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performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry ofthe 

West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

For the convenience of concertgoers, 

the Garden Cafe remains open for light refreshments

until 6:00 pm on Sundays.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

to the National Gallery ofArt through The Circle. Reserved seating is

available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development 

office at (202) 842-6450 or circk@nga.gov for more information.

The Seventy-second Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,969th Concert

National Gallery ofArt Piano Trio

Luke Wedge, violin

Benjamin R. Wensel, cello

Danielle Hahn, piano

December 1, 2013

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Scott Robinson 

Great Is the Miracle

Ma’oz Tsur and S’vivon

A1 Hanisim

Mi Ze Hidlik

Ozi and Oy Chanukaj

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)

Three Nocturnes

Andante

Andante quieto 

Tempestoso

Joachim Stutschewsky (1891-1982)

Klezmer Wedding Music

INTERMISSION

Solomon Rosowsky (1878-1962)

Fantastisher Tants, op. 6

Allen Menton

Avi Hidlik (A Hanukkah Fantasyfor Piano Trio)

Jacob Weinberg (1879-1956)

Trio on Hebrew Themes

Elegy

Scherzo

Tema con variazioni

The Musicians

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART PIANO TRIO

Formed as a resident ensemble in 2008 by National Gallery ofArt music 

department head Stephen Ackert, the National Gallery ofArt Piano Trio has 

since played in numerous Gallery Sunday concerts as well as other venues,

where it appears as the West Garden Trio. In 2009 the Trio performed a

special program at the residence ofthe Belgian Ambassador; in 2010 it played

a complete program ofmusic by early twentieth-century American composers 

in honor ofthe exhibition American Modernism: The Shein Collection; and it

has regularly contributed piano trios by Mozart to the annual concert in

memory of Milton M. Gottesman, which by tradition consists ofmusic by

Mozart and J. S. Bach.

DANIELLE HAHN

Bmssels-bom pianist Danielle Hahn is an active freelance collaborative

pianist. A principal pianist with Inscape Chamber Music Project, she has 

performed in concert and recorded with the contemporary ensemble New

Music Raleigh. Hahn regularly performs in chamber music and voice recitals,

partnering with members ofthe National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy

Center Opera Orchestra, and vocal soloists.

In addition to numerous appearances at the National Gallery, Hahn has 

performed at prestigious venues throughout Washington, DC. A principal 

pianist with Inscape Chamber Music Project, she has performed in concert 

and recorded with the contemporary ensemble New Music Raleigh. Hahn

holds a master ofmusic degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,

and a bachelor ofmusic degree from the University ofCalifornia, Santa

Barbara. Formerly an apprentice coach with the Washington Opera under

Placido Domingo, since 2006 she has held the position ofmusic program

specialist at the National Gallery ofArt, where she assists in programming

and coordinating the concerts and musical programs. In addition to her

work with the nga Piano Trio, she performs with the nga Chamber Players.

3
LUKE WEDGE

Originally from Kansas, violinist Luke Wedge is an active chamber musician

who is frequently invited to serve as concertmaster of orchestras in the

Washington, DC area. A participant in the prestigious Juilliard Quartet

seminar, he has given master classes at the Eastern Music Festival and at

Gettysburg College. An experienced orchestral musician, he has performed

with the Chicago Philharmonic, National Symphony, and Ravinia Festival

orchestras. Since 2003 he has been a member ofthe United States Air Force

Strings, with which he has given performances at the State Department,

the Vice President’s residence, and the White House. Outside Washington, 

he has played for the Grand Ole Opry and has been featured on several

nationally televised programs and various recordings. Having begun violin

studies at age five, he holds degrees from the University of Kansas and 

Northwestern University.

BENJAMIN R. WENSEL

A native ofWestern New York, Benjamin Wensel earned degrees from the 

Cleveland Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music. Equally

important to his musical education were performances in seminars and 

master classes for members ofthe Cleveland, Guarneri, Juilliard, Miami

and Ying quartets; chamber music studies with Peter Salaff and members

ofthe Audubon and Cavani Quartets; and solo master classes with Clemens 

Michael Hagen, Steven Isserlis, David Soyer, and Michel Strauss.

A member ofThe United States Army Orchestra Strolling Strings and 

String Quartet since 2003, Wensel regularly appears with many ofthe local

ensembles in the National Capital region. Dedicated to the creation and

promotion of new music, he has performed the world premieres ofmore

than twenty works written by established and emerging American composers. In addition to his work with the National Gallery ofArt Piano Trio,

Wensel is a founding member ofthe Tarab Cello Ensemble and the New

Orchestra ofWashington and cellist ofthe bar Piano Trio and “Pershing’s

Own” Contemporary Music Ensemble (pocme).

4

Program Notes

An ordained interfaith minister, Scott Robinson was raised in Syracuse,

New York, and worked as a professional theater musician and folksinger 

from 1986 to 1994. After earning his PhD at the University of Minnesota, 

he taught for ten years at Eastern University in Philadelphia. In 2009 he

began studies in spiritual direction at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual

Formation, and in ministry at the New Seminary for Interfaith Studies,

where he now serves as first year dean.

Commissioned by the Eaken Piano Trio, Robinson’s Great Was the Miracle

is a group offour settings oftraditional Hanukkah songs. According to the 

composer, “Ma’oz Tsur is a Sephardic melody for the hymn ‘Ma’oz Tsur’ (Rock

ofAges), better known as it is sung with a German synagogue melody. S’vivon

is the tune of a Yiddish folk song about the dreidl [a four-sided spinning top].

Al Hanisim is a folk melody that accompanies a song about the Maccabean

rebellion, so I have attempted to give this setting a martial quality. Mi Ze

Hidlik is the tune of a lovely traditional Yiddish Chanukah song. This setting 

of Ozi, or Ozi v’Zimrat Yah (The Lord is my strength and my defense, Psalm

118:14) is a Yemenite tune, while Oy Chanukah is an old Chassidic song.”

Born in Switzerland, Ernest Bloch immigrated to the United States, and

held various positions as a conductor and educator. His early musical style

drew inspiration from his Jewish heritage. Often asked about the presence

of a “Jewish ethos” in his music, Bloch wrote: “I am not an archaeologist.

It is the Jewish soul that interests me, the complex, glowing, agitated soul

that I feel vibrating throughout the Bible.” Three Nocturnes for piano trio 

was written in 1924 while he was director ofthe Cleveland Institute of

Music, the same year he became an American citizen. A departure from

his earlier style, the nocturnes feature melodies in a more reserved style,

typical ofhis second compositional period. Nevertheless, Bloch’s intrinsic

mysticism and poetry remain intact.

5
Like many Jewish artists ofthe twentieth century, Joachim Stutschewsky’s

life story is marked by frequent changes ofresidence, flight, and expulsion.

He began taking music lessons at a young age and was soon playing in his

father’s klezmer ensembles. In 1909 he went to Leipzig to study cello; when

the First World War broke out, he fled to Switzerland, where he organized the

first concerts ofJewish folk and art music. In 1924, while living in Austria, 

Stutschewsky became a founding member ofthe Vienna String Quartet. In

1938, shortly before the arrival ofGerman troops in Austria, he escaped to

Switzerland once again, before immigrating to Palestine. In his memoirs, he

compares himselfto traveling Jewish musicians—klezmorim—who are 

never allowed to remain anywhere for long and never able to find rest.

A fourth-generation Jewish musician, Solomon Rosowsky studied law 

at the University of Kiev before enrolling in the Saint Petersburg Conservatory as a composition major and student of Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov,

and Glazunov. In 1909 he joined composer Mikhail Gnesin (1883-1957)

and a handful of other students and conservatory alumni to cofound the

Society for Jewish Folk Music. Based on a melody belonging to the mystical

Lubavitch Hasidic sect ofJudaism, Rosowsky’s Fantastisher Tants (Fantastic

Dance) drew immediate acclaim from fellow composers and audiences

for its original treatment offolkloric motives and intense rhythmic energy.

The piece was published by the Society for Jewish Folk Music in 1914.

Allen W. Menton’s compositions show the influence of a diverse range

ofgenres and musical styles, from Medieval ars nova to contemporary pop 

and film music. A frequent collaborator with the Nouveau Chamber Ballet

on dance and theater projects, Menton is currently assistant professor of

music theory and composition at California State University, San Bernardino.

A second work commissioned by the Eaken Piano Trio on this evening’s

program, Avi Hidlik: A Hanukkah Fantasy captures the emotional complexity 

ofthe Jewish holiday: the cheerfulness ofthe children’s games and gifts, the

heroism ofthe ancient Maccabees, and the sad resignation of endurance.

6

Born in Odessa and groomed by his family for a career in business,

Jacob Weinberg was eventually able to study at the Moscow Conservatory, 

where his teachers included Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915). With a growing

reputation as a composer and pianist, he moved to Vienna, where he studied

under Theodor Leschetizky (1830-1915). Returning to Russia in 1916, he

found himselfunable to pursue his interest in Jewish music to his satisfaction. In 1921 he immigrated to Palestine, and in 1926 to the United States.

Weinberg, like Rosowsky, belonged to the school of Russian composers,

performers, and other intellectuals who attempted to create a “new” Jewish

national art music in the first two decades ofthe twentieth century. His

inventive Trio on Hebrew Themes transcends traditional folk songs.

Program notes by Danielle Hahn