AT-HOME: Premiering A Song by Mahler
In this unique union of music and theatre by Marc Neikrug, a celebrated concert singer struggles with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Adjusting to this reality and its progression, she and her husband (also her accompanist) connect on this emotional journey through music. Starring Jennifer Johnson Cano and Kelly Markgraf, featuring David Shifrin with the FLUX Quartet, and directed by Doug Fitch. Co-commissioned by CMNW with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla, Lake Champlain, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals.
Online Virtual Concert
Tuesday, 7/20 • 7:30 pm PT
Program
Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.
- MARC NEIKRUG “A Song by Mahler” (Co-commissioned world premiere, 2019)
2021 Summer Festival Program Book
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Artists
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David Shifrin
Clarinet & Artistic Director Emeritus 1981–2020
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Clarinetist David Shifrin graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1967 and the Curtis Institute in 1971. He made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra having won the Orchestra’s Student Competition in 1969. He went on to receive numerous prizes and awards worldwide, including the Geneva and Munich International Competitions, the Concert Artists Guild auditions, and both the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1987) and the Avery Fisher Prize (2000).
Shifrin received Yale University’s Cultural Leadership Citation in 2014 and is currently the Samuel S. Sanford Professor in the Practice of Clarinet at the Yale School of Music where he teaches a studio of graduate-level clarinetists and coaches chamber music ensembles. He is also the artistic director of Yale’s Oneppo Chamber Music Society and the Yale in New York concert series. Shifrin previously served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Hawaii.
Shifrin served as artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 1992 to 2004 and Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon from 1981 to 2020. He has appeared as soloist with major orchestras in the United States and abroad and has served as Principal Clarinet with the Cleveland Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra (under Stokowski), the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of New Haven, Honolulu, and Dallas. Shifrin also continues to broaden the clarinet repertoire by commissioning and championing more than 100 works of 20th and 21st century American composers. Shifrin’s recordings have consistently garnered praise and awards including three Grammy nominations and “Record of the Year” from Stereo Review.
Shifrin is represented by CM Artists in New York and performs on Backun clarinets and Légère reeds.
Upcoming Concerts & Events
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Marc Neikrug
Composer
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Marc Neikrug has been the Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival since 1998. An internationally renowned pianist, he’s well known for his 35-year partnership with violinist Pinchas Zukerman, which produced highly acclaimed recitals and recordings. Also widely recognized as one of today’s leading composers, Neikrug has had his works performed at the Aspen, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hollywood Bowl, Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, and Tanglewood music festivals, among many others; by the Berlin State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin; and by ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and the Atlanta, BBC, Boston, Houston, Jerusalem, Milwaukee, National, Pittsburgh, and Polish National Radio symphony orchestras. He’s served as Composer-in-Residence for Music from Angel Fire and the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, and La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest.
Recent compositions by Neikrug include his Fourth Symphony, commissioned by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, which premiered the work in Hamburg in May 2022, and A Song by Mahler, a theater-and-music work that premiered at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon in July 2021. The work was co-commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest with the support of the CMNW Commissioning Fund, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the La Jolla Music Society for SummerFest, and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival.
Neikrug was born in New York City in 1946. In the 1980s, he moved to Santa Fe, where he lives with his wife, Dolly Naranjo, and their family, which now includes two great-grandchildren. His honors include receiving a 2019 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.