Enthralling program shows off the diversity and range of contemporary violin; enhanced with new digital art and a World Premiere of music from composer, Lawrence Dillon
Santa Fe New Music proudly presents the engaging 21st century solo violin project “Violin Futura,” performed by virtuosic young violinist/composer Piotr Szewczyk.
The critically acclaimed Violin Futura Project is a recital of brand new, short, exciting and innovative solo violin pieces written and dedicated to Szewczyk by renowned composers from USA, Germany, England and Japan. Described by critics as "bold and ambitious" and "a triumph," the program was most recently presented by SFNM Artistic Director John Kennedy at the 2007 Spoleto Festival USA, where Mr. Kennedy also directs the contemporary music program “Music in Time.”
For the Santa Fe concert, Mr. Szewczyk will also present the World Premiere of 15 Minutes by composer Lawrence Dillon. Dillon is admired in new-music circles as the youngest composer to earn a doctorate at The Juilliard School. His Amadeus ex machina was chosen to represent the US in celebrations of Mozart’s 250th birthday in Salzburg, Vienna and Graz, Austria in the spring of 2006.
“I have an affinity with Piotr, both as a composer and as an advocate of new music,” says SFNM Artistic Director John Kennedy. “I first came to know him as a very fine orchestral player, and as I became aware of his work with composers and new work, it became clear to me that he is an important force in our field. It’s exciting to present him in Santa Fe, especially on the heels of last month’s concerts with another new-music advocate and masterful performer, flutist Margaret Lancaster.”
“Because of Piotr’s age and participation as a former member of New World Symphony and other ensembles, he’s right out there with some of the most exciting compositional voices for his instrument. In fact, of the 15 composers on the program, the oldest was born in 1955. We think audiences are really going to enjoy the contemporary and old-school stylistic variety in this prorgram.”
The program will also include an interdisciplinary complement in the presentation of The Messenger, a new digital work by fine artist Cira Crowell. A series of sixteen three-dimensional drawings, The Messenger is a “three-dimensional drawing” created by Crowell that will be projected onto Piotr’s violin and filmed in a studio, with the film being projected on the stage during the concert performance. “It’s a commentary on duality in a certain regard,” explains Crowell,” whose minimalist aesthetic belies deep conceptualism balanced at the fulcrum of science, spirituality and reality. “The combination of live performance and projected art will blur the distinction between what ‘now’ even means.”
Program: Violin Futura
Lawrence Dillon
15 Minutes (World Premiere)
INTERMISSION
Piotr Szewczyk
Cadenza
Lawrence Dillon
Mister Blister
John Kennedy
fp (For Piotr)
Carson P. Cooman
The Doors in the Sky
Marc Mellits
Zubrowka
Nathan Williamson
Homecoming
Hiro Morozumi
Real Phone Key
Ethan Wickman
Respite
Mark Grey
Left for the Dogs
Mason Bates
Blue Berceuse
Patrick Castillo
Cirque
Jeff Harrington
Puce
Aaron Einbond
Fish Gotta Swim
Daniel Kellogg
Sizzle
Moritz Eggert
Idyl
Piotr Szewczyk
All-Wheel Drive
About Piotr Szewczyk Described as a “mature virtuoso”, with “stellar technique and constantly ringing tone“, “gifted violinist with remarkable facility” and as a “superb violinist” and “an excellent young violinist with a beautiful musical taste,” Piotr Szewczyk was born in Poland in 1977. Currently he is a violinist in the Jacksonville Symphony under Music Director Fabio Mechetti. He has recently completed a three year fellowship at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, under Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas, where he served as a rotating concertmaster. As a performer, Szewczyk has given solo and chamber recitals in the USA, Poland, Germany and Austria. Chamber music groups he’s played in include the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, FAZA String Quartet, Roggero Trio. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician in the Spoleto Festival USA, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, New World Symphony Chamber Music Series, Xchange concerts and Musican’s Forum concerts, Colorado Music Festival, Henry Mancini Institute, and others.
About Cira Crowell
Digital fine artist Cira Crowell draws inspiration from the intuited flow of nature and the subtle energies at all levels of life, employing a minimalist aesthetic that belies deep conceptualism balanced at the fulcrum of science, spirituality and reality. A graduate of Rhodes College and the Savannah College of Art and Design (M.A.), Ms. Crowell lives and works in Santa Monica, CA, and in Santa Fe. Read this interview with Ms. Crowell.
