STUDIO TO STAGE
SEPTEMBER 13, 2024
BRATTLEBORO MUSIC CENTER
BRATTLEBORO, VT | 7:00 PM
SEPTEMBER 14, 2024
MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER
CAMBRIDGE, MA | 8:00 PM
SEPTEMBER 15, 2024
FIRST PARISH SUDBURY
SUDBURY, MA | 4:00 PM
LEGACY
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF JUVENTAS
STUDIO TO STAGE
SEP 13, 14 & 15 MUSIC IN BLOOM JUNE 8 & 15 ENCORE! MAR 22 SOUNDS OF NEW ENGLAND FEB 8 & MAY 4
JUVENTAS AT 20 NICHOLAS SOUTHWICK: CENTER STAGE NOV 16 JAN 25 & 26
STUDIO TO STAGE
SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 | BRATTLEBORO MUSIC CENTER
BRATTLEBORO, VT | 7:00 PM
SEPTEMBER 14, 2024 | MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER
CAMBRIDGE, MA | 8:00 PM
SEPTEMBER 15, 2024 | FIRST PARISH SUDBURY
SUDBURY, MA | 4:00 PM
Reminiscence (2019) 2019 & 2020 Audience Favorite
Mina Lacheva, violin; Kamyron Williams, cello; Julia Scott Carey, piano
Mari Kotskyy
Parasomnia (2012)
I. Call It Sleep
II. Sleep Study
III. Recurring Dreams
Sophia Szokolay, violin; Kamyron Williams, cello; Julia Scott Carey, piano
Consider (2013) Juventas Commission
I.
II.
Celine Ferro, clarinet; Mina Lacheva, violin; Kamyron Williams, cello; Julia Scott Carey, piano
Cylindrical Whiskers (merelaniite) (2019)
Mina Lacheva, violin; Sophia Szokolay, violin; Lu Yu, viola; Kamyron Williams, cello
Love Letters (2015) 2018, 2019, & 2022 Audience Favorite
I. Forever Began with Hello
II. The Tree With the Lights in It
III. Two Penguins in Love
Jonathan Sheffer
Erich Stem
Libby Meyer
Oliver Caplan
Nicholas Southwick, flute; Celine Ferro, clarinet; Sophia Szokolay, violin; Mina Lacheva, violin; Lu Yu, viola; Kamyron Williams, cello
This program is generously supported by
FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Welcome to our 20th anniversary season “Legacy”! This year, we are celebrating the Juventas story, while also looking to the future. Juventas is the only contemporary chamber ensemble in the United States with a specific focus on emerging voices. In two decades of music-making, we have performed the music of over 300 living composers. Their works tell the stories of our time: joy and grief, war and peace, nature, technology, mental health, climate change, love, heartbreak, immigration, persecution, abuse, perseverance, equality and above all, visions of a better tomorrow.
Our season opener “Studio to Stage” highlights works that Juventas recorded for five different record labels. Our recordings of these pieces are the only studio recordings of these works. They make this music available beyond the concert hall, so that anyone can listen worldwide.
The five composers on this program offer a diverse range of perspectives and styles. I often like to say at Juventas concerts “and now for something completely different!” What binds these works together—aside from having been studio recorded by Juventas—is that all offer windows into the human experience. From sleep disorders to transcontinental immigration, each of these works invites us on a journey that could only be told today.
As I mentioned above, this year, we are not just celebrating the past, but looking forward! This program kicks off two new venue partnerships, with the Brattleboro Music Center and First Parish Sudbury. We are incredibly grateful to Mary Greene (BMC) and Thomas Kruskal (Sudbury) for making this happen, and to YOU—our new audience members—for welcoming us into your community.
Sincerely,
Oliver Caplan, Artistic Director Juventas New Music Ensemble
JUVENTAS NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE
Juventas’s 2024-25 season is generously sponsored by John A. Carey.
Juventas New Music Ensemble is a dynamic contemporary chamber group with a special focus on emerging voices. We reimagine classical music as a vibrant living art form, uplifting rising voices and bringing audiences music from a diverse array of composers that live in today’s world and respond to our time.
Juventas has earned a reputation as a curator, with a keen eye for new talent. Since our founding in 2005, we have performed the music of over 300 living composers. Our musicians champion these artists with exceptional professional performances that open doors.
From climate change to mental health, our programs speak to the most critical topics of the 21st century. Our concerts center on the human experience, featuring deeply personal music that fosters conversation and reflection.
Our work has been recognized with multiple American Prize wins and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, New Music USA and Boston Foundation. Juventas has been featured on over a dozen recording projects, including albums from Albany Records, Navona, New Dynamic and RMN Classical.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
John Carey President
Andrew Wilkins Treasurer
Meghan Guidry Clerk
Minjin Chung
Lynn Eustis
Meg Fuchs
Carson Cooman
Leslie Jacobson Kaye
Karen Ruymann
Oliver Caplan ex officio
STAFF
Oliver Caplan
Artistic Director
Joseph Sedarski
General Manager
Saskia den Boon
Graphic Designer
Grants Coordinator
Sadie Habas
Development Coordinator
Molly Breen-Aronson
Arts Administration Intern
Cassian Ramos
Arts Administration Intern
IN THE COMPOSER’S OWN WORDS
MARI KOTSKYY | Reminiscence (2019)
This piece is about my experience of when I immigrated to NY from my hometown, Hokkaido, an island of northernmost Japan. It was in February, 2008. Because of language barriers and culture differences, I’d been felt homesick and couldn’t stop thinking about my family, friends and the beautiful nature in Hokkaido. After a while, I was getting used to NY life and my sentimental feelings eventually have decreased.
Juventas studio-recorded Reminiscence for the 2020 album “In Focus 3” (RMN Classical).
JONATHAN SHEFFER | Parasomnia (2012)
Parasomnia was adapted from music written for a similarly-titled 2008 documentary produced by French television about sleep disorders. This is, therefore, plainly programmatic music reworked into a form with quite different ambitions. Film music, is, by its nature, segmented and tied to specific imagery, and some several cues (as they are called in film) form the basis of an expanded and newly-conceived work, reducing the original sampled elements to three instruments. The atmosphere of the film is tense and serious, as it depicts not only such things are night terrors and sleepwalking, but also describes gruesome crimes committed by persons while in the grips of physical activity during sleep. The movements correspond to different aspects of the subject: the first to a sense of floating, yet urgent anticipation as night draws near; the second accompanies research scientists at work, and the third depicts recurring nightmares, and is therefore (obviously) a theme and variations, ending like the film, with a sense of hope for reducing dangerous symptoms through treatment.
Juventas studio-recorded Parasomnia for a forthcoming album on Navona Records.
ERICH STEM│| Consider (2013)
Consider was commissioned by Juventas New Music Ensemble in 2013. The title refers to the consideration of different stylistic ideas (e.g. European avant-garde, neoclassic, jazz, and pop) that are interwoven through a piece that acts like an improvisation. The individual instruments’ lines either form a bridge to a new style or simply respond to the other members of the group, adding their own twist to the direction of the music as the work unfolds.
Juventas studio-recorded Consider by for our 2016 album “Spectres” (New Dynamic Records).
Cylindrical Whiskers (merelaniite) (2019)
Described as “Cylindrical whiskers with a metallic luster” by my colleague John Jaszczak who helped to officially describe the mineral, merelaniite is named in honor of the miners in the Merelani hills of Tanzania where the first analyzed specimens came from. According to Jasczak, “It lacks the eye-catching qualities of the colorful gem crystals of tanzanite that the workers toil to unearth in the area’s underground tunnels, but its intricate beauty reveals itself when viewed up close. Under a microscope, merelaniite’s layers look like delicate paper rolled into a scroll, a rare structure in the mineral world. At the atomic scale, it’s incredibly complex crystal structure is also a thing of great beauty.” In the quartet, each of the players exist in their own musical “cylinder” with tiny, subtle gestures or “whiskers” that emerge in and out of the fabric of the composition. These repetitive figures are created entirely from the pitches of the C major scale, taking advantage of the natural resonance of open strings and harmonics found in the instruments. The delicate gestures undergo subtle changes, changes that may not be obvious initially but later emerge as new figures woven in between the ostinato passages that occur throughout the piece.
Juventas studio-recorded Cylindrical Whiskers for Libby’s 2022 album “To What Listens” (Albany Records).
OLIVER CAPLAN | Love Letters (2015)
I composed Love Letters as a wedding gift for my husband Chris, and the music was woven into our marriage ceremony. The processional music, “Forever Began with Hello,” recalls the intoxicating magic of early love, with the main theme hued from our joined initials, C-B-O-C. “The Tree With the Lights in It,” performed as the ceremony’s interlude, draws its title from a passage in Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, a mutual favorite book we discussed at length on our first date. “Two Penguins in Love,” the recessional, is a celebratory expression of joy and exuberance.
Chris and I grew up in a time when two men could not marry. In 2004, our home state of Massachusetts was the first to guarantee marriage equality. Yet, on June 6, 2016– the day Chris and I tied the knot–our marriage was only recognized in some parts of our country. Three weeks after our wedding, the Supreme Court issued the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which recognized the fundamental right for same-sex couples to marry. These momentous events are forever entwined in my memory, and I feel immense gratitude to everyone who persevered to make love and equality available to all.
Juventas studio-recorded Love Letters for Oliver’s 2017 album “You Are Not Alone” (Oliver Caplan Music).
In Focus III featuring Reminiscence by Mari Kotskyy
RMN Classical, 2020
To What Listens featuring Cylindrical Whiskers by Libby Meyer
Albany Records, 2022
Spectres featuring Consider by Eric Stem
New Dynamic Records, 2016
You Are Not Alone featuring Love Letters (2015) by Oliver Caplan Oliver Caplan Music, (2017)
JUVENTAS IN THE STUDIO THE ALBUMS
ON STAGE
COMPOSERS
MARI KOTSKYY│| b. 1979
Mari Kotskyy is a New York-based award-winning composer, arranger and pianist, originally from Hokkaido, Japan. Her works have been performed throughout Asia, North America, and Europe.
Mari’s piano solo piece Snowfall was recognized at The Contemporary Piano 2019 international composition competition in Greece. Further works have accumulated critical acclaim, including Migrating Birds, selected by RMN Classical in the United Kingdom. It also features the piano album Modern Music for Piano 2. Exploring works using flute, clarinet and piano, her work Colors features on the album AERO, performed by acclaimed flutist, Dieter Flury. Her piano trio piece Reminiscence is included on the album In Focus 3, released by RMN Classical in 2020, performed by Juventas New Music Ensemble. In 2021, she was commissioned by Central Square Congregational Church in MA and wrote one-act opera The Lady of the Inn, libretto by Catherine Garrison Chapin. Also, her choral piece I Sing of a Maiden was selected by Ablaze Records and it’s included the album New Choral Voices, vol. 5. The recording is by CORO VOLANTE choir in Cincinnati led by maestro Brett Scott.
Mari studied at Sapporo Otani College with a major in Music Education. In her third year of college, she joined the piano faculty at Yamaha School of Music in Sapporo, Japan. She also performed frequently both as soloist and accompanist.
In 2008, Mari moved to New York and studied composition at The Juilliard School Evening Division under the guidance of Conrad Cummings. She continues to study at Berklee Online with a major in Music Composition for Film, TV, and Games.
marikotskyy.com
JONATHAN SHEFFER | b. 1953
Jonathan Sheffer is a Grammy-nominated composer and conductor known for his work across classical, opera, dance, and film and television music. A New York City native, Sheffer graduated from Harvard University, studying under Leonard Bernstein, and attended both The Juilliard Extension School and the Aspen School of Music.
Sheffer’s diverse portfolio includes television and film scores, orchestral works, solo piano compositions, concertos, musicals, and short operas. Notable film scores include Encino Man, Pure Luck, A Shallow Grave, Mann v. Ford (HBO), and The Decent One, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. He has conducted for major films such as Alien 3, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Batman Returns, and Interview With The Vampire
In 2014, Sheffer’s orchestral work for children, The Conference of the Birds, premiered at the Cabrillo Festival. His opera, Blood on the Dining Room Floor, won the Richard Rodgers Production Award and was featured in a Guggenheim Works & Process series event. Sheffer has been honored with fellowships at Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony and served as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome in 2003.
Sheffer debuted as a conductor with the San Diego Symphony in 1991. He founded the Eos Orchestra in New York in 1995, which received an ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award, toured nationally, performed at the White House, and earned a Grammy nomination. In 2001, he helped establish Red (an orchestra) in Cleveland, leading it for six seasons.
His conducting credits include performances with the New York City Opera, The Spoleto Festival in Italy, and the Ravinia Festival. He has led the American Ballet Theatre, the Mark Morris Dance Company, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Edinburgh Festival.
Beyond music, Sheffer is a dedicated advocate for the arts, having served on boards such as VH1 Save The Music, the New York City Opera, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He is currently a Councilmember of the New York State Council on the Arts.
ERICH STEM | b. 1973
Erich Stem’s music has been described as “sophisticated and intriguing” (The Washington Post), “unique and beautiful” (Boston Theatre Review), and as having a “fluent and chaotic exchange that breaks minimalism apart” (A Closer Listen). His music has been performed live around the globe in places such as New York City, Boston, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Miami, England, the Netherlands, and Romania and can be heard on albums by critically acclaimed groups such as counter)induction, Aurelia Saxophone Quartet, SOLI Chamber Ensemble, and A/Tonal. His commissions also include music for recognized artists such as saxophonist Johan van der Linden and flutist Lindsey Goodman.
Groups such as the Minnesota Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and many others have performed/broadcasted his orchestral works in venues such as Minnesota’s Orchestra Hall, The Carpenter Theatre at CenterStage, WUOL 90.5FM’s Brave New World, and WCVE 88.9FM’s Whitlow Concert Series with Bobbie Barajas. In 2013, his affinity for the history and towns of the United States led to a larger orchestral project called America By: A Symphonic Tour. A consortium of American orchestras has commissioned and performed works from Stem during the tour, including the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, University of Portland Orchestra, Arlington Philharmonic, and the James Madison University Symphony Orchestra. His most recent project, Solo Series, takes the touring concept of America By, but focuses on concertos written for various soloists. In 2022, Stem will tour the first piece of the project, “Firefly”, for Eb Clarinet and Wind Symphony by Backun artist, Carrie RavenStem. The project will wrap up the 2022 season with the second piece of the series, “Kayak”, for percussion and orchestra, featuring National Symphony Orchestra’s percussionist, Scott Christian.
Stem has also made the promotion of today’s art music an important part of his career. He was the founder, director, and resident composer of New Dynamic Records, a contemporary music label that recorded and released music by 60 living composers worldwide, including 42 world premiere recordings. He is currently the co-founder and resident composer of A/Tonal, an ensemble dedicated to the music of living composers and their connections to the past.
erichstem.net
LIBBY MEYER | B. 1967
Libby Meyer is a composer whose work reflects the natural rhythms and patterns of the world around her. Her music is inspired by natural soundscapes and a curiosity about the relationship between the arts and the natural world. Her music has been performed throughout the United States by soloists and ensembles including City Water, Juventas Ensemble, The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra, ConScience Chamber Singers, Capella Clausura, Tuulli String Quartet and Corvus New Music Ensemble. She is a co-founder of the Keweenaw Soundscape Project established to aurally document the Keweenaw region and surrounding lands for ecological, social and artistic value. She is a member of the Landscape Music Network, a group of composers and musicians from across the United States who have created substantial bodies of work connected to landscape, nature, and place.
She has served as Composer-in-Residence at Isle Royale National Park, The Douglass Park Conservatory and the Visby International Center for Composers in Sweden. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning, The Michigan Tech Research Excellence Fund, and more.
Recent projects include a new film score for 1925 film The Red Kimona, directed by Dorothy Davenport as part of the Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers; a score for the 1912 comedy short C’est la faute à Rosalie for Cinema’s First Nasty Women, a 4-disc DVD/Blu-ray set featuring rarely-seen silent films about feminist protest; and a recording project of her vocal works with Capella Clausura recorded in May of 2019 and to be released on Albany records in December 2021.
Libby is also an active composer of theatrical incidental music and has written music for several productions of by Tech Theater Company including Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Silent Sky by Laura Gunderson and most recently Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Libby lives with her husband, a secretive cat and their large Pyrenees mountain dog on a small farm in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Libby holds a DMA in Music Composition from Northwestern University in Chicago and is currently a Teaching Professor in Music Theory and Composition at Michigan Technological University.
libbymeyermusic.com
OLIVER CAPLAN | b. 1982
Andrew Wilkins has generously sponsored Oliver Caplan’s position as Artistic Director for the 2024-25 Season.
Award-winning American composer Oliver Caplan offers a voice of hope in an uncertain world. Inspired by the resiliency of the human spirit and beauty of the natural world, his music celebrates stories of social justice, conservation and community.
Mr. Caplan’s works have been performed in over 250 performances nationwide. He has been commissioned by the Atlanta Chamber Players, Bella Piano Trio, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Columbia University Wind Ensemble and New Hampshire Master Chorale, among others. Winner of a Special Citation for the American Prize in Orchestral Composition and the Oratorio Society of New York 150th Anniversary Competition, additional recognitions include two Veridian Symphony Competition Wins, the Fifth House Ensemble Competition Grand Prize and fellowships at Ragdale, VCCA and the Brush Creek Foundation. Recordings of Mr. Caplan’s music include his 2017 release You Are Not Alone, which has been featured on Apple Music’s Classical A-list and streamed over 200,000 times; 2021 album Watershed; and tracks on Trio Siciliano’s Exploring Music (2018, U07 Records) and the Sinfonietta of Riverdale’s New World Serenade (2016, Albany Records).
A leader in the field of contemporary classical music, Mr. Caplan is the Artistic Director of the American Prize-winning Juventas New Music Ensemble, the only professional ensemble of its kind devoted specifically to the music of emerging composers. He also serves on the Ragdale Foundation’s Curatorial Board and is a voting member of the Recording Academy.
Mr. Caplan holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the Boston Conservatory. He resides in Medford, Massachusetts.
www.olivercaplan.com
Credit: James Jones Photography
MUSICIANS
NICHOLAS SOUTHWICK│| flute
Praised by the Royal Gazette for his “beautiful phrasing” and “bright and lively playing” and by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for his “admirable ensemble cohesion,” Boston-based flutist Nicholas Southwick enjoys a diverse musical career.
Nicholas is a frequent guest artist of the Bay Chamber Concerts, where he recently performed J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 with Palaver Strings. He has also performed Bach’s concerti with the Bermuda Chamber Orchestra and was a soloist for the Bach the European series at the Royal Academy of Music. As a recitalist, he has performed at Harvard University, King’s Chapel, Salem Classical, the University of Cambridge, and the Bloomsbury Festival, London.
In addition to his role as core flutist of the Juventas New Music Ensemble, Nicholas serves as Affiliated Faculty at Emerson College and holds an Artist Fellowship with Music for Food for his work with violist Long Okada in Duo Gwynne. He also founded the Acadie Duo with cellist Jaime Feldman, with whom he curates an annual chamber music series in rural Maine. Nicholas has a particular interest in interdisciplinary dialogues between music and theology and is currently Fellow in Liturgy and Music at Harvard University’s Episcopal Chaplaincy. As an orchestral player, Nicholas has made appearances with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Festival Orchestra, Boston Opera Collaborative, Harvard-Radcliffe and Manchester Choral Societies, and Trentino Music Festival Orchestra (Italy).
Nicholas completed his postgraduate training at the Royal Academy of Music, London under the tutelage of Karen Jones, Laura Jellicoe, and Katherine Baker. He previously studied at the Longy School of Music of Bard College and Gordon College. His past teachers include Marco Granados, Robert Willoughby, and Susan Heath. Outside of his busy performance schedule, he loves to share the joy of music with his private flute students in Boston and the North Shore.
CELINE FERRO│| clarinet
Celine Ferro is a versatile clarinetist and bass clarinetist originally from Rhode Island. She is a graduate of The New England Conservatory of Music, where she received a Bachelor’s degree under the tutelage of Richard Stoltzman, and later a Master’s degree from the Boston University College of Fine Arts, where she studied with Ethan Sloane.
Celine’s on-stage resume is as robust as it is diverse. Her orchestral experience includes performing with the Boston Civic Symphony, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, and the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. She has performed in several other New England orchestras and ensembles, as well as orchestra pits in Boston’s theater district and on stage at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.
Outside of her orchestral work, Celine is the clarinetist of Boston’s Kalliope Reed Quintet, a member of the all-bass clarinet ensemble Improbable Beasts, the clarinetist and bass clarinetist of the groove ensemble Shibui, and serves in the first clarinet section of local wind ensemble MetWinds. Celine travels all over the world with her clarinet (and bass clarinet) in hand, most recently to Mexico where she premiered several new commissions with the Kalliope Reed Quintet, and then to Arizona with the Improbable Beasts at the first ever ICA Low Clarinet Festival. Celine is an accomplished clarinet teacher at the Winchester Community Music School in Massachusetts and at Southern New Hampshire University. She has an ever-growing private studio, offering lessons to students of all ages and levels.
Her prior work with Juventas New Music Ensemble includes performing in the “Concert for Peace”, and the recording of a new album of composer Christina Rusnak’s music. Her appearances in the ensemble can be traced as far back as 2013, with the production of Magic Mirror, and she was also involved in two premieres of Artistic and Executive Director Oliver Caplan’s works Love Letters (2015) and Bonne Année (2022). Celine is thrilled to be a part of the Juventas family, and is looking forward to bringing new music to life.
VOLUNTEER WITH JUVENTAS!
Juventas is in search of enthusiastic volunteers to support our concert performances. As a volunteer, you'll be showered with gratitude and rewarded with complimentary tickets! To become a part of our volunteer community, please reach out to our General Manager, Joe Sedarski, at joseph.sedarski@juventasmusic.org. We'll reach out with volunteer opportunities when they arise, and joining our list comes with no obligations.
MINA LACHEVA│| violin
Mina Lavcheva, violinist, is a native of Sofia, Bulgaria, where she graduated from the National School of Music “L. Pipkov”. An active performer from an early age, Mina has appeared as a soloist, chamber and orchestra player throughout Europe and North America. She holds a Bachelor and a Master Degree in Music Performance from LSU School of Music and Boston University respectively.
Mina is a sought-after and frequently engaged artist by numerous chamber and orchestral ensembles in the New England area. Currently, she can be heard performing as a member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine) and Rhode Island Philharmonic, as well as Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Mina has also appeared in performances with Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, Castle of our Skins, Ensemble Parallax, Arcadia Players, Odyssey Opera, and Juventas New Music Ensemble, to name a few.
Mina has been teaching violin in the Wellesley Public Schools since 2008, and is also on the faculty of 77 Arts Academy in Acton, MA.
SOPHIA SZOKOLAY│| violin
Lauded for her “stirring, singing tone” by Martha’s Vineyard Gazette, Canadian violinist Sophia Szokolay has captivated audiences across Canada, the United States, and Europe. Based in Boston, Sophia balances a busy schedule as a recitalist and chamber musician while completing her Doctorate at the New England Conservatory, where she serves as Donald Weilerstein’s teaching assistant.
Equally at home with chamber and orchestral repertoire, Sophia plays with the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, Palaver Strings, Delirium Musicum, and Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, led by music director Joshua Weilerstein. Her passion for new music has led her to work with notable living composers and to give many premieres, including Jörg Widmann’s String Quartet No. 7 at the YellowBarn Festival, Sid Richardson’s Tide Tiding Time, at Jordan Hall, and James Lee III’s third string quartet, Untranslatable at the Ravinia Festival, commissioned in honor of Miriam Fried’s 30 years as director of the Steans Institute.
Sophia held Teaching and Community Engagement Fellowships at The Juilliard School where she worked with violin and music theory students at Opportunity Music Project and at Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School. In 2020, she performed online for
ICU Covid-19 patients and their families across the United States with Project: Music Heals Us. She curated an online Music and Movement class for toddlers and led music appreciation workshops at Lenox Hill Women’s Shelter.
Sophia received her Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory with a Minor in Music Theory, and her Master’s degree from Juilliard. Her teachers include Catherine Cho, Miriam Fried, and Donald Weilerstein.
Sophia’s passions outside of music include photography, distance running, and cycling.
LU YU│| viola
Born in China, Lu Yu began her musical studies at the age of six on violin. She started to play viola as her principal instrument at age twelve at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China.
Her studies then took her to the Royal Academy of Music in London with a full scholarship where she learned under the tutelage of Matthew Souter for the Bachelor of Music degree. Ms. Yu then studied with Marcus Thompson at the New England Conservatory in Boston where she received her Master of Music degree.
Among her numerous awards, she was granted “The Young Musician of 2008” in Hong Kong. Her performance career has led to being the founding violist of the Loki String Quartet which is in residence at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Ms. Yu is also principal violist of the Boston Civic Symphony, performs with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, was recently co-principal viola of the Missouri Symphony and frequently performs with many of the ensembles around the Boston area.
Credit: James Jones Photography
KAMYRON WILLIAMS | cello
While cellist Kamyron Williams has performed on stages across the Midwest and New England, he has become known for his focus on social change. With Palaver Strings, he collaborated with guest artists from Maine’s immigrant communities during a 2019 tour “Welcome Home,” and has released two albums, Ready or Not and A Change is Gonna Come; With Exigence Vocal Ensemble, he premiered the SATB arrangement of Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, and with ArcaSōnica, he performed in the diversity-focused Ypsilanti Freight House concert series. During quarantine, he brought music to the elderly through the Ann Arbor Camerata’s “Doorstep Serenades.” Kamyron’s impactful work has been featured on PBS’s “American Black Journal,” NPR Michigan Radio, The Providence Journal, Represent Classical, and The Boston Globe.
Much of Kamyron’s personal mission formed while working with the Sphinx Organization, both as a performer and as the Audience Development Coordinator, where he tackled the challenges of equity, attendance, and enthusiasm that classical music still struggles to overcome. As a result, Kamyron began building infrastructure with future generations of underrepresented musicians in mind. As host of the radio show and podcast Voices Unheard, he spotlights underrepresented composers, overlooked repertoire, and those making a difference in local communities through music. He co-founded the artist collective EnRoot, which performs, commissions, and teaches music that celebrates its members’ Black and Latinx heritage.
Kamyron strives to create spaces where art, community, and humanity intersect. His recent performances and collaborations include the Looking Glass Arts Center, Julius Eastman’s The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, Daniel Bernard Roumain’s Twin Stars: Diamond Variations for Dae’Anna, and more.
Kamyron holds degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (B.M.) and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance (M.M. and Specialist Degree). When not on the road, he makes his home in the West End neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island.
JULIA SCOTT CAREY | piano
Julia Scott Carey began her music training at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, where she received the Lanier Prize for Most Outstanding Graduating Senior. She was one of the first students admitted to the Harvard-New England Conservatory joint degree program, through which she received a master’s degree in composition. She received a second master’s degree in collaborative piano from Boston University.
Julia is the Minister of Music at the Central Square Congregational Church in Bridgewater, where she leads the adult and children’s choirs from the keyboard. She is one of the accompanists for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir. She also serves as the accompanist for the Metropolitan Chorale of Brookline, the Dedham Choral Society, the Boston College University Chorale, and the Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus. She previously served as the pianist for the Handel and Haydn Society’s Educational Vocal Quartet, the Wellesley College Chamber Singers, and the Boston Children’s Chorus. She is also a founder and core ensemble member of Juventas New Music Ensemble.
As a composer, her orchestral works have been performed by numerous orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops, and her works have been broadcast on national TV and radio in the United States and in Russia. She was the youngest composer ever published by the Theodore Presser Company. She was also chosen to arrange a folk song for Yo-Yo Ma and Lynn Chang to play at Deval Patrick’s inaugural ball.
Julia lives in Winchester with her husband and her daughter. In addition to music, she loves cooking, running, and spending time on Cape Cod.
Credit: James Jones Photography
Jonathan Cohen, conductor
Lucy Crowe, soprano
Beth Taylor, mezzo-soprano
Duke Kim, tenor
Brandon, bass-baritone
H+H Orchestra and Chorus
Michael Haydn: Requiem MH155 Mozart: Requiem K. 626
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For more information, please contact General Manager Joseph Sedarski, joseph.sedarski@juventasmusic.org
Make a Planned Gift
Bequests and planned gifts are simple, mutually beneficial ways for you to support Juventas New Music Ensemble beyond your lifetime. You can create your own legacy and keep supporting emerging composers for years to come by leaving a bequest in your will, life insurance policy, retirement plan, or other assets in your estate plan to Juventas New Music Ensemble, while at the same time reaping tax benefits for yourself and your descendents. If you would like more information about making a bequest to Juventas New Music Ensemble or if you’ve already included us in your estate plans, please contact our Artistic Director Oliver Caplan at olivercaplan@juventasmusic.org. Juventas New Music Ensemble is a nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with a principal business address of:
Juventas New Music Ensemble
P.O. Box 230015 Boston, MA 02123
Our tax identification number is 26-2583870.
SUPPORTERS
Juventas New Music Ensemble is deeply grateful to the incredibly generous community that supports our artistic programs. Juventas received the following individual gifts from August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024. Please visit www.juventasmusic.org/donate-now to learn about making a tax-deductible gift.
$5,000 and Above
Anonymous
Oliver Caplan and Chris Beagan
John A. Carey
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Karen & Fred Ruymann
Andrew Wilkins
$1,000–$5,000
Brookline Commission for the Arts
Chris and Margie Brown
Cambridge Arts Council
Paula Luria Caplan
Carson Cooman
John Emler
Barbara Hughey
Leslie Jacobson Kaye and Richard Kaye
Medford Arts Council
Richard Mitrano and Julia Scott
Carey
The Ripley-Steinemann Family Fund
$500–$999
Boylston Cultural Council
Christie Gibson and Michael Emmanuel
Bryce and Kathryn Denney
Meg Fuchs
Meghan S. Guidry
Stella Lee
Andrew and Laura Waldorf Reiss
Rachel Rivkind
PARMA Recordings
Amundi Pioneer
Ben Sweetser
Sudbury Cultural Council
$250–$499
Anne Bilder & Johan den Boon
Joanne Dreher
Evelyn Bonander
Raesin Caine and Colette
Carmouche
Eric and Margaret Darling
Yukiko Egozy
Casey Elia
Aileen C. Freeman & Susan F.
Spencer
Max Hobart
Joshua Levit
Alexandra Bowers and James Liu
Nagesh Mahanthappa & Valentine Talland
Mary Marquebreuck
Ann Omalley
Jon Saxton and Barbara Fox
Steven Taylor
Hanjay Wang
Beverly Woodward & Paul Monsky
$100–$249
Edward J Amabile and Mary M Amabile
Lawrence Banks
Robert Beagan
Lee Binnig
Carol Bloom
Dana Bos
Elise Viebeck and Andrew Caplan
Colleen Cavanaugh and Philip Gschwend
David Chia
Larry Cohen and Susan Worst
Deanne Coolidge
Brian Cron
Brian Pingree and Alexis Dearborn
Barry Duncan
Andrew Elliott and John Varone
Lynn Eustis
Ellen Feingold
Ann Ferentz
Andy Foery
Lorna Gibson
Myra and Roy Gordon
Louise & Michael Grossman
Neal and Kim Habas
Ann Brennan Harris
Patricia Henry
Jacob Hilley
Kelley Hollis
Maureen Hollis
David and Mary Howarth
Elizabeth Igleheart
Steven Jackson
Beth D Jacob
Jim Kane and Sharon Williams
Julia Kane
Mari and Denys Kotskyy
Kenneth Krause and Maura McEnaney
William Krein
William Kucheman
Hank and Patricia Kucheman
Ian Lai
Mimi Lee
Julie Leven
Laurie Jacobs and Steven Levine
Steve Lewis
Downing Luvisi Family
MaryBeth Manca
Amy Mantis
May Marquebreuck
Carol McCarthy and Chris Stribakos
Jonathan and Deborah McPhee
Reeva Meyer
Aziza Musa
Newburyport Cultural Council
Angela Ng
Linda Ng
Robert Page
Jason Pavel and Marie Walcott
Patric Pepper & Mary Ann Larkin
Webster Pilcher and Sheryl Koenigsberg
Chris Porter
Dr. Cashman Kerr Prince & Dr. Bryan Burns
Katie and Bryce Remesch
Kathryn Ritcheske
Nate Ruegger
Peter Ruymann
Colin Ryan
Lori K. Sanders & Jennifer A. Lewis
Isadel & EB Saunter
Louise Scribner
Charles Shadle
Daron Sharps
Elsa Dorfman and Harvey Silverglate
Kevin & Carol Smith
Trisha Solio
Chris Stribakos and Carol A McCarthy
Ann B. Teixeira
Kelsey Thompson
Barbara Turen
Theodor Weinberg & Eric Hyett
Emma Kent Wine
Murray and Susan Woolf
Michael Zammito
$50–$99
Anonymous
Gail Barry
Thomas Barth
Eric Barth
Laura Basford
Bob Bassett
Minda Berbeco
Lauren Bernofsky
Bonnie Borch-Rote
Mary Bragg
Arlene Bryer
Margaret Cain
Zoe Cardon
Kelley Cavanaugh
Minjin Chung
Rachel Ciprotti
Colby Cooman
Linda Cox
Sarah Cummer
Elizabeth Dean
Saskia den Boon
Virginia Doxsey
Christine Edwards
Shaun Eyring
Deb Faling
Celine Ferro
David and Ellen Fries
Nancy Goodwin
Scott Goodwin
Lisa Graham
Michael Grossman
Judith Gurland
Steven & Jennifer Guthrie
Juliana Hall
Hans Heilman
Mary and David Howarth
Catharine Hyson
Laurie Kahn
Leonard and Terry Kahn
Sho Kato
Michael Kong
Karen Krolak
Ludmilla Leibman
Hal Lichtin
George Lockhart
Xiomara Lorenzo
Ann MacDonald
Linda Markarian
Honor E Mc
Ralph and Sylvia Memolo
Libby Meyer
Ted Mielczarek
Roxanna Myhrum
William Neely
C. Oberting
Ayumi Okada
Sylvia Oliveira
Katie Parodi
Marc Pasciucco
Jeffrey Paster
Andy Pease
John & Sarah Peck
Dan Perkins
Karen Poggi
Alexandra Porter
Sara Potter
Kate Raisz
Jill and Ian Reiss
Chris and Lindsey Reiss
George & Bobbi Ritcheske
Tom Schmidt
Andrew & Margot Schmolka
Rebeca Sedarski
Gordon and Shannon Shannon
Jonathan Simon
Tess Sneesby
Nicholas Southwick
Arlene Stevens
Bruce and Imogene
Jodi Swartz
John and Barbara T
Tony Thaweethai
Raymond Tonkel
Charlene Valk
The Valks
Anna Varlese
David von Behren
Elaine Walsh
John Weston
Up to $49
Anonymous (6)
Barbara A Hill
Andrew Adams
Jaime Alberts
Aaron Alon
Russ Anderson
Lael Backus
Young Yun Baek
Marshall Bautz
John Beagan
J. L. Bell
Michael Berkowitz
Kenneth Bigley
Emily Blitz
Ed Bouchard
Ann Bragg
Julianna Braun
Sharon Bridgforth
Margaret Brouwer
Eliza Brown
Baird and Carol Brown
Danica A. Buckley
Anne Burt
Maureen Cavanaugh
Huntae Chung
Jeanhee Chung
Linda Ciesielski
Jennifer Clapp
Lindsay Clark
Charles Coe
Burt and Deborah Cohen
Nell Cohen
James Curtis
Lora Davidson
Angus Davison
Patrick Dawson
Massimo De Lillo
The Dearr Family
Kathleen DeBois
Sandra DeBow
Ashley Dennis
Claudine Blake
Gerd Dr. Burger
Edward Dunar
BJ & Rich Dunn
Christina English
John and Beth Eustis
Carole Eustis
Evan Fein
David Feltner and Robert Edward Smith
A. Ferello
Roderick Ferguson
Giselle Ferro
Jane Ferro
Eve Foldan
Ali Frana
Rick Frank
Rebecca Fuchs
David E Fuchs
Gia Fuchs
Mary Gardill
Stacy Garrop
John Garton
Tobin Gedstad
James Gleason
Kendra Goodwin
John H. Graves
Jeffrey Grossman and Karl Hinze
Matthew Gschwend
Joe Gualtieri
Sadie Habas
Jordan Hadrill
Amanda Harberg
Kiyoshi Hayashi
Bonnie Haymon
Matthew Heath
Matthew Henegan
Michaela Hollis
Anne Howarth & Frederick Frank
Jean Huang
Wolcott Humphrey
Michael Hustedde
Joe Jaxson
Rashi Jeeda
Callie Jennings
Julie Johnson-McGrath
James Jones
Amie Jones
Susan Kander
Jeff Kauppi
Kathryn Kautzman
Rakesh Khetarpal
Abby Krawson
Matthew Kusulas & Jack Tamburri
Ursula Kwong-Brown
Dina Labkovsky
Katie Lade
Rainice Lai
Johanna LaPlante
Mina Lavcheva
Ken Lewis
Alexander Liebermann
Jesse Lipson
Tammy Lynch
Jen Lyon
Gregory Lyons
Pamela Marshall
Kathryn McKellar
Peri Levin McKenna
Rachael McKenzie
Taylor McNulty
Jim McQuaid
Alexandra Mendez-Diez
Erin Merceruio Nelson
Kris Miranda
Annemarie Mitrano
Robert Montgomery
Mary Montgomery Koppel
Dilshod Narzillaev
Nicholas Norton
Susanne Olson
Valentina Osorio
Jessica Ovici
Lindsay Packer
Timothy Paek
Megan Paglia-Scheff
William Paglia-Scheff
Jane Parkin Kullmann
Martha Pierce
Gretchen Pineo
Susan Pivetz
Amanda Potter
Emma Powell
Giselle Puigbo
Kathleen Quigley
Chris Rhodes
Greg Rhodes
Jason Ries
Susan Rizzo
Jennifer Romig
Hannah Roos
Jonathan Royer
Christina Rusnak
Mallory Ruymann
D. S.
Harshita Sahu
Antonio Santos
Kerem Sayman
Donna Scalcione
Graeme A.B. Schranz
Kristen Schroeder
Christopher Sedarski
Joseph Sedarski
Josh Sedarski
Jonathan Sedarski
Dennis Shafer
Ryan Shannon
Brendon Shapiro
Dan Shaud
Jamison Shave
Mindi Shave
David Shuve-Wilson
Ken Silber
Kyle Simpson
Mark Sivazlian
Anna Speiser
Barbara Steiner
Drew Swatosh
Susannah Thornton
Jessica Tybursky
Karyn Visscher
Leo Walsh
Sophie Wang
Jennifer Wang
Beverly Waring
James Weber
Chris Wild
Dr. Natalie Williams
Rebecca Witmer
Christina Wright-Ivanova
Laura Yoo
Alice Young
Lu Yu
Kiara Zani
Marc Zegans
Tracey Zimmerman
Kim Zocchi
We’re proud that our donor roster includes 100% of Juventas board, staff and ensemble members, plus 33 composer and musician collaborators.
We are also extremely thankful to the dedicated volunteers who gave their time and talents to Juventas in the past year:
Chris Beagan
Rachel Ciprotti
Gordan Shannon
Shannon Shannon
Evan Perry
CELEBRATING YEARS OF JUVENTAS
In our 20-year history we are proud to have performed a total of...
209 CONCERTS FEATURING
334 LIVING COMPOSERS AND 100+
