Flute - Jennifer Gartley

Guitar - Vince Varvel

Violin 1 - Holly Huelskamp, Manuela Topalbegovic, Karen Schaberg, Tova Braitberg

Violin 2 - Sophia Han, Jane Price, Sam Moraes

Viola - Carolina Neves, Victoria Voumard

Cello - Ranya Iqbal, Grace Park

Bass - Chantal Incandela

Steven Mackey

 (b. 1956)

Physical Property (1992)

Physical Property is the third part of a trilogy for electric guitar and string quartet entitled Fables with Three Tasks. The mystery, microtones, and complicated narrative of the first two parts (“On the Verge” and “Troubadour Songs”) give way to a libido-driven romp in Physical Property. This music is about the energy of live performance.

Between the ages of eighteen and twenty, I was a professional freestyle skiier. My vision of perfection was to careen down the mountain, head over heels, arms and legs flailing, on-lookers gasping, and somehow end up at the bottom with a smile on my face and not a flake on me. This esthetic comes out more in Physical Property than in any other work of mine. The piece demands that an unlikely combo, the quintessential classical music chamber ensemble and the symbol of adolescent rebellion, work together with consummate discipline in the service of joyous freedom.

Program notes by Steven Mackey

Dave Brubeck

 (1920-2012)

Blue Rondo à la Turk (1959)

arr. Jeremy Cohen

Blue Rondo à la Turk is a jazz standard composition by Dave Brubeck. It appeared on the album Time Out in 1959. It is written in 9/8 time, with one side theme in 4/4, and the choice of rhythm was inspired by the Turkish aksak time signatures. It was originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Dave Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond on alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello on drums. It has outer sections in 9/8, divided into groups of 2+2+2+3 as well as the more usual 3+3+3. The central section is a regular 4/4 blues. 

Brubeck heard this unusual rhythm performed by Turkish musicians on the street. Upon asking the musicians where they got the rhythm, one replied, "This rhythm is to us what the blues is to you." Hence the title Blue Rondo à la Turk. Brubeck himself has made various versions of this tune. Contrary to popular belief, the piece is neither inspired by nor related to the last movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, known by the near-identical title "Rondo Alla Turca".

This version is an arrangement by Jeremy Cohen, a renowned violinist and protégé of Itzhak Perlman. He boasts a diverse musical background encompassing classical training and collaborations with artists like Linda Ronstadt and Carlos Santana. He founded Quartet San Francisco, earning accolades and seven Grammy nominations. Cohen's contributions extend to composing and arranging for various ensembles, including the Marin Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. With a rich career spanning recordings, performances, and educational roles, Cohen remains a prominent figure in the world of violin music.

Program notes from Wikipedia

Antonin Dvořák

 (1874-1934)

Serenade in E Major, Op. 22 (1875, rev. 1878)

Moderato

Tempo di valse

Scherzo: Vivace

Larghetto

Finale: Allegro vivace

The Serenade for Strings in E major was completed within a fortnight in the spring of 1875. Its atmosphere reflects an auspicious time in the composer’s life: Dvořák was enjoying his first successes on the concert platform, and he had also succeeded in acquiring a state scholarship for the first time. The work is a document of the composer’s exceptional sense of small forms. In five short movements, clearly constructed around a three-part song form, he exposes solid thematic material with the aid of rich imagery. The music of the Serenade flows easily and naturally with a sense of immediacy, its character idyllic and peaceable. A typical trait of the composition is its frequent imitation of themes in various voices; Dvořák reinforces the cyclical nature of the form by quoting the main theme of the first movement before the coda of the final movement. The Serenade in E major is one of the composer’s most popular and most frequently performed works.

Program notes from www.Antonin-Dvorak.cz

Julia Perry

 (1924-1979)

Pastoral (1959)

Julia Perry was an American composer, conductor, singer and teacher born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1924. She studied voice, piano, and composition at Westminster Choir College from 1943 - 1948 earning both an undergraduate and graduate degree. In the summer of 1951, she studied composition with twelve-tone Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood. Between 1952 and 1957, Perry was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, continued her studies with Dallapicolla in Florence, Italy; studied with Nadia Boulanger at The American Conservatory at Fontainebleau where she was awarded the prestigious Prix Fontainebleau for her Viola Sonata; attended the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy studying conducting; and toured Europe with support from the United States Information Agency.

Returning to the United States in 1959, her compositional style began evolving as the impact of the civil rights movement affected her deeply. In her later pieces, she embraced her African American heritage by writing music that integrated idioms from Negro spirituals and other Black genres. The last decade of her life was marred by financial and physical distress. In 1970, she suffered the first of multiple strokes that would paralyze her right side, limit her speech capabilities and confine her to a wheelchair for the remainder of her life. Even with those challenges, she continued composing, using her left hand, until her death from cardiac arrest in 1979 at the age of 55. She is buried in Glendale Cemetery in Akron, OH. In the years after her death, many of her works were destroyed and lost.

Pastoral is dark and meditative. The flute moves the work forward with interjections, responses, and layering with the strings. Of note are the moments of alignment between the flute and first violin, blurring the line between woodwind and string instrument in a stunning, haunting timbral blend. 

Program notes by A. Kori-Hill

and

Source: Walker-Hill, H. (2002). From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music. Greenwood Press.

Vincent Varvel

 (b. 19xx)

Waltz for a Stranger (2015)

Waltz For a Stranger was initially written for string quartet in 2015 and adapted for string orchestra for this concert. Previously, I had written jazz compositions and pop songs, but hadn’t written through-composed classical music. I became part of a group called the First Tuesday Composers Club, organized by my friend and wonderful musician, Adam Maness. The focus was to compose a piece for a different instrumentation each month so I had the opportunity to compose for saxophone quartet, solo cello, classical guitar, among other instrumentations. This piece borrows some of the harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic qualities of Astor Piazzolla’s tango music and has a filmic quality.

Program notes by Vincent Varvel

Formed by members of the St. Louis community, Holly, Amy, and Ranya bring together musical experiences from around the world. The STL Chamber Soloists perform music without a conductor, and work collectively and democratically. This often lends itself to dynamic and innovative interpretations of music old and new.

The STL Chamber Soloists' founding members have individual and unique musical experiences that have taken them across the world, from the USA to South America, Europe, and Asia. The depth of understanding gained by living and working in a different culture, and in a different language is evident in the performances of the STL Chamber Soloists. Their Beethoven has sampled ale in Bonn. Their Piazzolla has danced in the streets of Buenos Aires. And their Walton has climbed the rolling hills of England.

But most important to the STL Chamber Soloists is the sense of community and inclusivity. The STL Chamber Soloists employ excellent local musicians, and compensate them at a rate equal to their decades of training. As a result, performances are polished and entertaining.