Past Seasons


	An Afternoon with John Milton date: March 1, 1998; and October 25, 1998. place: Greenwich House Music School, 36 Barrow Street, New York City; in October, German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, 315 West 22^nd Street, New York City. readings: Milton’s "L’Allegro," "Il Penseroso," and "Lycidas." music: Handel’s L’Allegro (excerpts) and Henry Lawes’ original settings for Milton’s Comus. Commissioned work: Of Songs and Sonnets by Arnold Rosner (settings of three short poems by Milton). performers (March): Nancy Bogen, Marshall Coid, Elaine Comparone, Richard Edelman; (October): Jeffrey Gall, Mary Ann Hart, Richard Stone, Lisa Terry, Gwendolyn Toth. The Nativity in Verse and Song date: January 24, 1999. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. readings: "Nativity" by John Donne (?1571-1631) from "La Corona"; "Christmas" by George Herbert (1593-1633); "The Nativity" by Henry Vaughan (1622-1695); "An Hymn of the Nativity, sung as by the Shepheards" by Richard Crashaw (?1612-1649); "On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity" by John Milton (1608-1674). music: Part Five of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Commissioned work: The Burning Babe by Stephen Douglas Burton (setting of Robert Southwell’s poem). performers: Nancy Bogen, Richard Edelman, Tom Reilly, the Four Nations Ensemble. Façade and Other Non-Sense date: April 11, 1999. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. readings: T.S. Eliot’s "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "Portrait of a Lady." music: William Walton’s Façade (text by Dame Edith Sitwell). Commissioned work: Irrational Synergies by Elodie Lauten (settings of short poems by Gertrude Stein, E.E. Cummings, and Ezra Pound). performers: Nancy Bogen, Mark Duer, Richard Edelman, Chris Finckel, Katherine Fink, Steve Hartman, Russell Oberlin, Albert Regni. Shakespeare's Sisters date: October 24,1999. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. readings: poetry by little-known contemporaries of Shakespeare: Anne (Askew) Kyme, Isabella Whitney, Mary Stuart, Queen Elizabeth I, Aemilia Lanyer, Mary Sidney Herbert, Mary Wroth. music: aires by Dowland, Morley, Campion, Robert Johnson, and Rosseter. Commissioned work: Pour Lui by Memrie Innerarity (settings of sonnets in French by Mary Stuart). performers: Elizabeth Farnum, Mary Hurlbut, Ronn MacFarlane, Carlotta Sherwood, Virginia Wolfe. Byron and Shelley in Italy (Presented in honor of distinguished scholar Carl Woodring) date: March 12, 2000. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. readings: "To a Skylark," "Line Written Among the Euganean Hills," "The Mask of Anarchy," and "Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Bysshe Shelley; Canto IV of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage by Lord Byron. music: She Walks in Beauty by Nicolas Flagello (setting of Byron’s poem), The Moon by Jack Beeson (setting of Shelley’s poem). Commissioned works: So We’ll Go No More A-Roving by Charles Griffin (setting of Byron’s poem) and To the Keen Stars by Arnold Rosner (setting of Shelley’s poem). performers: Richard Edelman, Elizabeth Farnum, Russell Oberlin, Peter Vinograde, and former students of Carl Woodring. We are grateful to the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation for their generous assistance in making this program possible. America Singing: A Festival date: May 21, 2000. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. readings: "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, "The Gift Outright" by Robert Frost, "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Van Winckel" by Hart Crane, "To The Western World" by Louis Simpson. music: The Dodger and Simple Gifts by Aaron Copland; He Is There and The Things Our Fathers Loved by Charles Ives; Irrational Synergies by Elodie Lauten (settings of poems by Gertrude Stein, e.e. Cummings, and Ezra Pound; a 2^nd performance of a Lark Ascending commission); Martin Halpern’s chamber opera The Boy from Deerfield (world premiere). performers: Victoria Atwater, Judith Barnes, Nancy Bogen, Gary Dranch, Darcy Dunn, Richard Edelman, Martin Halpern, Tim Hutto, Alfred Hyslop, John Ito, Lisa Johnson, Peter Ludwig, Alec Petkoff, Maria Gabriella Rengel, Mark Singer, Jean-Claude Vasseux, Jonathan Weber, Robert Weintraub, Sybille Werner, Sarah White, Stephen Wilson, et al. We are grateful to the Maldeb Foundation-Queens College Alumni Performers Fund for their generous assistance in making this program possible. Chansons and Lieder I date: November 12, 2000. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. readings: Coeur de Lion, Mon Coeur by Nancy Bogen (with slides and music on CD; world premiere), and selections from Arnold Schönberg and His Viennese Family by Arnold Greissle-Schönberg. music: Verlaine Variations by Elodie Lauten (a slide choreography by Nancy Bogen; world premiere); Waldesnacht by Arnold Schönberg (text by Paul Heyse); Das bucklichte Männlein by Alexander von Zemlinsky (text from the Knaben Wunderhorn); Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen by Gustav Mahler (text by Friedrich Rückert); "Löwenbändiger Ballade," "Ballade von den Schiffen," and "Gebet der Schneeschaufler" from Sieben Balladen by Georg (Zemlinsky) Schönberg (text by Fred Eggarter; American premiere). performers: Arnold Greissle-Schönberg, Peter Ludwig, Dunja Pechstein, Jean-Claude Vasseux, Peter Vinograde. The Great Debate in Hell date: February 4, 2001. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. reading: A Dramatic Reading of Books I and II of Milton’s Paradise Lost. music: Commissioned work: two organ preludes and an interlude by Richard Brooks. performers: Judith Barnes, Brent Bouldin, Richard Edelman, Richard Erickson, Alfred Hyslop, Susan Levin, Peter Ludwig, Russell Oberlin, Edgar Oliver, Jean-Claude Vasseux. Chansons and Lieder II date April 29, 2001. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. readings: Coeur de Lion, Mon Coeur by Nancy Bogen (with slides and music on CD; 2^nd performance), and selections from Arnold Schönberg and His Viennese Family by Arnold Greissle-Schönberg. music: Verlaine Variations by Elodie Lauten (a slide choreography by Nancy Bogen; second performance); Schönberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces, op. 19; Sieben Balladen by Georg (Zemlinsky) Schönberg (American premiere of 4 of the Balladen). performers: Arnold Greissle-Schönberg, Peter Ludwig, Jean-Claude Vassuex, Peter Vinograde. American Dream/American Nightmare date: November 11, 2001. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. reading: "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d" by Walt Whitman. music: Gematria: Prologue by Arnold Rosner; Commissioned work: A Woman So Unusual by Denise Broadhurst (from the Diary of Rose Zwaifler); The Song of the Hermit Thrush by Martin Halpern (text by Walt Whitman); The Far Field by Charles Griffin (text by Theodore Roethke). multimedia: Black on Black/13: a reading with slides of Wallace Stevens’s "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" followed by a slide-choreography of Chorale Variations for Two Horns and String Orchestra by Richard Brooks (world premiere). performers: Bryan K. Appleby-Wineberg, Bradley Brookshire, Richard Edelman, Elizabeth Farnum, Dennis Joseph, Russell Oberlin, Elizabeth Rodgers. The Great Debate in Hell dates: February 3 and February 10, 2002. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. reading: A Dramatic Reading of Books I and II of Milton’s Paradise Lost. music: Commissioned work: Clausulae for Three Trombones by Arnold Rosner performers: Judith Barnes, Jason Bauer, Richard Edelman, Isidore Elias, Greg Erickson, Alfred Hyslop, Susan Levin, Peter Ludwig, Russell Oberlin, Edgar Oliver, Johannes Pfankuch, Dale Turk. Chansons and Lieder III date: April 20, 2002. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. reading: Das Lied von der Glocke by Friederich Schiller. music: Three French Songs by Lee Hoiby (text by Arthur Rimbaud); Pour Lui by Memrie Innerarity (settings of sonnets in French by Mary Queen of Scots; a 2^nd performance of a Lark Ascending commission); Of Numbers and Of Bells by Arnold Rosner (1st live performance). performers: the Duo Turgeon (dual pianists), Peter Ludwig, Shirley Perkins, Peter Vinograde, and 6th grade students of German School New York (with slides of their original illustrations). Two Pianos/Six Hands date: April 21, 2002. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City. music: All-Bach piano concert and Arnold Rosner’s Of Numbers and Of Bells (2^nd live performance). performers: Duo Turgeon, Peter Vinograde. Samson Agonistes date: February 2 and February 9, 2003; and August 2, 2003. place: German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, New York City; in August, McNally Auditorium, Fordham University Law School-Lincoln Center, New York City. reading: A dramatic reading of the complete work. music: Commissioned work: prelude and postlude for synthesizer by Dinu Ghezzo. performers (February): Jason Bauer, Richard Edelman, Alfred Hyslop, Peter Ludwig, Russell Oberlin, Edgar Oliver, Carlotta Sherwood (August): Richard Edelman, Maurice Edwards, Alfred Hyslop, Peter Ludwig, George McGrath, Edgar Oliver, Carlotta Sherwood. Bach and Beyond date: April 5, 2003. place: Jay Gould Memorial Church, Roxbury, NY. music: All-Bach solo piano recital plus the Fantasy-Impromptu for Piano by Richard Brooks. performer: Peter Vinograde. Toujours L'Amour date: May 3, 2003. place: Jay Gould Memorial Church, Roxbury, NY. music: A program of opera & operetta duets plus Pour Lui by Memrie Innerarity (a 4^th performance of a Lark Ascending commission). performers: Peter Ludwig, Douglas Martin, Shirley Perkins. A Kingdom for a Song date: February 5 , 2004. place: Austrian Cultural Forum, New York City. reading: Coeur de Lion, Mon Coeur by Nancy Bogen (with slides and music on CD; 3^rd performance), and selections from Arnold Schönberg and His Viennese Family by Arnold Greissle-Schönberg. music: Elegie by Elodie Lauten, Waldesnacht by Arnold Schönberg, Vier Klavierstcke by Georg Schönberg (world premiere). performers: Richard Duncan, Arnold Greissle-Schönberg, Peter Ludwig, Jeffrey Mandelbaum, George McGrath, Shirley Perkins, Peter Vinograde, William Zito. We are grateful to the Alexander Zemlinsky Fonds and Alban Berg Stiftung for their generous assistance in making this program possible. Samson Agonistes date: April 2, 2004. place: Proshansky Auditorium, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York City. reading: A dramatic reading of the complete work. music: "Four Miniatures for Viola and Guitar" by Richard Brooks. performers: Richard Edelman, Maurice Edwards, Alfred Hyslop, Peter Ludwig, George McGrath, Edgar Oliver, Louise Schulman, Carlotta Sherwood, William Zito. Presented as part of the 2004 conference of the Renaissance Society of America. Robert and Hal A workshop production of a new opera by Richard Brooks with libretto by Marcia Elder. date: October 9, 2004 place: The German-Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, 315 West 22^nd Street, New York City performers: Richard Duncan, conductor; James Archie Worley, Robert; Justin Ryan, Hal; Elizabeth Honer, Robert's fiancée, Susan; Brannon Hall-Garcia, Robert's father; Elizabeth Perryman, Robert's mother; Tom Goldstein, bartender; Pablo Henares, André, Hal's old boyfriend; Andrew Walsh, bigoted Englishman. Vienna, Vidi Vici date: November 4, 2004. place: Austrian Cultural Forum, 11 East 52^nd Street, New York City music: Mein Lebenslauf, a cantata for baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Georg Schönberg, arranged for chamber performance by Richard Brooks (world premiere); Piano Sonata by Alban Berg; Fantasie # 2 by Alexander von Zemlinsky reading: Coeur de Lion, Mon Coeur, by Nancy Bogen (with slides and live music; 4^th performance) performers: Richard Duncan, conductor; Peter Ludwig, baritone; Shirley Perkins, soprano; Erika Person, mezzo-soprano; Pablo Henares, tenor; Brannon Hall-Garcia, bass baritone; Mayuki Fukuhara, violin; Elizabeth Mann, flute; Vadim Lando, clarinet; Myron Lutzke, cello; Peter Vinograde, piano; George McGrath, reader; Jeffrey Mandelbaum, countertenor; Louise Schulman, vielle; William Zito, lute. It Takes Two: A Happening, with Violas date: October 18, 2005. place: The Sculpture Studio of Shirley West, 427 Washington Street, New York City music: Study for Viola and Digital Echo by John Eaton; Excerpt from Vespers: Antiphon 1 and Psalm 134 (arranged for two violas) by John Eaton; A Duet for Violas by Arnold Rosner; Sonata for Solo Viola by Richard Brooks. reading: A Wake by Tom Reilly; I. Love. You. by Manuel Gavales; Twelve-Tone Blues by Nancy Bogen performers: Viola Harris, reader; George McGrath, reader; Morna Murphy Martell, reader; Edgar Oliver, reader; Louise Schulman, viola; Liuh-Wen Ting, viola. Wordsworth In Our Time date: October 20, 2005 and October 22, 2005. place: The Sculpture Studio of Shirley West, 427 Washington Street, New York City; German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Paul, 315 West 22nd Street, New York City music: Four Miniatures for Viola and Guitar by Richard Brooks reading: The World is Too Much with Us; Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Walls; I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud; Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey; The Lucy Poems; Elegiac Stanzas Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle; Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood by William Wordsworth performers: Maurice Edwards, reader, George McGrath, reader; Carlotta Sherwood, reader Schubert Mal Vier date: April 5, 2006 and April 21, 2006. place: Austrial Cultural Forum, 11 East 52nd Street, New York City; German Consulate Auditorium, 871 UN Plaza, New York City music: featuring some of Schubert's most celebrated lieder, arranged for vocal quartet by Richard Duncan: An die Musik, Im Frühling, Sei mir gegrüßt, Wanderers Nachtlied, Heidenröslein, Der Erlkönig, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Kennst du das Land, Die Forelle, Der Tod das Madchen, Du bist die Ruh’ performers: Shirley Perkins, soprano; Nicole Cherniak Hyde, mezzo soprano; Alex Guerrero, tenor; Peter Ludwig, bass baritone; Richard Duncan, arranger, director, and conductor We are grateful to the Alexander Zemlinsky Fonds and Alban Berg Stiftung for their generous assistance in making this program possible. Etwas Altes, Etws Neues date: October 10, 2006. place: Austrial Cultural Forum, 11 East 52nd Street, New York City music: featuring the Wind Quartet and Six Pieces for Wind Quartet by Georg Schönberg; Five Canonic Duos for oboe and bassoon—A newly commissioned work by American composer Steven Gerber; Twelve Tone Blues, A Dramatic Monologue by Nancy Bogen. performers: Viola Harris, reader; Karl Kramer, horn; Martin Kuuksmann, bassoon; Vadim Lando, clarinet; George Reuter, English horn and oboe; Louise Schulman, viola Bach on the Bösendorfer date: March 21, 2007 place: Austrial Cultural Forum, 11 East 52nd Street, New York City music: Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach; Fantasy Impromptu for Solo Piano by Richard Brooks performers: Peter Vinograde, piano Vier Hände Zwei Herzen date: October 19 and October 26, 2007 place: Austrial Cultural Forum, 11 East 52nd Street, New York City and St. John's Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher Street, New York City music: Sonata in D Major, Andante & Variations in G Major by Mozart; Strange Cohabitation by Debra Kaye; Am Land by Olga Novakovic, Fantasy in F Minor, D. 940 by Franz Schubert, Running Snakes by Richard Brooks performers: Peter Vinograde and Nataliya Medvedovskaya, piano Löwenherzen (Lionhearts) date: April 9 and April 17, 2008 place: Austrial Cultural Forum, 11 East 52nd Street, New York City and St. John's Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher Street, New York City music: I.LOVE.YOU. by Richard Brooks; Textur, No. 14, Tonales Gefüge by Katharina Klement reading: Coeur de Lion, Mon Coeur, by Nancy Bogen (with slides and live music; 5th performance) performers: George MeGrath, Tim Hill, Charlotte Vierveyzer, oboe, Shanti Raval, clarinet