Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present "Gen, Jen and Friends," a concert of 20th century trio music composed for violin, piano and another instrument, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 1, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.
Joining pianist Geneva Fung, staff accompanist in the School of Music, will be colleagues Jennifer Dalmas, violin; Christopher Ayer, clarinet; Evgeni Raychev, cello; and Gary Wurtz, trumpet.
Featured on the program are Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Gian Carlo Menotti; Space Jump for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 46 by Fazil Say; and Trio for Trumpet, Violin and Piano by Eric Ewazen.
"Different composers of different nationalities have different perspectives and aesthetics of sound and timber with instrumentation combinations," Fung said. "I would like to show the different characters and composition techniques through these compositions."
Italian composer Menotti's Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano was commissioned by The Verdehr Trio, which was formed at Michigan State University. The ensemble premiered the first and second movements at the Spoleto Festival in July 1996, and Menotti promised that the third movement would be ready in time for a concert at Michigan State University, which was to take place in September of that year, Fung said.
"However, administrative duties at Spoleto kept Menotti from completing the piece until the week of the Michigan State premiere," she said. "He was determined to finish it. In fact, he literally finished the third movement at noon on the very day of the concert."
A free-fall jump from 39 kilometers above Earth by Austria's extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner in 2012 inspired Turkish-American composer Say's Space Jump for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 46, according to Fung.
"In his musical illustration of this revelatory voyage from space to Earth, Say depicts each phase of the jump, from takeoff to safe landing," Fung said. "Say's intense fascination with this event prompted a work containing every emotion he experienced as a spectator."
In Trio for Trumpet, Violin and Piano, Ewazen "uses the trumpet heroically and dramatically, but at the same time lyrically," Fung explained. "Each of the four movements in this composition demonstrates different timbre and color of the uncommon instrumental combination."
The recital is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music and is a feature of the Cole Performing Arts Series.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.