Derek Bermel and Christopher Taylor to Open 2009-10 Edward T. Cone Concert Series

Derek Bermel Photo by James Pomerantz
Princeton, NJ - Friday, September 4, 2009

September 4, 2009 - Music from classical to cabaret, from virtuoso violin to jazz piano, will mark the Institute for Advanced Study's 2009-10 Edward T. Cone Concert Series, curated by Artist-in-Residence Derek Bermel. The Harmonic Series will explore the wide variety of aesthetic perspectives in art music, especially of the 20th and 21st centuries.

"This season will bring together an eclectic mix of performers, styles and composers," says Bermel. "We hope to engage and challenge our audience's perceptions of classical and contemporary music."

Opening this year's season will be Derek Bermel on clarinet and Christopher Taylor on piano appearing on Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17, at 8:00 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall on the Institute campus. They will trace the history of works for clarinet and piano, taking the audience on a journey beginning with Brahms and moving through the 20th and 21st centuries with Milhaud and the American composers Leonard Bernstein, Sebastian Currier, Paul Moravec and Bermel, who will be represented by three works - SchiZm, Thracian Sketches and Turning.

Christopher Taylor Photo by Katrin Talbot

The remaining concerts will include The Music of William Bolcom, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, on Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5. It will be divided into two sections-sonatas and songs-and will feature distinguished soloists bass/baritone Kevin Deas, violinist Timothy Fain, cellist Joshua Roman and Metropolitan Opera pianist Howard Watkins, along with mezzo-soprano Joan Morris, who will sing Bolcom's sophisticated cabaret songs to his piano accompaniment. On Friday and Saturday, January 15 and 16, 2010, renowned virtuoso violinist Midori and pianist Charles Abramovic will perform the music of John Adams, Toshio Hosokawa, James MacMillan, Krzysztof Penderecki and Huw Watkins. On Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20, the season will conclude with the world premiere duo-recital by jazz pianists Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn. Each of these concerts will be held at 8 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall.

This season will mark the return of concert talks, providing discussions of the music on the program and related topics. Each Friday performance will conclude with a talk from the stage, and each Saturday, the talk will precede the performance at 6:30 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall.

Concert tickets are free but must be reserved online at www.ias.edu/air. For ticket information, or for further information about the Institute's Artist-in-Residence program, visit the website or call (609) 734-8228.

About Edward T. Cone

Noted composer, teacher, pianist and author Edward T. Cone earned his undergraduate and MFA degrees at Princeton University and was affiliated with its music department for more than 50 years. A Founding Friend of the Friends of the Institute for Advanced Study, he had a close and long-standing relationship with this institution. During his lifetime, he was a tireless supporter of the arts and humanities at the Institute and elsewhere. The Institute's concert series has carried the Edward T. Cone name since 2007.

About the Artist-in-Residence Program

The Artist-in-Residence program was established at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1994 to create a musical presence within the Institute community and to have in residence a person whose work could be experienced and appreciated by scholars from all disciplines. Pianist Robert Taub was the first Artist-in-Residence from 1994 to 2001, followed by composer Jon Magnussen, who served as Artist-in-Residence from 2000 to 2007, and Paul Moravec, who served as Artist-in-Residence from 2007 to 2008 and Artistic Consultant from 2008 to 2009.

Jon Magnussen introduced Recent Pasts 20/21, a series of chamber music concerts and lectures that explored the contemporary musical landscape and the many points of view that define it. Paul Moravec curated Tradition Redefined, exploring the wide variety of aesthetic perspectives in art music, especially of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Derek Bermel, named Artist-in-Residence in 2009, is a composer, clarinetist, conductor, jazz and rock musician. The 2001 winner of a Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, Bermel came to the Institute from a three-year position as the American Composers Orchestra's Music Alive Composer-in-Residence.

About the Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study is one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The Institute exists to encourage and support fundamental research in the sciences and humanities—the original, often speculative thinking that produces advances in knowledge that change the way we understand the world. Work at the Institute takes place in four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Science. It provides for the mentoring of scholars by a permanent Faculty of no more than 28, and it offers all who work there the freedom to undertake research that will make significant contributions in any of the broad range of fields in the sciences and humanities studied at the Institute.

The Institute, founded in 1930, is a private, independent academic institution located in Princeton, New Jersey. Its more than 6,000 former Members hold positions of intellectual and scientific leadership throughout the academic world. Some 33 Nobel Laureates and 38 out of 52 Fields Medalists, as well as many winners of the Wolf or MacArthur prizes, have been affiliated with the Institute.