Downtown Chamber Series (Saturday afternoon)
Urban Nocturnes is always delighted to perform in unique art spaces hosted by the Downtown Chamber Series. Musicians Viviana, Olga, Karen, Christopher and Melita will perform music for flute, piano and strings. The neo-Renaissance style of English composer Gordon Jacob's Four Fancies for flute, violin, viola and cello provides an elegant opening to the program. "Going Up?" for flute, viola and cello by living composer Martin Rokeach was written in 2008. The piece consists of three ascending themes, effectively pulling the listener upward throughout. Franz Schubert himself arranged his song "Trockne Blumen" into a set of variations for flute and piano. The song's sombre subject matter of unrequited love and death ground the music's profundity, while the thrilling technical elements that unfold with each variation make this a virtuosic showpiece for both instruments. The program ends with the captivating and exhilarating Piano Quartet by American composer Danny Elfman, best known for his many incomparable Hollywood film scores, including the Nightmare Before Christmas.












