BARBARA HARBACH

• Harbach: The Birth, Life and Death of Christ (excerpt)

“[Nocturne Noir is] short but brilliant tour-de-force...[The Terezin Children's Songs are] sung exquisitely by Stella Markou... ”

Laurence Vittes, Gramophone [November 2016]

“I really like [Harbach's] music a great deal, so I am always pleasantly surprised when I open the latest parcel from Fanfare Central to discover a new CD of her work... the beauty of [the Terezin] settings is striking from the very first notes of the opening song, “Birdsong.” It features a lovely lyrical melody sung by the soprano, with a counter melody by the violin weaving around it in canonic fashion. These lines are accompanied in the piano by some of the most gorgeous harmonies imaginable... This cycle, beautifully sung by soprano Stella Markou, worthily stands in the company of the great cycles by Samuel Barber and Ned Rorem. They’re really that good, and this is my favorite work on the recital... [The Nocturne noir] produces a powerful impression... I can and do recommend this work and the others on this disc with considerable enthusiasm.”

David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare [November/December 2016]

“[The Birth, Life, and Death of Christ] is quiet, understated music whose slow pacing (matching that of the film), invites contemplation... Harbach is an accomplished pianist as well as a composer. Her Nocturne Noir packs a lot of technical challenges into a five-minute work. Her accessible, tonal-based style keeps the music from just being a jumble of notes, but rather provides an engaging listen... [In the two song cycles] Harbach successfully captures the mood of these writings... This is honest music-making.”

Ralph Graves, Finding Beauty [August 2016]

Barbara Harbach has a large catalog of works, including symphonies, operas, works for string and chamber ensemble, choral anthems, ballet, musicals and film scores, pieces for organ, harpsichord and piano and arrangements of Baroque works for brass and organ. A gifted performer as well, Harbach has toured extensively as both concert organist and harpsichordist throughout the United States and Canada, and overseas throughout Europe and Asia. Her lively performances and recordings have captured the imagination of many American composers; the body of work written for and dedicated to her is substantial. Harbach is also heavily involved in the research, editing, publication and recording of manuscripts of 18th-century keyboard composers, as well as historical and contemporary women composers. A prolific composer, Harbach’s work is published by Vivace Press, Robert King Music, Elkan-Vogel, Augsburg Fortress, Encore Music Publishers, Art of Sound Music and Agape Music. As a highly active recording artist, her performances are available from MSR Classics, Naxos Records, Gasparo Records, Kingdom Records, Albany Records, Northeastern Records and Hester Park. Harbach, who serves as editor of the WomenArts Quarterly Journal, initiated Women in the Arts−St. Louis, a celebration of the achievements of women creators. More than 800 events by cultural organizations in the St. Louis region have provided audiences with new and historical examples of the work of women writers, composers and artists. In recognition of this achievement, she received the Arts Education Award from the Missouri Arts Council, the Missouri Citizen for the Arts Award, the Yellow Rose Award from the Zonta International Club of St. Louis, and the Faculty Excellence Award from the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the University of Missouri−St. Louis. The winner of numerous awards and honors, Harbach received the Hellenic Spirit Foundation Award, the Grand Center Visionary Award for “Successful Working Artist,” the Argus Foundation Award, and the YWCA Leader of Distinction Award in the Arts. She was recently named National Arts Associate Distinguished Member of SAI, Buffalo Chapter, and one of the “30 Most Innovative Women Professors Alive Today”. Harbach is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate in music, Honoris Causa, from Wilmington College, Ohio for her lifetime achievement as a composer, performer, editor and publisher. Currently a Curators’ Professor of Music at the University of Missouri−St. Louis, Harbach holds academic degrees from Pennsylvania State University (BA), Yale University (MMA), Musikhochschule (Konzertdiplom) in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Eastman School of Music (DMA). [ www.barbaraharbach.com ]

Soprano Marlissa Hudson is at home both on the operatic and concert stage. Making her professional debut while a student, Hudson performed “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess with the Baltimore Symphony Pops Orchestra under Marvin Hamlisch. She later performed the role of Bess with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis. As a concert soloist, Hudson has also collaborated with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Louis Civic Orchestra, Prince George’s Philharmonic, Choralis, and many other ensembles. Highly active as a recitalist, she has performed in Colorado, Georgia, Missouri and the greater Washington, D.C. area. Hudson received her formal training at Duke University and the Peabody Institute. She earned awards for music at both schools, including a Peabody Career Development Grant.

Director of Vocal Studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, soprano Stella Markou has appeared as a featured soloist for numerous international and national performing venues, including the Heidelberg New Music Festival, International Computer Music Conference, SEAMUS, Electronic Music Midwest, NWEAMO, the Dance New Amsterdam Company, as well as the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ guest artist series. Her awards include first prize in the Doctoral Division of National Association of Teachers of Singing, first prize in the Arizona Opera Guild Competition, and is the recipient of the prestigious Arizona Community Foundation’s Piper Enrichment Grant. Markou has performed roles from Die Zauberflöte, The Turn of the Screw, The Mikado, The Telephone and La Canterina. She made her Off-Broadway debut in 2009 in Booth! as Mary Devlin. She also performs regularly as a recitalist and has been featured in master classes with Shirley Emmons, Warren Jones, Cynthia Munzer and Bo Skovhus. A passionate performer and champion of contemporary music, Markou holds a Bachelors degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Masters degree from the Cleveland Institute.

Violinist John McGrosso is an active, highly-acclaimed artist. He has been featured as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and has performed in recital throughout the United States. McGrosso has also been the first violinist of the Arianna String Quartet since 1998. During his seven years as a member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s First Violin section, McGrosso performed frequently in the orchestra’s “Chamber Music St. Louis” and “Discovery” series, and originated the popular “On the Stage” series of unique audience engagement evenings. Currently on the string faculty at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, McGrosso received his bachelors and master degrees from the Juilliard School, and holds a Performer’s Certificate from Northern Illinois University. Past collegiate teaching appointments include University of Missouri-Columbia, Illinois Wesleyan University and Eastern Michigan University.

Violinist Julia Sakharova is an internationally established concert artist, known for her performances as soloist, orchestra performer, and chamber musician. A current member of the Arianna String Quartet, she has been praised for her great sensitivity, technical prowess and strong musical personality. Prior to joining the Arianna String Quartet, she served as Assistant Concertmaster with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, was a member of the Albany Symphony in New York and served on the string faculty at the Newark School of Arts in New Jersey. In 1999, after graduating from Moscow’s prestigious Central Special Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Sakharova moved to the United States, where she continued studies with Almita Vamos and Milan Vitek at Oberlin College, Donald Weilerstein at the Juilliard School, and Glenn Dicterow at the Manhattan School. She won first prize at the International Competition for the Music of Eastern & Central Europe, first prize at the Olga Koussevitzky Competition for Strings, a top prize at the Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition, and the first prize of the 2001 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition. Sakharova is currently on the string faculty at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Alla Voskoboynikova performs extensively as a soloist and a collaborator, regularly accompanying members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and coaching for the Union Avenue Opera Company as well as for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Since 2004 she has held the position of Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Before moving to the United States in 1996, Voskoboynikova was a pianist and vocal coach at the Kiev Opera and Ballet Theater in Ukraine. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from the Music College in Voronezh (Russia) and her Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from the Gnessins Academy of Music in Moscow. Her teachers were Oleg Milman and Lina Bulatova (student of Elena Gnessina and Genrikh Neigaus). Voskoboynikova was an accompanist in the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1996 and has performed numerous solo recitals along with chamber music concerts in several European countries.

James Richards serves as Founding Director for the School of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Richards holds a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music and degrees in orchestral conducting and music theory, as well as a Performer’s Certificate in Violin from the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to conducting the University Orchestra, Dr. Richards currently serves as conductor and music director of the Gateway Festival Orchestra of St. Louis. Prior to these appointments, he served as conductor of the Kirkwood Symphony Orchestra for nineteen seasons and as associate conductor of the Kammergild Chamber Orchestra. Richards has appeared frequently as a guest conductor and clinician for band and orchestra festivals throughout the United States, including numerous guest appearances with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s “Discovery” series. In June, 2009, Richards conducted the New York premiere of Barbara Harbach’s music theater work, Booth! at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.
  BARBARA HARBACH
TEREZÍN CHILDREN’S SONGS for soprano, violin and piano
I. Birdsong
II. Forgotten
III. On a Sunny Evening
IV. The Butterfly
V. Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep

NOCTURNE NOIR for piano

DOROTHY PARKER LOVE SONGS for soprano, violin and piano
I. A Certain Lady
II. Nocturne
III. Love Song

THE BIRTH, LIFE AND DEATH OF CHRIST for chamber orchestra
I. Arrival in Bethlehem / Nativity and Arrival of the Magi / The Sleep of Jesus
II. The Samaritan / The Miracle of Jairus’ Daughter
III. Mary Magdalene Washes the Feet of Jesus / Palm Sunday
IV. Last Supper
V. The Olive Garden / The Night Watch / Judas’ Betrayal
VI. Jesus Before Caiaphas / The Denial of St. Peter
VII. Jesus Before Pontius Pilate
VIII. The Torment / Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) / Bearing of the Cross /
IX. Jesus Falls for the First Time
X. Saint Veronica / Climbing Golgotha
XI. The Crucifixion / The Agony / Descending from the Cross
XII. Committed to the Tomb / The Resurrection
 



MSR Classics