Sage City Symphony

Last updated

Sage City Symphony is a community orchestra based in Bennington, Vermont, United States, that tackles ambitious works from the traditional repertoire as well as commissioning new works. [1] It was formed in 1972 by its first musical director, noted composer Louis Calabro, who was on the faculty of Bennington College. Sage City Symphony maintains its relationship with the college, relying on the campus for rehearsal and performance space.

Contents

The Symphony attracts amateur as well as professional musicians without the requirement of auditions, drawn from Vermont, Massachusetts and New York states. It presents four concerts a year, starting rehearsals in September for a performance featuring a major orchestral work in November. The Symphony restarts rehearsals after the New Year for three concerts presented February through May: a Chamber Concert, Youth Concert and a final Spring concert featuring a significant orchestral work.

The Symphony is led by music director and conductor Michael Finckel. It is governed/supported by a working volunteer Board [2] which appoints a Manager and a Librarian. Like the players, board members come from surrounding areas of Vermont, Massachusetts and New York states. The Board contains a mix of orchestral players and longtime supporters from the business and academic community.

Performance information

Performance dates and programs are announced on Sage City Symphony's web site. [3] In addition they are reported in area media outlets.

These media outlets have included: Bennington Banner in Bennington, Vermont, North Adams Transcript [4] in North Adams, Massachusetts, the Tri-State Pennysaver News [5] in Bennington, Vermont, Eastwick Press [6] in eastern Rensselaer County of New York, the Vermont News Guide, [7] [8] Vermont Public Radio (VPR), WAMC in Albany, New York, WMHT-FM in Schenectady, New York, and Catamount Access TV in Bennington, Vermont.

Performances are recorded by Catamount Access TV (CAT-TV) and aired subsequently. [9] Most performances for the last several years have been recorded by Joel Patterson [10] of Mountaintop Studios and rendered onto CD or made available for file sharing. [11]

Funding

The Symphony is a not for profit 501(c)(3), registered in the State of Vermont, and relies entirely on donations and grants. Grant sources have included the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fund for North Bennington, the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Community Foundation. The Symphony enjoys steady support from individuals, local Foundations and business donors. [12] The Symphony also solicits sponsors for concerts, which have included a range of enterprises such as the Bank of Bennington, the Vermont Country Store, Stewart's Shops and more.

Conductor

The Symphony is currently directed by Michael Finckel. Michael Finckel started his studies with his parents, cellist George Finckel and pianist Marianne ("Willie") Finckel. George Finckel [13] [14] and Willie Finckel [15] were on faculty at Bennington College. Michael Finckel attended Oberlin College Conservatory and Bennington College where he studied composition, conducting and orchestration with Louis Calabro and Henry Brant.

He has taught cello and composition at Bennington and Marymount Colleges and at Princeton and Cornell Universities. As a member of the faculty of the Vermont Governor's Institute on the Arts [16] in the 1990s he taught composition to gifted junior and high school students throughout Vermont. Michael Finckel has an active career as a soloist and chamber musician, composer, teacher and conductor based in New York City, performing with orchestral and chamber ensembles [17] across the country and in Europe. He has a strong background in contemporary music, [18] as well as the traditional repertoire. [19] He has regularly collaborated with New York's leading new music ensembles and performed [20] under the direction of Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez.

Michael Finckel performs and coaches each year at the Composer's Conference sponsored by the Chamber Music Center [21] of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and at the Chamber Music Conference and Composer's Forum of the East [22] at Bennington College.

Community connections

Sage City Symphony has long had an annual Youth Concert [6] featuring young soloists [23] or performances with local youth groups. Past performances have included works with the Symphony and the Bennington Children's Chorus and the Green Mountain Youth Orchestra. [24] This tradition goes back to the Symphony's founder, Louis Calabro, with works such as Child's Play for children's chorus and piano composed in 1990 and performed by the Symphony again in 2009.

The Symphony started a Young Composers Project in 2009. [6] [18] [25] The Symphony pays a stipend to a mentor [6] to help young people prepare works for orchestral performance, alternating each year between reaching out to area high school or college age students. The high schools from which students have been drawn for this project include the Hoosac School [6] in Hoosick Falls, New York, the Mount Anthony Union High School (Miles Yucht, Alive [8] ) [26] in Bennington, the Long Trail School in Dorset, Vermont, Pittsfield High School [6] in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and the Mount Greylock Regional High School [4] in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The college students have been primarily drawn from Bennington College. [6]

One of the compositions by a high school student, Wind Blows, [27] was placed on YouTube by its composer. One of the high school composers from the 2009 project, Patrick Madden, received the Daniel Pearl Berkshire Scholarship. [4]

A recording of The Tinkerer, [28] a piece from Sage City Symphony's March 2014 Youth Concert, has been made available on musescore.com by its composer, Zack Weishaus, along with an animated score.

Major works performed

Sage City Symphony has performed major works from the traditional repertoire including the following.

Commissioned works

Sage City Symphony commissions a new work each year. These have included the following. Some of these composers including Zeke Hecker. Bruce Hobson, and Dennis Báthory-Kitsz have been founders and members of the Consortium of Vermont Composers, founded in 1988 [29] [30] and recognized in a Proclamation by Governor Shumlin making 2011 the Year of the Composer. [31]

Chamber works performed in 2009-2010

Related Research Articles

Joan Tower is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by The New Yorker as "one of the most successful woman composers of all time", her bold and energetic compositions have been performed in concert halls around the world. After gaining recognition for her first orchestral composition, Sequoia (1981), a tone poem which structurally depicts a giant tree from trunk to needles, she has gone on to compose a variety of instrumental works including Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, which is something of a response to Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, the Island Prelude, five string quartets, and an assortment of other tone poems. Tower was pianist and founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players, which commissioned and premiered many of her early works, including her widely performed Petroushskates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Adès</span> British composer, pianist and conductor

Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: The Tempest (2004), Violin Concerto (2005), Tevot (2007), In Seven Days (2008), and Polaris (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Mantler</span> Austrian jazz trumpeter and composer

Michael Mantler is an Austrian avant-garde jazz trumpeter and composer of contemporary music.

The Albany Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Albany, New York.

Michael Charles Colgrass was an American and Canadian musician, composer, and educator. He was an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Youth Symphony</span> American youth music organization

The New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), founded in 1963, is a music organization for the youth in New York City, widely reputed to be one of the best of its kind in the nation and world. Its programs include its flagship Orchestra, Chamber Music, Jazz, Apprentice Conducting, Composition, and Musical Theater Songwriting Programs. Its members range from 12 to 22 years of age. NYYS members are said to include the most talented young musicians in the New York metropolitan area. In 2023, the New York Youth Symphony won the Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

David Bruce is a British composer and a YouTuber.

Louis Calabro was an Italian American orchestral composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Paulus</span> American composer (1949–2014)

Stephen Paulus was an American Grammy Award winning composer, best known for his operas and choral music. His style is essentially tonal, and melodic and romantic by nature.

Gabriela Lena Frank is an American pianist and composer of contemporary classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Mertl</span> American composer

Gregory Mertl is an American composer that has garnered commissions from the Tanglewood Music Center (1999), the Rhode Island Philharmonic (2000), the Tarab Cello Ensemble (2001), the Phoenix Symphony (2001), the Wind Ensembles of the Big Ten Universities (2002), the Ostrava Oboe Festival, Czech Republic, Kenneth Meyer and the Hanson Institute (2006), the University of Oregon (2013), CSTMA (2013), counter)induction (2016), the University of Niš (2016), and the Barlow Endowment for a piano concerto for pianist Solungga Liu and the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, Craig Kirchhoff, conductor, which was premiered in November, 2011 and released by Bridge Records in May 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Penson Williams</span>

Julius Penson Williams, is an American composer, conductor, and college professor. He is currently president of the Conductors Guild. An author of both instrumental and vocal music, Julius Williams has composed operas, symphonies, and chorus works for stage, concert hall, film, and television. Primarily a classically trained musician, Williams also writes in genres including gospel, jazz, and other contemporary forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Fleischman</span> American musician

Richard Fleischman is an American violist and viola d'amore player, conductor and pedagogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Han Lash</span> American composer of concert music (born 1981)

Han Lash is an American composer of concert music who has taught at Yale School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Laura Anne Bossert is a violinist, violist, and pedagogue. She is a current faculty member at the Longy School of Music of Bard College and Wellesley College and, during the summer, the Castleman Quartet Program. She is co-director and founder of LyricaFest in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Jonathan Bepler is an American composer of experimental music perhaps best known for his collaborative work with artists and choreographers, including many years of work with visual artist Matthew Barney. He is also multi-instrumentalist, singer, installation artist, and teacher.

Jonathan Haas is an American timpanist. Philip Glass' Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra was commissioned for him by several orchestras.

The Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum of the East (CMC) is a summer conference that brings together amateur musicians, professional faculty, and composers-in-residence to study and play chamber music. The CMC was founded in 1946, and most of its summer sessions have been held at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont. After the 2019 session, the CMC announced its relocation to the campus of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, to begin with its 75th anniversary session in 2022. There was a limited 2021 program at Bennington College.

References

  1. ↑ Bouchard, Linda. "Cite of commission by L Doberman for Sage City Symphony". Sheet music order, orchestra, code DO 128. Doberman Editions. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "Sage City Symphony Board members and governance". Sagecitysymphony.org. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  3. ↑ "Performances, Sage City Symphony". sagecitysymphony.org. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Foley, Meghan (June 12, 2010). "Madden Awarded Pearl Scholarship" (PDF). North Adams Transcript. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Sage City Presents a Spring Voyage". Tri-State Pennysaver News. May 15, 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Local Student Composer In Sage City Symphony's Annual Youth Concert". Eastwick Press. March 20, 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Sage City Symphony Presents a Birthday Celebration Concert". Vermont News Guide. November 14, 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Winter Chamber Concert Presented by Sage City Symphony Orchestra". Vermont News Guide. February 13, 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "Sage City Symphony 5/2011". On May 27, 2011 at 12:30pm, air time of May 15 performance. Catamount Access TV. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Patterson, Joel. "Sonatina Faculty Bio's". sonatina.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Patterson, Joel. "MP3 Clip of La Mer". Tindeck. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  12. ↑ "Sage City Symphony funding". Sagecitysymphony.org. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  13. ↑ "Work dedicated to George Finckel, Program notes" by composer Vivian Fine
  14. ↑ Vercoe, Elizabeth. "Two interviews with Vivian Fine, mention of George Finckel". From the International League of Women Composers Journal, June, 1992, pp. 18-23, used with permission. otherminds.org. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  15. ↑ Tony Gualtieri. "Listing of Marianne Finckel player". Classical-music-review.org. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  16. ↑ "Vermont Governor's Institute on the Arts". Giv.org. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  17. 1 2 "Michael Finckel Bio". Bio M Finckel re listing on CD The Four Seasons of Futurist Cuisine and Other Chamber Works by A. J. Kernis. Phoenix.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 Finckel, Michael. "Wintergreen Performing Arts, Faculty Bio Mike Finckel". wintergreenperformingarts.org. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  19. 1 2 "Trio of the Americas performance announcement". Saugertiespromusica.org. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  20. 1 2 Finckel, Michael. "Mannes College, The New School for Music, Faculty Bio M Finckel". newschool.edu. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  21. 1 2 Finckel, Michael. "Composers Conference at Wellesley College, Faculty, ViolincelloFaculty". composerconference.org. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  22. 1 2 Finckel, Michael. "Chamber Music Conference of the East, Faculty, Michael Finckel". cmceast.org. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  23. ↑ Miles Yucht's performance was rescheduled from the Youth Concert
  24. ↑ "Sager Bio, concertmistress of Sage City Symphony". Gmyo.org. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  25. ↑ "Sage City Symphony presents youth concert this Sunday". www.benningtonbanner.com/. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  26. ↑ "Mount Anthony Union High School, About". Svsu.net. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  27. ↑ "Wind Blows". Youtube.com. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  28. ↑ "The Tinkerer". musescore.com. 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
  29. ↑ Bathory-Kitsz, Dennis (2 March 2011). "Article on Composers Consortium, mention Hecker and Sage City Symphony". NewMusicBox.org. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  30. ↑ Consortium, Vermont Composers. "Vermont Composers Consortium, List of members updated July 1997". vermontcomposers.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  31. ↑ Shumlin, Gov Peter. "Year of the Composer". Governor's Proclamation. vermont.gov. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  32. ↑ Gori, Rolando. "Gori Web Site".
  33. ↑ Wimberly, Michael. "Wimberly info on faculty site".
  34. ↑ Brooke, Nick. "Table of Toys and Numbers, bio and works" . Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  35. ↑ Eagle, John. "Spoken Word, bio and works". Spoken Word. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  36. ↑ "YouTube performance of Three for Orchestra and Hyperpiano", composed by R Neal
  37. ↑ Jordan, Derrik. "Cite of commission for Sage City Symphony in Bio". Composition for orchestra and percussion. zabapmusic.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  38. ↑ Hobson, Bruce. "Cite of Sage City Symphony in Bio". Liner Notes for Piano Trios and Other Works. equinoxmusic.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  39. ↑ Hurley, Susan. "Cite of work for Sage City Symphony in bio". omstream.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  40. ↑ Davidson, Tina. "Cite of commission by Sage City Symphony". tinadavidson.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  41. ↑ "Review of Blood Memory by Welcomat". tinadavidson.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  42. ↑ Read, Thomas L. "Symphony for Orchestra with Piano Obbligato". American Composers Edition. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  43. ↑ Cody, Judith (2002). Vivian Fine: A Bio-Bibliography. Amazon: Greenwood Press, Westport CT. p. 229. ISBN   0-313-25474-5.
  44. ↑ Eagle, John. "Cite of commission for Sage City Symphony". spokenwordinc.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  45. ↑ Eagle, John. "Cite of commission for Sage City Symphony, entry on Jan 23 2011 upcoming perforamcn". johneaglemusic.com. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  46. ↑ "Faculty listing, Kaori Washiyama". bennington.edu. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  47. ↑ "Cite in Kerry Ryer-Parke bio as performing with Sage City Symphony". williams.edu. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.