Showcase I | February 15-16, 2025 SOLI's 30x30x30 project

Schedule | Saturday Feb 15

Workshops

1:00 | Phantasmagoria (2020) | Meg Okura | bass clarinet/clarinet, violin, cello | sponsored by Gemma Kennedy and Bradley Kayser

2:00 | In Memoriam (2023) | Alexandros Darna | clarinet, cello, piano | sponsored by Michael and Jane Goldstein, Marco Chalaby, and Nancy Norman

3:10 | Water Skeeter Un_raveling (2022) | Yeonsuk Jung | violin, cello, piano | The Pearl Trio | sponsored by Freda Flax

4:10 | Wingbeats (2023) | Krishan Rai | violin, cello, percussion, piano | The Pearl Trio with Peter Flamm, percussion | sponsored by Tom and Cindy Stephenson

Performance

5:30 | Performance of above works

6:30 | Reception and Presentations

Musicians

SOLI Chamber Ensemble | Stephanie Key, clarinet | Ertan Torgul, violin | David Mollenauer, cello | Carolyn True, piano

The Pearl Trio | Karen Stiles, violin | Barbara George, cello | Vivienne Spy, piano

with guest artist Peter Flamm, percussion

Schedule | Sunday Feb 16

Workshops

1:00 | Guilty Pleasures (2023) | Terrell Cordice | flute, clarinet, violin, cello | sponsored by the SOLI Board Members and Musicians

2:00 | Spare Parts Spin (2022) | Eric Estrada Valadez | flute, clarinet, violin, cello | sponsored by Joseph and Toni Murgo and Angela Pfeiffer

3:10 | Postliminal Danza (2018/2024) | (from Mirrors: a Trio in Three Movements) | Sebastian Quesada | clarinet, violin, piano | sponsored by The Lifshutz Foundation

4:10 | The Lighthouse Keeper (2021) | EJ Donkin | flute, clarinet, violin, cello | sponsored by Carol Lee Klose and Carolyn A. Seale

Performance

5:30 | Performance of above works

6:30 | Reception and Presentations

Musicians

SOLI Chamber Ensemble | Stephanie Key, clarinet | Ertan Torgul, violin | David Mollenauer, cello | Carolyn True, piano

with guest artist Rachel Woolf, flute

Terrell Cordice

“This was my first attempt at composing for stringed instruments. At the time of writing this piece, I just recently arrived in Winchester, VA for my first semester of graduate school at Shenandoah Conservatory” […] “Having spent my time primarily writing works for wind ensemble, my teacher felt a chamber piece was due. This was an exciting opportunity for me to limit myself to four voices and to communicate my musical ideas with as much accuracy as possible given the exposed nature of the instrumentation. I found that it is much easier to identify and diagnose contrapuntal errors when you are only having to organize four different colors and no percussion!"

Alexandros Darna

"'In Memoriam' is a heartfelt tribute to my grandmother, meant to honor her memory. It features a chant from the Greek Orthodox funeral service, which is developed and expanded upon throughout the piece. It also includes personal musical quotes that had special significance in our relationship."

EJ Donkin

“'The Lighthouse Keeper' is a gift for my family; as a kid I used to tell stories to my siblings as we went to sleep, and the twists and turns of the piece reflect the twists of the stories (sometimes comical, sometimes serious). 'The Lighthouse Keeper' was a recurring character with a humorous spirit (and a bit of a penchant for the dramatic). I chose to submit this piece because it means a lot to me personally, and I also very much enjoy the moods and character shifts throughout it.“

Eric Estrada

“This work was inspired by one of the pieces on display in “Intimate Confessions,” a temporary exhibition at the Blaffer Museum in Houston, Texas. The artwork features components from various old machines, such as an old fan, bound and nailed together with raw materials like wood and copper. The rawness of the materials, the stark contrast between them, and the seemingly disjointed arrangement of the parts inspired me to compose a piece with different motif cells that spin around themselves without an apparent connection, gradually uniting to form a coherent idea.“

Yeonsuk Jung

"This composition, crafted during my summer abroad, marked a pivotal period of growth and reflection. Raised in San Antonio, I was fortunate to have had influential mentors like Darian Thomas and Troy Peters in my compositional journey. This piece symbolized my journey to spread my wings and delve deeper into the expansive realm of musical world beyond my immediate surroundings. It became a canvas for my burgeoning interest in urban design, embracing a poly-stylistic approach to composition. With this piece, I embraced artistic freedom, allowing it to exist without limitations, authentically reflecting my creative essence."

Meg Okura

"In the early weeks of the pandemic, I found myself waking up each morning to a world that felt more surreal than even the most fantastical dream. 'Phantasmagoria,' a trio for bass clarinet/clarinet, violin, and cello, is my sonic exploration of those initial days, a musical odyssey through the depths of my psyche. The title, 'Phantasmagoria,' conjures a vivid and ever-shifting display of images, mirroring the chaotic and unpredictable nature of the time."

Sebastian Quesada

“Rituals can be seen as events that symbolically or literally bring about a transformation from an earlier to a later state. These events are very common in our lives and they include ceremonies such as birthdays, baptisms, marriages and graduations that operate as the culmination of different liminal processes. All of them involve an ambiguous passage through a threshold, which implies a metaphorical destruction of a symbolic person, identity or condition in order to create a new version of the same entity. Without depicting a specific liminal experience, Mirrors for violin, Bb clarinet and piano tries to describe this process. The piece is divided into three movements and each one represents one part of the process.“

Krishan Rai

"In writing 'Wingbeats,' the idea of how a sound, like that of beating wings, can emerge out of nothing and with each repetition gain strength was beautiful to me. It inspired me to write a piece that starts from fragility and ultimately becomes a raucous celebration of life."