Trail of Stars Program

TRAIL OF STARS A free concert of contemporary music for flute and harp OCTOBER 24, 2025 AT 7:00 PM FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH MEDFORD MEDFORD, MA

GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY This program is supported by an Operating Grant from the Mass Cultural Council; and a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council.

UP NEXT CHASING DREAMS FOR LATER LIGHT

NOVEMBER 15, 2025 | 8:00 PM

MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER, CAMBRIDGE, MA + LIVE ON YOUTUBE

Wildflowers (2021)

Maria Mandico (b. 1990)

IBUKI (2024) JUVENTAS COMMISSION

Soyoka Hayashi (b. 1989)

Flow (2021)

Brittney Benton (b. 1999)

Le vent à travers les ruines (1998)

Yuko Uébayashi (b. 1958)

Norfolk Idyll (2016) Serenade for flute and harp (2012) Trail of Stars (2020) Sonate Flore pour flûte et harp (2017) iii. Allegro Vivace

Paul Lewis (b. 1943) John Heiss (1938-2023) Juhi Bansal (b. 1984) Yuko Uébayashi (b. 1958)

PERFORMERS NICHOLAS SOUTHWICK | flute Praised by the Royal Gazette for his “beautiful phrasing,” Nicholas Southwick enjoys a diverse musical career as a flutist, lecturer, and curator. Nicholas is a frequent guest artist of the Bay Chamber Concerts, the Bermuda Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Academy of Music. As an orchestral player, Nicholas has made appearances with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Emmanuel Music, New Hampshire Festival Orchestra, Boston Opera Collaborative, Harvard-Radcliffe and Manchester Choral Societies, and Trentino Music Festival Orchestra (Italy).

He is currently Assistant Professor at the Berklee College of Music and serves as Affiliated Faculty at Emerson College. Nicholas completed his postgraduate training at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He previously studied at the Longy School of Music of Bard College and Gordon College.

ANGELINA SAVOIA| harp Harpist Angelina Savoia currently serves as Adjunct Harp Faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy. As an orchestral harpist, she performs with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, and is the principal harpist for the Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Quincy Symphony Orchestra, and Brockton Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Savoia holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School, Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, and a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School in Massachusetts, where she is a sworn member of the bar.

ABOUT JUVENTAS

Juventas New Music Ensemble is a contemporary chamber group with a special focus on emerging voices. Juventas shares classical music as a vibrant, living art form. We bring audiences music from a diverse array of composers that live in today’s world and respond to our time. www.juventasmusic.org.

PROGRAM NOTES Maria Mandico | Wildflowers Wildflowers was commissioned by flutist Anna Conigliari in 2021 for a recital series called “Celebrating Women through Music.” The bell-like opening calls us to stay alert to the blessings that dwell within music-making, even as ups and downs ensue. For me, writing this little piece was a glimpse into the creative, feminine energy that burns within artists, always beckoning us to be vulnerable, graceful, and tenacious all at once, like wildflowers.

Soyoka Hayashi | IBUKI JUVENTAS COMMISSION “Ibuki” is a Japanese word, written with the kanji characters for breath and blow. It is also used to convey the sense of life or the flow of energy present in nature, humans, or objects. In Japan, Spring symbolizes renewal and new beginnings. In this piece, I aim to capture the transition from the harsh cold of winter to the warmer, more vibrant Spring, as life begins to awaken and grow once again.

Brittney Benton | Flow Flow embodies a flowing river, meandering through the woods at its own unhurried pace. It was premiered by Danielle Kuntz on June 30th, 2021.

Yuko Uébayashi | Le vent à travers les ruines The title translates to “a breeze around ruins,” meant to depict the ruins of a monastery. No one questions why the monastery became a ruin. There may have been someone standing at the remains of the monastery or a cow walking by from somewhere, but no one asks the question why. . . And the earth exists as if to embrace all matters, while nature repeats her cycle. . .

Paul Lewis | Norfolk Idyll Norfolk Idyll is based on my score for the celebrated 1972 BBC TV documentary The Vanishing Hedgerows, presented by author and naturalist Henry Williamson. The film was Williamson’s reaction to modern farming methods which had changed the face of the Norfolk countryside he had previously farmed, and was the first ever hard-hitting conservationist TV documentary.

John Heiss | Serenade for flute and harp How does one cope with the loss of one’s beloved life-partner? We were married for 47 years and knew eachother for 51. One mourns (profoundly) but one also treasures the overall experience . . . Arlene was so original, imaginative, energetic, and buoyant. Her life-force was animating. These memories all play into my Serenade. I like to think that this piece would bring some smiles to her.

Juhi Bansal | Trail of Stars One of my favorite characteristics of nighttime photography is the ability to capture star trails. Taken over long hours, these images show paths in the night sky of stars moving relative to the earth. This piece plays with elements of time, improvisation and repetition to mirror the meditative serenity of these long-exposure shots, juxtaposed with moments of sharpness for the stars’ brilliant arcs of motion.

Yuko Uébayashi | Sonate Flore pour flûte et harp One day I came across the beautiful sculpture “Flore” by René Frémin (1672-1744) at the Louvre. The spring goddess “Flore” holds a wreath in her left hand and smiles gracefully. A few days later, I visited the “Château de Marly”, on the grounds of which this sculpture at one time resided. Nowadays, there are no more palaces left, but I could still feel the lingering scent of elegance from a by-gone era. This piece is written in special homage to French Jean-Michel Damase (1928-2013).

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