Darius Milhaud Concert 2021
Mills Music Now
Friday, September 24, 2021 | 8:00 PM PDT
Presented by the Mills College Music Department
Click for Concert Program.
Performer Bios
Belle Bulwinkle
Belle Bulwinkle is known as a performer on both early and modern pianos. The San Francisco
Chronicle has described her as “terrific technically as well as expressively. One
seldom hears so much finesse…” She has performed on the fortepiano in concerts at
Davies Symphony Hall, UC Santa Cruz, Cornell University, Santa Rosa Symphony Summer
Festival, the Hausmusik series, Old First Concerts, Cascade Head (OR) Music Festival,
Musicsources and Mills College. On the modern piano, she has given the first US performances
of works by international composers Jack Body, Marcello Panni, Anthony Payne and Makiko
Nishikaze. Lou Harrison dedicated his Concerto for Piano and Javanese Gamelan to her.
She played the world premiere of this work at Mills College and a second performance
at the Cabrillo Festival. She has taught music history and theory at Mills and at
the California College of Arts. Ms. Bulwinkle is an alumna of Mills College. She retired
from the performance faculty at Mills College in 2020.
Jennifer Ellis
Committed to shifting the boundaries of harp performance, Jennifer R. Ellis (D.M.A.
University of Michigan, M.M. Cleveland Institute of Music, B.M. Oberlin) thoroughly
enjoys taking the harp off its pedestal and using the instrument in new and unexpected
ways. She embraces firsts. She has premiered over 100 works. Her love for innovative
new music has led her to serve as a featured performer for the Festival of New American
Music, Sound of Late, and Spitting Image Collective. When not playing new music, she
collaborates with her orchestral colleagues, performing with Oakland Symphony, Santa
Cruz Symphony, and many others Her commitment to teaching composers about the harp
has led her to provide workshops for composers at institutions including University
of California Davis, Cal State University Sacramento, Bowling Green State University,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Miami University, University of Hartford, University
of Michigan, Cleveland State University, and University of North Carolina Greensboro.
She currently teaches at Mills College and San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where
she serves as the chair of the Professional Development department. harpellis.com
Kate Stenberg
Violinist Kate Stenberg is a leading interpreter of contemporary chamber music having
premiered over a hundred works as heard in performances around the globe and on numerous
CDs. Among the many composers whose work she has premiered are Peter Sculthorpe, Chinary
Ung, Tania Leon, Jack Body, Pamela Z, Charles Amirkhanian and Per Nørgård. Kate Stenberg
developed and produced new chamber music as co-founder of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
and Real Vocal String Quartet and from 1995-2015 she served as the first violinist
of the award winning Del Sol String Quartet. Currently, Stenberg performs as a soloist
and often in collaboration with other musicians including pianist Sarah Cahill in
the Stenberg|Cahill Duo. She plays on occasion with the San Francisco Symphony and
teaches violin and chamber music to students of all ages. katestenberg.com
David Tanenbaum
David Tanenbaum has performed in over forty countries, and he has been soloist with
prominent orchestras around the world with such eminent conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen,
John Adams, Alan Gilbert and Kent Nagano. While David Tanenbaum’s repertoire encompasses
a wide diversity of musical styles, he is recognized as one of the most eloquent proponents
of contemporary guitar repertoire. Composers such as Hans Werner Henze, Aaron Jay
Kernis, Terry Riley, Lou Harrison and Roberto Sierra have dedicated works to him.
He has toured extensively with Steve Reich and Musicians and performed in Japan in
1991 at the invitation of Toru Takemitsu. David Tanenbaum is currently Chair of the
Guitar Department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he received the
1995 Outstanding Professor Award. During the pandemic, David Tanenbaum participated
in numerous virtual projects, including one with Yo-Yo Ma of Sérgio Assad’s The Walls.
He also accompanied soprano Deborah Voigt in a virtual gala put on by the Met in New
York.
William Winant
William Winant is a multi-faceted, 2013 Grammy nominated percussionist, who has performed
with some of the most innovative and creative musicians of our time, including John
Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Anthony Braxton, Annea Lockwood, James Tenney, Cecil Taylor,
Pauline Oliveros, George Lewis, Steve Reich, Frederic Rzewski, Joan LaBarbara, Yo-Yo
Ma, Mark Morris Dance Group, Mike Patton, Takehisa Kosugi, Christian Wolff and many
others. He is the 2016 recipient of the Grants to Artists Awards from the Foundation
for Contemporary Arts, a foundation started by John Cage and Jasper Johns to give
un-restricted large grants to artists of all kinds. Composers who have written for
him include John Cage, Lou Harrison, Zeena Parkins, John Zorn, Alvin Curran, Chris
Brown, Bun-Ching Lam, David Rosenboom, Gordon Mumma, Alvin Lucier, Terry Riley, Fred
Frith, Roscoe Mitchell, Wendy Reid, and Wadada Leo Smith. He is principal percussionist
with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and has been featured as a guest
artist with many important groups, including Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco
Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra,
Merce Cunningham Dance Company,Oingo Boingo, Kronos Quartet, Sonic Youth, Mr. Bungle
and in numerous projects with New York composer John Zorn. He appears regularly on
festivals worldwide and can be heard on many recording labels. He teaches at the University
of California at Santa Cruz and Mills College. williamwinant.com
More information on Mills Music Now.