World Premiere of Benjamin Lees' Landscape - after Yves Tanguy for Solo Violin To Be Performed in Baltimore - April 12 Performance by Violinist Ellen Orner New York NY - Benjamin Lees' "Landscape - after Yves Tanguy" for solo violin will be given its World Premiere performance by violinist Ellen Orner on Tuesday, April 12 - 7:30 PM in Falvey Hall of the Maryland Institute College of Art's Brown Center, 1300 Mount Royal Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. This concept for this new piece, commissioned by and dedicated to Ellen Orner, grew out of the admiration Mr. Lees and the violinist share for Tanguy's French Surrealist paintings (http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_152.html). The work is 16 minutes in duration and was completed in 2004. This concert is free and open to the public. For reservations and more information, contact the Maryland Institute College of Art's Office of Events at 410-225-2516 or visit them online at http://www.mica.edu/. Russian-born violinist Ellen Orner has a special interest in new music. She has given numerous New York premieres, including Benjamin Lees's Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano. Her continuing interest in multidisciplinary performance has led to her to found, in 2003, Concert Lab, an experimental concert environment for presenting new music, with the participation of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Maryland Institute College of Art. Her commission of the Lees' "Landscape - after Yves Tanguy," is part of this collaboration. Benjamin Lees' Symphony No. 5, "Kalmar Nyckel" was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He was the first recipient of a Fromm Foundation award for his String Quartet No. 1 and Sonata for Two Pianos. His works have been commissioned, performed and recorded by, among others, the Tokyo Quartet, Aurora Quartet, Sea Cliff Chamber Players, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, NBC Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, National Symphony, Dallas Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, American Symphony, Delaware Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo and Portland (OR) Symphony. Mr. Lees' String Quartet No. 5 has just been voted one of 101 'Great American Ensemble Works' by Chamber Music America, from among 1,000 works nominated for this accolade. In 2004, the membership of Chamber Music America nominated American works for small ensembles that they believed to be "the most significant in the repertoire". An independent panel chose 101 of the most-nominated pieces that best represent the diversity of style and instrumentation that comprises CMA's membership, citing these as "Great American Ensemble Works". To see the entire list of works cited visit: http://www.chamber-music.org/programs/greatworkswinners.asp. He is published by Boosey & Hawkes. You can find much more information about Benjamin Lees at his website - http://www.benjaminlees.com/ or from Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-797-9166 - tel and fax. Jeffrey James Arts Consulting Tel/Fax: 516-797-9166 Website: http://www.jamesarts.com