For Immediate Release: February 23, 2018
Contact: Susan Strano, Director of Marketing
sstrano@benningtonmuseum.org
802-447-1571 ext. 204

Music through the Centuries for Flute and Harp – Free Concert at Bennington Museum

Bennington Museum is pleased to begin the 2018 Music at the Museum concert series with Music through the Centuries for Flute and Harp, an engaging program performed by flutist Sue Ann Kahn and harpist Susan Jolles. Included in the concert is Sonata in Bb, BWV 1020 by J. S. Bach; Triple Rondo, 1961 by Henry Cowell; Toward the Sea III, for alto flute and harp, 1989 by Toru Takemitsu; Friendly Frolic for flute solo, 1981 composed by Lionel Nowak; and Serenade No.10, Op. 79 by Vincent Persichetti. It is with great pleasure that we present the premiere performance of Sonatina for Flute and Harp, 2017, a new composition by Bennington composer Allen Shawn (b.1948).

Held on Sunday, March 11 at 2:00 pm in the Ada Paresky Education Center and Paul Paresky Court of the Bennington Museum, this concert is free and open to the public thanks to the support of Alison Nowak and Robert Cane. Reservations are not required. Admission to the galleries is not included, but is always free for Museum members. “As we enter the fourth year of Music at the Museum, I continue to be delighted at the diversity and quality of musical offerings we have available in our region. With thanks to our sponsors, it gives me great joy to make this music available to the public. I look forward to presenting concerts for years to come,” stated Deana Mallory, Director of Public Programs.

About the performers

Hailed as a consummate interpreter of music of all styles throughout her career both as a soloist and chamber musician, Flutist Sue Ann Kahn is a founding member of the Waverly Wind Quintet, Bach’s Uncle, The League of Composers Chamber Players, and the Jubal Trio, with whom she won the coveted Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award. A long-time member of The Philadelphia Composers’ Forum, The Sea Cliff Chamber Players, and numerous other chamber groups, she co-founded The League of Composers Orchestra in 2009.

As soloist and as a member of the Jubal Trio, she has commissioned and premiered the works of American composers, including George Rochberg, Joseph Schwantner, Don Freund, Ralph Shapey, Harvey Sollberger, Alba Potes, Peter Schickele, Ursula Mamlok, Allen Shawn and George Crumb, and has received consistent critical acclaim for her recordings on CRI, Musical Heritage, MMG, Vox-Candide, New World, and, most recently, The Mozart Flute Quartets for Albany Records.

A former faculty member of Bennington College, Ms. Kahn taught flute and chamber music at Mannes College of Music for over fifteen years and directed its Pre-College Program. She now teaches flute and chamber music in the Music Performance Program at Columbia University and at The Chamber Music Conference of the East. A passionate advocate for the flute and its music, Ms. Kahn has been president of the New York Flute Club and the National Flute Association.

Harpist Susan Jolles has enjoyed a long and varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, teacher and arranger. A founding member of the Naumburg Award winning Jubal Trio, she also appears with daughter, Renee, violinist, as the Jolles Duo. Jolles is a member of the American Composers Orchestra, Musica Viva, Queens Symphony Orchestra and The Little Orchestra Society, and is associate harpist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. She also appears regularly with the Encores Orchestra.

Jolles received a Fromm Fellowship in contemporary music performance in 1963 and has since been associated with contemporary music. She has premiered and recorded the works of such composers as Luciano Berio, Hans Werner Henze, George Crumb, Charles Wuorinen and Philip Glass, and has an extensive discography that encompasses a full range of musical genres including classical, klezmer, jazz, cabaret and Broadway. Additionally, she has recorded with such diverse artists as Giora Feidman, Kenny Garrett, James Galway and Barbara Cook. Most recently she has recorded five albums of original flute and harp music with flutist Laurel Zucker.

Ms. Jolles is on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes College of Music where she teaches harp as well as orchestral repertory and chamber music.

About the Museum

Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main Street (Route 9), Bennington, in The Shires of Vermont. The Museum is open Thursday through Tuesday, 10 am to 5 pm.  It is wheelchair accessible.   Regular admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and students over 18.  Admission is never charged for younger students, museum members, or to visit the museum store.  Visit the Museum’s website www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571 for more information.

Bennington Museum is a member of ArtCountry, a consortium of notable art and performance destinations in the scenic northern Berkshires of Massachusetts and southern Green Mountains of Vermont, including The Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art , Williamstown Theatre Festival (20 minutes away); and MASS MoCA (25minutes away). Visit ArtCountry.org for more information on these five great cultural centers.