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Schmidt - Verdery Duo
Since their debut at Merkin Concert Hall in 1980, Rie Schmidt and Benjamin Verdery have been recognized for their inventive programming and virtuosi ensemble. This husband and wife duo has helped elevate the combination of flute and guitar from an occasional curiosity to a respected chamber ensemble. They have appeared in concert throughout the US and Europe, as well as on television and radio, including WQXR, WNCN, Morning Pro Musica, and National Public Radio. Working to expand the repertoire for their ensemble, they have commissioned dozens of new works for the duo and have transcribed a broad range of pieces from the Baroque and Classical periods. Their first CD, Reverie: French Music for Flute and Guitar, will be re-released by Sony Classical. Their newest CD, Enchanted Dawn, was released on the GRI label in July, 1998 and re-released in 2007 on Mushkatweek Records.
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BIOGRAPHIES
RIE SCHMIDT
A graduate of SUNY Purchase, in 1983 Rie gave her Carnegie Recital Hall debut as winner of the Artists International Competition. Ms. Schmidt is a member of the Westchester Philharmonic, the American Symphony and the Riverside Symphony, and has performed with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, Eos Orchestra and many Broadway shows. She was featured flutist and dancer in Leonard Bernstein's Mass that was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She and her husband, guitarist Benjamin Verdery, concertize as a duo throughout the US and Europe, and have recorded two CDs of music for flute and guitar; Reverie and Enchanted Dawn (GRI). She is a founding member of Flute Force, a flute quartet, which has three CDs; Flute Force (CRI), Pastorale (VAI) and Eyewitness (innova). She teaches at the Suzuki Music School in Westport, CT, The Allen-Stevenson School and The 92nd Street Y in New York City. Her publications include Ravel's Daphnis and Chloé (McGinnis and Marx) arranged for flute quintet, and Barber's Adagio (Schirmer Music). Ms. Schmidt was the president of the New York Flute Club from 1995-98.
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BENJAMIN VERDERY
Distinguished as "one of the classical guitar world's most foremost personalities," by Classical Guitar Magazine, "an American original, an American master," by Guitar Review Magazine, and "iconoclastic" and "inventive" by The New York Times, Benjamin Verdery has enjoyed an innovative and eclectic musical career.
Since 1980, Benjamin has released over 15 albums, his most recent, Branches, features works by J.S. Bach, Strauss, Jimi Hendrix, Mozart and the traditional Amazing Grace. His recording, Start Now, won the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Award for his unique gifts as performer and composer, and his recording, Some Towns and Cities, won the 1992 Best Classical Guitar Recording in Guitar Player Magazine. Benjamin has recorded and performed with such diverse artists as Andy Summers, Leo Kottke, Anthony Newman, Jessye Norman, Paco Peña, Hermann Prey and John Williams (with whom he recorded Vivaldi's Concerto in G Major for Two Mandolins for Sony Classical).
A prolific composer, Benjamin Verdery's compositions have been performed and recorded by John Williams and John Etheridge, The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and David Russell among others. Benjamin's Etudes for guitar orchestra was commissioned by the Tidewater Classical Guitar Society and premiered at the 2004 Virginia International Festival. Doberman-Yppan (Canada) is currently publishing his solo and duo works for guitar and Alfred Music has published the solo pieces from ,i>Some Towns & Cities as well as instructional books and video.
Since 1985, Mr. Verdery has been the chair of the guitar department at the Yale University School of Music and is the Artistic Director of the Yale Guitar Extravaganza, a one-day guitar conference featuring guitarists and artists in concert and lectures. In 2005, Benjamin was also appointed curator of 'The Guitar' at the prestigious 92nd St Y, NY, NY.
For information on the CD Enchanted Dawn go to Benjamin Verdery, click on Recordings and Enchanted Dawn.
Note: The above link will take you off the Gami/Simonds site. Please bookmark the GAMI/Simonds site or this page and/or click back arrow to return to Gami/Simonds page.
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PRESS
Throughout, their interplay is perfectly in sync. The way they hold back some phrases and push others forward, their matching articulations, and their selections of instrumental colors show just how well the two work together.
ACOUSTIC GUITAR
The fact they are husband and wife not only gives their performance a romantic ring about it, but it also gives them a clear musical advantage. A convincing performance, an interesting programme, and intelligent and very good music making.
CLASSICAL GUITAR
Balm-like fluting.
THE VILLAGE VOICE
Ms. Schmidt had amazing facility and breath control.
WESTPORT NEWS (CT)
Mr. Verdery seemed to have all the talent and skill to put him in the first rank of today's guitarists.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
For information on the CD Enchanted Dawn go to Benjamin Verdery, click on Recordings and Enchanted Dawn.
Note: The above link will take you off the Gami/Simonds site. Please bookmark the GAMI/Simonds site or this page and/or click back arrow to return to Gami/Simonds page.
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The Schmidt/Verdery Duo
Enchanted Dawn
GRI
New Releases by Paul Galbraith, the Amadeus Guitar Duo and the Schmidt/Verdery Duo (flute and guitar) prove that the classical guitar is in good health, with brilliant composers and guitarists striving to expand both its repertoire and its sonic resources.
On The Enchanted Dawn, the guitar and flute (and husband and wife) duo of Benjamin Verdery and Rie Schmidt offers a more global and varied repertoire, taking the listener on a musical journey to far-flung parts of the world. It's the second recording by Verdery and Schmidt, who have performed around the world together and individually for 18 years. On the CD, they play music by Michio Miyagi (Japan), Astor Piazzolla (Brazil), Frederic Hand (USA), LeoŠ Janácek (Czechoslovakia), Gilbert Biberian (Armenia), and Ravi Shankar (India), all with great passion and grace.
In Miyagi's evocative "Haru No Umi" (The Sea in Springtime), a piece originally composed for Koto (a cousin of the guitar) and shakuhachi flute, Verdery's pnticello notes (sometimes played with quick vibrato), strummed treble-string chords, and other timbral devices produce effects very reminiscent of the koto. Piazzolla's "L'Histoire du Tango" is the only staple of the flute and guitar repertoire on the disc. Schmidt and Verdery interpret the work's four movements with just the right balance of energy and introspection. Throughout, their interplay is perfectly in sync. The way they hold back some phrases and push others forward, their matching articulations, and their selections of instrumental colors show just how well the two work together.
Frederic Hand's "Psalm 100" begins meditatively with an appealing theme (played on guitar) that resembles a phrase from the "Largo" of Dvor k's popular New World Symphony. The piece veers off in its own direction, however, once the flute enters. Verdery quite capably handles the luch accompaniment chords that are a hallmark of Hand's rich guitar writing. The CD's title cut, "The Enchanted Dawn", is a 16 minute work Ravi Shankar originally penned for flute and harp. Based on the raga todi, which the liner notes say is an early morning raga, the piece begins slowly and steadily picks up steam when Samir Chatterjee's tabla enters. Through glissandos and characteristic vibrato, Verdery's guitar sounds at times like the Indian vina, another south Asian cousin of the guitar.
For information on the CD Enchanted Dawn go to Benjamin Verdery, click on Recordings and Enchanted Dawn.
Note: The above link will take you off the Gami/Simonds site. Please bookmark the GAMI/Simonds site or this page and/or click back arrow to return to Gami/Simonds page.
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