November
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Join Opus Nova for our season-opening chamber concert featuring irresistible art songs, arias, and lyrical instrumental works by Mozart, Weber, Mendelssohn, Spohr, and Copland, with acclaimed guest baritone James Rodriguez, esteemed collaborative pianist Cecilia Kao, with directors Stas Chernyshev and Ann Hung on clarinets. |
Postponed
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The music of French impressionists Debussy and Ravel is at times pure, innocent and crystalline, and elsewhere extroverted and passionate, developing out of the romantic expression of 19th century composers like Gounod and Faure. Their love of the harp and its vibrant colors opened composers up to new stylistic possibilities. Filled with French sensibility, this program covers the full spectrum of French romantic and impressionistic modes, including a glance forward with Francis Poulenc’s mesmerizing, bi-tonal duet for two clarinets. |
February
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart brought the status of the clarinet to new heights when he set some of his most profoundly lyrical melodies for the instrument. Carrying the elegant phrase structures of the First Viennese School into the romantic era, Brahms explores the timbre of the instrument in an even richer setting with his powerful yet tender Quintet. Although this program features two unparalleled masters firmly in the classical canon, the unfinished Allegros of Mozart (presented as finished works on this concert) are scarcely performed treasures. |
September
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This season premiere concert features the unusual trio of clarinet, guitar, and cello for a South American-flavored program filled with evocative folk music by mostly living composers. Exhilarating dance music, whimsical Brazilian songs, and the entrancing, Judeo-Spanish work Kantigas by David Ludwig will offer an evening of surprising musical and cultural variety. Ann Hung, Clarinet Stas Chernyshev, Clarinet Jordan Dodson, Guitar Allan Steele, Cello |
October
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The lush, pastoral romanticism and witty energy of many 20th century British composers derive from 19th century composers like Felix Mendelssohn, whose imaginative scene-setting and soaring melodies left a lasting impact on the musical world. English composers Edward Elgar and Arnold Bax offer open-hearted phrases and tonal harmonies with plenty of dramatic tension; Malcolm Arnold’s Sonatina, composed just after World War II, is rather a playful, jazz-influenced thrill-ride that pushes both performers to their limits. Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao, Piano Ann Hung, Clarinet and Piano Stas Chernyshev, Clarinet |
December
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With the advent of cinematography came vivid film music, and compositional styles that aimed to depict colorful musical landscapes or scenes. From breathtaking melodies of John Williams to playful, jazzy vignettes of George Gershwin to the irresistible tangos of Astor Piazzolla, this highly accessible program is a prismatic journey through some of the 20th century’s most viscerally attractive sonic narratives. Daniel Anastasio, Piano Ann Hung, Clarinet Stas Chernyshev, Clarinet Allan Steele, Cello |
