PROGRAM NOTES
SOLIS by Alexandre Lunsqui (2019)
The piece is based on a short passage from the song Here Comes the Sun, by George Harrison and the Beatles. The original passage lasts only a few seconds, and it works as sort of bridge between two parts of the classic song. In Solis, for soprano and trumpet, this fragment is somewhat synthesized, distilled, stretched out, compressed, and distorted multiple times. However, the structure of the fragment is maintained from beginning to end, characterizing a construct similar to a chaconne. The passage is harmonically simple, but its metrics has an asymmetrical nature that provides the perfect structure for multiple explorations of colors, rhythms and unexpected directions. Solis is dedicated to the Byrne:Kozar:Duo.
TEXT
Du du du
Here comes the sun
It’s the sun and I say Ah!
Du du du Sun cold
It’s Never Too Late. Music and poetry by Catalina von Wrangell (2025), for soprano, trumpet, alto saxophone, guitar, piano, and percussion explores the complexities of promises and the potential for personal transformation. Commissioned by The Last Hundred, the work is structured in four movements, each delving into the layered emotions and tensions embedded in the original text. The instrumentation mirrors the expressive depth of the text, with each instrument offering a distinct voice in the piece. The soprano serves both as narrator and emotional anchor, while the trumpet and alto saxophone introduce contrasting layers of expression sometimes brash, sometimes reflective. The guitar, piano, and percussion create a rich, dynamic texture that underscores the complex emotions within the work. It's Never Too Late reflects on resilience, the search for meaning amidst disillusionment, and the ever-present possibility of renewal. The piece invites listeners to reflect on their own journeys and the power of reclaiming and acting on hope.
TEXTS
What good are promises if they’re just illusions? Sunshine, the dirt, longs to bloom, it grows cold, waiting
Rivers flow red, with pain
Arms stretched out imaging an embrace
It’s never too late to be Who you might’ve been
A beautiful dreamer
Imagen sin alas by Federico Bonacossa (2022)
Imagen Sin Alas is a work inspired by a poem by Puerto Rican poet and civil rights activist Julia de Burgos. The piece explores a rich palette of colors and moods, reflecting the poem’s subtle tonal shifts. The text is segmented across seven movements, which are grouped into three sections, separated by two textless interludes.
TEXT
Unidad
Poesia de Julia de Burgos
Tengo color de aurora las manos amorosas y a ratos me hago nido en su risa callada.
Es la noche una inmensa estrella de emociones, y en ella duermo el sueño que me acuesta en tu alma.
La soledad se ha ido alejando del mundo que me ha forjado a solas, sin eje ni montañas, como no sean los suaves revuelos de tu mente o el infinito giro de tu inquietud más alta.
No estoy sola. Me invade la armonía de tus labios, y tus ojos intensos por doquiera me asaltan.
Siento el raro deleite de vaciarme la vida en la fina silueta de tu imagen sin alas.
Aquí estás: en mis años, en mi boca y mi risa en los destellos vivos de mi actitud extraña, y a veces te me acercas en la sombra, en el aire, y en los dedos celestes de la estrella lejana.
No parece que a instantes me voy perdiendo en largos espirales de vuelo, amargados de ausencia
Unity
Poetry by Julia de Burgos
I have the color of dawn loving hands and sometimes I nest in your silenced laughter.
The night is an immense star of emotions, and in it I sleep the dream that lays me in your soul.
Solitude has moved away from the world that has forged me alone, without axis or mountains, as if they were not the turmoil of your mind or the infinite turn of your highest restlessness.
I am not alone. The harmony of your lips invades me, and your intense eyes assault me everywhere.
I feel the strange delight of emptying my life in the fine silhouette of your wingless image.
Here you are: in my years, in my mouth and my laughter in the vivid flashes of my strange attitude, and sometimes you approach me in the shadow, in the air, and in the celestial fingers of the distant star.
It doesn't seem like I'm getting lost in long spirals of flight, embittered by absence
Untitled VII by Dorothy Hindman (2022)
Can we erase the past? Can we atone for our mistakes? Can we see ourselves as others see us? How do we reconcile who we were with who we are, and what we’ve learned? How do we move forward, confronted with the past in our present? Shadow of My Former Self is a collection of works exploring these questions; under the self-secluding name Untitled. In Untitled VII, I began with a digital recording of a sound meaningful to me personally. I used various types of spectral manipulation techniques to process and transform this recording past recognizability, creating a full length digital media work. I then transcribed this new work to create a chamber piece. This erasure of the original, distortion of the result, and attempt to create something new, beautiful, and twice-removed from the ashes results in a musical shadow of the troubled past that defines me, and that I carry with me in the present, that others do not see. Untitled VII was written for Ex-sentia in 2022.
Dorothy Hindman
Rintocchi II by Juan Trigos Program Notes
Federico Bonacossa is a composer and guitarist based in Miami, Florida. Much of his work explores alternative tunings and involves electronics in one form or another, though he sometimes does not use either. His eclectic works have been performed across the US and abroad. An enthusiastic collaborator, he is a company composer for Dance Now Miami for whom he has written numerous scores. As a performer, he is involved in promoting new music for guitar and especially works that feature electronics and alternati ve tunings. He is currently Associate Teaching Professor of Music Theory at
Dorothy Hindman’s music, fusing punk/grunge with spectralist sensibility and refinement, has been called “bright with energy and a lilting lyricism” (New York Review), “dramatic, highly strung” (Fanfare), “varied, utterly rich and sung with purpose heart” (Huffington Post), and “powerful and skillfully conceived” (The Herald). ICON magazine raves, “Hindman’s music weds technique and syntax of music with the directness and impudence of rock. Highly recommended for rockers wishing get their proverbial feet wet in post-20th century classical music.” Hindman’s performed by the world’s top new music performers including by renowned musicians CAMP, Ex-Sentia, Bent Frequency, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Fresh Squeezed Opera, Splinter Reeds, the [Switch~ Ensemble], Gregg Smith Singers, Caravel String Quartet, Corona Guitar Kvartet, Duo 46, bassist Robert Black, cellist Craig Hultgren, percussionists Moliner, and more. Festival appearances include Havana Contemporary Music Festival, Rome’s Nuovi Spazi Musicali. Artistic collaborations include scoring Carrie Mae Weem’s Wall Calls to Me with visual artist Sally Wood Johnson. Hindman’s awards and other Resonate 2024 and the 2023 14th Edition of the "Città di Udine" International Composition, 2022 Fundacio Caixa Castello, a 2019 Mellon Foundation CREATE grant, ISCM/New NACUSA and others. Her music is published by Universal Edition and Subito, and her Albany, and Capstone. Hindman is Associate Professor of Music Composition at the University
Alexandre Lunsqui was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. After ten years based in New York City, he returned to Brazil as Professor of Composition and Theory at the Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP. He studied at the University of Campinas (BM), University of Iowa (MA), Columbia University (DMA), and IRCAM (year-long cursus of composition and computer music). His music background also included jazz and contemporary improvisation. He has participated in Festivals such as Gaudeamus Music Week, Contact!, New York Phil Biennial, Darmstadt, Manca, CrossDrumming, Aspekte, Time of Music, Musica Nova, Beijing Modern, Music at the Anthology, Creative Music Festival, Festival Presences, PASIC, and Resonances. His pieces have been played in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, China, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, Wales, and around the US, by ensembles such as the Ensemble Aleph, Arditti String Quartet, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Ensemble PianoPossibile, Ensemble Cairn, Due East, Ensemble Dal Niente, among others. He has been awarded the Virtuose Prize given by the Ministry of Culture of Brazil and the "Funarte Premio de Musica Classica" given for his orchestral work Linea.Reflexio. A monographic CD with his chamber music was released in Spring 2008 - the project received the Petrobras Cultural Award. A CD featuring four composers from Sao Paulo was released in Fall 2008 by the Gravina Label. He received a Fromm Commission from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University (2009-2010), was a Civitella Ranieri Fellow (Italy, 2014) and the Composerin-Residence for the 2014 Chelsea Music Festival (NYC). Recently, Lunsqui has been awarded a Koussevitzky Commission 2016 (New York New Music Ensemble), a "Commande d'Etat" by the French Ministere de la Culture (Ensemble Cairn), the ProAC award by the Secretaria do Estado da Cultura from Sao Paulo (Ensemble Zephyrus), an Academy Of Arts And Letters Award (2020) And The Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (2020).
Catalina von Wrangell is a composer, poet, and installation artist whose genre-bending works have been performed across the United States, Europe, and South America. A versatile artist, CVW blends music, poetry, and visual art in innovative ways. She has studied with prominent figures such as Charles N. Mason, Dorothy Hindman, and Juraj Kojs, among others. CVW holds advanced degrees from the Frost School of Music and Florida International University and is a past fellow of prestigious programs such as the Center for Computational Sciences at the University of Miami, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the Cortona Sessions for New Music. Her work was most recently featured in the Soundologia Anthology Volume 1: South Florida Contemporary Composers & Sound Artists. As a co-founder of TheLastHundred, Cello Sanct Workshop, and Cello-Sanct Shop & Studio, she is committed to creative collaboration, in the arts, and nurturing the next generation of creative thought leaders. CVW also serves as and composition at the Frost School of Music and is on the board of the Foundation for Emerging the Arts (FETA). Additionally, she has contributed as a grant panelist for the Miami Department
Juan Trigos, Mexican American composer and conductor, creator of the concept Abstract Folklore. His most significant compositions include several Operas, Symphonies, Cantatas, Concertos for different instruments, chamber music and for solo instruments. His music is performed widely in Europe, the American continent and Japan. Some of the most important commissions are The Azrieli Commission for International Music 2023 to compose Simetrías Prehispánicas premiered by chorus and members of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal conducted by Andrew Megill, From Commission 2020 (Harvard University) and Symphony N. 3 Offering to the Dead (Houston Symphony). As a conductor he is specialized in XX Century and Contemporary music. He commissioned, premiered, promoted, and recorded an extensive catalogue of works with numerous choirs and orchestras around the world. He is Music Director and Conductor of The Last Hundred Ensemble. He was Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Oaxaca and Guanajuato Symphonies, Orquesta de Cámara de Bella Artes and Principal Conductor of the Eastman BroadBand Ensemble, among others. He recorded more than thirty CDs as a composer and conductor. The most recent releases are Guitar Works Vol. 1, the operas Ella-Miau and DeCachetitoRaspado, Three concertos and Symphony n.4 Nezahualcoyotl Icuicahan. Juan Trigos teaches composition at the University of Kentucky School of Music where he is also Music Director and Conductor of the UK New Music Ensemble. As an educator was honored with the Elena Diaz-Verson Amos Eminent Scholar Fall 2022 (Schwob School of Music) and the Howard Hanson Visiting Professor 2017 (Eastman School of Music).
PERFORMERS
Juan Trigos, conductor see above in COMPOSERS
Daniela D'Ingiullo, soprano. Artist dedicated to the ancient vocal repertoire, twentieth century and contemporary classical music. Winner in May 2018 of the Global Music Award – Silver medal in the categories Contemporary Classical and Female Vocalist with the recording of the Symphony N. 4 Nezahualcoyotl Icuicahuan (Songs of Nezahualcoyotl) for soprano and orchestra by Juan Trigos (iTinerant 2016). Among her most relevant performances are, in 2022 Variazioni Concertanti by Juan Trigos with the Italian ensemble Icarus vs. Muzak at the Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City for the Festival Internacional de Música Nueva “M. Enríquez” and at the Festival internacional Cervantino (Mexico). By the same composer, the operas Ella-Miau (Miami-Guadalajara 2022, New York-Mexico City 2018) and DeCachetitoRaspado (Atlanta, GA 2015 - Cagliari, Italy 2007). Cantata Concertante No. 3 Phos Hilaron premiered and recorded for iTinerant with Orquesta Sinfónica de Guanajuato (2013). The American continent premiere of The Mystic Trumpeter by Holst with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río conducted by Jorge Mester (2020). Her recording releases include the Hemoficion Opera Ella-Miau (2024), Symphony N.4 Nezahualcoyotl Icucahuan (2016) and Cantata Concertante N.3 Phos Hilaron (2013) by Juan Trigos and Omaggio a Marinetti by Federico Bonacossa. (2022). She and co-founder, manager and performer of The Last Hundred Ensemble (Miami, Florida) and Sinfonietta MIQ (Guanajuato, Mexico).
Jimmy O'Donell is an active performer in both the classical and jazz idioms. He has performed with both the Youngstown State University Orchestra and the Bowling Green State University Orchestra as a featured soloist, as well as being named the winner of the Lima Symphony Young Artist Competition. As a jazz musician he has performed with multiple notable performers such as: Lou Marini Jr, Jaleel Shaw, Steve Wiest, and Jeff Coffin. He has also performed with notable ensembles such as the Lima Symphony Orchestra, the DiMartino Osland Jazz Orchestra. He is a proponent of the advancement of the saxophone repertoire, being involved in numerous premiers and consortiums of composers in both the Jazz and Classical genres such as Rahsaan Barber, Augusta Read Thomas, Piet Swerts, and more. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Saxophone performance from Youngstown State University and a master’s from Bowling Green State University and is currently pursuing his doctorate in musical arts from the University of Kentucky, where he holds the teaching assistant position.
Abby Temple serves on faculty and staff for the University of Kentucky School of Music as a Part-Time Instructor of Trumpet and as an Administrative Support Associate. As an adjunct trumpet professor, she assists Dr. Jason Dovel in teaching the trumpet studio, plays in the UK Faculty Brass Quintet, and serves as Assistant Director of the UK Summer Trumpet Institute. Along with her work at UK, Abby is a co-founder of Chroma Collective, a chamber ensemble and 501(c)3 organization that combines music and visual art in interactive performances and promotes composers from historically marginalized backgrounds. A versatile performer, Abby has performed on baroque trumpet with the Kentucky Bach Choir, Mountainside Baroque, and Bourbon Baroque, and on modern trumpet, she has played as a soloist with the Mantzaros Philharmonic in Corfu, Greece, served as trumpet faculty for the Varna International Music Academy (SC), and was Co-Principal Trumpet with the Du Bois Orchestra (Cambridge, MA). She holds a Master of Music degree from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance and a Certificate in Baroque Trumpet from the University of Kentucky.
Matthew Geiger, percussion, utilizing an eclectic musical approach, award-winning percussionist Dr. Matthew Geiger continues to champion both new and canonic percussive works through teaching, performance, and research. His experience includes both the study and performance of orchestral percussion, solo and chamber repertoire, timpani, drum set, and world music. Currently, Matthew is an Assistant Professor of Music and the Director of Percussion at the University of Kentucky. Matthew embraces a comprehensive approach to percussion through larger collaborations and emphasis in chamber percussion performances. Matthew is a founding member of both the BlueSHIFT Percussion Quartet as well as Aleph Percussion Group, and recently held the principal percussion positions with both the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra and Symphony of the Mountains. A former performing member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, he also has served as an instructor for DCI World Class finalists, The Cadets and The Academy. Matthew has premiered pieces by many distinguished composers, including Christopher Adler, Juri Seo, Anders Åstrand, Glenn Kotche, Brian Nozny, Roger Zare, and Ben Wahlund. He has recorded for the Naxos and Mark Records label, including performing as percussionist and timpanist on the Grammy nominated recording of Darius Milhaud's "L'Orestie, d’Eschyle". His recent solo performances have focused on vibraphone, both in improvisation as well as contemporary twentieth-century repertoire. Along with recent international performances in Ecuador, Spain, Sweden, and China, he has performed at many prestigious conferences around the globe, such as the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He is active member in the Percussive Arts Society.
Aaron Moeller, percussion, from Louisville, KY, is a student of Dr. Matthew Geiger at University of Kentucky School of Music He is performing with several groups as well as UK New Music Ensemble, UK Percussion Studio, UK Symphony Orchestra, UK Wind Symphony, Symphony Band, Concert Band, Wildcat Marching Band, among others.
Dieter Hennings, guitar. The musical endeavors of Dieter Hennings Yeomans span from new music on guitar to early music for lute, baroque guitar, and theorbo and can be heard on the Naxos, Nonesuch, Bridge, Parma, NewBranch, New Albany, and Innova recording labels. Mr. Hennings has been a soloist with Canada’s New Music Concerts Ensemble, Riverside Symphony (NYC), Tito Schipa Orchestra (Italy), Orquestra Sinfónica do Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), Eastman BroadBand Ensemble, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Guanajuato, University of Arizona Philharmonia, Orquesta Filarmonica de Monterrey, among many others. Mr. Hennings has won first prize in several prestigious competitions including the 2008 Aaron Brock International Guitar Competition (Toronto ), 2005 Eastman Guitar Concerto Competition, the 2002 Villa de Petrer, Alicante (Spain) International Young Artists Competition, the 2001 Portland International Guitar Competition, among others. Mr. Hennings is an active proponent of new music, particularly that of Latin America, having recently worked with composers Mario Davidovsky, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Juan Trigos and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. Recent engagements include concerts with pop-singer Natalie Merchant and baroque violinist Monica Huggett as well as appearances at the Mexican Embassy in Rome, Festival SpazioMusica of Cagliari, Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia, Mexico, University of Chicago, Festival Internacional de Chihuahua, New York’s Joyce Theater, Julliard’s Paul Hall, and New England Conservatory. Mr. Hennings is a resident artist at the East Coast Composers Ensemble and the Eastman Broad Band Ensemble, with whom he maintains an active performing schedule. Dieter Hennings is Professor of Music at the University of Kentucky
Jacob Coleman, piano. A native of Athens, Georgia, pianist Jacob Coleman is Associate Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at the University of Kentucky School of Music. As a collaborator, Dr. Coleman has performed with artists such as Franklin Cohen, David Kim, Jeff Nelsen, Leone Busye, Amy Porter as well as the Zohn Collective and Kenari Quartet. He has served as an official pianist for the Mid-South Flute Fest, National Trumpet Competition, ProjetoBone Brasil (2019), and Muestra Internacional de Clarinete de Panamá (2019). Coleman has also frequently appeared at the North American Saxophone Alliance and International Double Reed Society conferences. Prior to coming to Kentucky Dr. Coleman taught at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he directed the Collaborative Piano Program and created a new doctoral degree. From 2014-2016, he served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. For six summers, he was a member of the piano staff at the Meadowmount School of Music founded by Ivan Galamian. Dr. Coleman holds degrees from The University of Texas at Austin (DMA, Collaborative Piano), University of Oregon (MM, Collaborative Piano), and University of Georgia (BM, Piano Performance). His primary teachers were Richard Zimdars, David Riley, and Anne Epperson.
