"Affairs of the Harp", Julie Scolnik, artistic director

Featured will be harp solos by jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera, who morphs the instrument into a bandoneon to evoke Argentinian tango, to Boston composer Kati Agócs a modern-day Benjamin Britten, who treats her own native Canadian folk music as found objects for a new work for solo harp, to David Bruce’s Caja de Música which evokes the haunting sounds of a Spanish music box. Together Scolnik and Kibbey will offer a set of duo gems by French composers Ravel, Debussy, Saint Saens, and Chaminade.  “Kibbey made it seem as though her instrument had been waiting all its life to explode with the gorgeous colors and energetic figures she was getting from it.”     The New York Times

J.S. BACH (1685-1750) Sonata in E flat Major (arr. for fl. & hp: Kibbey)                                                                                                    PAQUITO D’RIVERA (b. 1948) Bandoneon for solo harp                                                                                                                                          CAMILLE SAINT SAENS (1835-1921) Fantaisie, Op. 124 for vln & hp                                                                                                      DAVID BRUCE (b. 1970)  Caja de Musica for solo harp                                                                                                                                            CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) 10” Prélude à L’ Après-Midi d’un Faune (arr. for flute & harp by Judy Loman)                                    KATI AGÓCS (b. 1975) Northern Lights (2011) 15”                                                                                                                                  MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) Pavane pour une enfante défunte. 7                                                                                                        CÉCILE CHAMINADE (1857-1944) Concertino op. 107

MISTRAL has been bringing “unstuffy, unpredictable, and unmatched” concerts with internationally renowned musicians to the Merrimack Valley and Greater Boston area since 1997. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Julie Scolnik, Mistral performances are always a little eccentric, stubbornly personal, impassioned, and committed to invigorating old traditions with an ever-youthful perspective. The Mistral 2023-2024 concert season is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.