Pro Musicis Presents Flutist Catherine Gregory

Pro  Musicis Presents Flutist Catherine Gregory in her Carnegie Hall debut as solo recitalist, Thursday, November 21, 2019, Weill Recital Hall, 7:30 pm. Winner of the 2018 Pro Musicis International Award, Catherine serves as Co-Artristic director of Decoda and has performed at Alice Tully Hall, London's Barbican Centre, and the Sydney Opera House. As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has been a guest of CMS Lincoln Center, Philadelphia CMS, Caramoor and the Southern Cross Soloists, as well as on tour with the Australian and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras. 

Her program includes Widor's Suite for Flute and Piano, Op 34, NY premiere of Timo Andres' Steady Gaze, George Crumb's Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale), Debussy's Syrinx, Gareth Farr's Kembang Suling, and Prokofiev's Sonata for Flute and Piano, Op 94.

Guest artists are David Kaplan, piano, Mihai Marica, cello, and Ian Rosenbaum, marimba.

Tickets are $30 https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2019/11/21/catherine-gregory-flute-0730pm

About the Program

Catherine invites you to experience the flute, the most ancient of instruments, as protagonist; its voice versatile and colorful, you will see it through many lenses. We begin in the intimate salon, in which Charles Widor’s Suite casts the flute in the character of the romantic French language. We follow with Timo Andres’ Steady Gaze (New York premiere), written for David Kaplan and Catherine Gregory, which is, in the composer’s words, a “catalogue of hundreds of different ways — from offhand to effusive — of saying the same thing.” 

We then move to iconic music by George Crumb: Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) and Claude Debussy’s equally evocative solo flute work, Syrinx. About these two works, Catherine writes: “During my student days at Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, PA), I visited George Crumb at his home, and had the great privilege of spending a luxuriant day with him, discussing and studying his music. I learned that day how his intense curiosity for sound and effect combines with a unique philosophical vision in order to elevate simple musical elements into a state of transcendence. In Syrinx.the composer captures the intersection between nature and mythology— it first stirred my imagination when I was a young player, and it remains enigmatic to this day."

Yet another lens, framed by the marimba, takes us closer to Catherine’s native Australia: Gareth Farr’s Kembang Suling imbues each movement with a different musical snapshot of Asia. Finally, Prokofiev’s Sonata for Flute and Piano takes us further with his sense of humor, bombast, and symphonic duo writing for the flute and piano. 

About Pro Musicis

Founded by Father Eugène Merlet in 1965 in Paris and in 1969 in New York City, Pro Musicis combines a classical music award with a social mission for the world's finest concert artists. A pioneer of community service by concert artists, Pro Musicis believes that music is vital for the well being of all, and the greatest joy in life is the one derived from giving joy to others. A jury on both sides of the Atlantic selects concert artists for the Pro Musicis International Award based on high level of performane and passion for social outreach.

www.promusicis.org