The 10th Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival
presents

Includes the world premiere performances of AFCM commissioned works by
Jiri Gemrot and Sylvie Bodorova

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Gemrot was born into a musical family. He learned piano by 7 and began composing at 13. He formally trained in the Czech Republic and Italy and has been active in musical direction for Czech radio and television since 1982. His chief musical aim is to fuse musical styles, uniting past and present, while posing philosophical and artistic questions. The composer writes: I am most pleased to have produced another World Premiere for a North American audience, adding Tucson to a list that also includes Chicago and Toronto. The work is in two movements. The first is in sonata form; and the second is what I consider a "combination," slower with scherzo. The work emphasizes a neoclassicism of strong form, clear harmony, and melody. My desire is for the work to create a musical bridge between the classics and modern pieces. The work was made possible by the following members of the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music Commissioners' Circle: The Czech Community of Tucson; Fred and Diana Chaffee; Jean-Paul Bierny and Chris Tanz.

Blacklisted by the Nazis, Martinu left his native Czechoslovakia for the United States in 1941. He constantly longed to return to his homeland, and plans to relocate in Prague were underway by 1946. However, in July of that year Martinu suffered serious injuries when he accidentally walked off an ungated balcony at the Berkshire Summer Music School, where he briefly taught. During his full year of recuperation, he composed while reclining on a board set at a 45° angle. Three chamber works emerged from this difficult period, one of which was this brief and graceful quartet.
Almost Mozartean in effect, the first movement of the quartet is structured in traditional sonata form. The oboe introduces the first theme, soon imitated by the violin and piano, and the cello presents a lyrical second theme. After motivic development, the first theme returns, again heard in the oboe, violin, and piano. The second movement opens with a distinct change of style and atmosphere. Dissonant piano chords lead into a violin and cello dialogue, and the instruments freely imitate themes. Ideas from the first movement return at the allegro conclusion.

Largely self-taught, Martinu studied intermittently with Albert Roussel in Paris, where he lived after World War I and composed his Duo (1927). Roussel, a Franck disciple with dissonant underpinnings, helped to steer Martinu away from descriptive program pieces toward more abstract forms with adventuresome harmonies. Offended by the flippant nature of Eric Satie and the impudent group of composers known as "Les Six," Martinu sought to emulate the disciplined neoclassical style of Stravinsky.
When Martinu wrote his Duo No. 1 he was still an avid experimenter, and often individual movements within works show stylistic variation. The Preludium (Andante moderato) unfolds smoothly but with strikingly dissonant harmonies. The more traditional Rondo (Allegro con brio) moves with vital, pulsing rhythms that suggest Czech folk influence. Martinu wrote the duo for two virtuoso musician friends, and the technical possibilities of the instruments are exploited to their fullest extent in the two brilliant cadenzas.

Ms. Bodorova studied composition at the Janacek Academy in Brno, the Academy of Music in Prague, and the Academia Chigiana. Since the 1980s her works have been performed worldwide and as far as the Antarctic, where her elegy for guitar, Homage to Columbus, was performed in 1997. She has won several competition prizes (Mannheim, Czech Radio Prague) and received numerous commissions, the latest from the Warwick Festival for her Terezin Ghetto Requiem. She belongs to the prestigious Czech composer group Quattro.
The composer writes: In the 18th century a huge Celtic gold treasure was discovered at Podmokly, near Pilsen, in the Czech Republic. Today we can still easily discern the characteristic wrinkles in the beautiful landscape of the woods around the castle of Krivoklat, testifying to the remains of Celtic settlements, the oppida. My studio is near the place where the treasure was found, and so I often wonder how much else has survived from that ancient culture. Therefore my choice of harp here is not incidental-the Celts knew this instrument and used it, albeit in a different form.
The first movement, Fagus mysticus (Mystery beech), symbolizes Celtic belief in the power of trees. These cult trees represented a source of knowledge and security, and the Celts used tree murder as a symbol of the defeat of enemies. The cradle of the Celts was found in Central Europe, one of their oldest settlements having been the oppidum Vindobona, where Vienna lies today. Daemones ignis (Demons of fire) relates to the Celts' close affinity with nature-their respect, reverence, and interpretations of it. The work was made possible by the following members of the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music Commissioners' Circle: Bob and Connie Foster.

Festival Musicians

Ik-Hwan Bae, Violin, was born in Seoul and made his professional debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at the age of 12. After studying with Ivan Galamian at The Juilliard School, he won major honors and prizes, notably a Gold Medal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and a Solo Recitalist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. His performing career includes recitals, ensembles, Master Classes, and chamber music festivals internationally. As Artistic Director of Bargemusic Ltd. in New York City until 1995, he oversaw the recording of the complete Brandenburg Concertos recorded for Koch. Mr. Bae has taught at the University of Connecticut, the Peabody Institute of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and is currently Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Nicole Divall, Viola, is a graduate of the Canberra School of Music in her native Australia, and of the School of Music at the University of Michigan. A prizewinner in the 1997 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, she has performed at the Aspen, Taos, Park City, BRAVO! Colorado, Casalmaggiors Italy, Steamboat Springs, Grand Canyon, Ann Arbor Spring, Tucson Winter Chamber Music, Skaneateles Festivals, and Kneisel Hall. Recently Ms. Divall performed as guest artist with the Los Angeles Piano Quartet, the American String Quartet, and the St. Petersburg Quartet, and participated in a chamber music tour of Alaska. She is currently principal violist of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and Cleveland's baroque group Apollo's Fire. She has performed with the Detroit Symphony and as guest Principal Violist with the Sydney Symphony in Australia.

Katerina Englichova, Harp, a resident of Prague, first came to the US as a Fulbright Scholarship winner in 1989 to study at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Since 1993 she has performed as a soloist with international orchestras of Philadelphia, Prague, Hong Kong, San Francisco and others. She also appears with some of the world's finest chamber musicians, including Josef Suk, Cynthia Phelps, Eugenia Zukerman, Jan Machat, the Prazak String Quartet, and the Martinu Quartet. In 2000 she was awarded the Chamber Music Association prize of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for her many contributions as performer and teacher. She has been finalist for the Philadelphia Orchestra Competition, a prize winner in the Elisabeth Herbert Harp Competition in Trenton, and the top winner of a Pro Musicis International Award in New York. She has recorded for various record labels, including Supraphon, New World, and Harmonia Mundi.

Jennifer Frautschi, Violin, made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at 16 and has since been heard in concerts throughout the US, Europe, and Mexico. Among her many honors are a 1999 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Juilliard Concerto Competition, top prize in the 1998 Naumburg Violin Competition, and the only American Laureate in the 1997 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in Belgium. Ms. Frautschi's recent seasons include a recital tour of Switzerland, live recital broadcasts on Radio Suisse Romande, WNYC (New York) and National Public Radio, as well as return engagements at prominent festivals. She has attended USC, Harvard University, and Juilliard, where she studied with Robert Mann.

Ewa Kupiec, Piano, won the ARD competition in Munich in 1992, and since then has enjoyed an extremely busy recital, chamber, and orchestral schedule that includes appearances in cities such as Berlin, Birmingham, Paris, Rome, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Munich, Tokyo, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig, and Prague. Ms. Kupiec has made numerous recordings for Polish Radio, BBC Radio, Austrian Radio, and NDR Hamburg, as well as several award winning CDs for Koch International and Claves. She attended the Chopin Conservatory (Warsaw) and the Royal Academy of Music (London). She lives in Munich.

The Prazak String Quartet was formed in 1972 while its members were students at the Prague Music Conservatory. The quartet has received numerous awards, including First Prize in a competition celebrating the Year of Czech Music (1974), and the Grand Prix at the Evian International String Quartet Competition (1978). The quartet tours worldwide, records exclusively with Praga/Harmonia Mundi, and has won the Diapason d'Or and Grand Prix International du Disque. Vacláv Remes, Violin, studied at the Prague Music Conservatory with Marie Voldanova and at the Academy of Fine Arts with Professor Novotny. He is a winner of the National Violinists Competition (Pisek 1973). Vlastímil Holek, Violin, is a graduate of the Prague Music Conservatory and the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with Professor Hlounova. He performs regularly in duo with piano and as soloist with orchestra. Josef Kluson, Viola, is a founding member of the Prazak Quartet. He appears as a soloist and gives numerous Master Classes each year. Michal Kanka, Cello, has won top prizes in international competitions, including the Tchaikovsky Cello Competition (Moscow 1982), the Prague Spring Competition (1983), and the ARD International Competition (Munich 1986). He also performs and records as a soloist internationally.

Allan Vogel, Oboe, has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "an aristocrat of his instrument, an oboe virtuoso with few equals." He is one of America's leading wind soloists and chamber musicians. Principal oboist of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Vogel has soloed with orchestras throughout the country and has been featured at the Marlboro, Santa Fe, Aspen, Mostly Mozart, and Oregon Bach Festivals. His extensive discography includes recordings for RCA, Angel, Delos, and Nonesuch. Mr. Vogel is on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts and the University of Southern California and also serves on the advisory board of the American Bach Society.

Felix Wang, Cello, performs with the Blair String Quartet and the Iris Chamber Orchestra, and is Assistant Professor of Cello at Vanderbilt University. In demand as teacher and performer, he has participated in several festivals, including those of Banff, Interlochen, and Killington. A winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition, Mr. Wang also received the Frank Huntington Beebe Grant to further his studies. He received his doctorate from the University of Michigan in addition to degrees from the New England and Peabody Conservatories.

Cover art: Brenda Semanick • Program notes: Nancy Monsman • Design and art direction: GroundZero • Producer and Recording Engineer: Matthew Snyder

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