Pittance Chamber Music Presents 'Modern Beauty' Concert Of Contemporary Repertoire Featuring Pianist Gloria Cheng

Pittance Chamber Music presents Modern Beauty, inviting you to experience the beauty of modern music via the artistry of GRAMMY and EMMY-winning pianist Gloria Cheng, one of today's most respected and revered interpreters of contemporary repertoire. Cheng has been lauded in the Washington Post, New York Times and LA Weekly for her "breathtaking", "exhilarating" and "broadly expressive" performances. For this Pittance Chamber Music concert, Cheng teams up with members of the LA Opera Orchestra: Jennifer Cullinan, Oboe; Donald Foster, Clarinet, and Judith Farmer, Bassoon, for a transcendent evening of favorite chamber music pieces by composers with whom she has collaborated - including Billy Childs, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Steven Stucky, Fang Man, Kay Rhie and Gernot Wolfgang. Modern Beauty takes place on Sunday, April 5, 7:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

The program includes the world premiere of Gernot Wolfgang's Decisions for Oboe and Piano as well as works by women composers: Fang Man's That raindrops have hastened the falling flowers - in memory of Steven Stucky and Interlude by Kay Rhie. Also on the program is Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon by Witold Lutoslawski, Iscrizione by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sonata for Bassoon and Piano by Billy Childs and Meditation and Dance for Clarinet and Piano by the late Steven Stucky.

Gernot Wolfgang's Decisions for Oboe and Piano was written for oboist Cullinan and is a probing piece that raises more questions than it answers. Written in three movements entitled This - Or That?, Where To? and Case Closed?, the work presents a musical exploration of various stages in a decision-making process.

According to Pittance Chamber Music Artistic Director Lisa Sutton, "The creation of the Modern Beauty program was a collaborative effort between all the performers involved. We wanted to feature composers with whom Gloria Cheng had a personal connection and to showcase each woodwind instrument. The Lutoslawski Trio features the woodwind ensemble and establishes the connection to Steven Stucky (the foremost authority on Lutoslawski) and subsequently Esa-Pekka Salonen, Fang Man and Kay Rhie. Stucky's Meditation and Dance features clarinetist Donald Foster; Gernot Wolfgang's Decisions for Oboe and Piano features oboist Jennifer Cullinan (for whom the piece is written) and Billy Childs' Sonata for Bassoon and Piano features bassoonist Judith Farmer. Gernot Wolfgang is no stranger to Pittance audiences, who loved his work Road Signs (performed during our 2018 season) and we are excited and honored to premiere this new work. Billy Childs is well-known in the world of jazz, but what is less known is that he has written a number of chamber music works. Interestingly, both Cheng and Farmer both proposed doing his Sonata for Bassoon and Piano independent of one another. And so, with this final accord, the program was complete."

Single tickets are $35; Seniors $20; Student Rush $10 (at the door only). Tickets are available online at PittanceChamberMusic.org or at the venue on the day of the concert if tickets remain. The Pasadena Conservatory of Music is located at 100 North Hill Avenue in Pasadena, California 91106.

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