AVS Shared Recital: Portrait de femme

Portrait de femme: Globetrotting with Female Composers explores the theme of music by women composers while adding transcriptions to expand the current viola repertoire. This recital includes unique works by eight female composers of the 19th through the 21st century, from six different countries around the world: France, New Zealand, Taiwan, United States, Venezuela and Australia, including one world premiere. Three of the composers, Chihchun Chi-sun Lee 李志純 , Jessie Montgomery, and Johanna Selleck are living composers. This program invokes cultural traditions such as dance, songs and poetry and is curated in the form of a multimedia presentation, where portraits of each composer and matching poems with English translation are woven into the music. Germaine Tailleferre’s Romance, originally for piano, opens the recital with charm. The dance-like 3rd movement of the Sonata para viola y piano by Modesta Bor is playful in nature. Two rhapsodies are selected: Rhapsody No. 2 for solo viola by the 2024 Grammy award-winning composer Jessie Montgomery was transcribed from the violin version by the composer herself. New Zealand composer Dorothea Franchi’s Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra (winner of the 1950 Lionel Tertis Prize) is a relatively unknown work, complete with a new piano reduction by Sherry Grant (2025). Chihchun Chi-sun Lee’s Multi-Cultural Songs, originally for mid-range voice and piano, “incorporates folk tunes from Korea, Russia, Japan, China and Indonesia. This music travels from country to country within a seamless path regardless of the language.” Vietnamese Folk Song by Rachel Eubanks uses the melody of the popular 1958 song Kiếp nào có yêu nhau (In Which Lifetime Did We Love Each Other?) by Phạm Duy. Margaret Bond’s African Dance is a trio for voices and piano, transcribed two violas and piano. The program concludes with a world premiere of Wondrous! by Australian composer Johanna Selleck for violin, viola and piano, about the wonder of nature.The entire program takes the audience on a global journey, promoting a message of unity and intercultural collaboration. The recital has a duration of 60 minutes.