REFLECTIONS: IMPRESSIONS OF RAVEL

 Wednesday, January 9 at 7:30 PM

 Temple Israel announces the second concert in its Inaugural Season of REFLECTIONS, taking place on Wednesday, 9 January at 7:30PM.  Titled IMPRESSIONS OF RAVEL, the concert will highlight the shimmering colors and exquisite harmonies of the great French composer, Maurice Ravel, reflected through the lens of his ravishing TRIO for violin, cello and piano (1914).

 Each concert in the series is part of a REFLECTIONS tour with additional performances at Congregation Kol Ami in Elkins Park, PA, An Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone, NC, and the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City and is designed as an aural “reflection” inspired, in part, by a current exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art, integrating music and words.

 For this concert, Gil Morgenstern, Artistic Director of REFLECTIONS, has crafted an international program inspired in part by the Rubin Museum ’s exhibition of Tibetan Prayer Flags. The frolicking folk-inspired music of Spain’s Joaquín Turina, a ruminative score by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu based on a Surrealist poem by Shuzo Takiguchi, the transcription of a movement from a Mozart piano sonata by the Lithuanian composer Arvo Pärt that literally suspends time, and an intricate Malaysian verse system epitomized by the great French poet Charles Baudelaire all conspire to illuminate the performance of Ravel’s innovative and extraordinary Trio.

 Joining violinist and artistic director Gil Morgenstern will be cellist Edward Arron, and pianist Jeewon Park .

 Muriel Rosen, a member of Temple Israel’s President’s Circle and an Honorary Trustee, recently commented: “We are very fortunate to be able to bring performing artists of such international standing to Temple Israel to help us bring the community together to hear great music !”  Dr. Alan Mason, Director of Temple Israel Arts , agreed saying “We love having such high caliber artists visit Temple Israel and perform in our beautiful Bertha Abess Sanctuary."
    The performance will be at Temple Israel , 137 N.E. 19th Street.  Tickets are $20.00 and may be purchased at the door, or by calling 305-573-5900.  The remaining performances will be Wednesday, March 12; and Thursday, May 15.

 About Gil Morgenstern, Artistic Director and violinist:
Acclaimed for his artistry and technical brilliance as soloist with orchestra, in recital or as a chamber musician, violinist Gil Morgenstern has performed all over the world to overwhelming critical praise (“a perfect demonstration of supreme ability”; The New York Times).  Appearing in public since he was five, Morgenstern has toured extensively on five continents and has shared the stage with such eminent artists as Philippe Entremont, Lynn Harrell, Sharon Isbin, United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa.  Morgenstern has been the subject of numerous television and radio shows both at home and abroad and his performances can be regularly heard on National Public Radio broadcasts. In addition to his performance activities, his work with Nine Circles Chamber Theatre and directing the REFLECTIONS Series, he is the artistic director of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, a diverse chamber group specializing in Classical, Romantic and contemporary works of mixed instrumentation. Mr. Morgenstern records for the MMC, Delos and Koch International labels.  For more information: www.gilmorgenstern.com