"East Wind" by Shulamit Ran, performed by flutist Molly Barth

East Wind (1987) Shulamit Ran (b. 1949)
Shulamit Ran
*began composing songs to Hebrew poetry at the age of seven in her native Israel
*by nine she was studying composition and piano with some of Israel’s most noted musicians
*winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in music
*awarded first prize in the Kennedy Center-Friedheim Awards competition, two Guggenheim Foundation fellowships
*grants from the N.E.A., the Koussevitzky Foundation at the Library of Congress, and Chamber Music America
*music has been performed by the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, the Mendelssohn, Brentano, Pacifica, Spektral, and Juilliard Quartets, and Chanticleer
*Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra between 1990 and 1997, and with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1994-1997
*recipient of five honorary degrees
*elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
*2011 Paul Fromm Composer-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome
*residencies have included the Tanglewood Music Center, the Aspen Institute, Yellow Barn, the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival, and the Wellesley Composers Conference
*Shulamit is the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor Emerita in the University of Chicago Department of Music, where she has taught since 1973.
East Wind (1987) for solo flute
*commissioned by the National Flute Association for its annual Young Artists Competition. *opening motif is a slightly varied treatment of the simplest of ideas - a single note which is then encircled in a flourish-like gesture by its neighboring tones. It is this varied treatment, conveying a hint of ecstasy and abandon, that imbues the motif with its distinctness, maintained throughout the journey undertaken as the piece unfolds.
*dedicated to the memory of Karen Monson, a writer, critic and friend, who died in February 1988 at the age of 42, after the work was already fully composed
Molly Barth is constantly in motion. This Grammy Award-winning flutist, professor and clinician moves effortlessly from concert hall to teaching studio to rehearsal room to orchestral section. Molly needs fuel for this fire.
Molly is fueled by visceral communication with listeners. The halls may be large or small, the music may be old or new, but the performances are always concentrated, intense. Molly is a co-founder of the Zohn Collective, a group of curious musicians who share a love of risk and exploration.
Molly is fueled by the smell of wet ink and spark of chamber music. Molly has toured the world, premiered hundreds of pieces, recorded a dozen albums, and-with Eighth Blackbird-won a Grammy Award. You can hear Molly’s blend of control and ferocity on Vento Appassionato, digging into 20th century solo flute repertoire; Thorn, focusing on the chamber music of David Lang; and Castillos de Viento, performing intimate music with guitar.
Molly is fueled by her work as a teacher. Molly is Associate Flute Professor at the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, and Molly guides her students to become comprehensive flutists.
To help fuel Molly, contact Molly via her website: mollybarth.com
Thank you:
Audio and Video Production: Continuous Motion Productions
Venue: Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music