Jasna Popovic - Program

Aleksandra Vrebalov has received numerous awards as well as commissions from

Carnegie Hall, Barlow Endowment, and the San Francisco Conservatory. Her works have been performed by Kronos Quartet, Belgrade Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic, Sausalito Quartet, Dusan Tynek Dance Company, Ijsbreker, and Providence Festival Ballet. She completed her master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory and received her doctorate from the University of Michigan. She is a member and cofounder of the South Oxford Six composers’ collective, and the founder of “Summer in Sombor”, an international workshop for young composers. She teaches at the CUNY/City College.

Milos Raickovich studied composition with Vasilije Mokranjac, Olivier Messiaen and David Del Tredici, and conducting with Borislav Pascan, Pierre Dervaux, and Herbert Blomstedt. He received his doctorate in composition from CUNY, and has taught at several universities in the US and Japan. Mr. Raickovich’s music has been performed in numerous venues in Europe and the US and The Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed describes his work as “a unique postmodern response to both minimalism and multiculturalism” while Time Out New York’s Steve Smith observes that “Some of the works [in his CD, B-A-GD-A-D] are wistful and poignant, while others are jarring and volatile; all are inventive, provocative and timely”.

photo: Viktor Sekularac

Nicholas Csicsko has enthralled audiences throughout the US and Europe with his

notes on music

unique compositional voice. His works have been performed by the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, the Indiana University Orchestra, and various other prize-winning performers. He is a graduate of both Indiana University and The Juilliard School and is currently pursuing his doctorate at Juilliard under the tutelage of Samuel Adler.

Three Romances is part of the New Classicism, that Mr. Raickovich likes to call “his style” and defines as “a blend of musical minimalism and the styles of classical Vienna and the early Romantics.” While it’s in the classical style (e.g. the sonata cycle), its tonality is reduced to only a few notes of the scale. This reduction gives the music a new quality, a new energy.

Panonnia Boundless tries to capture the continuous journey of life, particularly the

Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall

JASNA POPOVIC

friction between an individual and society, and the love and passion for life.

Reflections (world premiere), the piece for violin and piano, draws influence from

minimalism, mysticism, and ethnically inspired melodies and harmonies. Some parts of the semi-improvised violin portion are inspired by the popular traditional folk song, “Djurdjevdan.” Ana Milosavljevic is dedicating this performance to her mother and her family.

A Night at the Kafana (world premiere) combines three Balkan tunes (Nocas mi srce

pati, Adje Jano, and an orginal tune written by Ismail Lumanovski) into a single work, attempting to encompass all the sorrow and joy that can be felt in a single night listening to the music of the Balkans.

Special thanks go to: Milos Vujanic, Dusan Todorovic, Aleksandar Sukiban, Vladimir Ocokoljic, Michael J. Wrotniak, Vladimir Pavlov, Irena Kadovic & Butique ”Amon Ra”, Srdjan Stojiljkovic, Jasenka Jocic, “Kafana” Restaurant, and my wonderful musicians.

presents program Mokranjac Tajcevic Raickovich Vrebalov Milosavljevic Mokranjac Bartok Csicsko

An Old Song 7 Balkan Dances Three Romances Panonnia Boundless Reflections Two Etudes Romanian Folk Dances A Night at the Kafana 05/10/2009

performers

Jasna Popovic,

a pianist, has won several prestigious awards, including second place at the National Piano Competition in Belgrade, fourth place at the International Competition in Rome, and the 2006 Passantino Award for Special Achievements from the City University of New York. She has participated in numerous music festivals around Europe, notably in Italy, Germany and Austria, and has had the honor of working with numerous renowned artists, including composer Rodin Scedrin, pianist Vadim Suhanov, and double-bassist Roman Patkolo. Ms. Popovic studied at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Munich, Germany and her mentors include Nina Lelchuk, Olga Jovanovic, Gitti Pirner, and Claude-France Journes. She is currently working on her solo debut album, which will primarily feature classical Serbian music, and is also in the process of planning her first European Tour.

Ana Milosavljevic, a violinist and composer, has given solo performances

at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, The Times Center, Kolarac Concert Hall, Belgrade Philharmonic Hall, Greenwich House Arts (in the series Women’s Work), and the Donnell Library. She has also performed at Merkin Hall, CAMI Hall, the United Nations in New York, as well as numerous international music festivals. Acclaimed as “an imaginative artist willing to think big” (The Strad), and a “virtuoso performer…[with] a wonderful mix of technique, sensitivity and passion” (New Music Connoisseur), she has performed and recorded pieces, some written especially for her, by such composers as John Adams, Chen Yi, Tania León, Eve Beglarian, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Svjetlana Bukvich-Nichols, Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, Ljubica Maric, John Eaton, Beth Anderson, Milos Raickovich, and Gian Carlo Menotti. She can be heard on Albany, Chandos, Innova, and Neos Classics labels. Broadcast appearances include Voice of America international telecasts, WNYC radio, the American Music Center’s Counterstream Radio, New York’s MNN Public TV, and Serbian radio and television.

Ismail Lumanovski, a clarinetist, has won numerous competitions and awards, including the Fine Arts award at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and has performed throughout the world, most notably in France, England, Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey and the US. Mr. Lumanovski has studied with Pande Tatarcevski, George Townsend, and Nathan Williams and is currently a student at The Juilliard School where he studies under Charles Neidich and is a member of the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra.

Lynn Bechtold, a violinist, has performed throughout the US, Canada, Holland, and Switzerland with the Lumina String Quartet, East Village Opera Company (rock/opera band), SEM Ensemble, New York Symphonic Ensemble, Absolute Ensemble, Parsons Dance, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Vermont Symphony, Vision Into Art Ensemble, and the VOX Opera Readings. She has worked with composers like Gloria Coates, George Crumb, John Harbison, Morton Subotnick and Alvin Lucier and has premiered at the Princeton Composers’ Series and Composers Concordance. She can be heard on CBC Radio, CBS-TV, NHK-TV, and WNYC and has performed with singers such as Sheryl Crow, Roberta Flack, Smokey Robinson, and Donna Summer. Ms. Bechtold received her master’s degree from the Mannes College of Music, where she studied under Felix Galimir. Prior to that, she received a dual-degree in violin and English from the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University in Boston. She is on the faculty of Greenwich House Music School in NYC, and is a contributing writer to West View, a monthly West Village newspaper.

Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Zankel Hall, Weill Hall, the Kennedy Center in DC, the Barbican Centre in London, the Musicorda, Yellow Barn and Spoleto festivals, and in various concert halls of Southeast Asia, Europe, Israel, Russia, Ukraine and Costa Rica. Ms. DeVore has worked closely with composers John Cage, Ornette Coleman and John Zorn, has premiered many solo and chamber works, and has recorded and performed with artists like The East Village Opera Company, Il Divo, DJ Spooky, Josh Groban, Laura Brannigan, the TransSiberian Orchestra and many of New York’s independent bands. Television appearances include spots on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, Mike and Juliet, and NY 11. Ms. DeVore received her bachelor’s degree in art history from Harvard University before earning her master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, where she studied under Colin Carr and Laurence Lesser.

Liuh-Wen Ting, a violist, has distinguished herself with great versatility and sensitivity. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she was a member of the Meridian String Quartet, and has collaborated with artists across many different spectrums, most recently Ensemble l’Art pour l’Art, the Cassatt String Quartet, and a series of sold-out concerts with the renowned Persian vocal master Shahram Nazeri and the composer Hafez Nazeri.

Ms. Ting has performed at the Prague Spring Music Festival, Warsaw Autumn Music Festival, Primavera en la Habana international electro-acoustic music festival, and Etnafest. She is a member of the Composers Conference at Wellesley College since 1993. Her solo performances include concertos with the Janacek Symphony Orchestra, and most recently with Orquesta Sinfonica del Cibao. She recorded chamber and solo works for Capstone, Albany, North/South, Tzadik, and Mode labels.

Béla Bartók, in his own words: “Many people think it is a comparatively easy task to

write a composition on found folk tunes...This way of thinking is completely erroneous. To handle folk tunes is one of the most difficult tasks; equally difficult, if not more so, than to write a major original composition. If we keep in mind that borrowing a tune means being bound by its individual peculiarity, we shall understand one part of the difficulty. Another is created by the special character of folk tune. We must penetrate it, feel it, and bring out its sharp contours by the appropriate setting... It must be a work of inspiration just as much as any other composition.”

Vasilije Mokranjac was a greatly influential and renowned Serbian composer. Though

he was publicly recognized, Mokranjac was an introvert by nature and tried to stay out of the spotlight, often more consumed by his work than his fame. He was reluctant to follow any specific musical genre or fashion, especially those popular during his time. In total, he composed five symphonies, three overtures, and several concertos for piano and orchestra, as well as a symphonietta for strings and lyrical poetry. Mokranjac devoted many of his compositions to the piano and spent the majority of his life in seclusion, perfecting what some call the masterpieces of Serbian compositions. Given his premature death, Mokranjac also had many unfinished works.

Marko Tajčević produced 54 compositions, for solo voice, choir, chamber orchestra,

strings, woodwinds, and piano. He also published books on theory and harmony. His book, “The Elements of Music Theory”, has been extensively used in music schools in the former Yugoslavia. While Tajcevic’s output is not large, it is well crafted. He liked to work slowly and was aware of the responsibilities of signing the completed work. His style is expressed through small forms—mostly miniatures, solo songs, and similar short pieces; he was considered by many to be a “superb master of the miniature”. He once mentioned that he was amazed by the power and depth of some miniatures such as Chopin’s Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20, or Bach’s minuets and was greatly inspired by such important pieces.

composers

Ms. Milosavljevic attended the School for Musically Gifted Children in Cuprija, Novi Sad University’s Academy of Arts, and Mannes College, The New School for Music, where she received her master’s degree and professional studies diploma and now serves on the Violin Faculty of the Preparatory Division. Ms. Milosavljevic is also the co-founder of Serbian Arts International, which promotes Serbian arts and culture worldwide. Based in Manhattan, she is currently recording a solo CD of music by living women composers. She can be found online at www.ana-violin.com.

Jennifer DeVore, a cellist, chamber musician and soloist, has appeared at