Trio: A World Premiere Monday, July 12, 2021 | 7:00 PM Castle Hill Inn

Boston Trio Irina Muresanu, violin Jonah Ellsworth, cello Heng-Jin Park, piano Stacy Garrop, composer

Thank you to our generous concert sponsors: June and Ryle Robinson | Suzanna Robinson Laramee and John Laramee | Patricia and Torre Peterson | Maureen and Bruce Holland ------FAURÉ Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120 I. Allegro ma non troppo II. Andantino III. Allegro vivo (Approximate duration 18 minutes)

STACY GARROP Beacon of the Bay [World Premiere, NMF Commission] (Approximate duration 8 minutes)

BRAHMS Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8 I. Allegro con moto II. Scherzo: Allegro molto III. Adagio non troppo IV. Finale: Allegro molto agitato (Approximate duration 42 minutes)

This program will conclude at approximately 8:15 PM. ------PROGRAM NOTES By Michael Fox and Stacy Garrop

Fauré: Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120 (1923) A lesser-known detail of Gabriel Fauré’s life was that by his retirement from the Paris Conservatoire in 1920, he was completely deaf. During the composition of this late work, which initially was to be Clarinet, Cello & Piano instead of classical piano trio, Fauré battled not only deafness, but bronchial pneumonia and fatigue. Much like the Brahms on this program, this piece shows a reverence to classical forms, and like Brahms, draws its most bold expression in how and when it deviates from our expectations. For instance, instead of recapitulating the original thematic material in the first movement, there is a completely new exposition that develops before a coda ends the movement. The entire work is indicative of this late period for the composer— we hear competing pitch centers and “false tonic” resolutions. Themes seem to continuously develop, and he seems to supplement the traditional concepts of tone center and form with the exciting and unexpected.

Stacy Garrop: Beacon of the Bay (2021) When the Newport Music Festival commissioned me for a piano trio in honor of their 2021 season, I looked for a topic that would celebrate an aspect of the Newport community. While researching the area, I was struck by the nine lighthouses situated around the island. The dual nature of lighthouses was particularly appealing to me: not only do they serve a vital role in the navigation of ships around rocks and land, but they are also a beautiful sight, particularly at night when their blinking beacons are clearly visible to the eye. It occurred to me that lighthouses link the past with the present, and will endure long into the future, with their beacons serving the same purpose for every generation.

I became fascinated with the lighthouse on the property of Castle Hill Inn, located at the opening of the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay. This squat thirty-four-foot granite structure was erected in 1890 on a very picturesque spot, right at the water’s edge. Its “characteristic,” the nautical term for each lighthouse’s unique light sequence that allows ships to identify the lighthouse, is to alternate on for three seconds, then off for three seconds. The lighthouse has also served as the starting and finish line for numerous high profile yacht races, as well as survived a massive hurricane in 1938, though the lighthouse keeper’s nearby residence wasn’t so lucky. American novelist Thornton Wilder wrote much of his 1973 novel Theophilus North while staying at the Castle Hill Inn; a passage from the book perfectly captures the dual nature of lighthouses: “At a later visit I was able to engage the pentagonal room in a turret above the house; from that magical room I could see at night the beacons of six lighthouses and hear the booming and chiming of as many sea buoys.” In Beacon of the Bay, we first hear the lighthouse’s characteristic as its ruby light blinks on and off. This is followed by a simple theme that represents the lighthouse performing its solitary duty. As the piece progresses, we hear waves playfully lapping around its base, then yachts gracefully floating by; this is followed by a violent storm that churns the waves with so much force that they crash against the lighthouse’s granite body. But the steadfast lighthouse holds firm to the rocks, grandly blinking its ruby light. The music quiets back down to its simple theme, with yachts sailing by once more as the piece concludes. -S.G.

Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8 (1854) Many consider Brahms the successor of Beethoven in the Orchestral realm — Wagner, Schumann, Liszt all broke new ground, but the integration of a progressive musical language with an allegiance to the tradition was Brahms only. Beyond his symphonies, his true ingenuity exalts the idiom of , beginning with this first of twenty-four works. Nothing shows the clear evolution of Brahms’ style than first looking at the longer, verbose first version he wrote in 1953 juxtaposed the poignant, elegant second version (nearly 50% shorter) written 36 years later. In both versions, we hear the striations of his genius embedded in traditional sonata form in the first movement, contrasted by ending rather turbulently in the parallel minor in the fourth. This melodic, groundbreaking work was premiered in the United States, New York, in 1855. The performers included Theodore Thomas (later the conductor of the Chicago Symphony); cellist Carl Bergman (associate conductor of the New York Philharmonic) and pianist William Mason (son of celebrated American composer Lowell Mason.) ------MUSICIAN BIOS

IRINA MURESANU VIOLIN Internationally renowned Romanian violinist Irina Muresanu continues to stretch the boundaries of classical music. A sought-after soloist and chamber musician who has appeared throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South Africa, Muresanu has also developed a reputation as a compelling and elegant interpreter in the contemporary music world. A regular guest artist in festivals and venues across the United States and in Europe, she is acclaimed for her elegant, passionate performances and compelling stage presence. “Four Strings Around the World,” Muresanu’s acclaimed solo violin multi-media program celebrating the diversity of cultures through the unifying voice of the violin, continues to steal the limelight. Released in 2018 by the Grammy-nominated Sono Luminus label, the CD has been called an “illuminating release” by The Boston Globe. An avid performer of new music, Ms. Muresanu has recorded for such respected labels as BMOP, Avie, Centaur, Albany, and AR RE-SE. Muresanu is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland and holds a prestigious Artist Diploma degree and a Doctor in Musical Arts degree from the New England Conservatory. She plays an 1849 Giuseppe Rocca violin with an Etienne Pajeot bow.

JONAH ELLSWORTH CELLO Jonah Ellsworth has collaborated with artists such as Soovin Kim, Miriam Fried, Jonathan Biss, Laurence Lesser, , Joseph Lin, Kristóf Baráti, and many others. Jonah received his Bachelor and Master of Music from New England Conservatory where he studied with Laurence Lesser, Kim Kashkashian and Lluís Claret. Other previous teachers include Hans Jensen and Natasha Brofsky. Jonah has attended the Marlboro Music Festival, Music at Menlo, Ravinia’s Steans Institute, Meadowmount Music School, and Orford Arts Center in Canada. He has been a guest artist at Rockport Chamber Music Festival. Jonah has performed as a soloist with Boston Symphony, Akron Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Maui Chamber Orchestra, Johnstown Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, Symphony by the Sea, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and New Bedford Symphony, among others. He joined the Boston Trio in 2016. He is currently pursuing a Master of Musical Arts at , where he is studying with Paul Watkins.

HENG-JIN PARK PIANO Hailed by the Washington Post as “a pianist of unusual artistry and musical imagination,” Heng-Jin Park is acclaimed for her versatility as a soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, and music director. Born in Korea and raised in the Boston area, Park studied with Leonard Shure and Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory. She also worked with Marie-Françoise Bucquet at Conservatoire Nationale Superieur de la Musique de Paris. She has appeared as soloist with L’Orchestre Symphonique Française, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, A Far Cry, New England Philharmonic, and many others. Park is the founder and artistic director of Halcyon Music Festival, an annual chamber music event based in Portsmouth, NH. She is also a founding member and the pianist of the celebrated Boston Trio and has performed at some of the most prestigious venues internationally with this ensemble. She has collaborated with numerous world class musicians in her long career as a renowned chamber musician. Committed to training the next generation of musicians, Park enjoys an international reputation as a respected pedagogue of both piano and chamber music. Park was Artist-in- Residence at Harvard University from 2009 to 2016 where she received the university’s Certificate of Distinction in Teaching award numerous times. She has taught at Tanglewood Music Center and is an affiliated artist at MIT.

STACY GARROP COMPOSER Dr. Stacy Garrop is an award-winning, nationally recognized freelance composer and lecturer whose music is centered on dramatic and lyrical storytelling. Her catalog covers a wide range of genres, with works for orchestra, opera, oratorio, wind ensemble, choir, art song, and various sized chamber ensembles including string quartet, piano trio, and saxophones. She has received the Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Barlow Prize, Fromm Music Foundation grant, and three Barlow Endowment commissions, and has been commissioned by Chanticleer, Chicago a cappella, The Crossing, Kronos Quartet, Music of the Baroque, the Albany, Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, and St. Louis Symphonies, and the Grant Park Music Festival and Cabrillo Festival Orchestras. Theodore Presser Company publishes her chamber and orchestral works; she self-publishes her choral pieces under Inkjar Publishing Company. Her music has been recorded by Cedille Records on ten CDs, with works commercially available on several additional labels. She was the inaugural Emerging Opera Composer for Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative (2018-2020) and served as Composer-in-Residence with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, funded by New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras (2016-2019). For more information, please visit her website at www.garrop.com or her all-things-composition blog at www.composerinklings.com.