Out of Our Minds Chamber Music 2021-2022
Concert I: Saturday, September 25, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Ensemble Druzhba (violinist Michelle Lee, violist Busya Lugovier, cellist Derek Clark) and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert
Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 90 "Dumky"
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25
Concert II: Saturday, November 20, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Two Sisters Trio (violinist Kristina Gullion, cellist Monika Sutherland, and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert), pianist Meredith Mihm, and baritone James Wilson
Franck: Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, Op. 18
Franck: Nocturne
Franck: Piano Trio Op. 1, No. 1 (I. Andante con moto)
Reicha: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 101, No. 1
Concert III: Sunday, February 13, 2022 @ 3:00 PM
Two Sisters Trio (violinist Kristina Gullion, cellist Monika Sutherland, and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert) and violinist Nancy Oliveros
Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 39
Reicha: Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 101, No. 2
Concert IV: Monday, April 25, 2022 @ 7:30 PM
Two Sisters Trio (violinist Kristina Gullion, cellist Monika Sutherland, and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert) and soprano Ann Schoenecker
Liszt: Selected Songs
Reicha: Piano Trio in C Major, Op. 101, No. 3
Ensemble Druzhba (violinist Michelle Lee, violist Busya Lugovier, cellist Derek Clark) and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert
Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 90 "Dumky"
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25
Concert II: Saturday, November 20, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Two Sisters Trio (violinist Kristina Gullion, cellist Monika Sutherland, and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert), pianist Meredith Mihm, and baritone James Wilson
Franck: Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, Op. 18
Franck: Nocturne
Franck: Piano Trio Op. 1, No. 1 (I. Andante con moto)
Reicha: Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 101, No. 1
Concert III: Sunday, February 13, 2022 @ 3:00 PM
Two Sisters Trio (violinist Kristina Gullion, cellist Monika Sutherland, and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert) and violinist Nancy Oliveros
Farrenc: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 39
Reicha: Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 101, No. 2
Concert IV: Monday, April 25, 2022 @ 7:30 PM
Two Sisters Trio (violinist Kristina Gullion, cellist Monika Sutherland, and pianist Mary Ellen Haupert) and soprano Ann Schoenecker
Liszt: Selected Songs
Reicha: Piano Trio in C Major, Op. 101, No. 3
Viterbo University Music Department Presents
Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series
February 21, 2021
Michelle Lee Eliott, violin
Busya Lugovier, viola
Derek Clark, cello
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Ensemble Druzhba: https://www.ensembledruzhba.com/
PROGRAM
Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25 by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
I. Allegro
II. Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo - Trio: Animato
III. Andante con moto
IV. Rondo all Zingarese: Presto
NOTES
Piano Quartet no. 1 in G minor, op. 25 was composed between 1856 and 1861 and published in 1863. It was dedicated to Baron R. von Dalwigk. The first performance was in Hamburg, with Clara Schumann at the piano. In 1862, the twenty-nine-year-old composer and pianist Johannes Brahms settled in Vienna, the capital of the western musical world. He introduced himself to that city’s musical elite with his Piano Quartet in G minor, the first of his eventual three. Members of the Hellmesberger Quartet, one of Vienna’s leading chamber ensembles, read the work with the composer at the piano; at its conclusion, the violinist Joseph Hellmesberger leapt from his chair, enthusiastically proclaiming, “This is the heir of Beethoven!”
The Quartet documents Brahms’s early maturity, in which, nearing his thirtieth birthday, the composer was able to fully assimilate the influences of Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert into a fully formed compositional voice. This period featured a generous trove of outstanding chamber works: two String Sextets, Opp. 18 and 36; the Opus 34 Piano Quintet; the Opus 38 Cello Sonata; the Opus 40 Horn Trio; and the first two Piano Quartets, Opp. 25 and 26. (Indeed, Brahms would not produce his first symphony until 1876, explaining, when pressed, “You have no idea how it feels to hear behind you the footsteps of a giant like Beethoven!”)
Opus 25 is best known for its rousing finale, the famous Rondo alla Zingarese (Gypsy Rondo). The movement’s irresistible refrain, reflective of Brahms’s lifelong fascination with Hungarian folk music, moreover, reveals the hand of a master tunesmith, able to dash off a hit with ease. Yet from its opening breath, the Quartet demonstrates extraordinary craft—worthy, indeed, of the mantle of Beethoven, the composer who built his terrifying Fifth Symphony from four innocuous notes. The G-minor Piano Quartet begins with a four-note fragment, presented by the piano in skeletal octaves—followed by a similar four notes, inverted (upside-down); then the inverted fragment again, transposed down a fourth; then a final time, but with the second and third notes voiced as a chord. In Beethovenian fashion, the sighing half-step gesture that closes each of these successive fragments serves as a generative cell as the movement takes shape. Indeed, a close listen to each of the Quartet’s four movements implicates this half-step throughout the whole of the work. It defines the melodic contour of the Intermezzo’s opening melody: a statement of quiet strength, voiced in muted strings, piano, dolce ed espressivo. The theme that begins the ravishing Andante con moto, like a Baroque ornament in slow motion, wreathes around an ascending half-step. On arriving at the Rondo alla Zingarese, the astute ear will detect, not only the seminal half-step, but the longer four-note gesture that began the Quartet. So does Brahms’s most viscerally seductive music prove to likewise be the fruit of his most cerebral scheme. This tour de force of a final movement, rich with ear candy (including a piano cadenza, evocative of the cimbalom), charts no less an emotional journey than the Quartet at large—announcing, truly, Beethoven’s heir, but also a unique and powerful musical voice in its own right. —© 2019 Patrick Castillo
Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series
February 21, 2021
Michelle Lee Eliott, violin
Busya Lugovier, viola
Derek Clark, cello
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Ensemble Druzhba: https://www.ensembledruzhba.com/
PROGRAM
Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25 by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
I. Allegro
II. Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo - Trio: Animato
III. Andante con moto
IV. Rondo all Zingarese: Presto
NOTES
Piano Quartet no. 1 in G minor, op. 25 was composed between 1856 and 1861 and published in 1863. It was dedicated to Baron R. von Dalwigk. The first performance was in Hamburg, with Clara Schumann at the piano. In 1862, the twenty-nine-year-old composer and pianist Johannes Brahms settled in Vienna, the capital of the western musical world. He introduced himself to that city’s musical elite with his Piano Quartet in G minor, the first of his eventual three. Members of the Hellmesberger Quartet, one of Vienna’s leading chamber ensembles, read the work with the composer at the piano; at its conclusion, the violinist Joseph Hellmesberger leapt from his chair, enthusiastically proclaiming, “This is the heir of Beethoven!”
The Quartet documents Brahms’s early maturity, in which, nearing his thirtieth birthday, the composer was able to fully assimilate the influences of Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert into a fully formed compositional voice. This period featured a generous trove of outstanding chamber works: two String Sextets, Opp. 18 and 36; the Opus 34 Piano Quintet; the Opus 38 Cello Sonata; the Opus 40 Horn Trio; and the first two Piano Quartets, Opp. 25 and 26. (Indeed, Brahms would not produce his first symphony until 1876, explaining, when pressed, “You have no idea how it feels to hear behind you the footsteps of a giant like Beethoven!”)
Opus 25 is best known for its rousing finale, the famous Rondo alla Zingarese (Gypsy Rondo). The movement’s irresistible refrain, reflective of Brahms’s lifelong fascination with Hungarian folk music, moreover, reveals the hand of a master tunesmith, able to dash off a hit with ease. Yet from its opening breath, the Quartet demonstrates extraordinary craft—worthy, indeed, of the mantle of Beethoven, the composer who built his terrifying Fifth Symphony from four innocuous notes. The G-minor Piano Quartet begins with a four-note fragment, presented by the piano in skeletal octaves—followed by a similar four notes, inverted (upside-down); then the inverted fragment again, transposed down a fourth; then a final time, but with the second and third notes voiced as a chord. In Beethovenian fashion, the sighing half-step gesture that closes each of these successive fragments serves as a generative cell as the movement takes shape. Indeed, a close listen to each of the Quartet’s four movements implicates this half-step throughout the whole of the work. It defines the melodic contour of the Intermezzo’s opening melody: a statement of quiet strength, voiced in muted strings, piano, dolce ed espressivo. The theme that begins the ravishing Andante con moto, like a Baroque ornament in slow motion, wreathes around an ascending half-step. On arriving at the Rondo alla Zingarese, the astute ear will detect, not only the seminal half-step, but the longer four-note gesture that began the Quartet. So does Brahms’s most viscerally seductive music prove to likewise be the fruit of his most cerebral scheme. This tour de force of a final movement, rich with ear candy (including a piano cadenza, evocative of the cimbalom), charts no less an emotional journey than the Quartet at large—announcing, truly, Beethoven’s heir, but also a unique and powerful musical voice in its own right. —© 2019 Patrick Castillo
Viterbo University Music Department
Presents
Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series – “Stay at Home”
Two Sisters Trio
Kristina Gullion, violin
Monika Sutherland, cello
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Recorded in the Nola Starling Recital Hall
Released Friday, November 20, 2020 @ 3:00 PM
PROGRAM
Three Songs by George Gershwin
Arranged for Piano Trio by Alessandro Giannotti
"Oh, Lady Be Good!"
"Summertime"
"Fascinating Rhythm"
Notes: The first song arrangement in the set, “Oh, Lady Be Good!” is from the music of the same name written by the Gershwin brother, and premiered by the brother-sister stars Fred and Adele Astaire on Broadway in 1924. The second song arrangement, “Summertime,” was written as an aria for Gershwin’s full-scale opera, “Porgy and Bess.” The inspiration for the libretto was DuBose Heyward's novel, “Porgy,” which was soon adapted for the stage by Heyward and his wife, playwright Dorothy Heyward. The work caught the attention of Al Jolson, who sought to produce a musical version with himself starring in “black face.” The Heywards were more enticed by George Gershwin’s invitation to collaborate on a full-scale opera; Ira Gershwin was eventually included in the project and the work was premiered on Broadway in 1935 with a revolutionary all-black cast. It met with mixed reviews and fell out of the repertoire until 1976 when Houston Grand Opera’s production successfully launched the opera as the first truly American work in the genre. The third song arrangement on today's program, the iconic “Fascinating Rhythm,” rounds out our set as another hit tune from the Gershwin brothers’ “Oh, Lady Be Good!” It was first recorded by Columbia Records in 1926 by the Astaires with George Gershwin at the piano. It remains one of Gershwin’s most frequently performed works.
"The Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas"
("The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires")
by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Arranged for Piano Trio by José Bragato (1915 - 2017)
Primavera Porteña (Buenos Aires Spring) - written in 1970
Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer) - written in 1965
Otoño Porteño (Buenos Aires Autumn) - written in 1970
Invierno Porteño (Buenos Aires Winter) - written in 1969
Notes: Astor Piazzolla was an Argentinian composer and bandoneon (which is more like the European concertina than the American accordion) virtuoso who revolutionized the tango, creating a style known as nuevo tango. "The Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas" ("The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires") wasn’t originally conceived as a multi-movement work and was only occasionally performed as a set by Piazzolla and his ensemble. The arrangements performed on this program were the result of a life-long collaboration between Astor Piazzolla and the Italian-born José Bragato, who emigrated to Argentina as a young man and aspired to the position of principal cellist with the Philharmonia Orchestra of Buenos Aires. Piazzolla admired Bragato’s talent and incorporated him into his nuevo-tango ensembles. These Bragato-Piazzolla collaborations inspired Bragato to write several tango arrangements that feature the cello, four of which you can hear in our performance of “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.” Bragato died at the age of 102 in 2017.
Artist Biographies
Violinist Kristina Gullion, a native of Chicago, received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in violin performance from Indiana University. Ms. Gullion has had an active career performing chamber music, solo, and orchestral repertoire. She was a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Symphony, and numerous chamber ensembles, performing at Carnegie Hall and the Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Ms. Gullion won a position in the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia in La Coruña Spain, where she lived for several years, performing and touring Europe with the orchestra.
Cellist Monika Sutherland received a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University School of Music, and a Master of Music from Northwestern University. She studied with Janos Starker, Hans Jörgen Jensen, and Leonard Chausow. In June 2005, pursuing a lifestyle change, Ms. Sutherland and her family moved to Viroqua, Wisconsin where she now resides with her husband, cellist Wyatt Sutherland, and their four children.
Pianist Mary Ellen Haupert is a Professor of Music at Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI where she teaches piano, music history, and music theory courses. Mary Ellen was awarded Viterbo's Alec Chiu Memorial Award for encouraging student research in 2012, and the Teacher of the Year Award in 2014. She is the founder and artistic director of three chamber music series: One-of-a-Kind Chamber Music Series, Bonfire Chamber Music Festival, and the Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series.
Presents
Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series – “Stay at Home”
Two Sisters Trio
Kristina Gullion, violin
Monika Sutherland, cello
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
Recorded in the Nola Starling Recital Hall
Released Friday, November 20, 2020 @ 3:00 PM
PROGRAM
Three Songs by George Gershwin
Arranged for Piano Trio by Alessandro Giannotti
"Oh, Lady Be Good!"
"Summertime"
"Fascinating Rhythm"
Notes: The first song arrangement in the set, “Oh, Lady Be Good!” is from the music of the same name written by the Gershwin brother, and premiered by the brother-sister stars Fred and Adele Astaire on Broadway in 1924. The second song arrangement, “Summertime,” was written as an aria for Gershwin’s full-scale opera, “Porgy and Bess.” The inspiration for the libretto was DuBose Heyward's novel, “Porgy,” which was soon adapted for the stage by Heyward and his wife, playwright Dorothy Heyward. The work caught the attention of Al Jolson, who sought to produce a musical version with himself starring in “black face.” The Heywards were more enticed by George Gershwin’s invitation to collaborate on a full-scale opera; Ira Gershwin was eventually included in the project and the work was premiered on Broadway in 1935 with a revolutionary all-black cast. It met with mixed reviews and fell out of the repertoire until 1976 when Houston Grand Opera’s production successfully launched the opera as the first truly American work in the genre. The third song arrangement on today's program, the iconic “Fascinating Rhythm,” rounds out our set as another hit tune from the Gershwin brothers’ “Oh, Lady Be Good!” It was first recorded by Columbia Records in 1926 by the Astaires with George Gershwin at the piano. It remains one of Gershwin’s most frequently performed works.
"The Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas"
("The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires")
by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Arranged for Piano Trio by José Bragato (1915 - 2017)
Primavera Porteña (Buenos Aires Spring) - written in 1970
Verano Porteño (Buenos Aires Summer) - written in 1965
Otoño Porteño (Buenos Aires Autumn) - written in 1970
Invierno Porteño (Buenos Aires Winter) - written in 1969
Notes: Astor Piazzolla was an Argentinian composer and bandoneon (which is more like the European concertina than the American accordion) virtuoso who revolutionized the tango, creating a style known as nuevo tango. "The Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas" ("The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires") wasn’t originally conceived as a multi-movement work and was only occasionally performed as a set by Piazzolla and his ensemble. The arrangements performed on this program were the result of a life-long collaboration between Astor Piazzolla and the Italian-born José Bragato, who emigrated to Argentina as a young man and aspired to the position of principal cellist with the Philharmonia Orchestra of Buenos Aires. Piazzolla admired Bragato’s talent and incorporated him into his nuevo-tango ensembles. These Bragato-Piazzolla collaborations inspired Bragato to write several tango arrangements that feature the cello, four of which you can hear in our performance of “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.” Bragato died at the age of 102 in 2017.
Artist Biographies
Violinist Kristina Gullion, a native of Chicago, received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in violin performance from Indiana University. Ms. Gullion has had an active career performing chamber music, solo, and orchestral repertoire. She was a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Symphony, and numerous chamber ensembles, performing at Carnegie Hall and the Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Ms. Gullion won a position in the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia in La Coruña Spain, where she lived for several years, performing and touring Europe with the orchestra.
Cellist Monika Sutherland received a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University School of Music, and a Master of Music from Northwestern University. She studied with Janos Starker, Hans Jörgen Jensen, and Leonard Chausow. In June 2005, pursuing a lifestyle change, Ms. Sutherland and her family moved to Viroqua, Wisconsin where she now resides with her husband, cellist Wyatt Sutherland, and their four children.
Pianist Mary Ellen Haupert is a Professor of Music at Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI where she teaches piano, music history, and music theory courses. Mary Ellen was awarded Viterbo's Alec Chiu Memorial Award for encouraging student research in 2012, and the Teacher of the Year Award in 2014. She is the founder and artistic director of three chamber music series: One-of-a-Kind Chamber Music Series, Bonfire Chamber Music Festival, and the Out-of-Our-Minds Chamber Music Series.