Wa Sinfonietta: Weinberg & Klein – Charles Neidich, clarinet & conductor

• Charles Neidich, clarinet & conductor

Mieczysław Weinberg — Chamber Symphony No. 4, Op. 153 (U.S. premiere)
Mieczysław Weinberg — Clarinet Concerto, Op. 104 (U.S. premiere)
Gideon Klein — Divertimento for Wind Octet

Following the success of the inaugural concert on March 23rd, the WA Sinfonietta will give its second concert, once again led by eminent clarinetist Charles Neidich on Tuesday evening, May 13, 2025, 7:30pm Eastern at The DiMenna Center's Cary Hall.

Entitled "Weinberg & Klein," the concert will include two American premieres of works by Mieczysław Weinberg, a composer who has only recently been rediscovered. Mr. Neidich, who conducts the entire program, will also perform on the clarinet for the Weinberg Clarinet Concerto. The program concludes with Divertimento by the Czech composer Gideon Klein.

Reviewing the ensemble's debut concert on March 23, 2025, veteran music critic David Wright of New York Classical Review singled out the quality of the players: "highly accomplished musicians on the brink of professional careers, exhibited plenty of harmony, continuity and unity under Neidich's enthusiastic direction." Reviewing Mr. Neidich's performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, he wrote: "Having described the piece to the audience as 'more opera than concerto,' Neidich made good on his words with a long-breathed, deeply affecting Adagio any onstage heroine would be proud of. Orchestral strings echoed his sighing phrases, then warmly reprised the entire theme, whose hushed return later was an expressive high point. Soloist and orchestra made the most of the rondo finale's playful theme and picturesque episodes." (March 24, 2025)

About Wa Sinfonietta (NYC)

The Wa Sinfonietta is the newest project of the Artena Foundation, which was co-founded by conductor Charles Neidich and committed to fostering harmony, connection, and cultural exchange through the universal language of music and by presenting diverse musical genres and styles.

According to Mr. Neidich: "The Wa Sinfonietta is the first step in expanding our mission in the educational sphere where young musicians not only can hone their instrumental and ensemble skills as they begin their professional lives, but can deepen their understanding of music so they can become effective advocates for its power to foster cooperation and its essential importance in bringing people together from all walks of life in today's world." Mr. Neidich said, "Wa (和) is a very special word in Japanese: a circle or ring symbolizing harmony, completeness, the continuity of past, present, future, and the unity of all of humankind."

https://www.artenafoundation.org/wa-sinfonietta

About Charles Neidich, clarinet & conductor

Clarinetist and conductor Charles Neidich has gained worldwide recognition as one of the most mesmerizing virtuosos on his instrument. With a tone of hypnotic beauty and a dazzling technique, Mr. Neidich has received unanimous accolades from critics and fellow musicians both in the United States and abroad; but it is his musical intelligence in scores as diverse as Mozart and Elliott Carter that has earned for Mr. Neidich a unique place among clarinetists. In the words of The New Yorker, "He's an artist of uncommon merit — a master of his instrument and, beyond that, an interpreter who keeps listeners hanging on each phrase."

In their most recent collaboration on the WA Concert Series, Mr. Neidich and Mr. Shams performed Alban Berg's Vier Stücke, Op. 5 for clarinet and piano at the Tenri Cultural Center in fall of 2019. Rorianne Schrade of the New York Concert Review wrote: "The duo captured these remarkable miniatures with vivid expressiveness and cohesion. Mr. Neidich, as ever, was one with the music in ways that impress it indelibly upon 'the mind’s ear.'" (October 28, 2019)

An ardent exponent of new music and a composer himself, he has expanded the technical and expressive possibilities of the clarinet and has championed the works of many of the world's most important composers. He is a leading performer on period instruments and has restored and reconstructed original versions of works of composers from Mozart to Copland.

With a growing discography to his credit, Mr. Neidich can be heard on the Chandos, Sony Classical, Sony Vivarte, Deutsche Grammophon, Musicmasters, Pantheon, and Bridge labels, and most recently in the Mozart Basset clarinet Concerto on historical instruments for Bremen Radio Hall Recordings. He is publishing editions of major clarinet and wind chamber music for Lauren Keiser Music and Southern Music, has made instructional videos for Play with a Pro, and together with Ayako Oshima publishes a monthly column in the Japanese magazine, Pipers.

Under Mr. Neidich's direction, along with his wife, fellow clarinetist Ayako Oshima, the popular Wa Concert Series, held at Tenri Cultural Institute, brings lesser-known composers and works to the attention of the international music community, synthesizing Mr. Neidich's lifetime of musical knowledge, exploration, and thoughtful reflection. In recent seasons, Mr. Neidich has added conducting to his musical accomplishments. He has guest conducted throughout the country and continues to serve as conductor of the Queens College Chamber Orchestra with whom he has performed the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in historically informed interpretations.

In wide demand as a soloist, Mr. Neidich has collaborated with several of the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Halle Staatsorchester, Orpheus, the St. Louis Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, San Diego Symphony, New City Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, the Yomiuri and Tokyo Philharmonic, Hyogo PAC Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Juilliard, Guarneri, American, Mendelssohn, and Parker Quartets.

A native New Yorker of Belorussian and Greek descent, Charles Neidich studied with the famed pedagogue Leon Russianoff. He received a BA, cum laude, in anthropology from Yale University. In 1975 he was granted a Fulbright grant for study in the former Soviet Union, and he attended the Moscow Conservatory for three years studying with Boris Dikov and Kirill Vinogradov.

In 1985, Mr. Neidich became the first clarinetist to win the Walter W. Naumburg Competition, which brought him to prominence as a soloist. He then taught at the Eastman School of Music, and during that tenure, joined the renowned New York Woodwind Quintet, an ensemble with which he still performs. His European honors include top prizes at the 1982 Munich International ARD Competition, the Geneva, and the Paris Accanthes International Competitions. Mr. Neidich has achieved recognition as a teacher in addition to his activities as a performer, and is currently a member of the artist faculties of CUNY Graduate School, The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Mannes College of Music. He held the post of Associate Professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College for many years. In 2004, he was awarded the William Schuman Award for performance and scholarship at The Juilliard School. The Kitakaruizawa Music Seminar, now in its 13th season, was co-founded by Mr. Neidich and Ms. Oshima. In 2018 he was awarded a lifetime membership in honor of his artistic achievements by the International Clarinet Society and a medal for lifetime achievement from the National Society of Arts and Letters.

https://www.charlesneidich.net/