MUSIQA Presents TRACES OF BLUE At The Match

Musiqa, two-time winner of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, starts 2019 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston with Traces of Blue, a program which explores the intersection of music and visual arts. In addition to four musical works, the concert also features a live-painting performance by Houston artist Geraldina Interiano Wise.

Musiqa is proud to present the world premiere of Karim Al-Zand's Six Bagatelles for piano trio. Six Bagatelles, or six short and light works of music, is inspired by the work of abstract artist Robert Motherwell (1915 1991). The six short pieces which make up this piano trio (piano, violin, and cello) are each named after a work by the American artist. These vibrant, iconic works inform the musical atmosphere, mood, and emotion of each movement, conveying the elusive and mystical aspects of modern music and abstract art.

Six Bagatelles was commissioned for Musiqa by Carrie Shoemake in memory of Ed Shoemake, a longtime supporter of Musiqa and former board president.

We are grateful and honored to present this commission in tribute to Ed Shoemake, notes Musiqa Artistic Director Anthony Brandt. His love of music and art particularly the work of Motherwell his dedication to Musiqa and immense generosity of spirit were an inspiration to all of us.

The program also includes a presentation of The Blue Studio for piano trio, by Grammy Award winning composer Stephen Hartke. Inspired by Matisse's painting, Studio with goldfish, Hartke conceived The Blue Studio as a visit to his studio. Hartke invites listeners to leaf through the musical movements as if a portfolio of drawings, with little interludes separating them representing the brief, quiet transition from image to image. The visual arts themed program also includes Loren Loiacono's Waxing Cerulean for string quartet.

A prolific composer of orchestral and chamber music, Loiacono has established herself as a prominent member of the New York new music scene, where she is co-founder of the Kettle Corn New Music Concert Series and Associate Director of the MATA Festival. Her recent accomplishments include serving as Mellon Composer-Educator-in-Residence for the Albany Symphony and performances by Music from Copland House, the JACK and FLUX quartets and numerous others.

Finally, Musiqa will present Annie Gosfield's The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon for string quartet featuring a living painting performance by Houston artist Geraldina Interiano Wise. The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon is inspired by the surreal radio broadcasts and codes used by European resistance groups in World War II. It incorporates musical materials drawn from the mysterious Messages Personnels broadcast to the French Resistance, a silken code scarf used by Danish Resistance members, and the transformative processes of encryption. The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon, informs the gestural nature of Geraldina Wise's abstract expressionism, which may look spontaneous, but has been choreographed through an immersive process that has yielded a unique artistic vocabulary her visual code to the music.

This project has its inception on the ravines of the volcano in my native El Salvador, states Wise. I learned to paint in the shade of bamboo under the tutelage of Violeta Bonilla, a proteg of Diego Rivera, and under the watchful and curious eyes of the children of the creek. So, performing art came early for me.

Inspired by art happenings of the 60's, the audience will witness first hand a new visual creation in the making, along with the music that inspired it. This artistic collaboration came about from a shared value of decoding the arts, to break down the barriers of understanding contemporary art and music.
Musiqa's Traces of Blue

PREVIEW PERFORMANCE Tuesday, January 8, 2019 Geraldina Interiano Wise Studio 1819 Sawyer Street Houston, TX 77007 5:30 PM Performance of The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon 5:50 PM Q&A with the Artist and Musiqa Artistic Director

PERFORMANCE Saturday, January 12, 2019 MATCH Box 2, Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston 3400 Main Street Houston, TX 77002 7:00 PM Pre-Concert Conversation 7:30 PM Performance
Admission: Pay-what-you-wish

ON THE PROGRAM: Karim Al-Zand: Six Bagatelles for piano trio (world premiere) Annie Gosfield: The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon for string quartet Stephen Hartke: The Blue Studio for piano trio Loren Loiacono: Waxing Cerulean for string quartet

PERFORMERS: Jackson Guillen, violin Natalie Lin, violin Sergein Yap, viola Barrett Sills, cello Wesley Ducote, piano Geraldina Interiano Wise

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