In The Press
Praise for the Taos Chamber Music Group!
"One of the great treasures of Taos" -The Taos News
"Big magic...silken ensemble playing" -Albuquerque Journal
“A remarkable concert of juxtaposed styles” – Horse Fly
“Depth, vitality and inventiveness” -Spencer Beckwith, KUNM
PRESS RELEASE FOR TAOS NEWS TEMPO
TCMG DIRECTOR & FLUTIST NANCY LAUPHEIMER IN SOLO CONCERT, 9-10-10
TCMG DIRECTOR & FLUTIST NANCY LAUPHEIMER IN SOLO CONCERT, 9-10-10
Nancy Laupheimer will present a concert of solo flute music and flute with recorded sound in the My Beautiful Life
Gallery of FaFa’s (311 Paseo del Pueblo Norte) on Friday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. Compositions by J.S. Bach, Rhonda Larson, Astor Piazzolla, Katherine Hoover, Claude Debussy, Eve Beglarian and Steve Reich will be featured, representing a diverse spectrum of some of Laupheimer’s favorite works for flute.
Having lived in Taos for over 30 years, Laupheimer is drawn to music that is informed by the indigenous cultures of the area. Hoover’s “Kokopeli” is inspired by the Hopi character whose flute she describes as “echoing off the canyons and cliffs” as he led his people through the Southwest. The “sense of spaciousness and the Hopi’s deep kinship with this land” that Hoover explores in this piece are important influences on Laupheimer.
Because Bach continues to be the epitome of sublime musical expression for Laupheimer, she will include two short movements from his cello suites. In addition to Bach’s “Partita” for solo flute, she has studied his solo violin and cello music for many years. In addition, when Laupheimer was asked to pick an instrument in elementary school at the age of nine, she narrowed it down to flute and cello. Although she chose flute, she has always been drawn to the cello.
Debussy’s “Syrinx” is a solo flute gem that Laupheimer has performed from halls in New York and Boston to natural amphitheaters of the river canyons of the Southwest. It depicts the Greek myth of Pan and his love for the wood nymph Syrinx. Attempting to elude him, Syrinx disguises herself as the reeds growing by a river. In his search for her, Pan cuts the reeds, killing her but at the same time creating the panpipes as the wind blew across the reeds.
Three pieces by crossover flutist Rhonda Larson will be interspersed throughout the program. “Movin’ On” is an upbeat gallop about moving forward in life; “Lughnasa,” the Irish word for abundance, has a Celtic flavor; and “Be Still My Soul,” which will be performed with a synthesizer track, plumbs the depths of an unsettled spirit. From Argentina, Laupheimer will play a “Tango Etude” by Astor Piazzolla, the composer recognized as revitalizing the tango in the concert setting. The accented and syncopated rhythms of this short piece pack a passionate wallop.
Combining music and poetry, Laupheimer will do an encore performance of Edie Hill’s “This Floating World,” a set of five short movements based on Haiku poems by Basho, which was included in the Taos Chamber Music Group’s (of which she is director) concert this past June at the TCA. A new piece for her, which will be featured later this winter on TCMG’s upcoming 18th season, is Beglarian’s “I Will Not be Sad in this World,” based on the 18th-century Armenian song “Ashkharumes Akh Chim Kashil.” In this sneak preview, Laupheimer will play alto flute to an accompanying track made by Beglarian of voices that gradually morph into ethereal, electronic sounds.
The program concludes with Steve Reich’s joyous “Vermont Counterpoint,” in which Laupheimer will use the C flute, alto flute and piccolo along with a recorded track of ten flutes. A minimalist masterpiece, it has become a classic of the contemporary flute repertoire.
Tickets are $12 at the door. Laupheimer, an ardent advocate for universal education, will be contributing a portion of the proceeds to support the Lemlem School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Taosena Elizabeth Burns, who volunteered there this past winter, will be at the performance to talk about the school and show photographs.
Gallery of FaFa’s (311 Paseo del Pueblo Norte) on Friday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. Compositions by J.S. Bach, Rhonda Larson, Astor Piazzolla, Katherine Hoover, Claude Debussy, Eve Beglarian and Steve Reich will be featured, representing a diverse spectrum of some of Laupheimer’s favorite works for flute. Having lived in Taos for over 30 years, Laupheimer is drawn to music that is informed by the indigenous cultures of the area. Hoover’s “Kokopeli” is inspired by the Hopi character whose flute she describes as “echoing off the canyons and cliffs” as he led his people through the Southwest. The “sense of spaciousness and the Hopi’s deep kinship with this land” that Hoover explores in this piece are important influences on Laupheimer.
Because Bach continues to be the epitome of sublime musical expression for Laupheimer, she will include two short movements from his cello suites. In addition to Bach’s “Partita” for solo flute, she has studied his solo violin and cello music for many years. In addition, when Laupheimer was asked to pick an instrument in elementary school at the age of nine, she narrowed it down to flute and cello. Although she chose flute, she has always been drawn to the cello.
Debussy’s “Syrinx” is a solo flute gem that Laupheimer has performed from halls in New York and Boston to natural amphitheaters of the river canyons of the Southwest. It depicts the Greek myth of Pan and his love for the wood nymph Syrinx. Attempting to elude him, Syrinx disguises herself as the reeds growing by a river. In his search for her, Pan cuts the reeds, killing her but at the same time creating the panpipes as the wind blew across the reeds.
Three pieces by crossover flutist Rhonda Larson will be interspersed throughout the program. “Movin’ On” is an upbeat gallop about moving forward in life; “Lughnasa,” the Irish word for abundance, has a Celtic flavor; and “Be Still My Soul,” which will be performed with a synthesizer track, plumbs the depths of an unsettled spirit. From Argentina, Laupheimer will play a “Tango Etude” by Astor Piazzolla, the composer recognized as revitalizing the tango in the concert setting. The accented and syncopated rhythms of this short piece pack a passionate wallop.
Combining music and poetry, Laupheimer will do an encore performance of Edie Hill’s “This Floating World,” a set of five short movements based on Haiku poems by Basho, which was included in the Taos Chamber Music Group’s (of which she is director) concert this past June at the TCA. A new piece for her, which will be featured later this winter on TCMG’s upcoming 18th season, is Beglarian’s “I Will Not be Sad in this World,” based on the 18th-century Armenian song “Ashkharumes Akh Chim Kashil.” In this sneak preview, Laupheimer will play alto flute to an accompanying track made by Beglarian of voices that gradually morph into ethereal, electronic sounds.
The program concludes with Steve Reich’s joyous “Vermont Counterpoint,” in which Laupheimer will use the C flute, alto flute and piccolo along with a recorded track of ten flutes. A minimalist masterpiece, it has become a classic of the contemporary flute repertoire.
Tickets are $12 at the door. Laupheimer, an ardent advocate for universal education, will be contributing a portion of the proceeds to support the Lemlem School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Taosena Elizabeth Burns, who volunteered there this past winter, will be at the performance to talk about the school and show photographs.
Fowler, Mirabal, Laupheimer, Guenther
October 21, 2007
By Bill Whaley
The Taos Chamber Music Group's marked its 15th Anniversary with a remarkable concert on Sat. Oct. 20. The collage of juxtaposed classical, traditional, and pop styles managed to celebrate its virtuoso musicians-Flutist Nancy Laupheimer, Cellist Sally Guenther, multi-music-master Robert Mirabal, while featuring the creativity of composer and arranger, the classically trained Paul Fowler. Fowler's tropes on musical styles pushed the envelope of chamber music well beyond this layperson's expectations or experience. Last night's sold-out concert not only delighted the audience with Antonio Vivaldi's fairly traditional "Trio Sonata in A minor" and presented Sally Guenter solo in Fowler's “La Vie Zazou” and Nancy Laupheimer in Rhonda Larson's “Movin' On' for solo flute, which required the flutist to play without seeming to take a breath, but also displayed Robert Mirabal's facility on traditional Native American (or other?) flutes during “The Ancient Language of Breath.”
Contrary to expectations that Mirabal would improvise or be featured as an addendum to the program, whether singing, drumming, playing one of several flutes, he and his Native American creative voice were fully integrated into the concert. Robert's ease and facility gave the impression he'd been rehearsing and playing with formally trained classical musicians as a matter of course. Whether Mirabal improvised on flute with Fowler on piano or took center stage with”The Ancient Language of Breath” with Laupheimer and Fowler, or participated with all three musicians, including the fabulous cellist Sally Guenter (a Taos School of Music grad of yore) in the grand finale, “On Taos,” composed for the occasion by Fowler, Robert's mastery of the form and presentation of the quasi-classical styles displayed the fruits of one of the hardest working musicians in Taos.
If there was a star in the concert, apart from the ensemble and the music, it was composer and keyboardist Paul Fowler. He played the synthesizer, rattles, drums, and strummed the strings on the piano not unlike a Harpo Marx liberated from conventional expectations. I mean Fowler manhandled that baby grand piano, running his fingers or a hand across the strings, slapping the grand from below, above, and on its sides to get the percussive sounds, while also tending to the ivories for their sweet sounds. As he turned that baby upside down and inside out, I was reminded of one of those street musicians, who use their hands on body parts and beat garbage cans while creating compositions with their urban licks. You could also see Fowler's influence in “ZaZou,” the piece he composed for Cellist Sally Guenter, who, similarly, took advantage of the cello's percussive potential with a slap or two beside the throat. Before and after the bows, Paul played prop man and stage manager, setting up the chairs, checking the sound and making himself as useful to the technical presentation as he did to the musicians and audience members for whom he composed and arranged an evening of tasty musical pleasure. Bravo Nancy (the founder and director of TCMG) for a concert well done and well appreciated. You raised the standard. Just as the Harwood will be hard pressed to surpass the Diebenkorn show, so the Taos Chamber Music Group will be hard pressed to step beyond last night's “Special Anniversary Event with Robert Mirabal.”
Bill Whaley, Editor, Taos Horsefly
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