Classical, swing, gypsy, folk and tango all find expression in the final take that defines
the rich and exciting sound of Café Musique. By combining the beauty of the violin with
the subtle expression of the accordion, Café Musique has harnessed the European
gypsy sound as its own.
Café Musique hails from the Central Coast of California. The group is quite unlike any
other band you might hear out on the music circuit. The group maintains that it has an
identity crisis and it's easy to see why what with the mixture of musical backgrounds that
each member brings to the fold. Add compelling vocals with two and three part
harmonies along with timeless standards and new compositions and you start to have
an idea what the band is all about.
The members of Café Musique are Brynn Albanese on violin and vocals, Piper Heisig
on percussion and vocals, Duane Inglish on accordion, Fred Murray on bass, and Craig
Nuttycombe on guitar and vocals.
THE POULENC TRIO
oboe, bassoon, piano
Saturday, Apr 21, 2012-7:30 PM
Hailed by the Washington Post in May 2008 for its “intriguing and beautifully played program … convincing elegance … [and] near-effortless lightness and grace,” the Poulenc Trio brings together three uniquely gifted virtuosos: oboist Vladimir Lande, bassoonist Bryan Young and pianist Irina Kaplan. Combining brilliant 21st-century vibrancy with the best of European instrumental tradition, the trio’s performances leap beyond the ordinary concert experience to a world of beautiful sonorities, playful rhythms and dramatic excitement. As the finest of a select few professional wind trios, the Poulenc Trio is committed to expanding the repertoire through the rediscovery of old masterpieces and the commissioning of new works.
The trio was recently featured at Italy’s Ravello Festival, where they premiered two new compositions written especially for the group by Italian composer Gaetano Panariello and Russian-American composer Igor Raykhelson. These works add to the trio’s growing catalog of commissions, which include a new triple concerto with orchestra.
The trio’s busy touring schedule has included recent tours of Russia with Hilary Hahn (including the State Hermitage Museum), Italy (including the Ravello and Ville Vesuviane festivals), the Caribbean and multiple appearances in every region of the United States (including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.).
Highlights of the trio’s recent tours include appearances in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore; collaborations with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein and the National Gallery Chamber Players from Washington, D.C.; and concerts across the United States including California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Since 2004, the Poulenc Trio has directed “Music at the Museum,” a unique and highly successful partnership between the trio and some of the great American museums, including the Baltimore Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University. Each entertaining and thought-provoking program is carefully designed to complement a current exhibit or historical artistic concept.
In the press, the trio has garnered positive attention in recent full-length profiles in Chamber Music Magazine and the Double Reed Journal. The group has been called “virtuosos of classical and contemporary chamber music” in one profile on Russian television, and reviews from across the U.S. have praised the trio’s “new and delicious sounds,” calling them “three virtuosi in complete command of their instruments” who “played with spirit and grace and brought the near-capacity crowd to its feet.”
Individual bios
Bryan Young, bassoon, a Washington, D.C., native, has been praised for his “voluptuous sound” by the Double Reed Journal. A prizewinner of the 2002 Gillet International Bassoon Competition, he has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, as well as in recitals across the United States and around the world. The Washington Post wrote, “Young’s music dances with a lightness and grace uncommon for his instrument.” Bryan is principal bassoonist of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and performs regularly with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra in Memphis. He trained at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and at Yale University.
Vladimir Lande, principal oboist of the Baltimore Opera, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with degrees in both oboe and piano. As principal oboist of the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Philharmonic Orchestra, he recorded all the Brahms symphonies as well as symphonies by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Shostakovich, and performed with distinguished conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev and Yuri Temirkanov. Recent tours have brought him to New Zealand, Australia, Europe and across most of the United States. Vladimir is on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University, where he conducts the chamber orchestra.
Pianist Irina Kaplan is a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Winner of the Baltimore Chamber Music Award and the Montpelier Recital Competition, Irina has appeared in series including the Yale Gordon Concert Series, the Bachanalia Recital Series and the New York Times Young Performers Series. Concerts abroad in Russia, Italy, England, Germany and the Caribbean have led to critical praise of her “beauty and brilliance of sound, astonishing flexibility and penetrating interpretation.” Fanfare Magazine hails her as “a strong pianist who doesn't settle for an accompanying role.” Irina is on the piano faculty at the Peabody Institute.