Merz Trio | undiluted days
The Merz Trio presents a program entitled undiluted days.
Tonight’s story is about listening. Our program begins with a pandemic: like many listeners, we turned to playlists when it became impossible to play or hear music live. The music of the first half is a compendium of our listening during this time, the musical conversations that we heard, the voices that kept us company. Among these musical voices, you will also hear a spoken voice striving to be heard - a voice that speaks of frustration, of grief, of a desire to be somewhere else. Tchaikovsky listens in vain for the voice of his great friend Nikolai Rubinstein, a friend who has died. He listens in vain for an answer that music may or may not provide. He listens for whatever kind of music these three instruments can possibly make, struggling with the piano trio as musical form. And so we invite you tonight to search along with us and Tchaikovsky: to search for a response that, like the Trio he composed, is as much felt as heard, as much a celebration of a life as a musical elegy.
This performance is available to in-person audiences and will also be livestreamed.
Watch livestream from Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre
About the Merz Trio
Halled as “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) and "artists in the deepest sense of the word" (CutCommon), Merz Trio, winners of the Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Fischoff, and Chesapeake Competitions, have been lauded for their “stunning virtuosity... fresh and surprising interpretations” (Reading Eagle), and “perfection of intonation and ensemble” (Hudson Review). Merz Trio are passionately committed to reshaping the narrative of classical music through vibrantly dynamic programming and wide-ranging interdisciplinary collaboration. Their narrative programming style juxtaposes classical standards, new music, and their own arrangements of familiar and forgotten works, fluidly interwoven and guided with speaking from the Trio’s members. Their interdisciplinary collaborations include ongoing projects with directors Emma Jaster and Jon Levin, dancer Caroline Copeland, and Sandglass Puppet Theater.
The Trio are equally known for their more immersive integrations of music and text in performance, ranging from their recital-theater piece built around Shakespeare’s Macbeth (“Those Secret Eyes”), to their debut album interweaving Ravel’s Trio with short pieces, poems, and diaries of the era (“Ink,” August, 2021), to be presented in a live concert format (“Ink Spills”) for the 2021-2022 season. Finally, in their prolific arranging, the Trio are committed to uplifting overlooked voices from history, ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to Lili and Nadia Boulanger, from Joséphine Baker to Irish folk melodies.
In the coming few seasons, Merz Trio look forward to debuts at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Chamber Music Houston, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, among other notable performances. Merz Trio have been encouraged in their explorations by numerous institutional homes around the world: New England Conservatory, Yellow Barn, Snape Maltings, Avaloch Farm Institute, the Naumburg Foundation, the Lake Champlain, Olympic, and Chesapeake Music Festivals, and the Fischoff Competition, as well as many other venues and hosts around the US, Australia and the UK. They are currently represented by Concert Artists Guild and make their home in Boston.
- Lee Dionne, piano
- Brigid Coleridge, violin
- Julia Yang, cello
Franz Joseph Haydn | from Piano Trio No. 45 in E-flat major, Hob. XV:29
I. Poco allegretto
Nicola Matteis (arr. Merz Trio) | Preludio e fantasia
Jeffrey Mumford | undiluted days (2000)
Alma Mahler (arr. Merz Trio) | Laue Sommernacht (1910) (Mild summer night)
Piaf/Louiguy/Mannot (arr. Merz Trio) | La vie en rose (1945)
Carlo Gesualdo (arr. Merz Trio) | Moro, lasso, al mio duolo (1611) (I die, alas, in my suffering)
Irish traditional (arr. Merz Trio) | Samradh Samradh (Summer Summer)
Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky | Piano Trio in A Minor, op. 50 (1882)
“À la memoire d’un grand artiste” (In memory of a great artist)
I. Pezze elegiaco: Moderato assai – Allegro giusto
II. Tema con variazioni: Andante con moto
Variazioni finale e codaJon Levin, director
Jon Levin is a director, performer & puppeteer, and is thrilled to be returning to live in-person work! During the pandemic, Jon co-created and directed The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy (NYT Critics Pick), and Footnote for the End of Time, both with Theater In Quarantine (livestreamed from a closet on the Lower East Side). Before that, he co-created and performed A Hunger Artist at the Connelly Theatre for which he was nominated for two Drama Desk awards: Outstanding Solo Performance and Outstanding Puppet Design, and was awarded Summerhall’s Lustrum Award for Excellence at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Jon is the co-artistic director of Sinking Ship Productions, where his directing credits include Powerhouse at the New Ohio Theatre (NYTimes Critics Pick), Flatland, an EST/Sloan commission, Ocean at Mabou Mines Suite and There Will Come Soft Rains at FringeNYC (Excellence Award for Outstanding Direction). In addition to his work with the Sinking Ship Productions, Jon is also a founding member of the Krumple Theatre company, with which he has co-directed and performed work throughout Norway and in NYC since 2014. As puppeteer Jon has worked extensively with Wakka Wakka: SAGA, Animal R.I.O.T., & The Immortal Jellyfish Girl. Jon is a graduate of the École Internationale de Théâtre de Jacques Lecoq and holds a BA in theater and neuroscience from Oberlin College. www.jon-levin.com
Acknowledgments
"Undiluted days" is supported by a New World Symphony BLUE (Build, Learn, Understand, Experiment) Project Alumni Grant and Mentorship Program, which empowers the NWS network of artistic entrepreneurs to redefine the future of classical music through inclusive community and equity-focused initiatives. NWS BLUE Projects are made possible with support from the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation.
Further support came through New England Conservatory (NEC) in their generous contributions of space and staff in creating a home for today's event.
Finally, the Boston iteration of "undiluted days" has reached communities not only through live performances at NEC, but through engagement work with NEC students, as well as Boston String Academy high school students of the and Boston Music Project. Ticket subsidies for members of these youth communities and their families to attend tonight's event were generously made possible by the following individuals:
Anonymous: $1500 Michael Friedmann and Debbie Davis: $500
Anonymous: $1000 Barbara and Marty LeWinter: $250
Anonymous: $500
The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy (NWS), prepares graduates of music programs for leadership roles in professional orchestras and ensembles. A laboratory for the way music is taught, presented and experienced, the New World Symphony consists of young musicians who are granted fellowships lasting up to three years. In the 34 years since its co-founding by Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas and Lin and Ted Arison, NWS has helped launch the careers of more than 1,150 alumni worldwide. Learn more at nws.edu.