Bronx Arts Ensemble and New York Philharmonic Meet in the Garden

The Bronx Arts Ensemble Wind Quintet joins the string players of the New York Philharmonic to present a program of works inspired by nature and our environment, featuring contemporary
women composers. Drawing on experience of travel and retreat in extraordinary places, these composers have created a sonic world that evokes the natural world they were visiting.

Robert Fanuzzi, President of the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality will lead a Question and Answer session at the end of the concert.

Location: Clay Family Picnic Pavilions
Rain location: Ross Hall

BAE Wind Quintet
Theresa Norris, flute
William Meredith, oboe
Mitchell Kriegler, clarinet
Wilden Dannenberg, French horn
Atsuko Sato, bassoon

Members of the New York Philharmonic
Fiona Simon, violin
Sharon Yamada, violin
Robert Rinehart, viola
Alexei Gonzalez, cello
Max Zeugner, double bass

with 

Environmental Discussion featuring
Dr. Robert Fanuzzi and Andrew Vargas

PROGRAM

Dorothy Rudd Moore: Transcension – I Have Been to the Mountaintop for mixed octet – 2 violins, viola, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet  (World Premiere 1986 at the NYBG)
Laurel Zucker: Galapagos for Wind Quintet
Amy Beach: Pastorale for Wind Quintet
Laurel Zucker: Aurora Borealis for Wind Quartet 

Media Sponsor

THERESA NORRIS, flutist, is a “Motown” girl who performed with Michigan Opera Theatre and the Detroit Symphony before coming to New York. She has been an Artist Member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble for more than 30 years, while enjoying a busy orchestral and chamber music career playing with many groups in New York City and the surrounding area.  Theresa has performed with St. Bart’s Music Festival, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Berkshire Opera, Philip Glass Ensemble and many others, as well as on Broadway. When not performing or teaching, Theresa can be found tending her garden or cooking and entertaining friends.  On that rare night off, she’s with her husband Charley, bowling and groovin’ to the music at the Brooklyn Bowl.

WILLIAM MEREDITH, oboist, made his debut at the age of thirteen as a soloist with the Kansas City Philharmonic, and subsequently moved to New York City to study with Harold Gomberg at the Manhattan School of Music.  Bill has played with the Westchester Symphony, Virginia Opera Company, New Jersey Symphony, Long Island Symphony and new music group North-South Chamber Orchestra.  He has as well performed as principal with the American Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Connecticut Grand Opera and Grand Opera of New York. In demand as a chamber musician, Bill is a member of the Andiamo Ensemble and Linden Woodwind Quintet, as well as Bronx Arts Ensemble. A busy commercial musician, he has recorded with Queen Latifah and in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Blackwater Lighthouse. Bill has also been oboist for many Broadway shows, including My Fair Lady, Ragtime and Beauty and the Beast.

Bronx–born clarinetist MITCHELL KRIEGLER graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Charles Russo, Conrad Kuchay and Robert Renino.  He performs at Lincoln Center with the New York City Ballet Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops.  He is an Artist Member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble and Linden Quintet, and performs with the New York City Opera Orchestra.

Bassoonist ATSUKO SATO is a graduate of the Toho School of Music in Japan and Juilliard School of Music in New York.  A former member of the Detroit Symphony, she is a member of the Queens Symphony.  Active as a freelancer in the Tri-State area, Atsuko is an original member of the orchestra for The Phantom of the Opera, Broadway’s longest running production.  Her playing can be heard on the Emmy Award-winning television show Wonder Pets.  A notable chamber music musician, she performs with a variety of groups including Grammy-nominated Englewinds and Double Entendre, as well as with the Bronx Arts Ensemble as Artist Member.

Horn player WILDEN DANNENBERG is active in the New York area as hornist, conductor, arranger and organist. Recent highlights include the premiere of Silver, Blue, a Carnegie Hall-commissioned quintet for horn and strings by T.J. Cole, multiple collaborations as conductor and performer with composer Tania León, and a performance of Schumann’s Konzertstücke for four horns and orchestra.  A native of South Georgia, Wilden holds degrees from Florida State University and SUNY Stony Brook, and is an alum of Ensemble Connect, a fellowship program of Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School.  He is a member of the New York-based quintet Connect Five, Artist Member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble, teaching artist for Carnegie Hall and faculty member at Adelphi University.

ANDREW VARGAS (John Jay College of Criminal Justice / Forensic Science) Andrew is a sophomore in the Macaulay Honors College at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where he studies forensic science and environmental justice. As a Reducetarian Fellow, Andrew hopes to explore the interdisciplinary field of sustainability. Growing up, Andrew was inspired by the work his mother did, and continues to do, as a chemist for the FDA. He hopes to utilize his affinity for science to work in the creation of alternative proteins. When not in class, Andrew volunteers as a Macaulay Peer Mentor, participates in the LGBTQ+ Honors Committee he co-founded, and works as a CUNY Explorers Visit Guide to inspire future generations of college students. When he can, Andrew enjoys reading science fiction and mystery books, and spending time outside surrounded by nature.