ELENI KATZ

BASSOON

NINA BERNAT

DOUBLE BASS

Natural Elements
featuring

Eleni Katz, bassoon

Nina Bernat, double bass

at
Quogue Wildlife Refuge 
3 Old Country Rd, Quogue, NY 11959, USA

Saturday, November 2nd, 2024, at 4:00 PM

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Presentation


Program
Duo for Double Bass and Bassoon by Albert Roussell
 Suite No. 6 BWV 1012 by J.S. Bach
I. Prelude
II. Allemande
Perhaps by Reena Esmail 
Sea Glass Partita for Singing Bassoonist by Lila Meretzky
I. Whole
II. Crescent Moon
III. Translucent Electric Blue
IV. Dawn on the Edges
V. Again
Sonata for Bassoon and Cello in B flat Major K. 292/196c by W.A Mozart
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegro
“Summertime” by  George Gershwin
Flower Duet from Lakme by Léo Delibes 

​
This concert is presented by
Rites of Spring Music Festival
in collaboration with
Quogue Wildlife Refuge

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Huntington Arts Council.  This concert was made possible with public funding provided by Suffolk County, ​sponsored by Legislator Al Krupski and with the support of the Suffolk County Legislature.

Eleni Katz, bassoonist 
​
An Iowa native, Eleni Katz has always loved the art of performance and is a passionate orchestral player, chamber musician and soloist. Currently, Eleni is a first-year bassoon fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and is a finalist in the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Ms. Katz is a substitute musician for several orchestras in Florida and the Midwest. She is currently on the Center for Musical Excellence’s Young Artist Roster and has performed in several chamber music ensembles throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In March, Eleni was a fellow at the Phoenix Chamber Music Festival and performed wind repertoire alongside David Shifrin, Valerie Coleman, and Gabriel Kovach. Throughout her journey as an orchestral musician, Eleni has recently worked under Michael Tilson Thomas, Stéphane Denève, Marin Alsop, Thomas Wilkins, Susanna Mälkki, Christian Reif, Gemma New, HK Gruber, Christoph Koncz, Edwin Outwater, Roderick Cox, Teddy Abrams, among several others. In her most recent performance as principal of Sibelius 2 under Susanna Mälkki, The South Florida Classical Review claimed that the “excellent bassoons were standouts among spot-on orchestral execution.” For the past two summers she has attended the Music Academy of the West and the Lake George Music festivals. This summer Eleni will attend the Spoleto Festival USA. Other festival appearances include: Orchestra of the Americas, National Repertory Orchestra, Chautauqua Institution, Brevard Music Center, IMANI Winds, Madeline Island and Norfolk chamber music festivals. Ms. Katz received her bachelor of music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was mentored by Marc Vallon. While an undergraduate at Wisconsin, she was a winner of the UW-Madison Symphony Concerto Competition. Ms. Katz subsequently continued her musical studies under the tutelage of Frank Morelli at the Yale School of Music, where she received her master of music and master of musical arts degrees. While at Yale, she was a winner in the Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition at the Yale School of Music, where she played the Weber Bassoon Concerto in F major Op. 75 under the baton of Peter Oundjian. She was also a semifinalist in the Meg Quigley Vivaldi competition in 2019, an international concerto competition for young women bassoon players. In 2020 Ms. Katz became the Co-Artistic Director of the Marea Duo, a vocal and double reed chamber ensemble, with her oboe colleague Amelia Merriman at the Yale School of Music. When Ms. Katz is not playing the bassoon or making reeds, she enjoys practicing yoga, cooking with friends and looking for sea glass on the beach.

Nina Bernat, double bass

24-year-old double bassist Nina Bernat, acclaimed for her interpretive maturity, expressive depth and technical clarity, emerges onto the world stage with awards and accolades, thrilling audiences everywhere. She was hailed by the Star Tribune as a “standout” for her recent concerto debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, praising her performance as “exhilarating, lovely and lyrical… technically precise and impressively emotive.” Nina is a recipient of the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the 2023 CAG Elmaleh Competition. 1st prizes include the Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition, the Juilliard Double Bass Competition, and the 2019 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. Engaged in all aspects of double bass performance, she has been invited to perform as guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic. Additionally, as a substitute musician, Nina has appeared with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and plays regularly in that capacity with the New York Philharmonic. ​ As a soloist, she has appeared in recital at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Nancy Frampton Rising Artists Series, and been featured in WQXR's Greene Space. She makes her Carnegie Hall debut in 2024 and Merkin Hall debut in 2025.  Nina is in demand as a passionate chamber musician. She begins her involvement with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as a member of the Bowers Program in 2024. Among her regional chamber performances are appearances with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Series, and Mostly Music. She spent two summers at the Marlboro Music Festival.  Nina has been appointed to the faculty of Stony Brook University, beginning her position there in the Fall of 2024.  ​Nina performs on a beautiful and sonorous early-18th century bass, handed down to her from her father. Attribution Guadagnini.