Artists
Composer
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Generally recognized as the father of the Neo-Romantic movement in music, David Del Tredici has received numerous awards (including the Pulitzer Prize) and has been commissioned and performed by nearly every major American and European orchestral ensemble. "Del Tredici," said Aaron Copland, "is that rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift. I venture to say that his music is certain to make a lasting impression on the American musical scene. I know of no other composer of his generation who composes music of greater freshness and daring, or with more personality."
Much of his early work consisted of elaborate vocal settings of James Joyce (I Hear an Army; Night Conjure-Verse; Syzygy) and Lewis Carroll (Pop-Pourri, An Alice Symphony, Vintage Alice and Adventures Underground, to name just a few). More recently, Del Tredici has set to music a cavalcade of contemporary American poets, often celebrating a gay sensibility (three examples: Gay Life, Love Addiction and Wondrous the Merge). OUT Magazine, in fact, has twice named the composer one of its people of the year.
Over the past several years he has ventured into the more intimate realm of chamber music with String Quartet No. 1, Grand Trio (brought to life by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and recently printed by Boosey & Hawkes), and — harkening to his musical beginnings as a piano prodigy — a large number of solo-piano works (Gotham Glory, Three Gymnopedies, Ballad in Yellow, S/M Ballade, and Aeolian Ballade).
Still, the extravagant Del Tredici remains at large and busy. In May 2005 Robert Spano conducted the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus in the premiere and subsequent recording of Paul Revere's Ride, recently nominated for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards as the Best New Classical Composition of 2006. November 2005 held the world premiere of the melodrama Rip Van Winkle with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin and narrated by world famous Broadway actor, Brian Stokes Mitchell.
In recent years several Del Tredici CDs have abounded: on Deutsche Grammophon, an all-Del Tredici CD (released in its highly-regarded "20/21" series) featuring conductor Oliver Knussen, soprano Lucy Shelton and the Netherlands' ASKO Ensemble; on the Music and Arts label, a pair of recent Del Tredici song cycles featuring soprano Hila Plitmann with the composer at the piano; on Dorian, In Wartime, a spectacular new work for concert band; and on Koch, a selection of piano compositions played by Anthony de Mare. Among past recordings were two best-sellers — Final Alice and In Memory of a Summer Day (Part I of Child Alice); the latter work won Del Tredici the Pulitzer Prize in 1980.
March 2007 marked David Del Tredici's 70th birthday, with concerts given throughout the year, including the premiere of Magyar Madness, a chamber piece for clarinet and string quartet, commissioned by Music Accord for clarinetist David Krakauer and the Orion String Quartet. Another premiere was S/M Ballade for solo piano which was commissioned and performed by Marc Peloquin.
Recent publications include a collection entitled Songs for Baritone and Piano as well as the score and parts for the piano trio entitled Grand Trio. A second printed volume of solo piano pieces is in progress which will include Gotham Glory and Three Gymnopedies.
Distinguished Professor of Music at The City College of New York, Del Tredici makes his home in Greenwich Village.
Reviews
Violin
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Violinist Glenn Dicterow has established himself worldwide as one of the most prominent American concert artists of his generation.
His extraordinary musical gifts became apparent at the age of 11 when he made his solo debut in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic where his father, Harold Dicterow served as principal of the second violin section for 52 years.
In the following years Mr. Dicterow became one of the most sought after young artists appearing as soloist from coast to coast. He went on to win numerous awards and competitions including the Young Musicians Foundation Award and Coleman Award (Los Angeles), the Julia Klumpke Award (San Francisco) and the Bronze Medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition (1970). He is a graduate of Juilliard, where he was a student of Ivan Galamian. Other teachers have included Joachim Chassman, Naoum Blinder, Manuel Compinsky, Erno Neufeld, Gerald Vinci, Jascha Heifetz and Henryk Szeryng.
In 1967 he appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Andre Kostelanetz in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. He was then 18 years old.
In 1980 he joined the New York Philharmonic as Concertmaster and has since performed as its soloist every year.
Prior to joining the New York Philharmonic, Dicterow served as Associate Concertmaster and Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
During a New York Philharmonic tour of major American cities in 1986 he was featured in Bernstein's Serenade with the Berstein himself conducting, and in 1990 played Carmen Fantasy under Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic in a "Live From Lincoln Center" concert telecast. He was also a soloist in the orchestra's 1982 concert at the White House.
Mr. Dicterow has also been a guest artist with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Birmingham, Chautauqua, Grant Park, Indianapolis, Hong Kong, Kansas City, London Symphony Orchestra, Mexico City, Montreal, Omaha, National Symphony in Washington, DC, and San Diego Symphony to name a few. He has also soloed with the Gawandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig under the direction of Kurt Masur. Glenn Dicterow performed the Barber Violin Concerto on the New York Philharmonic's 1998 tour of Asia which included a concert at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Most recently Mr. Dicterow has played the concertos of Miklos Rozsa, Karol Szymonowski and Aaron Kernis's Lament and Prayer with the New York Philharmonic. This season (2007/08) includes solo engagements with the orchestras of Springfield, Sioux City, Bartlesville, Wheeling and Oklahoma. He will also be playing the Korngold and Barber Concertos with the New York Philharmonic in New York and on the Philharmonic tour of China for the 2007-8 season.
Mr. Dicterow's discography includes Copland's Violin Sonata, Largo, and PianoTrio; Ives's Sonatas nos.2 and 4 and Piano Trio; and Korngold's Piano Trio and Violin Sonata, all for EMI.
He is also featured in the violin solos in Strauss's Ein Heldenleben and Also Sprach Zarathustra with Zubin Mehta and CBS. Other compositions committed to disc are works of Wieniawski with Mr. Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Lee Holdridge's Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and the composer conducting; Shostakovitch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Maxim Shostakovitch on a Radiothon recording; and the Philharmonic's two recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade with Yuri Temirkanov on the BMG label and with Kurt Masur on the Teldec label.
Dicterow's most recent CD is a solo recital for Cala Records entitled New York Legends featuring Corigliano's Sonata for Violin and Piano, Korngold's Much ado About Nothing, the premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein's Sonata and Martinu's Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola, in collaboration with Karen Dreyfus, viola and Gerald Robbins, piano.
Mr. Dicterow can also be heard in the violin solos of the film scores for The Turning Point , The Untouchables, Altered States, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Interview With A Vampire among others.
Mr. Dicterow also enjoys an active teaching career. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School. Both Dicterow and his wife, Karen Dreyfus are founding members of The Lyric Piano Quartet, which is in residence at Queens College CUNY. More recently Mr. Dicterow was named Chairman of the Orchestral Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music in New York.
Reviews
Viola
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Karen Dreyfus has distinguished herself as a recipient of many prizes both in this country and abroad including the Naumburg Viola Competition (1982), the Lionel Tertis Competition (1980), the Washington International Competition (1979), and the Hudson Valley Competition (1978). Ms. Dreyfus has concertized extensively in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. Some of her musical collaborations have been with Musicians From Marlboro, Philomusica, Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center, the New York Philharmonic and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Karen Dreyfus has performed in recital with Yehudi Menuhin at Carnegie Hall and has also collaborated with such artists as Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider, Leon Fleisher, Chick Corea, and her husband, Glenn Dicterow.
Born into a family of musicians, she began studying the violin with her father, a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra and later decided to pursue a career on the viola under the tutelage of Leonard Mogill. A 1979 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Michael Tree and Karen Tuttle Ms. Dreyfus moved to New York where she performs solo concerts, chamber music recitals and teaches viola, chamber music and orchestral studies. In 2001 Karen Dreyfus joined the faculty of the Juilliard School where she teaches Orchestral Viola Repertory Classes. Ms. Dreyfus also serves on the viola faculty of the Manhattan School of Music where she teaches viola, chamber music as well as on the Graduate Orchestra Performance Program. Ms. Dreyfus has taught on the faculties of Third Street Music School Settlement, SUNY Purchase and Queens College.
Karen Dreyfus has received a National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalists Award and has performed extensively throughout the United States. She has also recorded many CDs. Her premiere recording with Bridge Records entitled "Romanze" has been received with much critical acclaim. American Record Guide cites Ms. Dreyfus as "a terrific player with impeccable technique and intonation, beautiful tone, and real musicianship. Her playing is highly expressive and responsive to the many moods elicited by this varied program."
In 1995 Karen Dreyfus was invited to Poland to record the William Walton Viola Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic. She also recorded works for viola and orchestra by eight American composers with the Silesian Philharmonic. In 1997 Ms. Dreyfus recorded and premiered three more solo works with the Czech Radio Symphony of Prague. These CDs have been released on the MMC label.
Ms. Dreyfus has released two solo recordings for MMC Recordings. The first is the Willian Walton Viola Concerto coupled with William Thomas McKinley's Viola Concerto No. 3. Karen Dreyfus has completed Viola Concertos Volume II for MMC which includes works by four American composers works for viola and orchestra with the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerzy Swoboda, conductor.
In the fall of 2002 Karen Dreyfus and Glenn Dicterow released the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante along with the McKinley "Concert Variations" which was written expressly for them. It is on the MMC label with conductor Carl St. Clair and the Warsaw National Philharmonic.
Karen Dreyfus is a co-founding member of the Lyric Piano Quartet, which is Quartet-in-Residence at Queens College.
Recently Dreyfus along with the ensemble Lyric Piano Quartet, has released a recording of piano quartet works of Strauss and Turina for Black Box Records. It has been given the honor of being nominated "Editor's Choice" by Gramophone Magazine. BBC Magazine said that the Lyric Piano Quartet "marries the old-fashion virtues of portamento and warm vibrato to a quicksilver intelligence."
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