ROS presents “Twelfth Night”
Friday, February 28, 2020 | 7:30 PM
Hochstein Performance Hall
50 Plymouth Ave N
Rochester, NY 14614 (map)
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.Some notes on “Twelfth Night” from composer Frank James Staneck: If music be the food of love, play on; That is the opening line of Shakespeare’s play. As I read that line a wonderful melody just came to me, I found myself singing it straight away. Then I thought maybe I could make some sort of choral or vocal work out of this play. As I flipped through the text I found many famous passages like, “O Mistress Mine” and “Come Away Death”, that had been set to music by many composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams for whom I have the highest regard and admiration. The play also includes some famous quotes like “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” After I had the opening tune: “If music be the food of love, play on;” I decided to look at “O Mistress Mine”. That melody came to me very quickly and it seemed to just write itself. Although I wasn’t sure if I would be able to compose one complete work from the texts I was very much inspired to do so as I felt the words were singing to me and I must do something with these gifts. The Cantata has some dark and intense moments, but it begins and ends exuberantly and is full of beautiful and memorable melodies inspired by Shakespeare’s timeless words. Twelfth Night will be presented by Soprano and Tenor soloists, and Chorus, accompanied by a Chamber Orchestra of Strings, Piano, Harp, and Timpani. All under the direction of Maestro Eric Townell. I am delighted and exited to have the World Première of Twelfth Night by The Rochester Oratorio Society.
Frank James Staneck
(b.1958)
Composer, Pianist, Teacher
Mr. Staneck is a graduate of West Chester and Temple Universities and teaches at Rutgers-Camden, Perkins Center for the Arts, and The New Jersey School of Music. His compositions have been performed extensively in the Philadelphia area as well as in England, Beijing, and Vancouver, B.C. Mr. Staneck has a BA in Music from West Chester University (1980) and a Masters Degree in Music Composition from Temple University (1985) where he studied with Clifford Taylor and Maurice Wright. His compositions have been performed by The Wister Quartet (Philadelphia Orchestra members), The Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, The Greater South Jersey Chorus, Choral Arts of Southern New Jersey, The Independence Sinfonia, The West Jersey Chamber Music Society, The Rochester Oratorio Society, The North Shore Chamber Orchestra of Vancouver B.C. and the Orchestra of the Swan in England to name a few. He has written many choral and vocal works, orchestral and string works, piano pieces and chamber works for piano and other instruments, including many for flute and piano. His music has been aired on Temple University Radio WRTI 90.1 FM, WHYY 91 FM in Philadelphia, and has been frequently featured on “Classical Discoveries” with Marvin Rosen on WPRB 103.3 FM Princeton. His String piece “A Suite for Ursula”, written for Ursula Vaughan Williams, was featured at Artistic Director Tasmin Little’s Spring Sounds International Music Festival 2009 in Stratford-upon-Avon in England where David Curtis conducted The Orchestra of the Swan in the UK premiere. The Birmingham Post called his music “sonorous and attractive”. Maestro David Curtis took “A Suite for Ursula” to Beijing and conducted it there along with a new piece “Prelude for Strings” at the American International Schools Festival. Mr. Staneck has been teaching piano, theory and composition at several schools and conservatories for over thirty years. He is currently at Rutgers-Camden, Perkins Center for the Arts, and New Jersey School of Music. He has written over 100 piano pieces, many for his students, as well as many chamber works for his colleagues and friends. He is an MTNA member and is also the USA Chairman of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society. As a pianist and keyboardist Mr. Staneck has performed a variety of music; classical, jazz and electronic, at venues as diverse as Lincoln Center and Universities to Hotels and Churches as a soloist and in ensembles. He frequently performs and presents his compositions at Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown and Collingswood New Jersey. This World Première performance of selections from “Twelfth Night” is the second work of Mr. Staneck’s to be presented by Rochester Oratorio Society. His “Learn to Love said Nature”, a choral setting of a poem by Ursula Vaughan Williams, was performed in March of 2017.
