account
basket
Challenge Records Int. logo
An Exaltation of Larks

The Lark Quartet

An Exaltation of Larks

Format: CD
Label: Bridge
UPC: 0090404937927
Catnr: BRIDG 9379
Release date: 02 October 2015
1 CD
 
Label
Bridge
UPC
0090404937927
Catalogue number
BRIDG 9379
Release date
02 October 2015
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
DE

About the album

Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Grammy award, and is one of the most performed living American composers working today. Ms. Higdon's upcoming work includes an opera on Charles Frazier's book, 'Cold Mountain', for Santa Fe Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. This recording feature three recent chamber works: In Scenes from the Poet's Dreams (composed for the performers who play it here) the piano left hand (virtuoso Gary Graffman) takes a prominent part in the unfolding of this highly contrasted work, bearing unusually descriptive titles: "Racing Through Stars", "Summer Shimmers Across the Glass of Green Ponds" etc.. Light Refracted is a meditation on light. The composer describes a first movement "that reflects on our inner light, and how we take that light in; and a second movement that is the opposite, our projection of light out to the world." She also writes about An Exaltation of Larks: "The first time someone told me that a collection of Larks is called an 'Exaltation', I immediately thought, 'What a sound an exaltation of larks must make!'--How to capture the beauty of the idea of exalting and singing? A string quartet seemed perfect!" This disc marks the debut of the Lark Quartet on Bridge.
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Grammy award, and is one of the most performed living American composers working today.

Artist(s)

The Lark Quartet

The Lark Quartet continues to delight audiences with its energy, passionate commitment and artistry since its inception in 1985. The Lark has performed in many of the world’s great cultural centers including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, London’s Wigmore Hall, L’Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, and appeared at international festivals including Lockenhaus, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Mostly Mozart, Istanbul Festival, Wolftrap and the Beethoven Festival in Moscow. Promising to deliver “a performance of grace, proportion and burnished brilliance” (The Washington Post), The Lark Quartet offers audiences new insights into the art of chamber music through programs that begin with the ensemble virtuosity of the western tradition and continue into recent music from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the...
more
The Lark Quartet continues to delight audiences with its energy, passionate commitment and artistry since its inception in 1985. The Lark has performed in many of the world’s great cultural centers including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, London’s Wigmore Hall, L’Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, and appeared at international festivals including Lockenhaus, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Mostly Mozart, Istanbul Festival, Wolftrap and the Beethoven Festival in Moscow. Promising to deliver “a performance of grace, proportion and burnished brilliance” (The Washington Post), The Lark Quartet offers audiences new insights into the art of chamber music through programs that begin with the ensemble virtuosity of the western tradition and continue into recent music from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, all while regularly sharing the stage with dynamic collaborators.
The Lark has a distinguished tradition of working closely with the country’s most celebrated composers and commissioning new works, many of which have become mainstays of the chamber music repertoire. This history includes works such as Billy in the Darbies by William Bolcom with Stephen Salters, baritone; Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams by Jennifer Higdon with Gary Graffman, piano; Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis and Quartet no. 2 Musica instrumentalis (winning the 1997 Pulitzer Prize) by Aaron Jay Kernis; Piano Quintet by Paul Moravec with Jeremy Denk, Quartet no. 2 In Memoriam and Piano Quintet no. 2, by Peter Schickele; Early That Summer by Julia Wolfe; Viaggio in Italia by Giovanni Sollima; Intarsio by Glen Velez and Big Time by Nico Muhly (commissioned by the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival) for Lark and Yousif Sheronick, percussion. The Quartet continues to build on its commitment to providing free concerts of great music presented with intelligence and vitality through its series Lark About Town. These family concerts, free to all and open to the public, will be held throughout the city of New York, Westchester and New Jersey.
With a discography comprising more than a dozen CDs, the Lark has recorded for the Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Bridge, ERI, Endeavor, Koch, Point and New World labels. Lark Quartet: Composing America, comprising works by Adams, Bolcom, Moravec and Copland, was released on Bridge Records in 2014 to international acclaim. WQXR of New York said of the quartet’s 2013 release of An Exaltation of Larks: Music of Jennifer Higdon: “the strings soar as a single entity” and chose it as Album of the Week upon its release in March of 2013. The Lark served as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst from 2004-08 and has performed and taught as part of residencies across the United States. The Lark Quartet members, Deborah Buck and Basia Danilow, violins, Kathryn Lockwood, viola and Caroline Stinson, cello, all live in the New York City area with their families.

less

Blair McMillen (piano)

Blair McMillen has established himself as one of the most versatile and sought-after pianists today. The New York Times has described him as “riveting,” “prodigiously accomplished and exciting,” and as one of the piano’s “brilliant stars.” McMillen leads a multifarious musical life as pianist, chamber musician, conductor, and improviser. He thrives on playing a wide variety of musical styles: from medieval keyboard manuscripts to improvisation-based music of all types; from Classical/Romantic-era piano repertoire to the music of young 21st-century composers. Known for imaginative and daring programming, McMillen has premiered hundreds of new works both as a soloist and with numerous ensembles. He constantly collaborates with composers and artists of other genres in commissioning works that stretch the boundaries of the...
more
Blair McMillen has established himself as one of the most versatile and sought-after pianists today. The New York Times has described him as “riveting,” “prodigiously accomplished and exciting,” and as one of the piano’s “brilliant stars.” McMillen leads a multifarious musical life as pianist, chamber musician, conductor, and improviser. He thrives on playing a wide variety of musical styles: from medieval keyboard manuscripts to improvisation-based music of all types; from Classical/Romantic-era piano repertoire to the music of young 21st-century composers. Known for imaginative and daring programming, McMillen has premiered hundreds of new works both as a soloist and with numerous ensembles. He constantly collaborates with composers and artists of other genres in commissioning works that stretch the boundaries of the piano and the traditional recital format.

Blair McMillen is pianist for the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players, the American Modern Ensemble, and the six- piano Grand Band, among others. He is the co-founder and co-director of the Rite of Summer Music Festival, an alt-classical outdoor concert series. McMillen holds degrees from Oberlin College, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music. He lives in New York City, and has served on the music faculty at Bard College and Conservatory since 2005.


less

Todd Palmer (flute)

Composer(s)

Press

Play album Play album

You might also like..

Solos & Duos
Various Artists
Angles
Various Artists
Aquarelles
Bonita Boyd
New England Trios
Joel Pitchon
American Gifts
Jack Van Geem and Nancy Zeltsman
Space Between Heaven and Earth
Various Artists
Yellowbird
Aaron Tindall
Fred Lerdahl Vol. 6
Various Artists
Ruders Edition Vol. 15
Various Artists
Folias and Fantasias
Cavatina Duo
Sonata Dementia
PARTCH Ensemble
Le Dernier Sorcier
Eric Owens