Concert Programs and Performers

Saturday, February 25, 2012  7 p.m.

Program

TRIO SIMPATICO

Trio Simpatico performs eclectic chamber music with an orchestral bent. Simpatico’s unusual instrumentation of clarinet, horn, and piano borrows from orchestral timbres. Audiences remark, “…It sounds like a whole orchestra.”

The ensemble was launched in 2009 when three friends sat down to read Carl Reinecke’s Trio Op. 274; the signature piece for their ensemble. The experience was so “simpatico” that the players decided to look for similar compositions. Today Simpatico delights audiences with repertoire composed and arranged for their ensemble including standard literature, virtuosic showpieces, and lesser-known gems.

The Trio performs at a wide variety of venues including An Die Musik, Academy Art Museum, and St. Mark’s Methodist Church in Easton, Maryland. In addition, Simpatico is dedicated to musical outreach programs and performs at retirement communities such as Charlestown and Collington Episcopal Life Care. Currently they are working on their first CD.

Simpatico’s members are clarinetist, Phyllis Crossen-Richardson: French hornist, Heidi Littman; and pianist, Matthew Bachman. All three are active performers and teachers in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore metropolitan area and have collaborated on many projects for the past six years.

Phyllis Crossen-Richardson, clarinetist, has performed extensively as a chamber musician and recitalist throughout the United States. Locally, she performs in the Annapolis Wind Symphony, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Annapolis Chamber Players (ACP). As a founding member of ACP, and its Artistic Director and clarinetist, Phyllis works with colleagues to craft unique and appealing programs for mixed chamber ensembles. She has taught clarinet privately and coached chamber music ensembles from Michigan to Maryland. Currently she is on the faculty of Washington College. Phyllis received her Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees, both in clarinet performance, from the University of Maryland-College Park, studying with Loren Kitt and Edward Walters. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, studying with Ignatius Gennusa and Sidney Forrest. In addition she has studied clarinet with Robert Marcellus and Anthony Gigliotti. As a researcher, Phyllis has done extensive research and archival work for the International Clarinet Association Research Center, written liner notes for music CDs, and published articles in The Clarinet and Clarinet & Saxophone, and the NACWPI Journal

Heidi Littman is a native of Sunnyvale, California. At the age of ten, she began her musical studies on the French horn. Heidi is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and received her Bachelor of Music degree in performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she studied horn with Douglas Hill. In addition, Heidi completed her Master of Music degree at the University of Maryland-College Park, studying with Gregory Miller. Heidi has performed in many prestigious summer music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, the Las Vegas Music Festival, and the National Orchestral Institute. Locally she performs with the highly regarded new music group, Great Noise Ensemble, and the Annapolis Wind Symphony.  She is an active freelance musician and teacher in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Versatility describes American Pianist Matthew T. Bachman. Equally at home as a soloist and as a chamber musician, Mr. Bachman is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Maryland, College Park, studying with the internationally recognized pedagogue, Dr. Cleveland L. Page.  Mr. Bachman also holds a degree in French Horn Performance from that same institution.  Bachman has studied piano with Andre Watts, Mikhail Volchok, Rita Sloan and Rebecca Trout. He was the recipient of a full assistantship in piano technology while doing course work at the University of Maryland, and as a logical outgrowth of his background as a pianist and piano technican, Bachman is currently operations Manager at PianoCraft in Gaitherburg, MD. As an educator, Bachman maintains an active and talented teaching studio in the Washington, D.C. area, and in 2007, chaired the peer jury at the William Kapell International Piano Competition.  Bachman is Director of Music at Northwest Community Church of God in Washington, DC.

About the Performers

Phyllis Crossen-Richardson – Clarinet

Heidi Littman – Horn

Matthew Bachman – Piano

Variations on themes from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Op. 5                 Johann Sobeck  (1831 - 1941)

Suite for Clarinet, Horn & Piano               Alec Wilder (1907-1980)

Intermission

Trio in B flat, Op. 274 for Clarinet, Horn & Piano         Carl Reinecke (1824 - 1910)

     

Johann Sobeck’s Duo Concertant Op. 5 for Clarinet and Horn is a virtuosic opera fantasy on themes from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Sobeck (1831-1940) was a virtuosic Czech clarinetist, teacher and composer. He wrote many solo clarinet works and chamber music for woodwind quintets, winds, and voice. The Duo Concertante was first published in 1880. Sobeck wrote this little gem to show off his technical expertise on clarinet and that of the horn. Opera fantasies, such as this one, were popular during the 19th century and coincide with the rise of the virtuoso instrumentalist and advances in instrument design.

Alec Wilder’s Suite for Clarinet, Horn & Piano is a wonderful four-movement work with rhythmic motifs, jazz-inspired harmonies, and lush writing. Wilder (1907-1980) was an American composer who blended the American musical traditions of jazz and the American popular song with basic "classical" European forms and techniques. A self-described misfit, Wilder came from a wealthy banking family. He studied music at the Eastman School of Music although his unorthodox views didn’t work well with the school’s teaching style. Wilder’s musical output was enormous and includes works for often neglected instruments such as the tuba, French horn, and jazz saxophone. In addition to his many instrumental works, Wilder wrote hundreds of popular songs working closely with some of the biggest musical names of the 20th century including Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway, Peggy Lee, and Tony Bennett.

Carl Reinecke’s Trio Op. 274 is a lush and Romantic trio remiscent of Brahms. Reinecke (1824-1910) was a reknowned German pianist, conductor, and composer. During the second half of the nineteenth century he was respected as one of the most influential and versatile musicians of his time.  He was a prolific composer and the leader of the Leipzig music scene for over 35 years.  As a pedagogue and eminent pianist, Reinecke’s pupils included Grieg, Riemann, Sinding, Arthur Sullivan, and Cosima Wagner.  The Trio Op. 274 is the signature piece for clarinet, horn, and piano. In fact it’s what started Trio Simpatico. When the three of us sat down to read this big Romantic trio, we were hooked. Not only did we like the sound, we really like each other! When you hear the Reinecke Trio you’ll realize why audiences exclaim, “…It sounds like a whole orchestra.”

Program Notes