Speaking of Peter Schickele (see Alias), last March the Blair Woodwind Quintet premiered his A Year in the Catskills, one of the Blair School of Music's series of commissioned works from leading composers. And, speaking of the Blair Commission Series, the Blakemore Trio's upcoming concert serves up that series' most recent fruit.
New York-based composer/soprano Susan Botti joins the trio on Friday for the world premiere of her Gates of Silence, and the group travels to New York on March 13 to present the work again at the Kaufman Center. Botti has composed other commissions for the Cleveland Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and she won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005.
Also active as a vocalist, Botti performs both her own music and a wide range of contemporary repertoire. Chinese conductor/composer Tan Dun has highlighted her talent in a number of major works, including several productions of his award-winning opera Marco Polo.
Gates of Silence comprises three pieces that can be performed together or independently: The first is a duo for violin and piano, the second a trio adding cello, the third a work for trio plus soprano. The last piece features poetry by National Book Award finalist Linda Gregerson, who will be on hand along with Botti and Blair's Dean Mark Wait for a pre-concert discussion.
Botti's notes describe Gates as a series of "passages" between loss and hope, inspired by her reflections on Virgil's Aeneid and on the renewal of "fallen cities" from Troy to New Orleans. In the theatrical spirit that informs much of Botti's work, Saturday's performance enlists Atlanta-based Leslie Taylor for staging and set design.
Violinist Carolyn Huebl, cellist Felix Wang and pianist Amy Dorfman founded the Blakemore Trio in 2002, shortly after Huebl's arrival on Blair's faculty. Botti's is not their first commissioned work — in past seasons they've presented new pieces by Paul Osterfield and Sheuh-Shuan Liu. Dorfman is also familiar to local audiences through her long-standing collaboration with bassist Edgar Meyer, and Wang has belonged to the Blair String Quartet since 1999.
Like the new Alias project, Blair's commission series serves not only to bring world-class new music into local concert halls, but also to put some of Nashville's top classical ensembles into the national spotlight. Here's hoping the trend continues.
The concert is free, but tickets are required. Call 322-7651 for information.
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