Byrne:Kozar:Duo
Corrine Byrne, soprano
Andy Kozar, trumpet
Old<—>New
This program presents pairings of music and texts from disparate provenances, illuminating both the similarities and stark differences between the art forms we regularly engage with here at Longy.
Alessandro Melani’s decidedly old (in that he died over 320 years ago) All’armi pensieri uses text by an unknown author to set up a fairly typical Baroque antipode, love and war. To boot, the voice and trumpet are also treated in ways informed by thousands of years of literary and dramatic symbolism:
Trumpet = War
Voice = Love
The Byrne:Kozar:Duo will be joined by harpsichordist John McKean on this work.
Combining ancient texts and stories with the contemporary music, Marti Epstein’s 2024 work 5 Songs for Jocasta the Queen is a re-telling of the ancient story of Oedipus and Jocasta, though this time from the perspective of Jocasta. The texts were compiled by the Epstein and include the words of John Ashbury, anonymous 17th -century Japanese poets, adaptations of Sophocles, Inuit proverbs, and the composer herself.
And finally, new text meets new music. Christina George’s 2024 piece a night like this for trumpet, soprano, and electronics sets poetry by the composer, creating a dialogue between the live performers and an electronics part featuring the processed voice of of Ms. George, while Taylor Brook’s 2023 Traces, also for trumpet, soprano, and electronics, and also featuring text by the composer, explores themes of parasociality and alienation in the face of AI-generated content.
Thanks to our partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council and their “Card to Culture” program, Longy School of Music of Bard College can offer free tickets to many of our diverse and innovative performance offerings. See the full list of participating “Card to Culture” organizations offering EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.