Featuring composer/performers:
Valerie Coleman, flute
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, vocal/viola
The Phoenix Boys Choir
Herbert Washington, music director/conductor
&
The Elixir Piano Trio:
Samvel Chilingarian, violin
Fang-Fang Xu, cello
Lucy Nargizyan, piano
with appearances by
Edward Long, guitar/vocal
Naysa Roquemore, hanging cymbals
Curated by Nokuthula Ngwenyama
A co-production of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society, ASU/Kerr Cultural Center & Peace Mama Productions
Among the world’s finest string quartets, the beloved Takács returns for two concerts this season, the first a compelling program of new and canonic works. Haydn’s beloved Sunrise quartet is among his late-period gems, and Beethoven’s middle-period E minor quartet from the Op. 59 Razumovsky series opens up new musical horizons as the composer breaks and remakes the rules of musical drama.
Known for lushly orchestrated music of “sheer gorgeousness” (Los Angeles Times), California violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama contributes Flow, a new Cal Performances co-commissioned work, heard here in its world-premiere performance. 
Takács. That single word conjures so many others: Legend. Grammy. Magic: Experience what The Washington Post calls “one of the most esteemed and beloved string quartets today” playing transfixing masterpieces.
Known for lushly orchestrated music of “sheer gorgeousness” (Los Angeles Times) Ngwenyama contributes Flow to the program:
Espressivo Piano Quartet
Anna Polonsky, piano
Jaime Laredo, violin
Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt, viola
Sharon Robinson, cello
PROGRAM:
Wolfgang A. Mozart Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, K. 493
Nokuthula Ngwenyama Joy Stepping – World Premiere
—
Johannes Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25
The Espressivo Piano Quartet performs a program featuring the music of Mozart, known to be the father of the piano quartet, and a work by Brahms famous for its folk-inspired, tour de force finale. Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s music has garnered national acclaim and great enthusiasm from Linton audiences. The world premiere of her newest work serves as a highlight of these opening concerts.
This concert is approximately 1.75 hours, including intermission.
The world premiere of Ngwenyama’s Joy Steppin’, commissioned by Linton Chamber Music with the generous support of Ann and Harry Santen (world premiere), Apex Concerts, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Brattleboro Music Center, Chamber Music Albuquerque, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, El Paso Pro Musica, Emory Chamber Music Society, Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis, Kansas City Friends of Music, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Peoples’ Symphony Concerts, Phoenix Chamber Music Society, Portland Ovations, Schubert Club, Seattle Chamber Music Society and Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music through the International Arts Foundation, Inc.
