FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: LuAnn Bielawa, Director of Operations
luann.bielawa@maverickconcerts.org
845-594-6518
Indian Classical Music with Steve Gorn, Vinay Desai, and Samir Chatterjee
Saturday, July 22, 8:00 – 10:00 PM
Reserved Hall Seats: $50.00, $29.00, $25.00 (partial obstruction)
General Admission/Outdoors/Uncovered: $20.00, Students: $10
stevegorn.com
vinaydesaisantoor.com
tabla.org
Manhattan Chamber Players with David Fung, Piano
Sunday, July 23, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
(Reserved Hall Seats: $50.00, $29.00, $25.00 (partial obstruction)
General Admission/Outdoors/Uncovered: $20.00, Students: $10.00
manhattanchamberplayers.com/
davidfung.com
Maverick Family Saturdays:
Birds of Prey and Wildlife Rehabilitation with Ravensbeard Wildlife Center
Saturday, July 22, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Free
ravensbeard.org
Maverick Concerts
120 Maverick Road
Woodstock, NY 12498
https://maverickconcerts.org
Woodstock, NY, June 23, 2023 The Western fascination with the high tradition of Indian classical music predates the collaboration between the Beatles and Ravi Shankar but it was that iconic pop culture moment that propelled it into the limelight for good. Soon after, such cross-cultural fusion as John McLaughlin’s Shakti and the jazz globalism of Oregon and the Paul Winter Consort cemented the many musical bridges between East and West. Bansuri flute master and longtime local resident Steve Gorn has been at the forefront of this exchange. On Friday, July 22, Mr. Gorn will be joined in a program of Indian classical music at Maverick Hall by the santoor player Vinay Desai and the virtuoso tabla player Samir Chatterjee.
Mr. Gorn’s playing is featured on the 2011 Grammy winning recording Miho – Journey to the Mountain with Dhruba Ghosh and the Paul Winter Consort as well as in the Academy Award winning documentary film Born into Brothels. A student of the late bansuri master Sri Gour Goswami, of Kolkata, and Pt. Raghunath Seth of Mumbai, Steve He has performed Indian classical music and new American music in concerts throughout the world, including frequent performances in India at Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, Habitat Center and Triveni Hall in New Delhi, The Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata, NCPA, and The Nehru Center in Mumbai. As a first-call crossover specialist in jazz and pop, Mr. Gorn has performed with the likes of Paul Simon and Jack DeJohnette.
After receiving initial training in voice, harmonium, and tabla, Vinay Desai turned his attention to the santoor, a hammered string instrument believed to be Persian in origin. In 2011, with blessings and direct guidance of Padma Vibhushan Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Vinay began his studies under Takahiro Arai. He later moved back to USA to learn from Kunal Gunjal. Mr. Desai also holds pre-Pharmaceutical Science and pre-Law degrees from the University of Delaware.
The internationally lauded Indian tabla player Samir Chatterjee travels widely throughout the year, performing at concerts and festivals as a soloist and with musicians from both Indian and non-Indian musical traditions. He performed at the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo and, on several occasions, at the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Chatterjee is recognized also as a composer and as a writer. Samir is a firm believer in the transforming effect of music on the society and all aspects of his work reflects this conviction.
At the request of Steve Gorn, this concert is dedicated to the memory of Karl Berger, the vibraphonist, pianist, composer, and founder of Woodstock’s famous Creative Music Studio. “I met Karl in 1976, and for years was a frequent visiting teacher at Creative Music Studio, offering Indian singing, and ‘raga’ form,” says Gorn. “Karl’s vision was all about authentic musicianship that went beyond technique and performance in a particular style. His groundbreaking rhythmic exercise ‘Ga Ma La Ka Ti’ and his deep attention to time and space opened ears to a unique mind/body awareness. I was part of a family of Turkish, African, and Indian musicians who brought elements of world music into the offerings of the Creative Music Studio.”
Under the direction of Alexander Platt, Maverick Concerts has been a leader in cross-cultural classical, world, and jazz programming for several decades, highlighting the affinities and profound contrasts between these traditions of serious music. On Sunday, July 23, Maverick returns to its foundations with a concert of Modern and Romantic chamber music by the Manhattan Chamber Players and pianist David Fung.
Formed in 2015 by Artistic Director and violist Luke Fleming, the Manhattan Chamber Players are a collective of New York-based musicians performing the great works of the chamber repertoire at the highest level. The ensemble features a roster of credentialed players with ties to all of the United States’ great programs and festivals– Marlboro Music Festival, Steans Institute at Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival and Perlman Music Program. The musicians are former students at such prestigious institutions as the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, Colburn School, and the New England Conservatory.
“…A [chamber music] presenter may view us just like any other chamber group,” says Mr. Fleming, “but with the flexibility of programming to suit practically anything in the rich string/wind/piano chamber repertoire.” In a world where elite chamber ensembles often feature an unchanging lineup for decades, MCP is uniquely adaptable and fresh by design. “It is intentional that the members of the groups we program vary from performance to performance–our unanimity of approach and purpose, combined with the sheer joy of being able to play this music together, gives each performance its own palpable energy and spontaneity.”
At Maverick, the MCP will perform Stravinsky’s early Three Pieces for String Quartet (so named to suggest that the pieces do not comply with the traditional conventions of the string quartet form) and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No.2 in F Major from 1874, a personal favorite of the composer’s and one that he claimed to have written virtually in a single sitting.
For a performance of Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat, MCP will be joined by pianist David Fung. A frequent guest of the world’s premiere orchestras, Mr. Fung has collaborated with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Belgium, and the San Francisco Symphony, as well as the major orchestras in his native country of Australia, including the Melbourne Symphony, the Queensland Symphony, and the Sydney Symphony. Known foremost as a bold interpreter of Mozart and Bach, Mr. Fung’s recordings range freely throughout the classical repertoire, including significant treatments of the works of Tan Dun, Ravel, Chopin, Schumann, and, most recently, Beethoven’s 6 Bagatelles. The Washington Post has described Mr. Fung’s performances as “ravishing and simply gorgeous. This concert is in Memory of Willetta Warberg.
For the third Family Saturday of the 2023 season, Maverick welcomes Ravensbeard Wildlife Center, an educational program about birds of prey. Participants will learn about the natural history, habitat, unique hunting styles and the rehabilitation stories of some of Ravensbeard’s resident birds. This up-close interaction with five live birds will emphasize the importance of raptors in the ecosystem and how these birds came to be with Ravensbeard.
Ravensbeard has supported the wildlife from the surrounding communities of Woodstock, Saugerties and Kingston for over 20 years. Ellen J. Kalish is the Founder and Executive Director of Ravensbeard. In caring for animals, Ravensbeard promotes community awareness, education, appreciation, compassion and acceptance of the circle of life. Ellen was licensed in 2000 with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and was Federally licensed through the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 2002 to work with migratory birds. In spring of 2017, Ellen accepted the William R. Ginsberg Stewardship Award from the Woodstock Land Conservancy, for her service of rehabilitating and releasing wild birds back into nature, and for her educational programs with wild, non-releasable birds of prey.
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Maverick Concerts, the oldest continuous summer chamber music festival in America, is set amid the serene Catskill woodland just outside Woodstock, NY. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the uniquely charming rustic hall has superb acoustics and is the ideal venue for an intimate encounter with chamber music. Maverick presents concerts by internationally renowned classical, jazz, and contemporary music ensembles from July through early September. Maverick Concerts sustains the vision of its founder, Hervey White, who built the historic concert hall in 1916 and opened his land and hospitality to artists, musicians, and the community. Concerts are on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Maverick Family Saturdays, short interactive events designed for kids of all ages, are free and open to everyone on Saturday mornings.
