Jewish Songs and Dances for Piano: Joseph Achron's 'Children's Suite'
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Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series
Admission: Free Register for an email reminder. |
Join YIVO for a YouTube premiere performance by Ryan MacEvoy McCullough of Joseph Achron’s Children's Suite (1923): a collection of 20 character pieces for piano depicting the world of children. Achron was a composer and virtuoso violinist as well as one of the founding members of the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg. Born in the Russian Empire in 1886, he ultimately settled in Los Angeles. Upon Achron's death in 1943, Arnold Schoenberg called him "one of the most underestimated of modern composers." The music of this Children's Suite provides an example of a style Achron pioneered, which incorporates motifs from biblical cantillation.
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series is made possible by a generous gift from the Estate of Sidney Krum.
About the Performer
Pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough has developed a rich musical life as soloist, vocal and instrumental collaborator, composer, recording artist, and pedagogue. His growing discography features many world premiere recordings, including solo piano works of Milosz Magin (Acte Prealable), Andrew McPherson (Secrets of Antikythera, Innova), John Liberatore (Line Drawings, Albany), Nicholas Vines (Hipster Zombies from Mars, Navona), art song and solo piano music of John Harbison and James Primosch (Descent/Return, Albany), and art song by Sheila Silver (Beauty Intolerable, Albany). He has also appeared on PBS’s Great Performances (Now Hear This, “The Schubert Generation”) and NPR’s From the Top. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with major orchestras including with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony Orchestra and has collaborated with such conductors as Gisele Ben-Dur, George Benjamin, Fabien Gabel, Leonid Grin, Anthony Parnther, Larry Rachleff, Mischa Santora, and Joshua Weilerstein. He lives in Kingston, NY, with his wife, soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon.