Park University International Center For Music Season Opens With Carr-Petrova Duo

The Park University International Center for Music's 2025-26 concert season will begin on Friday, Sept. 5, with a performance by violist Molly Carr and pianist Anna Petrova showcasing classical music created entirely by female composers. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the 1900 Building in Mission Woods, Kan.

The program, titled “HERS,” vibrantly celebrates the vision, strength, resilience and vital contributions of females throughout history. Through music and storytelling, the Carr-Petrova Duo will lead the audience through the inspirations, battles and incredible accomplishments of eight fearless women — from the 12th century's Hildegard Von Bingen (a German Benedictine abbess, visionary mystic and composer) to today's Beyoncé — inviting attendees to share in the centuries of heartbreak, struggles and triumphs that comprise the female experience.

Described as “ravishing” (Strad), “enlightened” (BBC), “explosive” (Virginia Gazette) and “irresistibly elegant” (Diario de León), Carr and Petrova are rapidly compiling a remarkable list of accolades in recognition of their fiery musical expression, refined artistry and relentless entrepreneurial dedication to social initiatives.

Carr and Petrova began playing together during their years at the Juilliard School and the Manhattan (N.Y.) School of Music, and have since performed together around the world. Their Carnegie Hall debut in 2019 was praised by the Classical Post as “categorically astonishing in its beauty, ensemble, artistry, quality of sound and almost uncanny ability to draw into the music.” Their debut album, “Novel Voices,” was released on Melos Records in 2019 to critical acclaim. Ritmo, a Spanish classical music magazine, immediately chose it as one of its “Top 10 CDs of the Month,” while Fanfare magazine reviewed the album as “magical” and a “recording to have and hold dear…one of the most successful viola and piano recitals — technically perfect and musically involving.” In addition, Codalario magazine gave the album its seal of “Superior Quality,” listing the album as its top album of 2020 and stating, “It would be hard to debut better than this.”

In 2018, Carr and Petrova launched an interdisciplinary project called the Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project (winner of Music Academy of the West's Alumni Enterprise Award) — a venture designed to give voice and visibility to refugee communities while raising awareness and support for both local and international refugee aid organizations. In support of this project, and in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, Carr and Petrova were honored at the United Nations and invited to perform and present the Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project that same year.

Collectively, the Carr-Petrova Duo holds faculty positions at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Bard College Conservatory of Music in New York and the University of Louisville (Ky.).

The program for the concert is scheduled to include:

• “Elfentanz,” composed by Florence Price
• “Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22” (arranged for viola and piano), composed by Clara Schumann
• “Prayer” (based on music by Von Bingen),” composed by Vivian Fung
• “Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23” (arranged for viola), composed by Amy Beach
• “Halo,” by Beyoncé and Henrique Eisenmann
• “Magnitude,” composed by Andra Casarrubios
  • This piece was commissioned by the Carr-Petrova Duo and is based on music by the Palestinian Women Ensemble Daughters of Jerusalem

• “Sonata for Viola and Piano,” composed by Rebecca Clarke