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Press Releases
Curious Flights Announces 2015-2016 Season
The season opens on Saturday, August 29, 2015 with a program of English vocal and chamber music that showcases some of the Bay Area’s foremost artists and ensembles. San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow soprano Julie Adams, “a major vocal talent” (San Francisco Chronicle), appears as soloist with pianist Miles Graber performing John Ireland’s Songs Sacred and Profane. A recent winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and recipient of the George London Award, Julie Adams is a graduate of the Merola Opera program and has performed roles with the San Francisco Opera and Philharmonia Baroque. Exploring further vocal works from the British Isles, St. Dominic’s Schola Cantorum will present a selection of choral works by Vaughan Williams, Britten and Finzi led by British Music Director Simon Berry. Described by San Francisco Classical Voice as “brilliant, tender, whimsical, dazzling,” Bay Area pianist Daniel Glover teams up with Keisuke Nakagoshi of the GRAMMY nominated ZOFO Duo for a rare performance of Arnold Bax’s Sonata for Two Pianos. Two chamber works round out the program including Herbert Howell’s Rhapsodic Quintet with clarinetist Brenden Guy and the One Found Sound string quartet and Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonietta, Op. 1 featuring the Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble led by John Kendall Bailey.
Internationally acclaimed British violinist Madeleine Mitchell appears in recital with Curious Flights as part of her tour of the U.S. on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 with a Veteran’s Day program in honor of the two World Wars. Trinity Alps Festival Founder and pianist of Nonsemble 6 Ian Scarfe joins Ms. Mitchell for a selection of works by British and American war era composers including Herbert Howells, Frank Bridge, John Cage, Ned Rorem and Aaron Copland. Clarinetist Brenden Guy will join for William Alwyn’s Conversations for violin, clarinet and piano as well as Gershwin’s American in Paris arranged by Ms. Mitchell. Described by The Times (U.K.) as “one of Britain’s liveliest musical forces” and “indefatigably adventurous,” Madeleine Mitchell has performed as soloist throughout the world with such orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Czech Radio Symphony as well as at various international festivals including the BBC Proms, Aspen and the Lincoln Center where she represented Britain as part of the UKinNY festival. Ms. Mitchell has been a professor at the Royal College of Music (London) since 1994 and currently serves as Director of the London Chamber Ensemble and the Red Violin Festival.
Building upon the “Transatlantic Crossings” program launched in its inaugural 2013 season, Curious Flights will bring British composer Simon Dobson to the Bay Area for a weeklong residency offering master classes to local music schools and departments, presenting a pre-concert lecture and showcasing a selection of his works on Saturday, March 19, 2016. Simon Dobson was a recipient of the prestigious British Composers Awards in both 2012 and 2014 joining the ranks of such esteemed composers as Thomas Ades, Kaija Saariaho, Marc Anthony-Turnage, and Harrison Birtwistle. A major force in the brass band world, Dobson has written works that have been performed by some of most elite groups across the world and has served as Composer in Residence with the Leyland Band, the Brighouse and the Fairey Band. Dobson was trained at the Royal College of Music (London) and draws upon a fusion of different styles including hip hop, funk and ska, highlighted in his 2014 debut album Euneirophrenia in which he also performs trumpet. The program will feature a broad spectrum of his music for winds including the World Premiere of a Curious Flights commissioned work for clarinet and electronics performed by clarinetist Brenden Guy, the U.S. Premiere of Crystal for eight trumpets and the World Premiere of Another World’s Hell featuring the San Francisco Wind Ensemble. Led by Music Director Martin Seggelke, the Bay Area’s premiere wind ensemble will also highlight new works by Bay Area composers including a Curious Flights World Premiere commission by Noah Luna and a wind ensemble arrangement premiere of Metanoia by Robert Chastain, both graduates of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Completing the evening are two chamber works including Tension Study #1 by Samuel Adams performed by the Living Earth Show and Red River by Mason Bates featuring the Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble.
The season concludes on Saturday, May 28, 2016 with the West Coast Premiere of Marc Blitzstein’s The Airborne Symphony led by Marin Symphony and Sun Valley Symphony Music Director Alasdair Neale. A monumental work for large orchestra, men’s chorus, solo voices and narrator, The Airborne Symphony was premiered in 1946 by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic at the culmination of World War II and tells the dramatic historical story of human flight. The Curious Flights Symphony Orchestra will be joined by soloists Brian Thorsett (tenor) and Efrain Solís (baritone) and the Curious Flights Festival Chorus who will also feature in Barber’s A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map. Focusing on the untold contributions of American composers to both the war effort and the general promotion of American music during this era, the program will include Copland’s Sextet for clarinet, piano and string quartet and an arrangement of music from Korngold’s film score to The Constant Nymph featuring tenor Brian Thorsett as soloist.
“Following the success of our inaugural season, we were determined to return with an even bigger and more ambitious season,” said Curious Flights Founder and Artistic Director Brenden Guy. “We are fortunate that we have the opportunity to do so in such a vibrant and creative part of the world where audiences share our intrigue in exploring paths off the beaten track and unearthing gems that have slipped through the cracks. This year focuses exclusively on the talents from Great Britain and the United States, both I am honored to call my home.”
Tickets to all Curious Flights concerts are on sale now. Single tickets range in price from $20-$50 and can be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com or at the door.
For further information on Curious Flights, please visit www.curiousflights.com or email info@curiousflights.com.
Media contacts are listed at the end of the release.
CURIOUS FLIGHTS 2015-2016 SEASON CALENDAR
An English Portrait
Saturday, August 29, 2015, 8 p.m.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street
Ireland: Songs Sacred and Profane
Julie Adams, soprano
Howells: Rhapsodic Quintet, Op. 31
Brenden Guy, clarinet
One Found Sound, string quartet
Vaughan Williams: Valiant For Truth
Britten: The Shepherd Carol
Finzi: My Spirit Sang All Day
St. Dominic’s Schola Cantorum
Simon Berry, music director
Bax: Sonata for Two Pianos
Daniel Glover, piano
Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano
Britten: Sinfonietta, Op. 1
Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble
John Kendall Bailey, conductor
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Recital Masters: Violinist Madeleine Mitchell
Wednesday, November 11, 2015, 7 p.m.
The Century Club of California, 1355 Franklin Street, San Francisco
Cage: Nocturne
Rorem: Night Music
Bridge: Melodie
Howells: Three Pieces
Nyman: Full Fathom Five
Copland: Nocturne
Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Ian Scarfe, piano
Alwyn: Conversations
Gershwin: An American in Paris (arr. Mitchell)
Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Brenden Guy, clarinet
Ian Scarfe, piano
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Transatlantic Crossings
Saturday, March 19, 2016, 8 p.m.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street
Simon Dobson: Crystal for Eight Trumpets
Simon Dobson: World Premiere Commission
Brenden Guy, clarinet & electronics
Samuel Adams: Tension Study #1
Living Earth Show
Mason Bates: Red River
Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble
Noah Luna: World Premiere Commission
Robert Chastain: Metanoia
Simon Dobson: Another World’s Hell
San Francisco Wind Ensemble
Martin Seggelke, conductor
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The Age of Flight
Saturday, May 28, 2016, 8 p.m.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Korngold: Suite from The Constant Nymph (arr. Noah Luna)
Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble
Brian Thorsett, tenor
Noah Luna, conductor
Copland: Sextet for clarinet, piano and string quartet
Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble
Barber: A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map
Curious Flights Festival Chorus
Blitzstein: The Airborne Symphony
Curious Flights Symphony Orchestra
Curious Flights Festival Chorus
Alasdair Neale, conductor
Brian Thorsett, tenor
Efrain Solís, baritone
ABOUT CURIOUS FLIGHTS
Curious Flights, founded in 2013, is a concert series designed specifically to uncover and present new and rarely-performed works in the San Francisco Bay Area. Serving as a platform to breathe new life into forgotten works, Curious Flights provides audiences with an opportunity to experience interesting new music written by composers that are already well-known, those that are perhaps more obscure and contemporary composers living and working today.
Artistic Director Brenden Guy founded Curious Flights to perform intriguing and unique works of music from around the world and to combine established artists alongside young, emerging artists in a fun and collaborative setting. By fostering cultural relations domestically and abroad through the collaboration of artists from various backgrounds, musicians can continue to evolve and improve international relations.
Curious Flights welcomes a variety of guest artists and ensembles to perform on the concert series in addition to creating and establishing resident ensembles such as the Curious Flights Symphony Orchestra and the Curious Flights Chamber Ensemble. With a wealth of artistic talent in the Bay Area, Curious Flights strives to bring in artists of the highest standard and cultivate our own in-house ensembles, thus providing opportunities to hear fresh interpretations of works and to create new performance platforms for our colleagues.
For more information, please visit www.curiousflights.com
ABOUT BRENDEN GUY
British Clarinetist Brenden Guy has performed throughout Great Britain, Europe and North America including performances at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and Barbican Hall, working with esteemed conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marin Alsop and Yan Pascal Tortelier. Regarding the 2013 West Coast premiere of the Britten/Matthews Movements for a Clarinet Concerto, Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle praised Mr. Guy’s performance with the Curious Flights Symphony Orchestra and conductor Alasdair Neale, commenting that he was “a formidable soloist, playing with dexterity and expressive force.”
Mr. Guy’s education includes degrees from the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Timothy Lines, former principal clarinet of the London Symphony Orchestra; the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied as 2005/06 RCM Exchange recipient with internationally acclaimed clarinetist David Krakauer; and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Luis Baez of the San Francisco Symphony. Brenden Guy made his professional orchestral debut with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, U.K. and has since gone on to play with them as a regular substitute. He has also performed with Berkeley Symphony, San Francisco Academy Orchestra, Symphony Parnassus, Magik*Magik Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Guy regularly collaborates with Bay Area musicians and composers through his work as an arts presenter. In early 2013, he founded Curious Flights, a concert series created to showcase new and rarely-performed works from the classical repertoire. A champion of English music, Mr. Guy is also dedicated to promoting the lesser-known works of English composers in the United States.
ABOUT MADELEINE MITCHELL
Madeleine Mitchell has been described by The Times as “one of Britain's liveliest musical forces (and) foremost violinists.” She has performed as soloist in over 50 countries including appearances with the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Czech and Polish Radio Symphony, Wurttemberg and Munich Chamber, the Royal Philharmonic and other London orchestras, Orchestra de Bahia Brazil and BBC Ulster.
Mitchell’s acclaimed discography has seen nominations for GRAMMY and BBC Music Awards and includes ‘In Sunlight: Pieces for Madeleine Mitchell’ by MacMillan, Nyman and other well known UK composers; Lou Harrison Violin Concerto with Percussion Orchestra; two albums for Naxos of music by William Alwyn and Howard Blake, Hummel violin sonatas, Bridge chamber music and the widely recommended Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time with Joanna MacGregor.
Madeleine Mitchell is well known for her recitals and for her imaginative programming. She represented Britain with recitals in the festival UKinNY at Lincoln Center, for the centenary of Entente Cordiale and Kuwait ‘Great British Week’ 2014. Mitchell has given recitals at Sydney Opera House, Seoul Center for the Arts and Hong Kong. She devised the Red Violin festival under Lord Menuhin's patronage, the first international eclectic celebration of the fiddle across the arts, held throughout Cardiff for which she was shortlisted for European Women of Achievement and Creative Briton Awards. She is also Director of the London Chamber Ensemble.
As a faculty member at the Royal College of Music, London, Ms. Mitchell has participated in ground-breaking work with the RCM’s Centre for Performance Science. As a Fulbright/ITT Fellow she was awarded a master's degree in New York studying with DeLay, Weilerstein and Rosenberg at the Eastman and Juilliard schools and a fellowship to the Aspen Festival.
ABOUT SIMON DOBSON Simon Dobson is a trumpet player, composer, producer and conductor based in the Southwest United Kingdom. A recipient of two British Composer Awards for his works Symphony of Colours and Journey of the Lone Wolf, Dobson has seen his works performed around the world to critical acclaim. In 2014, he wrote his film full-length film score The Battles of The Coronel and the Falkland Islandswhich was commissioned by the British Film Institute and received its premier with fully restored film in the Archive gala concert of the London Film Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
As a founding member of the session horn crew Badcore Horns, Dobson has performed as a trumpeter on over thirty albums to date, from Madness and Martha Reeves to Dry The River and We Are The Ocean. He recently toured with the London hiphop band Lazy Habits and is currently the trumpeter of the Plymouth band Antimatador. In addition to his compositional and performance work, Dobson is a regular studio arranged and has written strings for numerous records.
Press and Media Relations Contact:
Brenden Guy
(415) 640-3165
brendenguy@gmail.com
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