Northern Neck Orchestra (NNO) presents a chamber music concert, Trios and Tangos. The concert will be performed by NNO Concertmaster and Principal Violinist Moises Cunha, NNO Principal Cellist Stephen Custer and prize-winning pianist Daniel Inamorato.
The music was composed by Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven in the classical style of 18th century Europe will blend beautifully with contemporary works of 20th century South American composers Edmundo Villani-Cortes and Astor Piazzolla at the first concert of the NNO’s chamber music series.
Tickets are $30 and may be purchased online at Northern Neck Orchestra’s website or at the check-in desk (winery Event Room). Students are admitted at no charge.
About the performance
The performance features Haydn’s Piano Trio No. 44, Villa-Cortes’ Cinco Miniaturas Brasileiras, Beethoven’s Piano Trio No. 4, Piazzolla’s Oblivion for Violin, Cello, and Piano, and Violentango for Violin and Piano, a tango masterwork.
“This rich program and these talented musicians will vividly demonstrate that great chamber music extends far beyond any musical era or tradition,” said Eric Jacobson of NNO.
The concert will begin with Haydn’s Piano Trio 44, recognized as one of the most delightful and inventive of the composer’s works. Written by Haydn in the 1790s for esteemed pianist Therese Jansen, the piece is a virtuoso work for piano and strings that requires an exceptionally wide range of expression by all musicians.
About the musicians
Brazilian composer Villani-Cortes wrote Cinco Miniaturas Brasileiras (Five Brazilian Miniatures) in 1978. The work has become so popular that it has generated 15 orchestrations, including the one for piano trio. Villani-Cortes weaves Brazilian folk references into each of the compositions five movements in a very delicate and refined way.
Composed in 1797, Beethoven’s Piano Trio 4 is one in a series of his early chamber music works. The work is sometimes known for the melody in its third movement which evolved into a popular tune that was sung or whistled by people on the streets of many neighborhoods in Vienna.
The ensemble will perform two works by Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine composer, arranger and legendary performer of tangos on the bandoneon, a type of concertina played in Argentina and Uruguay. Piazzolla revolutionized traditional tango music by mixing elements of jazz, folk and classical forms into Nuevo Tango–deemed suitable for the concert hall as well as the dance floor.
Piazzolla’s nostalgic Oblivion for Violin, Cello and Piano originated in the score for a film of Luigi Pirandello’s play Enrico IV. His hauntingly beautiful Violentango for Violin and Piano captures the dueling emotions of romance and heartbreak that are the essence of the tango.
About the musicians
Brazilian-born violinist, music educator and recording artist Moises Cunha has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Brazil, Italy, Russia, and United States and is the Concertmaster, Principal Violinist and Artist-in-Residence of the NNO. He also performs regularly with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans and has been featured as a soloist with major Brazilian symphonic and chamber orchestras. Cunha holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and received his doctorate from the University of Georgia.
Cellist, teacher, and composer Stephen Custer is the Principal Cellist of the NNO and also has performed with the Richmond Symphony, Lynchburg Opera and Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra. Before moving to Virginia, Custer was a member of the United States Air Force Band Strings, Principal Cellist of the Syracuse Symphony, and member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra for 36 years under prominent music directors Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Andre Previn and Esa-Pekka Salonen. A graduate of the Juilliard School in New York and Ohio University, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance from the Catholic University of America.
Daniel Inamorato is a Brazilian classically trained pianist who also specializes in traditional Argentine Tango. The winner of more than forty first prizes in music competitions, he has performed chamber music with major figures in international music and on several recordings, including a CD of tangos and the premiere of three 20th century violin and piano sonatas by Latin American composers. Inamorato has a Master Degree in Piano from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music . He recently moved to Williamsburg, where he is a piano accompanist at Christopher Newport University.