DATES

July 30 | 7:30pm | Historic Saranac Lake Laboratory

July 31 | 5pm | RSVP Church of the Ascension

Aug 1 | 11am | PorchFest Saranac Lake Free Library

Aug 1 | 1:30pm | PorchFest Adirondack Carousel

Aug 2 | 7:30pm | Loon Lake Jewish Center

PROGRAM

Quartet by Bernard Garfield (1924-2025)

Allegro con spirito

Andante espressivo

Allegro scherzando

Set of 3 Tunes by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), arr. Albert Regni (1936 - )

Evasion

El Amor

Todo Buenos Aires

A Shoreline Willow by Jessica Mays (1986 - )

I. Prelude for an Idyll Clearing

II. Dance of light on water

III. A Shoreline Willow

IV . The Swallow and the Starling Cloud

i. Swallows’ Dance Over Water

ii. The Chattering from the Trees

iii. The Flight of the Starling Cloud

MUSICIANS

John Winn, saxophone

Morgan Davison, bassoon

Sonya Stith Williams and Susanna Klein, violins

Catherine Beeson, viola

Heidi Hoffman, cello

(Shown above in alphabetical order)

Learn more about the musicians here.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Quartet by Bernard Garfield (1924-2025)

American composer Bernard Garfield was primarily known as a bassoonist and music educator. He served as principal bassoonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1957 to 2000. His compositions include woodwind trios, three quartets for bassoon with string trio, piano solos, songs, and duets for bassoon and piano.

Garfield composed this quartet for bassoon and string trio in 1950 when he was just 26 years old. He dedicated it to his mother, writing "I owe a debt of gratitude to my mother for emphasizing the arts while I was growing up."

This music is very much of its time. The particular flavor of Americana Garfield imparts, especially in the first and third movements, are brimming with the post WW2 "We Can Do/Manufacture/Be It" optimism that characterizes film scores, TV themes, and ad jingles from that time. The middle movement is very reflective of the thorny and jazzy harmonic worlds of George Gershwin, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Igor Stravinsky - all composers he would've been heavily influenced by as a performing orchestral musician.

The piece is in 3 movements - a typical tempo structure of fast/slow/fast. They are Allegro con spirito (Quick, with spirit), Andante espressivo (Walking pace, expressive), and Allegro scherzando (Quick, playful).

A typical performance lasts about 15 minutes.

Morgan Davison, bassoon

Sonya Stith Williams, violin

Catherine Beeson, viola

Heidi Hoffman, cello

Set of 3 Tunes by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), arr. Albert Regni (1936 - )

Astor Piazzolla was an Argentine composer and bandoneon performer primarily known for his tango compositions and arrangements. He revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style called 'nuevo tango' by incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. This new style and his prolific worldwide performances resulted in his legacy as the 'tango king'.

Albert Regni arranged Evasion, El Amor, and Todo Buenos Aires for string trio and saxophone, his primary instrument. They also work well on clarinet, and you will experience that for yourself when John Winn performs on each of them!

A typical performance of this set of 3 tunes lasts about 10 minutes.

John Winn, saxophone and clarinet

Susanna Klein, violin

Catherine Beeson, viola

Heidi Hoffman, cello

A Shoreline Willow by Jessica Mays (1986 - )

I. Prelude for an Idyll Clearing

II. Dance of light on water

III. A Shoreline Willow

IV . The Swallow and the Starling Cloud

i. Swallows’ Dance Over Water

ii. The Chattering from the Trees

iii. The Flight of the Starling Cloud

Jessica Mays Jessica Mays is a composer, pianist and songwriter based in New York City and her hometown of Denver, Colorado. Her music pulls inspiration from the worlds of jazz, pop, contemporary classical and avant-garde, evoking a blended sound that is both visceral and distantly familiar. 

Mays’s music has been performed both locally and abroad, by a wide variety of soloists, ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, Abeo String Quartet, the Playground Ensemble, Ensemble Paramirabo, Ensemble Lunatik, Blackbox Ensemble, Thin Edge New Music Collective, The Labo de musique contemporaine de Montréal and many others. She has been featured by a variety of festivals as composer and performer including the Chelsea Music Festival, Loon Lake Live, and the Cluster Music Festival. She has composed and arranged for a variety of projects with premieres by the Colorado Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall.

Mays composed A Shoreline Willow for a 2024 premiere performance at Caramoor Festival. The piece is a string quartet in 4 movements, each with its own character and inspiration. Although each of the movements have fluctuating tempos they generally follow an overall arc of Medium fast/Quick/Slow/Medium fast. This general arc is fairly typical of traditional string quartet musical structure from the Classical era of the mid 1700s, which lends a feeling of familiarity and comfort to listeners as they journey through the different textures, harmonies, and motion of this music. Nature is a major character in the soundworld created by Mays, from the movement of lapping water to chattering birds and murmurations.

A typical performance lasts about 25 minutes.

Extra Nerding!

To experience more about the world of composer Jessica Mays, check out The Pants Quandary podcast episode she recorded with Catherine Beeson. Listen anywhere you find podcasts, or watch the video version here. Mays composed the theme music for The Pants Quandary, which was also recorded at Loon Lake's historic Irish House by Loon Lake Live musicians Susanna Klein, Sonya Stith Williams, Catherine Beeson, and Jordan Gunn.