American bass Andrew Robert Munn, and Cypriot pianist Rami Sarieddine from the duo, CHIMERA. They will present four centuries of vocal music inspired by characters, themes, and stories from Greek Antiquity. The program ranges from virtuosic baroque arias of Henry Purcell (1659-1695) and Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) to a world premiere from the vivid musical imagination of Cypriot composer Andys Skordis (b. 1983) and features a dramatic selection of lieder by Franz Schubert (1797-1828).  In addition to arias for the theater by Purcell and Handel we find another theatrical work in the world premiere written for CHIMERA by Andys Skordis: Lo…on. Skordis sets Aristophanes’ longest word from Assemblywomen to a kaleidoscope of modern music and sound. The 171-letter compound noun describes a dish made of all manner of animals, and Skordis’ setting highlights the absurd comedy and violence inherent in such gluttony.

The recital is dedicated in loving memory to American Baritone Sanford Sylvan (1953-2019). A champion of song and contemporary music, Sanford Sylvan mentored Mr. Munn and Mr. Sarieddine at the beginning of their collaboration.

* The recital will be Livestreamed. Please click on the play button bellow to start watching or click HERE.

Program

HENRY PURCELL (1659-1695)

            If Music be the Food of Love

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)

Schiller and Mayhoffer Settings

Die Götter Griechenlands, D. 677

Memnon, D. 541

Fahrt zum Hades, D. 526

Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, D. 583

GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL (1685-1759)

            I rage, I melt, I burn!

                        aria of Polyphemus from Acis and Galatea

ANDYS SKORDIS (b. 1983)

            Lo…on (world premiere)

                        music for the longest “word” in Greek, from Aristophanes’ Ekklesiazousai

SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)

            Three Songs, op. 10

            Rain has fallen

            Sleep now

            I hear an army

FRANZ SCHUBERT

            Goethe Tyrptic

            Ganymed

            Prometheus

            Grenzen der Menschheit

HENRY PURCELL

            Music for a While                                                      

                        incidental music for the 1679 English adaptation of Sophocles’ Oedipus

The recital will be about an hour and there will be a brief intermission or 10 or 15 minutes. Free admission.

Andrew Robert Munn, bass is a sought-after artist on operatic and concert stages in Europe and North America. He trained with internationally celebrated soprano Dawn Upshaw and baritone Sanford Sylvan in the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program and The Juillaird School. Operatic credits include Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Claudio in Handel’s Agrippina, Falstaff in Nicolai’s Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Doctor Grenvil in Verdi’s La Traviata. Most recently he sang the two bass roles of The Inspector and Uncle Albert in Philip Glass' The Trial with Opera Szczecin and this summer he returns to the role of Sarastro for his professional German debut with Oper Oder Spree. As bass soloist in works including Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung he has performed at Lincoln Center and Bard’s Fisher Center. As a recitalist, he frequently performs with pianist Rami Sarieddine. They performed Schubert’s masterpiece, Winterreise in 2016 at Bard College and venues throughout New York. They are frequently premier new works by leading contemporary composers.  In addition to his performance work, Mr. Munn is a Juilliard Global Teaching Artist, performing and teaching master classes in Europe and the Middle East.

An active performer throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula, Rami Sarieddine currently maintains an active schedule as a collaborative pianist, chamber musician, soloist, and music educator. He served as a Piano Fellow at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, playing for the Graduate Vocal Arts Program led by world-renowned soprano Dawn Upshaw, working with undergraduate instrumentalists, and teaching piano as a second study, as well as a Marc and Eva Stern Piano Fellow at SongFest in Los Angeles. It is as a young scholar at the Potenzia del’ Arte - Hellenic Conservatory where he first begun his piano training with Georgia Markou and later with Pepy Michaelides that he first started playing with singers under the guidance of Katerina Christofidou. Under the tutelage of pianist John Perry, Rami was awarded the title of Doctor of Musical Arts with distinction, by the Thornton School of Music, USC and was nominated and inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.  A scholar of the Nicolas Economou Foundation and the A.G. Leventis Foundation, Rami also attended the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Royal Academy of Music in London studying with Gabriel Chodos and Patsy Toh respectively.  An avid advocate of music by living composers, Rami has premiered works by composers such as James Primosch and Rome Prize winner Nina C. Young. Additionally he has worked with composers such as Mark Carlson, Libby Larsen, Steve Reich, and Frederich Rzewski. In addition to his private piano studio Rami has served on the faculty of the MusA Academy in Los Angeles, the Gledhill Arts Collective in New York City as well as the head of keyboard at the British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.

Andys Skordis is a Cypriot composer born in 1983. He studied composition at Berklee College of Music and at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, with additional studies in Karnatic music with Dr. Rafael Reina and in Balinese Gamelan at ISI Denpasar in Bali. His work list includes operas, orchestral and chamber pieces, Gamelan music, vocal works, and music for dance, theatre and short films. His music has been performed worldwide by many acclaimed musicians and renowned ensembles, in festivals and concerts of contemporary music. In addition, he has created various music theatre performances in unconventional spaces like quarries, temples, abandoned buildings, and so on. His music has received international recognition through various prizes including the BUMA Toonzetters prize, one of the highest composition prizes in The Netherlands, and more. At the moment he lives in Amsterdam where he teaches at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam and composes music.

For more information on the artists, please click here.