Posted by Julia Leef
A free public "Celebration of the New" concert featuring Senior Artist in-Residence Jan Vinci, flute, and Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Pola Baytelman, piano, is scheduled at 3 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Arthur Zankel Music Center.
This concert will feature works by such American composers as Jennifer Higdon's "Flute Poetic," which was commissioned by Vinci and Baytelman for the opening of Zankel and premiered last fall.
Also to be performed are George Crumb's "Little Suite for Christmas," Lowell Liebermann's "Gargoyles," Mark Vinci's "Crow's Nest," Joseph Fennimore's "Old Soft Shoe," Katherine Hoover's "Medieval Suite" and Jennifer Higdon's "Flute Poetic," a three-movement sonata that attributes equal importance to the flute and to the piano. Its first movement was written expressly for Vinci and Baytelman.
Higdon taught herself to play the flute when she was 15 before beginning her formal musical studies at 18. She did not begin to compose music until 21, and since then she has become a major figure in contemporary classical music with a range of genres from orchestral to chamber and from choral and vocal to wind ensemble. She specializes in commissions and won the Pulitzer Prize for her work in 2010.
Vinci is a soloist as well as a member of the ensemble, most recently in the flute and harp duo Iridescence and for 10 years with Tritonis, a trio composed of a flute, guitar and cello. She has commissioned more than 20 words of new music since 1988.
The second performer, Baytelman, debuted with the Chilean Symphony Orchestra at 17, and has played with other orchestras since, such as the Chilean Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Pops.
For advanced reservations for the concert, visit www.skidmore.edu/zankel or call the box office at (518) 580-8381 for more information.