SFA music faculty recital features trios for clarinet, violin, piano

SFA music faculty members Jennifer Dalmas, violin; Geneva Fung, piano; and Christopher Ayer, clarinet, will perform trios for clarinet, violin and piano in a recital at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Trios for clarinet, violin and piano is the theme for a Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music faculty concert at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The concert will feature performances of music faculty members Christopher Ayer, clarinet; Jennifer Dalmas, violin; and Geneva Fung, piano. The recital is a feature of the Cole Performing Arts Series.

The idea of a clarinet-violin-piano trio is relatively contemporary, according to Fung. Verdehr Trio has commissioned more than 200 new works since that ensemble's founding in 1972 at Michigan State University.

"The goal of our trio is to continue promoting the music for this ensemble setting," Fung said. "We are constantly looking for new compositions for our ensemble."

Among the works to be performed are pieces by Dmitri Shostakovich, Paul Schoenfield and Bela Bartók.

Bartók's only trio, "Contrasts," came to be composed as a result of a request by the Hungarian violinist Josef Szigeti, who had emigrated to the United States, and "King of Swing" clarinetist Benny Goodman. After a meeting with Szigeti, who early in the summer of 1938 broached the idea to him, and then a meeting on the Riviera with Goodman, who was on tour in Europe, Szigeti wrote a letter formally commissioning the work, according to Fung.

Schoenfield's Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano is an ingenious blend of artistic ensemble, instrumental virtuosity, and deliberately fragmented references to melodies that might well have been heard at various Hassidic courts in Europe, Fung explained. The genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations.

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 (888) 240-ARTS or visit http://www.finearts.sfasu.edu/.