|
|
||
|
|
     
|
Recitals
Mark Gallagher maintains a very active recital and chamber music schedule throughout the year. Performing extensively in both the United States and Europe, Dr. Gallagher's repertoire spans the spectrum from the Baroque period to the 21st Century. Recent performances in Germany and a concert tour of the Netherlands included a live broadcast on Dutch Public Radio from the Hall of Mirrors at the Concertgebouw. Future tours include an upcoming series of concerts at the "Music for Youth" festival in the Czech Republic. Dr. Gallagher's "Renaissance-Baroque Reconstruction Project" is a project of ongoing research and performance of many mainstream and obscure 16th, 17th, and 18th century instrumental and vocal works. A firm believer that the clarinet would have been used extensively by composers if it had been a more developed instrument. He has reconstructed several works by Byrd, Dowland, de Victoria, Bach, Handel, Telemann, and Hassa for performance on solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and concerto appearances. Given the clarinet's extensive range, timbre, agility, and flexibility, several of these works include castrato arias that are rarely performed today.
November 14, 2006, Faculty Clarinet Recital, Pealer Recital Hall, 8:00 p.m. Works by Willson, Larson, Mendelssohn, Poulenc, Templeton. March 11, 2007, Faculty Clarinet Recital, Pealer Recital Hall, 3:00 p.m., with guest artist, Frank Corliss, piano. March 18 - 25, 2007, Concert and Masterclass tour of Wisconsin with I Venti Semplice. Performances in Madison, Milwaukee, and Appleton, WI. May 28 - June 19, 2007, Concert tour of Southern France and Switzerland. Details TBA. July 4 - 8, 2007, International Clarinet Association Convention, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. July 28, 2007, Masterclass and Performance at Penn Alps with I Venti Semplice. July 29 - August 4, 2007, Savage Mountain Summer Arts Academy at Frostburg State University, Wind Chamber Music Institute. Contact me for details. As artistic director and a founding member of I Venti Semplice, Dr. Gallagher has created a group dedicated to the promotion and performance of wind chamber music. This flexible ensemble performs music ranging from solo to large ensemble works. Performances consist of standard works from the literature, new music, as well as several transcriptions. Based in Washington, DC, I Venti Semplice's concert venues encompass concert halls to historic churches throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and New England. In 2002 the group completed a highly acclaimed tour of New England and in 2004 completed a tour of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Recent projects include a series of wind trios by the 18th century Bohemian composers Wenth, Triebensee, and Wranitzky. All of these wind trios have been arranged to accommodate any combination of instruments including the following; flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, basset horn, and bassoon. The ensemble is presently involved in a recording project to bring these delightful pieces to the public. For more information on these pieces, contact Dr. Gallagher at mgallagher@markgallagher.net. "Aubade" was composed between May and June 1929; commissioned by Vicomtesse Marie-Laure and Vicomte Charles de Noailles. It was first performed privately at the Paris home of the de Noailles on 19 June 1929; choreography by Bronislava Nijinska; decor and costumes by Jean-Michel Frank; conducted by Vladimir Golschmann (Poulenc played piano). The first public performance took place on 21 January 1930 at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris; choreography by George Balanchine; decor and costumes by Angeles Ortiz; conducted by Alexandre Labinsky (Poulenc again played piano). Poulenc evidently disapproved of Balanchine's work: "it's stupid, because it's the opposite of my musical intention..." A concert version of the work took place on 1 December 1929 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, with the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, conducted by Ernest Ansermet (Poulenc again played piano). Up to this point it appears that Bronislava Nijinska's original choreography from the first private performance has never been recreated. Dr. Gallagher in collaboration with Library of Congress Senior Music Specialist, Kevin LaVine and French dancer/choreographer Yves de Bouteiller are attempting to find and reconstruct Nijinska's choreography from a collection of her papers that have been given to the library's Music Division. A complete performance is planned with instruments and dancers as soon as research is complete....stay tuned.
During the summer, Dr. Gallagher travels to picturesque Washington Island, Wisconsin, to perform with the faculty quintet and teach at the Semplice Harbor School of Music. Dedicated to the study and performance of chamber music, the Semplice Harbor School of Music consists of both a high school and college division, including a college fellowship quintet program. Concerts include several faculty chamber music performances, combined performances with the college fellowship participants, and venues across the island. Washington Island, Wisconsin, is located at the tip of Door County in northeastern Wisconsin. Originally settled by Scandinavian immigrants, the island has long fostered an extremely strong summer arts community hosting many musicians, theatre companies, and visual artists. Strikingly beautiful, the island is a perfect location to experience the arts, vacation, and to relax. For more information on clarinet study at the Semplice Harbor Music Settlement, send an email to mgallagher@markgallagher.net.
"The four musicians featured in Sunday's performance played with unwavering intensity. In their hands, the eight movements of the 'Quartet for the End of Time' were unique, powerful vignettes. Gallagher's interpretation of the solo clarinet movement "Abyss of the Birds" was at once technically masterful and musically gripping. The clarinetist serves as both the voice of the birds and the yawning abyss of time. His whispered entrances and seemingly random bird songs juxtaposed with relentless, sans-vibrato cries made a dramatic impact."
"Violinist Lina Bahn, flutist Carole Bean and guest clarinetist Mark Gallagher alternated brilliant solos and lyric ensemble playing in Helmut Braunlich's Trio. That work's classic structures contrasted sharply with the other trios on the program. Stephen Hartke's "The Horse With the Lavender Eye -- Episodes for Violin, Clarinet and Piano" was a wildly imaginative excursion into musical schizophrenia, oscillating between motifs from the avant-garde and pop culture." "Equally moving was clarinetist Mark Gallagher's work in the mystical and solemn 'Abyss of the Birds' movement of the quartet."
|
|