The past week has been spent with my trio, Strata, in Maryland. We played a concert on Thursday, April 18 in Linehan Concert Hall in the beautiful Performing Arts and Humanities Building on the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The program was the same as our February performance at the Clarice Smith Center at the University of Maryland, College Park:
A Thousand Whirling Dreams (2014) by Dana Wilson
(Speaking of the Dana Wilson, our performance of his trio from last year’s concert on the Ulster Chamber Music Series in New York was featured on “Performance Today” again last week. I’m so pleased they have chosen to showcase this wonderful trio so many times!)
Seven Glances at Mirage (2003, dedicated to Strata) by Jonathan Leshnoff
Slang (1998) by Libby Larsen
Trio (2005) by Margaret Brouwer
Trio (1998) by Paul Schoenfield
As an encore, we played The Easy Winners by Scott Joplin, arranged by William Bolcom, from Bolcom’s Afternoon Cakewalk: Suite of Rags.
When we planned this exciting and varied program, we didn’t fully absorb just how big and exhausting it would be until our College Park performance back in February. Normally, as soon as a concert is over, I can’t wait to do it again. But after this one, I definitely felt ready for a day off! It’s a program that’s more than worth the energy and effort and the audiences have been very appreciative and enthusiastic.
The following night (Friday, April 18), we performed a concert at UMBC of trios written for us by four of Professor Linda Dusman’s talented composition students: Logan Perkins (Kittamaqundi), Matt Galinn (Trio), Jeremy Keaton (A Force That Gives Us Meaning), and Collin David (Movementations). We performed these trios for their composition studio class earlier in the week so they could hear their pieces for the first time. It was a great class offering an opportunity for feedback from their professor and from us, as well as giving them the chance to make requests of us about ways we might be able to more effectively bring their music to life. I was so impressed with the writing of each one of these young composers and it’s clear that Linda Dusman is doing wonderful work with her students! . I’ve seldom heard work this strong from students and sincerely hope they will get many performances of these terrific trios for years to come. If you would like more information about these composers and their work, feel free to send me an email and I’ll be happy to put you in touch with them.
To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts—such is the duty of the artist.
—–Robert Schumann