Program
Cristiano Gualco, violin
Paolo Andreoli, violin
Simone Gramaglia, viola
Giovanni Scaglione, cello
David Shifrin, clarinet
Italian Serenade
HUGO WOLF (1860 - 1903)
String Quartet in F Major
MAURICE RAVEL (1875 - 1937)
Allegro moderato. Très doux
Assez vif. Très rythmé
Très lent
Vif et agité
INTERMISSION
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833 - 1897)
Allegro
Adagio - Piu Lento
Andantino – Presto non assai, ma con sentiment
Theme and Variations: Con moto
Since its formation in 2000, the Quartetto di Cremona has established a reputation as one of the most exciting chamber ensembles on the international stage. Regularly invited to perform in major music festivals and halls in Europe, North and South America, and Far East, receiving unanimous acclaim from the public and critics…
Among the most important engagements of the past seasons: performances at the Wigmore Hall (London), at the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), at the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, at the Brucknerhaus (Linz), in Geneva, Stockholm, Mumbai, Beijing, at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, at the String Quartet Festival in Salzburg, in Prague and for the main Italian festivals and concerts societies.
In the 23/24 season, the acclaimed debut at Carnegie Hall (October 2023) was followed by Chamber Music Society’s re-invitation to Lincoln Center, in March 2024. The first performance at CMS took successfully place in February 2022.
The 24/25 season will be particularly significant for the Quartetto di Cremona, as it will begin the celebration for the 25th anniversary of career. The ensemble, founded in 2000, will hold concerts in all Europe, North America and Asia, will give several international masterclasses and will see the long-awaited release of a new CD, planned for November 2024.
Winner of both the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1987) and the Avery Fisher Prize (2000), David Shifrin is in constant demand as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber music collaborator.
Mr. Shifrin has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras and the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit, Fort Worth, Hawaii and Phoenix Symphonies, among many others in the United States, as well as with orchestras in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. He has also received critical acclaim as a recitalist, appearing at such venues as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie's Hall's Zankel Hall and the 92nd Street Y in New York City, as well as the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. A much sought after chamber musician, he has collaborated frequently with such distinguished ensembles and artists as the Guarneri, Tokyo, Emerson, Orion, Dover and Miró String Quartets, as well as Wynton Marsalis, André Watts, Emanuel Ax and André Previn.
An artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1989, Mr. Shifrin served as its Artistic Director from 1992 to 2004. He has toured extensively throughout the United States with CMSLC and hosted and performed in several national television broadcasts on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center. He also served as Artistic Director of Portland's Chamber Music Northwest from 1981 through 2020, and is currently Artistic Director of the Phoenix Chamber Music Festival.
In addition, Mr. Shifrin has served as Principal Clarinetist with the Cleveland Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra (under the direction of Stokowski), the Honolulu and Dallas Symphonies, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Chamber Symphony
Mr. Shifrin joined the faculty at the Yale School of Music in 1987 and was appointed Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Yale and Yale's annual concert series at Carnegie Hall in September 2008. He has also served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Hawaii. In 2007 he was awarded an honorary professorship at China's Central Conservatory in Beijing.
Mr. Shifrin's recordings on Delos, DGG, Angel/EMI, Arabesque, BMG, SONY and CRI have consistently garnered praise and awards. He has received three Grammy nominations and his recording of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, performed in its original version on a specially built elongated clarinet, was named Record of the Year by Stereo Review. His recordings of the Copland Clarinet Concerto and Leonard Bernstein's Clarinet Sonata have been released on iTunes via Angel/EMI and Deutsche Grammophon. His most recent recordings include the Trios with cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han on the ArtistLed label, a recording for Delos of works by Carl Nielsen, and new recordings of clarinet quintets by Peter Schickele, Richard Danielpour, Aaron Jay Kernis, Valerie Coleman, Chris Rogerson and Duke Ellington (arr. Schiff).
“This recording is not only not lousy, it’s perfect in every respect...The best thing about it is David Shifrin...He musters the full spectrum of colors possible for a clarinet, from sine-wave purity to hairy, rough-edged humanity.”
— Auxiliary Input
Mr. Shifrin has been instrumental in broadening the repertoire for clarinet by commissioning and championing the works of 20th- and 21st-century American composers, including John Adams, Joan Tower, Stephen Albert, Bruce Adolphe, Ezra Laderman, Lalo Schifrin, David Schiff, John Corigliano, Bright Sheng, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Alvin Singleton, Hannah Lash, Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, Valerie Coleman, Richard Danielpour and Peter Schickele.
In addition to the Avery Fisher Prize and Career Grant, Mr. Shifrin was the recipient of a Solo Recitalists' Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the 2016 Concert Artists Guild Virtuoso Award. He was given an Honorary Membership by the International Clarinet Association in 2014 in recognition of lifetime achievement, and at the outset of his career he won the top prizes at both the Munich and the Geneva International Competitions. In recent years he received the Distinguished Alumni Awards from the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Music Academy of the West, and a Cultural Leadership Citation from Yale University. He was recognized with the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award at the 2018 Chamber Music America Conference for historic service to the small ensemble music field, and in 2019 he was awarded the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music.
Mr. Shifrin performs on a Backun "Lumière" clarinet made by Morrie Backun and Légère premium synthetic reeds. He is represented by CM Artists New York.
A name synonymous with musical excellence, Mr. Shifrin boasts a career spanning decades, with accolades including the coveted Avery Fisher Prize and three (!) Grammy nominations.
His awards and honors include Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music, a Solo Recitalists’ Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Music Academy of the West’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, and top prizes at the Munich and Geneva International Competitions, just to name a few!
Beyond his masterful performances, Mr. Shifrin is a dedicated chamber musician, educator, and artistic director, shaping the landscape of classical music through his multifaceted involvement. He serves on the faculty of the Yale School of Music, and has previously taught at the Juilliard School, University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Hawaii.