An American Affair Lisa Friend & Rohan De Silva

• Stephen Foster (1826 - 1864): Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair:
• 1 Foster: Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair 03:23
• Charles Griffes (1884 - 1920): Poem:
• 2 Griffes: Poem 10:29
• Amy Beach (1867 - 1944): Berceuse, Op. 40 No. 2:
• 3 Beach: Berceuse, Op. 40 No. 2 02:55
• Invocation, Op. 55:
• 4 Beach: Invocation, Op. 55 03:40
• Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990): Duo:
• 5 Copland: Duo: I. Flowing 06:07
• 6 Copland: Duo: II. Poetic, somewhat mournful 04:51
• 7 Copland: Duo: III. Lively, with bounce 03:32
• Florence Price (1887 - 1953): Adoration:
• 8 Price: Adoration 02:50
• Eldin Burton (1913 - 1981): Sonatina:
• 9 Burton: Sonatina: I. Allegretto grazioso 03:32
• 10 Burton: Sonatina: II. Andantino sognando 03:03
• 11 Burton: Sonatina: III. Allegro giocoso 02:40
• Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990): Medley of Themes:
• 12 Bernstein: Medley of Themes 06:23
• Jay Ungar (b. 1946): Ashokan Farewell:
• 13 Ungar: Ashokan Farewell 03:36
• Total Runtime 57:01

Info for An American Affair

Acclaimed flautist Lisa Friend writes: It has long been a dream of mine to record an album featuring the works of some of my favourite American composers. Having grown up in New York, I have cherished memories of watching, as a young child, my father, Rodney Friend (concertmaster), perform with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of his close friend Leonard Bernstein. I recall being in rehearsals, where my father and Bernstein would often discuss the scores during breaks – a time I wish I could relive. This album brings together a selection of American works and original arrangements that hold a special place in my heart. Dad always played Heifetz’s version of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, hence my wanting to record it here. Bernstein’s West Side Story, and especially the theme ‘Somewhere’, has been one of my all-time favourites. I have recorded Ashokan Farewell for my brother Steven, knowing how much he loves this beautiful melody. I dedicate the lovely Poem by Griffes to my wonderful teacher and mentor, Renée Siebert, former flautist of the New York Philharmonic.

Lisa Friend, flute
Rohan de Silva, piano

Lisa Friend
has appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic, Virtuosi Pragenses Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic and has toured throughout much of Europe, Asia and the USA.

Lisa has recorded as a solo/chamber artist for Silva Screen, Universal, Chandos, Champs Hill and Signum Records. Her latest CD ‘Mozart Flute Quartets–Lisa Friend & the Brodsky Quartet’ (Chandos Records) was chosen as Classic FM (Netherlands) ‘Album of the Week-Jan 2017’ and was warmly reviewed by David Mellor on Classic FM UK (Feb 2017). She recently recorded a live performance of a Mozart Flute Quartet movement with the Brodsky Quartet in the Classic FM Studios. In July 2017, Lisa and the Brodsky Quartet also performed live on BBC One TV 'The Andrew Marr Show'.

Her solo CD, ‘Cinema Affair’ with the City of Prague Philharmonic waschosen as Classic FM (UK & Netherlands) ‘Album of the Week’ in 2016. 'Cinema Affair' has also been chosen as a featured album on board British Airways 'Highlife In Flight Entertainment'. In 2014, her CD 'Luminance'-Solo & Duo Works for flute and piano-Lisa Friend, Anna Stokes and Mark Kinkaid (Champs Hill Records) was 'Classic FM album of the Week’, David Mellor's Album Choice of the Week in the 'Mail on Sunday' and aired on BBC Radio 3, BBC London, BBC Radio 2, Classic FM and RTE Lyric FM. She has also featured on a recording for Malcolm Martineau and friends of songs by Poulenc (Signum Classics).

She has given live broadcasts for Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 and BBC London. Solo recital highlights include performances for Steven Spielberg and his Foundation ‘Shoah’, the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace, LG Arts Centre-Seoul, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall Concert - Children & the Arts '10th Anniversary Concert' in collaboration with Classic FM. In February, Lisa also performed tracks from her cd, 'Cinema Affair' playing live on stage as a soloist with Principal dancers of the Royal Ballet for Sergei Polunin’s 'Project Polunin'.

After signing a deal with Universal Publishing, Lisa wrote original arrangements for her trio based on some of the great film scores as well as her own compositions, performing at venues such as St Martin- in-the-Fields, St. John’s, Smith Square, and the British Embassy in Paris.

Lisa spent her early years growing up in America where she studied with Renee Siebert of the New York Philharmonic. At 17, she won a scholarship to study with Susan Milan at the Royal College of Music and continued her postgraduate studies as a 'Martin Music Scholar' with the late Alain Marion of the Paris Conservatoire.

She has given masterclasses in South Korea and the UK, and runs an annual international flute masterclass in London, ‘The Friend Flute Academy London’. In April 2017, Lisa was on the Jury for Alfred Cortot École Normale de Musique de Paris ‘Concours du Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste’ in Paris.

Rohan De Silva
was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and has collaborated with Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Joshua Bell, Anne Akiko Meyers, Kurt Nikkanen, Gil Shaham, Kyoko Takazawa, Vadim Repin, and Midori. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, the 92nd St. Y, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Philadelphia Academy of Music, Ambassador Theater, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, London’s Wigmore Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and Milan’s La Scala. He has also appeared at the festivals of Aspen, Interlochen, Manchester, Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, Pacific, and Wellington.

Among De Silva’s awards are the best accompanist special prize at the ninth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He performed at the White House in 2007 for President George W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth, and in 2012 with Perlman for President Barak Obama and Shimon Peres. He has also appeared on television on The Tonight Show with Midori; and on radio stations WQXR, WNYC, and WNCN, as well as the Berlin Radio, Japan’s NHK, and CNN’s Showbiz Today, Millenium Grammy’s 2000. De Silva has recorded on the DGG, CBS/Sony Classical, Collins Classics, and BMG labels.

De Silva holds BM and MM degrees from Juilliard where he studied piano with Martin Canin and chamber music with Felix Galimir. He earned an associate degree from the Royal Academy of London in 1992 and was the recipient of the first President’s Fund scholarship from his home country to study at Juilliard. He also studied piano with Hamish Milne while attending the Royal Academy of Music from 1975 to 81. De Silva has been on the faculty at Juilliard since 1991.

Booklet for An American Affair