Variations on the Quartet

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Concert
Variations on the Quartet

Trio Fadolín
Sabina Torosjan, violin
Ljova, fadolin
Valeriya Sholokhova, cello

Kostja Kostic, clarinet
Ginevra Petrucci, flute and flauto d’amore

Variations on a Quartet explores the reappearance of ancient voices in the music of our time. At its heart is a dialogue between past and present, unfolded through the multiform possibilities of the quartet, where strings are paired with clarinet, the modern revival of the long-forgotten flauto d’amore, and the fadolín, possibly the newest addition to the string family.

Lifting the curtain on this journey is Zhurbin’s homage to the Muses, and in particular to Thalia, the bucolic Muse of Comedy, who reminds us of the joy and grace that lighthearted artistry can offer. Nowhere is this spirit more vividly alive than in the music of his son Ljova, whose signature, unbridled enjoyment of eclectic music-making brings us the thrill of hearing music performed directly by its composer. We remain across the Mediterranean with Storgi, a meditation on unconditional love by Greek-American composer Calomiris, whose music breathes and bleeds the soundscapes of his homeland – from ancient Orthodox chants to the haunting melodies of Fleri Dadonaki – never without a personal twist of rare intelligence and whimsy. If lighthearted yet earnest musical wit was a hallmark of the exquisite interlocking styles that flourished between the mid-18th and early 19th centuries, few embody the living continuity of that echo more fully than Sardelli, a true modern incarnation of the Renaissance polymath: composer, Vivaldi scholar, novelist, satirist, and painter, with works in the Uffizi’s permanent collection. His music nods gracefully, and not without irony, to the gallant elegance of the pre-Mozartian era and the militaristic pomp of the pre-self-coronation-disappointment Napoleonic period. We follow this thread into the historical core of the program: Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Quartet for Clarinet and Strings, composed in 1807 at the height of the (real) Napoleonic era. The only work on the program by a historical composer, it anchors us in the very period that Sardelli evokes through a modern lens. A student of Mozart and colleague of Beethoven, Hummel brings his own refined wit – most notably in naming one of the movements La Seccatura (“The Nuisance”) – reminding us that even at the height of Napoleonic grandeur, irony and elegance walked hand in hand.

Program:

Alexander Zhurbin (b. 1945)
Thalia, the muse of Comedy, from “Three Muses” for string trio

Federico Maria Sardelli (b. 1963)
Empfindsames Quartett
Rondo Napoleonico
for flute and strings

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Clarinet Quartet in E flat Major
Allegro moderato
La Seccatura, Allegro molto
Andante
Rondo, Allegretto

Charles Calomiris (b. 1957)
Storgi
for flauto d’amore and strings

Ljova (b. 1978)
Point to Point
for flauto d’amore and strings

Spiritual
for clarinet and strings

Morgenmusik
for flute and strings

[Approx. 70 min.]

Trio Fadolín is a new ensemble with a unique sonority — featuring Sabina Torosjan on violin, Valeriya Sholokhova on cello, and Ljova, performing on the fadolín – a new instrument that encompasses the range of the violin, viola, and most of the cello, finding its footing in an acoustic chamber music setting for the first time.    In their inaugural season, Trio Fadolín has been presented by Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Trio’s repertoire includes works by Ukrainian composers Vasyl Barvinsky, Mykola Kolessa, and Miroslav Skoryk, Spanish-American composer Andrea Casarrubios, Estonian-American composer Lembit Beecher, music from Jewish composers Moshe Weinberg and Alexander Zhurbin, folk music from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, in addition to original works and arrangements by their fadolínist, Ljova. Trio Fadolín are recipients of the Ensemble Forward grant from Chamber Music America and the New York Community Trust for their work with composer-clarinettist Kinan Azmeh. They were the inaugural ensemble-in-residence at Interlochen Public Radio, in Michigan, where they recorded some of their upcoming debut album.

Sabina Torosjan, originally from Tartu, Estonia has been an active freelance performer since graduating from The Juilliard School having studied with Sally Thomas and Lewis Kaplan. She plays regularly with Ensemble Mise-En and RAM whose focus is in contemporary music from around the world. She has recorded with iconic folk singer Pete Seeger, Jennifer Hudson, composer and guitarist Terry Champlin, as well as appearing on SNL. Sabina enjoyed being the violinist for the Off Broadway production of “Fiddler On The Roof in Yiddish” for its entire run ending in 2020. She also loves spending time with her two kids.

Ljova (Lev Zhurbin) was born in Moscow, Russia, and moved to New York with his parents, composer Alexander Zhurbin and writer Irena Ginzburg, in 1990. He divides his time between composing for the concert stage, contemporary dance & film, leading his own ensemble Ljova and the Kontraband, performing with and composing for Trio Fadolín, as well as a busy career as a violist, fadolínist & musical arranger. Among recent projects are commissions from the City of London Sinfonia, The Louisville Orchestra, a new work for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, a string quartet for Brooklyn Rider, a clarinet quintet for Art of Élan, and works for The Knights, Sybarite5 and A Far Cry, as well arrangements for the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, tenor Javier Camarena, conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Alondra de la Parra, songwriters Ricky Martin, Natalia Lafourcade and Carlos Vives, composer/guitarist Gustavo Santaolalla and Osvaldo Golijov. Ljova frequently collaborates with choreographers Aszure Barton, Damian Woetzel, Christopher Wheeldon, Katarzyna Skarpetowska (with Parsons Dance). In 2018 he taught a course on collaboration at Princeton University with puppeteer Basil Twist.

Ukrainian-American Cellist Valeriya Sholokhova is an in-demand soloist and chamber musician based in New York City. Valeriya has made recent appearances on notable stages such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, David Geffen Hall, The Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum, and Saturday Night Live. In 2022, she performed the US Premiere of Peteris Vasks’ Cello Concerto No. 2 in Boston, Massachusetts. The same year, Valeriya co-founded Trio Fadolin, which received Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant and has recorded an album of newly commissioned works for the ensemble. Valeriya currently holds the position of principal cellist of a number of chamber orchestras, including Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, New Orchestra of Washington, and The Refugee Orchestra Project.

Hailed by the press as “one of the most interesting talents of her generation”, Ginevra Petrucci has performed at Carnegie Hall (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), Salle Cortot (Paris), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Santa Cecilia (Rome), Ohji Hall (Tokyo), as well as throughout China, South America, and the Middle East. As a soloist, she has appeared in concert with I Pomeriggi Musicali, I Virtuosi Italiani, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York, and has released the first recordings of Edouard Dupuy and Ferdinand Buchner’s Concertos. Her chamber music activity has brought her to appear alongside pianists Bruno Canino and Boris Berman, and to a long-standing collaboration with the Kodály Quartet, with whom she has released the highly acclaimed recording of the complete Flute Quintets by Friedrich Kuhlau. Her recording of Robert Muczynski’s Sonata has been praised as “oozing with lifeblood and zest … enthralling and rousing”. In 2017 she rediscovered and recorded Wilhelm Kempff’s Quartet for flute, strings, and piano and toured Italy with its premiere performances. Ginevra devotes much of her artistic endeavors to contemporary music. At Yale University she has collaborated with George Crumb, Steve Reich, Betsy Jolas, and Kaija Saariaho, performing the American premiere of Terrestre. She commissioned Jean-Michel Damase’s last composition, 15 Rubayat d’Omar Khayyam for voice, flute, and harp, and she has appeared at the Venice Biennale Contemporary Music Festival with a commissioning project dedicated to Witold Lutosławski. In 2018 she has founded the Flauto d’Amore Project, a large-spanning commission endeavor aimed at the creation of a new music repertoire for the modern flauto d’amore. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University, and a Master of Music at Yale University. Her education includes a Master’s at Santa Cecilia Conservatory in her native Rome under the guidance of her father, and a Diplome Superieur at the École Normale in Paris. She serves as Principal Flute and as Operations Manager at Chamber Orchestra of New York.

Clarinetist Kostja Kostic has performed as soloist and in chamber music recital series including the 92nd Street Y Meet the Virtuoso series, the Leschetizky Association series and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at New York University. He has collaborated with Underworld Productions Opera and Salon Sanctuary Concerts series. His solo and chamber appearances abroad include recitals and series in Italy, Austria, Brazil and Slovenia. He graduated from Bologna Conservatory of Music and completed his post-diploma studies in Florence. His special interest is discovery of lesser known repertoire, including contemporary works, as well as exploration of unusual instrumentations featuring the entire clarinet family. He has co-curated musical programs at NYU’s Casa Italiana and other international houses, including chamber music series as well as miniature opera productions.