NACMS Salon Concert: Vibrancy

MODERN ART MEETS CHAMBER MUSIC - A STRIDE ARTS SERIES

The New Asia CMS musicians brings a celebratory program themed “Vibrancy” as their first in-person performances in New York since the pandemic started in 2020. The repertoire selected ranges from duo to piano quintet, featuring works by Beethoven, Caroline Shaw, Piazzola, Dvorak and others, and bringing together folksy elements and traditions of international music.

The program begins with two string quartets - a transcription of a Taiwanese folk song, “Craving for the the Spring Wind” and Caroline Shaw’s Valencia, delivers a contrast of traditional and contemporary employment of the same instrumentation. Followed by two trios - the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Trio, Op.70 No.1, which begins with a fast-moving rhythmic figure, and Moszkovski’s Suite for two violins and piano, another spectacular and brilliant work. The first half of the program concludes with music from Latin America to Asia - Piazolla’s Le Grand Tango for cello and piano, a virtuosic concert rendition of tango for both instruments, and The Wild Life Suite, which features erhu, the Chinese violin.

The second half of the program features Dvorak;s Piano Quintet No.2 in A major, a much celebrated repertoire for the instrumentation. The quintet is a mixture of the composer’s personal expressive lyricism and elements of Czech folk music, and ends the program with a chorale-like section which quickens to a spirited closure.