Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024 • 3 p.m.
Wexner Center for the Arts Galleries
Columbus, OH
Program
Duo for Violin and Viola No. 1, K. 423
III.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Yiyi Suo, violin
Brandon Waite, viola
Die Forelle
Franz Peter Schubert
Shreyas Sunder, voice
Eunji Baik, piano
Umoja
Valerie Coleman
Karis Brennan, Sofia Geelhood, Allie Gerckens, Jonathan Mitchell, Braden Stewart, flutes
Lamentations
III. Calvary Ostinato
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
Katherine Sahr, cello
From Four 2-Bit Contraptions for Flute and Horn
Jan Bach
Calliope
Gramophone
Pinwheel
Lance Korte, flute
Nora Lemmon, horn
Wings
Joan Tower
Frankie Wantuch, alto saxophone
Не пой, красавица! Op. 4, No. 4
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sophia Haws, soprano
Aidan Dever, cello
Emily Foster, piano
Watercolor Sun
Ivan Trevino
Matt Hanson, Noah Landrum,
Nathan Smith, Haydn Veith, marimba
Artist Statements
Yiyi Suo
Duo for Violin and Viola No. 1, K. 423, I. | W. A. Mozart
Performing a Mozart duet within the context of Fani-Kayode’s The Theater… exhibition invites a rich exploration of identity, expression, and complexity that bridges the classical and contemporary. Mozart’s music, known for its intricate beauty and emotional depth, finds a powerful resonance in Fani-Kayode’s work, which boldly examines themes of identity, vulnerability, and performance. Both Mozart and Fani-Kayode push the boundaries of their mediums, using contrast, subtlety, and powerful gestures to evoke a wide range of emotions and invite reflection.
The Theater… by Fani-Kayode brings themes of self-expression and cultural identity to the forefront, using photography to capture moments of introspection and intensity. Similarly, Mozart’s compositions are layered with emotion and narrative, drawing listeners into a story that feels deeply personal yet universal. The intimacy of a duet — two musicians engaged in dialogue — mirrors the intimate, sometimes confrontational gaze found in Fani-Kayode’s portraits. This connection amplifies the sense of vulnerability and human connection present in both the art and the music.
As Mozart’s music fills the gallery, it enhances the theatrical quality of Fani-Kayode’s work, creating a sensory experience where sound and visual art intermingle. The structure and elegance of Mozart’s melodies provide a counterpoint to the raw emotion in Fani-Kayode’s photography, inviting the audience to consider different facets of identity, beauty, and expression across time and culture. Through this duet, we hope to create an immersive space where classical music and contemporary art connect, offering a dialogue that transcends language and speaks directly to the human experience.
This performance within The Theater… is more than an auditory addition to the exhibit; it is a partnership that aims to honor the depth and complexity of both Mozart’s compositions and Fani-Kayode’s artistic vision. Together, we invite the audience on a journey that celebrates resilience, creativity, and the timeless pursuit of self-expression.
This narrative can help the audience appreciate the meaningful relationship between our Mozart performance and the exhibition, enhancing the experience of both.
Shreyas Sunder
Die Forelle | Franz Peter Schubert
“Die Forelle” with music by Franz Peter Schubert, based on poetry by Christian F. D. Schubart, was composed in three sections. It is sung from the perspective of an observer watching a trout in a little brook and a fisherman trying to catch the trout. In the first section, the observer sweetly watches the happy trout darting in the clear little brook. In the middle section, the observer notices a fisherman with his rod on the shore of the brook watching the playful trout with murderous intent. The observer finds comfort that, as long as the little brook remains clear, the fisherman will never catch the speedy trout. In the final section, the fisherman grows impatient and muddies the little brook. The trout’s sense of safety is betrayed and almost immediately, the trout is caught! The observer feels angry as he watches the betrayed trout wriggle on the rod.
In “Die Forelle,” the playful trout symbolizes a maiden while the fisherman represents an ill-intended seducer. The moral of the poem being that if you sense danger, you should proactively get away instead of ignorantly staying with a false, assumed sense of safety. While this meaning of “Die Forelle” does not directly map onto Nancy Holt’s Pipeline, the fundamental ideas of greed and damage are shared by both.
Nancy Holt’s Pipeline represents our reliance on oil and encourages audiences to discuss if this reliance is worth the consequences. Specifically, Pipeline represents the Trans-Alaska Pipeline which cuts through natural landscapes, and how the imperfect extraction process resulted in oil leaking into previously undisturbed natural environments and damaging them. One interpretation on how Schubert’s Poetry can map onto the case of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline is as follows. The trout can symbolize the oil in that it is being extracted, but the personification of the trout more so symbolizes the natural environment. The clear, little brook also can symbolize the undisturbed natural environments; the fisherman can represent the people who are directly responsible for the pipeline and us — the people who have a regular reliance on oil from this pipeline.
Before the pipeline, the natural environment is undamaged just like the clear brook and the lively trout. After the pipeline, the oil was extracted just like the trout was caught. The environment was damaged by the oil and betrayed like the muddied brook and the caught trout. The people responsible for the pipeline who created all these consequences are similar to the fisherman who muddied the brook and caught the trout.
Karis Brennan
Umoja | Valerie Coleman
For my proposal for the Counterpoints Series, I would like to do just that, make a counterpoint to one of the exhibits currently on display. As a music and art duel major, I spend a significant amount of time in and around the Wexner Center for the Arts, inside and outside. While walking by, and then visiting the exhibit, I was struck by the presence of the Pipeline sculpture by Nancy Holt. On a visual level it is extremely effective, I really enjoy the amount of space that it takes up; it very clearly demands to be seen and succeeds in that aspect. When looking into it, I learned that it was created to call attention to the physical and economic systems powering buildings and to the impact of fossil-fuel extraction. This topic is so very important and extremely necessary, to put it bluntly, because of the dying state of our world. The work so creatively expresses this deep-rooted, invasive, and intense force of fossil fuel extraction and its “unchecked audacity and devastating consequences of the energy industry.” Despite the importance of this topic it almost troubled me to see one side of this story, the path to restoration and improvement must involve two parts. Pipeline fulfils the first step, calling attention to the issue and raising awareness. Educating and persuading the audience on the issue. I would like to be involved in the second part of this path. After being informed, we have to take the next steps and move forward to a solution. These overwhelming issues can only be overcome with the full power of joining a community and making huge efforts to be more aware of our environment as a whole. The work Umoja by Valerie Colement does just that. The piece (oo-MOH-juh) is named with the Swahili word meaning “unity.” The piece has gone through many instrumentations and arrangements, in my opinion only improving its message of unity and community. I truly believe that the concept of Umoja could be instrumental in the resolution of the climate crisis. The piece itself is so full of expression, energy and life. It is a joyful and musical expression of coming together to make something something better than the sum of its parts. The piece unfolds through bouncing layers of a strong melody that is interrupted towards the middle, representing the real life interruptions to our unity and then comes to a close declaring the melody in an “anthem”-like way. To me, this uplifting and optimistic piece is so valuable in the way that we view the energy and climate crisis as well as many other very real issues. Pipeline opens this conversation but the next step can be unity, and with that, change.
Katherine Sahr
Lamentations, III. Calvary Ostinato | Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
When working on the piece Lamentations (movement 3) and examining the photography done by Ming Smith, specifically Sun Breeze After Bluing, I found a connection between the two that interrelate with the Civil Rights movement of the mid-20th century. For example, the style of Calvary Ostinato’s melody and bass line (both of which are played by solo cello) stem from African-American spirituals and blues. When listening to the chords and rhythm of this piece, one can hear a sense of languish mixed with hope that seems to almost reflect the same messages that blues and spirituals gave. This relates to the visual art piece Sun Breeze After Bluing, as the photography seems to reflect a similar message. Ming Smith’s work depicts a bright white cloth that hangs on a line in the wind in front of a large building that is quite dark in color. The method of bluing can be used for two different purposes: to make metals (especially guns) appear darker, and to brighten white laundry. The contrast between these two uses is shown in Smith’s brilliant photography as the bright white cloth stands out next to the large, dark building that is behind it. Both of which could be interpreted as being recently blued. The word itself, blue, tends to evoke melancholy feelings in both its music style and color. However, despite the strong contrast between the white and black of the photography, there is a sun breeze that gives hope a sense of hope. This could then be related to Perkinson’s piece, as he uses chords that give the same sense of hope in between moments of melancholy and languish.
Lance Korte
From Four 2-Bit Contraptions for Flute and Horn | Jan Bach
Upon first seeing Pipeline by Nancy Holt, we were immediately struck by its unique and out-of-place appearance being surrounded by plants and bricks. Its shiny and clean curves contrasted very clearly against its earthy backdrop. After entering the Wexner Center and noticing how it continued to wind its way around across multiple floors, we knew we had to pick this work.
Nora Lemmon and I are performing the Four Two-bit Contraptions by Jan Bach for flute and horn. This 4-movement work is described as a “collection of diverse and sundry musical amusements for a contaminated rainy afternoon.” Relating to Pipeline, both a flute and a horn are glorified versions of simple pipes, connecting to the almost duct-like appearance of the work.
The name “2-bit contraptions” seems out of place in a classical performance setting, seeming too mechanical and unnatural. This ties almost perfectly to Holt’s work. Each movement is essentially its own piece within this work, each with its own character and identity. They are titled, “Second Lieutenant,” “Calliope,” “Gramophone,” and “Pinwheel.” Three out of the four titles are each mechanical themselves, and seemingly don’t lend themselves to a classical setting. Furthermore, the four movements together can tell a story based on titles alone that eerily resembles the Alaskan Pipeline. “Second Lieutenant” can refer to the governmental use and taking of land for the pipeline, and calliope (a type of small organ) literally being the pipeline. “Gramophone” is subtitled, “an early lo-fi phonograph plays broken-record variations on a 1920 dance theme.” That phrase both calls out to the past and fragments what used to be whole — an idea that is also very present in that movement musically. The final movement, “Pinwheel,” will “leave the players breathless;” implying some kind of movement, physical or political.
Frankie Wantuch
Wings | Joan Tower
Composer, Joan Tower and photographer, Ming Smith have much in common. Smith was the first African American Female to have her photography in the MoMA in NYC. Her art often reflects on the African American experience. Similarly, Joan Towers is a female composer that has had an overwhelming career that started in the 1980's. Towers spoke on her experience as a woman with her piece "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman," a response to Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." Although Ming and Towers are ethnically different, they are similar in age, and have geographically spent a lot of time in New York City. Their art is quite contrasting, yet they tell similar stories from different life perspectives.
Mings work "Birds" really caught my eye. I like how you could see the resistance of the wind blowing against the birds, as well as the man's shirt. The element of wind and energy is an aspect that I have really been trying to execute in my performance of "Wings" by Joan Tower.
Emily Foster
Не пой, красавица! Op. 4 No. 4 | Sergei Rachmaninoff
Ming Smith’s street photography captures moments in time. Her subjects are unposed, caught in a “decisive moment.” In her 2022 photograph “Birds,” a young man watches seagulls fly through a blue sky. He faces away from the camera, his posture relaxed, leaving viewers to wonder what he is feeling during his “decisive moment.” While Smith captures a decisive moment using visuals, Rachmaninoff’s “Не пой, красавица!” (“Sing Not, O Lovely One”) and Offenbach’s “L’Etoile” (“The Star”) capture decisive moments using sound. In these songs, the piano, cello, and voice offer a bittersweet commentary on lost love.
In Rachmaninoff’s “Не пой, красавица!”, the speaker’s “decisive moment” finds him mourning a past relationship. The speaker tells a singer that her melodies “recall in me / Another life and a distant shore,” as well as “the features of a maiden, sad / and far away!” The text suggests that the speaker is mourning not only his homeland, but also a former romance. The cello’s opening melody, accompanied by dirge-like low As in the piano, represents the melody of the imaginary singer. When the voice enters, it leaps above the cello and piano, as if desperate to escape these painful memories.
Offenbach’s “L’Etoile” (“The Star” ) offers a more optimistic take on lost love. This speaker’s decisive moment finds her recalling the words of her former lover: “Lift up your eyes, look at this star, he told me when he left… Be always the confidante of our love.” While Rachmaninoff’s speaker finds the memory of his love painful, the speaker in “L’Etoile” draws comfort from her recollections. The song oscillates between major and minor sonorities, but concludes in the sunny key of G major, suggesting that the speaker indeed finds hope in the night sky.
Haydn Veith
Watercolor Sun | Ivan Trevino
When I think of nostalgic moments that live in my memory, I think of having coffee with my grandparents on a sunny morning on their screened-in porch. I think of an evening run along the sidewalks, laughing with my friends as the sun goes down. Everyone has these moments in which they wish could be captured. Ming Smith's New Works Exhibit shows brilliant, vivid images from everyday life. These photos are not staged, similar to life’s greatest memories.
Ivan Trevino’s new piece, Watercolor Sun, allows each listener to think about these special moments for themselves throughout the piece. Each listener will receive a different experience, similar to the photos in Ming’s New Works Exhibit, in which each individually captures a feeling.
A characteristic of Ming’s photos is the "precise amount of blur." Watercolor Sun, in a similar vein, with the environment of four people on one shared instrument, creates a blur of mallets around the marimba. When all of the players align during the piece, it creates a clear picture and melodic framework for the audience to grasp. The tension between the blur of mallets and the following cohesion of the melody allows the audience to imply what they do not witness or hear. This is similar to Ming’s photographs, that only show a small glimpse at life.
In the reading guide, there are two specific questions that bind the piece with the photography: “If you could take a picture of a memory, what would it be? Is there a singular moment that means something important to you?” Trevino attempted to make the listener ask the same questions as they hear this piece. He noted, “There are moments in life that create a feeling I can’t quite describe. Like waking up in a sunlit room, or sharing a meal with old friends, or going on a road trip with someone you love.” Both Trevino and Ming explore the framework of capturing moments, which is what our performance will attempt to do for our listeners.
Both Trevino and Ming create a euphoric feeling in their art, and we hope that the listeners will be able to think of jovial memories throughout their lives that invoked gratitude, peace, and/or love. Like Ming’s photographs, each listener will have a story to share.
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