3/22/2022 The Merian Ensemble

2021–2022

MUSIC@ EMORY

This concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.

404.727.5050 | schwartz.emory.edu | boxoffice@emory.edu

Audience Information Please turn off all electronic devices.

Face coverings are optional indoors on Emory’s campus. Because of increased personal risk, unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear masks indoors.

The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts requires a photo ID and proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results for all patrons attending Schwartz Center events and encourages the wearing of masks. Full details are available at schwartz.emory.edu/FAQ The concert hall capacity has been reduced in order to allow distance between seated parties. Please be mindful of distancing.

Photographs and Recordings

Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted.

Ushers

The Schwartz Center welcomes a volunteer usher corps of approximately 60 members each year. Visit schwartz.emory.edu/volunteer or call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities.

Accessibility

The Schwartz Center is committed to providing performances and facilities accessible to all. Please direct accommodation requests to the Schwartz Center Box Office at 404.727.5050, or by email at boxoffice@emory.edu.

Design and Photography Credits

Cover and Program Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague

Acknowledgment

The Schwartz Center gratefully acknowledges the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.

2021–2022

MUSIC@ EMORY Listen: Works by Women 2022 Journeys Home The Merian Ensemble Emily Brebach, oboe/English horn* Marci Gurnow, clarinet/bass clarinet* Jessica Oudin, viola Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp* Christina Smith, flute* * Emory Artist Affiliate

Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 8:00 p.m.

Emerson Concert Hall Schwartz Center for Performing Arts

Program Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale

Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979)

Cȃn Ramantus (“Love Song”)

Grace Williams (1906–1977)

Mel Bonis (1858–1937)

Scènes de la forêt 1.

Nocturne 2. À l’aube 3.

Invocation 4.

Pour Artémis

—Intermission— Julia Gomelskaya (1964–2016)

the hint only

Atalanta

Nicole Chamberlain (b. 1977)

Homeland

Allison Loggins-Hull (b. 1982)

Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981)

Peace

Small World (world premiere)

Lynne Plowman (b. 1969)

To encourage physical distancing and avoid crowding in the lobbies and restrooms, you may exit the concert hall as needed between pieces. An usher will assist in returning you to your seat at an appropriate time.

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Program Notes Small World The idea for Small World was sparked by seeing the Mappa Mundi in Hereford Cathedral. Made around the year 1300, it depicts the history, geography, and stories of humanity as they were perceived by the church in Britain at that time. The part of the world they knew of, roughly equivalent to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, is mapped with east at the top, where the sun rises, and the British Isles at the bottom on the left. Research into early map-making also led to the Babylonian Imago Mundi, held in the British Museum in London, and believed to date back to the sixth century BCE. Around the same size as a mobile phone, the clay tablet is carved with a circular map of the world, surrounded by a “bitter river” and outlying areas in the shape of a star. These distant regions are labeled with descriptions such as “the winged bird ends not his flight,” “the light is brighter than that of sunset or stars,” and “where a horned bull dwells and attacks the newcomer.” On both maps there are drawings or lists of creatures, real and fantastical, which inhabit these distant places.

Small World begins with four simple phrases representing the four points of the compass and then the journey begins. The melodies are derived from an ancient musical mode (Phrygian Dominant) which is common to many different musical traditions including Arabic music, Klezmer, Flamenco, and Indian classical music. I like the idea that—across cultural, historical, and geographical boundaries—music is a common language. I’m also haunted by the idea that both literally and figuratively, we hold our fragile, beautiful planet in the palm of our hand.

The commission of Small World has been funded by the PRS Foundation and the American Harp Society. Collaboration between Lynne Plowman and the Merian Ensemble in Atlanta is funded by the Arts Council of Wales.

—Lynne Plowman

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Lynne Plowman, composer Lynne Plowman is a composer from Wales, UK. Her pieces range from delicate instrumental solos to dramatic, large-scale vocal, theatrical, and orchestral works. Commissioners and collaborators include the Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the London Mozart Players, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the BBC Singers.

Awards include a British Composer Award (2003) for her first opera, Gwyneth and the Green Knight, described in the Times as “One of the most brilliantly accomplished new operas I have heard in many a year.” A Creative Wales Award in 2012 supported Plowman’s orchestral writing— Catching Shadows was premiered by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

“The result is a thrilling muscularity and sureness of design.” (Wales Arts Review, 2016).

Plowman is a composition tutor and honorary fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Her work is published by Chester Music and Composers Edition.

The Merian Ensemble Jessica Oudin, viola; Marci Gurnow, clarinet/bass clarinet; Christina Smith, flute; Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp; Emily Brebach, oboe/English horn

The Merian Ensemble is comprised of five musicians from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The ensemble’s Listen: Works by Women initiative aims to support and spotlight chamber music composed by women by presenting a concert series each March and commissioning a new chamber music work each year. Performances from their 2019 and 2020 6

seasons have been broadcast multiple times on NPR’s Performance Today.

The Merian Ensemble’s 2020 series, rescheduled for 2021, was titled Listen: Works by Women 2020—American Music for Today and Tomorrow, and featured music composed by first-generation and recently immigrated American women. It also included the ensemble’s first commission, The Book of Spells by Clarice Assad. The Assad world premiere was featured in an Atlanta Symphony Orchestra virtual concert in March 2021, and was repeated in the Merian Ensemble’s annual concert, streamed in May 2021.

This concert included the world premiere of their second commission, Kimberly Osberg’s Just Another Climb, as well as works by Reena Esmail, Polina Nazaykinskaya, and Mary Kouyoumdjian.

The Merian Ensemble’s 2022 program is titled Listen: Works by Women 2022—Voyages Home, and includes works by historic and contemporary composers, as well as two new commissions by Nicole Chamberlain and Lynne Plowman. The Chamberlain commission is funded by Agnes Scott College. The collaboration with Lynne Plowman is funded by Wales Arts International and the PRS Foundation, with additional funding by the American Harp Society.

The Merian Ensemble was invited to perform at the 2020 Rio Harp Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This engagement, though canceled due to COVID-19, was supported by a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Future plans include additional tours and a recording compilation of the Merian Ensemble’s commissions and arrangements.

The Merian Ensemble is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

About Our Name Our name, the Merian Ensemble, honors the genius of Maria Sybilla Merian (1647–1717), a brilliant scientist and artist who created intricately beautiful drawings in order to examine and illuminate the tiniest details of metamorphosis. Her work, which preceded that of Linnaeus and Darwin, exhibits the same qualities of intellectual rigor and discovery, but enjoyed only a fraction of the contemporary acclaim or celebrated legacy. Her story fuels our passion for bringing obscured compositions to light, and our determination to celebrate the women composing today.

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Music at Emory Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances, lectures, workshops, and master classes. With more than 150 events each year across multiple Emory venues, audiences experience a wide variety of musical offerings.

As you explore Music at Emory, we hope you enjoy this variety by sampling an assortment of work from our student ensembles, community youth ensembles, artists in residence, professional faculty, up-and-coming prodigies, and virtuosos from around the world.

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