The Center for New Music presents
Guest Wolfgang David, violin
David Gompper, piano
Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 3:00p in the Concert Hall
Program
Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 [1720] |
Johann Sebastian BACH [1685-1750] |
I – Grave
|
Dikhthas, for violin and piano [1979] |
Iannis XENAKIS [1922-2001] |
Intermission
Nuance for solo violin (2012) |
David GOMPPER [b.1954] |
Sonata, pour violon et piano (1942-43) |
Francis POULENC [1899-1963] |
I. Allegro con fuoco
|
In the space of a few short years, Wolfgang David has ensconced himself on the international stage, both as a recitalist, and as a guest soloist with many leading orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Berne Symphony Orchestra, New York Virtuosi etc.
He has been well received by the press — the Washington Post wrote that he "scaled the heights of musicmaking” and The Strad described his playing “as emotionally wide-ranging as one could hope for”.
Admitted to the University for Music in Vienna at the age of eight, David studied there for many years with Rainer Küchl, the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Later he continued his studies at the Musikhochschule in Cologne with Igor Ozim and with Yfrah Neaman at the Guildhall School of Music in London.
The winner of many competitions and prizes, David has performed in major halls such as Konzerthaus and Musikverein Hall in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, Cerritos Center in Los Angeles, the Wigmore Hall in London, Victoria Hall in Geneva, and Philharmonie in Cologne.
Highlights of his career included concerts at the Great Assembly Hall of the United Nations in New York in the presence of Secretary General Kofi Annan, and a concert in Bangkok, given for the Queen of Thailand.
Besides focusing on the traditional main repertoire, Wolfgang David also enjoys collaborating with a number of living composers, such as David Gompper, Noel Zahler, Ching-chu Hu, Joseph Dangerfield, Rainer Bischof, Jeremy Dale Roberts, John Allemeier, etc. He has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works specially written for him.
Wolfgang David performs on a violin built by Carlo Bergonzi, Cremona after 1724, on exclusive loan to him from the Austrian National Bank.
Wolfgang David has recorded a CD with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Emmanuel Siffert and three albums with the American pianist David Gompper. Another CD with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released on the NAXOS label in April 2011.
David Gompper has lived and worked professionally as a pianist, a conductor, and a composer in New York, San Diego, London, Nigeria, Michigan, Texas and Iowa. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Jeremy Dale Roberts and Humphrey Searle. After teaching in Nigeria, he received his doctorate at the University of Michigan and taught at the University of Texas, Arlington. Since 1991, he has been Professor of Composition and Director of the Center for New Music at the University of Iowa. In 2002-2003 Gompper was in Russia as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching, performing and conducting at the Moscow Conservatory. In 2009 he received an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City, and a Fromm Commission in 2013.
Gompper's compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Merkin Halls (New York), Wigmore Hall (London), Konzerthaus (Vienna) and the Bolshoi and Rachmaninoff Halls (Moscow Conservatory). His compositions have been released on 17 discs, including his Violin Concerto with Wolfgang David and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on the Naxos label. As a pianist, he continues to maintain an active profile accompanying musicians and singers, including Wolfgang David (violin), Stephen Swanson & John Muriello (baritones), Michael Norsworthy (clarinet), Christine Rutledge (viola), Timothy Gill (cello) and Volkan Orhon (double bass).