Greenacres Concert & Luncheon

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Greenacres Arts Center

8400 Blome Road

Cincinnati, OH 45243

At our annual Recital and Luncheon at the Greenacres Arts Center, a group of talented high school and collegiate musicians walked away with thousands of dollars in scholarship money after impressing judges during the eighth annual Nancy F. Walker Memorial Scholarship Auditions. Sponsored by Matinée Musicale Cincinnati, the awards program awarded a total $54,500 in scholarships to classical instrumental and vocal students.

The first place winner in the College category took home the $10,000 prize, while the first place High School champion won $4,000. Second-place College and High School winners received $5,000 and $2,000, and third-place winners $3,000 and $1,000. Encouragement Award recipients received $500 each. To date, the program has awarded more than $300,000.

The scholarship honors Nancy Fuldner Walker, a musician, teacher and arts advocate who led Matinée Musicale Cincinnati for over four decades until her death in 2017. The organization established the scholarship to continue Walker’s legacy of supporting young musicians.

Judy Martin, the Administrative Director of Matinée Musicale, welcomed everyone to the event, then Sarah Evans, Arts Education Manager for Greenacres Foundation spoke about the many arts programs at the Center. Then several scholarship winners of this year’s competition performed.

Matinée Musicale Chair of the Scholarship Committee, Kathy Adams, was out of town today, but Jane Copper-Short took over admirably! Judy Martin thanked the entire Scholarship Committee, and then we were treated to a delicious lunch.

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Judy Martin, Administrative Director of Matinée Musicale Cincinnati, welcomed everyone to the

Greenacres Arts Center.

Sarah Evans, Arts Education Manager of

Greenacres Foundation

Genevieve Howard, soprano, and Toni Sheffer, piano

Keliang Yao, piano

Blake Sisney, tenor, and Therese Sutula, piano

Vivian Chang, violin

Leah Yackanech, soprano, and Malik Halce, piano

Chang Lu, piano

Ava Shedd, violin

Alex Herron, tenor, & Malik Halce, piano

The 2025 Scholarship Winners in attendance:

Chang Lu*, Keliang Yao*, Alex Herron*, Leah Yackanech*, Samantha Pape, Ezren Derkson-Malone, Vivian Chang*, Genevieve Howard*, Adelaide Linser, Ava Shedd*, Blake Sisney*,

and Aiden Bolding.

*Today’s Performers

Click below to see our past winners!

Greenacres Concert & Luncheon 4-16-2025 Read More »

Martin James Bartlett, Piano

Sunday, April 6, 2025 | 5 PM

Memorial Hall, OTR

PROGRAM

PHOTOS

Plays with a maturity and elegance far beyond his years

British pianist Martin James Bartlett, known for his fearless technique, was the inaugural recipient of the Prix Serdang in 2022. In 2021, he was awarded the Queen Mother Rosebowl by HRH Prince (now King) Charles and, in 2020, won the Virtu(al)oso Global Piano Competition by Piano Cleveland. From 2020 to 2022, Bartlett was the RCM Benjamin Britten Piano Fellow, and made his play-direct and conducting debut with the London Mozart Players at the Cheltenham and Ryedale festivals in 2022. In 2019, Bartlett earned first place at the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York and, in 2018, won second prize and the Audience Award at the Kissingen Piano Olympiad.

Bartlett’s early public success was as winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2014, leading to engagements with several orchestras. In 2015, he was one of the youngest-ever soloists to debut at the BBC Proms, with reviews in The Daily Telegraph and The Times praising his musical insight and maturity.

Bartlett has performed with many European orchestras and in recital internationally, including a debut US tour in 2022 in the Young Concert Artists Series in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. He has released two widely acclaimed albums: Rhapsody (2022), featuring concerti by Rachmaninoff and Gershwin; and his debut recital album Love and Death (2019), an exploration of elemental themes from Bach to Prokofiev.

VIDEOS

PROGRAM

Les Barricades Mystérieuses……………François de Couperin (1668 – 1733)

Gavotte et six doubles from Suite in A minor, RCT 5………..Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 – 1764)

Kinderszenen, Op. 15…………..Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856)

Widmung……………………..Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856), arr. Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

INTERMISSION

Four Impromptus, D. 899, Op. 90…….Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)

Ständchen, S. 560…………….Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856), arr. Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, WWV.90……..Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883), arr. Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886)

La Valse…………………………………Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Ellen Stephens, Martin, Judy Martin, Hazel Bartlett, Marina Abanto

Ellen Stephens, Martin James Bartlett, Judy Martin, Hazel Bartlett and Marina Abanto

After the concert dinner at Seasons 52 with Martin James Bartlett, his mother Hazel, and members of Matinée Musicale.

Martin James Bartlett Read More »

Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor

Donald Lee III, Piano

Sunday, March 9, 2025

5 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

PROGRAM

PHOTOS

Read the review of the recital by Janelle Gelfand

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer who has graced the world’s leading stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. Captivating audiences and critics around the globe, he has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (The New York Times), “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars” (The Guardian), and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today” (NPR).

Named “Male Singer of the Year” by both the International Opera Awards (2017) and Bachtrack, he has been featured on PBS, NPR, Sirius Radio, American Public Media and other national outlets. Included among his other numerous awards and distinctions are the Kennedy Center’s Marian Anderson Award, the Opera News Award (2021) and Grand Prize winner at the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

Highlights of Brownlee’s past seasons include his role debut, to great acclaim, in the title role of Rameau’s Platèe with Opéra National de Paris; role debut as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at New National Theatre Tokyo; and he added Fernand to his repertoire in a new production of Donizetti’s La Favorite with Houston Grand Opera. His signature Rossini roles include Rodrigo in Otello, the title role of Le comte Ory, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte.

Brownlee’s acclaimed recording career includes Donizetti’s rarely- performed song repertoire and the album Rising, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2023. In 2021, Brownlee joined The Juilliard School as a

Distinguished Visiting Faculty Member. He serves as artistic advisor for Opera Philadelphia, Ambassador for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited, and Ambassador for Opera for Peace.

Lawrence Brownlee’s GRAMMY nominated album “Rising” is named one of The New York Times’ “Best Classical Music Albums of 2024”.

VIDEOS

Donald Lee III, Piano

American Conductor and Pianist Donald Lee III is quickly becoming known for his versatility and charisma both on the podium and at the keyboard. Lee has appeared in concert with the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Lee has been engaged as a cover conductor with the Gateways Festival Orchestra and Des Moines Metro Opera. Recent productions include Salome, Carmen, Champion, and the world premiere of American Apollo. Recent highlights as a pianist include appearing as soloist with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and recital performances with tenor Lawrence Brownlee, baritone WIll Liverman, and countertenor Key’mon Murrah.

Donald Allen Lee III is a Virginia native and current member of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center emerging artist training program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Since the start of his tenure in 2021, Lee has conducted the prestigious Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra for numerous performances including The Magic Victrola, Rising Stars in Concert, and Sunday in the Park with Lyric. Most recently, Lee was Assistant Conductor and played piano in the orchestra pit for the world premiere of The Factotum in collaboration with Lyric Unlimited and the Harris Theater of Chicago.

Lee has enjoyed great accomplishments at some of the nation’s leading opera companies. In 2022, he joined Des Moines Metro Opera as Associate Conductor for their productions of Porgy and Bess, American Apollo, and their Stars of Tomorrow concert. Lee also joined Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ Opera on the GO! filmed production of The Magic Flute, which included both conducting and playing piano.

During his residency at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Lee successfully produced a workshop entirely in Spanish for kindergarten through high school students. Other career highlights include a collaboration with the Chicago City-Wide Symphony Orchestra for their 2022 Holiday Concert and a return to Opera Theatre of St. Louis for their New Works Collective – an initiative to push the boundaries of opera by combining music and storytelling. Lee also shadowed Maestro Enrique Mazzola at the Deutsche Oper Berlin for a production of Les vêpres siciliennes and worked with Opera NexGen for their 2021 production of Night Trip, a new one-act opera from composer Carlos Simon and librettist Sandra Seaton.

Lee is dedicated to new works and has showcased his ability to improvise across multiple genres of music. In addition to conducting, Lee is an avid pianist and coach. He has appeared as a soloist with the James Madison University Symphony Orchestra and Eastern Music Festival Student Orchestra. He was also the first pianist to record Francis Johnson’s A Collection of New Cotillons, the oldest surviving composition published by a Black America composer.

An alumnus of James Madison University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Lee also served as Assistant Professor of piano at Kentucky State University. Future appearances include conducting the Lyric Opera Orchestra and members of the Ryan Opera Center for Rising Stars in Concert and returning to Des Moines Metro Opera for their 2023 production of Carmen as Associate Conductor.

PROGRAM

La donna è mobile from Rigoletto. . . . Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)

Ad una stella

Me voglio fan a casa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)

Allegro io son from Rita

La lontananza. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

D’ogni piu sacro from L’occasione fa il ladro

La ricordanza. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835)

Nel furor delle tempeste from Il pirata

— INTERMISSION —

Desire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Owens (1925–2017)

Dream

Juliet

Man

April Rain Song. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeremiah Evans (b. 1978)

Peace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jasmine Barnes (b. 1991)

I Know My Soul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brandon Spencer (b. 1992)

Beauty That Is Never Old. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . Damien L. Sneed (b. 1979)

The Gift to Sing

Romance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shawn E. Okpebholo (b. 1981)

Vocalise III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlos Simon (b. 1986)

My People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joel Thompson (b. 1988)

-ENCORE-

Ah! mes amis from The Daughter of the Regiment……Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Lawrence Brownlee, tenor, and Donald Lee III, piano

Standing Ovation for Lawrence Brownlee, tenor, and Donald Lee III, piano

Lawrence Brownlee and members of the audience

Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor Read More »

Members Program

Monday, December 9, 2024

11:00 am

On December 9, MMC held a special program and luncheon for Members to celebrate the holiday season. Gayna Bassin, violin, and Janelle Gelfand, piano, were in beautiful sync, masterfully performing Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 in G Major for Violin and Piano, Op. 78 and the third movement from Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem Suite: Simchas Torah (Rejoicing with the Torah).

Tenors Tony Burdette and Houston Tyrrell sang solo pieces by J.S. Bach, Paolo Tosti and Robert MacGimsey before joining their superb voices for an emotional rendition of Adolphe Adams’ “O Holy Night.” Burdette, Founding President/Artistic Director of Viva Voices, introduced Tyrrell as the organization’s new Assistant Artistic Director and provided an informative explanation of the growth of Viva Voices and the role MMC has had in providing financial assistance through its grants.

Following the program, guests savored a delicious luncheon and opportunity to visit with MMC friends.

Thanks go to Toni Sheffer, who coordinated the program, and to Rosalee Campbell, who coordinated the luncheon. Special thanks to Lauren Wallace for taking over logistics when Rosalee was unable to attend.

Image Gallery

Gayna Bassin, violin, & Janelle Gelfand, piano

Janelle Gelfand, piano, & Gayna Bassin, violin

Tony Burdette and Houston Tyrrell, tenors

Tenors Tony Burdette and Houston Tyrrell

Houston Tyrrell, tenor, sang a solo,

“Bring Him Home” from Les Misérables

Toni Sheffer, piano, with tenors Tony Burdette and Houston Tyrrell

Members Program 12-9-24 Read More »

Isabel Leonard, Mezzo-Soprano

John Arida, Piano

Sunday, December 1, 2024 | 5 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

PHOTOS

Heralded regular at the Metropolitan Opera

Read Janelle Gelfand’s blog post about her here!

Isabel Leonard continues to thrill audiences both in the opera house and on the concert stage. In repertoire that spans from Vivaldi to Mozart to Nico Muhly, she has performed at prominent international venues such as the Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival, Carnegie Hall, Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, among others.

Her roles include Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Charlotte in Werther, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Costanza in Griselda, the title roles in La Périchole and Der Rosenkavalier, as well as Sesto in both Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Handel’s Giulio Cesare, and Musetta in La bohème.

She has appeared with some of the foremost conductors of her time: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Seiji Ozawa, Gustavo Dudamel, James Levine, James Conlon, Marin Alsop, Sir Andrew Davis, and Michael Tilson Thomas with the Vienna Philharmonic and major orchestras throughout the U.S. Ms. Leonard, in constant demand as a recitalist, is on the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Hall and the Artistic Advisory Board of ArtSmart. She is a multiple Grammy Award winner. Television and film appearances include Sesame Street and host for The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD movie theater transmissions.

In 2023, Leonard appeared in the movie Maestro singing with Rosa Feola in the finale of Gustav Mahler‘s Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection”, in a reproduction of the famed 1973 performance led by Leonard Bernstein in Ely Cathedral.

Isabel Leonard is the recipient of the Richard Tucker Award and, in honor of her father who died from the disease, has lent her voice to the Prostate Cancer Foundation by filming a public service announcement (PSA).

VIDEOS

John Arida, Piano

Pianist and coach John Arida (MM ’13, collaborative piano) has cultivated relationships with some of classical music’s most esteemed performers both on and off the stage include Julia Bullock, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Samantha Hankey, Christian Van Horn, Isabel Leonard, and Jack Swanson. He has appeared as a collaborative pianist across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico at notable venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and Tanglewood.

Beyond the concert stage, Arida has assisted many notable conductors including Harry Bicket, Daniela Candilari, John DeMain, Christian Reif, Speranza Scappucci, and Emmanuel Villaume. He has been a member of the music staff of the Santa Fe, Washington National, Central City, and Virginia operas; the Lakes Area Music and Castleton festivals, and Juilliard. A strong supporter of grassroots festivals, Arida was the music director for the inaugural seasons of the Emberlight Festival in Ironwood, Michigan, and the Creede Musical Arts Collective in Creede, Colorado.

Arida has recorded two albums with his frequent collaborator mezzo-soprano Megan Marino. Their first collaboration, The Traveled Road (Ravello Records), featured the music of Evan Mack. Their second, It’s You I Like (Lexicon Classics), contains songs that celebrate childhood. Arida has held fellowships at the Aspen Music Festival and Music Academy of the West. In addition to his studies at Juilliard, he earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from SUNY Purchase.

PROGRAM

“Clavelitos” …………………………………………. Joaquín Valverde (1875 – 1918)

“Nana de Sevilla” ……………………………….. Federico García-Lorca (1898 – 1936)

“La Tarara”

“Cinco Canciones Negras” …………………….. Xavier Montsalvatge (1912 – 2002)

Cuba dentro de un piano

Punto Habañera

Chévere

Canción de cuna para dormir un negrito

Canto negro

“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” from Carmen…….. Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875)

INTERMISSION

“Tu n’est pas beau” from La Périchole ………………………………………….. Jacques Offenbach (1819 – 1880)

“El dia que me quieras”………………………………….. Carlos Gardel (1890-1935), arr. Paola Hermosin

“Près des remparts de Séville” from Carmen…….. Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875)

“Moments in the Woods” from Into the Woods…….. Stephen Sondheim (1930 – 2021)

“Lonely Town” from On the Town………………… Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990)

“The Girl in 14G” ………………………………………….. Jeanine Tesori (1961) and Dick Scanlon (1960)

ENCORES

“Ah! quel diner” from La Périchole ………………….. Jacques Offenbach (1819 – 1880)

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.………………………… Harold Arlen (1909 –1986)

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Isabel Leonard, Mezzo-Soprano Read More »

Hanick Hawley Duo

Conor Hanick, Piano

Richie Hawley, Clarinet

Sunday, October 13, 2024 | 3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

PHOTOS

Explore boundary-pushing music, both new and old!

Through collaboration with some of music’s leading composers and

integration of this work with the classic music of the genre, the Hanick

Hawley Duo seeks to reinvigorate the repertoire for clarinet and piano.

Having met as faculty members at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the

West, they perform regularly at its renowned summer festival and school.

The Times’ Anthony Tommasini says pianist Conor Hanick’s playing is

reminiscent of a “young Peter Serkin.” Regarded as one of his generation’s

most inquisitive interpreters of music, Hanick has been presented by The

Gilmore Festival, the New York Philharmonic, Caramoor, Cal Performances, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Park Avenue Armory, and performed with American orchestras. He has premiered over 200 works and collaborated with composers both emerging and iconic. He served as co-artistic director of the Ojai Festival in 2022. Since 2014, he has been a faculty artist at the Music Academy of the West. He has given lectures and master classes internationally and is on the piano and chamber music faculty of The Juilliard School and the Peabody Institute of Music.

Appointed principal clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1994, Richie Hawley left that position in 2011 to become Professor of Clarinet at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He regularly appears on international stages as a soloist and chamber musician. He toured with the legendary Musicians from Marlboro for the 50th anniversary performance at Carnegie Hall. His numerous awards include first prize at the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition and the Presidential Scholar in the Arts Gold Medal awarded by President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Hawley made his orchestral solo debut at age 13 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and at 14 performed with the New York Philharmonic.

Richie Hawley and Conor Hanick performing in Memorial Hall on Sunday, October 13, 2024.

VIDEOS

PROGRAM

Three Romances, op. 22…………………….……..….Clara Schumann (1819-1896)

Etudes for Solo Piano…………………………………….Samuel Adams (b. 1985)

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano…………………….Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

INTERMISSION

Three Smiles for Tracey for Solo Clarinet……Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano……………………..Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Photography by Gayna Bassin

Hanick Hawley Duo Read More »

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Viola

Adam Golka, Piano

Sunday, September 15, 2024

3 pm

Memorial Hall, OTR

PROGRAM

PHOTOS

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall. The founding violist of the Dover Quartet, she played in the group from 2008–2022. During that time, the Dover Quartet was the First Prize-winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2013, and winner of the Gold Medal and Grand Prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt’s numerous awards also include First Prize of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the the Sphinx Competition and the Tokyo International Viola Competition.

A violin student of Sergiu Schwartz and Melissa Pierson-Barrett for several years, she began studying viola with Michael Klotz at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in 2005. Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Roberto Diaz, Michael Tree, Misha Amory, and Joseph de Pasquale. She then received her Master’s Degree in String Quartet with the Dover Quartet at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, as a student of James Dunham.

While in the Dover Quartet, Ms. Pajaro-van de Stadt was on the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and a part of the Quartet in Residence of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She is now a member of the newly formed piano quartet “Espressivo!” along with acclaimed artists Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, and Anna Polonsky.

Adam Golka, Piano

Polish-American pianist Adam Golka (born 1987) first performed all of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas when he was 18 years-old, and in 2020-2021 Adam Golka performed the cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas at the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (Florida) and at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue (NYC), in socially-distanced and live-stream formats. Adam’s performances of each Sonata were complemented by 32 short films he created, known as 32@32 (available on YouTube), documenting his preparation for climbing the Everest of piano literature and featuring an amalgam of distinguished guests, from an astrophysicist to Alfred Brendel.

Adam Golka’s principal teachers have been José Feghali, with whom he studied at Texas Christian University, and Leon Fleisher, at the Peabody Conservatory. Since finishing his formal studies, Adam has continued to develop his artistry through mentorship from Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, Murray Perahia, Mitsuko Uchida, Evelyne Crochet, Ferenc Rados, Rita Wagner, and Sir András Schiff, who invited Adam to give recitals at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Tonhalle Zürich, for the “Sir András Schiff Selects” concert series. Adam has also given solo recitals in Tokyo’s Musashino Hall, New York’s Alice Tully Hall (presented by the Musicians Emergency Fund), and Amsterdam’s Kleine Zaal in Het Concertgebouw.

Adam’s professional life began when he was awarded the first prize and audience prize at the 2nd China Shanghai International Piano Competition. In 2009, he won the Max I. Allen Fellowship from American Pianists Association. As a pedagogue, he acted as Artist-in-Residence for six school years at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Adam has recorded works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms for London-based First Hand Records and he has premiered works composed for him by Richard Danielpour, Michael Brown, and Jarosław Gołębiowski.

PROGRAM

Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 120, no. 2 in E-flat Major………Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Sonata for Viola and Piano in F, Op 11, no 4 ………….Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)

-INTERMISSION-

“Where things weigh nothing at all”……….Michelle Ross (1987 – )

Sonata for Viola and Piano…………………Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979)

PROGRAM NOTES

“Where things weigh nothing at all” by Michelle Ross

This piece begins and ends in a dream state. The viola and piano weave in and out of each other’s awareness, and along with the listener, travel between the interior or exterior worlds. This is represented in improvisational gestures, expressive rubato and conversational elements between the two voices. After the introduction, there is a moment which signifies our emergence from memory and from this anchor, the music spins out into extremely luscious, harmonically bright and rich conversational themes between the duo. Momentum builds towards two peaks, from which we recede back towards the anchor of “time,” which, instead of feeling concrete, has transformed into a memory.

The title is a line from my favorite Milan Kunera novel – The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. This is one of many allusions that weave in and out of the subconscious of this piece, such as a fragment of a Gregorian Chant that hung above my piano where I composed the work. Implicit meaning guided my compositional process: instead of attempting to transcribe the Gregorian Chant, I allowed it to swirl along with my other ideas and imprint itself into this piece, as I followed along as it unfolded. The beginning of the score indicates to the performers: “walking together, unknowingly,” as if they are singing the same fragments of this chant across different realms, different times – mirroring the mysteries of the compositional process itself.

Photography by Gayna Bassin