Pacific Serenades Presents American Premiere of Jake Heggie’s Friendly Persuasion For Tenor and Baroque Ensemble

90th Work Commissioned and Premiered by the Leading Chamber Ensemble Closes 22nd Season

Heggie’s Piece, a Co-Commission with London’s Wigmore Hall, Features Tenor Nicholas Phan

Saturday, May 31, 2008, 4 pm, at a residence in Hancock Park
Sunday, June 1, 2008, 4 pm, at The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena
Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 8 pm, at The UCLA Faculty Center

The American premiere of Friendly Persuasions, a new work for tenor and Baroque ensemble by acclaimed composer Jake Heggie, is presented by the leading chamber ensemble Pacific Serenades to close its 22nd season on Saturday, May 31, 4 p.m., at a private home in Hancock Park; Sunday, June 1, 4 p.m., at The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena; and Tuesday, June 3, 8 p.m., at The UCLA Faculty Center. The piece is a co-commission by Pacific Serenades and London’s Wigmore Hall, recognized throughout the world for its early music, chamber music, song and jazz performances. Pacific Serenades, led by Founder and Artistic Director Mark Carlson, presented three world premieres earlier this season, bringing to 90 the number of works (by 48 different composers) the ensemble has commissioned and presented since its inception, more than any other organization of its kind in the country.

Friendly Persuasions’ world premiere at Wigmore Hall was performed April 9 in a version for tenor and piano. The Pacific Serenades version for tenor and a baroque ensemble of flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord was commissioned by William Sullivan and Gerald Goodman for Pacific Serenades.

Nicholas Phan, who is quickly establishing himself as an important tenor among America’s next generation of singers, is featured in the concert series, titled The soul of lyricism, which also includes J.S. Bach’s selected arias for tenor with flute and oboe obbligato and basso continuo and Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030, for flute and harpsichord; Handel’s Trio Sonata in F major, Op. 2, No. 4, for flute, oboe, and basso continuo; and Vivaldi’s Sonata in C minor, RV 53, for oboe and basso continuo. Also performing are Mark Carlson, flute, Leslie Reed, oboe, David Speltz, cello, and Patricia Mabee, harpsichord.

Heggie, whose song cycles and operas are championed internationally, describes the genesis of the work by saying, “The pianist in London, Malcolm Martineau, was doing a survey of music by Francis Poulenc and asked me to write a set of songs as an homage to the great composer. Poulenc has been a major influence in my music for a long time.” The work is comprised of four songs, each based on a pivotal friendship in Poulenc’s life, including Wanda Landowska, greatly responsible for the revival of interest in the harpsichord as a solo instrument in the 20th Century, Raymonde Linossier, celebrated baritone Pierre Bernac, and poet Paul Eluard. “The stories about Poulenc’s friendships touched me because of their universal resonance,” adds Heggie.

Carlson and Heggie met as students many years ago at UCLA, and Heggie and Phan have also known each other for some time. “I really admire Mark and what he has done to support composers,” notes Heggie. “We all look for people who are going to help us go on in our lives. That’s why this piece seemed like a good fit for Pacific Serenades.” Regarding Phan, he says, “I wrote a song cycle for him, which was premiered at Ravinia in 2005. He’s got a lot of character, and I really love his voice.”

Composer of the acclaimed opera Dead Man Walking, Heggie has written more than 200 songs as well as concerti, orchestral works and chamber music. Among the artists with whom he’s collaborated are singers Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone and Zheng Cao, conductor Nicholas McGegan and director Leonard Foglia. His numerous commissions include works for the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera with Lincoln Center Theater, Opera Colorado, Ravinia Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Louisville Orchestra, among many others, and individual commissions from singers Frederica von Stade, Jennifer Larmore, Bryn Terfel and Robert Orth.

Nicholas Phan, according to the Chicago Tribune, “is a rising star to be watched.” Among Phan’s engagements are his debuts at the New York City Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, the Chicago Opera Theater, the Arizona Opera, the New York City Opera, the Atlanta Opera, the Frankfurt Opera, Opera de Lille, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Marlboro Festival, and the St. Louis Symphony, and a concert of songs by Jake Heggie with Heggie at the piano at Cal Performance in Berkeley. A graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Phan appeared in many productions there. He made his professional operatic debut with Glimmerglass Opera as a member of its Young American Artist Program. He was also a member of the Wolf Trap Opera. Phan made his Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) debut in a performance of a new piece commissioned by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra.

PACIFIC SERENADES has become one of the foremost chamber music organizations in the nation since its inception in 1982 and one of the longest performing on the west coast. Twice winner (2003 and 2005) of the prestigious Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, the ensemble has achieved critical acclaim for its concerts at which new music is played alongside traditional chamber repertoire in intimate settings, including private homes. Among its musicians are principals of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Long Beach Symphony. Pacific Serenades’ CD, The Hall of Mirrors, won the 2001 Chamber Music America/WQXR Records Awards. Border Crossings, a new recording funded by The Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund and The Aaron Copland Fund for Recording, was released in mid-2008. Pacific Serenades was founded by flutist and composer MARK CARLSON, who serves as artistic director. Carlson is the recipient of more than 40 commissions and has composed works for the National Shrine in Washington, DC, the New West Symphony, Westwood Presbyterian Church, First Methodist Church of Santa Monica, the UCLA Wind Ensemble, the Santa Monica College Orchestra, among others, and for many individual musicians.

The Neighborhood Church in Pasadena is located at 301 N. Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, the UCLA Faculty Center is located at 405 N. Hilgard Avenue in Westwood. Directions to the Hancock Park concert (which is open to the public) will be sent to ticket buyers prior to the performance.

Pacific Serenades concerts are supported in part by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and by Los Angeles Center Studios and Keyboard Concepts.

Tickets are $55 (home concert, including a post-concert reception) and $32 (Neighborhood Church and UCLA Faculty Center concerts). Student rush tickets are available for $5 (at the door only) for programs held at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena and the UCLA Faculty Center. To purchase tickets, more information, or to request a brochure, call (213) 534-3434.