The Friday Noon Concert Series
Kobayashi/Gray Duo
Laura Kobayashi, violin
Susan Keith Gray, piano
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC - RSVP required
(limited seating available)
Program
Romance norvegienne, Op. 15 (1911) - Borghild Holmsen (1865-1938)
Selection from Three Negro Spirituals for Violin and Piano - Florence Price (1887-1953)
II. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child/Andante
Dansuri Românești (pe motive culese de Bartok) (1946) - Hilda Jerea (1919-1980)
[Roumanian Dances (in the manner of Bartόk)]
I. Cânťec de joc (Dance Song)
II. Doina (Elegiac Folksong)
III. Joc unguresc (Hungarian Dance)
IV. Cântecul moţului din vale (când a șezut la oile furate)
V. The song of the countryman from the valley (when the sheep were stolen)
VI. Cânťec de joc
VII. Joc din fluer (Shepherd’s Pipe Dance)
VIII. Din drâmboaie [Playing the drymba]
About the Artists:
The Kobayashi/Gray Duo made their international concert debut as winners of the prestigious United States Information Agency Artistic Ambassador auditions, touring South America and the West Indies. "The Duo's skill, energy and love they have for the music were all evident in this performance which brought the audience to its feet demanding an encore!" The Duo has presented lecture recitals at the First Second and Third International Conferences on Women's Work in Music in Bangor, Wales in 2017 and 2019 and 2021 live virtually; the 2002 International Workshops in Stavanger Norway, and conferences of the Music Teachers National Association, the American String Teachers Association, the College Music Society and the Society of Composers, Inc. They have toured throughout the country of Thailand (2012); the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa (2003), and South America and the West Indies (1993). Notable US performance venues include the Dame Myra Hess Series and radio broadcast at the Chicago Cultural Center, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., the International Festival of Women Composers, the Music by Women Festival, the Hot Springs Music Festival and a number of museum series--the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Toledo Art Museum.
The Duo is in demand throughout the world for their skillful presentations of the standard repertoire as well as their specialty of the works of more than twenty-five 19th to 21st century women composers. The Duo recently recorded its third CD of music by women composers which will all be world premieres in addition to two other CDs previously recorded of works by women composers--Feminissimo! Women Playing Music by Women (2008) and Boldly Expressive! Music by Women (2000). Eight of the works on the two previous CD’s are world premiere recordings, including Grande Sonate, Op. 8 by 19th century French composer Marie Grandval, which the Duo edited for Hildegard Publishing Company.
Lunch is available for members after the concert
