Event Description
Shulamit Ran | Brave Chicken Fights the Ogre: Ode to Nina **Premiere (flute/bass clarinet)
Ludwig van Beethoven | Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost” (vln/cello/pno)
Johannes Brahms | Trio in a minor, op 114 (clarinet/cello/piano)
Jennifer Higdon | Smash (flute/clarinet/violin/cello/piano)
Picosa Artists
Jennie Oh Brown | flute
Andrea R. DiOrio | clarinet
Elizabeth Brausa Brathwaite | violin
Paula Kosower | cello
Kuang-Hao Huang | piano
Jonathon Kirk | Composer-in-Residence
A concert of chamber music favorites gets a new bit of sparkle with the addition of works by two Pulitzer Prize winning, ground-breaking composers: Shulamit Ran and Jennifer Higdon. Jennifer Higdon’s music is among the most frequently performed of this generation. Her virtuosic chamber work Smash for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano is a tour de force that audiences are sure to find thrilling. Shulamit Ran’s duo Ode to Nina (title tbd) is an introspective work written in memory of Nina Frenkel, an artist who passed away in 2015. Frenkel’s works will be displayed during the performance and also as a prelude and postlude to the concert. Ode to Nina was written for flute and bass clarinet, and Picosa musicians are honored to have premiered it and to include it in this season.
At the crux of this concert are two epic chamber music trios. The Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost” is among the most revered works within Beethoven’s large oeuvre of chamber music for strings and piano. Brahms’ Trio in a minor, op. 114 for clarinet, cello, and piano is a personal favorite for Picosa musicians and audiences alike. Audiences will have the opportunity to contrast these great works within this concert program, a treat and a rare opportunity for music aficionados and all music lovers.