Programs
These programs for violin and piano were all designed as approximately one hour-long programs without intermission, but can easily be adapted to longer or shorter formats.
Classical Blues
This program explores 100 years of the magic that happens at the intersection of classical and jazz. From danceable rhythms and hummable familiar tunes, to the discovery of tantalizing new expressions of Boogie-Woogie and the blues, “who could ask for anything more?”
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David Baker: Blues (Deliver My Soul)
Gershwin, arr. Heifetz: Porgy and Bess
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Blue/s Forms I. Plain Blues, III. Jettin’ Blues (solo violin)
Michael Abels: Iconoclasm (solo piano)
Errollyn Wallen: Woogie-Boogie
Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano
20th and 21st Century Women
Experience works by (and the fascinating stories of) brilliant female composers. This emotionally and stylistically wide-ranging program offers listeners a surprising array of works from the early and mid-20th century, plus exciting new compositions by living women composers.
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Irene Britton Smith: Sonata for Violin and Piano
Reena Email: Darshan:Charukeshi for Solo Violin
Jessie Montgomery: Rhapsody No. 1 for Solo Violin
Cécile Chaminade: Capriccio for Violin and Piano, Op. 18
Irene Britton Smith: Passacaglia in C-sharp Minor (solo piano)
Lili Boulanger: D’un matin de printemps (violin and piano)
Amy Reich: Four Pieces for Violin and Piano (world premiere, 2023)
Lili Boulanger: Cortege (violin and piano)
Beethoven and Bridgetower
Beethoven’s 9th Sonata has an intriguing backstory: originally dedicated to, and premiered by, the great Afro-British violinist George Bridgetower, the work ended up being dedicated to violinist Rudolphe Kreutzer (who deemed the work unplayable). Kreutzer became a celebrated figure while Bridgetower faded into poverty and obscurity. The Beethoven sonata is paired with Vijay Iyer’s 2015 work Bridgetower Fantasy, a collection of musings about Bridgetower. Iyer imagines him as “an ambiguous figure who, in embodying difference, provoked inspiration, fantasy, desire, anger and, finally, erasure.”
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Beethoven: Sonata No. 9 for Violin and Piano, “Kreutzer”
Vijay Iyer: Bridgetower Fantasy for Violin and Piano
Project Name
David Baker: Blues (Deliver My Soul) (5 min)Gershwin, arr. Heifetz: Porgy and Bess (17 min)Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Blue/s Forms I. Plain Blues, III. Jettin’ Blues (solo violin) (4 min)Michael Abels: Iconoclasm (solo piano) (3 min)Errollyn Wallen: Woogie-Boogie (3 min)Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano (18 min)This program explores 100 years of the magic that happens at the intersection of classical and jazz. From danceable rhythms and hummable familiar tunes, to the discovery of tantalizing new expressions of Boogie-Woogie and the blues, “who could ask for anything more?”
Project Name
David Baker: Blues (Deliver My Soul) (5 min)Gershwin, arr. Heifetz: Porgy and Bess (17 min)Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Blue/s Forms I. Plain Blues, III. Jettin’ Blues (solo violin) (4 min)Michael Abels: Iconoclasm (solo piano) (3 min)Errollyn Wallen: Woogie-Boogie (3 min)Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano (18 min)This program explores 100 years of the magic that happens at the intersection of classical and jazz. From danceable rhythms and hummable familiar tunes, to the discovery of tantalizing new expressions of Boogie-Woogie and the blues, “who could ask for anything more?”
Project Name
David Baker: Blues (Deliver My Soul) (5 min)Gershwin, arr. Heifetz: Porgy and Bess (17 min)Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: Blue/s Forms I. Plain Blues, III. Jettin’ Blues (solo violin) (4 min)Michael Abels: Iconoclasm (solo piano) (3 min)Errollyn Wallen: Woogie-Boogie (3 min)Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano (18 min)This program explores 100 years of the magic that happens at the intersection of classical and jazz. From danceable rhythms and hummable familiar tunes, to the discovery of tantalizing new expressions of Boogie-Woogie and the blues, “who could ask for anything more?”