“2” (Peter H. Bloom, flute, alto flute, bass flute & piccolo; Mary Jane Rupert, harp) to give world premieres September 23, 2011

Church of the Advent Library Concert Series 2011 presents Contemporary Chamber Music Concert on Friday, September 23, 2011 at 8:00 pm, at the Church of the Advent, 30 Brimmer Street, Boston, MA 02108-1098. Suggested donation: $10.Information: Matt Samolis, 857-383-9786 or http://shoebei.wordpress.com/

The concert will feature the duo “2” (Peter H. Bloom, flute, alto flute, bass flute & piccolo; Mary Jane Rupert, harp) performing world premieres of two pieces written for them: Play of Light (2010) by Richard Nelson and Zoa (2011) by Pamela Marshall. Flutist Bloom will also perform To Music (2003) by Elizabeth Vercoe for solo flute. The program will also include cellist Junko Simons performing Sonata for Solo Cello by George Crumb (1955) and Bunraku for Solo Cello by Toshiro Mayuzumi (1960), plus The Forbes Graham Trio (Forbes Graham, trumpet; Todd Brunel, clarinet; Junko Simons, cello) performing the world premiere of Trio for Trumpet, Clarinet, & Cello (2011) by Forbes Graham.

Praised for “beautiful phrasing, consummate duet passages, superb technical facility,” and hailed for “music that can set the heart singing” (Better Homes & Gardens), Peter H. Bloom and Mary Jane Rupert have toured the globe as the duo “2” in a collaboration spanning more than 20 years. The duo is known for vivid and compelling concerts of wide-ranging chamber music, with special focus on new music by American composers. Their 2011-2012 season will include tours in Australia, New Zealand & the U.S.

Peter H. Bloom has given recitals from Boston to Bangkok; tours internationally with leading chamber music and jazz ensembles; and appears on 30 CDs from labels including Sony Classical, Dorian, Newport Classic, Leo Records and other labels. The Boston Globe called his music “a revelation for unforced sweetness and strength,” while Jazz Improv praised his "exquisite melody." He was a winner of the American Musicological Society’s coveted Noah Greenberg Award. Acclaimed as a concert pianist and harpist, Mary Jane Rupert has given solo recitals from Carnegie Hall to Beijing Concert Hall, and has appeared with symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the U.S. She records on the North Star and Harmony Hill labels. She holds an MM in Piano, MM in Harp and DM in Piano Performance and Music Literature from Indiana University, and a BM in Piano from Oberlin College.

Active as a classical and jazz composer, Richard Nelson has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, the Charles Ives Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. His compositions have been performed by Speculum Musicae, ALEA III, and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra at venues including Piccolo Spoleto, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, Indiana University, SUNY Buffalo, College Music Society National Convention in Savannah, The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, his own Imaginary Ensemble, and others. Nelson studied composition at Indiana with Don Erb and at Columbia with Mario Davidovsky. He was Visiting Artist at the University of Cape Town in 2004. Dr. Nelson is Associate Professor of music and head of the Composition Concentration at the University of Maine at Augusta.

Pamela J. Marshall studied at Eastman and Yale and has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony. She has written for chamber ensembles, synthesizers, mandolin, and orchestra, including commissions from organist Carson Cooman, Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Unitarian choirs in Massachusetts and Minnesota, the Fisher Foundation, Axiom Duo, Trio Arundel, mandolinist Neil Gladd, and DanceArt. Her Christmas arrangements for orchestra (Traditional Christmas and Three Appalachian Carols) have been played throughout the United States. Her company Spindrift Music publishes her recent music. Since 2005, the Spindrift Commissioning Guild has supported several projects for new chamber music, including Art-Poem-Music, a collaboration with visual artist Sirarpi Heghinian Walzer and poet Elizabeth Kirschner.

Elizabeth Vercoe has been hailed by The Washington Post as “one of the most inventive composers working in America today.” She has been a composer at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Italy, the St. Petersburg Spring Music Festival in Russia, the Cité International des Arts in Paris, the Charles Ives Center for American Music, and the MacDowell Colony. She has received grants from National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, the Artists Foundation, and the Massachusetts Arts Council; and has written works on commission for Wellesley College, Austin Peay State University, the Pro Arte Orchestra, and the First National Congress on Women in Music. Her compositions have been performed across the United States, Europe and Asia. Dr. Vercoe held the Acuff Chair of Excellence at Austin Peay State University in 2003, and she teaches at Regis College.