Berkshire Symphony

Ronald Feldman, director

Pre-Concert Talk at 7:15pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. Prof. Ed Gollin will speak about Béla Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto, discussing the work’s genesis, Bartók’s references to Beethoven’s late string quartets, his use of bird songs and nature sounds, and their significance for the concerto’s second movement.

The Williams College Department of Music presents The Berkshire Symphony Orchestra directed by Ronald Feldman on Friday, March 4 at 8 p.m. in Chapin Hall on the Williams College campus. There will be a pre-concert talk with Feldman at 7:15 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. These free events are open to the public.

The concert includes exciting works of Foss, Bartok, Kyr, and Mozart. The date in the title of the concert is in memory of one of the giants of the 20th century music scene, Lukas Foss, born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin in 1922. Just one of many great artists (Bartok also among them) who fled Europe to find a haven in America, Foss’s energy and talent contributed to the vitality of the post-war American music scene. “Salomon Rossi Suite” is a tribute to the 17th century composer. Foss uses modern instruments to reinterpret and evoke the work of Rossi.

A piece by a composer who has surely pulled his share of all-nighters, “Fanfare for a New Dawn” by Robert Kyr makes a debut on the Chapin stage.  Currently, Kyr is a professor of composition and theory at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance and is incredibly prolific, having authored 12 symphonies, among other works.

The work of another very prolific composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also graces the program. Working quickly, Mozart created the Symphony No. 36, or the Linz Symphony, in just four days in 1783.

The final work of the concert is performed by guest pianist, Peter Serkin. An artist with an impeccable pedigree, Mr. Serkin is an international performer and recording artist who currently teaches at Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Longy School of Music. He performs Béla Bartók, Piano Concerto No. 3, a work that Bartók finished quite literally on his death bed. A less explosive work than his first two concertos for piano, the Concerto No. 3 is more lyrical and, since its first performance in 1946, has become a tremendous addition to the modern piano repertoire.

Listeners who wish to learn more about the concert are invited to attend the pre-concert talk at 7:15pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. Joining Feldman is Associate Professor of Music, Ed Gollin, who will take a break from his sabbatical especially for this concert to offer his insights into the Piano Concerto No. 3.

The Berkshire Symphony is conducted by Ronald Feldman and includes nearly 70 members, half of whom are students and half of whom are professional musicians. The ensemble presents four major concerts each season. In addition to performing the great standards of  orchestral repertoire a recurring theme each year is the performance of contemporary works. Championing the works of living American composers has been an integral part of the mission of the Berkshire Symphony.

The final program in the spring features the winners of the Berkshire Symphony Student Soloist Competition. The 2011 soloists are Noah Fields ’11, viola; Holly Fisher ’13, soprano; Jingyi Liu ’14, piano; and Madura Watanagase ’12, piano. This event is a great showcase for the extraordinary talent at Williams College and is always a highlight of the season.

Peter Serkin
Recognized as an artist of passion and integrity, the distinguished American pianist Peter Serkin is one of the most thoughtful and individualistic musicians appearing before the public today. Throughout his career he has successfully conveyed the essence of five centuries of repertoire and his performances with symphony orchestras, recital appearances, chamber music collaborations and recordings are respected worldwide.

Peter Serkin’s rich musical heritage extends back several generations: his grandfather was violinist and composer Adolf Busch and his father pianist Rudolf Serkin. In 1958, at age eleven, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he was a student of Lee Luvisi, Mieczyslaw Horszowski and Rudolf Serkin. He later continued his studies with Ernst Oster, Marcel Moyse and Karl Ulrich Schnabel. In 1959 Mr. Serkin made his Marlboro Music Festival and New York City debuts with conductor Alexander Schneider and invitations to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra and George Szell in Cleveland and Carnegie Hall and with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy in Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall soon followed. He has since performed with the world’s major symphony orchestras with such eminent conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, James Levine, Herbert Blomstedt and Christoph Eschenbach. Also a dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Serkin has collaborated with Alexander Schneider, Pamela Frank, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Budapest, Guarneri and Orion string quartets and TASHI, of which he was a founding member.

An avid proponent of the music of many of the 20th and 21st century’s most important composers, Mr. Serkin has been instrumental in bringing the music of Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Wolpe, Messiaen, Takemitsu, Henze, Berio, Wuorinen, Goehr, Knussen and Lieberson, among others, to audiences around the world. He has performed many important world premieres, in particular, works by Toru Takemitsu, Peter Lieberson, Oliver Knussen and Alexander Goehr, all of which were written for him. Most recently, Mr. Serkin played the world premieres of Charles Wuorinen’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Boston Symphony under the baton of James Levine in Boston, at Carnegie Hall and at Tanglewood; a solo work by Elliot Carter commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival; and another work by Charles Wuorinen for piano and orchestra with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, also commissioned by Carnegie Hall. During the 08/09 season he premiered a fifth piano concerto by Mr. Wuorinen with the Met Opera Orchestra/Levine at Carnegie Hall as well as Mr. Wuorinen’s new piano quintet (commissioned by the Rockport, MA Music Festival) with the Brentano String Quartet.

Highlights of Peter Serkin’s recent and upcoming appearances include performances with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, and the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, St. Louis, Toronto and Atlanta symphonies; recitals in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Orchestra Hall in Chicago and New York’s 92nd Street Y; performances with the original members of TASHI in Boston, Portland OR, Princeton and Town Hall in New York City; and summer festival appearances at Ravinia, Aspen, Ojai, Caramoor, Tanglewood, Blossom, Saratoga and the Mann Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Internationally, Mr. Serkin returned to Japan in September 2007 to play recitals featuring the works of Toru Takemitsu and Bach in honor of the 10th anniversary of Takemitsu’s death and appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra and the Bamberg Symphony.

Peter Serkin’s recordings also reflect his distinctive musical vision. The Ocean that has no West and no East, released by Koch Records in 2000, features compositions by Webern, Wolpe, Messiaen, Takemitsu, Knussen, Lieberson and Wuorinen. That same year BMG released his recording of three Beethoven sonatas. Additional recordings include the Brahms violin sonatas with Pamela Frank, Dvorak’s Piano Quintet with the Orion String Quartet, quintets by Henze and Brahms with the Guarneri String Quartet, the Bach double and triple concerti with Andras Schiff and Bruno Canino and Takemitsu’s Quotation of a Dream with Oliver Knussen and the London Sinfonietta. His most recent recording is the complete works for solo piano by Arnold Schoenberg for Arcana.

Mr. Serkin’s recording of the six Mozart concerti composed in 1784 with Alexander Schneider and the English Chamber Orchestra was nominated for a Grammy and received the prestigious Deutsche Schallplatten as well as “Best Recording of the Year” by Stereo Review magazine. Other Grammy nominated recordings include Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jesus and Quartet for the End of Time on BMG and a solo recording of works by Stravinsky, Wolpe and Lieberson for New World Records.

Mr. Serkin currently teaches at Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Longy School of Music. He resides in Massachusetts with his wife, Regina, and is the father of five children.

Event Program