URBAN PLAYGROUND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
  • ARTISTS
  • CONCERTS
  • DIGITAL
  • PRESS
  • DONATE
  • TICKETS

this, too, must be heard

​20/1st century female composers​

28 October 2016 | 8 PM
The Church of St. Luke in the Fields
487 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014


Smyth: Three Moods of the Sea (1913/2016*)
      Sarah Heltzel, mezzo-soprano
Tabakova: Concerto for Violoncello and Strings (2008)
      Julian Schwarz, cello
​Carwithen: Concerto for Piano and Strings (1948)
      Thomas Bagwell, piano

*arrangement for string orchestra by Thomas Cunningham

Tickets $20/12 in advance, $25/15 at the door
Picture
Picture
Picture

This, Too, Must Be Heard:
​US Premieres of works by Ethel Smyth, Dobrinka Tabakova & Doreen Carwithen

Britten, Vaughan Williams, Thomas Adès...British composers whose names you’ve likely heard of, if not heard their actual music. However, what about 20/21st century female composers? UPNYC will present a program of Ethel Smyth, Doreen Carwithen and Dobrinka Tabakova--all US premieres--that highlights the importance and contributions of female compositional voices.

Ethel Smyth, a suffragette, one-time-convict, and first (and only until 2016) woman to be performed at The Metropolitan Opera, was the bridge between English titans Purcell and Britten. Three Moods of the Sea was one of her final works before she retired from composition due to hearing loss (she would go on to write 12 best-selling books). Smyth’s original manuscript remains in London, but Artistic Director Thomas Cunningham has created a new arrangement for string orchestra using her piano-vocal score. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Heltzel will sing the evocative text by Arthur Symons.

Dobrinka Tabakova represents a new generation of English-influenced composers. Originally from Bulgaria, she has now spent the last 26 years in London. Her writing illustrates a grounding in English traditions with an understanding of harmony and pacing all her own, that earned her her first Grammy nomination in 2014. Her Concerto for Violoncello and Strings combines virtuosity, folk-influence and textural mastery into a densely packed three-movement structure. Julian Schwarz joins us as soloist.

Doreen Carwithen, also known as Mary Alwyn, was a dynamo film and orchestral composer who, despite strong early career success could not convince publishers to take up her works. Her piano concerto is one of a handful of early orchestral compositions before she married composer William Alwyn and stopped composing. With rich textures and driving rhythms, she proves herself a more than worthy heir to Vaughan Williams and Finzi. Thomas Bagwell appears as soloist.

This concert is underwritten in part by the Elizabeth and Michael Sorel Organization, Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy and the William Alwyn Foundation.


| Tickets |

Julian Schwarz
​Cello

Born in Seattle into a musical family, cellist Julian Schwarz is already being recognized as a cellist destined to rank among the finest of the 21st century.
​
Mr. Schwarz made his orchestral debut at the age of 11 playing the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 1 with the Seattle Symphony with his father, Gerard Schwarz, on the podium. Since then, he has appeared with the Seattle, San Diego, Puerto Rico, Columbus (OH), Syracuse, Virginia, Sarasota, Grand Rapids, Omaha, Wichita and Modesto symphonies among others, and performed recitals at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico and in Palm Springs. He also appears regularly on the stage of Bargemusic in New York City playing chamber music and recitals with his regular recital partner, pianist Marika Bournaki.

Mr. Schwarz’s recent and upcoming performance highlights include debuts with the Charlotte, Des Moines, West Virginia, Chicago Camerata, Toledo, Amarillo and Washington/Idaho symphonies, The Louisville Orchestra and Symphony Silicon Valley in San Jose; return engagements with the Hartford and Boca Raton symphonies and the Northwest Sinfonietta; and recitals in Palm Springs, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia. Internationally, he made his Australian debut with the Queensland Symphony in Brisbane as well as his debut in Hong Kong appearing at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival. He also returned to the Boca del Rio Orchestra in Veracruz, Mexico and made his debut with the Mexico City Philharmonic in June 2016.


Learn more about Julian
Picture
​​​













​
​

Thomas Bagwell
piano

Thomas Bagwell’s “expressive pianistic powers” have established him as “an equal partner no less than revelatory” (The Washington Post) in song recital and chamber music on the international stage.  His career has included critically acclaimed performances in New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Wigmore Hall, Vienna's Musikverein, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and other major concert halls across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Japan.  He has collaborated in recital with operatic superstars such as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Denyce Graves, Marilyn Horne, Kristine Jepson, James Morris, Roberta Peters, Andrea Rost, and Frederica Von Stade.  

​Mr. Bagwell’s collaborations with renowned soprano Renée Fleming include a recital at the State Department for Secretary Hillary Clinton, the preparation of her acclaimed performances of Messiaen’s nine-part song cycle Poèmes pour Mi, appearances as Blanche DuBois in André Previn's opera A Streetcar Named Desire, her recent recording of Berg and Wellesz with the Emerson String Quartet, and the world premiere of Anders Hillborg's The Strand Settings with the New York Philharmonic.
​

Learn more about Thomas

​
| Tickets |
Picture






​

Sarah Heltzel
​mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Heltzel is being noticed for her “potent star performances” coupled with a “rich, powerhouse voice”; the Houston Chronicle raves, “Heltzel sets the stage ablaze with her vocal and dramatic pyrotechnics.” Recent roles include Siegrune and covers of Waltraute, Flosshilde and Second Norn in the Ring cycle (Seattle Opera), Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana (String Orchestra of Brooklyn), Musetta in La Bohème (Opera on the James), Desirée and Charlotte in A Little Night Music (Syracuse Opera, Phoenicia Festival), Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos (Winter Opera St Louis), Jo in Little Women (Opera on the James), Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Opera in the Heights), Flora in La Traviata (Seattle Opera), Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (Indianapolis, Amarillo, Syracuse, Nevada, Opera on the James) and Carmen (Tacoma Opera). Ms. Heltzel has also created multiple roles in one-act operas for American Lyric Theater and American Opera Projects in New York. Concert performances include Verdi’s Requiem (Wichita Symphony, Symphony Syracuse, Back Bay Chorale and at Carnegie Hall), Handel’s Messiah and Janacek's Glagolitic Mass (Seattle Symphony), Beethoven’s Ninth (Boston Philharmonic, Minot Symphony Orchestra), and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (Boston Chamber Music Society).

Learn more about Sarah
Picture
Urban Playground is a 501(c)3 Not-For-Profit. All donations are tax deductible. 
Terms & Conditions 
Picture
  • ARTISTS
  • CONCERTS
  • DIGITAL
  • PRESS
  • DONATE
  • TICKETS