Music Chamber

Kenji Bunch (USA) Grooveboxes

 

Brahms Piano Trio 2 in C Major, Opus 87

Allegro ~ Andante con moto ~ Scherzo: Presto; Trio: Poco meno presto ~ Finale: Allegro giocoso

 

John Psathas (b 1966) is one of a few New Zealand composers who have made a mark on the international scene, particularly in Europe and North America. He is now widely considered one of the three most important living composers of the Greek Diaspora. Raised in Taumaranui and Napier, John is the son of Greek immigrant parents who arrived in New Zealand in the early 1960s. After studying piano and composition at Victoria University, he studied privately in Belgium with Jaqueline Fontyn before returning to take up lecturing at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington. John’s music has been commissioned and performed by many great musicians and orchestras around the world. These include Michael Brecker, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Joshua Redman, The New Zealand String Quartet, Federico Mondelci, NZTrio, Pedro Carneiro, the Takacs Quartet. The Netherlands Blazers Ensemble, the Halle Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Melbourne Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Auckland Philharmonia, the Vector Wellington Orchestra, the NZSO, and many others. John has a natural inclination and innate ability for mega-projects. Since writing much of the ceremonial music for the 2004 Olympic Games, John’s music has been on the radar screen of a wider public than that normally associated with contemporary classical music. In 2010 John’s A Cool Wind received its Carnegie Hall debut with the Takacs quartet, and he was Distinguished Guest Composer at the Winnipeg’s 2010 New Music Festival, and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Berlin. He has just completed his first feature film score, for the Western Good For Nothing and was distinguished guest composer at the 2011 Taipei International Percussion Convention. He has just completed two years as the Acukland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Composer in Residence. The composer writes: These three pieces were each inspired by certain styles of Greek Dance music. They are not so much simulations of these styles as they are my own reaction to them. What I have responded to mostly is the unique energy of each of the dance types. The first piece involves a number of styles and reflects what I perceive as the latent energy in much of this music (which, in this movement, only surfaces from time to time). The second piece is a reaction to the great strength of the Zeibekiko dance, which is in a (sometimes extremely slow) 9/4 time. This second piece, while not cast in the same time frame as a true Zeibekiko, does reflect the uncertainty of the downbeat, alongside the intensely focused emotional content of this dance. The third piece is much in the style of the Sirto dance which is always lively and unfailingly contagious with its energy. This work was originally commissioned by the Kandinsky Ensemble, and scored for clarinet, cello and piano. It was subsequently arranged for piano trio.

 

Kenji Bunch (b 1973) has emerged this past decade as one of the most prominent American composers of his generation. Hailed as a “composer to watch” by the New York Times, Mr. Bunch’s works have been performed by more than twenty American orchestras in the last five years. A versatile musician, Mr. Bunch also enjoys an active performing career. As a founding member of the Flux Quartet, and now with the performing composer group Ne(x)tworks, Mr. Bunch has become one of New York’s premiere interpreters of new and experimental music. Also a dedicated teacher, Mr. Bunch currently teaches viola and composition at the Juilliard School Pre-College and at the Mark O’Connor Strings Conference in San Diego. He was a visiting professor in composition at Bennington College in Vermont in 2002 and frequently conducts master classes and workshops in viola, composition, improvisation, music appreciation, and as a consultant in arts education. Kenji wrote “Swing Shift” to capture the unique essence of New York City at her most exciting time of day – the hours between dusk and dawn. “Grooveboxes”, the final movement in the suite, is an attempt to duplicate a beat box (groovebox) of a DJ.  The opening ‘slap’ pizzicatos in the strings set up a rhythmic groove, which is added to, one layer at a time. Textures change, melodic fragments come and go, but the forward momentum of the rhythm never gives up.

 

“A most remarkable and extraordinary personality" was Brahms.  Humorous, fearless, far-seeing, sometimes over-rough to his contemporaries, but a worshipper of and worshipped by young children; with a very noble, generous, and ideal side to his character, and a curiously warped and sensual side as well.  He could look like Jupiter Olympus at one moment, and like Falstaff the next.” Charles Villiers Stanford in ‘Studies and Memories’, 1908. The Piano Trio No 2 in C was completed in the summer of 1882 while Brahms was staying at his favourite resort, Bad Ischl.  It was here two years earlier that he had composed the first movement of the trio in isolation – a thrilling opening to what promised to be a remarkable work.  As soon as the trio was finished he sent a copy to his old friend and confidante, Clara Schumann. She immediately wrote back to Brahms saying that she found the trio “a great musical treat”, and that she was sorry that she had only “a poor little piano” on which to play it. “What a splendid work this is”, she wrote.  “I love every movement: what wonderful development sections!  How beautifully one motif, one figure peels away to reveal the next!  How delightful the Scherzo is, then the Andante with its charming theme, which must surely sound idiomatic in the register of the double octaves, altogether free of artifice! How fresh that last movement is, and how interesting in its artistic combinations!” The first private performance took place on 25 August 1882 at Alt-Ausee with Brahms’s friend Ignaz Brüll as the pianist. A public performance with Brahms himself at the piano followed on 29 December that year in Frankfurt am Main. The heroic opening gestures of the Allegro first movement set the mood for the Piano Trio No 2. A lively opening theme passes through a rich diversity of keys as Brahms plays off one musical idea against another in rapid succession. The second theme is a graceful affair, easing the tension briefly within the movement before the turbulent development section. At last the heroism of the opening returns as the music strides home in the concluding bars. The A minor Andante con moto second movement provides the emotional heart of the work, as Brahms presents a troubled theme and set of five variations.  Beautiful yet melancholy, the theme first heard in double octaves on the violin and cello is carried through a constantly shifting chromatic landscape, painted in ever darkening hues. A halting C minor Scherzo third movement is scarcely the musical joke that its name implies.  Agitated staccato rhythms characterise the outer sections which frame a gently rhapsodic trio in the home key of C major. The Allegro giocoso finale is a rollicking movement full of high spirits and alternating light and shade.  Over the rushing arpeggios in the piano, the strings duck and dive, breaking at the crest of one wave only to plunge into the trough of another. In the dramatic closing passages, Brahms returns to the heroism of the opening movement as the music romps home amid a blaze of fireworks.

 

Brahms programme note by Roger Smith, reprinted courtesy of Chamber Music New Zealand www.chambermusic.co.nz

 

NZTrio thrives on connecting with audiences through intimate and exhilarating performances. The trio’s refreshing programmes juxtapose classical masterpieces with brilliant contemporary works, mix musical cultures and genres, and involve collaborations with a broad range of international artists. Violinist Justine Cormack, cellist Ashley Brown and pianist Sarah Watkins first joined forces in 2002 and were Ensemble in Residence at The University of Auckland from 2004-2009. From the outset their artistry, intensity and approachability have captivated music lovers throughout New Zealand, Australia, Asia, South America, the US and the UK. Recent highlights include appearances at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, and further concerts in Beijing and Taiwan, a Celebrity Series tour for Chamber Music New Zealand, and a special concert at the Aurora Festival in Sydney, broadcast live on ABC. 2011 will see the trio performing internationally in London, Europe, Australia and Asia. The trio actively commissions works by leading New Zealand composers. More recently, their commitment to commissioning new music has expanded to include composers from Asia and Australia, with their repertoire featuring new commissions by Musheng Chen (China), Chinary Ung (Cambodia), Judy Bailey (NZ/Australia) and Stuart Greenbaum (Australia). NZTrio regularly collaborates with leading artists from across the artistic spectrum. In the 2011 Auckland Arts Festival, the trio performed with three Cambodian folk musicians in ‘O Cambodia’, a collaborative performance of four new works by New Zealand and Cambodian composers. Other recent projects have involved performances with Finnish Accordion/Bass duo Lepisto and Lehti at WOMAD, a piece with accompanying animated film by David Downes, a work for trio with taonga puoro (traditional Maori instruments) by Richard Nunns and Gareth Farr, and a spectacular show for New Zealand Day at the 2010 World Expo with band Moana And The Tribe, singer Aivale Cole and dance troupe Footnote. Critical acclaim for the group’s performances extends to their ever-expanding catalogue of recorded work. NZTrio’s first CD “Spark” (which showcases a broad range of contemporary New Zealand trio pieces) was a finalist for best Classical Album at the NZ Music Awards in 2006; their 2008 Pacific Rim-focused release “Bright Tide Moving Between” was also named a finalist, receiving unanimously high praise from critics and listeners alike. In April 2010, their 3rd CD “Flourishes” was released. It features the group’s trademark eclectic programming with works from Mozart through to Ravel, Arvo Part and two recent NZTrio commissions by Wayan Yudane and Eve de Castro-Robinson and was also a finalist for Best Classical Album at the NZ Music Awards in 2010.

 

Justine Cormack, violinist

 

Justine Cormack, former Concertmaster of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, played for many years with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and New Zealand Chamber Orchestra. Recognised as a recitalist, chamber musician, adjudicator, concerto soloist and teacher, Justine’s myriad awards include a TVNZ Young Achievers Award, two QEII Arts Council Grants, a Fulbright Scholarship, and an NZSO Alex Lindsay Memorial Award. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a Masters from the San Francisco Conservatory and a Bachelors in performance violin from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

 

Ashley Brown, cellist

 

Ashley won the Young Musicians Competition, the National Concerto Competition and a Young Achievers Award plus prizes at the Adam International Cello Competition, Gisborne International Music Competition and the ROSL Music Competition in London. He holds a Master of Music degree from Canterbury University and the Artist Diploma from Yale. He has been Cellist of the Turnovsky Trio, Principal Cellist of the Auckland Philharmonia and Lecturer in Cello at the universities of Waikato, Canterbury and Auckland. Ashley keeps a busy schedule of solo recitals, concertos and recording and enjoys close collaborative relationships with musicians across the spectrum of genres. He plays the 1762 William Forster “Liberte” cello.

 

Sarah Watkins, pianist

 

Sarah Watkins has enjoyed an impressive career as chamber musician, collaborative partner and recording artist, performing throughout Japan, England and the United States with some of America’s leading instrumentalists. She holds both a Doctor of Musical Arts and Masters in collaborative piano from the Juilliard School in New York City, and a Bachelors from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Academic highlights include coordinating the collaborative piano programme at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, and working for several years on the music faculty of Purchase College, New York. As a United States resident for fourteen years, Sarah was a staff pianist at Juilliard, Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival.

 

NZTrio’s Sustaining Partner: Creative New Zealand