The Phillips Collection Presents 2014/2015 Music Season

Critically acclaimed concert series in Washington, D.C., introduces a wealth of rising stars in its 74th year.

Washington, DC—Marking the 74th year of its acclaimed concert series, The Phillips Collection hosts a diverse line-up of 35 performances at the museum beginning October 2014 through May 2015. Some of the world’s most celebrated musicians have performed as part of the Phillips’s program over the years, including Grammy-winning pianists Glenn Gould and Emanuel Ax.

“Our program is distinct for its focus on giving artists freedom to present the music they are most passionate about,” says Music Director Caroline Mousset. “The Phillips Collection is known for its art, but many now recognize this concert series for its long tradition as an incubator for promising young musicians.”

Continuing the conversation between music and visual art, the season features several performers known for their unique approaches to chamber music. Highlights include Timo Andres (Jan. 11), an American composer/pianist who skirts the boundaries of time and style; the Akropolis Reed Ensemble (Oct. 12); and Douglas Detrick’s AnyWhen Ensemble (Feb. 22), performing his newly recorded composition The Bright and Rushing World.

SUNDAY CONCERTS

The critically acclaimed concert series also features many well-established musicians. Having forged celebrated solo careers, violinist Isabelle Faust and returning pianist Alexander Melnikov (Feb. 8) make their Washington debut as a duo. Also marking her Washington debut, fiercely individualistic violinist Alina Ibragimova (Mar. 8) performs a selection of J. S. Bach’s solo Sonatas and Partitas. Notable Argentinian pianist Nelson Goerner (Mar. 15) performs a skillfully balanced program featuring Bach’s keyboard Partita No. 6, Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, and Mendelssohn’s Fantasy in F-Sharp minor. Renowned classical guitarist Odair Assad (Oct. 19), who has played a major role in creating new music for two guitars as part of the Assad brothers duo, gives his first Washington solo performance.The season showcases many up-and-coming artists—several who are performing in the nation’s capital for the first time. Soprano Sumi Hwang (Nov. 2), winner of the 2014 International Queen Elisabeth Competition, makes her American debut at the Phillips. Pianist Adam Laloum (Oct. 26) makes his U.S. debut as an ambassador of the FUSION partnership between the French Embassy and the Phillips. An active performer and music curator, Korean-American violinist Kristin Lee (May 10) gives her Phillips debut with pianist Michael Mizrahi, performing sonatas by Janáček, Ravel, and Beethoven, and Copland’s Two Pieces for Violin and Piano.

The Phillips Collection’s intimate Music Room creates an ideal space for the presentation of string quartets, including the Washington debuts of the Los Angeles-based Calidore Quartet (Dec. 14) and the acclaimed Canadian New Orford String Quartet (Apr. 19). The JACK Quartet (Feb. 15)—an incomparable force in new music— performs a major new multimedia project by American composer Roger Reynolds.

LEADING EUROPEAN COMPOSERS

In collaboration with embassies in Washington and the George Washington University’s Music Department, the Leading European Composers series, now in its sixth season, presents Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen from Denmark (Nov. 23). One of the most individual composers to emerge in Denmark after the end of the Second World War, the radical simplicity of his early work led to his being identified with the “New Simplicity” movement that reacted against avant-garde complexity. He is the recipient of the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsens Hæderspris and the Wilhelm Hansen Prize. The JACK Quartet, champions of Abrahamsen’s music, presents a cycle of his string quartets.

Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks (Jan. 15) has achieved widespread recognition for his compositions which incorporate archaic folklore elements from Latvian music within the language of contemporary music. Vasks’s music pursues themes such as the complex interaction between man and nature and the beauty of life in opposition to the destruction of the world. He is the winner of the Herder Prize from the Alfred Toepfer Foundation, the Baltic Assembly Prize, the Latvian Great Music Award on three occasions, and the Cannes Classical Award. Vasks has chosen Latvian performers The Piano Trio RIX and flautist Dita Krenberga to perform a selection of his chamber music.

THE PHILLIPS CAMERATA

The Phillips Camerata opens the Sunday Concert season on October 5 with a program celebrating the museum’s special exhibition Neo-Impressionism and the Dream of Realities: Painting, Poetry, Music, on view this fall. During the period of Neo-Impressionism, artists gathered in Paris at Les XX exhibitions for salon concerts featuring the music of Chausson, Duparc, D’Indy, Franck, and Fauré, spurring stimulating discussions of art. The Phillips Camerata presents works by Fauré and Franck, stylistically contrasted by the String Quartet of Germaine Taillefaire, the sole female composer of Les Six. Camerata members Olivia Hajioff, Steven Honigberg, Karen Johnson, Irina Nuzova, and Marc Ramirez perform.



The season concludes with The Phillips Camerata performing repertoire infused with mathematical synergies through counterpoint from its master, J. S. Bach, to the evolution of serialism beginning with Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique. The repertoire is inspired by the exhibitions Man Ray–Human Equations: A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare and Hiroshi Sugimoto: Conceptual Forms/Mathematical Models, on view in spring 2015.

Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014, 4 p.m.

Tailleferre’s String Quartet (1917–1919, published in 1921)Fauré’s Theme and Variations for piano (1895)

Franck’s String Quartet (1890)

Sun., May 31, 2015, 4 p.m.

Works by J. S. Bach and Schoenberg inspired by spring 2015 exhibitions

THE PHILLIPS CAMERATA MUSICIANS*

SUNDAY CONCERTS 2014/2015 SEASON

Oct. 5, 2014                  The Phillips Camerata, piano quintet

Oct. 12, 2014                Akropolis Reed Ensemble

Oct. 19, 2014                Odair Assad, guitar

Oct. 26, 2014                FUSION: Adam Laloum, piano**

Nov. 2, 2014                   Sumi Hwang, soprano

Nov. 16, 2014               Leon McCawley, piano

Nov. 30, 2014               Jun Hwi Cho, piano

Dec. 7, 2014                 Einav Yarden, piano

Dec. 14, 2014               Calidore Quartet, string quartet

Jan. 4, 2015                    Abigail Mitchell, soprano

Jan. 11, 2015                Timo Andres, piano

Jan. 18, 2015                  Kristóf Baráti, solo violin

Jan. 25, 2015                  Alexandre Tharaud, piano

Feb. 1, 2015                  Raphael Trio, piano trio

Feb. 8, 2015                  Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov, violin and piano

Feb. 15, 2015                JACK Quartet, string quartet

Feb. 22, 2015                Douglas Detrick & AnyWhen Ensemble, chamber-jazz quintet

March 1, 2015              Sitkovetsky Trio, piano trio

March 8, 2015              Alina Ibragimova, solo violin

March 15, 2015             Nelson Goerner, piano

March 22, 2015             Jose Franch-Ballester & Michael Brown, clarinet & piano

March 29, 2015             Marc Coppey & Ran Dank, cello & piano

April 12, 2015               Choral Arts Chamber Chorus–celebrating the Society’s 50th anniversary

April 19, 2015                New Orford String Quartet, string quartet

April 26, 2015                Zhang Zuo, piano

May 3, 2015                Cambini-Paris Quartet, period string quartet

May 10, 2015                 Kristen Lee and Michael Mizrahi, violin and piano

May 17, 2015                Nicolas Altstaedt & José Gallardo, cello and piano

May 24, 2015                Alexander Schimpf, piano



May 31, 2015                The Phillips Camerata

**Free performance

LEADING EUROPEAN COMPOSERS 2014/2015 SEASON

Nov. 23, 2014               Hans Abrahamsen

4 p.m.                          The JACK Quartet performs a complete cycle of Abrahamsen’s string quartets dating from 1973 to 2012.

Jan. 15, 2015                Pēteris Vasks

6:30 p.m.                      The Piano Trio RIX and flautist Dita Krenberga perform Vasks’s music, including Episodi e canto perpetuo for violin, cello, and piano.