Strathmore April MIM Concerts: Miranda Cuckson; Israeli Chamber Project; Lily Neill & Vesa Norilo

Lily Neill visits the Mansion, April 23rd

From our friends at the Strathmore...

Strathmore Music in the Mansion Presents Miranda Cuckson; Israeli Chamber Project; Lily Neill, Harp & Vesa Norilo, Cello

Performer from multimedia Strathmore-commissioned RADHE RADHE returns for solo recital

What’s “old” is new again in April’s Music in the Mansion concerts. Strathmore welcomes back violinist and violist Miranda Cuckson for a solo performance - this concert follows her appearance with acclaimed composer Vijay Iyer in the Music Center earlier this season; the intrepid Israeli Chamber Project performs the Washington, D.C. premiere of The Ice Palace, commissioned by the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund; and Strathmore Artist in Residence alum and acclaimed harpist Lily Neill play a collaborative multi-media performance with cellist Vesa Norilo. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

The Music in the Mansion concert series is sponsored by Asbury Methodist Village. Additional support for Miranda Cuckson is provided by the Randy Hostetler Living Room Music Fund.

April Music in the Mansion performances are:

MIRANDA CUCKSON, VIOLIN
Thursday, April 9, 2015
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $25

Iannis Xenakis: Mikka S
Mario Davidovsky: Synchronisms No. 9 for violin and electronic sounds     
Roger Sessions: Sonata for Violin
Brian Ferneyhough: Intermedio alla ciaconna

Violinist and violist Miranda Cuckson is acclaimed for her performances of a wide range of repertoire, from early eras to the most current creations. She made her Music Center debut earlier this season in the industrious Vijay Iyer: Music of Transformation. The “fixture of New York’s modern-music scene” (New York Times) makes her solo return in the Mansion, performing an immersive repertoire of Xenakis, Sessions, Ferneyhough, and Davidovsky. She recently performed Davidovsky’s “Synchronisms No. 9” in New York, receiving applause from the Times: “Her tonal luster and variety of touch enliven everything she plays.” The pieces present not only technical challenges for the performer, but absorbing new perceptions for the listener in terms of one's sense of time, pitch, and instrumental timbre. Each composer on the program has a very distinct and vivid musical language, creating a vibrant, exciting sound world and a beautiful progression of characters and motion - colorful, surprising, visceral, and intriguing. Experience an “exceptionally adventurous intellect…” (Philadelphia Inquirer) that brings underserved classical gems into the light.

ISRAELI CHAMBER PROJECT
Thursday, April 16, 2015
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $28

Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp
Carter: Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux for Flute & Clarinet
Zohar Sharon: The Ice Palace
Ravel: Introduction & Allegro
Schumann: Piano Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 44

The artists of this award-winning ensemble are joined by a common passion for music-making and the musical traditions of their native Israel. Acclaimed in performances around the world, they mix music from the standard classical repertoire with music born in and influenced by Israeli culture. In the Mansion, the Israeli Chamber Project will perform works by Debussy, Schumann, Carter, Ravel, and Zohar Sharon. Discover an extraordinary group whose artists “think, breathe and play as one…spellbinding” (Time Out New York).

LILY NEILL, HARP & VESA NORILO, CELLO
Thursday, April 23, 2015
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $25

Acclaimed harpist Lily Neill unpacks a valise of treasures in her performances, enthralling audiences with her original compositions and the Irish jigs and reels, Finnish tangos, and Lithuanian dances that she has collected on her travels. Neill began her career as a child, performing for President Clinton and alongside super-group The Chieftains, and blossomed into a lauded solo performer, showcasing the harp’s multifaceted personality with her dynamic kaleidoscope of music. She collaborates for this concert, virtually, with cellist Vesa Norilo, with whom she has explored the sonic possibilities of the Irish harp and cello in repertoire from around the world. Norilo has recorded audio and video of his part, which will accompany Neill’s live performance. Neill will also perform several solo works.

About Strathmore:

Strathmore presents and produces exemplary visual and performing arts programs for diverse audiences; creates dynamic arts education experiences; and nurtures creative ideas and conversations that advance the future of the arts. The hallmark of the arts center is the Music Center at Strathmore, a 1,976-seat concert hall and education complex. The Music Center at Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, MD, one half-mile north of the Capital Beltway and immediately adjacent to the Grosvenor-Strathmore station on Metro’s Red Line. For those attending a ticketed performance at the Music Center at Strathmore, parking in the Metro garage is complimentary with your ticket.