Linda Chatterton, flute
Matthew McCright, piano
American Suite - Bruce Stark
I. Grampa's Grin (Hoe-down)
III. Muse (desert near Phoenix; glacial lake, Sierra Nevada Mountains; ocean at night, La Jolla, California)
V. Street Beats (New York City, a.m.)
Gaze - John Halle
III. Raucous
Rena Kraut, clarinet; Orieta Dado, violin; Patty Macpherson, piano
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Contrasts
Verbunkos
Pihenő - "Relaxation"
Sebes - Fast Dance
About the Artists:
The recent winner of a $25,000 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians, Linda Chatterton is one of those flutists who melds technical prowess with a wondrous musical and communicative gift. A flutist with an equal flair for the dramatic, lyrical, powerful, or playful, her range of repertoire perfectly reflects the varied facets of her solo, chamber music, or concerto performances.
A Yamaha Performing Artist, Ms. Chatterton has toured throughout much of the country as well as in Germany and the United Kingdom. She has performed in New York at Carnegie and Alice Tully Hall, was a featured recitalist on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago, and has been heard on Minnesota and National Public Radio. Ms. Chatterton has performed with numerous groups including the Minnesota Orchestra and the Dale Warland Singers, and tours regularly as a duo performer with both harp and guitar. As a concerto soloist, a recent highlight has been a performance of the Lukas Foss Renaissance Concerto with the Evanston (IL) Symphony Orchestra.
Recent appearances include over two dozen concerts crisscrossing the country with Milwaukee Symphony harpist Ann Lobotzke; a showcase of flute works by Chinese and Chinese-American composers, featuring premieres of Jean Sze and Pei Lu; and concerts as a member of Trio Callisto (with harpist Min Kim and cellist Sally Gibson Dorer), selections of which have been broadcast on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
The only flutist to win two McKnight fellowships, Ms. Chatterton also has garnered prizes and awards from the Jerome Foundation and the American Composers Forum. An $8,000 Artist Fellowship from the Minnesota State Arts Board gave rise to a solo flute commission by composer Edie Hill, and the development of a contemporary flute and piano recital program.
In addition to her concert schedule, Ms. Chatterton retains an active studio where she teaches a wide range of students including those who request professional coaching. She also is highly regarded for her insightful master classes at the college level, and she serves as a mentor to music students at the University of Minnesota's College of Liberal Arts.
Ms. Chatterton received her Master of Music degree from the University of Minnesota and her Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music as a scholarship student of Bonita Boyd. Ms. Chatterton has played a Yamaha 881H flute since 1986, which can be heard on the recording, The Romance of Flute and Harp, with Min Kim. Ms. Chatterton has commercially released four CD recordings; upcoming releases include a CD of contemporary American music for flute and piano.
American pianist Matthew McCright has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe as piano soloist and chamber musician. He has thrilled audiences and critics alike with an imaginative repertoire that spans both the traditional and a wide range of contemporary works. He has premiered numerous new pieces, many written for him, and has collaborated with such composers as Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Augusta Read Thomas, Paul Dresher, Michael Gordon, Mary Ellen Childs, Julia Wolfe, Evan Ziporyn, Mark Anthony Turnage, Kirsten Broberg, Laura Caviani, Garrett Sholdice, Alvin Lucier, Linda Buckley and Judith Lang Zaimont among many others.
McCright currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a member of the piano faculty of Carleton College while maintaining an active freelance schedule as one of the most sought after pianists in contemporary music. Recent projects include the 2009 CD release of Second Childhood on innova Records and an upcoming disc of the piano works of Minnesota composer Gene Gene Gutchë on Centaur Records. He is curator of the Open Doors music series, partnering performing artists with charitable causes and is housed at Saints Martha and Mary Episcopal Parish, where he is pianist-in-residence for the series. He will also launch The Composer’s Project, a nationwide program featuring emerging composers.
He has been featured in articles in the NewMusicBox magazine, Tutti magazine, and Voice. He has performed on the Music in a Great Space series (Pittsburgh), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Engine 408: Music of our Time series, Young Artist Showcase (Thiel and Westminster Colleges), Schubert Club, as well as programs for the American Composers Forum. The recipient of numerous awards, grants, and prizes, McCright’s festival participation includes Bang on a Can at MassMOCA, Printing House Festival of New Music (Dublin), Late Music Festival (UK), Hampden-Sydney Chamber Music Festival, Kodály Institute, Perilous Night, Fringe, Spark Festival of Electronic Music, Seward Arts, Duquesne University’s Summer Music Institute, Music 2000, CCM Village Opening, Minnesota Composers Alliance, and was accepted to the Chautauqua Music Institute. A member Mu Phi Epsilon, American Music Center, American Composers Forum and Chamber Music America, he has performed in collaboration with a variety of ensembles including RenegadeEnsemble, dal niente, Gypsy Hocket, Zeitgeist, Taipei Trio, Tempus Fugit, New Sound, New Century Piano Duo, Dixie Five, Composer’s Ensemble, Westminster Triptych, WC Jazz Ensemble, and with countless chamber music groups.
McCright completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota, under the tutelage of Lydia Artymiw. In addition to private study in New York City with Lisa Moore, he also holds a Master of Music Degree in Piano from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati studying with Richard Morris and earned his Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance, Magna Cum Laude, from Westminster College with Nancy Zipay DeSalvo. He has coached with some of the world’s leading artists such as Jorja Fleezanis, Burt Hara, Ronald Feldman, Anne Epperson, Sandra Rivers, Amernet Quartet, Pridonoff Duo, Daniel Shapiro, James Tocco, Joanne Polk, and Jeremy Denk.
Patricia McPherson is an active soloist and chamber musician in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Her solo performances have included appearances with the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra, the Eastern Music Festival Young Artist Orchestras, the Raleigh Symphony, and the University of North Carolina Symphony.
Ms. McPherson has appeared at the Oregon Piano Festival and was a regional winner and national finalist in the Music Teacher’s National Association Young Artist Competition. McPherson holds a M.M. degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.M. from Boston University where she was a student of Bela Nagy. She also was a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she supervised the festival’s accompanying program.
Currently on the faculty of the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music, as well as maintaining a private studio at home, Ms. McPherson collaborates with several Twin Cities choirs, including the Minnetonka Chamber Choir and Symphony Chorus, the Apollo Male Chorus and Partners in Praise Girls Choir.
Rena Kraut is Adjunct Professor of Clarinet at St. Cloud State University and Augsburg College. She received her D.M.A. from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with Burt Hara, and she holds degrees from Rice and Northwestern Universities. Dr. Kraut has held positions with various orchestras including the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, and the Sarasota and Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestras. She performs frequently with the Minnesota Orchestra and recently appeared as a guest artist with ensembles in Minnesota and Michigan. Dr. Kraut is in demand as a clinician at several area schools and also serves on the faculty of the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music.
Orieta Dado earned her Bachelor's and Master's degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where she studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus, Dorothy Delay, and Peter Oundjan among others. An acclaimed artist in her country Albania she has performed as a soloist with the Albanian Radio Orchestra, Tirana Philharmonic and has appeared on the main TV and Radio channels. In addition, she has performed in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Colorado, Ohio and has been broadcast live by the NPR in Georgia and Kansas. As an orchestra player she has collaborated with James Levine, Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg, and Osmo Vanska, and is a substitute violin of the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber and the Minnesota Opera. An active participant of the Twin Cities musical scene, she has performed solo and chamber music at the Schubert Club and the Sundin Hall, has given frequent sectionals to the GTCYS and is a violin faculty at the St. Paul Conservatory of Music, and the Rising Harmonies Program. She is currently working on the Doctorate of Musical Arts.