Music of Remembrance: 'Josephine' – 25th season opening concert

Music of Remembrance

Sunday, October 30, 2022 @ 5:00pm – 7:00pm (PDT)

Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA, United States

$50-65

Laquita Mitchell, soprano (Josephine Baker)
Alisa Jordheim, soprano (Wertheim Park)
Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola
Jonathan Green, double bass
Demarre McGill, flute
Laura DeLuca, clarinet
Mikhail Shmidt, violin
Walter Gray, cello
Jessica Choe, piano
Mina Miller, piano

Tom Cipullo — Josephine
Lori Laitman — Wertheim Park (world premiere; MOR commission)
Erwin Schulhoff — Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass
Max Vredenburg — Lamento (for viola and piano)

Music of Remembrance returns to Benaroya Hall and launches its milestone 25th season. The October 30th concert features a new production of Josephine, the one-act monodrama by composer Tom Cipullo based on the life of the legendary singer and dancer Josephine Baker. Baker escaped racism in America to find fame and success in France as an artist, a French Resistance hero and a civil rights activist.

"Josephine tells a story that resonates with all of us today," comments artistic director Mina Miller, "a story about a woman with the courage to fight back against prejudice and discrimination, and stand up for her art and ideals to make a difference in the world." Starring soprano Laquita Mitchell in the title role, the production is directed by Erich Parce and conducted by Geoffrey Larson.

The concert also highlights the world premiere of the MOR-commissioned Wertheim Park, a setting of the poetry of Susan de Sola by composer Lori Laitman. Soprano Alisa Jordheim interprets this haunting song, a deeply moving elegy for the Dutch Jews lost to the Holocaust. In addition, the program includes chamber works by two Holocaust-era composers. Erwin Schulhoff's virtuosic Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass showcases two of the Seattle Symphony's principal chairs, violist Susan Gulkis Assadi and flutist Demarre McGill, along with double bassist Jonathan Green. The concert opens with the elegiac Lamento for viola and piano by Dutch composer Max Vredenburg. Vredenburg sought haven in the Dutch East Indies only to endure years of captivity there under Japanese occupation; Schulhoff perished in a Nazi prison camp.

MOR's stellar instrumental ensemble, drawn from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, features flutist Demarre McGill, clarinetist Laura DeLuca, violinist Mikhail Shmidt, violist Susan Gulkis Assadi, cellist Walter Gray, double bassist Jonathan Green, and pianists Jessica Choe and Mina Miller.

About Demarre McGill, flute

One of the world’s leading flutists, Demarre serves as Principal Flute of the award-winning Seattle Symphony as well as Associate Professor of Flute, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His many appearances span the continent and include concerto, recital, chamber festival, and National Flute Society Featured-Artist engagements.

As an educator, Demarre has performed, coached, and presented master classes in South Africa, Korea, Japan, Quebec, and throughout the United States; appeared as speaker and performer at the 2018 League of American Orchestras Conference with his brother, clarinetist Anthony McGill; and has served on the faculties of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, the National Orchestral Institute (NOI) at the University of Maryland, the Orford Music Festival, and Summerfests at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Mr. McGill is a graduate of Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School.

https://www.demarremcgill.com/