Frequency presents Dialogues, with guest violinist Yura Lee

Frequency is excited to welcome special guest violinist Yura Lee to the Meany Theater stage. Lee, recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, will perform duos with members of Frequency, before the trio sets its sights on Ernő Dohnányi’s Serenade. Duos by Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, Maurice Ravel, and Melia Watras. 

UW concert listing: Frequency presents Dialogues, with special guest violinist Yura Lee

Program Notes
Welcome to Dialogues! Frequency is thrilled to welcome violinist Yura Lee to the Meany stage. On the first half of the concert, Sæunn, Melia and I will each perform duets with Yura, before returning to the stage as a trio for the second half. The program has some of our favorite musical conversations; duos by Berio, Maderna, Ravel and our own Melia Watras, followed by the Dohnányi Serenade, one of the staples of the string trio repertoire. Notes on Melia’s pieces are below.

Many thanks to the University of Washington School of Music and Director Richard Karpen for making this concert possible.
—Michael Jinsoo Lim

Melia Watras: Lontano for violin and viola (2017)
For me, the term lontano (far-off, remote) in music conjures up something defined, yet undefined at the same time. It brings to my mind Alberto Giacometti’s minuscule sculptures. Giacometti spent a period making these works that are about the size of a finger. In them, he was able to create the effect of looking at something at a great distance, in part by the contrast between the tiny subject and the base on which they are displayed. It’s amazing how Giacometti communicates so much with very little information to the viewer. 

In my short piece, which is part of my Folk Style Project, the primary conflict is between expressive material, and the restriction of the essence of a string player’s identity, their sound.

Melia Watras: Vetur öngum lánar lið for violin and viola (2017)
Vetur öngum lánar lið for violin and viola is an adaptation of my piece for voice and cello, written for my colleague and close friend, cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir. The title (English translation: “Winter aids no one”) comes from a poem written by Sæunn’s great-grandfather, Bjarni Jónsson. That poem and an additional Jónsson work, Ævidansinn (The Dance of a Lifetime) provided the text for the music. The piece was originally written in 2016 as part of my Folk Style Project, and transcribed for violin and viola the following year.
—Melia Watras

Melia Watras: Wise Tentacles for violin and viola (2017)
Infinity arms,
Infinity tentacles,
Kusama, Y not?
—Michael Jinsoo Lim