Duo Solo Mary Kirkendoll, flute and Michael Kirkendoll, piano with featured guests h2 saxophone quartet and Amir Khosropour, piano $10 and 15
Playing works of David Rakowski: Exact Change, (2011), Firecat, (1993), Flutude No. 2, “Ram Tough” (2008),Compass (2010), Etude No. 52, “Moodyʼs Blues” (2003), and Gli Uccelli di Bogliasco (2006)
Dedicated to performing the most innovative music of our time, DuoSolo blends super virtuosity with thoughtful introspection in exciting and interactive concert experiences.http://www.duosolo.com/
Since forming DuoSolo in 2006, Mary Fukushima and Michael Kirkendoll have become exciting new forces on the contemporary music scene. Following their 2006 debut in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York Concert Review called them “powerhouse performers,” noting Mary’s “warm and brilliant” sound and Michael’s “thought- provoking” and “atmospheric” playing. They have since commissioned or premiered nearly two-dozen works from such esteemed composers as David Rakowski, Frederic Rzewski, Gabriela Frank, and Forrest Pierce, as well as numerous works by emerging composers. DuoSolo appears regularly on concert series around the world and are frequent guests at new music festivals around the U.S. DuoSolo creates programs that include music for solo flute, solo piano, and flute/piano duo, ranging from twentieth- century masterpieces to contemporary explorations of rock, pop, electronic music, and performance art. In 2008, DuoSolo created the DuoSolo Foundation: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the commissioning, performance, and education of new music. Annually, the DuoSolo Foundation sponsors an Emerging Composer Competition and new-music recitals benefiting causes including disaster relief, environmental protection, and animal rights. Under the auspices of the DuoSolo Foundation, Mary and Michael also direct the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Cortona, Italy. The Cortona Sessions brings young composers and performers together to encourage future collaborations and performances of new music through two weeks of rehearsals, lectures, workshops, and recitals. In two seasons, the Cortona Sessions has supported the premiere of more than eighty new works.
The award-winning h2 quartet has been wowing audiences since 2002. This all- saxophone ensemble has performed throughout the United States, in Europe, and in Asia, in venues from Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Hall to the Canker dom in Ljubljana, Slovenia to the Times Center in New York City. In the summer of 2008, h2 released its debut album, Generations, on Blue Griffin Records. The ensemble has also been featured on several other national and international releases and released its second recording,Times & Spaces, in 2010. The h2 quartet was also featured on a television episode of WKAR’s (PBS)Backstage Pass, which offers viewers a first-hand look at the inner workings of a top-flight chamber ensemble through live in-studio performances and interviews with the ensemble members. The h2 quartet enjoys the opportunity to work with composers and has premiered new works by Jongyun Choi, Benjamin Fuhrman, Murray Gross, Takuma Itoh, Claudio Gabriele, David MacDonald, John Mackey, Victor Marquez-Barrios, Marc Mellits, Roger Petersen, Jesse Ronneau, Matthew Schoendorff, and Amy Williams. The h2 quartet has been First Prize Gold Medal winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, First Prize winner at the North American Saxophone Alliance Saxophone Quartet Competition, twice First Place winner at the Music Teacher’s National Association Chamber Music Competition – Michigan, winner at the Michigan State University Concerto Competition, and First Place winner at the Northwestern University Chamber Music Competition.
Maybe it’s because he’s a Libra, but Amir Khosrowpour believes in presenting programs that are balanced with new works and old works, siding neither with only the avant-garde or only the “dead white guys.” He has performed across the U.S., in China and Italy, and most recently in a month-long exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the City, Khosrowpour has worked with composers and performers in many new-music groups, including Red Light New Music, Ensemble Pamplemousse, JACK Quartet, and TRANSIT. He’s won numerous competitions, including the national title from the Music Teachers National Association, earning a Steinway grand piano as a prize.
