ICAMus collaborates with organist-music director Lucia Baldacci, Fondazione Arte Sacra Contemporanea, & Estro Armonico Fiorentino on an all-American program: Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781-1861) alongside new works by contemporary composers Jerome N. Margolis and Douglas Hedwig. Art historian Giovanni Guidetti introduces the masterful modern architecture by Giovanni Michelucci; Lucia Baldacci provides a musicological introduction to the program. A brilliant project combining music- and art-appreciation! Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista-Chiesa dell’Autostrada, Campi Bisenzio-Florence, Friday, December 1st, 2023.

In the image above: Exterior of the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista-Chiesa dell’Autostrada (built 1960-1964), Campi Bisenzio-Florence, Italy, by architect Giovanni Michelucci (1891-1990). An extraordinary monument of modern architecture in Florence.

Below: Event Poster.

AMERICAN COMPOSERS FROM THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.

Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista-Chiesa dell’Autostrada, Campi Bisenzio-Florence, Friday, December 1st, 2023, at 8:45 PM; free admission.

PROGRAM:

ANTHONY PHILIP HEINRICH (1781-1861) - Elegy for the Organ (ca. 1850-51); Voluntary for the Organ (ca. 1850-51).

JEROME N. MARGOLIS (1941) - Alleluiah for Choir & Organ (from Unison Mass; 1973); Sectional Resonance for the Organ (2019; dedicated to Lucia Baldacci).

DOUGLAS HEDWIG (1951) - Hodie Canamus II for SABT Choir & Organ (2018/2023): I. Introit (Choir); II. Gladness and Delight (Maria Martelli, soloist); III. Psalmus in confessione (Choir & Maria Martelli, soloist) - World premiere.

MEMORIES FROM THE CONCERT. PHOTOS BY RICCARDO VENTURI.

THE COMPOSERS ON THE PROGRAM.

Among the contemporary American composers who are a part of the ICAMus community, JEROME N. MARGOLIS and DOUGLAS HEDWIG have been for years important associates and friends. Both composers have donated their music scores and recordings of their works to the ICAMus Archive and Special Collections.

Dr. Margolis is the composer of hundreds of works in almost every medium including orchestra, chamber ensemble, electronic, mixed media, piano, ballet, jazz, and music-theater. The Margolis Collection will be on display at the new American Music Center (Centro di Documentazione sulla Musica Americana) in Prato, Italy, from May 2024, accessible for study and research. His newly composed (September 2023) Paean for solo violin, “Dedicated to the opening of the new International Center for American Music, Prato, Italy,” will be premiered by the eminent violinist Alberto Bologni on May 18, 2024, as part of the Center’s inaugural event.

Discover more about this composer’s biography and catalogue of works HERE.

Jerome N. Margolis. Photo Courtesy of Ann Margolis.

Dr. Jerome N. Margolis wrote for Lucia Baldacci and ICAMus an extraordinary organ composition, Sectional Resonance for the Organ, that Lucia Baldacci premiered in October 2021 at the Organ of the Collegiata di Sant’Andrea, Empoli, Italy, as part of the research program Four American Originals for the Organ: Anthony Philip Heinrich, Charles E. Ives, John Cage, Jerome N. Margolis: A Project by Aloma Bardi for ICAMus-The International Center for American Music. View the recording HERE.

Dr. Hedwig is an American composer, trumpeter, conductor, and scholar, who recently (August 2023) donated to ICAMus his extensive personal archive of compositions, sketches, recordings, documenting his extraordinary musical career as a composer and performer. His Journey Al(l)one for solo violin,  “Dedicated to Aloma Bardi, Artistic Director, International Center for American Music, Prato, Italy,” will also be premiered by the distinguished violinist Alberto Bologni on May 18, 2024, at our new American Music Center in Palazzo Martini, Prato, Italy. Scores, manuscripts, recordings and documents by Douglas Hedwig will be on display at the Center.

Please visit DR. HEDWIG’S WEBSITE.

Douglas Hedwig. Photo credit: Neelu Eldurkar.

#anthonyphilipheinrich #JeromeMargolisComposer #DouglasHedwig