BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Acme Widgets\, Inc.//NONSGML ExportToCalendar//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Groupmuses near X-WR-NAME:Groupmuses near BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260820T114029Z UID:3a9c7074-334c-4af4-93f7-54260aa0d221 DTSTART:20260925T230000Z DTEND:20260926T013000Z DESCRIPTION:Hosted by Jonathan D.\nMusicians: Josh Halpern and Yannick Rafa limanana\n\n7 PM Doors & Pre-Reception\n8 PM Performance\n10 PM Post-Recep tion\n\n_____\n\n**Josh Halpern & Yannick Rafalimanana: Letters to My Daug hters**\n\n[Gotham Arts](https://gothamarts.net) in collaboration with [Gr oupmuse](https://www.groupmuse.com/) is excited to present an intimate pri vate duo recital by cellist [Josh Halpern](https://www.joshuahalperncello. com/) and pianist [Yannick Rafalimanana](https://www.yannickrafalimanana.c om/) comprising music written at times of profound sociopolitical uncertai nty and including world premieres of three works composed for Josh\, inclu ding as centerpiece Scott Ordway's *Letters to My Daughters* composed thro ugh a profoundly personal collaboration with Josh.\n\nWine will be served. \n\n**Program**\n\nDEBUSSY Cello Sonata in d minor\n1. Prologue: Lent\, s ostenuto e molto risoluto\n2. Sérénade: Modérément animé\n3. Finale: Animé\, léger et nerveux\n\nMESSIAEN "Praise to the Eternity of Jesus" from *Quartet for the End of Time*\n\nBERNSTEIN Three Meditations from MA SS\n1. Meditation No. 1: Lento assai\, molto sostenuto\n2. Meditation No. 2: Andante sostenuto —\n3. Meditation No. 3: Presto — Fast and Primiti ve — Molto adagio\n\nBRUCE ADOLPHE Thakla III*\n\nILSE WEBER (arr. Henr ique Eisenmann) Three Songs*\n1. Wiegala\n2. Und der Regen rinnt\n3. Ich wandre durch Theresienstadt\n\n*Intermission*\n\nSCOTT ORDWAY Letters to My Daughters*\n1. Ring All the Bells\n2. I Love Telling You Things\n3. Tel l the Truth\n4. I Will Always Love You\n5. The World is Bright\n\n* World premiere / composed for Josh\n\n_____\n\n**About the Program**\n\n[Watch a first-look trailer for Letters to My Daughters featuring Josh and compose r Scott Ordway](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyLAsgCXuU)\n\n**Letters to My Daughters**\nEpisode I of *In Real Time*\, a collaborative new music project\n\n*Letters to My Daughters* is not only my first commissioning p roject\, it’s a profoundly personal collaboration with my friend\, Scott Ordway. As I seem to lack any inclination to compose myself\, this was an immensely satisfying project that brought me — and the audience — dir ectly into Scott’s creative space\, using his most personal relationship s as an entryway.\n\nBut first\, a general introduction: I’ve long wonde red why we tend to pour time\, money\, and immense effort into supporting new commissions only to sneakily wedge them among more "palatable" pieces\ , thereby requiring audiences to hear something new without context or\, o ften\, even an invitation. Why not make the commission the centerpiece\, b uilding a cohesive program around it in order to prime the listener to rec eive the new work as openly as possible? Better yet\, why not make the com poser the centerpiece\, as if we could open a hatch at the top of their he ad and allow their life experiences\, inspirations\, and musical influence s to pour out and assemble themselves into not only a vibrant program\, bu t a kind of musical self-portrait?\n\nI first met with Scott to discuss th is project in November 2024. Like so many\, Scott was reckoning with the u ncertainty of the world—in particular\, how to discuss it with his two d aughters\, four and seven at the time. Rather than a broad exhibition of S cott’s life and influences\, our collaboration began to take shape as a love letter\, time capsule\, and urgent appeal to decency for his girls.\n \nHe began by writing five real letters — and was generous enough to all ow me to serve as his editor. We discussed their content and intention ove r long calls and essayistic email threads. I found these exchanges tremend ously cathartic despite having no children of my own. Not only did his fee lings so closely mirror mine\, but our questions increasingly led us away from defensiveness and toward kindness\, generosity\, and humility: Can we experience wonder and optimism in the face of fear and uncertainty? How m ight we find courage in the face of failure\, injustice\, or threat of har m? How do we foster and preserve reservoirs of goodness and decency in our selves and each other? How do we tell people that we love them?\n\nIn a si milar way\, the larger program became brighter as we refined it. We began with\, among othe ideas\, the concept of a triptych of Eastern Bloc compos ers: 45 minutes of uninterrupted pitch-black music for solo cello by Valen tin Silvestrov\, Sofia Gubaidulina\, and Alfred Schnittke. An interesting concept\, perhaps\, but as a friend asked me\, “do people want that righ t now? Do you?” We went back to the drawing board.\n\nWe finally arrived at a program comprising music written at times of profound sociopolitical uncertainty. Debussy’s Cello Sonata\, a vibrant and unexpected suite co mposed as the global social order was being redefined by World War I\; Mes siaen’s slow\, transcendentally still yet ecstatic meditation for cello and piano from his *Quartet for the End of Time*\, a masterpiece born with in a prisoner of war camp that Alex Ross described as “the music of one who expects paradise not only in a single awesome hereafter but also in th e happenstance epiphanies of daily life\;” Bernstein’s Three Mediation s from *MASS*\, wordless reflections on the seed of faith each of us must find when our ancient rituals unravel under the weight of doubt\, dissent\ , and disillusionment\; three songs by Ilse Weber—a nurse and music teac her at Theresienstadt later sent with the children in her care to the gas chambers at Auschwitz—gorgeously reimagined by my friend\, the brilliant jazz pianist Henrique Eisenmann\; and finally\, a lament named after the Arabic word for a mother’s grief over her dead child\, composed for me b y Bruce Adolphe.\n\nIt is a stunning\, devastating\, and ultimately uplift ing program about love and resilience. And by mining this contemporary mom ent through the lens of Scott’s paternal love for his daughters\, we cre ated a communal experience that was simultaneously intensely intimate and profoundly universal.\n\n— Josh Halpern\n\n**About the Artists**\n\n**Ab out Josh Halpern**\n\n**Joshua Halpern** has appeared on stages around the world as a soloist\, chamber musician\, and orchestral principal cellist. As a chamber musician\, he has collaborated with artists including Jonath an Biss\, Anthony Roth Costanzo\, Roberto Díaz\, Viviane Hagner\, Gary H offman\, Kim Kashkashian\, Patricia Kopatchinskaja\, Anthony McGill\, Olli Mustonen\, and Itzhak Perlman\, and appeared at music festivals including the Ravinia Steans Institute\, Music@Menlo\, the Perlman Chamber Music Wo rkshop\, the New York String Orchestra Seminar\, the Taos School of Music\ , La Jolla Summerfest\, Musikiwest\, and Krzyzowa-Music\, with whom he has also toured extensively. An eager advocate of contemporary music\, he has worked personally with composers such as Richard Danielpour\, Scott Ordwa y\, Kevin Puts\, Dai Wei\, Nick DiBerardino\, and Kaija Saariaho. During t he 2019 season he served as guest principal cello of the Rotterdam Philhar monic Orchestra\, including on tours to Germany\, Taiwan\, and China\, and in 2020 served as cellist with the Banff Competition-winning Rolston Quar tet. In 2023\, he appeared numerous times as guest principal cello with th e Philharmonia Orchestra in London\, as well as guest with the Varian Fry Quartet\; the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic\; and in Greece\, Spa in\, and Germany with Curtis On Tour.\n\nJosh completed his Artist Diploma at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia\, where he performed thr oughout the United States\, Europe and Latin America with Curtis On Tour\, and served as principal cello of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra during the 2016/17 season. At Curtis he studied with Carter Brey and Peter Wiley. As an undergraduate at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University\, he studied with Desmond Hoebig and won the school's concerto competition. Fro m 2021 until 2023\, he was a member of the Karajan Akademie of the Berline r Philharmoniker\, in which he played as a member of the Berliner Philharm oniker and was mentored by Ludwig Quandt.\n\nIn 2018\, Josh curated a solo tour across Colorado to bring classical music to unexpected places\, incl uding the state penitentiary\, small-town saloons\, bicycle shops\, and mo re. Since then\, he has continued bringing music to unique spaces\, foster ing connection and conversation with all types of people along the way. In 2021\, he founded the Cultural Caravan\, a Colorado-based organization op erating at the intersection of small businesses\, social-service nonprofit s\, municipal organizations\, and local artists. The Cultural Caravan has since presented over 80 artists with backgrounds ranging from Zimbabwean A fropop to Venezuelan jazz to Classical Music in concerts in coordination w ith over 60 local businesses and community organizations\, reinvesting ove r $500\,000 into the community to date.\n\nAs a teacher\, Josh has present ed master classes throughout the United States and South America and has t aught at Curtis Summerfest\, the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival\, a nd on faculty at the Brooklyn School of Music. He lives in Brooklyn\, New York.\n\nJosh performs on a cello made by Domenico Busan\, likely in the 1 750s. This cello was the primary instrument of Josh's teacher while at Ric e University\, Desmond Hoebig—former principal cellist of the Cincinnati \, Houston\, and Cleveland Orchestras. This cello is provided to Josh on a generous long-term loan from a member of the Stretton Society. Josh plays on a modern bow by a Swiss maker named Pierre-Yves Fuchs.\n\n**About Yann ick Rafalimanana**\n\nFrench pianist **Yannick Rafalimanana** has develope d an international concert career as a recitalist and chamber musician. Re cent performances have taken him to halls all over the world\, including t he Berlin Philharmonie\, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg\, Wigmore Hall\, Konz erthaus Berlin\, Köln Philharmonie\, the Vienna Konzerthaus\, the Shangha i Symphony Orchestra Chamber Hall\, and the Kennedy Center in Washington. He has made chamber music with countless artists\, including Kim Kashkashi an\, Steven Isserlis\, Noah Bendix-Balgley\, Arnold Steinhardt\, and Itzha k Perlman.\n\nAs a soloist\, he has appeared with the Berlin Konzerthaus O rchestra\, the Orchestre CNR de Lille\, Orchestre Impromptu\, the Ensemble Parisien. He has worked under the batons of Péter Eötvös\, Maxime Pasc al\, Jean Deroyer\, Lucie Leguay and Zolt Nagy. Yannick regularly appears at a wide variety of summer festivals\, including the Perlman Music Progra m\, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival\, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfesti val\, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern\, Osterfestspiele Baden-Baden\, S ommerliche Hitzacker Musiktage \, OCM Prussia Cove and Krzyzowa-Musik Fest ival.\n\nYannick is the winner of numerous awards and prizes\, including t he Borromeo Quartet Guest Artist Award\, the Bruxelles J-Musiciens Competi tion\, the Brest Piano Competition\, and the International Ravel Academy's Rotary-Lions Competition. As the first prize winner of the 2012 Tufts/New England Conservatory Soloist Competition\, he made his U.S. concerto debu t in Symphony Hall in Boston\, playing the Schumann Concerto with the Bost on Pops Orchestra and Keith Lockhart. \n\nBorn in Lille\, he began his mus ical studies at the Conservatory of Lille under the tutelage of Alain Raes . He later graduated from the Paris Conservatoire with first prizes in pia no performance\, chamber music\, and collaborative piano performance. His teachers there included Bruno Rigutto\, Michael Levinas\, and Jean-Claude Pennetier. His chamber music and collaborative piano coaches included Fran cois Salque\, Michel Moraguais\, David Walter and Jean Koerner. Yannick th en moved to Boston\, where he obtained a graduate diploma from the New Eng land Conservatory in piano performance and a master of music in chamber mu sic as a student of Vivian Weilerstein.\n\nYannick has been teaching Chamb er Music at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen from 2015 to 2018.\n\ nIn 2022\, he launched a concert series in his Berlin neighborhood called "Yannick’s Salon" bringing Chamber Music masterpieces to the local audie nce of Weissensee. LOCATION:Flatiron\, New York SUMMARY:Josh Halpern & Yannick Rafalimanana: Letters to My Daughters URL:https://www.groupmuse.com/events/16951-josh-halpern-yannick-rafalimanan a-letters-to-my-daughters END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR