Philharmonix - The Vienna Berlin Music Club

Philharmonix - The Vienna Berlin Music Club

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Noah Bendix - Balgley, violin

Sebastian Gürtler, violin

Thilo Fechner, viola

Stephan Koncz, cello

Ödön Rácz, double bass

Daniel Ottensamer, clarinet

Christoph Traxler, piano

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In Memory of Nadia Boulanger

World Music

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For the first time in Croatia, at the 76th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, The Vienna Berlin Music Club, better known as Philharmonix, is coming to Croatia, combining classical, jazz, pop and swing with their performances - a combination that pushes boundaries and wins the hearts of all generations. The Philharmonix ensemble is composed exclusively of members of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, and their first violin is the concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic! Recognized by Deutsche Grammophon, the most prestigious record label, these musical virtuosos with infectious energy and incredible entertainment guarantee an unforgettable experience.

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The Philharmonix ensemble, renowned for its unique approach and exceptional musicianship, presents a concert brimming with spontaneity and creativity. With no predetermined program, the musicians create new arrangements in the moment of performance, often incorporating suggestions from the audience. Artistic moderation of the concert ensures that the audience remains engaged throughout the evening, creating a one-of-a-kind musical experience that cannot be repeated.

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MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAMME:

Notes by Dina Puhovski

This programme of the Philharmonix ensemble is a tribute to a person who has left an indelible mark on the contemporary music world: Juliette Nadia Boulanger (Paris, 1887–1979) was a conductor, composer, organist, and one of the most important composition teachers of the 20th century. In addition to classical composers, she taught performers and non-classical artists, including Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones, Elliott Carter, Ástor Piazzolla (whom she persuaded to return to tango music), Walter Piston, Virgil Thomson, Philip Glass, Darius Milhaud, Thea Musgrave, Daniel Barenboim, Michel Legrand, Dinu Lipatti, John Eliot Gardiner, Noor Inayat Khan, and Burt Bacharach. American composer Ned Rorem once publicly wondered if he was the only American composer outside the United States who had not been taught by Nadia Boulanger; while some only took a few lessons, many stayed in her ‘class’.

Boulanger was also the first woman to conduct the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the first woman to conduct a full-length programme with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She came from a musical family and studied composition under Gabriel Fauré and organ with Charles-Marie Widor. She won second prize at the prestigious French Prix de Rome competition, but gave up composing when her younger sister Lili, a talented composer, died at the age of 24.

From 1921, she taught at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, where she became director in 1949, and during World War II she taught in Washington and Baltimore. She brought back to the repertoire a number of forgotten works, such as those by Monteverdi and Schütz, and strongly influenced the future proponents of historically informed performance practice.

Her students often described her as a very thorough, but also demanding teacher. Producer, composer and impresario Quincy Jones joined Nadia Boulanger’s class (which required an audition) at the urging of Lalo Schifrin. He wrote of her as a very impressive and demanding teacher, but also as someone without whom he would not have become the musician he later was – and without whom he would not have ‘trained the left side of his brain’: ‘It was a drill that taught me how to get everything in a symphony, plus percussion, on six lines, which became a necessary skill down the road when I dove into the world of film scoring. (...) That infrastructure was what helped pave the way for each subsequent phase of my career.’ But it wasn’t just about technique and orchestration, as Jones remembers her also telling him: ‘Your music can never be more or less than you are as a human being.’

In 1976, Nadia Boulanger told the New York Times: ‘Education is to bring people to be themselves, and at the same time, know how to conform to the limits. (...) But with discipline there must also be intuition and love.

I thank the Lord that I can explain grammar to a student. I can make him cheer if he has any kind of gift, and can make him see – not to make him great, but to be a little more himself, little better, a little more understanding, and a little happier.’