The Lehigh University Very Modern Ensemble presented \u201cThomas Piercy and Friends,\u201d 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28, Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
\u201dI am quite excited about this program to present world-renowned clarinetist and ohichiriki player Thomas Piercy for two reasons,\u201d says Kyle Wernke, Director of the Lehigh University Very Modern Ensemble (LUVME).<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven his travel and performance schedule, not only is Piercy surprisingly available for this concert, but from a personal perspective, he is also performing a piece by my own teacher, Michael Schelle,\u201d Wernke says.<\/p>\n
The concert opened with \u201cReimei-Dawn,\u201d a 2023 contemporary classical and world music composition by Japanese composer, pianist and educator Miho Sasaki. The work features Piercy on ohichiriki, a larger variant of the standard double-reed hichiriki that is pitched a fourth lower.<\/p>\n
He was accompanied by cellist Aaron Wolff and pianist Marina Iwao.<\/p>\n
Judith Shatin\u2019s electroacoustic composition \u201cCherry Blossom and a Wrapped Thing: After Hokusai,\u201d with Piercy on clarinet and electronics, was inspired by the \u201cHokusai Print\u201d by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai.<\/p>\n
The cherry blossom in the print symbolizes the beauty and short length of life and life\u2019s mystery and depth.<\/p>\n
Piercy continued on clarinet in Dai Fujikura\u2019s solo work \u201cSandpiper.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concert\u2019s first-half concluded with a world premiere performance of Kyle Wernke\u2019s \u201cEvocations\u201d for clarinet, cello and piano (2026).<\/p>\n
Says Wernke, \u201cIt occurred to me that each of the instruments in this trio are instruments of wood and I thought it would be fun to design a piece around different tree spirits from cultures around the world using scales found in each culture\u2019s folk music.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first [movement], \u2018Leshachikha,\u2019 focuses on the clarinet; the second \u2018Spriggan,\u2019 on the cello, and the finale, \u2018Kukunochi,\u2019 on the piano.\u201d<\/p>\n
After intermission, the concert continued with Ippo Tsuboi\u2019s \u201cRaining, 3:50 a.m.\u201d for clarinet and piano, a work composed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The piece represents the isolated feeling that can occur during a rainfall.<\/p>\n
Next was \u201cLights in the Distance\u201d for full ensemble by Lehigh University music professor Darin Lewis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Kyle invited me to write something for this concert, I immediately went back to a piece I had started to sketch about eight months ago and reworked the ideas for this ensemble,\u201d says Lewis.<\/p>\n
The piece is \u201cadditive,\u201d in that it starts with one instrument and eventually all three instruments are played together.<\/p>\n
The concert concluded with Michael Schelle\u2019s \u201cKingfish Levinsky,\u201d a tribute to the American heavyweight boxer who fought during the 1930s.<\/p>\n
\u201cLUVME programs provide the opportunity to perform 20th and 21st century repertoire,\u201d says Wernke.<\/p>\n
Thomas Piercy, based in New York City and Tokyo, is a critically-acclaimed musician with concerto, recital and chamber music appearances throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n
Piercy has premiered more than 300 compositions written for him. He has won a Grammy Award, Latin Grammy Award, Takemitsu Prize and Pulitzer Prize.<\/p>\n
Aaron Wolff won the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition, is cellist of the four-time Grammy-award winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird and has performed in concert venues in the U.S. and abroad.<\/p>\n
Marina Iwao is a Japanese-born pianist who is staff pianist at Kaufman Music Center and a chamber music instructor at the School for Strings, New York City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas Piercy and Friends,\u201d Lehigh University Very Modern Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28, Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem. Tickets: at box office; 610-758-2787, ext. 0; https:\/\/zoellner.cas.lehigh.edu\/<\/p>\n
\u201cClassical View\u201d is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOThomas Piercy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lehigh University Very Modern Ensemble presented \u201cThomas Piercy and Friends,\u201d 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28, Zoellner Arts Center,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-274570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}