and sketches) and Alfred Lord Tennyson's In Memoriam A.H.H. (a collection of 133 elegies with a total of 2,916 lines) and created a musical reflection on human frailty. Hoarding Behaviors is commissioned by Fromm Foundation at Harvard University.
About Han Chen, piano
Pianist Han Chen has emerged among the new generation of concert pianists as a uniquely fearless performer in a wide variety of musical settings. Gold Medalist at the 2013 China International Piano Competition and a prizewinner at the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition, he has been praised by Gramophone as "impressively commanding and authoritative" and further cited by The New York Times for his "graceful touch," "rhythmic precision" and "hypnotic charm." Chen's virtuosity is enriched by a probing commitment to new and lesser-known works as well as the great cornerstones of the piano repertory. This vision is clearly evident in his four solo Naxos CDs focusing on Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Thomas Adès, and more recently, György Ligeti's Complete Piano Études. As soloist with orchestra, Chen’s appearances include the Calgary Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Taiwan Symphony, China Symphony and Xiamen Philharmonic. He made his Lincoln Center debut with Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in December 2022 performing Mozart's early masterwork, the Piano Concerto No. 9 "le Jeunehomme." Chen has performed as solo recitalist throughout Europe, North America, and China. In frequent demand as a chamber musician, Chen is a core member of Ensemble Échappé while regularly collaborating with The Metropolis Ensemble and other adventurous groups in performances in America and abroad. In 2021, Chen launched Migration Music, an ongoing series of interviews and performances featuring immigrant composers.
Han Chen has studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky, Wha Kyung Byun, and Ursula Oppens at The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and CUNY Graduate Center. He is represented by Black Tea Music.
https://www.hanchenpiano.com/About Sharon Harms, soprano
About Kathy Halvorson, oboe
A Wisconsin native, Ms. Halvorson is one of the most versatile oboists working today, as both an improviser and accomplished classical oboist.
She was principal oboe with the Symphony Orchestra de Mineria in Mexico City, formerly oboist for the Broadway musical On the Town in New York City, as well as the 2017 North American tour of Les Misérables. She has performed often with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the American Symphony and New Jersey Symphony Orchestras, Argento Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, and Jupiter Chamber Players, as well as principal oboe with the Berkshire Opera and the Northeast Pennsylvania and Hudson Valley Philharmonics. Ms. Halvorson was also principal oboe with Opera2005 in Cork, Ireland and recorded 12 CDs as principal oboe with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra under Kevin Mallon and Nicolas McGegan.
In 2012 she founded the West Side Chamber Orchestra, dedicated to performance on modern instruments of music of the Enlightenment. They released a CD of Harpsichord Concertos with Christopher Lewis on the Naxos Label in 2013. Her arrangements and improvisations on pop, jazz, folk, and world music can be heard on the CDs Unraveled and Palette with her oboe trio Threeds.
Ms. Halvorson studied at the New England Conservatory, at Rutgers University with Jonathan Blumenfeld and Matt Sullivan, and at the Royal Conservatory in the Netherlands with Bart Schneemann. In Holland she performed regularly with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the the Calefax Reed Quintet, the Netherlands Balletorkest, and many others. She has also worked with the Mingus Epitaph, jazz bassoonist Michael Rabinowitz, and Bjork.
A lover of jazz, Ms. Halvorson studied jazz improvisation with Tim Price during the pandemic of 2020. “No praise is sufficient for the oboe playing of Kathy Halvorson” – Richard Dyer, "The Boston Globe."
https://www.kathyhalvorson.com/About Carol McGonnell, clarinet
About Karl Kramer-Johansen, French horn
About Joshua Butcher, bassoon
About Brad Siroky, trumpet
About Jen Baker, trombone
About Sean Statser, percussion
About Josh Perry, percussion
About Conrad Harris, violin
About Giancarlo Latta, violin
About Chala Yancy, violin
About Carrie Frey, viola
About Michael Katz, cello
About Aaron Wolff, cello
About Austin Lewellen, double bass
About Michel Galante, conductor
Benzaquen Hall at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 W 37th StNew York, NY 10018
United States