Harold Wright
Harold Wright (December 4, 1926 - August 11, 1993) was principal clarinetist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1970 to 1993.
Wright was born in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and began his clarinet studies at age twelve. He continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia as a student of Ralph McLane of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He became a member of the Houston Symphony after graduating and in the following year became principal clarinetist of the Dallas Symphony. He went on to become the Principal Clarinetist of the National Symphony in Washington D.C. and played there until joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 1970-71 season. For 7 seasons he was the Principal Clarinetist of the Casals Festival Orchestra. He performed, toured and recorded as a member of the Marlboro Festival with Rudolf Serkin and as a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players.
Harold Wright was a noted chamber musician and performed with all of the country's leading string quartets, including the Juilliard, Guarneri, Budapest and Vermeer Quartets. He was a regular guest artist with the Lincoln Center Chamber Players, the Mostly Mozart Festival and the chamber music concerts at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. A partial list of his recordings as a chamber musician include the Mozart, Brahms, Weber and Coleridge-Taylor Clarinet Quintets, Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock (with Benita Valente and Rudolf Serkin), Bruch Pieces for clarinet, viola and piano, Mozart Trio, Schumann Fairy Tales and Fantasy Pieces, Brahms Trio, Beethoven Septet and Octet, Dvořák Serenade, Schubert Octet, Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat, Mozart Serenades in Cm and Bb (Gran Partita). As a soloist, he recorded the Mozart Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa conducting. Wright taught at the Tanglewood Music Center, New England Conservatory and at Boston University.
Peter Serkin - Piano
Peter Serkin holds a singular place among today’s classical music artists, admired equally for his performance of established repertoire and as a consummate interpreter of contemporary music. His music-making demonstrates keen understanding of the masterworks of J.S. Bach as well as an exceptional grasp of diverse musical styles, ranging from Stravinsky to Messiaen, Tōru Takemitsu and Oliver Knussen. Mr. Serkin has performed with the world’s major symphony orchestras, led by such eminent conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Herbert Blomstedt, as well as Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. In chamber music, Serkin has collaborated with Alexander Schneider, Pamela Frank, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Budapest, Guarneri, Orion, Shanghai, and Dover String Quartets, among others. He was a founding member of the TASHI Quartet, with violinist Ida Kavafian, cellist Fred Sherry, and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Mr. Serkin's varied programs and projects during the 2019-20 season epitomize his preeminent career as both a soloist and chamber musician. As part of a Japanese tour, he joins Herbert Blomstedt and the NHK Symphony to perform the Reger Piano Concerto, for which he has long been a champion. He also embarks on a project to perform the complete Bach sonatas for violin and piano with longtime friend and collaborator, Pamela Frank. The U.S. highlights of their multi-city tour of marathon concerts include New York's 92Y, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center and Washington, DC's Kennedy Center. Later in the season, he joins the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall for a performance of Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3. He has recently completed a series of solo recordings for the Vivace label with music of J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach. An eloquent and persuasive advocate for the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, Peter Serkin has championed the work of Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Stefan Wolpe, Messiaen, and has given world premieres of works by Luciano Berio, Hans Werner Henze, Alexander Goehr, Leon Kirchner, Oliver Knussen, and Charles Wuorinen. He gave the world premiere performances of Lieberson’s three piano concertos, Takemitsu’s riverrun with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Wuorinen’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His extensive discography ranges from a recording featuring six Mozart piano concertos, awarded the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis and acclaimed by Stereo Review as Best Recording of the Year, to the complete keyboard works of Schoenberg. Peter Serkin’s musical legacy extends to his grandfather, the distinguished violinist Adolf Busch, who established the Busch Quartet, the Busch Chamber Players, and was a founder of the Marlboro School of Music. Busch was also a notable composer in most every genre