Absalon, fili mi: New Chamber Works for Voice, Winds, and Strings

Absalon, fili mi: New Chamber Works for Voice, Winds, and Strings

This concert features contemporary chamber works for soprano, reeds, and strings. Built around three works by the acclaimed American composer Michael Hersch, including two world premieres, the program also features a new work by David Bird and Korean composer Isang Yun’s Rondel. Ritual Action, the Chicago-based reed trio made up of Andrew Nogal (oboe), Andy Hudson (clarinet), and Ben Roidl-Ward (bassoon) is joined by the award-winning soprano Ah Young Hong and Hannah Christiansen (violin), Lena Vidulich (violin and viola) and Isidora Nojkovic (cello).

Called “a natural musical genius who continues to surpass himself,” by the Washington Post, Michael Hersch is a leading American composer with whom the members of Ritual Action have collaborated extensively since 2018. Ah Young Hong has been the composer’s closest collaborator in the past 10 years, and each member of the trio has performed alongside her extensively. The impetus for this particular program was Hersch’s desire to write a new work that would bring together Ritual Action and Hong to collaborate as a quartet. The resulting piece Absolon, fili mi inspired another work for the same quartet with three string players added (the second Hersch premiere on the program).

Hersch’s intense and expressive style is complimented by Isang Yun’s reed trio Rondel (1975), which has been a core part of Ritual Action’s repertoire since 2018. David Bird’s Wire Hum for bassoon and cello serves as a bridge between the string and wind voices on the program. Hersch’s Of Sorrow Born, a solo violin work written in 2014, is the program’s haunting centerpiece.

Program

Absalon, fili mi* Michael Hersch

Rondel Isang Yun

Of Sorrow Born - VII Michael Hersch

Wire Hum* David Bird

Absalon, fili mi (after Josquin)* Michael Hersch

*denotes World Premiere

About the Ensemble

A soprano of “fearlessness and consummate artistry”(Opera News), Ah Young Hong has interpreted a vast array of repertoire, ranging from the music of Monteverdi to Georg Friedrich Haas. Widely recognized for her work in Michael Hersch’s monodrama, On the Threshold of Winter, The New York Times praised Ms. Hong’s performance in the world premiere as “the opera’s blazing, lone star.” Recent performances include solo appearances with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Bern, and at both the Aldeburgh and Ojai Music Festivals. Highlight concerts of 2021 and 2022 include the premiere performances in the title role of Hersch’s POPPAEA at the Wien Modern and ZeitRäume Basel Festivals, and title role of Fang Man’s Golden Lily (excerpts) with Alarm Will Sound. Fall 2022 saw the album release of Hersch’s the script of storms with BBC Symphony Orchestra under the New Focus label. Ms. Hong is an Associate Professor in the Vocal Studies Department of The Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins University.

Oboist Andrew Nogal is an acclaimed orchestral performer, chamber musician, and interpreter of contemporary music. He is the solo oboist with two Chicago groups that specialize in performing new music: Ensemble Dal Niente and the Grossman Ensemble. In 2011, Nogal was awarded the gold medal in the senior wind division of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. One year later, he became the first and, to date, only oboist ever to receive the Kranichstein Music Prize at the famous Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music. A proud alumnus of the public school band programs in his hometown, Lemont, Illinois, he is also a member of the newly formed Chicago Wind Symphony.

Nogal performs with orchestras across the Midwest, and he can be heard regularly with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared at music festivals across the United States. These include performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Orchestra Barnes-Stokowski Festival, and the New York Phil Biennial held at the Metropolitan Museum. His recent international engagements include concerts in Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, Auckland, Berlin, and Vancouver. For three summers, he studied and performed under the direction of Pierre Boulez at the Lucerne Festival Academy in Switzerland. His degrees in Music Performance and Art History come from Northwestern University.

Praised for his “fearless” performances with an “irrepressible musicality”, clarinetist Andy Hudson has appeared widely across North America, Europe, and Africa in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings. He has recently performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, the Sarasota Orchestra, and the Charlotte Symphony, and was appointed Bass/3rd Clarinetist of the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra in 2020. “Truly a performer for the moment", Andy has premiered 100+ works to date and has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on their MusicNOW series, and is currently Artistic Director with the international sextet Latitude 49 and clarinetist with Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble. Andy has given masterclasses at many of the world’s great centers for musical study, and he is the co-author of two books with composer Roger Zare for Conway Publications. Andy is currently Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI.

Recently named one of 23 artists who are “changing the sound of classical music” by the Washington Post, Ben Roidl-Ward is the Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also holds positions as Principal Bassoonist of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Illinois Symphony and Co-Principal Bassoonist of Sinfonia Da Camera. Ben's dedication to working with living composers has led him to serve as the bassoonist of Ensemble Dal Niente and as a Contemporary Leader for the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), and to participate in the premieres of over 150 compositions to date. He has performed with the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, among others. Ben received his DMA from Northwestern University, where he studied with David McGill. His previous teachers include Ben Kamins at Rice University, George Sakakeeny at the Oberlin Conservatory, and Francine Peterson in the Seattle area.

Currently a member of the Varo String Quartet, violinist Hannah Christiansen performs regularly with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Island Music Festival, and has appeared in recent seasons with Ensemble Dal Niente, the Ulster Orchestra (Belfast, Northern Ireland), SouthEastern Young Artists, F-PLUS, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Hannah’s particular interest in nonstandard notation and extended technique has led her to residencies with the composition departments at Northwestern University and Roosevelt University; this same interest led her and percussionist Joe Bricker (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) to design From Scratch, an education program which introduces young musicians to contemporary music early in their careers. Hannah holds a degree in French Language and Literature from Oberlin College in addition to her violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Northwestern University, and DePaul University, and her major teachers are Milan Vitek, Gerardo Ribeiro, and Janet Sung.

Violinist/violist Lena Vidulich is an adventurous and multi-faceted performer based in Chicago. A tireless advocate for new music, she is also able to move fluidly between the worlds of orchestral music, rock, improvisation, and musical theater. Lena is the violist of earspace, a Raleigh-based ensemble creating multi-sensory performances, and Varo String Quartet.

Lena holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Northwestern University. Her education also included studies at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris and Université de Paris 8 – Vincennes-St Denis. Lena received her master’s degree in contemporary violin performance at the Manhattan School of Music. She is also an AmSAT-certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and has served on faculty at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC), the Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique (NYC), and Alexander Technique Training in Chicago.

Praised for her "great control" (Chicago Classical Review), cellist Isidora Nojkovic is an active soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has a passion for contemporary music and commissioning, having premiered over 50 works, and is one half of the contemporary violin/cello duo Orbit (“the new cross-continental duo to pay attention to.” – Classical Post). A founding member of Varo String Quartet, she also performs regularly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble, and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. She has completed two tours with Lincoln Center Stage, performing in twenty-two countries as part of a piano quintet.

This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

This project is supported, in whole or in part, by federal assistance listing number, 21.027 awarded to the International Museum of Surgical Science by the US Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in the amount of $125,000.00, representing 83% of total project funding.

This project is partially supported by a Chicago Arts Recovery Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

The International Museum of SurgicalScience acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.

Host or Publisher International Museum of Surgical Science