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Ensemble for These Times – Transformations – Friday, September 22 at 8 pm

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Ensemble for These Times
Transformations

Nanette McGuinness, soprano; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano
with guest Jennifer Redondas, violin 

Arnold Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 arr. Eduard Steuermann
Darian Donovan Thomas Fluid (2016)
Lisa Bielawa The Dragon and the Girl (2014)
inti figgis-vizueta a bridge between starshine and clay (2018)
Franz Schreker songs

Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) opens its 16th season with Transformations, a concert about various kinds of transformation—physical, biological, emotional, environmental, and musical. The highlight of the program will be Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4 (1899), arranged for piano trio by Eduard Steuermann and inspired by the eponymous poem in which a couple’s love is transformed by compassion. It will be in dialogue with three contemporary chamber works: Fluid (2016) for violin and electronics by Darian Donovan Thomas; The Dragon and the Girl (2014) for cello by Lisa Bielawa; a bridge between starshine and clay (2018) for piano, by inti figgis-vizueta, plus  songs by Franz Schreker.

Winners of The American Prize in 2021 for Chamber Music Performance, Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) consists of soprano/Artistic Executive Director Nanette McGuinness, cellist Abigail Monroe, pianist Margaret Halbig, and Senior Artistic Advisor/San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty/composer David Garner. E4TT focuses on 20th and 21st century music that is relevant, engaging, original and compelling—music that resonates with today and speaks to tomorrow, that harnesses the power of artistic beauty, intelligence, wit, lyricism, and irony to create a deep understanding of our times and the human condition. Women creators are an ongoing primary focus. E4TT has performed at the internationally at the Krakow Culture Festival (2016 and 2022), Conservatorio Teresa Berganza in Madrid (2017), was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Budapest (2014) and made its international debut in Berlin (2012) and has released four award-winning albums, The Guernica Project, Surviving: Women’s Words, Once/Memory/Night: Paul Celan, and The Hungarians: from Rozsa to Justus.

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An excellent opportunity for students, seniors, or anyone who possesses a love for music!

If you’d like to consider volunteering with Old First Concerts, please contact curtishuth@oldfirstconcerts.org for more information.