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PROGRAM.
Pheonix - Lauren Bernofsky
When the Violin - Reena Esmail
Amerigo - Stephanie Ann Boyd
ABOUT Amerigo.
op. 29 | violin + PIANO
COMMISSIONED BY the violinists of the 50 state sonata project
Dedicated to the life and work of John Kendall and commissioned by one violinist in each state in the US in 2015 as part of the 50 State Sonata Project, AMERIGO seeks to represent our country, paying special attention to each of its time zones while also bringing a fiercely-loved and possibly somewhat worn form into the 21st century. Amerigo contains six movements, the prologue and the epilogue representing in miniature our dear non-contiguous states while the larger movements in between cast shadows on the aura and energy of the Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern Time Zones. Each movement’s name is borrowed from a city within its timezone. Though chosen for the beauty of the city’s name, a little wikipedia research into the histories of the cities I chose most certainly lent me a salient point of view to the eventual tone and form of the material. My deep thanks to everyone who have helped shape this piece; we’ve done something big and beautiful here: helping the world feel a little smaller and making some music along the way.
Morganne aaberg, violin
An avid chamber performer, Morganne is a founding member of the multidisciplinary performance group Artists By Any Other Name. With Artists By Any Other Name, Morganne performed in and produced shows featuring chamber music, dance, drama, and visual art in the US and abroad. With a particular affinity for the violin-piano sonata repertoire, she has championed works by Debussy, Ravel, Copland and Bolcom in recitals across the country. As an orchestral musician, Morganne has appeared in renown venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. Always eager to explore other genres, Morganne has performed as an Irish and Bluegrass fiddler with Qunicy Street Band and Cinder Blue.
As a dedicated educator, Morganne specializes in private violin instruction, group violin classes, and music literacy classes. Morganne currently teaches at the Indiana University String Academy, the Indianapolis Suzuki Academy, and serves as an Associate Instructor in the Music Education Department at IU, where she is also pursuing a doctoral degree. Previously, Morganne served on the faculties of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Diller-Quaile School of Music, Cuyahoga Community College’s Orchestra Program, and Cleveland Institute of Music’s Sato Center for Suzuki Studies. Morganne has taught at several summer festivals, including Midsummer Sound (Barrie, Ontario) and the Meadowmount School of Music (Westport, NY), where she served as teaching assistant to Dr. Ann Setzer (Juilliard/Mannes). Morganne’s teaching is informed by her training in string pedagogy with Dr. Setzer, workshops at Indiana University with Mimi Zweig and Dr. Brenda Brenner, and her experience in the Dalcroze approach. Morganne’s extensive study of Ashtanga yoga informs her knowledge of anatomy, influencing her playing and teaching. She is a certified Suzuki teacher, and received her training at the School for Strings and Cleveland Institute of Music.
As a researcher, Morganne focuses on string pedagogy, applied studio teaching, and the intersection of technology and education. She has an article exploring the use of radio in music education in the 1940s in press with the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, and is currently conducting a descriptive study on private string teachers’ experiences teaching virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. Morganne also serves as Editorial Assistant for the Journal of Research in Music Education.
Morganne received her Masters Degree in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and her Bachelors of Music in violin performance from the Mannes School of Music. Her primary teachers included Dr. Ann Setzer and David Updegraff, and she studied chamber music with Todd Phillips (Orion String Quartet/Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) and Peter Salaff (Cleveland Quartet). Morganne is currently working towards a PhD in Music Education at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. At IU, Morganne studies violin and pedagogy with Dr. Brenda Brenner and Mimi Zweig.
Aram arakelyan, piano
Pianist Aram Arakelyan is a collaborative artist who performs throughout the United States and around the world. Arakelyan has been a member of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Chamber and Collaborative Music Department faculty since its inception in Fall 2016.
Arakelyan’s performance with tenor Hui Jin at the 2016 Prague Spring Festival was praised for “mature warmth of musicality. . . creating an enchanted atmosphere, with delicately-shaded phrasing” (Orer Magazine). He has also performed at the Festival International de Flauta Latino in Monterrey, Mexico, the Schubert Club Series in St. Paul, MN, and many others. He has partnered such artists as Patricia McCarty, Dale Clevenger, Marco Granados, and Alberto Almarza. He regularly shares the stage with his esteemed colleagues at the Jacobs School.
Arakelyan has performed extensively with choirs and large ensembles and has worked with such renowned conductors as Carl St. Clair, Helmut Rilling, Barlow Bradford and Jerry Junkin. His tenure with the USC Thornton Chamber Singers under the direction of Jo-Michael Scheibe yielded numerous performances of a wide range of standard and contemporary repertoire, both at home and abroad. Notable performances during this time were at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Salt Lake City, the 10th World Symposium on Choral Music in Seoul, South Korea, and the China International Chorus Festival in Beijing. Among the various choral ensembles Arakelyan has also performed with are the Utah Chamber Artists and NOTUS, the IU Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. A versatile musician, Aram Arakelyan has performed in variety of different genres and settings including the American Contemporary Ballet, High Holy Days with the Congregation Kol Ami in Los Angeles, and a fun-filled “Wah-Hoo Revue!” at the Sun Valley Opera House in Idaho.
Before moving to Bloomington, Arakelyan held collaborative piano staff positions at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA, and the Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, NY. He served as a member of the official collaborative staff at the 2014 Primrose International Viola Competition, and the 2015 International Horn Symposium in Los Angeles. He is currently on faculty at the Indiana University Summer String Academy.
Arakelyan holds degrees from The University of Utah, The University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Southern California. He received his education under the mentorship of Anne Epperson, Norman Krieger, and Alan L. Smith; and in studios of Donald McInnes, Elizabeth Hynes, Marianne Gedigian and Glenn Dicterow. He has participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned artists and pedagogues, among them Martin Katz, Stephanie Blythe, Robert Spillman, and Jeffrey Kahane. He has been a recipient of the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Fellowship in Keyboard Collaborative Arts, has been a fellow at the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, and upon graduation from the University of Southern California, was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda honor society.
STEPHANIE ANN BOYD, COMPOSER
Michigan-born, Manhattan-based American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about women’s memoirs and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. Boyd’s five ballets include works choreographed by New York City Ballet principal dancers Lauren Lovette, Ashley Bouder, NYCB soloist Peter Walker, and XAOC Contemporary Ballet’s Eryn Renee Young. Eero, a ballet commissioned by Access Contemporary Music and Open House New York, was written for the grand opening of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Her music has been praised as “attractive lyricism” (Gramophone), “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald).
Boyd’s music has been commissioned and performed by concertmasters of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Faroe Islands Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal players in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Her music has been commissioned and/or played by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New England Conservatory Philharmonic, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, the New York Jazzharmonic, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Roosevelt University Orchestra, the Eureka Ensemble, the JVL Festival Orchestra, the Texas State University Symphony, the Cremona International Academy Orchestra, the UW La Crosse Symphony, the Detroit Civic Orchestra, and the El Paso Youth Symphony. Her work has been presented by the Thalia and her Sisters concert series, the Moirae Ensemble, and Sandcastle New Music in New York City; Æpex Contemporary Music in Michigan; Juventas New Music, Collage New Music, and the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston; Cincinnati Soundbox, and others. Stephanie has worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Lina Gonzales, Earl Lee, Nathan Aspinall, Cliff Colnot, Gill Rose, Julian Benichou, Kristo Kondakci, and Kevin Fitzgerald.
The 2020/2021 season includes commissions from the Wyoming Symphony, Astral Artists with cellist Tommy Mesa, violinist Megan Healy, pianists Lara Downes, Lise de la Salle, Marta Aznavoorian, Lucille Chung, Susie Maddocks, Adrienne Park, Diane Kaztenburg Braun and Music Street, Sarah Bob and the New Gallery Concert Series, Holly Roadfeldt, Marianne Parker, Eunbi Kim, the Kurganov-Finehouse Duo, and others. This season also includes performances by the Lincoln Trio, Juventas New Music, Jennifer Reason, Lisa Pegher, Shouthouse, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, including concerts at the Kaufman Center, the Boston New Music Festival, the Festival of New American Music, Pianoforte in Chicago, live on Chicago’s WFMT radio station, and elsewhere.
Stephanie holds degrees from Roosevelt University and New England Conservatory, and she was one of the last violin students of renowned pedagogue John Kendall.