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Gloria Cheng plays Linda May Han Oh’s Littoral Tales
Littoral Tales is a piece in two movements – “Movement I: High Tide” and “Movement II: Low Tide”. It is a celebration of the love of water and the ocean - in all its untamed and awe-inspiring beauty. Both composer and performer are avid swimmers and have spent much time in coastal regions. The ocean can be a source of a solace and calm, but it is also an arm of mother nature much more powerful than humans. This piece was inspired by the work of the late great pianist Geri Allen who was a powerful role model to myself and many others.
—Linda May Han Oh
Genevieve Feiwen Lee plays Kurt Rohde’s Famous Last Words
Fables are such problems. The norms they reflect or are in conversation with, depending on the time and place, are a problem. They can depict situations, depending on the circumstances, that are gruesome. They can take the quotidian to the ridiculous or terrifying, creating a world that doesn’t exist seem possible, or can’t be possible, or be possibly enviable. Or unenviable. Fables typically operate across age groups and can last for generations. The best ones have nested messages. The meanings of those messages, filled with signs and clues, are puzzles to be solved either very slowly or in a matter of moments. Stone’s fables, written specifically for this piece, are sophisticated, gem-like gentle games. They feel mythic, as if they’ve been told for generations. All the problems they offer us to consider seem familiar. It’s the solutions (or lack thereof) that they reveal that make us confront the real problems.
Althea Waites performs Margaret Bonds – Tangamerican
Tangamerican (one of at least three tangos Bonds is known to have composed) is a short but pathos-laden contribution to the genre of the Argentine tango, with rich chromatic harmonies that pair evocatively with its sensual, sinuous melodic lines and beguiling rhythms. And while many of the same traits are present in the still unpublished Flamenco—here given its world-premiere public performance—the latter cast in an A-B-A form whose more densely voiced and animated central section is framed by simpler textures foregrounding rhythmic ostinatos and bimodal melodies flavored by Phrygian cadences.
The Keys III: Opening Doors
Part three of Piano Spheres' NEA supported video series explores the LA-based nonprofit's journey to re-open the organization's programming after COVID shut them down. Your hosts Executive Director Jeff Gauthier and Stein Resident Artist Althea Waites, take viewers through their outdoor performance of Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue of the Birds, the opening of their Jazz series, the first year of their Stein Residency, international online collaborations, a trip to the New York, and finally their massive Frederick Rzewski tribute in 2021. Featured pianists are Genevieve Feiwen Lee, Gerald Clayton, William Chapman Nyaho, Mark Robson, Ray-Kallay (Vicki Ray and Aron Kallay) and HOCKET (Sarah Gibson and Thomas Kotcheff). Also featured are Ondes Martenot player Takashi Harada and Shakuhachi player Kojiro Umezaki.