The Centre Theater production of Chicago HS Edition is almost sold out. Seating is not at full capacity for this production, so tickets are limited to ensure spacing between bubbled groups. Although the state of PA has removed mask mandates – all audience members will be asked to mask up to ensure safety for cast members who have not all completed their vaccination cycle. Audience members are also asked to submit to a temperature check before entering the performance space. Families have purchased almost all of the tickets and only a handful remain to sell to the general public. To get tickets, email us at theartsbubble@gmail.com. Tell us how many seats you would like and what time you would like to come. The show runs July 8, 9 and 10 at 7 p.m., and July 10 at 2 p.m.
The Centre Theater Arts Bubble project is now accepting enrollment for the Jr. Professional Youth Production of Chicago High School Edition. For information on the production, reach out to theartsbubble@gmail.com. The show will go up July 8 through 10. Students aged 13 to 18 will rehearse virtually (to learn music and dance routines) through June 1. After June 1, rehearsals will move to the 4th Floor Theatre Space.
Auditions (one 16 to 32 bar song in the style of Chicago and the dance routine which will be provided to all who email the theatre) will be accepted from May 15 to 22, 2021 via digital upload at theartsbubble@gmail.com. The production is an enrollment based workshop. Fee for participation is $250, but scholarships and work study positions are also available.
To fill out an interest sheet and receive an audition form and information on the dance portion of the audition, please fill out this interest form.
The production is directed by Aileen Lynch-McCulloch, with music direction by Rachel Wilkin and Choreography by Autumn Phillips. Paige Byerly assistant directs. Lionel McCulloch is lighting designer.
Open Air Chamber Music Series Saturday and Sunday, May 30th and 31st, from 9:00AM-8:00PM
Rittenhouse Square | 210 W Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103
During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the decision has been made to continue the praised Open Air Chamber Music events during the months, June through August, in Philadelphia Center City in Rittenhouse Square, featuring professional musicians and artists. The artist of the month is the brilliant bassoonist, Dominic Panunto. Together, he will perform with the Director of Music and cellist, Steve Kramer, duo repertoire from the Renaissance and Classical periods. The unaccompanied cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach will be portrayed on Saturday, May 30th. On Sunday, May 31st, the duo will perform highest-class chamber music, 11:00-3:00PM.
Admission is free. Bring your masks and enjoy from a safe distance!
For more information, contact the Director of Music, Steve Kramer at 610-710-6100.
Artist Biography – Dominic Panunto
Dominic Panunto is a freelance bassoonist performing in the Greater Philadelphia area. A student of William Short at Temple University, Dominic performs with the University Symphony Orchestra. He recently became a member of the York Symphony Orchestra as their contrabassoonist. He has performed with Rutgers Symphony, Drexel Symphony, Penn Symphony, PhilOperaCo, Thomas Jefferson University Choir, Swarthmore Symphony and regional orchestras such as Reading Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Bay Atlantic Symphony, and Symphony in C. Dominic has played with touring groups in live shows including Lindsey Stirling, Celtic Thunder, and Evanescence. Dominic is also active in the field of contemporary music. He is a permanent member or Arcana New Music Ensemble and played in large-scale productions of works by Stockhausen and Davidovsky.
Artist Biography – Steve Kramer
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Steve Kramer started playing the violin at the age of three with his grandfather, Vladimir Yeshayavitch Novak. Picking up the cello at age five, Steve Kramer soon continued his studies with his first formal cello teacher, Erling Blondal Bengtsson, pupil of the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. It was with him that Steve Kramer perfected the unaccompanied suites by J. S. Bach. He made his debut at 12 years of age, playing as a soloist while touring with orchestras in Scandinavia. He further developed his musicianship under the supervision of five other giants of classical music: violinist Yehudi Menuhin and pianist and composer Peter Norris, with whom Steve Kramer studied chamber music at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London; cellist Karine Georgian at the Hochschule fur Musik-Detmold in Germany; and private lessons with cellist Boris Pergamentshikov in Berlin, Germany, and cellist Alexander Sinelnikov in Jerusalem, Israel. Steve Kramer has collaborated with composers from all over the world. Steve Kramer performs contemporary music by composers Jennifer Higdon, David Finko, Ben Steinberg, Daniel Dorff, Sidney Grolnic, Eleonor Sigal, Andrea Clearfield, Cynthia Folio, Nimrod Borenstein, Eugene Magalif, Michael Shingo Crawford, and Victor Frost as well as compositions by Scandinavian composers and composers who lost their lives in World Wars I & II
First Sunday | Thursday, May 21st, 2020 from 9:00AM-8:00PM
Additional performances on May 24th through May 27th.
Rittenhouse Square | 210 W Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision has been made to move the First Sunday events during the months, April-July to Philadelphia Center City in Rittenhouse Square, featuring professional musicians and artists including featured artist of the month, violinist Zhanara Makhmutova and cellist, Steve Kramer, Director of Music.
Admission is free. Bring your masks and enjoy from a safe distance!
For more information, contact the Director of Music, Steve Kramer at 610-710-6100.
The performance will include masterworks from Renaissance to contemporary, including arranged works by Michael Shingo Crawford.
Artist Biography – Zhanara Makhmutova
The Kazakh violinist, Zhanara Makhmutova, was born in 1997 in Kazakhstan. At the age of 7 she began violin studies at the Kazakh National University of Arts. Aged 8, she was invited to play solo with the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra “Academy of soloists”. In 2017 graduated from college in the class of Raissa Mussakhadjayeva. Took master-classes from V.Tretyakov, S.Kravchenko, E.Grach. As a soloist of “Capricci” violinists ensemble, she performed in USA, France, England, Germany, India, Jordan, Italy and other countries. At the present time, she is a student of Temple University (USA) in the class of Professor Dr. Eduard Schmieder.
Artist Biography: Michael Shingo Crawford
Michael Shingo Crawford is a Philadelphia-based composer and violinist who explores narrative and extramusical ideas through sound. His work is inspired by literature, visual art, dance, and his Japanese heritage.
Michael holds a Master’s in Music Composition from Temple University, where he studied with Emiliano Pardo-Tristan, Jan Krzywicki, and Adam Vidiksis. Within these two years, he received twenty-four premieres of his works, presented by performers including the PRISM Quartet, Sound Energy Trio, and Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians. His opera scene, Maximum Capacity, produced in collaboration with writer Traci Williams, was performed by ENAensemble as part of their Serial Opera Project and received repeat performances as part of the Fringe Festival in Philadelphia. His interest in collaborations has also led him to work with choreographers in projects that brought together live musicians and dancers. He has been commissioned by the Network for New Music and OWLchestra.
The Centre Theater’s Director of Music, Steve Kramer, will be performing a recital of the unaccompanied suites by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Admission is free, and donations are appreciated. For more information, contact the Director of Music, Steve Kramer at 610-710-6100.
Artist Biography – Steve Kramer
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Steve Kramer started playing the violin at the age of three with his grandfather, Vladimir Yeshayavitch Novak. Picking up the cello at age five, Steve Kramer soon continued his studies with his first formal cello teacher, Erling Blondal Bengtsson, pupil of the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. It was with him that Steve Kramer perfected the unaccompanied suites by J. S. Bach. He made his debut at 12 years of age, playing as a soloist while touring with orchestras in Scandinavia. He further developed his musicianship under the supervision of five other giants of classical music: violinist Yehudi Menuhin and pianist and composer Peter Norris, with whom Steve Kramer studied chamber music at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London; cellist Karine Georgian at the Hochschule fur Musik-Detmold in Germany; and private lessons with cellist Boris Pergamentshikov in Berlin, Germany, and cellist Alexander Sinelnikov in Jerusalem, Israel.
While we have experienced an interruption with the corona virus, and several performances have been cancelled, we are confident we will have an incredibly successful year. Mark you calendars to come out to one of our shows!
In celebration of Black History Month, Independence String Ensemble performs a First Sunday concert featuring works by African American composers who have shaped the course of music in the United States and around the world. The Centre Theater’s Director of Music, Steve Kramer is joined on stage by composer, violinist, and pianist, Michael Shingo Crawford. Listeners will be delighted by ragtime works by Scott Joplin, in their original form played by Michael Shingo Crawford on the piano, as well as a version arranged for the violin and cello duo. The program also showcases Michael’s riveting arrangement of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal.
Admission is free, and donations are appreciated. For more information, contact Steve Kramer at 610-710-6100 or visit the ensemble’s website at www.independencestringensemble.com.
Please note that this concert begins at 5:00PM—a change from the usual First Sunday schedule.
Artist Biography: Michael Shingo Crawford
Michael Shingo Crawford is a Philadelphia-based composer and violinist who explores narrative and extramusical ideas through sound. His work is inspired by literature, visual art, dance, and his Japanese heritage.
Michael holds a Master’s in Music Composition from Temple University, where he studied with Emiliano Pardo-Tristan, Jan Krzywicki, and Adam Vidiksis. Within these two years, he received twenty-four premieres of his works, presented by performers including the PRISM Quartet, Sound Energy Trio, and Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians. His opera scene, Maximum Capacity, produced in collaboration with writer Traci Williams, was performed by ENAensemble as part of their Serial Opera Project and received repeat performances as part of the Fringe Festival in Philadelphia. His interest in collaborations has also led him to work with choreographers in projects that brought together live musicians and dancers. He has been commissioned by the Network for New Music and OWLchestra.
Michael is active as a violinist and performs with cellist, Steve Kramer, as part of the Independence String Ensemble. The ensemble performs in both classical and popular styles, bringing a unique array of arrangements and original compositions to their audiences, reaching their home in Philadelphia as well as the neighboring cities of New York, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. Michael also performs regularly with ENAensemble, a multimedia chamber opera company. Recent engagements include a recital of Baroque and Classical works presented at the historic Laurel Hill Mansion’s Concerts by Candlelight series with internationally recognized pianist, Lance Wiseman, as well as a performance in Yerevan, Armenia as a member of the 2019 World Congress for Information Technology Orchestra. For both 2018 and 2019, he was concertmaster of Temple Composers Orchestra, a chamber orchestra dedicated to performing Temple student compositions. While studying at Emory University, he served as concertmaster of the Emory University Symphony Orchestra and was the winner of the 2015-2016 Concerto and Aria Competition with his performance of the Barber Violin Concerto. Over the summers, he has attended the Dalí Quartet International Music Festival, Fresh Inc Festival, Eastern Music Festival, National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, and Franklin Pond Chamber Music College Festival. He currently teaches private violin and piano lessons at Music & Arts Lawrence Park.
During his undergraduate studies at Emory University, he studied composition with Richard Prior and John Anthony Lennon and violin with Shawn Pagliarini. He presented an honors composition recital in his senior year, where his music was performed by the Vega String Quartet, Elena Cholakova, and Emory’s student and alumni musicians. He was a recipient of the Louis B. Sudler Prize in the Arts, a prestigious award presented to the graduating senior who demonstrated the highest proficiency in one or more of the performing or creative arts at Emory.
The Centre Theater’s Director of Music, Steve Kramer, welcomes three exceptional musicians, all three with whom he will collaborate with on stage artistically. Bassoonist, Dominic Panunto, pianist Nam Hoang Nguyen, and composer and violinist Michael Shingo Crawford perform on the First Sunday of February. Dominic and Nam will perform Michael Shingo Crawford’s Bicycle for bassoon and piano.
Admission is free, and donations are appreciated. For more information, contact the Director of Music, Steve Kramer at 610-710-6100.
Artist Biography – Dominic Panunto
Dominic Panunto is a freelance bassoonist performing in the Greater Philadelphia area. A student of William Short at Temple University, Dominic performs with the University Symphony Orchestra. He recently became a member of the York Symphony Orchestra as their contrabassoonist. He has performed with Rutgers Symphony, Drexel Symphony, Penn Symphony, PhilOperaCo, Thomas Jefferson University Choir, Swarthmore Symphony and regional orchestras such as Reading Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Bay Atlantic Symphony, and Symphony in C. Dominic has played with touring groups in live shows including Lindsey Stirling, Celtic Thunder, and Evanescence. Dominic is also active in the field of contemporary music. He is a permanent member or Arcana New Music Ensemble and played in large-scale productions of works by Stockhausen and Davidovsky.
Artist Biography – Nam Hoang Nguyen
Born in Hanoi, Vietnam, Nam Hoang Nguyen studied piano at Vietnam Academy of Music before matriculating at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance where he is presently a doctoral student in Piano Performance. His principal teachers have included Ha Thu Tran, Harvey Wedeen, and Ching-Yun Hu; he also studied collaborative piano with Lambert Orkis. Besides playing traditional piano repertoire, Nguyen enjoys playing chamber music, participating in different ensembles of various sizes, as well as studying early keyboard music. He also has interest in music research, and has lectured on Vietnamese music for piano.
Artist Biography – Michael Shingo Crawford
Michael Shingo Crawford is a composer and violinist interested in exploring narrative through his concert music, creating representational works that correspond to concepts and concrete events and objects. This often involves working with musical processes that generate material and symbolic structures. His work is inspired and informed by literature, visual art, dance, and his Japanese heritage.
Under Construction, performed by PRISM Quartet, explores the concept of a work in progress, using additive processes that generate harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic material. In a similar vein, teru teru bouzu, written for Fresh Inc. Music Festival, is a colorful reimagining of a Japanese children’s song that incorporates quotations and effects that contribute to its symbology.
Michael is pursuing a Master’s in Music Composition at Temple University. His works have been performed by the New Music Ensemble, Sound Energy Trio and Temple Composers Orchestra. He was also selected as a finalist in the Costello Competition for Harp Composition and received a commission from OWLchestra. During this time, he studied with Emiliano Pardo-Tristan, Jan Krzywicki, and Adam Vidiksis.
During his undergraduate studies at Emory University, he studied composition with Richard Prior and John Anthony Lennon and violin with Shawn Pagliarini. He presented an honors composition recital in his senior year, where his music was performed by the Vega String Quartet, Elena Cholakova, and Emory’s student and alumni musicians. He was a recipient of the Louis B. Sudler Prize in the Arts, a prestigious award presented to the graduating senior who demonstrated the highest proficiency in one or more of the performing or creative arts at Emory.
As a violinist, he served as concertmaster of the Emory University Symphony Orchestra and was the winner of the 2015-2016 Concerto and Aria Competition with his performance of the Barber Violin Concerto. Over the summers, he attended Franklin Pond Chamber Music College Festival, National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, and Eastern Music Festival, where he was assistant concertmaster.
Photo with Jennifer Higdon and Steve Kramer from the Independence String Ensemble Fundraiser Concert for CHOP at the Philadelphia Ethical Society. (December 15, 2019)
Rescheduled to Saturday December 21, 2019 at 3:00PM
208 DeKalb St, Norristown, PA 19401
The Independence String Ensemble will present an annual glamorous and glittery Christmas show at the Centre Theater in Norristown. The program will be packed with the classic Christmas tunes as well as compositions by contemporary composers, such as Michael Shingo Crawford—a returning artist on the First Sunday Concert Series. His Paprika Dreams for violin and cello is featured on this concert. The performance also brings to the stage a piece by Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Jennifer Higdon. Her Nocturne, will be performed by Steve Kramer on cello and Michael Shingo Crawford at the piano. Fasten your seatbelts!
Admission is free, and donations are appreciated. For more information, contact the Director of Music, Steve Kramer at 610-710-6100.
Artist Biography – Independence String Ensemble
Established by cellist Steve Kramer and composer and violinist Michael Shingo Crawford, the Independence String Ensemble is a newly founded group which presents the highest-class performances, educational outreach, and master classes. The core ensemble, consisting of award-winning internationally acclaimed artists based in the United States, generates a string quartet and its subsets, which perform all styles and genres from the early renaissance to contemporary. The musicians collaborate with a wide range of artists, including pianists and wind players, who are accredited from the nation’s finest institutions.
Independence String Ensemble’s performance experiences have reached prestigious clients and the world-renowned concert halls, among them, Radio City Music Hall, Kimmel Center, MGM Grand, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Art Museum, Franklin Institute, Novo Nordisk A/S, Datwyler, and Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board.
Artist Biography – Jennifer Higdon
Pulitzer Prize and two-time Grammy-winner Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) taught herself to play flute at the age of 15 and began formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21. Despite these obstacles, Jennifer has become a major figure in contemporary Classical music. Her works represent a wide range of genres, from orchestral to chamber, to wind ensemble, as well as vocal, choral and opera. Her music has been hailed by Fanfare Magazine as having “the distinction of being at once complex, sophisticated but readily accessible emotionally”, with the Times of London citing it as “…traditionally rooted, yet imbued with integrity and freshness.” The League of American Orchestras reports that she is one of America’s most frequently performed composers.
Higdon’s list of commissioners is extensive and includes The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Minnesota Orchestra, The Pittsburgh Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well such groups as the Tokyo String Quartet, the Lark Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, and the President’s Own Marine Band. She has also written works for such artists as baritone Thomas Hampson, pianists Yuja Wang and Gary Graffman, violinists Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Jennifer Koh and Hilary Hahn. Her first opera, Cold Mountain, won the prestigious International Opera Award for Best World Premiere in 2016; the first American opera to do so in the award’s history. Performances of Cold Mountain sold out its premiere run in Santa Fe, North Carolina, and Philadelphia (becoming the third highest selling opera in Opera Philadelphia’s history).
Upcoming commissions include a chamber opera for Opera Philadelphia, a string quartet for the Apollo Chamber Players, a double percussion concerto for the Houston Symphony, an orchestral suite for the Made In America project, and a flute concerto for the National Flute Associations’ 50th anniversary.
Higdon received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, with the committee citing the work as “a deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” She has also received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Koussevitzky Foundation, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, The Independence Foundation, the NEA, and ASCAP. As winner of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition’s American Composers Invitational, Higdon’s Secret & Glass Gardens was performed by the semi-finalists during the competition.
Higdon has been a featured composer at many festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, Vail, Norfolk, Grand Teton, and Cabrillo. She has served as Composer-in-Residence with several orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Fort Worth Symphony. She was honored to serve as the Creative Director of the Boundless Series for the Cincinnati Symphony’s 2012-13 season. During the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years Higdon served as the prestigious Barr Laureate Scholar at the University of Missouri Kansas City.
Most recently, Higdon received the prestigious Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University which is awarded to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition. Beginning in 2018, Higdon will complete two residences at the Bienen School of Music as the Nemmers Prize recipient. Also in the 2018-19 season, Higdon will be in residence at University of Texas, Austin, as part of the Eddie Medora King Award.
Higdon enjoys more than 200 performances a year of her works. Her orchestral work, blue cathedral, is one of the most performed contemporary orchestral works in the repertoire, more than 600 performances since its premiere in 2000.
Her works have been recorded on over 60 CDs. Higdon has twice won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition: first for her Percussion Concerto in 2010 and in 2018 for her Viola Concerto.
Dr. Higdon received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Bowling Green State University, an Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Hartt School and Bowling Green State University.
Dr. Higdon currently holds the Rock Chair in Composition at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her music is published exclusively by Lawdon Press.
Artist Biography – Michael Shingo Crawford
Michael Shingo Crawford is a Philadelphia-based composer and violinist interested in exploring narrative through his music, creating representational works that correspond to concepts and concrete events and objects. This often involves working with musical processes that generate material and symbolic structures. His work is inspired and informed by literature, visual art, dance, and his Japanese heritage.
Michael holds a Master’s in Music Composition from Temple University, where he studied with Emiliano Pardo-Tristan, Jan Krzywicki, and Adam Vidiksis. Within these two years, he received twenty-four premieres of his works, presented by performers including the PRISM Quartet, Sound Energy Trio, and Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians. His opera scene, Maximum Capacity, produced in collaboration with writer Traci Williams, was performed by ENAensemble as part of their Serial Opera Project in April 2019. His interest in collaborations has also brought him to work with choreographers in projects that brought together live musicians and dancers. In 2018, OWLchestra performed First Snowfall, his commissioned piece for string orchestra and piano. He was also selected as a finalist in the 2017 Costello Competition for Harp Composition.
As an active violinist, Michael performs regularly with ENAensemble in addition to freelancing. For both 2018 and 2019, he was concertmaster of Temple Composers Orchestra, a chamber orchestra dedicated to performing Temple student compositions. While at Emory, he served as concertmaster of the Emory University Symphony Orchestra and was the winner of the 2015-2016 Concerto and Aria Competition with his performance of the Barber Violin Concerto. He is also an arranger and performer of soundtracks. Over the summers, he has attended the Dalí Quartet International Music Festival, Philadelphia International Music Festival, Fresh Inc Festival, Eastern Music Festival, National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, and Franklin Pond Chamber Music College Festival. He currently teaches private violin lessons at Music & Arts Lawrence Park.
During his undergraduate studies at Emory University, he studied composition with Richard Prior and John Anthony Lennon and violin with Shawn Pagliarini. He presented an honors composition recital in his senior year, where his music was performed by the Vega String Quartet, Elena Cholakova, and Emory’s student and alumni musicians. He was a recipient of the Louis B. Sudler Prize in the Arts, a prestigious award presented to the graduating senior who demonstrated the highest proficiency in one or more of the performing or creative arts at Emory.
Michael has wide-ranging interests beyond music. As a freelance photographer, he specializes in portrait sessions and headshots for musicians and has also worked with weddings, events, and product photography. He is equally at home in graphic design and publicity work, and has extensive experience organizing and promoting musical events.
