Exotic Travels through French Mélodie

Wednesday, December 6, 8:00 pm

Karim Sulayman, "a tenor who drips with romanticism" (Albany Times Union), and Kimball Gallagher, a pianist whose "dramatic and poetic piano playing rings deep and true" (David Dubal), present a recital of French mélodie. The recital begins with Chausson's Sérénade italienne, a work inviting the listener on a journey by sea. The following works tell of travels to the Middle East, China, Spain, and Greece and the return to France as represented in mélodie by Fauré, Gounod, Ravel, Roussel, Hahn and Poulenc, as well as in popular genres of French songs. Together these songs create emotional, physical, and temporal journeys shared by interpreter and audience alike.

Karim Sulayman

Karim Sulayman, tenor, is rapidly garnering the attention of audiences and critics for his fascinating portrayals and sensitive musicality. With a vast repertoire that spans baroque to contemporary music, he has been enjoying a busy calendar in opera and concert performances throughout the world. The Houston Chronicle lauded his recent performances of Acis in Acis and Galatea for their "clean, clear sound and earnest intensity." Other recent credits include Chicago Opera Theater, Aldeburgh Festival (UK) and Berkshire Opera. His 2006-2007 season includes a performance of Fauré's La Bonne Chanson at Walter Hall in Toronto, the International Bach Festival under Maestro Helmuth Rilling in Toronto, performances and a recording of Jake Heggie's Here and Gone, Bach's St. John Passion in Montreal under Bernard Labadie, and Castor et Pollux, under Yves Abel, with Opera Francais de New York. For more information visit www.karimsulayman.com.

Kimball Gallagher

Kimball Gallagher's "dramatic and poetic piano playing rings deep and true" in the words of David Dubal, author of The Art of the Piano. Praised by the New York Times for a performances at Tanglewood which "deftly balanced the influences of the Chinese folk song and Western modernity in Bright Sheng's 'My Song'" (August 18, 2004), Mr. Gallagher has received top prizes at the Corpus Christi International Piano Competition and at the San Antonio Tuesday Musical Club competition and was a finalist in the Washington International Competition. In 2001, Mr. Gallagher performed Bartok's 3rd Piano Concerto with the Shepherd School Symphony in Houston. In New York City, Mr. Gallagher has appeared in Alice Tully Hall, Paul Hall, and Morse Hall at the Juilliard School, as well as the Kosciusko Foundation and Faust Harrison Pianos. Gallagher has performed in Poland, Prague, and Lisbon, and has gone on an ethnomusicological expedition in Panama.

In addition to performing in conventional venues, Mr. Gallagher has played numerous concerts in private homes throughout the United States in emulation of the salons of the Romantic era, including trips to California, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. He is the founder of PIANOKEY, a grassroots classical music effort developing a nationwide organization of homes that will host home salon concerts. He recently purchased his first piano with the help of 54 donors by dividing its cost by 88 and asking for donations on a key-by-key basis. He recently founded and now co-directs the VIM: TRIBECA music series at the Gallerie Icosahedron in Tribeca.

Gallagher has a special interest in songs. He frequently collaborates with singers in Art Song recitals, recently participated in New Triad Foundation for the Collabrative Arts workshop and is a devoted song composer in popular and classical genres. Mr. Gallagher maintains a studio of private piano students in New York City and is the co-founder of Vista Music, an organization dedicated to expanding the awareness and appreciation of music as a performing art for young pianists through lessons, performances, and classes. Mr. Gallagher has studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Lev Natochenny, Joseph Smith, Robert McDonald, Jeanne Kierman Fischer, and Jonathan Bass. He is a graduate of Rice University and the Juilliard School, and resides in New York City.