Picosa’s March concert is all about the point where movement begins, not only musically and historically, but also with this exciting inaugural collaboration with The Cambrians Contemporary Dance company. The program opens with Merge Left by University of Illinois-Chicago Associate Professor of Music Marc Mellits which, despite its whimsical title, is written in dedication and memory to Mellits’ dear friend John Craft in his last months before succumbing to AIDS. Three miniature works by Augusta Read Thomas D(i)agon(als) for solo clarinet, Euterpe’s Capricefor solo flute, and Capricci for flute and clarinet capture movement and motion in their mercurial and spinning musical lines. Florent Ghys’ Etude for 11 Faces embodies the progress of the field of music towards innovative new territory with the integral use of visuals not only in the performance practice but in the actual construction of the work itself. Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegeltranslates to "mirror within the mirror" and will be one of several works featuring a soloist from The Cambrian's Dance company. Haydn’s Divertissement for flute, violin, and cello is a sorbet within a rich program, which sets up the final work on the program, the revolutionary Kammersymphonie No. 1 transcribed by Anton Webern from the original score by Arnold Schoenberg. The music of Webern and Schoenberg represents a seismic shift in the western tradition of classical music moving away from diatonicism (major and minor scales) and towards heterodox, new terrain in tonality including serialism, 12 tone rows, and ultimately paving the way for a new language in contemporary music.
Program
Arvo Pärt | Spiegel im Spiegel (cello/piano)
Marc Mellits | Merge Left (flute/clarinet/cello)
Augusta Read Thomas | D(i)agon(als) (clarinet)
Augusta Read Thomas | Euterpe’s Caprice (flute)
Augusta Read Thomas | Capricci (flute/clarinet)
Florent Ghys | Etudes on 11 Faces(violin/cello/piano/electronics)
pause
Franz Joseph Haydn | Divertissment No. 1(flute/violin/cello)
Arnold Schoenberg arr. Webern | Kammersymphonie, op. 9 (flute/clar/violin/cello/piano)

Picosa Artists
Jennie Oh Brown | flute
Andrea R. DiOrio | clarinet
Elizabeth Brausa Brathwaite | violin
Patti Garvey | cello
Kuang-Hao Huang | piano
Jonathon Kirk | Composer-in-Residence

Guest Artist
Ben Wardell | dancer