Deborah Lifton, soprano; James Nyoraku Schefer, shakuhachi; Sami Merdinian, violin; Laura Metcalf, cello; and Kathleen Supové, piano performing Japan Songs, an eclectic song collection for soprano, shakuhachi and piano trio. This KSA commission costars six composers: Victoria Bond, Douglas J. Cuomo, James Matheson, Paul Moravec, Jay Reise and Aleksandra Vrebalov.
FULL PROGRAM
JAPAN SONGS – PART 1 (2020)
Autumn Mountains by Victoria Bond
Eight Thousand Spears by Paul Moravec
Not A Trace by James Matheson
Avian Cradle (2020) by Kathleen Supové
solo piano
Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla (arranged by Yves Dharamraj)
Violin and cello
Density 21.5 by Edgard Varèse
solo shakuhachi
JAPAN SONGS – PART 2 (2020)
Kei'un Song -praying for love by Aleksandra Vrebalov
In the blink of an eye… by Jay Reise
Tree of Pearls by Douglas J. Cuomo
Paloma Alonso
"2020"
Darian Donovan Thomas, violin
Shayna Dunkelman, percussion
Angélica Negrón, mentor
Paloma Alonso is a New York City native. She is 13 years old and attends the Léman Manhattan Preparatory School. Her parents, both classical concert pianists, were her first piano teachers. Alonso cites her Cuban father and Albanian mother as major inspirations for introducing her to music of all styles and genres. She began studying cello six years ago with Juilliard-trained teacher Yves Dharamraj and also pursues her passion for dance at the school of New York Theatre Ballet where she has trained rigorously since the age of four. Alonso joined the New York Philharmonic Young Composers Program in 2017. She commented that "This wonderful program opened a whole new world of expression to me. Composing is another tool that allows me to be expressive in a beautiful and artistic way". In December 2019, on a Young People's Concert, the Philharmonic performed Alonso's Sweating Bullets under the baton of its Music Director Jaap van Zweeden. The orchestral work was scheduled to be performed by the Philharmonic again in April of 2020 but, was unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.