Mark G. Simon in recital

[diegobueno]

Virtuoso Music for Clarinet and Piano
Sunday, May 18
4:00 PM
Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring
10309 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD

Mark G. Simon, clarinetist
Rosanne Conway, pianist

Anniversary Sonata — Mark G. Simon
Jägerita — Stuart Simon
Grand Duo Concertant — Carl Maria von Weber

The intersection of rock music with contemporary classical composition will be explored in a recital by Mark G. Simon, clarinetist, and Rosanne Conway, pianist. The performance features original music by Mr. Simon and his brother Stuart Simon which grows out of the various genres of popular music, but which retains classical principles of construction.

Clarinetist Mark G. Simon studied composition with Karel Husa at Cornell University and clarinet with Steven Hartman, principal clarinetist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and associate prinicipal of the New York City Opera. He has performed with the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Ithaca Opera Association, The Tri-Cities Opera of Binghamton, New York, the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, and the Cornell Contemporary Ensemble. As a composer he has written musical theater, vocal, and chamber works, many involving clarinet. His Carnival of the Subatomic Particles was premiered in April 2007 by Music’s Recreation in Ithaca, New York.

Hailed by critics for her “musical elegance and brilliant technique,” pianist Rosanne Conway is a native of Seattle, where she performed with the Seattle Symphony at the age of 16. She holds degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Colorado and, as winner of the Petri Award for Foreign Study, attended the Hochschule für Musik und Theatre in Hannover, Germany, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. In New York, she studied with Earl Wild at Juilliard. Ms. Conway has performed at the American Liszt Society Festival at the Kennedy Center and has appeared on many local and regional concert series as recitalist, chamber music player, and accompanist. Ms. Conway and Santiago Rodriguez performed together for the 1996 International William Kapell Competition for Piano and subsequently recorded Rachmaninoff’s four-hand/two piano works. Currently on the faculty of the National Cathedral School, Ms. Conway also maintains a private studio.

The Unitarian Universalist Church is located just north of the Beltway at the corner of Oaklawn Drive and New Hampshire Avenue. Children are welcome. A donation of $10.00 per person is suggested.

[Lance]

Congratulations and best wishes to you and Ms. Conway for a most successful recital, Mark. I would love to be there to hear your own work and that of your brother, and of course, that of Herr von Weber! Does music runneth in your family? Please let us know how it went. Will it be recorded? If so, you know who would love to have a copy!

[diegobueno]

Congratulations and best wishes to you and Ms. Conway for a most successful recital, Mark. I would love to be there to hear your own work and that of your brother, and of course, that of Herr von Weber! Does music runneth in your family? Please let us know how it went. Will it be recorded? If so, you know who would love to have a copy!

Hi Lance. I have one sibling and we both turned out to be musicians. Stuart has mastered the art of cocktail piano playing, and he makes his living playing in fancy restaurants and other venues in the Denver area. This in spite of the fact that he has a doctorate in composition from Colorado University in Boulder. His Jägerita was inspired by a visit he took to a nightclub where the anglo- and hispanic kids were dancing alternately to rock and mexican (mariachi) music. He thought it like the dance scene in West Side Story, and wondered a little anxiously whether there was going to be a rumble. So the piece alternates between rock- and mariachi-inspired music, with a fandango (inspired by Soler's) as a quiet central section. He said he asked the bartender there what drinks were the most popular, and the guy told him Jägermeister and Margaritas, so he combined the two to form the title.

My Anniversary Sonata was written to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, and is being played in memory of my mother, who died this year, just shy of her 60th anniversary.

[Ralph]

Congratulations and please report on the performance. I too would like a recording if available.

We have so much talent on this site!!!!!!!!!

[karlhenning]

Wish I might have attended, Mark; this is our last 'choir Sunday' at the Cathedral this season. Next time!

In all events, again: Slay your audience! :-)

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

I should also say that I was delighted to hear a gala preview of the Weber, played by the bros Simon at the reception for the happy occasion of Mark's nuptials.

So I know to expect excellence in this imminent performance!

Cheers,
~Karl

[GK]

The Church is not too far from where I live and ordinarily I would be interested. However I have a conflict. The Alexandria Kleztet, a klezmer band which also features an outstanding clarinetist is performing at our senior development, and we have invited friends to join us.

[diegobueno]

It's a busy city. There are performances I'm going to have to miss on that day, that I would like to hear.

[Lance]

Today was your big day, Mark. I hope everything went as well as anticipated. Anxious to hear about it!