Linda Bento-Rei received a Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance, cum laude, from the Boston Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree in Flute Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. An active free-lancer,  Ms. Bento-Rei frequently performs as soloist and in chamber music programs throughout New England. She has performed with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Festival Ballet Orchestra of Rhode Island, the Worcester Symphony Orchestra, the Lexington Symphony, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Key West Symphony Orchestra.  Linda Bento-Rei has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Flute Association from 2001 to 2003 and was elected President in 2003. In 2005, the Rei's became the President and Vice-President of the Worcester Symphony Orchestra. Since that time, the organization has presented chamber music programs throughout Massachusetts under the name "The Worcester Symphony Chamber Players". Ms. Bento-Rei has recently released a CD sponsored by this organization entitled "The Jongen Project" which includes the works of Joseph Jongen for flute and mixed ensembles with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and local freelance musicians recorded and produced at Fraser Recording Studio, WGBH, Boston. A second CD entitled “Spring Serenade, Flute Music of the 20^th Century” will be released in  2014.

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Please email Linda Bento-Rei at lmbrei@gmail.com to purchase a CD.

Sunday, September 22, 2013 3 PM "The Jongen Project" - POSTPONED TO 1.5.14

Jordan Hall

30 Gainsborough Street

Boston, MA

Thursday, October 3, 2013 8 PM Chamber Music with Ann Pilot

The Brooks Concert Hall

College of The Holy Cross

1 College Street

Worcester, MA

Sunday, January 5, 2014 "The Jongen Project"

Brown Hall

30 Gainsborough Street

Boston, MA

Available for solo and chamber music concerts. Please contact Linda Bento-Rei for booking arrangements.

  "What a super, super show of physical endurance. Your playing was out of this world" - Eileen Fox

     "Just wanted to say congrats on a terrific performance today- very inspiring!!  Glad to be there!" - Sue Almy

     "It was a pleasure to work with you and be a part of the project. One doesn't get the chance to play the Jolivet every day and you sounded terrific!" - Miguel Perez-Espejo

    "I love watching you play. Every breath, every note. You are incredible"  - Barbara Gokey

     "You & Vytas, …. WOW! …. What a perfect duo and great accompanist to perform together. … Congratulations on the new CD!" - Jim Tomasetti

Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 3 PM Postponed to January 5, 2014 at 3 PM at BROWN HALL

New England Conservatory

30 Gainsborough Street

Boston, MA

Miguel Pérez-Espejo Cárdenas, D.M.A., “a violinist of exceptional ability and a human being of impeccable character, with an outstanding ability to interpret from the heart” (Aaron Rosand), “…a very strong leader… a fine soloist, with a beautiful tone, impeccable intonation and rhythm… a fine musicianship and artistic sensibility” (Stanislaw Skrowaczewski), is considered as one of the most talented Spanish violinists of his generation, whose performances have been highly praised by critics from The Boston Globe to The Daily Telegraph (U. K.), the chief music critic of which, Mr. Geoffrey Norris, wrote about him: “It was extremely impressive, and I was struck particularly by the Bach Chaconne, which seemed to me to have exceptional maturity and expressive depth”.

A top-prize winner at The Olga Koussevitzky Competition in New York City, he also won the Chautauqua Institution Competition and was a Prize-winner at the Murcia International Violin Competition. He was a Fulbright Scholar from 2000 to 2002, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, and has received numerous awards and distinctions, among which stand those of the Theodore Presser Foundation, the SÉNECA Foundation from Spain and the New England Conservatory’s George W. Chadwick Gold Medal. Since November 2006 he is a Member of the prestigiousReal Academia de Bellas Artes Santa María de la Arrixaca (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Santa María de la Arrixaca), of Murcia, Spain, and he has been awarded thePaul Harris Fellow Prize from the Rotary Club Cartagena, the highest distinction of the Rotary Club worldwide. He was invited to join Pi Kappa Lambda, the Honor Music Society of the United States, of which he is a member since May 2009.

As soloist, Dr Pérez-Espejo has concertized widely in Spain, Europe, and the United States, in venues that include the Auditorio Nacional (National Auditorium) and Teatro Monumental in Madrid, the Palau de la Música of Valencia, Baluarte y Centro de Congresos of Pamplona, the Chautauqua Institution Auditorium, as well as the concert halls of Zaragoza and Murcia. He has performed with orchestras such as the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra (RTVE), Orquesta de Valencia, the Gardner Chamber Orchestra or the Murcia Symphony, and has collaborated with conductors Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Sergiu Commisiona, Adrian Leaper, Douglas Boyd, Gunther Schuller, Carlo Ponti and José Miguel Rodilla, among others. Recent and upcoming performances include world premières of works written for him by two of Spain’s foremost composers: Miguel Franco’s Sinfonía Concertante, Op. 87, and José Zárate’s Violinesca, both for violin and orchestra, as well as the American première of Zárate’s Canto para violín solo.

Sponsored by institutions such as Banco de Santander, The Rotary Club, Spanish General Consulate, Instituto Cervantes, SÉNECA Foundation, Cajamurcia or Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo C.A.M., Pérez-Espejo has offered numerous recitals in cities like Chicago, New York, London, Valencia or Boston, and at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. He has performed in live radio broadcasts for the Spanish National Radio (Radio Nacional de España), Spanish national Television (TVE), and Canal Clásico. Pérez-Espejo co-directed with Antonio Muñoz Molina and performed in the concert series Spain in Chamber Music at the Cervantes Institute in New York City. He has recorded for the RTVE MÚSICA label, among others, releasing the first Spanish recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto (live) as well as the recital CD “Música española para violín y piano”, devoted entirely to Spanish music. He was one of the four violinists invited by the Fundación March of Madrid to perform in the concert cycle Sarasate y otros virtuosos, commemorating the 100th. Anniversary of Sarasate’s death, and directed and performed in the recital cycle El violín hispano at Boston University’s Tsai Performance Center, sponsored by Banco de Santander, Instituto Cervantes and the Department of Romance Languages at Boston University. He has been featured in the newspaper El Mundo and in the music magazine Melómano.

As chamber musician, Pérez-Espejo has performed with international artists Roberto Díaz, Colin Carr, James Dunham, Laurence Lesser, Paula Robison and Chee-Yun, among others, and in venues such as Jordan Hall, Harvard, Northeastern and Boston Universities and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He has been guest artist in many international festivals in the United States, Canada and Europe, and together with Taiwanese violinist Hsin-Lin Tsai, he was member of the quartet praised as “the outstanding string quartet” by Richard Dyer, chief music critic of The Boston Globe.  He performs in Murcia in theConcierto Extraordinario de Navidad with the Saravasti String Quartet, and concertizes extensively with Hsin-Lin Tsai as the acclaimed L'Étoile violin duo, which has been praised as “extraordinary” by critics and audiences.

Heir to a unique musical background, his teachers include Aaron Rosand, Michèle Auclair, Yuri Mazurkevich, Eric Rosenblith, and Joaquín Palomares, and received special private instruction from the late and distinguished violinist Pina Carmirelli, founder of I Musici. He received his doctoral degree in violin performance from Boston University in May 2009, an wrote his dissertation Pablo Sarasate: the Violinist, the first violinistic study on the Spanish artist. Dr. Pérez-Espejo holds degrees with the highest Honors and Distinctions from the Murcia Superior Conservatory (“Profesor Superior de Violín”, 1997), the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston (B.M. 2000; M.M. 2002), and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (Artist Diploma, 2003). A passionate pedagogue, Dr. Pérez-Espejo has been invited as faculty to teach master classes in festivals in the U.S. and Spain, and his students have won top prizes in competitions and auditions. In the summer he teaches and serves as Coordinator of Strings at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He is currently on the Faculty at Bridgewater State University, where he is a member of the faculty Piano Trio, and performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Pérez-Espejo proudly endorses and collaborates with the Elfenworks Foundation in their philanthropical efforts through music. He resides both in Spain and the United States with his wife, violinist Hsin-Lin Tsai.

Miguel is a performing artist on the "Spring Serenade" CD in Chant de Linos by Andre Jolivet which will be released in 2013/2014.

Please visit our biographies.

Pianist Vytas J. Baksys is an active free-lance collaborator performing a variety of recitals, competitions, and other functions of various styles and genres throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Since 1989 he has been the faculty pianist with the Fellowship Conducting Program at Tanglewood, a frequent keyboardist with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras, and works with other area ensembles such as the Concord Chamber Music Society, The Rivers School Conservatory, Boston Musica Viva, Boston Secession, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. Of Lithuanian descent, Vytas is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and State University of New York at Stony Brook. His principal teachers include Angel Ramon Rivera, Victor Rosenbaum, and Gilbert Kalish. He has participated in recordings for RCA, CRI, Golden Crest, Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Brothers, Nonsuch, Reference Recordings, and BSO Classics labels.

Vytas is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Sonata for flute and piano, Rhapsodie and Danse Lente and on the "Spring Serenade" CD in Spring Serenade by Peter Schickele.

Andrea Bonsignore is a graduate of Oberlin College and New England Conservatory. She is the oboist for 6 theatres in the Boston area that present Broadway touring

productions, has been Principal Oboist for the ALabama Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Opera Company of Boston, Boston Landmarks Orchestra and is a member of North Winds - Massachusett’s Young Audience Woodwind Quintet .  In her capacity as a free-lancer, she has played and recorded with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Emmanuel Music and appeared in YoYo Ma's video chronicling his music experiences at Tanglewood.  Additionally, she performs with Boston Ballet, Opera New England, and many other groups throughout New England.  She is the Coordinator (and performer) for Monadnock Music's “Lend an Ear” outreach program.  She authored “Doxie and Andre’s Flight Path” – a story inspired by the watercolors of Roger Kizik featuring two intrepid ducklings, and brought to life with music selections played by small ensembles of orchestral instruments.  In 2010 she toured nationally with the 75th Anniversary Prodcuction of "Porgy & Bess."  Her series of cell phone movies combining music and imagery of the South Coast is featured in the 2-12 and 2013 Buzzards Bay Film Festivals, and is one of Boston’s busiest art models.

Andrea is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Rhapsodie.

After 40 years with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, legendary principal harpist, Ann Hobson Pilot, retired at the end of the Tanglewood 2009 season.

Ann Hobson Pilot is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music under Alice Chalifoux. She became principal harp of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1980, having joined the BSO in 1969 as assistant principal harp and principal with the Boston Pops. Before that she was substitute second harp with the Pittsburgh Symphony and principal harp of the Washington National Symphony.

Ms. Pilot has had an extensive solo career. She has performed with many American orchestras as soloist, as well as with orchestras in Europe, Haiti, New Zealand, and South Africa. She has several CDs available on the Boston Records label, as well as on the Koch International and Denouement labels. In September 1999 she traveled to London to record, with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Harp Concerto by the young American composer Kevin Kaska, a work that she commissioned.

In May of 2010, Ms. Pilot was the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Tufts University. She has received numerous awards including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1993 and again in 2010 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boston Musicians Association in 2010. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Bridgewater State College in 1988.

In 1997 she traveled to South Africa to record a video documentary, “A Musical Journey”, sponsored by the Museum of Afro-American History and WGBH. The film aired nationwide on PBS for three years. While there she performed with the National Symphony of Johannesburg and visited the San people of Namibia.

Ms. Pilot is on the faculties of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston University, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She has performed with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Marlboro Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival and the Ritz Chamber Players.

After the 2009 Tanglewood concerts and her official retirement, Pilot returned to the stage as soloist with the BSO opening the Boston Symphony season and the Carnegie Hall season with the premiere of a concerto written for her by John Williams, “On Willows and Birches” a concerto for harp and orchestra. On October 3, the orchestra paid tribute to her dedicating the entire concert in her honor and featuring her in two other works for solo harp in addition to the Williams.

Producer Susan Dangel has recently completed a new half-hour documentary that will tell the story of her life in music, “A Harpist’s Legacy, Ann Hobson Pilot and the Sound of Change”.

This season brings solo performances with the Shippensburg Festival Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Albany Symphony and the World Harp Congress in Vancouver.

She and her husband, Prentice Pilot, are currently residents of Osprey, Florida.

Ann is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Concert a Cinq and on the "Spring Serenade" CD in Chant de Linos by Andre Jolivet which will be released in 2013/2014.

Marjorie Bollinger Hogan gave her solo debut at age 14, with the Richey (FL) Community Band. Marjorie received a BA in Applied Flute from University of South Florida, where she studied with Martha Rearick. In 1987 Marjorie received USF’s Dawn Zimmerman Flute Award and won third prize in Florida Flute Association's Young Artist competition. Marjorie performed with the Florida Orchestra, Ft. Myers Symphony, and Naples Symphony and continued studies with Linda Toote and Geoffrey Gilbert. Marjorie attended the Hartt School of Music on a talent award scholarship and received a Master of Music in Applied Flute, under the tutelage of John Wion. Marjorie has performed and given masterclasses throughout the United States. Marjorie is currently Director of the Merrimack Valley Flute Choir and Principal Flute of Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra and Nashua Chamber Orchestra. She recently performed Rutter’s flute concerto, “Suite Antique,” with the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic.

Marjorie is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Elegie for flute quartet.

Rebecca Jeffreys, flutist, is based near Boston, Massachusetts. As a founding director and member of the nationally recognized Woodbridge (VA) Flute Choir, Rebecca gave concerto performances at the Kennedy Center and White House. Under Rebecca's direction, the Woodbridge Flute Choir commissioned numerous original works for flute choir, and produced two CDs. Her solo career has included a concerto performance in a private audience to Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy and guest concerto performances with various orchestras and wind ensembles. She is a former member of the Jeffreys and Miller Latin Flute and Guitar Duo which made two East Coast tours. Additional concerts have included ensemble and solo performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Phillips Collection, and other prestigious East Coast locations. In 2000 she played in the NFA Professional Flute Choir at the National Flute Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Rebecca was the 2000-2002 President for the Washington Flute Society and the local arrangements chair for the 2002 National Flute Convention in Washington, DC. She performed Baikal Journey by Catherine McMichael at the 2002 Convention and lead a flute choir reading session.  Her debut album, "Tonescapes", features music for solo flute and multiple flutes written by today's composers including Catherine McMichael, Mel Lauf, Jr. and Steve Tung. It has received national and international attention. Rebecca returned to the Woodbridge Flute choir as guest performer to celebrate the choir's ten year anniversary and currently teaches at the Nashua (NH) Community Music School. She is a member of the Open Aire Ensemble (Marjorie Bollinger Hogan, flute and Molly Wood, pianist) which presents contemporary music with sweet moods and colors. Learn more at rebeccajeffreys.com.

Rebecca is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Elegie for flute quartet.

Aiven O'Leary received her Masters of Music in flute performance from Indiana University and her Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College.  Her principal teachers have included Wendy Mehne, Claudia Anderson and Kathryn Lukas.  After graduating from Indiana University, Ms. O'Leary freelanced in the Boston area while teaching privately in Beverly ,MA.  She has served on the faculties of both the Indian Hill School of Music and Gordon College.  Ms. O'Leary is currently the headjoint maker for the Wm. S. Haynes Flute Company.

Aiven is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Elegie for flute quartet.

Raised in Carlisle Massachusetts, Nicholas Rubenstein began playing the horn at the age of nine. In 2007, he received his Bachelor’s Degree from Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois, as a student of Gail Williams of the Chicago Symphony and William Barnewitz of the Milwaukee Symphony. Upon graduation, Nick moved to Florence, Italy to continue studies with the horn and pursue his life-long dream of becoming a chef. While in Florence, Nick won first in auditions for the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, the Italian national youth orchestra, under the batons of Jeffrey Tate, Riccardo Muti, Gabriele Ferro, and Nicola Paszkowski , and was a member of the touring wind quintet “Zeitmasse.” His principal studies in Florence were with Guido Corti, and Giampaolo Pretto. Nick returned to the States and took up his studies with Richard Sebring of the Boston Symphony and received his Masters’ degree in Horn performance from the New England Conservatory in 2011. He continued with his Graduate studies from NEC receiving a graduate diploma under the tutelage of Eli Epstein formerly of the Cleveland Symphony, and under the baton of Hugh Wolff. Nick is an active freelancer in Boston and New England and frequently performs in the Boston Philharmonic, The Discovery Ensemble, Symphony Nova, The Springfield Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic and as principal horn of Boston Chamber Orchestra and Video Game Orchestra, as well as many others. Nicks’ passion for cooking continues still. He has worked as a chef at high-end restaurants in Florence, New York, and Boston, and has performed in over 16 countries.

Nick is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Rhapsodie.

Patti Yee graduated with honors from the Hartt School of Music (West Hartford, CT) where she received Bachelors and Masters of Music degrees in performance and music education studying with prominent teachers Steven Maxym and Frank Morelli.  She is currently the principal bassoonist with the Lexington Symphony, where she was featured soloist, Lexington Chamber Players and the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra.  As a freelanced bassoonist she has performed with National Lyric Opera of New York touring orchestra, the Boston and Rhode Island Philharmonics, New Haven and Hartford Symphonies (CT), Emmanuel Music, Boston Virtuosi, Boston Bel Canto Opera, Orchestra of Indian Hill and many regional orchestras throughout New England.  An avid chamber musician, Patti has performed in and around the Boston area. She has performed live on WGBH Boston and will again in the spring of 2013 performing chamber music of Joseph Jongen.  She participated in the chamber music festival Le Festival International Du Domaine Forget, Quebec, Canada where she studied with Christopher Millard and in July 2010 where she studied with Giorgio Versiglia and performed at the Sebino International Music Festival, Pisogne, Italy.  Most recently, in 2011 Patti performed as a soloist with Musici Di Parma/Sebino Festival in Predore, Italy. She has been invited to be featured soloist performing the Mozart Bassoon Concerto in October 2012 with the Boston Chamber Orchestra.  A passionate educator for over twenty years she has served on the faculties of the University of Hartford/Hartt School of Music Preparatory Division, All Newton Music School, and Youth and Muse International Summer Festival, Boston Conservatory.  In addition to maintaining a busy performance schedule, Patti teaches bassoon for the Brockton and Walpole Public Schools.

Patricia is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Rhapsodie.

Photo by Tom Kates 

Canadianborn violist Rebecca Gitter has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra viola section since August 2001.  Prior to joining the orchestra, she received her bachelor of music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was a student of Robert Vernon.  An avid chamber musician, Ms. Gitter regularly performs in the BSO’s chamber music series, and has been a participant at the Marlboro Festival, Ravinia’s Steans Institute for Young Artists, the Taos School of Music, and the National Academy and National Youth Orchestras of Canada.

Rebecca is a performing artist on the "The Jongen Project" CD in Concert a Cinq.

Violinist Jason Horowitz joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 2006 Pops season. His many appearances in Boston's Jordan Hall have included solo recitals, concertos ranging from Bach to Scelsi and Schnittke, chamber music, and several world premieres, including the Violin Concerto of Donald Sur. Long involved with music of the Second Viennese School, he learned the violin concertos of Berg and Schoenberg from the legendary Louis Krasner. Mr. Horowitz received the New England Conservatory's highest performance honor, the Artist Diploma, in 1998; he joined the Munich Chamber Orchestra shortly thereafter, working privately with music director Christoph Poppen in Berlin and Munich. Mr. Horowitz has participated in the Tanglewood, Norfolk, and Banff festivals, and has performed chamber music across America, Europe, and Asia. Formerly assistant concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony, he has also been guest concertmaster for such orchestras as the BBC Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Hartford Symphony, and Rochester Symphony. Recent solo engagements have included the Mendelssohn concerto in the Czech Republic; the Menotti concerto with the Charleston Symphony; concertos by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Mozart and Berlioz's Réverie et Caprice with the Breckenridge Chamber Orchestra; the concertoDistant Light by Peteris Vasks with Boston Ballet to choreography by Peter Martins; a series of performances of Corelli violin sonatas also with Boston Ballet; and Barber's Violin Concerto with the Lexington Sinfonietta in spring of 2006.

Jason is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Concert a Cinq.

Blaise is a performing artist on "The Jongen Project" CD in Concert a Cinq. Please read his biography in the CD jacket insert.

"I began my love affair with Jongen's music about ten years ago at a flute convention after attending a concert which featured Jongen's, Concert a Cinq. I was so moved by the piece that I immediately bought the score and put it on my project list. A few years ago when my mother was gravely ill, I needed a distraction. I decided to start a project. I visited my list and remembered how deeply emotional and rich Jongen’s music is. I decided that Jongen would be a great choice. After performing Concert a Cinq several times I was moved to record it. That led to the discovery of several relatively unknown gems written by Jongen which include flute and other instruments. I found a niche and fell in love!

This has been an ambitious recording project. Because of the repertoire, the CD includes thirteen highly skilled musicians. The recording process has spanned over a year at the Fraser Performance Studio, WGBH, Boston, under the watchful ear of their recording engineer and producer, Antonio Oliart. Antonio is a musical genius and it has been an incredible experience working with him.

I hope that you enjoy "The Jongen Project". This music has touched my soul, and I hope that it also touches yours!"

                                                                                                                                 - Linda Bento-Rei

Now available!

The CD includes:

Concert a Cinq for flute, string trio and harp

Sonata for flute and piano

Rhapsodie for woodwind quintet and piano

Danse Lente for flute and piano

To purchase a CD online through Paypal please send $20 plus $5 shipping to steverei@gmail.com. Please email lmbrei@gmail.com with your shipping address.

To purchase a CD using a major credit card please email lmbrei@gmail.com.

To purchase a CD by sending a check or money order, please make check payable to The Worcester Symphony Orchestra and mail to P.O. Box 3354, Worcester, MA 01613. Please email lmbrei@gmail.com with shipping address.

To be released in 2014

Includes:

Spring Serenade for flute and piano by Peter Schickele

Chant de Linos for flute, string trio and harp by Andre Jolivet

Mladi for woodwind sextet by Leos Janacek

Sonata Latino by Mike Mower for flute, piano, rhythm section and Latin percussion.

Brooks Concert Hall

Nathaniel Farny plays with many Boston area groups, including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music. He is a member of the Alcyon Chamber Ensemble and is on the faculty of the Cambridge School of Weston and the Intensive Community Program of Boston. He has performed with the Boston Symphony as an extra player since 2010. During the summers he has served as a chamber music coach at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp and played in the orchestra of the Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University, where he studied with Steven Ansell. 

Nat is a performing artist on the "Spring Serenade" CD in Chant de Linos by Andre Jolivet which will be released in 2013/2014.

Michael Curry, cellist,is originally from New Jersey, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard and New England Conservatory.  His began piano lessons at the age of 4 and later attended Juilliard Pre-College.  His major cello teachers were David Finckel and Laurence Lesser; he studied chamber music with Louis Krasner, Gilbert Kalish, Joseph Silverstein, Leon Kirchner, and others. Awarded two fellowships to study at Tanglewood, he was principal of the orchestra under Ozawa and Rozhdestvensky, assistant principal under Bernstein, and won the Albert Spalding Prize for outstanding string playing. 

His professional career began at the age of 15 and has included engagements with the Boston Pops, Opera Company of Boston, Pepsico Summerfare, Harvard Chamber Orchestra, Cantata Singers, and Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and principal or continuo roles with the Boston Philharmonic, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Ballet, and Boston Classical Orchestra. Michael has made chamber music appearances at the Monadnock Music summer festival and at such venues as Weill and Alice Tully Halls, the United Nations, Dumbarton Oaks, and Chartres Cathedral.   He has also played approximately 2,000 performances as solo cellist at the Colonial Theater, Opera House, and several other theaters.

 He has been regular solo cellist with Emmanuel Music for over 25 years, playing in numerous productions including continuo in the Handel operas and Bach Christmas Oratorio, and appearing in their Brahms, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven chamber music series.  He has played over a hundred Bach Cantatas in Emmanuel’s cycle under founder Craig Smith and guest conductors Ozawa and Hogwood.  His performances at Emmanuel have been praised in the Boston Musical Intelligencer as “unfailingly sensitive,” with “rich tone” and “intense accuracy.”

 As a long-time member of Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble, he premiered dozens of new chamber works by such composers as Harbison, Shapey, Hartke, Druckman, Maxwell Davies, Weir, and Adès, and performed and lectured as a guest of Brown University, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Ijsbrekker in Amsterdam, and the Beijing Modern Music Festival.  He participated in the Pulitzer Prize winning premiere of Spratlan’s “Life is a Dream,” and is seen with the ensemble performing “Septet but Equal” in the documentary video “Babbitt: Portrait of a Serial Composer.”

 Michael has performed chamber and continuo repertoire with Mark Morris Dance Group in Boston and New York, and is credited in Acocella’s biography of the choreographer for the world premiere of his “Jesu, meine Freude.”  He participated in Peter Sellars’ staged production of Bach Cantatas (solo/continuo) with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Lincoln Center, in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and the Vienna and Lucerne Festivals, and is heard in the award-winning and best-selling Nonesuch audio recording of that production.  He has recorded for over a dozen other labels including New World, Naxos, Bridge, Koch International, and Blue Note.

 When he is not occupied with performing, Michael enjoys hiking, European travel, Asian food, and collecting recordings and rare books.

Michael is a performing artist in Chant de Linos by Andre Jolivet on the "Spring Serenade" CD which will be released in 2013/2014.

Antonio Oliart has been at WGBH since 1995. His training includes a Masters of Music degree in flute performance from The Mannes College of Music in New York City. He also holds a Masters Degree in Sound Recording from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He has produced CD's for labels such as Analekta Records, Warner in Japan, Centaur, Hungaroton and has worked for Philips, Erato, Teldec, Telarc, Koch International, Deutsche Grammophon and many other record companies as a recording engineer, editor and mastering engineer. Antonio has won several awards for his work at WGBH including three New England Emmy awards for outstanding individual achievement in audio.

Sunday, January 5, 2014 at 3 PM "The Jongen Project" at Brown Hall

New England Conservatory

30 Gainsborough Street

Boston, MA

Admission is FREE! CD Release Party following the concert!

Linda Bento-Rei, shown playing the flute in her Worcester home, just released her first CD, "The Jongen Project." (T&G STAFF/CHRISTINE PETERSON)

Friday, January 10, 2014
 

Worcester flutist's CD revives works of little-known composer

 

 

 

 

When Worcester flutist Linda Bento-Rei was at a flutist's convention in Washington, D.C., a few years ago, she wasn't particularly enthused with a suggestion that she attend a concert featuring Concert à Cinq by Belgian composer Joseph Jongen. 

For one thing, who was/is he? 

"A friend of mine dragged me to the concert," Bento-Rei recalled. "I wanted to go to another concert." 

She soon changed her tune. 

The performance of the work — for flute, string trio and harp — by Arpea Ensemble was "magical," she said. The music was a revelation. 

"It was incredible, it was so intense." 

There were about 200 flute players in the audience, who can be a tough crowd on such occasions, Bento-Rei noted. By the end of the performance, "There wasn't a dry eye." 

Bento-Rei wasn't familiar with the work of Jongen (1873-1953), a composer, organist and educator who, while well-regarded in his time, has slipped into obscurity. 

"Not at all," she said. 

She is much better versed now. Bento-Rei's first CD, "The Jongen Project," has just been released consisting of four of Jongen's chamber music compositions for flute and other instruments including Concert à Cinq. A CD release concert was performed Jan. 5 in Brown Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where Bento-Rei earned a master of music degree in flute performance. 

"Obviously, I'm having a love affair with his music," Bento-Rei said of Jongen. Being "dragged" to that concert "created a whole chain of serendipitous events. I would never have considered a recording project." 

Jongen's music has been termed as "civilized yet sensual." A description of Concert à Cinq once called the first movement "shot through with sunlight," the slow second movement "pensive," and the final movement evocative of a Spanish rhapsody. 

Bento-Rei had been so impressed she bought the score and "put it on my project list." 

There it sat for a while. However, when her mother became gravely ill with Alzheimer's disease (Margaret "Mary" Bento died in December 2010) Bento-Rei said she was looking for "a distraction." She looked at her project list and remembered how deeply emotional and rich Jongen's music had struck her. 

"It just seemed to be the perfect conduit to let go all the grief. The perfect music." 

Bento-Rei gathered an ensemble of accomplished musicians and put on several concerts of Concert à Cinq, including one at Clark University. 

Next, "I thought it was worthy of recording. There aren't many recordings of it," Bento-Rei said. She also began exploring other Jongen compositions and found the same elements were true — beautiful music rarely performed or recorded for posterity. These included Sonata, for flute and piano ("no one knows about it," Bento-Rei said); Rhapsodie, for piano and wind quintet ("a series of varied tempos and moods"); and Dense lente, for flute and piano ("a brief lyrical work, pensive and quietly sustained"). 

The four compositions make up "The Jongen Project" CD. Recording spanned over a year at the Fraser Performance Studio, WGBH, Boston, and involved 13 musicians. 

Bento-Rei grew up in Milford, where her discovery of the flute was rather like her introduction to Jongen — somewhat by chance. 

At school, "I did not sign up for band when everyone else did," she recalled. However, all of her friends did sign up, and Bento-Rei was missing their company. 

"So I went to the band director and said 'I need to catch up. Give me an instrument that's easy to play.' " 

The band director suggested the flute, which isn't easy to play. But the director's choice proved to be inspired, although Bento-Rei may not have thought so at first. As she began to practice, she said she thought "Oh my God, this is endless. It will take me 10 lifetimes to learn how to play." 

Bento-Rei also graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music, performs as a soloist and in chamber music and orchestral performances and teaches music. She and her husband, Stephen Rei, an attorney, lived several years in Hopedale before moving to Worcester, where their joint project has been restoring an early 20th-century home. 

At least one encyclopedia of classical music doesn't mention Jongen at all. Maybe "The Jongen Project" will remedy that and restore his reputation. 

But notwithstanding the emotional reaction to the Concert à Cinq concert, Jongen's music can be challenging, "difficult" even, Bento-Rei acknowledged, 

"Difficult, then if you take the time, it's addictive," she added. Besides which, "It's all so fresh," she said. "Jongen's music is relatively unknown, absolutely gorgeous, richly emotional, under-performed and hardly recorded. So the entire CD/program is completely fresh." 

At the Jan. 5 CD release concert, which was attended by more than 100 people, "The audience was so mesmerized," Bento-Rei said. 

"Now I'm putting the CD in the hands of lay people and getting their feedback…Obviously I'm not anticipating making a lot of money out of the project. But the idea of legacy is very important to me. And I'm getting feedback that people are liking it." 

For more information and to purchase "The Jongen Project" CD, visit www.lindabento-rei.com. 

Contact Richard Duckett at Richard.Duckett@telegram.com 

"Dear Linda, The Jongen recording is just beautiful. Your playing throughout the CD is just beautiful and a pleasure to listen to. I wish all CD’s were this inspiring." - Sir James Galway

in: reviews

JANUARY 7, 2014

Injustice Overturned for Jongen

by Geoffrey Wieting

It is a delicious feeling to be “in the know” when few others are. I had that feeling momentarily at “The Jongen Project” CD Release Concert at New England Conservatory’s Brown Hall Sunday afternoon. In her introductory remarks, oboist Andrea Bonsignore stated that in her 40 years as a professional musician she had never encountered the music of the once world-renowned Belgian composer Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) until this recording and concert were planned. I wanted to reply that most organists have played or at least heard his superb organ works (as an organist myself, I count him among my favorite composers to perform) though nearly all of us remain in the dark when it comes to his works in other genres.

The concert opened with Jongen’s Élégie, scored for a quartet of flutes, played by Linda Bento-Rei, Aiven O’Leary, Marjorie Hogan, and Katie Farrington. Within a comparatively narrow pitch range and using four instruments of the same timbre, the composer found an impressive array of textures and colors, helped, of course, by the imaginative playing of the quartet. It began with solo flute Bento-Rei spinning out a melody of longing memory over a pulsating accompaniment that later became an impressionistic undulating. Occasionally, phrase attacks were also a bit “impressionistic” as well; a bit of “conducting” by one of the quartet members would not have gone amiss here. Eventually, the texture was simplified into pairs of flutes alternating with each other. There were sighing figures and the kaleidoscopic harmonies that I associate with many of Jongen’s organ works. This gentle elegy made an unconventional but touching beginning to the concert.

Jongen’s Sonata for Flute and Piano of 1924 is a four-movement, half-hour masterwork that seems a good deal shorter. Bento-Rei and pianist Vytas Baksys, encountering a musical smorgasbord, shared it liberally. The first movement Prélude, opening with bracing octaves and chords in the piano, was by turns dramatic, rhapsodic, lyrical, and reflective. The Animé scherzo is largely an effervescent staccato showpiece (though not without a few sustained passages) that impressed and charmed. The third movement, Modéré, begins with a spare texture of two voices in the piano, much in the mode of Maurice Ravel’s late style dépouillé (stripped-down style), but when the flute enters, the harmony becomes more colorful. Especially striking was a piano interlude reminiscent of Claude Debussy’s piano prelude “The Engulfed Cathedral” which depicts a cathedral rising out of the ocean; here Bento-Rei added interjections evoking seabirds. The movement concludes with a moving return to the spare opening texture, this time including the flute. The final Gigue begins with yet another piano solo, Baksys setting the brilliant jig rhythm. Bento-Rei’s entrance, however, temporarily subverted this with a showy cadenza completely free of metrical constraints; soon enough, though, the flute joins the piano in the jig. Yet even in this breathless dance, the composer inserts some duple-meter passages of lyrical beauty. The artists made the most of these contrasts on the way to the brilliant ending; a final fragment of the jig subject provided an exclamation point. This sonata by rights should take its place in the standard flute repertoire alongside the works of Carl Reinecke, Gabriel Fauré, Francis Poulenc, and Serge Prokofiev.

The Rhapsodie (1922) for woodwind quintet and piano was the program’s pièce de résistance. Bento-Rei and Baksys were joined by oboist Andrea Bonsignore, clarinetist Catherine Hudgins, bassoonist Patricia Yee, and hornist Nick Rubenstein. The players’ sense of fantasy and adventure made this delicious. To cite one example, a kind of Moorish habanera early on, played initially by the upper winds and piano and then the whole ensemble created an exotic atmosphere, having both unanimity of ensemble and flexible rhythm. The only slight distraction was from a few brief dominations of the texture by the over-exuberant horn. Generally, though, the give-and-take was very satisfying. After its numerous opportunities—fully exploited by all the players—to display musical and technical skill, the work seemed to trail off drowsily to a peaceful ending until the ensemble surprised us with one last eruption of jubilation. Jongen’s Rhapsodie, performed at this high level, could hardly fail to find an audience among music-lovers of all stripes.

If I were arranging this program, the Rhapsodie would come last because all else would be anti-climactic. But the program finished as unconventionally as it began—with the Danse lente for flute and piano. Though composed in 1918 and characterized by a steady triple meter, “Slow Dance” didn’t feel like a dance or the elegy for war-torn Europe one might expect; rather, it had a touching, bittersweet nostalgia that the simple, direct playing of Bento-Rei and Baksys underlined. So we went out with a lovely whimper, not a bang, introduced to another elegant, contemplative flute work somewhat in the manner of Fauré’s Morceau de concours, if less sunny.

As Bonsignore noted at the outset, it is baffling that some outstanding composers can fall into virtual oblivion in just a few decades. However, for a performing musician the pleasure of holding a “secret” of this type is not to keep it but to share it with a wider public, to unearth “buried treasures.” I would guess this was the major motivation for the performers at this concert, and they took pains to prepare a beautiful performance. Let us hope that this concert as well as the new CD by these artists will begin to correct the injustice of Joseph Jongen’s neglect outside of the organ world.

Geoffrey Wieting holds Bachelor’s degrees in organ and Latin from Oberlin College and a Master’s degree in collaborative piano from New England Conservatory. He is a freelance organist, collaborative pianist and vocal coach. He sings with the Back Bay Chorale and serves on the Board of Directors of the Old West Organ Society.

Friday, April 25, 2014 at 7:30 PM - Duo concert with Vytas Baksys.

Program includes:

Sonata in G Minor, CPE Bach

Sonata Latino, Mike Mower

Sonata, Joseph Jongen

Spring Serenade, Peter Schickele

Danse Lente, Joseph Jongen

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