A powerful blend of sound and story

By Reneé Bialek, Program Director

The musical performance and dialogue, “American Dissonance” with Isaac Dorio and Matthew Johnson in May was a wonderful experience. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. This national motto of The United States of America celebrates the power of unity — that when we come together, we become something greater. Yet, in a time when many feel increasingly disconnected from each other, who we are as Americans has become an incredibly complex question to answer.

Through a series of 20th Century works for solo piano and classical saxophone, pianist Isaac Dorio, together with saxophonist Matthew Johnson, explored the question of what it means to be an American through a curated set of repertoires that exemplifies the complexity of the American experience.