[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s Estancia is based on a 1941 ballet that follows the romance between a city boy who falls in love with a country girl. José Lezcano’s world premiere was written specifically for BPO principal double bassist Daniel Pendley and associate principal double bassist Brett Shurtliffe. Finally, Brahms’ Fourth is melancholy yet comfortingly familiar – a monumental work known for some of the most radiant music of the nineteenth century.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

About Concierto Hispanoamericano

Written on commission and dedicated to conductor Maestra JoAnn Falletta, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and its two principal bassists, Daniel Pendley and Brett Shurtliffe, this double concerto is an eclectic work.  In its jazzy harmonies, syncopated rhythms, and varied textures, it reflects the influence of Cuban popular music, Flamenco, 1970s American pop, and derives inspiration from Bach and Vivaldi in its structural design and details.  The first movement, En el Vedado, references a Havana neighborhood famous for 1950s skyscrapers and nightlife, and culminates in a Cuban-style Guaracha with optional improvisation for the soloists; the second movement, Bolero Contrabajeando, is designed around soaring melodies for the soloists and orchestra, and a Spanish-tinged cadenza.  The third movement, Homage a Tarragona, reflects the composer’s 2015 sabbatical in that Catalan city.  This movement was inspired by the city’s soundscape which includes flamenco jams in narrow medieval streets, and archaic melodies heard in “Semana Santa” celebrations.  The role of the obligato harp is essential and virtuosic, and its writing often references Spanish-tinged guitar idioms.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Daniel Pendley, double bass
Brett Shurtliffe, double bass
Madeline Olson, harp

GINASTERA  Estancia
JOSÉ LEZCANO  Concierto Hispanoamericano for Two Double Basses, Harp, and String Orchestra (world premiere)
I. En el Vedado
II. Bolero Contrabajeando
III. Homenaje a Tarragona

BRAHMS  Symphony No. 4 in E minor[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

About Daniel Pendley
Double Bass

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Daniel Pendley is the Principal Bassist of the BPO, and Instructor of Bass at the University of Buffalo and Buffalo State. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Daniel attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he earned his Bachelor of Music in Double Bass Performance cum laude. He returned to CCM and earned a Master of Music degree in bass performance and served as a teaching assistant to Professor Albert Laszlo. He pursued further studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School as a fellowship student with Mr. Laszlo, as well as Eugene Levinson, Bruce Bransby, Chris Hanulik, and Paul Ellison.

Daniel has previously appeared as a soloist with the BPO at Artpark and Canisius College. He moved to New York from Kentucky, where he served as the Assistant Principal Bassist with the Louisville Orchestra for one year. Daniel was a member of the Lexington Philharmonic for several years, in addition to occasionally playing with the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and the Dayton Philharmonic. He performs regularly with the Buffalo Chamber Players and is a founding member of the renowned Buffalo Philharmonic Bass Sextet. Daniel primarily performs on two mid-19^th century French double basses, and bows by Vincenzo Deluccia (ex-Laszlo) and Samuel Kolstein. He lives on Buffalo’s West Side with his family.

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About Brett Shurtliffe
Double Bass

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Brett Shurtliffe is the Associate Principal Bassist of the BPO. In 2003 he was the only American prizewinner at the International Society of Bassists (ISB) Solo Competition, and two years later took First Prize at the ISB Orchestral Competition, becoming just one of three bassists from around the globe to win prizes in both competitions. Since joining the BPO in 2007, Brett has appeared numerous times as a soloist with the orchestra, and with many other orchestras around the country. Brett received his B.M. and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with James VanDemark, and his M.M. from Duquesne University, where he studied with Jeffrey Turner.

Brett’s playing has been described as “immaculate” (Bass World), and “Not even Johann Sebastian shredded as hard as this guy” were the accolades he received from an imaginative recital at a downtown Buffalo night club. His recital engagements have taken him across the U.S. and Canada, and before joining the BPO, he performed with the Wheeling, Erie, Detroit and Pittsburgh Symphonies. Brett has served as Adjunct Professor of Double Bass at the Eastman School of Music, Grove City College, and SUNY Fredonia. Along with his current private studio, he serves as Adjunct Professor of Double Bass at Houghton College, and is on the faculty at the International Round Top Festival Institute in Texas.

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About Madeline Olson
Harp

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Praised for her “wonderful musical sensibility,” Madeline Olson is the principal harpist for the BPO. In 2019, she was awarded a career grant from Salon de Virtuosi, and in 2017, she was the first American to be awarded first prize at the Nippon International Harp Competition in Soka, Japan. Madeline is also a laureate of many other competitions, including the 2016 Aspen Music Festival Harp Competition. Madeline regularly works with composers to promote the expansion of the harp repertoire, and has premiered a number of solo and ensemble works featuring the harp. A five-year participant in The Juilliard School’s Focus! Festival, in 2018 she performed the Western Hemisphere premiere of Cinq Stades de L’Existence for solo harp by China’s Yao Chen, and as part of Juilliard’s 2019 commencement ceremony, Madeline performed Kaija Saariaho’s Fall for Harp and Electronics, to commemorate the composer’s awarding of an honorary doctorate. Madeline has been heard as a soloist with the Modesto Symphony, Merced Symphony, Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, and Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has received both her B.M. and M.M. degrees from The Juilliard School under Nancy Allen, and her other teachers include Linda Wood Rollo and Laura Porter.

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About José Lezcano
Composer

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Dr. José Manuel Lezcano was born in Havana, Cuba in 1960. His family emigrated to America in 1962, settling in Miami, Florida. He is an award-winning composer and concert guitarist with performances on four continents, and has frequently served as Composer-in-Residence and a collaborative guitarist at the Barcelona Festival of Song, with five song cycles that he composed for the festival forthcoming from Mundoarts. His published catalog includes works for flute and guitar (Alry Publications), and orchestral and chamber works with Cayambis, including Concierto Hispanoamericano. In his works, José pays homage to classical tradition while incorporating rhythms, harmonies, and textures from Cuba, flamenco, jazz, and American popular music.

As a guitar soloist, José has appeared with Orquesta Solistas de la Habana (Cuba); the National Symphonies of Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru; the Orchestra of Tolima (Colombia); Orquesta Sinfonica de Loja (Ecuador); Orquesta de Camera de Quito; the Portsmouth and Granite State Symphonies (NH); and the South Carolina Philharmonic, performing his own concerti and standard works by Rodrigo, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Vivaldi. For his first guitar concerto, recorded with North-South Consonance and conductor Max Lifchitz, he received two nominations as semi-finalist for Grammys in categories “Best Contemporary Composition” and “Best Soloist with Orchestra.”

José’s awards include first prize in the MTNA National Guitar Competition, NHSCA Individual Artist Fellowship, NHMTA Composer of the Year, KSC Distinguished Research Award, and a Fulbright Award to Ecuador, where he pursued research on the guitar as a ritual instrument in indigenous festivals and lectured at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. He serves as an elected member of the NH State Council on the Arts, as Artist Lecturer in Guitar for the University of Southern Maine, Lecturer in Guitar for the University of Arkansas, and Professor Emeritus at Keene State College, from which he retired in 2021. He earned degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music (B.M.); University of South Carolina (M.M.); and Florida State University (Ph.D. in Music Theory).

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