A free concert evening featuring new works and world premieres performed by violinist Leerone Hakami and pianist Shay Slusky.

Please join on May 12th at 7 PM for a series of new works and world premieres. Featuring “Peace” by Jessie Montgomery, “Lyrica Nova, Op.59 No.3” by Ukrainian composer Sergei Bortkiewicz, “Dissolve, O my Heart” by Missy Mazzoli, and the world premiere of “The Condor and Woodpecker Sonata” for Violin and Piano by Leonardo Le San.

Performed by Juilliard Alums Leerone Hakami (Violin) and Shay Slusky (Piano).

Please note that this event is free, with the option to give a tax-deductible donation to Brooklyn Music School to support performing arts programming!

Composer note for Dissolve, O my Heart:

Dissolve, O my Heart has its roots in a late-night conversation over Chinese food and cupcakes with violinist Jennifer Koh. She told me about her Bach & Beyond project, a program that combines Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas with newly commissioned works, and asked if I would write a piece that referenced Bach’s Partita in D Minor. This request was, to put it mildly, utterly terrifying; the last movement of the Partita, the Chaconne, is undoubtedly the most famous piece of solo violin literature in the world. It overwhelmed Brahms, has been subject to hundreds of transcriptions and arrangements over the past two centuries, and is dizzying in its contrapuntal complexity. But something about Jennifer’s enthusiasm was infectious, and I agreed to the project before I realized what I was getting myself into. Jennifer seemed to approach Bach through the lens of contemporary music, and I realized that this was what this new piece should do as well. Dissolve, O my Heart begins with the first chord of Bach’s Chaconne, a now-iconic d minor chord, and spins out from there into an off-kilter series of chords that doubles back on itself, collapses and ultimately dissolves in a torrent of fast passages. The only direct quote from the Partita is that first chord, which anchors the entire piece even as it threatens to spiral out of control. The title comes from an aria in the St. John’s Passion, but has many potential interpretations. Dissolve, O my Heart was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and premiered in 2011 as part of their Green Umbrella Series in Disney Hall.

— Missy Mazzoli

Composer note for Peace

Written just a month after the Great Sadness of the first quarantine orders due to COVID-19, facing the shock felt by the whole globe as well as personal crisis, I find myself struggling to define what actually brings me joy. And I’m at a stage of making peace with sadness as it comes and goes like any other emotion. I’m learning to observe sadness for the first time not as a negative emotion, but as a necessary dynamic to the human experience.

— Jessie Montgomery, May 12, 2020

Commissioned by Victoria Robey OBE for Elena Urioste and Tom Poster.

Composer note for The Condor and Woodpecker Sonata For Violin and Piano

The current anthropocene epoch in which the human kind has inflicted so much harm to the environment has been a source for my creative output. How can we not expect pandemics, weather related disasters and polluted air and water conditions based on our treatment of the various animal species and their habitats? The sonata concept was inspired by the condor bird species that exists in the Andes. These large birds travel from Argentina all the way to the mountains of Colombia. In the writing process, an alternate universe came to my imagination in some kind of anthropomorphic way where the forest and its inhabitants from the animal kingdom had a voice. There is the main character, the condor through the violin in the burlesque movement. This condor’s personality is sarcastic, pessimistic and verbal about the dire environmental conditions the gender-neutral bird’s habitat is in. The condor mocks the human presence in the forest. The piano takes the character of the human made machinery. The rhythmic patterns on the piano have mechanical and unrelenting qualities. I also used sketches in the early process of the composition to create the rhythmic pattern in ⅞ , for the first movement. My other sketches were helpful as I experimented with the main theme for the entire work.

The second character is a different crossbred bird who is friends with the condor. This character has a different personality that expresses sorrow and grief about the conditions of the habitat. This hybrid bird laments the high level of deforestation and contamination that is making it difficult for wildlife to survive. The violin produces a lyrical and warm tone embodying the mournful character of the bird throughout the movement. The third movement introduces the third friend of the condor, the woodpecker. This movement features the violin and several techniques such as snap, pizzicato, portamento and glissando to portray the more playful woodpecker. Both the violin and piano have virtuosic toccata-like rhythmic structures that at times resemble the struggle between animal species and the human kind.

The three bird characters playfully exchange their concerns and apathy toward the human presence in their world. It is absurd that we hurt trees, the air we breathe, the oceans that bathe us, and the planet. The main protagonist and flying condor across the skies reminded me of courage, freedom and peace. How can we re-en envision the way we live on the planet in ways that are sustainable and preserve such magnificent animal species and their habitats?

— Leonardo Le San

Lyrica Nova, Op.59 No.3 composed by Sergei Bortkiewicz

Contemporary with the Jugoslawische Suite, the four pieces of Bortkiewicz’s Lyrica Nova, Op 59 (1940), were published by Universal Edition in Vienna. These lyrical pieces are characterized by their colorful harmonies, dynamic flexibility and dreamy atmosphere. The first piece requires a crystal-clear cantabile sound, while the second strikes a darker tone. The Andantino third piece evokes early Scriabin, and the final piece, Con slancio, brings this cycle of reveries to a vibrant and energetic close.

Sergii Bortkevych (Ukrainian: Сергі́й Едуа́рдович Бортке́вич, Russian: Серге́й Эдуа́рдович Бортке́вич; 28 February 1877 [O.S. 16 February] – 25 October 1952) was a Ukrainian Romantic composer and pianist of Polish ancestry.