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In a celebration of juxtapositions, Duke’s own Ciompi Quartet will perform the world premiere of long-time collaborator and fellow faculty member John Supko’s 2020 Soleil Noir (“Black Sun”), a “sinister-absurd” work — according to the composer — that rams aggressive chords against a tortured melodic line. To contrast, the program opens with a suite of airy English renaissance songs by John Dowland arranged for piano quintet, with the piano line delivered by Lithuanian pianist and Duke Music faculty member Ieva Jokubaviciute, another frequent Ciompi collaborator. The fivesome also explores the haunting soundscapes of Piano Quintet op. 18 by Shostakovich-contemporary Miecyslaw Weinberg, whose music is experiencing something of a renaissance after being suppressed for decades by Nazi influence. The concert closes with William Grant Still’s 1960 Lyric Quartette, a musical portrait of three of the composer’s friends, identified only as “the sentimental one,” “the quiet one,” and “the jovial one.”

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Current Duke Performances COVID-19 regulations

Featuring pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute

William Grant Still: Lyric Quartette (1960)
John Supko: Soleil Noir (2020)
Intermission
John Dowland: Suite of Songs (arranged for piano quintet by Andrew Waggoner)
Miecyslaw Weinberg: Piano Quintet, op. 18 (1945)