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Welcome to The Berkeley Hillside Club Concert Series. Our goal is to provide a superb venue for musicians and listeners to experience the joy of live music performance. Come join us in our historic and acoustically excellent hall and see why artists and audiences are raving about our Concert Series. Our concerts generally begin at 8:00 pm (please check the individual concert listing for the exact time), and our doors open about one half hour before show time. Tickets are available at the door; we do not offer advance ticket sales. To receive timely announcements of up-coming events and other Concert Series news, please join our email list. "Songs For The Dead And The Living" The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present these three
stellar artists in a program of original art songs. Don't miss
the opportunity to hear these superb players performing in our
acoustically-excellent hall. The Program: If you asked a bebop jazz pianist and a session singer to name some of their favorite songs, you might not expect works by Franz Schubert or Maurice Ravel to be at the top of the list. But when Adam Shulman and Katy Stephan discovered their mutual affection for 19th century art songs, the two decided to write some of their own. Known for his bebop chops, Shulman has long been the pianist for the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra and has played with jazz greats such as Paula West, Bobby Hutcherson and with the Glen Miller Orchestra. Stephan's voice has been featured in several film scores and television ads, and on Sunday and Tuesday nights she helms the piano bar Martuni's, where she's known for her versatility, easily transitioning between pop songs, standards, show tunes, and opera. But both grew up playing and listening to classical music. "I have the sound of that harmony in my ear," Shulman says, "but in my present career, I never get a chance to play or write in that style." Both Shulman and Stephan wanted to try to compose unique, original songs in a classical style. The two collaborated on the songs over several months - in some cases working separately and later combining their efforts, and in others working together to construct melody and harmony simultaneously. The result is a song cycle for voice and piano, entitled Songs For The Dead And The Living. Ranging in mood from lush and dramatic to sparkling and whimsical, the songs are patterned after the classical art songs of the 19th century Romantics and early 20th century Impressionists. Accompanying Shulman and Stephan for this concert will be Oakland East Bay Symphony Assistant Principal cellist Joseph Hébert. What is an Art Song exactly? The art song could be considered the prefect marriage of music and text. An art song, or a collection of art songs, is intended to stand on its own (which distinguishes it from opera or other theatrical works), and often utilizes piano accompaniment. But the piano usually does more than just support the vocal melody, often functioning as an equal partner with a distinct and expressive voice. "An art song is a perfect little gem," explains Stephan. "It can tell a story, or express the most fleeting mood. It's like the flash from a camera, capturing something ephemeral in musical form." For the listener who enjoys classical music, art song has the advantage of being presented all on its own, without any context. You don't have to sit through hours of awkward dialogue or spear-carrying filler. And for the listener with more of a pop sensibility, the art song is usually the same duration as a song you might hear on the radio, but it can offer a much more dynamic range of expression, color and intensity. The Artists: Adam Shulman has been a staple of the San Francisco jazz scene since he moved to the city in 2002. Before the move, Adam was a student at UC Santa Cruz where he studied with the great Smith Dobson and the trumpeter/arranger Ray Brown. He received his degree in classical performance under the tutelage of the Russian pianist Maria Ezerova. Currently, Shulman plays regularly with Marcus Shelby in large and small group contexts and with Anton Schwartz mostly in a trio setting. He can also be seen as a sideman with countless bay area musicians and vocalists such as John Wittala, Vince Lateano, Kitty Margolis, Andrew Speight, Dayna Stephens, Ian Cary, and Mike Zilber. Shulman has played as a sideman with internationally renowned artists Stefon Harris, Willie Jones III, Miguel Zenon, Luciana Souza, Paula West, Bobby Hutcherson and with the Glen Miller Orchestra. Katy Stephan has created original music for several live theatre productions, including Under Milk Wood (Porchlight Theatre), Word For Word's Three Blooms (Magic Theatre), LysistrataProject (Berkeley Rep), and Bury The Dead (Cooper Union, New York City). She won a Bay Area Critic's Circle Award in 2005. Stephan has recently been a soloist with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, for their concert of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, and previously for Leonard Bernstein's Mass. She was a soloist and chorus member on the Grammy-nominated recording of Mass with Kent Nagano, the Pacific Mozart Ensemble and the Deutsche Symphonie. Stephan's first attempt at original songs, recorded at home in November 2005 and posted on her website, was named one of the San Francisco Chronicle's "Ten Best Local Releases" of the year; and from March through December of 2006 she wrote, recorded, and posted a new song once every week (every7days.com). She revived the weekly songwriting project in January 2010. Joseph Hébert is Assistant Principal Cello of the Oakland East Bay Symphony in California, and is Music Director of a 10,000 member church, where he directs multiple choirs. Mr. Hébert is also a voting member of the Grammy Awards Recording Academy. He has shared the concert stage and recording studio with renowned artists from the classical and popular music worlds including: Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Linda Ronstadt, Ray Charles, Harry Connick Jr., Jesse Norman, Marilyn Horne and a host of others. As a member of the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, Mr. Hébert has recorded on numerous soundtracks for movies and individual artist/CD projects. Hébert served for over 15 years on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley where he taught cello, conducted the String Ensemble, and directed multiple choruses in the Young Musicians Program; a program that provides music training scholarships to highly gifted disadvantaged Junior High and High School students. Joseph studied music at Stanford University, California State University East Bay (Hayward), and the University of California at Berkeley. The Sun Quartet The Berkeley Hillside Club is delighted to present one of our favorite ensembles, joining us this time with special guests, in an All-Brahms program. Don't miss the opportunity to hear these superb players performing in our acoustically-excellent hall. The Ensemble: The Sun Quartet's members are among the most highly regarded instrumentalists on the West Coast, and include major international prize-winners, noted soloists, and esteemed chamber musicians.. This superb ensemble consists of Sacramento State faculty members Ian Swensen and Anna Presler on violin, Anna Kruger on viola, and Andrew Luchansky on cello. The quartet has performing together since 1994, and is nationally regarded for their mastery of instrumental color and driving performance style. Joining the Sun Quartet for this performance will be special guest artists Deborah Pittman on clarinet, Emily Onderdonk on viola and Hans Hoffer on cello. The Program: The Sun Quartet and guests will perform two of Brahms' chamber music masterpieces. The G major Sextet opus 36, an early deeply personal work and the Clarinet Quintet opus 115, his final chamber music offering. In his biography of Brahms, Jan Swafford says of the exuberant and romantic G major Sextet, "this is a piece about love and loss-Brahm's particular love and loss and anyones. The meaning of those notes to him resounds breathtakingly in the music...he shaped their effect for the listener by craft, every dimension contributing its part. Melody, harmony, texture,timbre and form coalesce to make the climax what it is." The last movement is one of Brahms most glorious and uplifting Finales. Swafford says of the Clarinet Quintet "nothing competes with the glory of the instrument "...it raises the a veil of autumn ...wistful sweetness pervades the atmosphere" "In the Quintet even more than in other works , Brahms also demonstrates as well as any composer that some of the greatest art exists near the edges of sentiment.." This work is full of passion and warmth. The Artists: Ian Swensen is one of the very few musicians to have been awarded top prize in both the International Violin Competition and the International Chamber Music Competition (as first violinist of the Meliora String Quartet) of the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation; he received the awards consecutively in 1984 and 1985. Since then he has performed as soloist and chamber artist in many prestigious concert halls, including Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Symphony Hall in Boston, and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He has also performed with the Spoleto, Santa Fe, Aspen, Marlboro, and Chamber Music West festivals, among others. Swensen studied at the Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay and at the Eastman School with Donald Weilerstein, and has taught at the Longy School at Cambridge, Florida State University, and Oberlin Conservatory. His recordings can be found on the Telarc, Mercury, and Musical Heritage labels. A native of North Carolina, violinist Anna Presler now lives in Berkeley, California. She is a member of the New Century Chamber Orchestra and performs with several groups specializing in 20th century music including the Left Coast Ensemble and the Onyx Quartet. As a member of the Sun Quartet she serves on the faculty of California State University in Sacramento. She has taught at the Center for Chamber Music at Apple Hill in New Hampshire and participated in festivals at Tanglewood and at the International Musicians' Program in Cornwall, England. She holds degrees in music from the North Carolina School of the Arts and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and a degree in history from Yale University. Anna currently teaches violin and music history at CSUS. As founding violist of the renowned Lark Quartet, Anna Kruger toured extensively for 13 years throughout the United States and Europe, to Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and Russia. Among many competition prizes awarded the Lark were the Gold Medal in the 1991 Shostakovitch International String Quartet Competition and the 1990 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. Highlights of Ms. Kruger's seasons with the Lark include performances at the Lockenhaus Festival in Austria at the invitation of Gidon Kremer, the Beethoven Festival at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, (under the direction of Sviatoslav Richter), Lyon's Musicades Festival in France, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Northern Germany, and Mexico's Festival de Musica de Camera. Major centers where she has performed include NY's Lincoln Center, the National Gallery and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, St. Paul's Ordway Theater, San Francisco's Herbst Theater, and in the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, Honolulu, Chicago, Atlanta, and Indianapolis. She has concertized abroad in the major cities of London, Paris, Basel, Stockholm, Munich, Hamburg, Vienna, St. Petersburg and Moscow. Ms. Kruger has recorded a series of CD's with the Lark Quartet for Arabesque Recordings, including works by Borodin, Elgar, Handel, Schickele, Schnittke, Schoenberg, Schumann, Spohr, and Zemlinsky. She has also recorded works for Decca , New World, CRI, and Point record labels. Ms. Kruger received her Bachelor's Degree with High Distinction from Indiana University and her Master's Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her major teachers have included Abraham Skernick, Karen Tuttle, James Buswell, Burton Kaplan, and George Neikrug. Andrew Luchansky earned a Bachelor of Music in cello performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music from State University of New York at Stony Brook. In addition, he studied chamber music with members of the Juilliard and Guarneri Quartets, as well as the Beaux Arts Trio. Prior to joining the Sacramento State faculty in 1993, Mr. Luchansky served as Professor of Cello at the Florida State University School of Music, and also as Principal Cellist with the Tallahassee Symphony. Before joining the FSU faculty, Mr. Luchansky spent ten years in New York City, where he was a frequent performer on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall. He has performed in nearly every other major U.S. city, as well as in Europe. In addition to teaching at Sacramento State, Mr. Luchansky also coaches chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory and has recorded for the Sony Classical label and was as soloist on the Wesley Snipes Warner Brothers Film "Sugar Hill". Mr. Luchansky has presented Master Classes at The University Of Florida, Colgate University, The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Princeton University, and The University of Southern Florida. An active chamber musician, Mr. Luchansky served on the faculty of California Summer Music at Pebble Beach for five years and is a regular Guest Artist at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in Keene New Hampshire. This past summer Mr. Luchansky was a guest artist at the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Italy and a soloist at the Festival International de Musica in Deia Spain. Deborah Pittman holds B.S. and M.A. degrees in music performance from Brooklyn College Conservatory and has done doctoral studies at the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Pittman was second and bass clarinetist with the Sacramento Symphony from 1981-1990. She has also held orchestral positions with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the State Symphony of Mexico, the Orchestra of New York, the Dance Theartre of Harlem, and she has played in th epit for several Broadway shows. Ms. Pittman is a member of the California Arts Project (TCAP), teaches at the CSU Chico Chamber Music Workshop and the Northern California Chamber Musicians, and in the summer of 2002 she became a Festival Artist at the Apple Hill Summer Festival. She was an Artist In Residence for the Sacramento Light Opera Association's Theatre education Project from 1996 to 1999. Emily Onderdonk, a native of San Francisco, received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Manhattan School of Music, and continued with post-graduate studies at Boston University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Raphael Bronstein, James Buswell, Daniel Kobialka, and Karen Tuttle. While working on her master's degree, Ms. Onderdonk won the principal viola position and went on tour with the New York City Opera National Company. Since then, she has performed as principal violist with numerous orchestras around the country including the Santa Fe Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in New Mexico, the Berkeley Symphony in California, and the Reno Philharmonic in Nevada. In 1995, Ms. Onderdonk began a two-year stint as principal violist with the Lyon National Opera in France, touring with the company to Paris, London and Vienna and recording CDs of Offenbach, Donizetti, Werther, Massenet and Puccini. In addition, she has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera. As a proponent of contemporary music for over 25 years, Ms. Onderdonk has played with such ensembles as Earplay in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Group for Contemporary Music in New York City. Also an avid supporter of children's music education, Ms. Onderdonk continues to perform yearly in schools, community centers and gyms - developing and performing interactive concerts for thousands of children across the western states. As a seasoned chamber musician she has appeared with chamber ensembles in New York, California, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Most recently, Ms. Onderdonk is performing and touring with her eclectic (musically) and spirited (personally) group Quartet San Francisco, which is currently in residence at Mills College. As a result of winning the Grand Prize at the 2004 International Tango Competition in NYC, the quartet recently completed a trip to Buenos Aires, where they gave two standing-room-only performances of tango and jazz works. Ms. Onderdonk often records pop and movie soundtracks, and plays for the San Francisco dates of many touring Broadway musicals. Ms. Onderdonk loves the outdoors, cherishes all animals and is especially enamored of fine chocolates. Cellist Hans Hoffer is a frequent performer as both an orchestral and chamber musician. A former member of the Anchorage Symphony, Hoffer is a scholar of the Academy at All Hallows, where he serves as Principal Cello. He is also a longtime member of the Northstate Symphony, where he has performed as Assistant-Principal since 2006. He is a regular substitute with many Northern California orchestras, including recent appearances with the Sacramento Philharmonic, the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra, the Modesto Symphony, the Mendocino Music Festival, and the Townsend Opera Players. A dedicated performer and instructor of chamber music, Hoffer has been, since 2004, cellist of the Tyree Trio. He has concertized widely on the west coast, including appointments as an Emerging Artist at the Mendocino Music Festival and as principal cellist of the Chico Bach Festival. He is on staff at the California Captital Chamber Music Workshop and a fellow of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra. He is also a member of Sacramento's Camerata Capistrano, a historically-informed performance ensemble. His primary teachers have been Linda Ottum, Andrew Luchansky, and Carla-Maria Rodrigues, and he has performed in master classes for such artists as the Tokyo String Quartet, Gilbert Kalish, Wieland Kuijiken, the Apple Hill Chamber Players, Eleanor Schoenfeld, and Chris Finckel. He lives in Sacramento. | |||
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