A2SO's New CD Features the Work of Paul Fetler

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is throwing a party. They are celebrating the release of their first CD, on Thursday, December 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the lobby of the Michigan Theater just in time for holiday giving. A digital download has been available since September.

What began as a longtime mutual goal of Music Director Arie Lipsky, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra musicians, board and staff will become a reality this Thursday with the unveiling of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s first CD, manufactured and distributed on the internationally acclaimed NAXOS label.

The recording, part of the NAXOS American Classics series, consists of three works by American composer Paul Fetler that were featured in live performances by the A2SO through the last several seasons. Fetler will be on hand Thursday to sign copies of the recording. He will be joined by the A2SO’s Music Director, Maestro Arie Lipsky; A2SO Concertmaster Aaron Barofsky, soloist in the Violin Concerto No. 2; and Ann Arbor poet and attorney, Thomas Blaske, the narrator of 3 Poems by Walt Whitman. The suggested retail price is $10.99 and will be available at Borders, Barnes & Noble and the A2SO office.

On Sunday, December 6, Chris Felcyn from Detroit radio station WRCJ (90.9 FM) was the first to broadcast the new CD playing Fetler’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

This is the first CD devoted exclusively to Fetler’s music, which exudes expressive power and offers immediate appeal. “My goal is the merger of listener and music,” he wrote. The selections on this A2SO recording epitomize Fetler’s style, which he characterizes as “progressive lyricism.” The composer’s deft handling of orchestral color and texture is met by subtle skill and sheer ebullience from Lipsky, soloists, and A2SO musicians alike, all in top form.

After early years spent in Europe, Fetler trained in the US and taught at the University of Minnesota where he currently holds the position of Professor Emeritus. “To work with Aaron, Tom and Arie was a pleasure,” said Fetler, “We understood each other in every aspect ­– and the audience was with us. Small details and adjustments were made in the rehearsals, resulting in a moving and memorable performance.”­
When Maestro Lipsky was principal cellist in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1980s, he played a tremendous amount of new music under then conductor Semyon Bychkov who introduced him to Three Poems by Walt Whitman. After the A2SO’s performance of Lincoln Portraits, where former U-M coaches Lloyd Carr and Tommy Amaker served as narrators, Lipsky and Tom Blaske (the narration coach for the two coaches) brainstormed about other pieces with narration. Blaske, a Walt Whitman scholar who publishes under a pseudonym in The New Yorker, and Lipsky immediately felt that this would be an exciting feature to an upcoming A2SO concert. Composer Paul Fetler was contacted and Three Poems by Walt Whitman was performed by the A2SO to tremendous critical acclaim in April 2006. Reaction was so positive, thoughts turned to one of the A2SO’s long-term goals… to record a CD professionally.

W. Guy Barast, then Development Director of the A2SO, and David Lau, owner of Brookwood Studios were each impressed by that performance and contacted friends at NAXOS. Talks began about recording Fetler’s works. Barast wrote a successful grant proposal to the NEA for a $10,000 grant to support the project. Concurrently, a new American Federation of Musicians union regulation making the recording of CDs live at a concert was instituted, so Lipsky programmed the upcoming two seasons with three significant Fetler compositions.

The energy of the A2SO performing live in front of audiences is an integral part of the recordings.

Paul Fetler
Fetler was born in the United States and spent his youth in Eastern Europe, particularly in Latvia, where the influences of Russian culture made a great impression upon him. At the age of six he experimented at the piano with sound combinations which he found expressive, in one case particularly descriptive of a painting of a queen’s lavish coronation. Fetler credits his mother with making sure that his musical training was uninterrupted, despite the family’s frequent changes of residence, including a couple of years in both Sweden and Switzerland.
Fetler studied at Northwestern University where he received his Bachelor of Music degree under David Van Vactor. His Master’s degree was at Yale, where he studied with Quincy Porter and Paul Hindemith. He took advanced compositional studies with Boris Blacher at the Berlin Academy of Music. He accepted a post at the University of Minnesota, where he later completed his doctorate and where he taught composition and also composed for many years. His compositions include over 150 works in diverse genres. Many of these have been performed by leading orchestras, soloists, choral ensembles and chamber groups across the United States and Europe. He has been the recipient of important awards from the Society for the Publication of American Music, the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota.

Arie Lipsky, Music Director and Conductor

“My goal as a conductor is to be a musician who puts the music first, and to make sure what the composer wrote is delivered to the audience.”

Maestro Lipsky took the podium of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 2000 - 2001 concert season. He comes to Ann Arbor from his position as Resident Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and currently the Music Director and Conductor of the Ashland, Ohio Symphony, and Director of Chamber Music at the Chautauqua Institution. A native of Haifa, Israel, Mr. Lipsky has also conducted the Charleston, Indianapolis and New Jersey Symphonies and the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. His training as a concert ’cellist included advanced study with Leonard Rose and master classes with Pablo Casals. He is also an accomplished flautist. He holds degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and in Music which he received prior to serving in the Israeli Army. While still in his native country, he studied conducting with Noam Sheriff and Yoël Levi. After moving to the United States, Mr. Lipsky served as Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Ohio Opera. He moved to Buffalo, New York in 1984 to become the Buffalo Philharmonic’s principal ’cellist and in 1988, he became its Assistant Conductor. It was here where Mr. Lipsky met Paul Fetler and first performed Fetler’s Three Poems by Walt Whitman. A member of the New Arts Trio, Mr. Lipsky records on the Fleur de Son Classics Label.


Thomas H. Blaske

A little known, much-loved raconteur about Ann Arbor, Tom is the kind of man who would own two all-black dogs and call them Blanche and Ruby. A lifelong scholar of the good gray poet, Walt Whitman, he writes poetry under a pseudonym in the New Yorker.

Tom is one of Michigan’s top trial attorneys who teaches trial advocacy skills and ethics in Michigan and throughout the Midwest. Music has always been part of Tom’s life, starting with listening to family recordings of Fritz Kreisler and Stephen Foster and singing in the Battle Creek Chorus as a youngster, to playing tuba in the University of Michigan Marching Band under William Revelli.

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1928, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s first major program was played in November, 1931. Since 1986 the A2SO has been a fully professional orchestra, first under the baton of Carl St.Clair, then under Samuel Wong. Arie Lipsky was the unanimous choice to succeed Samuel Wong in 2000. Under his leadership, the A2SO has been favorably compared to both the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

A key component of the A2SO’s mission is education and outreach. The orchestra’s in-school educational programs and annual Youth Concerts currently reach almost 50,000 students each year. Many or these dynamic programs bring professional A2SO musicians directly into school classrooms.

The A2SO was heard over National Public Radio in November, 2004, in a performance of Once Upon a Castle, a commission created by composer Michael Daugherty to celebrate the A2SO’s and Michigan Theater’s joint 75th Anniversaries. Built in 1928, the Michigan Theater is one of America’s last great “movie palaces.” Saved from the wrecking ball in the 1980s, it is now a vibrant cultural center, and is listed on the American Historical Register. The Michigan Theater is the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s home.

For a free sneak preview of the music, visit www.naxos.com, keyword Fetler.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is a premier regional orchestra that offers live, symphonic music for all ages. The A²SO touches the lives of over 76,000 people annually from tiny tots to seasoned citizens in venues ranging from the Michigan Theater to Hill Auditorium, to schools in the five-county area, Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Ypsilanti District Libraries and senior centers. For concert or education programming information, contact the A2SO at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, or phone 734/994-4801, or a2so@a2so.com.