“Voices of Change, Dallas’ modern music ensemble, began its season Sept. 19 with an appealing mix of 20th- and 21st-century works,” writes Tim Diovanni in Sunday’s (9/26) Dallas Morning News. “The concert was presented at Southern Methodist University’s Caruth Auditorium for virtual and in-person audiences…. American composer Peter Askim’s Swallowing Fire (2020-21) for clarinet, violin, cello and piano … co-commissioned by Voices of Change … unfolds in three movements…. The second movement features jagged rhythms, flurries of notes and high, searing clarinet lines, delivered with poetry by Stephen Ahearn…. Along with Ahearn, violinist and Voices’ artistic director Maria Schleuning, cellist Jolyon Pegis and pianist Evan Mitchell gave a spirited reading, skillfully dispatching technical challenges…. [In] American composer David P. Jones’ Legal Highs (1988), for marimba and violin … Schleuning and percussionist Drew Lang played with rhythmic precision and drive, and fully committed to dynamic contrasts…. Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s NoaNoa (1992) for flute and electronics, sets text from a diary kept by artist Paul Gauguin. The performer whispers text fragments into the flute, while navigating quick leaping passagework and unconventional techniques…. Flutist Ebonee Thomas … handled virtuosic demands with ease.” Also on the program was Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue in D minor with pianist Liudmila Georgievskaya.
Change font size
