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Performance of 'Romanza' for Horn and Piano
zINCALI, a chamber group of Flute, Horn and Piano will feature a performance of "Romanza" for Horn and Piano by Carol Worthey in their upcoming concert.
L. Elise Carter, Flute
Susan LaFever, Horn
Laura Ravotti, Piano
Besides their principal instruments, Susan and Elise perform on piano and Laura also performs on horn, making for nearly limitless combinations of the three instruments. These three friends share their talents with audiences and promote the works of living composers as well as enlivening the classical repertoire with their wit and charm. The group presented three world premieres in their inaugural season.
Sunday, October 10th, 2010
6:00 p.m.
Good Shepherd Catholic Church
1950 Batchelder Street
Brooklyn, New York
Press Release
Map to Concert
"Some works are content in their first incarnation. Not Romanza! The solo piano work, fine in its own skin, seemed to burst out of its piano incarnation, embodying that enigmatic quality of Great Love itself: That each new day love wears a new face, changes, evolves through time. I began to hear new colors, new melodies, unexpected dimensions in what had seemed at first to be so simple. How like falling in love is the creation of this very work --- the challenge is to STAY in love and keep it fresh. And so today there are two adaptations, for Violin/Piano and for Horn/Piano, each instrument enriching the dialogue with its own unique flavor of lyrical beauty. I have composed works with more complex and contemporary feel, but when this work --- so truly from the heart --- came to me, I knew I must allow it to sing forth without reservation, to exist in a timeless place. We need Romance today. Everyday life with its mundane chores punctuated by stressful news can drown a sense of wonder and vitality. But let's not let romance die! It is the lifebreath of what makes life worth living!"
Soloing, Ms. Carter has performed the Mozart Flute Concerto in G, the Griffes Poem, and the Vivaldi piccolo concertos with the North Jersey Symphony and the Christ Church Orchestra. She can be heard on CDs such as Into the Next Dimension with guitarist and composer Dave Calkins which was heard widely on National Public Radio; A Flute Renaissance, An Uptown Christmas and 21st Century Gems with the Uptown Flutes; and Waiting for Love, a children’s cantata by G. Chiusano and M. Hochman.
As well as a performer, Ms Carter is an award-winning composer, and is published by Falls House Press. Her composition Gypsy Dance was chosen as the audition piece for the National High School Flute Choir Competition in 2007. Her composition entitled Triptych for Flutes was premiered by the National High School Flute Choir at the 2009 National Flute Convention. She has studied with Katherine Hoover for composition and has studied flute with Stephanie Jutt, Linda Wetherill, Thomas Robertello, Julius Baker, Bart Feller and Diva Goodfriend-Koven. Ms Carter received her bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is music director at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Dumont, NJ, and was the subject of the documentary entitled: Debut: the Road to Carnegie which can be found at www.calkinsmedia.com.
Ms. Carter is Adjunct Professor at Drew University and President of the New Jersey Flute Society.
As a recitalist, Ms. LaFever has appeared at the American Landmark Festivals at Federal Hall, St. Bartholomew’s Tuesday Chapel Concerts, and the Noonday Concert Series at St. Paul’s Chapel, all in Manhattan. Outside of Manhattan, she has performed at the Brooklyn Museum Sunday Afternoon Concert Series, Queens College and Downtown Music at Grace, White Plains, NY, among others.
Soloing with orchestras, Ms. LaFever has been in front of such groups as the Doansburg Chamber Orchestra, Rutgers University Orchestra, South Orange Symphony Orchestra and with Bergen Youth Orchestra who asked for a return engagement.
Ms. LaFever performs extensively as a chamber musician, and as a member of various groups, has played in major metropolitan concert halls and on TV and radio, including Weill (Carnegie) Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Town Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, and Royal Albert Hall in London. She appeared live on CBS as part of the musical opening the 2005 Women’s Tennis Finals at center court, US Open with Idina Menzel, star of Broadway’s Wicked, and Il Divo, pop/classical male vocal group. She has also been heard live on WAMC's "Performance Place" hosted by Paul Elisha in Albany, and on national TV in Mexico City.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska and Manhattan School of Music, Ms. LaFever is Principal Horn of the Doansburg Chamber Ensemble and Third Horn of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. She is a former co-principal of the Sarasota Opera, former fourth horn of the New Jersey Opera Festival and she has subbed on Broadway in The Lion King, The Sound of Music and Cats. Ms. LaFever maintains a private studio and has given master classes at the University of Iowa, Western Illinois University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara as well as performances at the Northeast Horn Workshops '06, '08, '10 and Kean University.
Currently, Ms. Ravotti is the pianist/organist for the Taghkanic Chorale, as well as serving as the assistant conductor. For the past 8 years, Laura has been the Music Dept. Chairperson at the Academy of Mount St. Ursula in the Bronx. Presently, Laura is Director of Music at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Croton-on-Hudson, NY and also manages a private studio where she gives instruction on piano and horn and is a sought-after coach for up-and-coming young voice and string virtuosos.
Ms. Ravotti is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, where she received her BFA in piano performance with a minor in horn. She also holds a Master’s degree in piano performance from Bowling Green State University.