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| 2003-2004
Season Concert No. 4 |
May 21, 2004 Friday 8 pm
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information:
Sasha Callahan
sashacallahan@hotmail.com
info@kalistos.org
617-393-1960
KALISTOS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA FEATURES RENOWNED SOLOIST Edwin Barker of
the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Boston, MA (March 8, 2004) – The Boston-based Kalistos Chamber
Orchestra’s final concert of the 2003-2004 season features Edwin
Barker, the principal bassist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Barker will be our third featured soloist of the season who is also
a teacher to KCO's own Brian Perry. Three of four concerts this
season has featured teachers of KCO members.
The concert will also celebrate our two year anniversary by revisiting
Osvaldo Golijov's Last Round which was programmed on our inaugural
concert on May 19, 2002. Through the past two seasons both KCO
and Mr. Golijov have enjoyed a large amount of success. We owe
our thanks to composers like Osvaldo Golijov for giving us such great
repertoire to explore with our audience.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students/ senior citizens, and are
available at the door or by calling 617-393-1960.
WHO:
Kalistos Chamber Orchestra featuring guest artist Edwin Barker,
Principal Bassist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
WHAT:
Matthew Van Brink New piece [World Premiere]
Edvard Grieg Holberg Suite
Ernst Bloch Prayer with Edwin
Barker of the Boston Symphony
Ernst Bloch Suite Hebraique with
Edwin Barker
Osvaldo Golijov Last Round
WHEN:
8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 21, 2004.
WHERE:
St Paul Church
15 St Paul Street
Brookline, MA 02466
click
for directions
About Kalistos
Kalistos Chamber Orchestra was formed in the winter of 2002 by a group
of Boston area musicians brought together by their common love of music
and a desire to contribute to the community. These players share
a willingness to bring their varied backgrounds, perspectives, and
experiences together in a collaborative environment, creating an
orchestra that is democratic in its artistic direction. The group
is fully rotational both musically and administratively, allowing each
member an opportunity to explore a broad range of responsibilities and
roles. For more information visit
http://www.kalistos.org
Directions to St Paul church
Corner of St. Paul and Aspinwall Sts. Near Brookline Village T-stop,
Harvard St., and Beacon St., on-street parking
From Boston: From Commonwealth Avenue or Beacon Street turn south on
St. Paul St to the corner of Aspinwall Avenue.
From Rt. 9: In Brookline Village, turn north onto Harvard St. Turn
right onto Aspinwall Avenue and the church will be directly in front of
you.
MBTA
Green Line C: From the St. Paul Street stop walk up St. Paul Street,
past Longwood Avenue, to the corner of Aspinwall Avenue.
Green Line D: From the Brookline Village stop, walk up Station Street,
right onto Harvard Street, through Brookline Village to the light at
Aspinwall, right onto Aspinwall Avenue.
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For more info please contact us at
617 393 1960 or email info@kalistos.org
Ticket Prices
Adults $20
Students with valid ID $10
Guest
Artists' bio
coming soon...
until then a recent article featuring Ed Barker
Barker's transcriptions get Bach to
the bassists
By Eric McHenry
The key to transcribing cello compositions for
the
double bass, says Edwin Barker, is the key.
Barker, who is principal double bassist for the
Boston
Symphony Orchestra, has adapted Bach's Suites for Cello
Unaccompanied
Numbers 1, 2, and 3 for his instrument. He'll play them on February
6
at the Tsai Performance Center.
"I spent a lot of time thinking about this
repertoire,"
says Barker, an SFA teaching associate. "I even went so far as to
learn
some of these suites in several different keys before I arrived at a
key
that was comfortable on the double bass. The real trick is to
find a
transcription
in a key that is true to the integrity of the double bass, that is
idiomatic
on the instrument, without sacrificing the tonal richness you would
hear
in an original cello performance."
Seeking that richness, Barker says, led him to
makes some
surprising choices. For example, he deemed A major the most
appealing key for
the first suite. The music, therefore, will sound a step
higher than it
would if performed on a cello.
"And the reason for that is the resonance," he
says."I
apologize to cellists. I actually agonized over this for a long
time. As I said,
I learned the piece in three different keys before I
arrived at this
one. It just sounds best in A major; it's as simple as that."
In the second suite, by contrast, Barker's
rendering in B
minor will sound decidedly lower than a performance from the
Samuel Sterling
edition -- the most frequently used transcription for
double bass.
"I feel that I can actually play more of the
notes in the
chords using this key," he says. "My desire is not so much to
imitate a cello
-- it's to try to make the best use of the sound of the
double bass."
Making the correct key choice, Barker adds, is
by no means the
only challenge posed by adaptation. In performing the
suites on the
double bass, he must also concern himself with capturing a
particular resonance that the cello, because of its tuning, possesses.
And he
must be sensitive
to the nuances of the Bach compositions. These
potentially rich
rewards for the listener, he says, compound the difficulties
faced by the
transcriber.
"Bach is so profound on so many levels," says
Barker. "There's
an inherent elegance to the writing. It's very
contrapuntal. There are voicings that have to be understood and dealt
with. It
could be a
lifetime of study.
"And of course there's nothing in the original
double bass
repertoire that's even remotely comparable. So performing the
Bach is a real
undertaking. It's very rare to have a double bassist play
a series of Bach
cello suites together in one program."
Barker doesn't speak lightly when he uses a term
such as "lifetime
of study." An accomplished solo, ensemble, and
orchestral performer, he was appointed the BSO's principal double
bassist in
1976, at age 22.
He performed the world premiere of James Yannatos' Bass
Concerto, written
for him, with ALEA III and later with the Boston-based
contemporary music ensemble Collage. In 1995, he was chosen by Maestro
Sir Georg
Solti to lead the
bass section of the United Nations Orchestra, Musicians
of the World. In
addition to BU, Barker is a faculty member at the
Tanglewood Music
Center and the New England Conservatory.
"Not only does Edwin Barker have what it takes
to lead the
Boston Symphony's double bass section," Richard Buell wrote
in the Boston
Globe, "in a solo capacity he can make that famously
unwieldy instrument bearable, plausible; nay, downright compelling . .
. What
class!"
Volunteer opportunities,
If you would like to volunteer for Kalistos Chamber Orchestra, we have
a number of opportunities ranging from ushers to graphic
designer. Please contact us at 800 896 7340 and leave your
contact info.
Sponsorship Opportunities
We are always seeking sponsors to make our concerts possible.
Please contact us if you would like to join KCO's efforts in making our
community a more beautiful place to live in.
Program notes coming soon...
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Please support our
generous sponsors
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Our past concerts
2003-2004 season
October
9, 2003
November 20, 2003
February
17, 2004
May
21, 2004
2002-2003 season
May
19, 2002
September
27, 2002
November
1,
2002
March 14,
2003
May 9, 2003
Phillips
Exeter
Residency
February 17-18, 2003
Dean
College
Concert
February 22, 2003
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