World Premiere of Stefania de Kenessey's MICROVIDS for Piano Sextet
Performed by the Dal Sogno Ensemble with pianist Donna Weng Friedman - Sat., August 30 at 2 pm at Bargemusic.
Composer Stefania de Kenessey will see the premiere of her MICROVIDS for Piano Sextet on Saturday, August 30th at 2:00 pm at Bargemusic, which presents the Dal Sogno Ensemble as the opening concert of its 2025 Here and Now Labor Day Festival
Written for the Dal Sogno Ensemble, where de Kenessey serves as Composer-in-Residence, this new sextet version of MICROVIDS expands upon her celebrated cycle of concise, character-rich vignettes. Known for their vivid contrasts and inventive turns, the MICROVIDS here gain fresh dimensions through the interplay of winds, strings, and piano.
The premiere brings together acclaimed pianist Donna Weng Friedman with the distinguished ensemble of colleagues flutist Diane Taublieb, clarinetist Morrie Sherry, violinist Mara Milkis, violist Leslie Tomkins, and cellist Elina Snellman-Lang, with noted narrator Diana Solomon-Glover lending a dramatic voice to the performance.
In this intimate chamber setting, de Kenessey crafted sparkling showcases for each instrument. In Microvid No. 4, the high-flying viola soars alongside the violin; in Microvid No. 17, the clarinet zigzags unpredictably with jazzy riffs; in Microvid No. 18, strings pivot from tremolo to pizzicato in swift, mercurial shifts.
"For the last few months, I have been obsessed with MICROVIDS, which the superb pianist Donna Weng Friedman has recently recorded in three utterly different versions for Navona Records https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6751/#listen - and I thought that it would be great fun (and perhaps a bit of a tour de force) to create yet another distinctive version." de Kenessey explains.
The performance will be part of Through Her Eyes, a program that celebrates contemporary works by women composers. Alongside de Kenessey's premiere, the Dal Sogno Ensemble will present music by Beata Moon, Laura Kaminsky, and Melody Eötvös, joined by guest artists Donna Weng Friedman, (piano), Diana Solomon-Glover (narrator), Elina Snellman-Lang (cello), and Irina Nuzova (piano).
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