By Annie Liu
Annie is a PhD student in musicology at Princeton University. She received her MA in Musicology, MM in Bassoon Performance and a Certificate in New Media and Culture from the University of Oregon in 2024. She received her BS in General Science and BMA in Bassoon Performance from Penn State University as a Schreyer Honors Scholar in 2021. As a 2022-23 inaugural Cykler Song Scholar, she created a public musicology resource about popular music in Shanghai in the 1930s and 40s (shanghaisong.org). Outside of academics, Annie enjoys playing the bassoon, training for triathlons, and hanging out with her cat, Mouse.
This program of female composers opens with works by Josephine Lang, who was a prolific German composer known for her songs, of which she composed over three hundred. She studied with Felix Mendelssohn from a young age; he spoke highly of her gift for composing song in an 1831 letter to his family and continually supported her career. Felix’s sister Fanny Hensel felt similarly about Lang’s songs, writing “I like them so much that I play them, and play them again–I can’t tear myself away.” Lang herself felt a close kinship with her songs, viewing her compositions as her “diary.”
Lang’s Sechs Lieder (1841) for mezzo-soprano and piano contains six texts from separate writers, including her husband, poet Reinhold Köstlin. “Die Schwalben”, or “The Swallows,” sets a poem by Christoph Tiedge. Lang displays extraordinary sensitivity to the text, employing a light, flighty piano texture to represent changing seasons and the swallows’ migration, then shifting to a contemplative and sentimental affect when describing the permanence of love. In “Schiedeblick” or “A Parting Glance,” with text by poet Nikolaus Lenau, Lang maintains a sparse and sedentary texture reminiscent of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata throughout, highlighting the pain and solemnity of the singer’s departure. “Mignons Klage” or “Mignon’s Lament” sets a Goethe poem (“Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt”) describing the giddy yet lonely experience of longing for a lover. The lied begins with a swirl of activity, mirroring the sweeping and volatile emotions expressed in the text. Lang includes a hesitant piano interlude halfway through, implying a moment of self-reflection or perhaps deep sorrow.
Hilary Tann was a Welsh composer who worked primarily in the United States and held a strong interest in traditional Japanese music. Tann received her PhD in composition from Princeton University in 1972 and went on to teach at Union College in upstate New York. From the Song of Amergin, composed in 1995 for flute, viola, and harp trio, is a piece in five uninterrupted sections. Tann was inspired by the “Song of Amergin,” an ancient Celtic poem with deep spiritual and cosmological implications for the relationship between the self and nature. The piece begins and ends with what Tann calls “an evocation of ‘I am,’” expressed by emphatic statements from all three instruments through a vigorous and urgent texture. Tann then selected the following lines from the poem to structure the three inner sections of the piece: “I am a wind: on a deep lake, I am a tear: the sun lets fall, I am a hawk: above the cliff.” She represents the wind and lake with the harp, the tear and the sun with the viola, and the hawk and the cliff with the flute, creating a captivating and evocative conversation.
Born in Arkansas and educated in Boston, Florence Price was a Black composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who spent most of her career in Chicago. Price synthesized European classical music, African American spirituals, and jazz in her extensive output, which included symphonies, piano music, and songs. She received widespread recognition as the first Black woman to write a symphony (her Symphony No. 1 In E minor) premiered by a major orchestra in the United States (the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933). Her works, which remain mostly unpublished, have received well-deserved attention from both performers and scholars in recent years.
Her Five Folksongs in Counterpoint from circa 1951 sets well-known spirituals and folk songs for string quartet. In “Calvary” and “Clementine,” Price first states the theme in the violin, subsequently passing it to other quartet members. “Drink to me only with Thine eyes” acts as a contrasting slow movement, followed by the dance-like scherzo of “Shortnin’ Bread.” The cello opens “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” with an earnest statement of the melody, which quickly transforms into a dense, triumphant texture. Throughout, Price effortlessly weaves counterpoint around familiar tunes, each movement a contrasting vignette displaying her expertise in writing rousing and expressive chamber music full of rich chromaticism and distinctive sonorities.
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was a prolific German composer and pianist known for her piano works and songs, though her output was neglected for many years. Her Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte), like those written by her brother Felix Mendelssohn, consist of short and lyrical character pieces for solo piano. In 1846, Hensel experienced a burst of creative energy, writing around 50 works and earnestly publishing both previous and newer compositions before her sudden and untimely death in 1847. These four songs, published posthumously, exemplify Hensel’s creativity in translating texted songs to piano, conjuring poetic images and intense affects. Op. 8 no. 1 in B minor begins instantly and intensely, unfolding via modulation and arpeggiated restlessness, almost bursting at the seams until dissolving to a close. In contrast, her Op. 8 no. 2 in A minor sets a folk song-like melody over a pulsing accompaniment. The title of Op. 8 no. 3 references the poet Nikolaus Lenau, whose poems both Felix and Fanny set; thus, Lied acts as either a textless setting of a Lenau poem or a tribute to Lenau himself. The final song, Wanderlied, evokes constant, swirling motion, displaying Hensel’s pianistic virtuosity and originality.
Known for her wide-ranging orchestral, chamber, film, and theatrical output Eleanor Alberga is a Jamaican composer and pianist active in the United Kingdom. During her early career, she excelled as a solo pianist, as a member of Fontomfrom, an African dance company, and as a vocalist with the Jamaican Folk Singers. In 2021, she was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for Services to British Music.
Remember, composed in 2020 for string quartet and later arranged for a string orchestra, is dedicated to the memory of Alberga’s mother. Within this one-movement work, Alberga incorporates the Jamaican folk song “Come Back, Liza” (famously recorded by Harry Belafonte), also titled “Water Comes to My Eye.” Alberga paints an elegiac portrait of grief and tenderness with cathartic dissonances, sonically rendering the agonies of loss.
The first female composer given a damehood, Dame Ethel Smyth was an English composer involved in the British musical renaissance of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as well as the women’s suffrage movement. Smyth studied composition in Germany before returning to England, where she tirelessly composed operas, including Der Wald (1902) and The Wreckers (1906), among numerous other works.
By 1908, her compositional style shifted away from a Germanic style toward a lighter, French-influenced style, evident in her 4 Songs, which set French texts by Henri de Régnier and Leconte de Lisle for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble. Smyth dedicated each of these songs to her inner circle, including her friend and author Madame Bulteau, her sister Mary Hunter, her collaborator and librettist Henry B. Brewster, who passed away in 1908, and the Belgian aristocrat Mathilde Stuyvesant. These songs illustrate Smyth’s deft handling of varied textures, shimmering colors, and affective extremes, described by French composer Claude Debussy as “tout à fait remarquables,” or “quite remarkable.”
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Founded during the Princeton University Concerts 1994–1995 centennial season, the Richardson Chamber Players is our resident ensemble comprised of performance faculty, distinguished guest artists, and supremely talented students. The performance faculty share the artistic direction and seek to present repertoire of works for singular combinations of instruments and voices, which would otherwise remain unheard. Today’s program was conceived and organized by violist Jessica Thompson.
JOHN FERRARI is musically active in classical, jazz, pop, Broadway, film/TV, dance, the avant-garde, and multi-media. He performs and gives master classes nationally and abroad, and appears on dozens of recordings as percussionist, drummer, and conductor. He’s a founding member of the Naumburg Award winning New Millennium Ensemble and a member of Meridian Arts Ensemble since 1993. John has also appeared and/or recorded with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New Jersey Symphony, Radio City Orchestra, Bang On A Can All Stars, Da Capo Chamber Players, Yo-Yo Ma, The Group for Contemporary Music, Orpheus Chamber Players, David Sanford Big Band, John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, and many others. He holds DMA and MM degrees from SUNY Stony Brook, and a BM from William Paterson University where he has also served on faculty since 2002. Other educational posts include Manhattan School of Music, Princeton University, and Elisabeth Morrow School. John lives in Fair Lawn with his wife Kalliopy, daughter Irene, love birds ‘Cutie’ and ‘Sweetie’, and Toby, their beloved Yorkie.
Noted for “ardent lyricism” (Gramophone) and “rare sonic magic” (Le Devoir), pianist FRANCINE KAY made her solo debut at Carnegie Hall under the auspices of the New York Pro Piano Competition as Winner and Recitalist of the Year. Since then, Ms. Kay has performed in major halls across Europe and North America as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra, with appearances in Paris, Montreal, Berlin, New York, Chicago, London and Washington D.C. She is a regular guest at international festivals in the U.S., Poland, France, Canada and Czechia. Francine Kay’s recordings have received international accolades, including a JUNO nomination for her Debussy recording. Things Lived and Dreamt (Analekta), released in January 2023, has garnered widespread acclaim and is being broadcast world-wide. Francine Kay is a faculty member in the Music Department of Princeton University.
Classically trained from the age of 9, South African harpist JACQUELINE KERROD has worked at the highest level in the classical, pop, free jazz and improvised music worlds. Her debut solo record 17 Days In December (2021) released on LA-based label Orenda Records was noted as a best debut (2021) by The New York City Jazz Record and selected as an album to listen to by JazzIs Magazine (December 2021). She has toured nationally and internationally with composer and multi-reedist Anthony Braxton, both in duo and as part of his ZIM music ensemble. Their live duo recording was released on Italian label I dischi di Angelica (2020). She has played principal harp with top orchestras and performed with elite chamber groups, contemporary music ensembles, and pop superstars including Anohni, Rufus Wainwright and Kanye West. She recently launched an improvised/creative music series hosted by Morpeth Contemporary in downtown Hopewell, NJ. Featured musicians have included, Mariel Roberts, Ingrid Laubrock, Joe Morris and Ken Filiano.
KELLY KIM is a junior English major at Princeton University. She has won various prizes and recognitions in competitions including the Chicago International Music Association Competition, the Festival in Honor of Confucius, the Society of American Musicians Competition, and the Sejong Music Competition. She won honorable mention in the YoungArts National Competition and has soloed with various orchestras.
Kelly was concertmaster of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra, the district-wide orchestra (ILMEA), and the state-wide honors orchestra. In 2022, with the Peresson Quartet, Kelly won the gold medal, special “Haydn” prize, and honorable mention for the “BIPOC” prize at the Saint Paul National String Quartet competition. With Peresson, she also won Bronze at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Kelly was the concertmaster and valedictorian of the Music Institute of Chicago Academy. She studied under Almita Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago and now studies with Anna Sunghae Lim at Princeton.
Violinist ANNA LIM has taught violin for 20 years at Princeton University. She is a founding member of the Laurel Piano Trio, which won the ProPiano and Concert Artists Guild Competitions and performed extensively throughout the US. As the violinist of the Naumburg Award-winning New Millennium Ensemble, she has premiered and recorded the music of numerous 20th and 21st century composers. She joined the Manhattan String Quartet in 2019. Anna is a faculty member and artistic advisor of the Maine Chamber Music Seminar and appears regularly at Prussia Cove in the UK, the Portland Chamber Music Festival and White Mountains Music Festival. She is a frequent guest of the contemporary music collective, Talea Ensemble. Anna serves as the faculty advisor for Princeton University’s Trenton Youth Orchestra. She received a BA from Harvard University in History and Literature and completed her Diplom at the Mozarteum in Salzburg under violinist Sandor Vegh.
“Powerhouse mezzo” (Albert Williams, The Chicago Reader) CAITLIN MCKECHNEY has made a name for herself as a dynamic singing actress, which was on display at the beginning of 2019 when she performed the role of Dinah in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti in a co-production with Miami Orchestra and Magic City Opera. Caitlin has also been performing extensively with her two bands, Opera Cowgirls, a “band” that reinvents opera in a very fun way, and the Galway Girls, an irish trio of women that mixes authentic Irish music with the folk traditions of the states, appearing all over Pennsylvania and NYC celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at theaters like the Bucks County Playhouse and Hedgerow Theater. Caitlin is currently a member of Hotel Elefant, a New York City based ensemble that focuses on performing the works of living composers, with which she has performed the works of Chinary Ung, Paola Prestini, Kirsten Volness and Leaha Villareal. Caitlin can be heard on the recordings of Thomas Sleeper’s Einstein’s Inconsistency (Albany Records) as well as Opera Cowgirls’ album, Always Unplugged.
ALBERTO PARRINI is an associate musician with the Metropolitan Opera and a member of the American Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He was principal cellist with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic (2007-23) and performs regularly with East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Lenape Chamber Ensemble, Lighthouse Chamber Players, Richardson Chamber Players, New Jersey Symphony and New York Philharmonic. Alberto has toured North America, Europe and Asia with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project and performed with American Chamber Players, Zukofsky Quartet, St. Lawrence Quartet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Mirror Visions, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Proteus Ensemble, Richmond Symphony and Sinfonietta of Riverdale. His principal teachers were Timothy Eddy, Joel Krosnick, David Soyer, Colin Carr and Enrico Egano; he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. Alberto has been teaching at Princeton University since 2012.
SARAH SHIN is a vibrant and eclectic performer, educator, and collaborator making waves in the music industry. As a Lecturer of Flute at Princeton University and a member of the Richardson Chamber Players, affiliated with Princeton University Concerts – Sarah’s passion for music shines through her work. Her role at Rutgers University MGSA Community Arts as a flute instructor and chamber music coach allows her to inspire the next generation of musicians. Sarah is a William S. Haynes Artist and performs on a handmade custom Haynes 14k white gold flute. Noteworthy performances include sharing the stage with Lizzo at the 2023 Met Gala, performing a tour with the Budapest MAV Symphony Orchestra in Konzerthaus Klagenfurt and Mozarteum Großer Saal in Salzburg, Austria, and performing with the Savaria Symphony Orchestra in Das MuTh Konzertsaal and Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Upcoming performances include a Solo Concerto with the Prague Radio Chamber Orchestra in Smetana Hall, performing soloist with Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, and a tour with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker in Germany and Austria. Along with being a soloist and educator, Sarah is an avid chamber musician and collaborator. She is a founding member of the Emissary Quartet. Sarah can be heard on all streaming platforms with her solo album under Sony Classical, Mozart Concertos For Flute and Orchestra No. 1 & No. 2 with Conductor Christian Schulz and members of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra.
Violist JESSICA THOMPSON is a passionate chamber musician and educator who performs regularly throughout the United States and abroad as a member of the Daedalus Quartet. The quartet, in residence at the University of Pennsylvania, has premiered works by such composers as Fred Lerdahl, Joan Tower, Richard Wernick, and Vivian Fung. Ms. Thompson has appeared in recital in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Princeton, NJ, and has performed at numerous festivals, including Portland (ME), Charlottesville, Mimir, Halcyon, Bard Summerscapes, and Skaneateles. She performs regularly as a member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra and the String Orchestra of NYC and teaches at Princeton and Columbia Universities, as well as at the Maine Chamber Music Seminar. Ms. Thompson performs on an instrument made in 1818 in Milan by Giacomo Rivolta.
