WHAT TO EXPECT
Join us for Restless Passions, a stirring evening of chamber music featuring powerfully expressive works that explore the depths of longing, intensity, and introspection.
The opening work on the concert, Frank Bridge’s Allegro Appassionato for Viola and Piano is a virtuosic gem that showcases the viola’s rich, haunting voice in a thrilling interplay of urgency and grace. Full of youthful fire and aching expressivity, it sets the stage for an unforgettable evening of musical intensity.
At the heart of the program is the Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor by Gabriel Fauré, a late-Romantic masterpiece brimming with emotional turbulence and radiant lyricism. Written during a time of personal and artistic transformation, this quartet is a sweeping journey through shadow and light — by turns brooding, tender, and boldly passionate.
Paired with the Fauré is Piano Quartet #1, Op. 69, by French composer Mélanie “Mel” Bonis. A late-period Romanticist, Bonis was woefully underappreciated in her time, though a more modern reevaluation of her prolific output as a composer has begun to reestablish her position in the pantheon of classical music. Her Piano Quartet #1 is a four-movement work, consistently revealing a charming elegance.
Performed by a quartet of acclaimed musicians, Restless Passions promises a profound musical journey — where restless hearts find voice in the eloquence of strings and piano.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Movses Pogossian is a Distinguished Professor of Violin at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. His recent performances have included recitals in New York, Boston, Ann Arbor, and concerts in South Korea, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Armenia.
Nancy Buck is Co-Artistic Director of the Chamber @ Ravenscroft series and serves on Arizona State University’s School of Music, Dance, and Theatre faculty as a Professor of Viola.
A winner of national competitions on three continents, cellist Yoshika Masuda has performed throughout Australia, Japan, China, Mexico, the USA, the UK, and much of western Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.
Widely recognized for her diverse abilities as a collaborative artist, pianist Miki Aoki has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall in New York City, St. Martin-in-the Fields, the Royal Festival Hall, Laeizhalle Hamburg, Munetsugu Hall (Japan), and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall (Russia).
