The highly anticipated total solar eclipse on Buffalo’s horizon illuminates the program selection of two contemporary composers to complement Holst’s dazzling interpretation of the cosmos, The Planets. Nina Shekhar’s haunting Lumina explores the concept of lightness and dark, while The Universe in Ecstatic Motion by Christopher Theofanidis is a showcase for pre-eminent flutist, Marina Piccinini.

Cosmic Designs and The Planets courtesy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The BPO Coffee Concert Series is presented by Highmark.

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Marina Piccinini, flute
Women’s Choir of Buffalo

NINA SHEKHAR  Lumina
CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS  The Universe in Ecstatic Motion: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
Cadenza: Enchanting, balletic
I. With recitude
Cadenza: Duo
II. Largo
III. Presto

-INTERMISSION-

HOLST  The Planets, Op. 32
I. Mars, the Bringer of War
II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
III. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
V. Saturn, te Bringer of Old Age
VI. Uranus, the Magician
VII. Neptune, the Mystic

About Marina Piccinini
Flute

Hailed by Gramophone as “the Heifetz of the flute,” Marina Piccinini is widely recognized as a daring, dynamic artist with varied musical interests and powerfully magnetic stage presence, which has made her a sought-after soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist internationally. Known as one of today’s most compelling advocates of both traditional and new works, she grew up in a multi-national, multi-lingual household, and brings the vibrant spirit of her rich heritage and a global perspective to all of her artistic endeavors.

Ms. Piccinini’s artistic tapestry is also woven with threads both musical and non-musical, ranging from her love of Bachian intricacies and her talents in the visual arts, to her dedication to kung fu and Buddhist thought. As a 36th-generation Shaolin Fighting Monk, she relishes an ideology that inspires self-discovery, discipline, finding joy, and having no limits – all of which she brings to her instrumental artistry.

With repertoire among the most diverse of today’s preeminent artists, Ms. Piccinini has garnered special attention for her commitment to the music of our time, premiering solo works, chamber works, and concerti by John Harbison, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Paquito D’Rivera, and Aaron Jay Kernis, among others.

These projects have taken her across multiple continents, including a tour with her most recent work, a rapturously received flute concerto written for her by Christopher Theofanidis, “The Universe in Ecstatic Motion,” premiered at Grant Park Music Festival and co-commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival, Buffalo and Erie Philharmonics, and BMOP. Other recent and upcoming highlights include return engagements with the London Philharmonic and Aspen Music Festival; her debut at the Seattle Chamber Music Society;collaborations with the Pacifica Quartet and Vienna Philharmonic Principal Harpist Anneleen Lenaerts, including a double concerto by Kalevi Aho; touring with Sergio and Clarice Assad; the premiere and recording of a concerto by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis. Upcoming are concerti by Tebogo Monnakgotla, premiering with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, and another from Clarice Assad.

With pianist Andreas Haefliger, Piccinini is co-founder of the brand new Zauberklang Festival (the magic of sound), presenting music in the mythical birthplace of William Tell (Bürglen, Switzerland). Its inaugural season features performances with leading artists Hilary Hahn, Ian Bostridge, and Avi Avital.

Other appearances as soloist have included the Boston, Hong Kong, Vienna, Vancouver, Tokyo, Toronto, and National Symphonies, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. She has worked with celebrated conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Pierre Boulez, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Alan Gilbert. Her chamber music collaborations have included the Brentano, Tokyo, Mendelssohn, and Takács Quartets, pianist Mitsuko Uchida, and she regularly collaborates and tours with Musicians from Marlboro. She is a prodigious recording artist, with albums on the Avie, Claves, and ECM labels.

Her intense commitment to education inspired her to create the Marina Piccinini International Masterclasses (MPIMC). Ms. Piccinini was the first flutist to win the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, and also won first prizes in the CBC Young Performers Competition (Canada) and Concert Artists Guild International Competition (NYC). She is currently on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.

Marina Piccinini appears by arrangement with Dworkin & Company.

About Nina Shekhar
Composer

Nina Shekhar is a composer and multimedia artist who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works.

Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times), “vivid” (Washington Post), and an “orchestral supernova” (LA Times), her music has been commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Albany Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, New York Youth Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, The Crossing, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her work has been featured by Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Library of Congress, and the National Gallery of Art.

Current projects include commissions for the New York Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). Shekhar is the recipient of the 2021 Rudolf Nissim Prize and the 2018 ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Award, funded by the Bernstein family.

Aside from composing, Shekhar is a versatile performing artist as a flutist, pianist, and saxophonist. She has been featured by the National Flute Association and has performed in the Detroit International Jazz Festival.

Shekhar is currently a PhD candidate in Music Composition at Princeton University. She is the 2021-2023 Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. She is a first-generation Indian American and a native of Detroit, Michigan.

About Christopher Theofanidis
Composer

Christopher Theofanidis has had performances by many leading orchestras around the world, including the London Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Moscow Soloists, the National, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Detroit symphonies, and many others. He also served as Composer of the Year for the Pittsburgh Symphony during their 2006-07 season, for which he wrote a violin concerto for Sarah Chang.

Mr. Theofanidis holds degrees from Yale, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Houston, and has been the recipient of the International Masterprize, the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim fellowship, a Fulbright fellowship, a Tanglewood fellowship, and two fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2007 he was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Composition for his chorus and orchestra work, The Here and Now, based on the poetry of Rumi, and in 2017 for his bassoon concerto. His orchestral concert work, Rainbow Body, has been one of the most performed new orchestral works of the new millennium, having been performed by over 150 orchestras internationally.

Mr. Theofanidis has written a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre, a work for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as part of their ‘New Brandenburg’ series, and two operas for the San Francisco and Houston Grand Opera companies. He has a longstanding relationship with the Atlanta Symphony, having recorded four works with them. He has served as a delegate to the US-Japan Foundation’s Leadership Program, and is a former faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory and The Juilliard School. He is currently a professor at Yale University, and Composer-in-Residence and Co-Director of the composition program at the Aspen Music Festival.

About Women’s Choir of Buffalo

Buffalo Girlchoir was founded in the fall of 2015 with a mission to provide exceptional music instruction to young women from all social strata, culminating in performances at the highest level of artistic excellence. Since its inception, the group has grown from 14 singers to nearly 100, and has been invited to perform with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on both Pops and Classics programs.

Women’s Choir of Buffalo is an ensemble of Buffalo Girlchoir, serving as a mentorship program where high-achieving high school and college singers are paired with seasoned professionals to guide these young women to the highest level of musical excellence. In addition to recording with the BPO on the Naxos label, the Women’s Choir has collaborated with the BPO on several occasions, including with Irish Classical Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2020.

Singers: Alyssa Agro, Jenna Agro, Sunny Bassett, Melanie Bebak, Nora Burke, Emily Creech, Mihret Creech, Elin Freeman, Brielle Hart, Alivia Hill, Noor Jatana, Ani Klein, Amira Kunz, Bridget LoFaro-O’Neill, Caroline Mallonee, Lokii Maltbie, Diedre O’Rourke, Anna Reisdorf, Tina Reisdorf, Helena Roaldi, Ella Roberts, Rachel Roberts, Kathryn Simon, Paris Wicker, Melissa Wozniak, Anna Wurst, Karlina Yanoski, Ana Zutic