BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15@millbrookmusicsalon.org DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260529T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260529T183000 DTSTAMP:20260316T201508Z URL:https://millbrookmusicsalon.org/events/community-concert-compass-music al-distance/ SUMMARY:Community Concert - “Compass: Musical Distance” DESCRIPTION:Performers:\nBalourdet Quartet\nAngela Bae\, violin\nJustin DeF ilippis\, violin\nBenjamin Zannoni\, viola\nRussell Houston\, cello\nGraem e Steele Johnson\, clarinet\nProgram:\nThis program centers on Da Lontano —music shaped by distance\, direction\, and memory—anchored by a uniqu e collaboration between clarinetist Graeme Johnson and the Balourdet Quart et\, recent winners of the Cleveland Quartet Award and an Avery Fisher Car eer Grant. At its core is Compass\, a new clarinet quintet by Viet Cuong w ritten at Johnson’s urging\, inspired by the composer’s mother’s ref ugee journey and reflecting the act of navigating uncertainty\, memory\, a nd hope. Framed by reimagined Mozart\, Milhaud’s Saudades do Brasil\, an d Brahms’ iconic Clarinet Quintet\, the program traces musical journeys across cultures\, styles\, and time—exploring how music remembers\, tran sforms\, and ultimately finds its way home.\n\n Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Tema con variazioni from Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major\, K. 331 [arr. Gra eme Steele Johnson]\n Darius Milhaud: Selections from Saudades do Brasil [arr. Graeme Steele Johnson]\n Viet Cuong:Compass (2025)\n\n–intermissi on–\n\n Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor\, Op. 115\n\nBuy T ickets\nAbout the Artist \nBalourdet Quartet\nThe Balourdet Quartet is ac claimed for combining technical precision with expressive depth. The ensem ble received the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant and Chamber Music America ’s 2024 Cleveland Quartet Award. With more than 70 concerts per season\, they have debuted at Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall and premiered new wor ks by Karim Al-Zand\, Paul Novak\, and Nicky Sohn with support from Chambe r Music America and the Barlow Foundation.\n\nThey are Graduate Quartet in Residence at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and alumni of the New England Conservatory’s Professional String Quartet Program. T he quartet has appeared at the Kennedy Center\, Merkin Hall\, Rockport Cha mber Music Festival\, and Chamber Music Houston\, and collaborated with ar tists including Marc-André Hamelin\, Simone Dinnerstein\, Stewart Goodyea r\, and Astrid Schween.\n\nFrom September 2025 through May 2026\, the Balo urdet Quartet serves as String Quartet in Residence with the Seattle Chamb er Music Society\, where they perform\, teach\, and lead community and edu cational initiatives in King County.\n\nThey are prizewinners of the Conce rt Artists Guild\, Banff International String Quartet\, Premio Paolo Borci ani\, Fischoff National Chamber Music\, and Yellow Springs competitions.\n Graeme Steele Johnson\n Graeme Steele Johnson is a clarinetist\, curator\, and artistic director recognized for his innovative approach to chamber m usic. He gained international attention for rediscovering and reconstructi ng a long-lost Octet by Charles Martin Loeffler\; his world-premiere recor ding appears on the album Forgotten Sounds\, named one of The New York Tim es’ Best Classical Music Albums of 2024\, nominated for a Gramophone Cla ssical Music Award\, and awarded BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Choice. As Artistic Director of the Loeffler Octet ensemble\, he has led performance s at the Library of Congress\, Morgan Library\, and Harvard Musical Associ ation.\n\nJohnson performs widely as a chamber musician and soloist at maj or festivals and venues including Ravinia\, La Jolla Music Society\, the K ennedy Center\, and the Dame Myra Hess series. Since 2022\, he has served as clarinetist of the award-winning quintet WindSync. He is also Artistic Director of the Onstage Offstage Chamber Music Festival in Houston.\nProgr am Notes From the performer- \nA brand new clarinet quintet by Viet Cuong written at Johnson’s urging anchors a unique collaboration with the Bal ourdet Quartet\, recent winners of the Cleveland Quartet Award and an Aver y Fisher Career Grant. Compass was inspired by Cuong’s mother's journey by sea as a refugee following the Fall of Saigon\, ultimately settling in America. But\, Cuong writes\, "Compass is not a literal retelling of my mo ther's journey\, but rather an homage to the idea of direction itself—ho w one navigates uncertainty\, memory\, and hope." The concert program Da L ontano captures the sound of musical distance\, responding to the language of direction\, travel and memory built into the way we speak about music: from the proverbial "home key" of music theory\, to the sense of “a jou rney” engendered by a particularly epic piece.\n\nA reimagined Mozart pi ano sonata emphasizes the distancing effect of the variations form\, with increasing distance from a theme—rather than proximity to a goal—as th e only way to track progress through a movement. Meanwhile\, Milhaud's Sau dades do Brasil verticalizes the idea of distance by allowing us to experi ence two distinct sound worlds at once: samba and modernism\, Latin Americ a and France\, “popular” and “art” music. And Brahms' immortal Cla rinet Quintet\, a "journey" piece if there ever was one\, plays with dista nce with references to the wandering Roma people\, and by creating musical memory through recurring material—always somehow transformed from the o riginal through the haze of recall\, as if to suggest the distortion of in tervening time.\n2026 Summer- Fall will be announced soon! ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://millbrookmusicsalon.org/wp-content/uploa ds/2026/03/comm2.jpg CATEGORIES:2026 Season LOCATION:Lyall Community Church\, 30 Maple Ave\, Millbrook\, New York\, 125 45\, United States X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=30 Maple Ave\, Millbrook\, New York\, 12545\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Lyall Communit y Church:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR