The Program:
Quinn Mason: In Memory for Solo Viola (2020)

Paul Schoenfield: Cafe Music (Piano Trio)

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47

About the Music and Composers:
At only 25, Quinn Mason’s calendar is packed with premieres and performances of his works worldwide. The Dallas-based composer’s In Memory for solo viola, which opens this concert, was composed in April 2020 early in the pandemic. Of the work, he writes:

"This piece wasn't written about a specific time or person. It is meant to be a contemplation of memories past, which could be anything the listener/player desires - the viola acts as the voice that recalls these memories and reflects on them with tranquil, yet occasionally tumultuous introspection. Thus, this composition can speak to and work in any occasion."

American composer Paul Schoenfield composes in an eclectic style which is on full display in his Cafe Music piano trio. Schoenfield writes that he was inspired to compose Cafe Music “after sitting in one night for the pianist at Murray’s Restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Murray’s employs a house trio that plays entertaining dinner music in a wide variety of styles. My intention was to write a kind of high-class dinner music – music which could be played at a restaurant, but might also (just barely) find its way into a concert hall.“

Finally, Romantic-era German composer Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major closes the program. Written during the composer’s “Year of Chamber Music” in which three string quartets, a piano trio, this piano quartet and the piano quintet all exploded from him, the Piano Quartet features one of the most beautiful melodies he ever wrote in its third movement, full of love and tenderness.

Extras:
Learn more about the composers on this program with video interludes between the performances.

The Performers:
Anastasia Parker, violin
Emily Freudigman, viola
Ken Freudigman, cello
Viktor Valkov, piano

The concert will be approximately one hour long and available for repeat viewing to ticket buyers and subscribers for some time after the premiere.