Rosen Concert Hall

Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 31, 2016 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Kathryn Lockwood, viola

Pia Gerlach, cello

Wendy Chen, piano

Piano quartets by Mozart, Turina and Brahms

Rosen Concert Hall
Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 23, 2016 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Harumi Rhodes, violin

Kathryn Lockwood, viola

Ole Akahoshi, cello

Rieko Aizawa, piano

Special joint performance with Rioult Dance NY

All Bach program

Rosen Concert Hall

Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 20, 2016 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Harumi Rhodes, violin

Kathryn Lockwood, viola

Ole Akahoshi, cello

Rieko Aizawa, piano

Music: So What’s the Story? Part II

Works by Enesco, Carter, Janacek and Dvorak

Rosen Concert Hall
Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 6, 2016 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin
Caroline Stinson, cello
J.Y. Song, piano
Mickey Solis, narrator

Music: So What’s the Story? Part I
Works by Biber, Delerue and Smetana

Queens College, NY

June 25, 27, 28, 2016

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World premiere of "Tarantella" for violin and orchestra by Bruce Saylor

Congregation Kol Ami

8201 High School Road

Elkins Park, PA 

May 24, 2016

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Julius Abrahams, piano

Works by Copland, de Falla, Smetana, Bloch and Gershwin

Avenues: The World School

259 10th Ave, New York, NY

May 10, 2016 at 7:30pm

Musicians:
Gil Morgenstern, violin
J.Y. Song, piano

Actors:
Maryann Plunkett (Tony, Obie and Drama Desk Ensemble Awards)
Jay O. Sanders (Obie and Drama Desk Ensemble Awards)
Mickey Solis (American Repertory Theater and Harvard)

Part II of the series on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 will take musical storytelling one step further by presenting intentionally programmatic work – music written with the expressed intent of narrative. It will also explore music’s role as one voice of a trio of disciplines including cinema and text. 

Opening the concert will be George Enescu’s “Impressions d’Enfance” (Impressions from Childhood), which tells the story of sunset to sunrise through the eyes of a child.

The program continues with an interdisciplinary “discussion” focusing on varying versions of the origins of the universe, from ancient Greece to modern day science to digital imagery of our local solar neighborhood out to the edge of the observable universe (courtesy of the Hayden Planetarium and the American Museum of Natural History). The devout 17th century Jesuit composer Heinrich von Biber’s “Mystery Sonatas,” inspired by the Prayers of the Rosary, will provide the musical voice for these dialogues.

The use of music in cinema will be introduced with a newly commissioned video montage reflecting the beautiful and haunting melodies of famed French New Wave composer George Delerue.

The concert will conclude with Aaron Copland’s ever popular “Waltz and Hoedown” from his ballet Rodeo.

New York

New Jersey

Texas

Various private concerts and fundraisers for Reflections Series International

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Continued collaborations in Europe for Reflections Series International “series-within-a-series” entitled Music: So What’s the Story

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Avenues: The World School 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

February 17, 2016 at 7:30pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Ole Akahoshi, cello

Rieko Aizawa, piano

Part I of the series will feature works that, while not strictly programmatic, are reflective of each composer's personal narrative. Leos Janacek's Sonata for Violin and Piano is a composition whose catalyst was the agitation and passionate emotions of World War I. Edvard Grieg's lighthearted Wedding Day at Troldhaugen depicts the "congratulations and best wishes" that are given by guests to newlyweds. Bedřich Smetana's Piano Trio in g minor, Op. 15, is an autobiographical work that was motivated by the death of his eldest daughter. Joining Morgenstern will be cellist Ole Akahoshi and pianist Rieko Aizawa.

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·     Laurie Anderson: performance artist, composer, musician, filmmaker (New York, NY)

·     Robert Pinsky: former United States Poet-Laureate (Boston, MA)

·     Laura Truffaut: daughter of François Truffaut (Berkeley, CA)

·     Niké Arrighi: actress, “Odile” in Truffaut’s film “Day for Night” (Rome, Italy)

·     J.D. McClatchy: Pulitzer-nominated poet (New York, NY)

·     Collette Delerue: widow of Academy Award-winning composer Georges Delerue (Paris, France)

·     Royal Brown: author of “Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music” (New York, NY)

·     Bruce Saylor: award-winning composer of many works for Mr. Morgenstern (New York, NY)

·     Jack Sullivan: author of “Hitchcock’s Music” (New York, NY)

·     Robert Scanlan: Harvard University and ART-American Repertory Theater (Cambridge, MA)

·     Roberta Guidi di Bagno: international scenic and costume designer for film, ballet and opera (Rome, Italy)

Rosen Concert Hall

Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 30, 2015 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Kathryn Lockwood, viola

Inbal Segev, cello

Rieko Aizawa, piano

Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in c minor

Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet in g minor

Rosen Concert Hall

Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 21, 2015 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Harumi Rhodes, violin

Kathryn Lockwood, viola

Inbal Segev, cello

Rieko Aizawa, piano

Works by Beethoven, Bach and Schumann 

Rosen Concert Hall

Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 9, 2015 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Harumi Rhodes, violin

Ole Akahoshi, cello

J.Y. Song, piano

Works by Boccherini, Bruch, Bloch and Mendelssohn

Rosen Concert Hall

Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

July 7, 2015 at 8pm

Gil Morgenstern, violin

Harumi Rhodes, violin

Ole Akahoshi, cello

J.Y. Song, piano

“From the Homeland” 

Works by Turina, Smetana and Arensky

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director

Harumi Rhodes, violin

Kathryn Lockwood, viola

Astrid Schween, cello

Yousif Sheronick, percussion

Bill Camp, narrator

May 21, 2015

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

The final program in the 2014-2015 Reflections Series International season will present music and text inspired by composers’ personal encounters with both natural and man-made landscapes; immortalizing them through works of unparalleled beauty and drama. This artistic journey, from flowing crystalline streams in China to the haunting terrain of the Middle East to the wide-open prairies of the American Great Plains, includes music by Antonin Dvořák, Zhou Long, and Riyad El-Soumbati, along with text from the works of Mary Shelley, Naguib Mahfouz, and Gaetano Cipolla, narrated by Obie Award-winning actor Bill Camp.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director

Featuring pianist Rieko Aizawa and

choreography by dancers Anna Schön,

Hadar Ahuvia, and James "J-Floats" Fable

Tom Patrick, choreographic advisor

February 26, 2015

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

This unique performance will explore the relationships between music and dance, and will investigate how adding another artistic discipline to music alters our experience as audience members.  Featuring Morgenstern and pianist, Rieko Aizawa, the program will include familiar works of music but with original dance specially created for this program by dancers/choreographers Anna Schön, Hadar Ahuvia, and "flexer-glider" James "J-Floats" Fable. Music to be performed includes Claude Debussy's Sonata for Violin and Piano, George Gershwin's Summertime, A Woman is a Sometime Thing and It Ain't Necessarily So from Porgy and Bess (arr. Jascha Heifetz), and selections from J.S. Bach's Partita in E Major for Solo Violin. 

Gil Morgenstern, violin 

January 2015

Italy

Performances in Rome, including at the Austrian Cultural Institute, and master classes at St. Stephens.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; J.Y. Song, piano

December 11, 2014

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

The Voice of the Violin continues Gil Morgenstern's showcasing of the singularly expressive range of the violin and the diverse manner in which composers have exploited it. This program will take us around the globe, from east to west and from the Baroque to the contemporary styles. Highlights include an elegant Sonata by Jean-Marie Leclaire, who effectively combined the Parisian and Italian Baroque styles, Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major, “The Stream Flows” by the Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng, and the angular modernity of Elliott Carter’s “Riconoscenza per Goffredo Petrassi.” Joining Mr. Morgenstern on this musical voyage will be pianist, J.Y. Song.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Ole Akahoshi, cello; Rieko Aizawa, piano 

October 2, 2014

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

The opening program of the 2014 – 2015 Reflections Series International season features Johannes Brahms’ Piano Trio in B Major, written in 1854 but completely revised in 1891. While both artistic and personal relationships contribute to a good deal of discussion and even personal intrigue surrounding the trio, this program will bring to life the musical references of preceding composers (Schubert, Beethoven, Bach and Schumann) that lie at the heart of this great work. Rounding out the program will be his ever-popular Violin Sonata in d minor, and "Hommage a Brahms," a work by the contemporary composer Brett Dean. Joining Mr. Morgenstern will be cellist Ole Akahoshi, and pianist, Rieko Aizawa.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Harumi Rhodes, violin; Kathryn Lockwood, viola; Inbal Segev, cello; J.Y. Song, piano

July 22, 2014

Rosen Concert Hall, Appalachian State University

Concert featuring Brahms Piano Quintet in f minor.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Harumi Rhodes, violin; Kathryn Lockwood, viola; Inbal Segev, cello; J.Y. Song, piano

July 20, 2014

Rosen Concert Hall, Appalachian State University

Concert featuring Ernst Dohnanyi's Piano Quintet in C Major.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Harumi Rhodes, violin; Ole Akahoshi, cello; Rieko Aizawa, piano

July 1, 2014

Rosen Concert Hall, Appalachian State University

Concert featuring Brahms B Major Piano Trio.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Ole Akahoshi, cello; Rieko Aizawa, piano

June 29, 2014

Rosen Concert Hall, Appalachian State University

“The Magic of Mendelssohn," will take the audience "under the hood" of one of Felix Mendelssohn’s most beloved compositions - the Piano Trio in D Minor.  By programming works that include motifs found in each of the Trio’s movements, the audience will hear its component parts through the music of other composers including Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert. The evening will culminate in a performance of the Trio itself, inviting the audience to reflect anew on this brilliant composition, and on how Mendelssohn successfully bridged the ever-growing divide between the Classical and Romantic styles. Joining Gil Morgenstern will be cellist, Ole Akahoshi, and pianist, J.Y. Song.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; J.Y. Song, piano; Yousif Sheronik, percussion; Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel, actors

May 15, 2014

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

Reflections Series International’s final program of the 2013 -14 season, Identities and Transformation, is a celebration of its inaugural year at Avenues: The World School. Seeking a broader understanding of what forms and transforms our personal and collective identities, Morgenstern intends to raise such questions as: What roles do history, culture, religion, the environment, gender and politics play in shaping or reshaping them? How does one negotiate personal identity in an age of globalization and its concurrent loss of privacy? Can we choose to transform ourselves or does our cultural memory remain at the core of who we are? And what are we to do when new values and cultural practices are imposed on us?

Morgenstern will explore these questions by creating both a musical and literary narrative, with texts ranging from from Genesis to Walt Whitman, the Koran to Sir Edmund Hillary, and from Mao to Mayan fables. Music will include Sergei Prokofiev’s viscerally powerful Violin Sonata in f minor, the Peruvian rhythms of Gabriela Lena Frank, Enzo Rao’s Sicilian folk music and John Cage’s haunting Nocturne.

The program's theme is the result of a collaboration between Morgenstern and select Avenues tenth grade students.

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Julius Abrahams, piano

March 23, 2014

Temple Beth El | 333 SW 4th Avenue | Boca Raton, FL

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Ole Akahoshi, cello; J.Y. Song, piano

March 10, 2014

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

“The Magic of Mendelssohn," will take the audience "under the hood" of one of Felix Mendelssohn’s most beloved compositions - the Piano Trio in D Minor.  By programming works that include motifs found in each of the Trio’s movements, the audience will hear its component parts through the music of other composers including Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert. The evening will culminate in a performance of the Trio itself, inviting the audience to reflect anew on this brilliant composition, and on how Mendelssohn successfully bridged the ever-growing divide between the Classical and Romantic styles. Joining Gil Morgenstern will be cellist, Ole Akahoshi, and pianist, J.Y. Song. 

Gil Morgenstern, violin

February 16, 2014 through February 28, 2014

Italy

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; Rieko Aizawa, piano; Rob Breckenridge, actor

November 21, 2013

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

One of the ironic facts of creative life is that inspiration often emerges from fear, terror and pain. Through music, literature and imagery, Beauty Born of Terror will explore the endurance of hope and spirituality amid the cataclysmic horrors of the twentieth century. Morgenstern is joined by actor, Rob Breckenridge, and pianist, Rieko Aizawa, in musical works by Arvo Pärt, Erwin Schulhoff, Chen Yi, Francis Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen. Texts will include ancient parables, as well as the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke, Antonio Machado, Federico García Lorca, and a newly commissioned work by the Italian writer Marina Carbone, whose poetry and prose examines beauty, terror and pain through the lens of a writer who comes to realize that her survival is dependent on her art: her poetry. Morgenstern has programmed the concert to create a trio of three distinct voices - music, text and imagery. 

Gil Morgenstern, violin

October 8, 2013 through October 24, 2013

Italy

Gil Morgenstern, violin and artistic director; J.Y. Song, piano 

September 19, 2013

Avenues: The World School | 259 10th Ave, New York, NY

Mandala, the Sanskrit word for circle, is used in many traditions as an artistic aid for meditation to advance practitioners towards a state of spiritual enlightenment. The works of J. S. Bach can equally be said to advance practitioners, in this case composers, performers and audiences, towards a state of musical enlightenment. Join Gil Morgenstern and pianist J.Y. Song for this opening concert of Reflections Series International’s 2013-2014 season, exploring Bach’s influence on the music of every successive era through the lens of his monumental Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. Musical selections, circling through works by Brahms, Ysaÿe, Bloch, Stravinsky, Kurtag, Bartok, Crumb and Villa-Lobos, will be punctuated by imagery ranging from Hildegard von Bingen's 12th Century "The Cosmic Wheel" to George Crumb's musical score "The Magic Circle of Infinity."

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Zuill Bailey, cello; Piers Lane, piano

July 28, 2013 through August 5, 2013

Townsville, Australia

Various solo and chamber music concerts

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Zuill Bailey, cello; Piers Lane, piano

July 8, 2013 through July 24, 2013

Rosen Concert Hall | Boone, NC

Various chamber music performances

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Julius Abrahams, piano

June 15, 2013

Temple of the High Country | Boone, NC

Bloch, Smetana, Copland, Gershwin and de Falla

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Zuill Bailey, cello; Piers Lane, piano

May 31, 2013 - June 9, 2013

Various concerts | Sitka, Alaska

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Jonathan Feldman, piano

May 7, 2013

Private Residence

Schubert, Bright Sheng, John Harbison, Ernst Bloch, Chen Yi, Elliott Carter, Georges Enescu, Smetana, Gershwin and Copland

Gil Morgenstern, violin

March 15, 2013 through March 23, 2013

London and Rome

Gil Morgenstern, violin

February 28, 2013 through April 22, 2013

Actors Fund Arts Center | 160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Benjamin Hochman, piano

February 26 and 27, 2013

WMP Concert Hall | 31 East 28th Street, New York, NY

Beethoven, Berio, Webern, Bach, Schumann, Ysaÿe, and Ravel

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Zuill Bailey, cello; Piers Lane, piano

January 11, 2013 through January 13, 2013

El Paso Pro Musica | El Paso, Texas

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Marco Gambino, actor

November 26, 2012 through December 7, 2012

Rome and Milan, Italy

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Donald Berman, piano; Maryann Plunkett, actress

November 19, 2012

WMP Concert Hall | 31 East 28th Street, New York, NY

Music by Schubert, Sibelius, Cage and Enesco; prose and poetry of Sylvia Plath

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Julius Abrahams, piano

November 1, 2012

By Invitation | New York, NY

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Marco Gambino, actor

September 30, 2012 through October 8, 2012

Palermo, Rome and Florence, Italy

Gil Morgenstern, violin; Zuill Bailey, cello; Piers Lane, piano

September 20 through September 24, 2012

Grant Hall | Sitka, Alaska

Gil Morgenstern, violin; J.Y. Song, piano

September 12 and 13, 2012

WMP Concert Hall | 31 East 28th Street, New York, NY

Suite Italienne and movements of the Violin Concerto in D Major, Firebird Suite and Duo Concertante