Clare and David Lesser in Concert

NYUAD Music Recitals Series

Monday, Sep 27 @ 7:30pm

حدث سابق

Connections and Cross Currents – the Enduring Appeal of Folksong

Vocalist Clare Lesser and pianist David Lesser perform a recital exploring the contributions of folksong from around the world to the Western Classical art song repertoire. Spotlighting works composed or adapted by Benjamin Britten, Maurice Ravel, Samuel Barber and others, the old and the new interlink through the inspiration of the musical forms, texts and traditions of folk music with roots in the British Isles, the Mediterranean, Germany and elsewhere. The world premiere of Kacper Madejek’s ‘Embers of Ereb(us)’ will bring us completely up-to-date with a darkly exciting work for soprano, piano, and tape inspired by the legend derived narratives of contemporary gaming culture.

Biographies

Clare Lesser

Clare Lesser studied at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Conservatoire, the University of Sussex and the University of York. She specialises in the performance of twentieth century and contemporary music, and her work in this field has been nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society award. She also won the 2018 Terry Holmes award with Shu Yu Lin. She has worked with Karlheinz Stockhausen, James Dillon, Heinz Holliger, Michael Finnissy, and Hans-Joachim Hespos, amongst others, and regularly collaborates with composers on new works. She has given over seventy-five world premieres and has made critically acclaimed recordings of the music of Wolfgang Rihm, Michael Finnissy, Heinz Holliger, Richard Emsley, Milko Kelemen, Hans Werner Henze, and Giacinto Scelsi on the Métier label. 2022 will see the beginning of two new recording projects with Métier – works for voice, piano and clarinet by Michael Finnissy, and chamber music by David Lesser. She has performed throughout Europe and the Middle East, including at the Edinburgh, Gaudeamus and Avignon International Festivals, and is currently engaged on major
performance projects with Michael Finnissy and Hans-Joachim Hespos. She holds a PhD in performance from the University of York and her research interests and publications focus on deconstruction, indeterminacy, graphic scores and variable form composition. She is director of the NYUAD vocal ensemble and Program Head of music at New York University, Abu Dhabi.

David Lesser

David Lesser studied at The Royal College of Music, London, and the University of Huddersfield. He is active as a composer, performer and teacher, and his music has been performed in Europe and America by Ensemble Aleph, Les trois en bloc, Sylvia Hinz, Linda Hirst and Ian Pace. He studied piano with Robert Sutherland, and has worked with composers Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Finnissy, James Dillon and Judith Weir. He has also recorded critically acclaimed discs of music by Michael Finnissy, Heinz Holliger, Hans Werner Henze and Wolfgang Rihm on the Métier label. He taught at the University of Warwick, the University of Bath, the American Universities of Dubai and Sharjah, UAE, and he now teaches at New York University, Abu Dhabi. As a performer he specialises in the music of the 20 th century and contemporary repertoires. His future plans include new discs of music by Michael Finnissy, Hans-Joachim Hespos and himself.