carthage music department presents
Fantasy Fluteball
Emma Lesko, flute
Collaborated with Fumi Nakayama, accompanist
Sunday, November 2, 2025 | 7:30 p.m.
H. F. Johnson Recital Hall
program
Ferroud: Oriental Pieces Pierre-Octave Ferroud I: Bergère captive (1900-1936) II: Jade
Harberg Sonata
Amanda Harberg II. Moderato, Dreamy (b. 1973)
Carmen Fantasy François Borne (1840-1920)
biographies
Pierre-Octave Ferroud
Composed in 1921, Pierre-Octave Ferroud’s Trois pièces pour flûte seule is a cornerstone of the solo flute repertoire. The first two movements, Bergère captive (“Captive Shepherdess”) and Jade, showcase Ferroud’s vivid imagination and his ability to create rich textures and colors using only a single melodic line. Bergère captive evokes a pastoral scene filled with gentle melancholy and poetic stillness. Its elegant phrases and subtle shifts of character suggest a narrative or inner emotional landscape, inviting the listener into a meditative reverie. Jade, by contrast, is influenced by Ferroud’s fascination with East Asian art and aesthetics. It is rhythmically intricate and harmonically adventurous, combining delicacy with an exotic, mysterious flair. Ferroud’s precise and expressive writing reveals the flute’s full capacity for nuance, from shimmering whispers to dynamic bursts of energy.
Amanda Harberg
Amanda Harberg’s Sonata for Flute and Piano, composed in 2014, is a contemporary work that has quickly earned a place in the modern flute canon. Known for her accessible yet emotionally rich musical language, Harberg blends classical form with lyrical expressiveness and modern harmonies. The second movement stands out as the emotional heart of the sonata.
Marked by introspection and warmth, it features a long, singing flute line supported by rich and sensitive piano textures. Harberg weaves a tapestry of melodic development and harmonic color that invites the listener into a deeply personal, almost meditative sound world.
François Borne
François Borne’s Fantaisie brillante sur Carmen is a virtuosic tour de force based on Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen. Written in the late 19th century, this work transforms some of the opera’s most iconic melodies — such as the Habanera and Toreador Song — into dazzling variations for flute and piano. Borne, himself a flutist, crafted the Carmen Fantasy as both a tribute to Bizet and a showcase for technical brilliance. The work showcases agility, articulation, and expressive range from the performer, offering rapid-fire runs, fluttering ornaments, and sweeping lyrical passages. Despite its flashy surface, the piece also requires careful musical shaping and interpretive finesse. It balances theatrical flair with melodic sensitivity, capturing both the fiery drama and emotional depth of Bizet’s original opera.
Visiting Writer’s Series: Stacy Szymaszek
Tuesday, November 4 • 6:00 p.m.
Neimann Theatre
Philharmonic Concert
Saturday, Novemeber 8 • 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
Performing Arts Series: Laura Strickling
Tuesday, November 11 • 7:30 p.m.
H. F. Johnson Recital Hall
What Holds Artist Talk
Wednesday, November 12 • 7:30 p.m.
H.F. Johnson Art Gallery
Student Recital: Mi Wang
Thursday, November 13 • 7:30 p.m.
A. F. Siebert Chapel
The Arts at Carthage acknowledges that the land on which our building stands is part of the traditional Potawatomi, Sioux, Peoria, Kickapoo, and Miami peoples past, present, and future. These homelands reside along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes. We honor with gratitude the land itself, and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. Many Indigenous peoples thrived in this place—alive and strong, andthis calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.