Out of Our Minds Chamber Music - SECOND CHANCES
Saturday, September 19, 2026 @ 7:30 PM 
Viterbo University Nola Starling Recital Hall
Michelle Elliott, violin
Eric Ward, violin 
Busya Lugovier, viola 
Derek Clark, cello 
Thomas Hunt, horn 
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano 

PROGRAM

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Fantasiestücke No.73, ‘Zart und mit Ausdruck’ (arranged for horn and piano)
Thomas Hunt, horn
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano

Eric Ewazen
Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano (2012)
I. Andante teneramente
II. Allegro vivace
III. Andante grazioso
IV. Maestoso

Thomas Hunt, horn
Michelle Elliott, violin
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano

NOTES: The "Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano" was commissioned and gratefully dedicated to Chamberosity. This piece represents an homage to one of my favorite chamber pieces of all time, the "Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano" by Brahms. Having both performed (on piano) and analyzed that work, I so loved Brahms’ wonderful weaving of the colors of the instruments, creating an almost orchestral color palette. For years I have wanted to write a trio for the same combination, and when my friends in Chamberosity were enthusiastic about me writing that piece for them, I was delighted. The four movements are modeled after the Brahms, with a slow-fast-slow-fast scheme to the entire work. A gentle, somewhat mysterious first movement accumulates depth and momentum as it proceeds, only to return to the gentle world of the opening. The second movement is a rip-roaring scherzo, a true energetic dance with melodies tossed back and forth from the violin to the horn, while the piano provides a resonant accompaniment, inserting its own lively melodies as counterpoint to the violin and horn. The third movement is filled with melancholy, with long lyric melodies appearing sometimes as solos, sometimes as duets, and sometimes as a chorale with all three instruments singing their soulful songs. The final movement, following an austere, dramatic introduction, turns into a grand fugue, with a jumping fugue theme full of life and excitement, culminating in the themes heard in augmentation, strong and bold.

INTERMISSION

Robert Schumann 
Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op.44 (1842)
  1. Allegro brillante
  2. In Modo d'una Marcia. Un poco largamente 
  3. Scherzo. Molto vivace — Trio I — Trio II 
  4. Allegro ma non troppo 
NOTES: Schumann’s Piano Quintet, composed in the same extraordinary year as his string quartets, stands as a cornerstone of the chamber music repertoire. In this work, Schumann effectively invented a new genre, integrating the piano as an equal partner rather than a soloist accompanied by strings. The opening Allegro brillante radiates confidence and joy, while the march-like second movement introduces a solemn, processional character, later transformed through dramatic contrast. The Scherzo sparkles with rhythmic vitality and playful invention, and the finale brings the work to an exuberant close, culminating in a triumphant contrapuntal synthesis of themes. Clara Schumann was the work’s first and greatest champion, and her virtuosity shaped its pianistic brilliance. The quintet embodies the ideals shared by the composers on this program: music as intimate conversation, emotional expression, and structural imagination intertwined. 

Michelle Elliott, violin
Eric Ward, violin
Busya Lugovier, viola
Derek Clark, cello
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano