One highlight of my summer was participating in the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at New England Conservatory.  This was my third and favorite year of playing!  I met some great new friends and musicians and had the opportunity to perform pieces I had been wanting to play for some time now.  I had the privilege of working with Jennifer Bewerse (cello) and Kyle Blair (piano) on Kaija Saariaho’s Cendres for alto flute, cello, and piano.   The piece is beautiful to listen too and perhaps my favorite of her works that include flute.  Our group coalesced smoothly and had a great time working together during the week.  Another high point of the week was working on Afastim, by Chaya Czernowin, the composer at Harvard University.  It was enlightening to hear her speak about her musical thoughts and creative process when we performed the piece in a master class for her.

We had an impromptu photo shoot before our Flute and Cello Duo Recital this past June.  The Sanctuary of the Danvers United Methodist Church is filled with beautiful stain glass windows and we were lucky enough during our warm-up time to see some beautiful light coming through the windows after a torrential rainstorm that afternoon.  A few of the pictures in the gallery show us working with Charles Turner, the Music Director and Composer-in-Residence at the Church, on the premiere of his new piece for flute and cello entitled Eleven Love Songs.

All of the gallery photos are credited to the artistic and talented C.E. Courtney.

Music with Rachel Arnold, cello

Kaija Saariaho Mirrors
Elliott Carter Enchanted Preludes
Michael Colquhoun Three for Two as One

More information posted soon!

Boston Conservatory, Seully Hall

A concert series featuring music by all women composers performer by all women performers.  Donations will be taken at the performance and to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, as October IS Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Callithumpian Consort performs at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

John Luther Adams Songbirdsongs for 2 piccolos and 3 percussion
Terry Riley In C

More information here.

Breakdown for Flute and Cello by Christopher Gainey

First Church Boston
66 Marlborough St.
Boston, MA

General Admisson $12, Students $10

More information here.

Many works privileged artful arrangements of envelope-pushing sounds over melodic or harmonic narrative. In Kaija Saariaho’s “Cendres,’’ flute, cello, and piano (Ashley Addington, Jennifer Bewerse, and Kyle Adam Blair) churned up an undulating sea of keening and growling swells.

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New Music concerts at the Gardner Museum

Giacinto Scelsi   Pwyll for solo flute (1954)
Other music by Berio, Takemistu, Messiaen, and Kurtag performed by other fellows at the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice Festival.

Music for  Flute, Cello, and Guitar

Elliott Carter  Enchanted Preludes
Kaija Saariaho  Mirrors
Jim Scully   Duplicitious Encounter
Charles Turner   11 Love Songs on poetry of Else Lasker-Schüler

Ashley Addington, Flute
Rachel Arnold, Cello
Keith Calmes, Guitar

The Lily Pad
1353 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA