Juilliard and the Arcos Chamber Orchestra Salute Composer Samuel Adler on his 80th birthday with a Portrait Concert on Monday, November 17 at 8 PM in Julliard's Paul Hall

Program includes the world premiere of Adler's "Arcos Concerto"

The Juilliard School and the Arcos Chamber Orchestra, led by conductor John-Edward Kelly, salute composer and Juilliard faculty member Samuel Adler on the occasion of his 80th birthday with a composer’s portrait on Monday, November 17 at 8 PM in Juilliard's Paul Hall (155 West 65th Street, 1st Floor). The Samuel Adler Portrait Concert features the world premiere of Mr. Adler’s Arcos Concerto (2008), as well as Elegy for string orchestra (1962); Beyond the Pale (2003) with clarinetist Igor Begelman; Nuptial Scene (1975) with mezzo soprano Re’ut Ben-Ze’ev; and Concertino No. 3 (1993).

The Arcos Concerto, which has its world premiere on this concert, was written for and is dedicated to the Arcos Chamber Orchestra and its conductor John-Edward Kelly. Arcos means a bridge between old and new. Mr. Adler writes about the Arcos Concerto: The work is in the style of a concerto grosso for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and strings in four movements. Instead of the traditional French overture type of introduction, the work begins with a slow movement which introduces the individual wind instruments in lyric passages and the string choir supporting them. The second movement is a fast movement based on a single line of music which is passed around the different instruments, and to make harmonic passages is combined either by using imitative techniques or stacking the line to make up chords. It is lively all the way through without relief. The third movement is another short lyrical slow essay which is really a variation of the opening movement using the same harmonic language as well as similar lyric statements for both the winds and the strings. The finale relates back to the energy of the second movement and is a rather relentless toccata at times interrupted by lyric moments, and ending in a vigorous close.

Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in May 2001, Samuel Adler is the composer of more than 400 published works, including 5 operas, 6 symphonies, 12 concerti, 8 string quartets, 4 oratorios, many orchestral, band, chamber, choral works, and songs which have been performed all over the world. He also is the author of three books: Choral Conducting an anthology (Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, 1971, second edition Schirmer Books 1985); Sight Singing (W.W. Norton 1979, 1997); and The Study of Orchestration (W.W. Norton 1982, 1989, 2001). He also has contributed numerous articles to major magazines and books published in the U.S., and abroad. Mr. Adler was educated at Boston and Harvard universities; his major teachers in composition were Herbert Fromm, Walter Piston, Randall Thompson, Paul Hindemith, and Aaron Copland. He has served on the faculties of the Eastman School of Music, where he taught from 1966 to 1995 and served as chair of the composition department from 1974 until his retirement, and the University of North Texas, where he was professor of composition from 1957 to 1977. Since 1997, Mr. Adler has been a member of the composition faculty at Juilliard. He has given master classes and workshops at more than 300 universities worldwide and in the summers, has taught at major music festivals. Some recent commissions have been from the Cleveland Orchestra (Cello Concerto), the National Symphony (Piano Concerto #1), the Dallas Symphony (Lux Perpetua), the Pittsburgh Symphony (Viola Concerto), the Houston Symphony (Horn Concerto), among others.  Mr. Adler was born on March 2, 1928 in Mannheim, Germany and came to the United States in 1939.    

The Arcos Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2005 by conductor John-Edward Kelly and concertmaster Elissa Cassini. Inspired by the great creative spirit of Béla Bartók – who himself once sought to found such an orchestra – the Arcos Chamber Orchestra offers the listener an artistic bridge, extending from the origins of European musical culture to the most exciting contemporary music of our time. Bartók’s comprehensive attitudes towards music and music-making, together with his ability to merge the currents of past and future into a language that speaks directly to the human heart, permeate everything for which the Arcos Chamber Orchestra stands. The orchestra consists of graduates and current students of Juilliard and approaches orchestral playing with the chamber musician’s sense of discipline: individual instrumental mastery; in-depth knowledge of the composer’s life and music; and selfless co-operation in service of the composer’s intentions. The orchestra was furthermore conceived and built around several independent chamber music groups, each of which upholds the highest musical standards in its own right and brings outstanding and mature ensemble skills to the entire orchestra.

Conductor John-Edward Kelly was born in San Francisco. After studying clarinet, conducting, and philosophy, he embarked upon a successful 30-year international career as a saxophonist, performing as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, recording 30 CDs, and premiering more than 200 works written especially for him. In recent years, he has returned increasingly to conducting.

Clarinetist and Juilliard alumnus Igor Begelman has appeared as soloist with major orchestras in the United States and abroad, including the Houston Symphony, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and I Musici de Montréal, among many others. His recital appearances have included engagements in such distinguished venues as Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, and the 92nd Street Y. As soloist and chamber musician, he has appeared at Caramoor, Ravinia, Marlboro, Tanglewood, and Schleswig-Holstein festivals. He has been the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. An active educator, Mr. Begelman has given master classes throughout the United States. He is professor of clarinet at the North Carolina School of the Arts and director of the wind program at the Bowdoin International Music Festival and also teaches at Brooklyn College and Sarah Lawrence College.

Mezzo soprano Re’ut Ben-Ze’ev has performed standard operatic and concert repertoire, as well as cutting-edge collaborations. She has appeared throughout Canada, Europe, Israel, and the United States in venues such as Lincoln Center, Spoleto Festival, the American Academy in Berlin, the International Biennial for Contemporary Music at the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, the Bayreuth Museum of Art in Germany, on WQXR, and on television, internationally. Highlights of upcoming projects include appearances with the Israeli Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony (Lucas Richman, conductor), the Israel Chamber Orchestra, a staged version of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the Israel Contemporary Players, and a solo recording for Arabesque Records. She collaborates regularly with leading composers, such as Samuel Adler, Pulitzer Prize-winning composers David Del Tredici and Yehudi Wyner, and Dalit Warshaw. She has performed chamber music with members of the Israel Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. Ms. Ben Ze-ev has recorded multiple CDs for the Milken Archive of Jewish American Music on the Naxos label.