AMERICAN MUSIC SERIES                                    391a                                OHV

Jesse Levine

With Susan Hawkshaw

New Haven, CT

October 29, 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Side a                                                                                                             pp. 1-32

Starting to play the viola—early study with William Kroll—reason for studying viola—love of the sound of the viola—teaching—viola class at Yale—master classes—teaching philosophy—usage of the bow when playing viola—quality of sound the most important aspect of playing—listening to his father’s recordings—his father’s work as cellist in the pit orchestra for a silent movie theater—his father’s playing on international cruise ships—study at Mannes College-work as a freelancer in New York—first professional position—principal viola opening at Buffalo Philharmonic conducted by Lukas Foss—Buffalo as center of New Music activity: Center for the Creative and Performing Arts—his involvement with new music—Morton Feldman—premiering Feldman’s The Viola in My Life IV—the first recording of the piece done in 2000—knowing Feldman—playing The Viola in My Life IV with the ACO with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting—playing Lukas Foss’s Orpheus—visual look of the performance of Orpheus—Dialogues for Viola and Orchestra by Laurent Petitgirard; written for Mr. Levine—how his conducting started—gathering and studying scores even as a teenager—conducting as Assistant Conductor of  the Buffalo Philharmonic, doing concerts for children and pop concerts, etc.—admiration for Eleazar de Carvalho, who was his maestro at Tanglewood—study with Igor Markevitch—playing chamber music in Corsica—accepting a position as Asst. Conductor and principal violist in the New Jersey Symphony—conducting the Norwalk Symphony—planning programs—being music director of an orchestra in Asturias, Spain—his thoughts on chamber music and his activity as a chamber musician—playing at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in northwestern Connecticut—his trio with Erick Friedman and Stephen Kates—his recitals with pianist Morey Ritt—2008 marks his twenty-fifth year at the school—the Yale School of Music and the String Department there—playing in Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote with Rostropovich—more on the Center for Creative and Performing Arts in Buffalo—his enjoyment and satisfaction with the musical life—a little more about his family.