Down East New Music, an organization dedicated to bringing dynamic performances of chamber music by living composers to Down East Maine, is thrilled to announce Poetic Muses.

Poetic Muses examines the connection between poetry and music across centuries. Each piece on this program was written in response to poetry, but what that inspiration looks like differs across composers. In Akhmatova Songs, British composer John Tavener (1944-2013) sets six poems by the famed Russian poet Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966). Scored for soprano and cello, the song cycle reflects what Tavener calls “the deceptive simplicity of the verse, which stems from classical tradition” with a stark beauty reminiscent of folksong or liturgical chant. Adding another layer of poetic inspiration, three of the poems are Akhmatova’s homages to other poets: Dante, Pushkin, Lermontov, and Boris Pasternak.

Sarah Gibson’s (b. 1986, Spartanburg, SC) The Boys Are There for soprano and double bass shows another side of poetry by showcasing the cutting wit and delicious humor of Dorothy Parker (1893-1967). Using text from Parker’s Men I’m Not Married To, Gibson gives us vivid portraits of men Parker did not marry, each one with their own quirks and eccentricities. And yet, surrounding these comic descriptions, we hear moments of introspection where Dorothy Parker considers what it means to be alone while surrounded by men.

Using a very different approach to poetry, Corpo di Terra by Suzanne Farrin (b. 1976, North Yarmouth, ME) is inspired by the sonnets of Petrarch (1304-1374) and written only for solo cello. While we never hear the text of Petrarch’s poems, the piece reflects both the structure and emotions present in his poetry, looking to reconcile internal tensions.

After a journey through centuries of text and music, we return to the familiar with Down East, by Charles Ives (1874-1954). Influenced by American hymns and folktunes, Ives sets his own poetry to paint a nostalgic portrait of a seaside New England town.

Cellist Clare Monfredo grew up in Seal Harbor, Maine, and has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader all over the world, collaborating with a diverse array of notable artists, from Patricia Kopatchinskaja to Jon Batiste, to groups such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, A Far Cry, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Festival appearances include Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Lucerne Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, and Kurt Weill Fest. Clare holds a BA in English from Yale University and a master's from the Rice University Shepherd School of Music, where she received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Arts Award. She attended the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig, Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship. Clare lives in Brooklyn, New York where she is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches at Hunter College. She is co-founder and co-artistic director of Down East New Music.

Praised as a “master of his instrument” (Fanfare), bassist Edward Kass performs internationally, specializing in contemporary performance. A graduate of the San Jose Unified Public School system, Kass is noted for his “phenomenal musicianship” (Which Sinfonia) and “terrific precision” (The Arts Fuse). A frequent performer with groups including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, and Sound Icon, recent appearances include the Lucerne Festival, Tanglewood, and Elbphilharmonie Visions. Sought after as an artistic leader and pedagogue, Kass serves as a Contemporary Leader for Lucerne Festival, a role combining performance with curation and pedagogy. With pianist and music therapist Renate Rohlfing, Kass co-created “Tell Your Story,” a community-based, creative engagement project for Spoleto Festival USA to create sonic memoirs preserving the oral history of the greater Charleston area. Since 2016, he has performed with soprano Nina Guo as Departure Duo, which performs, commissions, and researches music written for soprano and double bass. The duo released their “exquisitely beautiful” (Avant Music News) debut album, Immensity Of, in 2022.

Soprano Nina Guo is interested in the sounds of recent and ongoing times, and her performance practice includes interpreting notated music, improvising, and collaborating on interdisciplinary projects. An in-demand concert soloist, she has made appearances with the London Sinfonietta, ICTUS, Contrechamps, Ensemble Modern, Decoder, and others. She recently made her Symphony Hall debut, performing Aventures & Nouvelles Aventures (Ligeti). She specializes in experimental opera, working with groups such as Neuköllner Oper, Guerilla Opera, ECCE, and Opera Lab Berlin. Her upcoming projects include releasing a new recording of Morton Feldman’s Three Voices, and performing the music of experimental composers Robert Ashley and Jennifer Walshe. She will also premiere a new production of Sciarrino’s Perseo e Andromeda, singing the role of Andromeda. Nina hosts, writes, and performs a live radio show, The Entertainment, on Cashmere Radio (Berlin). The Entertainment is a comedy variety show presenting experimental and contemporary music.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Reserve your seat here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/downeastnewmusic/1265963