The Concert

In 1981, a group of young musicians in the Washington D.C.  area pledged to
give benefit concerts for 20 years, the proceeds of which were to be used
to end hunger.  The final concert in this remarkable series was given last
weekend Bethesda United Church of Christ in Bethesda, MD.  There were three
performers:  Karen Johnson, flute, Jody Gatwood, violin, and Brian Ganz,
piano.  I believe Mssrs.  Ganz and Gatwood were among the original group of
musicians who made the pledge; Ms.  Johnson may also have been, but in any
case I think she has been part of the series for over 15 years.

The concert started with "Deux Interludes", by Jacques Ibert, in which
all instruments were featured.  The second piece was the most interesting
work for me:  "Fratres", by Avro Part.  This work for violin and piano
prominently featured the bow making the most minimal contact with the
strings.  The sound produced was something this listener found
extraordinary:  a whispered, almost other-wordly caress that seemed to
hang in the air (fiddlers out there- what is the term for this technique?).
"Bali Moods No.  1 and 2", composed by Anne Boyd for flute and piano,
completed the first half of the program.  Ms.  Boyd, a native of Australia,
reportedly was most impressed by the music she heard on a visit to Bali,
and she sought to preserve something of this tradition within the context
of Western "classical" music.  She currently lives in Hong Kong, where she
has a prominent position within the musical community of that city.

After an intermission, Mr Ganz performed "Reflets dans l'Eau" from
Images Book 1 by Debussy.  Introducing the work, Mr Ganz noted that
Debussy claimed, "I do not believe in the supremacy of the C major scale",
a comment the writer views as problematic and subversive as claiming that
Eastern Standard Time is not the time displayed on God's wristwatch.  He
followed this with a highly sensitive performance of Chopin's "Ballade in
G Minor", which I recall he said was his personal favorite work by Chopin.
Ms.  Johnson joined the pianist for the final scheduled work on the
program, Poulenc's "Sonata for flute and piano", which they played with
impressive artistry.

The Performers

Karen Johnson has served as flute soloist of the Chamber Artists of
Washington and as principal flutist of the Washington Bach Consort, and
has performed with the Takacs String Quartet.  Her recent concert venues
have included performances with Mr Ganz at the National Gallery of Art; she
also has performed at the Holocaust Museum, the Icelandic Embassy and the
Kennedy Center.  She has commissioned and premiered new works by Sotireos
Vlahopoulos, William Albright, and Jeffry Mumford, and her CD, with Mr
Ganz, is due for release next spring.  She serves on the faculties of the
Washington Conservatory and the Levine School of Music.

Jody Gatwood has performed as a soloist with the Pittsburgh and Montreal
Symphonies, the Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, and the Juilliard Repertory
Orchestra, and has served as concertmaster of the National Chamber
Orchestra, where he gave the world premier of a double concerto by Joel
Hoffman.  Among his recordings are a collection of Tartini concertos (for
Musical Heritage Society) and recent recent recordings from Sony with the
Smithsonian Chamber Players.  Among his teachers were Ivan Galamian and
Joseph Gingold.  In competitions he won the Wieniawski Prize and garnered
fourth prize in the Montreal International Competition.  He haS received
the Teacher of the Year award from the music educators' society of Maryland
and currently serves on the faculty of the Rome School of Music of the
Catholic University of America.  Washington area audiences in particular
can be grateful that this fine musician has recovered sufficiently from a
rotator cuff injury to be able to return to the public stage (Mr.  Gatwood
canceled over two dozen performances in the past year as a result of this
injury).  Here is his web site:

   http://music.cua.edu/html/gatwood/gatwood.html

Brian Ganz won one of the two First Grand Prizes at the 1989 Marguerite
Long/Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition, and in 1991 he was
a silver medalist in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Internaitonal Piano
Competition.  He graduated from the Peabody Conservatory where he was a
student of Leon Fliesher.  Washington Post critic Mark Carrington wrote,
"There has never been any doubt that Brian Ganz is a good pianist, but
last night's recital at the ...  Terrace Theater offered strong evidence
that he is a great one." His recordings include works of Dutilleux and
Chopin on the Accord label in Paris.  He currently serves on the faculty
of St. Mary's College in Maryland and has recently been appointed to the
part-time faculty of the Catholic University of America.

The Series

Here are some of other musicians who have performed in the Concerts to
End Hunger over the past 20 years Enrique Graf, Haskell Small, Donna
Stoering, Kirsten Taylor, Gary Louie, Evelyn Elsing, Bonnie Hampton, Chris
Vadala, David Perry, Toshiko Kohno, James Pinkerton, Roberto Diaz, Donald
Sutherland, Elisabeth Adkins, Colette Valentine, Nathan Swartz, Lambert
Orkis, Betty Bullock, Michael Cullen, Carole Rankin, Charles Williams,
Kathy Altman, Libby Dunton, Jimmy Payne, Bill Danoff, Larry Edward Vote,
Jeffry Kunta, Jim Queen, David Huebler, Debby Wenner-Wiltrup, Amanda
Balestrieri, Side by Side, Sweet Adelines.

Ensembles have included the Machester String Quartet, Rosewood Trio,
National Symphony Brass Quintet, National String Quartet, Capitol Woodwind
Quintet, Jazz Ensemble, Guilford Ensemble, Sunrise String Quartet, The
Washington Camerata.

I think civilization owes a debt to these musicians who donated
their talents in an effort to combat hunger, particularly to those who
contributed their talents for so many years.  Karen Johnson suggested the
series may continue in some form, but I think it suffices that musicians of
the calibre of the performers last Sunday night maintained their commitment
to this remarkable musical and charitable marathon.  May their efforts not
go unnoticed.

Larry