Event Program: Music for Horns, Piano and Strings

American Stories

Featuring the Zodiac Trio

Program

An American in Paris…… George Gershwin (1898–1937), arr. Riko Higuma

Milonga del Ángel and Muerte del Ángel…… Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992), arr. Riko Higuma

Swinging with Benny…… Benny Goodman (1909–1986), arr. Jean-Marc Brisson
Selections of jazz tunes popularized by the Benny Goodman Band

–– INTERMISSION ––

Klezmer Fantazye…… Andrew List (b. 1956)

Danzón No. 2…… Arturo Márquez (b. 1950), arr. Riko Higuma

Serenade for Three…… Peter Schickele (1935–2024)
I. Dances
II. Songs
III. Variations

Guest Artists

Zodiac Trio
Vanessa Mollard, violin
Kliment Krylovskiy, clarinet
Riko Higuma, piano

Many thanks to New England Congregational Church and First Congregational Church of Dundee for welcoming us into their beautiful spaces this season!

Thank you to our Concert Sponsors: Grant and Dolores Giesler

Chamber Music on the Fox Season 11 is presented by Mark and Robin Seigle

Program Notes

(click title below to read)

Premiered in 1928, this iconic symphonic poem of Gershwin’s vivid musical depiction of Paris is a work with a full orchestration including (several) saxophones and even car horns! Very colorful, as one would expect from Gershwin’s orchestral works. So, needless to say I was afraid that I might not only diminish this great piece of music but also not get the full essence by reducing it to only three instruments. I feared that the soundscape of a full orchestration had a lot to do with this music being incredibly charming and charismatic. Just like with new compositions, you cannot really tell if the arrangement “works” or not until you perform it in front of a live audience – I very much remember the first performance of this arrangement in Boston, I was quite nervous for it but luckily we received a warm and positive response. I realized that it has a lot to do with the fact that Gershwin is a master tune craftsman, and so I couldn’t really mess this up as long as I stayed focused on connecting the thread of the wonderful tunes he created. Choosing what to cut out is always the most difficult part for me when making any arrangements because it’s obvious that composers put much thought into creating music that makes sense structurally. I had to be careful that I don’t completely change the flow of the piece but still cut out a chunk of it (Gershwin’s original version is 20min where mine is 8min). I decided to let go of many of the fast rhythmic sections but give enough time to explore the slow theme, giving everyone the chance to sing out the beautiful melody several times and made sure to include the wonderful counter melodies. I couldn’t resist using the good old castanet to mimic the wood block off beats of this slow theme, to keep Gershwin’s ingenious way to give a little kick and extra charm to this lush melody. I very often find his works irresistibly charming and I can only hope that I was able to keep that with this arrangement.

Astor Piazzolla, the renowned Argentine composer and bandoneón virtuoso, is celebrated for revolutionizing the traditional tango genre, infusing it with elements of classical music and jazz to create his distinctively evocative style known as nuevo tango. Among his extensive oeuvre, “Milonga del Ángel” and “Muerte del Ángel” stand out as two captivating pieces that exemplify Piazzolla’s innovative approach to tango music.

Composed in 1965, “Milonga del Ángel” is a hauntingly beautiful piece that captures the essence of the milonga—a dance form closely related to the tango, known for its syncopated rhythms and melancholic melodies. Piazzolla’s composition transports listeners to the dimly lit streets of Buenos Aires, where the bittersweet strains of the bandoneón echo through the night, evoking a sense of longing and nostalgia. The piece is characterized by its seductive rhythms, rich harmonies, and soulful melodies, which intertwine to create a mesmerizing tapestry of sound.

“Muerte del Ángel,” composed in 1962, is a dramatic and intense work that explores the darker side of Piazzolla’s musical universe. The title, which translates to “Death of the Angel,” hints at the piece’s brooding and ominous atmosphere, which is punctuated by sudden bursts of passion and aggression. Piazzolla’s masterful use of dissonance and rhythmic tension heightens the sense of drama, drawing listeners into a world of tumult and conflict. Yet amid the chaos, there are moments of haunting beauty and profound introspection, as Piazzolla weaves together intricate melodic lines and harmonic textures with breathtaking virtuosity.

“Milonga del Ángel” and “Muerte del Ángel” are exemplary works that showcase Astor Piazzolla’s unparalleled ability to imbue traditional Argentine tango music with a contemporary sensibility. Through his innovative compositions and masterful performances, Piazzolla has left an indelible mark on the world of music, inspiring generations of musicians and listeners alike. With their evocative melodies, rich harmonies, and passionate rhythms, “Milonga del Ángel” and “Muerte del Ángel” continue to captivate audiences around the globe, transporting them to the vibrant streets of Buenos Aires and beyond.

As a clarinet-violin-piano trio, it’s no exaggeration to say that we’ve built our career around one of the greatest chamber music masterpieces of the 20th century: Béla Bartók’s legendary Contrasts. Commissioned by none other than the King of Swing, Benny Goodman, this iconic piece has been central to our repertoire for nearly two decades. With over 150 performances to date, Contrasts has served as our lens into Goodman’s classical legacy. Each performance has been an opportunity to reflect on how a jazz legend ventured into the classical realm, inspiring a work of profound artistry.

Now, we’re thrilled to shift our focus to the side of Benny Goodman that defined him for the world: the King of Swing. With this project, we pay homage to his unparalleled influence on jazz with a collection of works popularized by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra.

To bring this vision to life, we’ve teamed up with the brilliant French jazz pianist and arranger Jean-Marc Brisson. Jean-Marc has taken some of Goodman’s most beloved jazz standards and reimagined them for clarinet, violin, and piano.
What makes these arrangements so unique is Jean-Marc’s ability to fully utilize the technical prowess of classical musicians while juxtaposing it with the trademark flourishes and licks of jazz. The result is a collection of arrangements that sparkle with virtuosity come alive with masterful improvisation (all meticulously written out!), and even include delightful classical Easter eggs—listen closely, and you might catch a hint of Peer Gynt in “Dinah.”

Additionally, Jean-Marc’s innovative use of polyrhythms in a piece like “In A Sentimental Mood” adds another dimension to these arrangements, bringing these famous tunes to life while tipping the hat to the trio’s and Jean-Marc’s classical roots.
It has been tremendous fun performing these works, allowing us to let loose and step into the shoes of jazz musicians (even if our solos are written out!). We hope you’ll enjoy listening to them as much as we enjoyed recording them!

Klezmer Fantazye written in 2012 and dedicated to the Zodiac Trio. It is the first of two works I wrote that year as an attempt to reconnect with my Jewish roots. The piece draws on the conventional sounds of traditional Klezmer music while at times pushes the sound world beyond what one traditionally associated with a Klezmer band. Klezmer music grew out of the cantorial style of singing and has a long history of popularity, decline, and revival. Although most closely associated with Jewish musical life in Eastern Europe and mainly heard at weddings up to the end of the nineteenth century,

The work begins with a bold introduction, which sounds improvisatory in nature. The main section of the piece begins with the clarinet playing a theme that sounds detectably Klezmer-like, and the violin taking it up soon thereafter. After a short pause, the music begins gradually to speed up with a tune borrowed from classical Klezmer repertoire and known as the Odessa Bulgar. This leads to a virtuoso cadenza duet, for the violin and clarinet, where the improvisatory nature of the music returns with a vengeance finishing with the Odessa Blugar.

As the title suggests, this great masterpiece by Arturo Márquez pays tribute to the dance style of danzón from the Mexican state of Veracruz. Originally scored for a big orchestra including solo piano, an extensive percussion and brass sections, you usually see about a 100 people on stage for the full scale performance of this piece. That being said, it starts out with only 3 instruments and by sheer luck, they are: solo clarinet, piano, (so no need for any kind of arranging there, yay for me) and an instrument which has a very present voice, a clave! There was no way that I was not including that, so now we tour with a clave (thank you Vanessa for taking up this instrument!). It’s worth noting that I decided to also use the castanet when this opening clave reappears, giving myself, the pianist, a double duty – left hand playing chords on the piano while right hand plays the castanet (great fun!). In fact, we all wear many hats – from the clarinetist playing as a soloist, to blending in as harmony in the background, to playing very loudly screaming on top of the register becoming the bright and shiny trumpet, and to the violinist also playing another instrument that is basically the third voice for the entire opening on top of representing the whole strings, and of course the pianist becoming an entire rhythm section while being everything else at the same time, as always. It makes sense since a full participation of everyone involved at all times is very much needed to do justice to this powerful piece of music. I can only hope that we have achieved that with this particular arrangement!

My first encounter with Peter Schickele was in the mid-90s at a summer music camp, the Performing Arts Institute in Wilkes-Barre. While practicing in a choral room one day, I got a little bored and started rummaging through some LPs in a plastic crate next to the piano. Amid an array of choral music, I stumbled upon a record titled “An Hysteric Return: PDQ Bach at Carnegie Hall with Professor Peter Schickele.” The cover alone—featuring a pompous-looking man in a wig—was strange enough, but the works listed below fully captured my attention: “Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons.” What the hell was this? Little did I know that over 20 years later, I would be recording music by this wonderful composer.

Schickele’s “Serenade for Three” is, at least to us, a perfect encapsulation of Americana—a mix of rambunctious optimism, Copland-esque nostalgic beauty, and a raucous celebration of the human spirit.

We thought rather than trying to explain this piece, we’d let Peter speak for himself:

“My brother started studying violin when he was nine, and I started playing clarinet and piano when I was a young teenager, so perhaps one of the reasons I was so delighted by the commission that resulted in Serenade for Three is that the piece recalls (in much more sophisticated form, I feel safe in saying) the sounds that wafted through 1354 N. 12th St., Fargo, North Dakota, during the late forties. My brother ended up switching to viola, and I to bassoon, but I’ve always had a fondness for the clarinet/violin/piano combination, and it was high time I wrote something for it. The first movement of the Serenade is a headlong series of dances set off by a robust refrain. The four sections (and three keys) of the lyrical second movement are tied together by the note E-flat which repeats in raindrop fashion throughout. The finale features an interesting bit of incest. Peter Schickele writing variations on a theme by P.D.Q. Bach. The theme in question comes from the title character’s aria in Oedipus Tex, an opera/oratorio in one cathartic act. I’ve always had a weakness for cornball cowboy music, which in the P.D.Q. Bach work gets combined with certain eighteenth-century classical figurations; the style in the Serenade finale is more wide-ranging: in addition to country fiddling, there’s also some boogie-woogie piano. A rabble-rousing finish.” ─ Peter Schickele

Guest Artist Biography

(click each title below to read)

The Zodiac Trio

One of today’s premiere clarinet-violin-piano ensembles, the Zodiac Trio is known for presenting masterpieces for their unconventional instrumentation alongside hidden gems, arrangements, and the occasional duo/solo in a concert experience marked with a special gusto, virtuosity and energy.

The Zodiac Trio’s story begins in New York in 2006 when three young musicians from the Manhattan School of Music decided to join forces in an unconventional ensemble, and spearhead a career dedicated to the clarinet-violin-piano instrumentation. The Zodiac Trio was officially launched with a concert at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City and presented to the classical music listeners by WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase. Understanding that extraordinary results require extraordinary efforts, one year after its founding the newly-minted Zodiac Trio decided to move to Paris to attend the Paris Conservatory under the guidance of the Ysaye Quartet and their unique chamber music program – becoming the first American group and first ensemble with an wind instrument to be accepted to the program. Their formative years in Paris was laced with victories on the international chamber music circuit with prizes from the Cziffra Foundation, the FNAPEC Chamber Music Competition, the International Carlo Saliva Competition, the International Chamber Music Competition Duchi D’Acquaviva, the International Chamber Music Competition Val Tidone, as well as the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, among others. In 2008, the London-based MUSO magazine took notice and shone light on the ensemble in a two-page feature.

Today the Zodiac Trio enjoys an international concert schedule that consistently spans three continents and is recognized by many to be one of the foremost clarinet-violin-piano ensembles performing today. Since its formation, the Zodiac Trio has managed to achieve a level of recognition on the international chamber music stage, rarely bestowed upon an ensemble of such untraditional instrumentation. The Zodiac Trio’s extensive touring schedule has brought it to many premiere international venues such as Ottawa Chamberfest, Festival Radio France Montpellier, International Colmar Festival, Beijing Performing Arts Center, Izumi Hall in Japan and Lincoln Center in New York. The trio’s live performances have been broadcast by France 3 Television, Radio Classique, Beijing’s CCTV News, Canada’s CBC Radio and Television, NBC, New York’s WXQR and WNYC, Chicago’s WFMT, Boston’s WGBH, Italy’s RAI and Radio France in Paris.

Over the years, the Zodiac Trio has garnered wide critical acclaim for their unyielding passion for the clarinet-violin-piano instrumentation, their unbending dedication to perfection and the thrill of sharing their love for chamber music with their audiences. The group has been praised for their “impeccable technique” (Fanfare Magazine), “remarkable musicality of rare intensity” (La Tribune, France), “seemingly effortless ease” (San Angelo Standard Times), “truly exceptional and sublime talent” (Nice-Matin, France); and declared by the French newspaper La Marseillaise as “one the best chamber ensembles of its generation…”

Since their first touring season nearly a decade ago, the Zodiac Trio has performed in nearly 40 states, as well as Canada, Sweden, Scotland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and notably in over 30 different cities in China over the span of 4 extensive tours. In addition to performing, the ensemble has been invited to present master classes and clinics at such institutions as the Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Roosevelt University, University of Minnesota, Tulsa University, University of Missouri, Western Michigan University, Colorado College, Boston Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Tufts University, Southeastern University of Oklahoma, China Conservatory of Beijing, Mount Allison University, Acadia University and many others.

Considering its novelty instrumentation, the Zodiac Trio has carried the torch for new music since its debut concert which featured a world premiere of a work written for the then newly-formed group. Since, the Zodiac Trio has commissioned over three dozen new works, including from Grammy-award-winning composer Richard Danielpour, and has had over 100 works written via call-for-score. Their 2015 album DREAMTIME featured 3 works written for the ensemble, and received accolades from the new music community with Sequenza 21 writing “the Zodiac Trio excel at bringing new compositions to life.”

In 2013, wanting to further incorporate pedagogy into their modus operandi, the Zodiac Trio founded an international chamber music academy and festival in the South of France – Zodiac Music Academy & Festival (www.zodiacfestival.com). The summer festival invites highly advanced students and pre-professionals to spend two weeks performing on the Côte D’Azur and studying with an internationally renowned faculty, lead by the Zodiac Trio. Now in its 7th season, ZMAF has grown to be recognized as a competitive and selective academy that attracts over 200 applications each year from many top schools across North America.

The Zodiac Trio is represented exclusively by Latitude 45 Arts (www.latitude45arts.com).

Kliment Krylovskiy

Praised for his “easy facility, a vibrant tone” and “expressiveness and exuberance” by the New York Concert Review, “masterful playing” by L’Orfeo (Mexico), “simply fabulous clarinetist” by Journal des Citoyens (Canada) and proclaimed as “an artist whose profound musicality is only matched by his sparkling technique” (Nice-Matin, France), Russian/American clarinetist Kliment Krylovskiy has been enjoying an international concert career as member of the esteemed Zodiac Trio. Professor of Clarinet at the Conservatoire du Cagnes sur Mer and Conservatoire du Draguignan in France, Mr. Krylovskiy is the Artistic of the Zodiac Music Academy & Festival.

Mr. Krylovskiy has appeared as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, the University of Central Florida Percussion ensemble in a premiere of “Night Wanderings” written for him, the University of Nebraska Woodwind Ensemble, has been featured multiple times in the role of “Channan” (played by clarinetist onstage) in Ofer ben Amots chamber opera “the Dubbyk.”

Mr. Krylovskiy’s live solo and chamber music performances could be heard on Radio France, Italy’s RAI, Canadian Broadcasting Company, Beijing CCTV as well as radio stations WNYC and WQXR (New York, WGBH (Boston) and WFMT (Chicago).

Vanessa Mollard

Final student of Franco Gulli, Vanessa Mollard has appeared as soloist with the Gent Symphony Orchestra, Geneva Philharmonic, Marseille Symphony Orchestra and the Monte-Carlo Symphony, and has worked with Pierre Boulez, Mstislav Rostropovich, Kurt Mazur and Jean-Claude Casadesus. As a pioneer of new music, Ms. Mollard has collaborated with renowned composers Nicolas Bacri and Laurent Petigirard, whose compositions she premiered. A recipient of the Princess Grace of Monaco Foundation sponsorship, she has studied with Olivier Charlier, Patrice Fontanarosa, Gerard Jarry, Roland Daugareil and Ivry Gitlis.

Riko Higuma

A versatile musician, Riko Higuma is a highly sought-after piano collaborator and a sensitive chamber musician, performing with the world’s leading artists throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and Japan. As a soloist, she was a top-prize winner at the Jacob Flier International Piano Competition and the Santa Fe International Piano Competition.

Ms. Higuma’s collaborations on the recital and concert stage have included such distinguished artists as Aaron Rosand, Albert Markov, Neil Rosenshein, Cho-Liang Lin, Alan Gilbert, Steven Tanenbom, Dora Schwarzberg, Timothy Eddy, Jeffrey Solow, Dmitri Sitkovetsky and Ray Chen, among others. Appearances in music festivals include Lidal North at the Norwegian Opera House, La Jolla Chamberfest, New DOCTA festival in Argentina, New Music On the Point in Vermont as a member of the American Modern Ensemble and the Summit Music Festival in New York, where she performed a gala recital with the legendary violinist Aaron Rosand. Since her engagement as the rehearsal pianist for the New York Philharmonic premier of Lera Auerbach’s violin concerto working with violinist Leonidas Kavakos in 2017, she has continuously been engaged by them working with top soloists and conductors of today.

Ms. Higuma studied with Phillip Kawin at the Manhattan School of Music, where she is currently engaged as a staff pianist and vocal coach.