Touchstone Trio on Spotlight Concert

Hochstein Spotlight on Faculty Concert with Touchstone Trio

Thursday, February 16, 2012 7:00-8:00pm

Touchstone Trio are the featured performers for the February 16 Spotlight on Faculty Concert Series and will present Morning, Noon, and Night, with music from Fauré, Debussy, Husa, and Buss. Rita George Simmons, flute, Debbie Grohman, clarinet, and Willie LaFavor, piano make up the trio and have challenged themselves with their choice of program. If you ask the performers why they picked the repertoire to feature on this hour-long concert your apt to get a passionate response that includes history, theory, and a little poetry.  

Rita George Simmons explains that the compositions evoke elements of a day. The opening section of Dolly Suite by Gabriel Fauré is thought to represent morning, originally scored for piano duets reflecting upon childhood experiences. Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune) was inspired by the poem by Mallarme and depicts a daydreaming faun- half man, half goat- as his nymphs emerge from the shadows and recede. The afternoon continues with 8 Bohemian Dances by Karel Husa, which are a mixture of ‘real’ and ‘invented’ folk music. The last piece Night Flight was written in 1999 by Howard Buss and moves through the leisurely taxiing on the runway, through a lyrical, lilting section of flight to its jazz-influenced descent through heavy clouds and a thunderstorm until its exhilarating touchdown on the final beat of the work.

Concert admission is $5, with a family maximum of $10, and includes an artist reception. The Hochstein Performance Hall is located at 50 N. Plymouth Ave., in downtown Rochester. The Spotlight on Faculty Concert Series is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.