Merz Trio to premiere new work for Columbus Chamber Music and Chamber Music Houston
- On June 07, 2022
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In EVENTS, News
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A new piano trio, Lines in Motion, will be premiered in the 2022-2023 season by the acclaimed Merz Trio. The work is commissioned by Columbus Chamber Music (as part of their 75th Anniversary season) and by Chamber Music Houston.
Merz Trio (photo by Dario Acosta)
Merz Trio is a dynamic young ensemble “praised for their “fresh and surprising interpretations,” … their passionate playing and uniquely artistic programming style, interspersing classic trio works with interdisciplinary elements and their own arrangements. The Trio have made a sweep of recent US chamber awards, taking top prizes at the 2021 Naumburg, 2019 Concert Artists Guild, 2019 Fischoff, and 2018 Chesapeake Competitions. Upcoming debut appearances include performances at NYC’s Merkin Hall, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.”
Lines in Motion for violin, cello and piano, explores the relationship between music art, and is inspired by three striking line-drawings from the early 20th century: On the Open Sea [En pleine mer], a 1921 woodcut by French artist René Quillivic, Amerika [America], a 1922 line drawing by Flemish artist Frans Masereel, and Rhythms, a 1922 woodcut by American artist Wharton Esherick. The distinct technique used for each black and white illustration creates form and shape through linear motion: sweeping curled lines, dramatic vertical lines, and the sinewy lines of the human body. The three movement of Lines in Motion aim to project a similar effect in their musical character and atmosphere.
René Quillivic, Frans Masereel, Wharton Esherick
En pleine mer [On the Open Sea]. Amerika [America], Rhythms
City Scenes broadcast on BBC Radio 3
- On February 23, 2022
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In EVENTS, News
- 0
The January 3, 2022 concert of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, featuring City Scenes, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on February 22, and available for online listening afterwards.
Sian Edwards conducts a programme that ends with Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances. Before it come two much newer pieces, Dani Howard’s Coalescence – which explores how the human race has attempted to ‘outsmart’ nature over the centuries, and Karim Al-Zand’s City Scenes, which captures the beauty and chaos of life in a city.
Galilee Chamber Orchestra plays Luctus Profugis at Carnegie
- On February 22, 2022
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In EVENTS
- 0
The Galilee Chamber Orchestra will play Luctus Profugis as part of their North American Tour in March 2022. The work will receive its New York premiere in a concert at Carnegie Hall on March 18th, followed by a performance on March 22 at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. The group is Isreal’s first professional orchestra of both Arab and Jewish musicians and the tour represents the group’s US debut. The concerts will be conducted by pianist and conductor Saleem Ashkar. The program will be broadcast on WQXR on Carnegie Hall Live on March 18th, and following that, available for on-demand streaming.
