Doors 7:00 | Show 7:30
UVM Recital Hall
$43.50 Adult | $7.50 Student (plus 3% cc fee when applicable)

Valerie Coleman & Friends perform “REVERIE: Dreams of Harlem and Paris”
“...commitment to pieces with strong narratives, historical echoes, and sonic influences from outside the traditional classical canon. Echoes of jazz and Kentucky bluegrass, as well as gospel and contemporary music, can be heard in her compositions.” – Bostonian
Buy Tickets for Valerie Coleman & FriendsValerie Coleman may be familiar to some of our audience as a founding member and flutist of the Imani Winds. She is also a celebrated and award-winning composer, named one of the “Top 35 Women Composers” by the Washington Post. Performance Today nominated her “2020 Classical Woman of the Year”, an honor bestowed to an individual who has made a significant contribution to classical music as a performer, composer, or educator. Her works have garnered awards such as the MAPFund, ASCAP Honors Award, Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning Program, Herb Alpert Ragdale Residency Award, and nominations from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and United States Artists. Umoja, Anthem for Unity was chosen by Chamber Music America as one of the “Top 101 Great American Ensemble Works” and is now a staple of woodwind literature.
She has assembled an incredible group of instrumentalists – fellow Imani Winds alumni Mariam Adam, clarinet and Monica Ellis, bassoon; Tai Murray on violin; cellist Titilayo Ayangade; and Artina McCain, piano – for a limited tour which we are delighted to be a part of. Reverie takes the listener back to the early twentieth century through the perspectives of Black artists who were at the center of both “Le Jazz Hot” and the Harlem Renaissance. This program melds these two worlds with works like Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor, Debussy’s Clair de Lune, and Coleman’s own Portraits of Langston, Cotton Club Juba, and more.
Program
Piece | Composer |
---|---|
Reverie - Dreams of Harlem and Paris Titilayo Ayangade, cello Artina McCain, piano | Claude Debussy (1862-1918) |
Matisseries - Featuring the art of Henri Matisse Odalisques: Harmony in Red Odalisques: Purple Anemones Cut Out: Celestial Jerusalem Cut out: Tree of Life Cut out: Creole Dancer Valerie Coleman, flute Mariam Adam, clarinet Monica Ellis, bassoon | Valerie Coleman (b. 1970 ) |
Sonata for Violin and Cello Tai Murry, violin Titilayo Ayangade, cello | Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) |
intermission
Piece | Composer |
---|---|
Summerland Tai Murray, violin Artina McCain, piano | William Grant-Still (1895-1978) |
Portraits of Langston - Dedicated to the poems and memories of Langston Hughes To Helen Keller Danse Africaine Le Grand Duc Mambo Silver Rain Parisian Cabaret Harlem Summer Night Valerie Coleman, flute Mariam Adam, clarinet Artina McCain, piano Monica Ellis, narrator | Valerie Coleman |
Cotton Club Juba - from Renaissance Concerto Valerie Coleman, flute Mariam Adam, clarinet Monica Ellis, bassoon Tai Murray, violin Titilayo Ayangade, cello Artina McCain, piano | Valerie Coleman |