Music for Peace: Formosa Duo with Vanessa Holroyd

Welcome to a new season of Music for Peace concerts!

For our first concert on Friday, November 3, Formosa Duo, with pianist Chi-Chen Wu and cellist Sam Ou, will present “Watercolors,” a sensual French program with music by Saint-Saens, Gaubert, and Franck. Joining them will be flutist Vanessa Holroyd.

Camille Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 123
Philippe Gaubert: Trois Aquarelles for Flute, Cello, & Piano
César Franck: Cello Sonata (orig. for violin & piano)

The concert will be held at Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, near Harvard Law School, at 7:30 pm.

Benefits Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund.  $25 for Mass. Peace Action members, $35 for non-members,  $10 for students and low incomes.

To reserve, write a check to “Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund” or “MAPA EF” and mail to 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, 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 to each concert and recognition in the programs. Sponsors donate $500 and receive four tickets; Benefactors donate $1,000 and receive eight tickets.  All contributions above $35 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 a ramp to the left of the church.

Since earning their respective doctorate of musical arts degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), pianist Chi-Chen Wu and cellist Sam Ou have been collaborating as the Formosa Duo for nearly two decades.  While respectively maintaining music faculty positions at the University of Wyoming and NEC’s Preparatory School & School of Continuing Education, Ms. Wu and Mr. Ou have individually appeared as recitalists, chamber musicians, and concerto soloists in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Poland, and Bermuda. The diverse repertoire that they have performed encompasses a wide stylistic span, from the Classical and Romantic periods, through the 20^th century and into the present. Particularly, contemporary music is a passion for both musicians. As the Formosa Duo, Ms. Wu and Mr. Ou performed the world premiere of John Kramer’s Sonata for Piano and Cello.  They also performed Jessie Montgomery’s Peace transcribed for cello and piano.  During the pandemic, the Duo maintained fervent support of contemporary music and collaborated with student composers from the University of Florida, culminating in a final recording project of their compositions, all recorded and edited remotely.

Vanessa Holroyd, whose sound has been described by the Boston Globe as “sweet and sensual,” serves as principal flutist with the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music where she performs regularly as part of their weekly Bach Cantata Series. She is a tenured member of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Portland Symphony, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic, among others. Other collaborations include performances with the Arneis Quartet, the Apple Hill String Quartet, A Far Cry, and her most recent chamber music project, “Trichrome” with harpist Franziska Huhn and violist, Daniel Doña. For ten years, Vanessa was a member of Arcadian Winds, with whom she premiered numerous works. With over twenty-five years of experience in the event industry, Vanessa co-owned the entertainment agency Music Management, Inc. from 2012 to 2022 and is the former Concert Series Manager and Concert Tour Director for Phillips Exeter Academy. She currently teaches with the Bach Institute of Emmanuel Music, is a regular coach for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and has been a guest summer faculty member at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music since 2007. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Yale College, a Master of Music in flute performance from McGill University, and an Artist Diploma from the Longy School of Music.