Photo by Jane Shauck
DownEast New Music, an organization dedicated to bringing dynamic performances of chamber music by living composers to DownEast Maine, will return to the Jesup for an evening concert. Co-artistic directors Clare Monfredo (cello), Edward Kass (double bass), and Conrad Winslow (composer/piano) will be joined by Maine-raised flutist Roberta Michel. DownEast New Music provides a chance for all music lovers to gather in scenic DownEast Maine to celebrate the sounds and stories of the chamber music of our lifetime.
Program II: Voice of the Whale
Wednesday, July 30 at 6:30 pm / Jesup Memorial Library / Bar Harbor
Thursday, July 31 at 7:30 pm / St. Mary’s by-the-Sea / Northeast Harbor
Featuring:
George Crumb, Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) (1971) for flute, cello and piano
Katherine Balch, drip / spin (2017, rev. 2019) for flute and piano
Reena Esmail, Nadiya (2016) for flute and cello
György Kurtág, Bagatelles (1981) for flute, double bass, and piano
Celeste Oram, Onomastic Gymnastics (2019) for voices
Sam Suggs, Giant Hummingbirds (2019) for cello and double bass
Conrad Winslow, Way Down (2025) for cello, double bass and piano
Program II: Voice of the Whale
Voice of the Whale centers George Crumb’s (1929-2022, West Virginia) classic trio alongside newer works for small combinations of instruments. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and the actions we take within it, this program celebrates the marvelous variety of approaches to melody, harmony, and drama.
In George Crumb’s 1971 trio, Vox Balaenae, the flute, cello, and piano players don black masks to perform a dramatic ritual inspired by whale song. Conjuring something ancient and otherworldly, Crumb’s mesmerizing music transports the listener to a vast, watery realm that feels both familiar and surreal.
While George Crumb aligns ritual-drama with spare, singing forms, Celeste Oram (b. 1990, New Zealand) asks the musicians to become an actual chorus in her work Onomastic Gymnastics, singing about the power of naming things in the guise of a 17th-century rondelle. One experiences the dizziness of music that sounds both fresh and ancient, similar to the kind of ritualistic music that so inspired George Crumb.
In Nadiya, which means ‘rivers’ in Hindi, Reena Esmail (b. 1983, Chicago) applies two Hindustani melodic modes to the flute and cello, suggesting the many moods and textures of braided streams. The two instruments of this duet align and relalign constantly throughout the piece. Sam Suggs’ (b. 1990, Buffalo) cello and double bass duet, Giant Hummingbirds, explores precisely the opposite idea by maintaining exact alignment: the cello and bass bounce their bows on the strings, evoking the sound of beating wings, as they form one super-gentle cello-bass. Conrad Winslow (b. 1985, Alaska) takes yet another notion of alignment as the basis of Way Down by creating one composite melodic line by ricocheting the notes among the piano, cello and bass. The players of this trio finish each other’s sentences while grooving together, constantly exchanging the roles of leader and follower.
Drip / spin by Katherine Balch’ (b. 1991, San Diego) combines solemn, delicate sounds with playful, dizzy cycles as flute and piano build an inventive, fascinating musical world while exploring textures and gestures suggested by dripping and spinning.
Hungarian composer György Kurtág’s (b. 1926, Romania) Bagatelles comprises pithy, crystalline movements full of clever references and quotations that bring familiar themes from older composers such as Debussy and Bach into a new light.
The Voice of the Whale program at the Jesup Library is free to attend. Register here to reserve your seat and make a donation to DownEast New Music.