Featuring commissions by composers Heather Stebbins and Diana Rodriguez, performed by Sound Icon and Winsor Music
In celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday in 2020, the Goethe-Institut Boston commissioned the composers Heather Stebbins and Diana Rodriguez, both with strong ties to Boston, to compose works based on his Septet in E-flat major, op. 20. The premiere, performed by ensembles Sound Icon and Winsor Music alongside Beethoven’s septet, was to be premiered in November 2020 but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. We are thrilled to be able to present the concert in person a year later to a reduced audience.
Beethoven’s septet, scored for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola and cello, was one of his most popular and frequently performed works during his lifetime. The exceptional instrumentation and the divertimento-like format with six movements instead of four added to its fame and helped it become one of Beethoven’s most arranged works. Today the septet is rarely performed.
Performers:
Rane Moore, clarinet
Marina Krickler, horn
Rachael Elliott, bassoon
Gabriela Diaz, violin
Jessica Bodner, viola
Jan Müller-Szeraws’ , violoncello
Anthony D’Amico, Double Bass
Bios
Photo: Vicky D'Incecco
DM R (Diana M. Rodriguez) was born and raised in Bogotá, and she is currently based in NYC. She is a composer of electroacoustic music, a concert series curator in Columbia Composers, C3, and CanvaSound, as well as a 90s Anime aficionado. Having its footholds in pop culture, Colombian folk, and Rock en Español, her work has been presented by artists like ICE, Yarn Wire, ECCE Ensemble, Ludovico Ensemble, Boston Musica Viva, Berrow Duo, Eric Drescher, and Josh Modney at the BANFF Centre for the Arts and Creativity, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the Boston Conservatory, University of North Colorado, the Coral Gables Museum, and the New England Conservatory.
Currently, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, DM R holds a master’s degree from the Boston Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree from the New World School of the Arts at the University of Florida. Her ongoing projects include collaborations with TAK ensemble and Sound Icon.
Photo: Mike Elliott
Heather Stebbins is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music that highlights her fascination with the kinetic and emotive properties of sound. Her music has been performed in North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe by ensembles such as loadbang, Ensemble U:, the JACK Quartet, Dal Niente, Sound Icon, Transient Canvas, Ensemble L’Arsenale, eighth blackbird, and the Riot Ensemble. She has worked closely with performers Carlos Cordeiro, Will Lang, Andrew Kozar, Adam Vidiksis, and Sam Kelder to create highly personal pieces for solo instrument and electronics.
“You Are Not Stone”, an EP released on Not Art Records, features works for viola and interactive electronics. Other recordings have been released on the SEAMUS and Coviello labels.
Stebbins was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and holds degrees from Boston University and the University of Richmond. Her principal teachers include Benjamin Broening, Joshua Fineberg, and Helena Tulve.
Stebbins joined the faculty at George Washington University as an Assistant Professor of Music in 2019.
In addition to composing and teaching, Heather enjoys running, gardening, reading, cooking, and exploring new places and spaces with her partner Mike, their sons Elliott and Ezra, and their four-legged companion, Rowan.
Sound Icon is a sinfonietta committed to performing the most significant progressive works of the past few decades. As a sinfonietta, Sound Icon offers the color palette of a full orchestra with the precision and flexibility of a chamber ensemble. The technical and logistical challenges of contemporary repertoire for sinfonietta often discourage live performance in the United States, however, Sound Icon embraces this music and aims to bring this repertoire to Boston and beyond. Through ambitious programming performed to the highest standards, Sound Icon engages audiences in dialogues about what progressive music is and can be: music that redefines rules, experiences, and expectations.
Winsor Music is firmly convinced that the arts, and specifically music, create a multi-faceted bond within a community and beyond. Winsor's goal is to be a positive force in our community through performing vibrant chamber music concerts that focus on diverse compositional and musical voices, by commissioning new works by primarily women and people of color, and engaging audiences through thoughtful outreach programs. For 25 years Winsor Music's highly-acclaimed concert series has featured unique, engaging programming, and has attracted some of the world's biggest talents. Winsor Music is a long-time partner with Project STEP, offering mentorship opportunities and scholarships to kids of color to attend music camp. This past year Winsor Music was a part of the core team leading Boston Hope Music which provided "doses" of music to patients recovering from COVID-19, offered music lessons to doctors and nurses, and provided music at Boston area vaccination sites.
