Paula Robison facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Paula Robison |
|
|---|---|
Paula Robison at Tannery Pond Concerts, June 20, 2010
|
|
| Background information | |
| Born | June 8, 1941 Nashville, Tennessee |
| Occupation(s) | Soloist, teacher |
| Instruments | Flute |
Paula Robison (born June 8, 1941) is a world-famous American flutist and a respected teacher. She has performed as a solo artist and with many orchestras and chamber music groups around the world. Paula Robison is known for her beautiful playing and for bringing new life to classical music.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Paula Robison was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8, 1941. Her parents, David and Naomi Robison, were involved in the arts. Her father was a writer for plays, movies, and TV shows. Her mother was an actor. Paula's family had many musicians and dancers, including her grandmother, who taught piano, and her uncle, Jerome Lawrence, who was a playwright.
When Paula was young, her family moved to Hollywood, California. There, she started playing the flute in her junior high school orchestra. She also took private lessons with Arthur Hoberman and studied piano with her grandmother. At age ten, she met the composer Leon Kirchner, who she would work with later in her career.
Her family faced some difficult times, which meant they had to move to New York State for a while. After several years, they returned to California. Her father began writing again, using a different name at first, and found success writing for popular TV shows like Lassie and Bewitched. Later, he wrote under his own name again.
Paula went to the University of Southern California for two years. She continued her flute studies there and also learned about theater and dance. She later auditioned for the famous Juilliard School in New York City and was accepted. She graduated from Juilliard in 1963. During the summers, she also studied with a very important flute teacher, Marcel Moyse, at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. Her studies with Moyse helped her become a direct musical descendant of the famous French flutist Paul Taffanel.
Starting Her Music Career
In 1961, Paula Robison became part of the first group of musicians chosen by Young Concert Artists. This organization helps young talented musicians start their careers. In the same year, she played a special part in Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals with the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic orchestra.
A big moment in her career happened in 1966. She became the first American to win First Prize at the Geneva International Music Competition. This award helped her start touring more often. She performed with many orchestras and gave solo concerts, often with the pianist Samuel Sanders.
A Busy Music Career
In 1969, Paula Robison became a founding member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. This is a very important group that performs chamber music, which is music for a small group of instruments. She played in their first concerts at the new Alice Tully Hall in New York City. For five years, she even had her own concert series there called "Paula and..."
She also performed often at Carnegie Hall, another famous concert venue. She played many different kinds of music there, from classical pieces by Bach and Mozart to modern works. She performed with many well-known conductors and orchestras.
In 1971, Paula Robison premiered a new piece written just for her by Leon Kirchner, called Flutings for Paula. She later performed an expanded version of this piece. For over 30 years, she also gave concerts every season at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Her tours took her all over the world. She played at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and performed internationally with groups like the Budapest Strings. She continued to play at the Marlboro Festival, working with famous musicians like Rudolf Serkin. She also collaborated with many other talented pianists, harpsichordists, and guitarists.
From 1971, she started playing at the Spoleto Festival, a big arts festival in Italy and later in Charleston, South Carolina. She became a co-director of the Noontime Concerts there until 2003. For her contributions to Italian culture, she received special awards like the Premio Pegaso. She also toured with different musical trios and duos, performing many concerts each year.
Paula Robison helped bring the music of Sidney Lanier, a flutist and poet from the 1800s, back to life. His music was hidden away until she and another flutist helped publish it in 1997. She still plays some of his pieces today.
Since 1973, Ms. Robison has been a faculty member at the New England Conservatory, where she holds a special teaching position called the Donna Hieken Flute Chair. She also taught at the Juilliard School in the 1980s.
In the early 1990s, Paula Robison discovered a type of Brazilian music called choro. She started working with Brazilian musicians like percussionist Cyro Baptista and guitarist Romero Lubambo. They formed a trio and created a new sound they called "Mistura Nova," which means "New Mixture." They toured and recorded an album called Brasileirinho.
Paula Robison also started a project called "With Art," where she works with visual artists in unique spaces. For example, she was an Artist-in-Residence at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. There, she combined music by Mozart with the art of Sol LeWitt.
In 2007, she created a new English version of the words for Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, a challenging and famous piece of music. She even performed the speaking part herself in some concerts. She has performed this work many times, including for its 100th anniversary.
Paula Robison has made many recordings throughout her career. Her albums include classical pieces, Brazilian music, and modern works. She has recorded for several record labels, and in 2006, she started her own label called Pergola Recordings. Her recordings feature collaborations with many talented musicians.
She continues to perform and explore new music. In recent years, she has played pieces by composers like Taffanel, Boulez, and Morton Feldman.
Personal Life
Paula Robison is married to Scott Nickrenz. He was the Curator of Music at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They have been married since 1971.
Discography
Paula Robison has recorded many albums. Here are some of them:
Pergola Recordings
- PR1041 - Classic (with Timothy Hester, piano)
- PR1040 - Caprice (with Paavali Jumppanen, piano)
- PR1039 - Playing New York (with Steven Beck, piano)
- PR1038 - Paula Live! (music by Frazelle, Liebermann, Kirchner, and Prokofiev)
- PR1037 - Rio Days, Rio Nights (with Romero Lubambo, guitar; Sergio Brandao, bass; Cyro Baptista, percussion)
- PR1036 - J.S. Bach Sonatas BWV 525-530 (with John Gibbons, harpsichord)
- PR1035 - Edvard Grieg, Joachim Andersen: Music for Flute and Piano (with Samuel Sanders, piano)
- PR1034 - By The Old Pine Tree: Music by Stephen Foster and Sidney Lanier
- PR1033 - Mozart in Love: Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- PR1032 - One Hundred Roses: Seven Italian Serenades and Dances
Vanguard Classics
- MC 123 - The Art of Paula Robison – A collection of favorite pieces.
- ATM CD 1271 - Mozart Flute Quartets: Complete (with Tokyo String Quartet)
- ATM CD 1615 - Carmen Fantasy (music by Bizet-Borne, Fauré, Delibes, Massenet, Taffanel, Dutilleux, Gaubert)
- ATM CD 1616 - Paula Robison – The Romantic Flute
- ATM CD 1493 - Bach Flute Sonatas, Flute Partita
- ATM CD 1494 - Handel Flute Sonatas: Complete
- ATM CD 1837 - Brasileirinho: Choros, Chorinhos, Bossas and Bach (with Romero Lubambo, guitar; Cyro Baptista, percussion)
- ATM CD 1860 - Ravel – Fauré – Debussy: Works for Flute Viola and Harp
Other Recordings
- MODE210 - Lei Liang – Brush Stroke
- MODE161/3 - Berio Sequenzas complete and solo works
- BRIDGE: 903 - Duos from Malboro (including Schubert's Introduction and Variations with Rudolf Serkin, piano)
- ISBN: 1-879985-11-X - Places of the Spirit: Music and Images Inspired by the Berkshires
- ISBN: 1-879985-19-5 - Places of the Spirit: The Holy Land
- CD: KICC67 - Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy
- 80403-2 - Flutes: Beaser, Song of the Bells
- CD: MLS 45523 - Flute, Greatest Hits
- CD: SMK 46250 - Marlboro Festival, 40th Anniversary
- LP: MRS 3 - Schubert: Introduction and Variations on "Trockne Blumen"
- CASS: 6299 - Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Presents Schubert and Schumann
- 5169151 - Canciones Latinas
- 5169160 - French Masterpieces for Flute and Piano
- 5184518 - Paula Robison Plays American Masterworks
- 7038 - Mountain Songs
- ML5768 - Saint Saëns: The Carnival of the Animals
- CS362(5751) - Flute Concertos of 18th Century Paris
- CRI SD 439 - William Schuman: In Sweet Music
See also
- New England Conservatory
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
- Marlboro Music School and Festival
