Cape Symphony Presents: Cosmos Sessions

120 Great Western Road,Dennis MA 02660

23 September, 2022

Description

Back by popular demand since Jazz at Lincoln Center's sold out performance in July, Cape Symphony and Devil's Purse Brewing Co. team up once again for an incredible night of music making! CS's concert master Jae Cosmos Lee has assembled three phenomenal instrumentalists in his first ever 'Cosmos Sessions' that will push both musical and emotional boundaries while reimagining what's possible for the traditional string quartet! The performance will take place from 5:30pm - 6:30pm at the Devil's Purse Brewing Co. warehouse (directly across parking lot from tap room). Directly following concert, please make your way back over to the tap room for the afterparty till 9:00pm. See below for a special message from Jae along w/ info on the performers! A message from Jae Cosmos Lee: I’m inspired by music that sounds and feels like it is being made on the spot. Elements of improvisation, freedom of expression and ideas, but then the sounds unify into a singular idea at pivotal points and the effect is even more powerful, especially with the sonority of a string quartet. I put together pieces by three different female composers from different walks of life because in our present day, representation is vital and paramount in an art form that has been monopolized by mostly, white male composers for the last five hundred years. All three of these composers, Caroline Shaw, Eleanor Alberga and Jessie Montgomery are performing musicians, who not only write music, but are also exquisite performers themselves. Two of the three composers are also composers of color, conjuring musical influences from traditional African and Jamaican folk idioms, jazz, rock and even hints of techno music sprinkled in their compositions. But in the moment of performance, tasting and experiencing these sounds are an event unto its own, because the structures of the compositions are so inventive and varied, imbued by qualities of dance, humor and wit. All of these composers are three of the most sought after and most performed composers of the last 10 years in the classical music scene, I wanted to bring these new sounds to the curious and avid listeners of Cape Cod. Very much looking forward to sharing this show with all of you! Jae Cosmos Lee: American violinist, Jae Cosmos Lee, who's performances have been acclaimed as "Delicate and beautiful" (Syracuse Post-Standard) and "Bursting with color" (Boston Globe), is Concertmaster of the Cape Symphony (Cape Cod, MA), and the Boston Festival Orchestra, co-founder of A Far Cry, the two time Grammy nominated, self conducted, democratically run chamber orchestra in Boston. He is also first violinist of the Pedroia String Quartet and a podcast enthusiast, moonlighting as the writer & producer of the podcast, Beethoven Bad Boy. Jae has been a guest artist with the Audubon, Borromeo and Jupiter String Quartets, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, ECCO, Boston Musica Viva, Sound Impact, The Knights, the Firebird and Radius Ensembles, and has performed in concert halls throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia. He is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, and has performed in many of the finest music festivals including Apple Hill, Aspen, Chautauqua, Norfolk, Sarasota, Vail, Banff, Seoul, Scotia, New South, Monadnock, Skaneateles, Salzburg, Ottawa, Prussia Cove and Kneisel Hall. Jae has worked closely with the members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Takács and Tokyo String Quartets and holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the New England Conservatory. His performances have been heard widely on American Public Media's Performance Today, Boston's WGBH and New York's WQXR, along with public radio stations across Georgia, Maine, Minnesota & Vermont. During his time away from music, he can be found on the stands of Fenway Park, passionately booing the Yankees during the summer months and yelling, “D-FENSE!!!!!” at the Garden, cheering on his beloved Celtics in the height of winter. Rhiannon Banerdt: Violinist Rhiannon Banerdt made her solo debut at age 14 with the New England Symphonic Ensemble in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has since made solo and chamber music appearances at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, New York's Weill Hall at Carnegie, and Boston's Jordan Hall, among others, with performances hailed by Edith Eisler of Strings Magazine as “real music-making–concentrated and deeply felt.” Ms. Banerdt is a founding member of the Ulysses String Quartet, winners of the First Prize at the 2018 Schoenfeld International Chamber Music Competition, Grand Prize at the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, First Prize at the 2017 American Prize Chamber Ensemble, and Silver Medal at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. Ulysses has been named the Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School for 2019-2022 academic years. A recipient of the 2012 Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award, Ms. Banerdt was invited to perform with the quartet in Jordan Hall. Other collaborations have included performances with the Chiara Quartet, Kim Kashkashian, Paul Biss, and Frans Helmerson. Ms. Banerdt has participated in numerous eminent chamber music festivals including La Jolla Summerfest, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Taos School of Music, and the Castleman Quartet Program. Ms. Banerdt holds the position of Assistant Concertmaster with the Cape Symphony. She was one of two Violin Fellows for the 2013-2015 seasons with the flagship music education organization Community MusicWorks in Providence, RI, where she taught individual lessons and group classes for disadvantaged youth and performed regularly with the Fellowship Quartet and Community MusicWorks Players. Ms. Banerdt is currently a member of the violin faculty at the Bloomingdale School of Music on New York City’s Upper West Side and was a Graduate Teaching Fellow at Brooklyn College 2016-2019. A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Banerdt attended the New England Conservatory, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with honors as a student of Lucy Chapman and Paul Biss, and is a doctoral candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center studying with Mark Steinberg. Colin Brookes: Praised as “master of the strong lines”, concert violist Colin Brookes is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he made his solo debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony at the age of 17. A founding member of the award-winning Ulysses Quartet, Colin has taught in the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School, and the undergraduate programs of Yale University and SUNY Stony Brook. Colin performs regularly with The Knights, A Far Cry, and other critically acclaimed ensembles. Festival appearances include Kneisel Hall, Geneva Music Festival, Manchester Summer Chamber Music, and Tanglewood. In June 2013 he gave a solo recital with pianist Euntaek Kim for the St. Gaudens Concert Series in Cornish, NH. Traveling and performing allow for many unexpected opportunities to capture moments in time. An interest that evolved recently into a passion, film photography has profoundly changed Colin’s appreciation for perspective and awareness. Colin holds a Bachelor of Music from the Juilliard School and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from Yale University. His mentors include Ettore Causa, Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, Nicholas Cords, Larry Dutton, Marylene Gingras-Roy, Roger Chase, Jeffrey Irvine, and Carolyn Hills. He currently plays a 19th-century Italian viola generously on loan from Maestro Foundation, and an English Thomas Tubbs bow, circa 1845. Kee Kim: A native of Seoul, Korea, cellist Kee-Hyun Kim has been praised for his "assertive style...and vital musical spirit." (Pittsburgh Tribune) On faculty at Harvard University’s Department of Music, he is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet, Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard since 2014. With the quartet, Mr. Kim has performed in venues all over North America, Europe and Asia, and has recorded for the ECM, Naxos, Innova, Zig Zag and Nimbus labels. He is a frequent guest with ensembles such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and A Far Cry. Kim dedicates much of his time to teaching - in addition to coaching chamber music ensembles, he maintains a studio of cellists at Harvard, MIT and privately, and has served as adjunct faculty of cello at the Phillips Exeter School and the University of St. Thomas (MN). He has given masterclasses at the New England Conservatory, University of South Carolina, the Banff Center, Bowdoin Festival, and Garth Newel Music Festival, among others, and is a frequent guest on CelloBello’s CelloChats. Kee plays on an 1844 Giaccomo Rivolta cello made in Milan, and a bow from Benoit Rolland, made in 2007.