FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nightjar returns with Kodály, Schumann and ‘Voodoo Dolls’ May 23
By Zachary C. Person
Media contact: hello@nightjar.com
SEATTLE, Wash. – Nightjar, Seattle’s newest chamber music society, in collaboration with 10 Degrees Arts + Events presents an evening of playful and triumphant chamber music at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 23 at 10 Degrees (6009 12th Ave. S.) in the heart of Seattle’s historic Georgetown neighborhood.
Jessie Montgomery’s “Voodoo Dolls” for string quartet opens the program. The energetic five-minute work is inspired by West African drumming patterns, lyrical chant motives and free improvisation. Montgomery, whose work has been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” by the Washington Post, is a New York-based composer and violinist who’s music weaves together traditional classical music with elements of improvisation, vernacular music, language and social justice.
Gioachino Rossini’s Duetto in D Major for cello and bass follows. While Rossini wrote a number of playful oddities late in his career, this 14-minute, three-movement jaunt was penned in 1824 during the heart of the young Rossini’s stunning early-career operatic period. A touching middle andante movement is framed by two lighthearted allegro numbers, showcasing virtuoso writing and inventive accompaniment, making the Duetto a substantial piece of 18th century chamber music despite the diminutive ensemble size.
The program continues with the Serenade, Op. 12 for string trio by Zoltán Kodály. Kodály, who spent decades collecting folk music from throughout his native Hungary, masterfully combined late-Romantic sensibilities with the traditional musical material he collected to form his singular compositional voice. While the Serenade Op. 12 is somewhat unusually written for just three string instruments in lieu of the expected quartet, Kodály delivers a substantial nearly 20 minutes in length filled with swarthy Romanticism, Hungarian-inflected ‘parlando’ sequences and joy-filled folk tunes.
The program concludes with Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44. Composed in 1842 during Schumann’s oft-called “year of chamber music,” the Op. 44 quintet for string quartet and piano is widely considered one of the finest examples of Romantic-era chamber music. The quintet is cyclic in nature, with the bold theme that opens the first movement making a dramatic return in the finale, combining with the latter movement’s own theme in a powerfully triumphant fugue to close the four-movement, 30-minute masterpiece.
Performers for the evening include: Michael Lim (violin); Dawn Posey (violin); Blayne Barnes (violin); Daniel Stone (viola); Camille Ripple (viola); Emily Hu (cello); Joseph Kaufman (double bass); and Thomas Lee (piano).
Audience members are welcome to arrive early at 6:00 p.m. for a pre-concert cocktail hour featuring locally made Oola Distillery spirits and stay late for a post-concert after-party with the artists.
Tickets $30. To learn more or purchase tickets, visit: nightjarseattle.org.
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