Friday’s recital by the winning chamber duo of Avery-Inouye will focus on the music of women composers. Like the 2019 pre-pandemic finale of the Third Avenue Arts chamber series, postcards from around the world, tonight’s offerings will cover a lot of ground.
Violinist Lauren Avery and pianist Mika Inouye will showcase music by Boulanger, Heller, Price, Wieck Schumann and Chen Yi. From Clara Wieck Schumann’s 1853 “Three Romances” to the 1999 “Fisherman’s Song,” by contemporary Chinese American composer Chen Yi, the works range over time, space and style.
“It’s a great program with many works that will be new and interesting for our audience,” Inouye said. “Our intention is to perform music by female composers and composers of color. As a classical musician and person of color, I feel the need to represent diverse voices and hope that bringing this music to our community will broaden awareness.”
The duo will open with Chen Yi’s “Fisherman’s Song,” Inouye said, based on a Cantonese melody that is personally significant to her.
“My grandmother comes from that region in China,” she said.
If you go
WHAT: Violinist Lauren Avery and pianist Mika Inouye perform a recital of works by women composers for Third Avenue Arts.
WHERE: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 910 East Third Ave.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday (Feb. 17).
TICKETS: Adults $20, students free. Available at 3rdAveArts.org or at the door.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.DurangoRecitals.com.
From that starting point, the duo will perform the “Romances” by Wieck Schumann and a 1917 piece by French composer Lili Boulanger. Three short works by African American composer Florence Price (1885-1953) will follow: “Deserted Garden,” “Elfentanz” and “Adoration.” Price’s compositions are undergoing a revival in the last few years as the Baltimore Symphony has performed and recorded many of her works, not to mention last February’s tribute by our own San Juan Symphony – Price’s “Suite of Dances” from 1933.
“The most riveting piece on the program might be a lullaby that has its origin in a resistance song sung by Iranian students during the period of Shah rule,” Inouye said. “’Lalai,’ by Barbara Heller, a German composer and pianist, dedicated it to all women held in Islamic prisons for political reasons.”
As the duo rehearsed the pieces, Inouye said, “We discovered meaningful connections to the music as women ourselves. Clara Wieck Schumann’s music is just as difficult, just as beautiful, just as deep as her husband’s. But it has a distinctly different voice. The Florence Price pieces are small but profound with all kinds of rich harmonies.”
And the most challenging?
“The most technically difficult stuff is in the vibrant music of Lili Boulanger, and she lived only 24 years,” Inouye said.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
