In celebration of its 25th anniversary season, FLUTE FORCE is giving a recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall on January 17 at 8pm which includes premieres by Pulitzer Prize-winning Joseph Schwantner and 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Elizabeth Brown. This esteemed quartet will be joined by Keith Underwood in a flute quintet arrangement of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé by Flute Force member, Rie Schmidt. The program features additional works by Igor Stravinsky and Friedrich Kuhlau.

In this special performance, the group premieres the expressive and virtuosic Silver Halo, a new flute quartet by the American composer Schwantner in a commission made possible by the Brannen-Cooper Fund and other generous donors. Silver Halo's instrumentation includes C flute, piccolo, alto flute, bass flute and a pair of energy chimes, which are cast in three stylistically diverse movements created to engage the virtuosic craft and the collective talents of the quartet.

Also making its New York premiere is The Baths of Caracalla, for four alto flutes and prerecorded sound, written by flutist and composer Elizabeth Brown, a member of Flute Force. In this piece, four alto flutists emerge and recede from a recorded soundscape, which includes theremin and bowed psaltery as well as a choir of prerecorded alto flutes. Together, these form imaginary reverberations from the actual Baths of Caracalla of ancient Rome, now a vast, mysterious ruin.

Flute Force is the first professional flute quartet in the United States. Praised as "an extremely persuasive advocate for the flute quartet medium: four top-quality players in a perfectly balanced and expressive ensemble" by MusicalAmerica.com, Flute Force has received grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, Chamber Music America, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Meet the Composer. In its 25 year history, Flute Force has commissioned and premiered over twenty compositions for flute quartet and has served as a model for flute quartets throughout the country.

Performing on the instruments of the flute family (piccolo, flute, alto and bass) in various combinations, Flute Force custom designs varied chamber music performances for all types of audiences and provides educational concerts and master classes for students of all levels. Through their performances, recordings and commitment to expanding the library of work for this medium, Flute Force has established the flute quartet as a bona fide genre in the chamber music community.

Rie Schmidt's classic transcriptions of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloé and Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings can be heard (with guest artist Julius Baker) on their Pastorale recording for VAI. Flute Force has also recorded for the Newport Classics, CRI, Innova, and Windham Hill labels.

Based in New York City, Flute Force's members are Elizabeth Brown, Sheryl Henze, Rie Schmidt and Wendy Stern. When not appearing as a quartet, all four players are prominent members of the musical community, freelancing in many prestigious organizations, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Symphony Orchestra, and Orpheus, among many others.


JANUARY 17 at 8PM
WEILL RECITAL HALL at CARNEGIE HALL
FLUTE FORCE
Elizabeth Brown
Sheryl Henze
Rie Schmidt
Wendy Stern


STRAVINSKY Pastorale
KUHLAU Grand Quartet in E Minor, Op. 103
Andante maestoso
Scherzo
Adagio molto con espressione
Rondo
SCHWANTNER Silver Halo *NEW YORK PREMIERE*
BROWN The Baths of Caracalla *NEW YORK PREMIERE*
RAVEL (arr. Schmidt) Daphnis et Chloé *with guest bass flutist Keith Underwood


Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students and seniors and may be purchased at the Carnegie Hall box office or online at www.carnegiehall.org or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800.