Music for Peace: Athena’s Oboe

Staying in the realm of Greek mythology, this April we will honor the Greek goddess of wisdom and mythical inventor of the oboe with Trio Flamecrest’s program “Athena’s Oboe.” Join us as we revisit classical works as well as sample neo-classical ones. Delight in the virtuoso music of Mozart and Beethoven. Revel in the humor and rhapsody of Emmy Wegener and Grazyna Bacewicz. Call forth Spring with Athena’s oboe!

Trio Flamecrest draws inspiration from its namesake, an exuberant mountain bird from Taiwan. Individual members of the trio – violinist Jean Bäverstam, violinist/violist Amy Galluzzo, and cellist Carol Ou – are critically acclaimed artists who are known for their “riveting,” “nuanced,” “fiery,” and “meltingly melodic outpourings” that have left audiences “speechless.” The group seeks to set great music aflame for all to experience.

Amanda Hardy’s gorgeous oboe sounds are familiar to Boston Symphony Orchestra audiences. She is a frequent guest principal oboist with the BSO and is principal oboist with the Portland Maine Symphony Orchestra.

Program

Beethoven String Trio in G major, op. 9 no. 1
Wegener Suite for String Trio
Bacewicz Oboe Trio
Mozart Duo no. 2 in Bb major for Violin and Viola
Mozart Oboe Quartet

The concert will be held at Harvard-Epworth Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge 02138, near Harvard Law School.

Benefits Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund.  $25 for Mass. Peace Action members, $10 for students and low incomes.

To reserve, write a check to “Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund” or “MAPA EF” and mail to MAPA EF, 1991 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140, or call 617-354-2169 with credit card number.  Or reserve your tickets online.

Donations to support our work for peace are welcome in any amount. Supporters donate $250 or more to Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund; they receive two tickets with preferred seating in the first 3 rows and recognition in the program. Sponsors donate $500 and receive four tickets; Benefactors donate $1,000 and receive eight tickets.  All contributions above $25 per concert are tax-deductible.

The audience is invited to join the musicians and Peace Action members at a reception after the concert.  The venue is wheelchair accessible via the entrance on the right as you face the church.

Trio Flamecrest is a virtuoso ensemble founded by three close friends in 2022. Cellist Carol Ou, violinist Jean Bäverstam, and violinist-violist Amy Galluzzo met in the studio of legendary violinist and teacher James Buswell, whose irrepressible joy and profound curiosity about life has inspired countless musicians across the world. During the early days of the pandemic when the global community quieted and only bird songs were heard, the birding world was fascinated by a tiny, rare bird with wild orange flames on its crown that thrives only in the pine forest canopy of Taiwan’s highest mountains: the Flamecrest. Trio Flamecrest draws inspiration from this exuberant bird to light great music aflame for all to hear and to experience.

Individual members of Trio Flamecrest are critically acclaimed soloists and chamber musicians who have performed at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, National Gallery of Art, National Concert Hall of Ukraine, and other prestigious venues across the globe. The trio performs all combinations of music for violin, viola, and cello from the last five centuries including trios by Beethoven, Mozart, Dohnanyi, Schubert, Kodaly, and contemporary composers such as Jonathan Leshnoff. In concert, the group creates tangible connections for audiences with composers and performers through creative programming, insightful commentary, and exuberant performances.

Amanda Hardy joined the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra as principal oboe in November 2013 where she occupies the Clinton Graffam Chair. An in-demand artist in New England and beyond, Amanda is a frequent performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops, with whom she has both toured internationally and recorded.   Amanda recently joined the faculty at Boston University as Lecturer in Oboe, is Assistant Professor of Oboe at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and is on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She holds a Bachelor of Music in oboe with a piano minor from Drake University and a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from NEC. Previous festivals include the Masterworks Festival, the Chelsea Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Tanglewood Music Center in 2010 and 2011 where she was awarded the Mickey L. Hooten Memorial Award both summers. Her solo work can be heard on, Dancing with J.S. Bach (2019), on the Chelsea Music Festival Live label. Her teachers include John Ferrillo, Marilyn Zupnik, Anne Gabriele, and Jay Light; summer studies with Elaine Douvas and Richard Woodhams.

An award-winning cellist, Carol Ou is known for her “fiery, marvelous,” “meltingly melodic outpourings” (Boston Globe) and her “wonderfully pure cello tone and incisive technique.” (The Strad) A founding member of Trio Flamecrest, Carol was a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet and a longtime duo partner of legendary violinist James Buswell. Her solo and chamber music concerts have taken her to prestigious concert venues across the globe, including Carnegie Weill Hall, Jordan Hall, National Gallery of Art, Gardner Museum, National Concert Hall in Kiev, and the National Concert Hall of Taipei.

At ease with the diverse musical styles of the last five centuries, Ms. Ou’s creative programming balances traditional European masterworks with more contemporary and eclectic ones. She has recorded three of the most beloved cello concerti by Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Elgar, and premiered Taiwanese composer – Hsiao Tyzen’s Cello Concerto in Taipei, Taiwan. Her decade-long collaboration with Iranian composer Reza Vali has yielded numerous performances, premieres, and recordings of a dozen of his solo and string quartet works and his Cello Concerto: The Dervish and The Magus. Along with Hsiao, American composers Richard Toensing and Daniel Pinkham, have also dedicated works to her. Recent music performances have featured collaborations with crossover artists on mandolin, banjo, accordion, didgeridoo, erhu, pipa, and the Persian santoor.

A graduate of Yale University, Ms. Ou received her BA magna cum laude from Yale College and her MM and DMA in music performance from the Yale School of Music. A devoted and passionate educator, Carol has mentored inquisitive cello students of all ages at New England Conservatory of Music and has also taught cello students at MIT and NYU. She has served as Chair of Strings for NEC’s Adult Education and presently serves as the Chair of Chamber Music at NEC’s Preparatory School. Outside of her regular teaching, Carol travels internationally for cello and chamber music master classes on five continents, most recently in Hong Kong, Turkey, and Italy.

Demonstrating “superior leading” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Taiwanese violinist Jean Huang Bäverstam‘s active performing career has brought her to concert halls internationally and have impacted listeners throughout the United States. “(I was) left speechless after having the chance to watch and listen to Jean Huang close up” is how WBUR-FM described her performance. Huang holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance with honors from the New England Conservatory with the Doctoral thesis topic “A Performative Analysis and the Critical Edition: Francis Poulenc Violin Sonata”. Huang maintains a private studio in Boston, with students ranging from six years old to adults. She also teaches violin at the NEC School of Continuing Education and Preparatory School.

An active performer, Jean serves as the Concertmaster of both Phoenix Orchestra in Boston and Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra and has received recognition from local prominent newspapers and music critics.  Jean’s recent concerto appearances include a sold-out performance of Vaughan William’s Lark Ascending with the CCCO, and Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.5 with the Music for Peace Orchestra under the direction of Victor Rosenbaum.  A consummate artist, Jean delves into all aspects of her field. In the summer of 2013, she designed and created her own violin which was based on a Guarnerius model. Her other affiliations include Miclot Chamber Players, Vangarde Orchestra, Anastasia String Quartet, and Trio Flamecrest.

Praised for her “nuanced Mozartian phrasing” and her “delicacy and, when needed, force” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), violinist and violist, Amy Galluzzo enjoys an active career as both a chamber musician and soloist. For many years, Amy was a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, touring around the United States and internationally, performing a wide range of repertoire.  Amy has performed at several prestigious summer festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Festival, Chelsea Music Festival, Taos, and Sarasota Music Festival, and has collaborated with artists such as Masuko Ushioda, John Ferrillo, James Buswell and Carol Ou. More unusual collaborations include Yihan Chen, pipa, Scott McConnell, steel pan, and Dariush Saghafi, santoor.

Amy Galluzzo began her violin studies in Great Britain and went on to study with Dona Lee Croft, a professor at the Royal College of Music, London. Amy received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music with Honors, and a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied with Marylou Speaker Churchill and James Buswell. She is currently a candidate for the degree of PhD from the Steinhardt School, New York University.  Amy teaches through the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Continuing Education department.