About Bonfire Chamber Music Festival

Grand Rapids, Minnesota has a rich history in the arts, which continues to
evolve, thanks to organizations such as the Reif Performing Arts Center, Grand
Rapids Arts, area schools, and community patrons who have sustained music
and visual art for several generations. Artistic culture is made richer by diverse
fine arts activities; Grand Rapids already boasts youth and community involve-
ment in Itasca Orchestra & Strings, Reif Dance, Youth Acting, and other popu-
lar programs. The Grand Rapids community also enjoys a wide array of profes-
sional performances, making it conducive to cultivating a chamber music niche.

Bonfire Chamber Music Festival grew out of discussions between Grand Rapids
native Mary Ellen (Patnaude) Haupert and members of the Artaria String
Quartet. This past year, Artaria String Quartet partnered with the Reif Per-
forming Arts Center and Itasca Orchestra & Strings Program on two Chamber
Music America-sponsored residencies (January and March 2016). The quartet
worked with local string teachers and students and performed for the local
schools. The receptive community, state-of-the-art facility (Reif Performing Arts
Center), and lively arts scene in Grand Rapids were important factors when
considering whether or not a chamber music series could be developed.

The first Bonfire Chamber Music Festival will be a short, two-day series. We
look forward to bringing this event back in the future.

Kindle your interest...

Contents
Page 1 ................................................................................................... Concert 1 Program
Page 4 ................................................................................................... Concert 2 Program
Page 7 ................................................................................................... Artist Biographies
 Bonfire
Chamber Music Festival Presents

CONCERT 1: Centennial
Nancy Oliveros, violinist | Mary Ellen Haupert, pianist
Thursday, July 27, 2017 | 7:30pm
Reif Performing Arts Center

Program
Five Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 81 (1917)
By Jean Sibelius (1865 1957)
I. Mazurka
II. Rondino
III. Valse
IV. Aubade
V. Menuetto

Jean Sibelius (1865 1957) originally aspired to become a violinist, but his compositional
skill soon exceeded his instrumental abilities. His popular violin concerto has stolen attention
from his other string works, of which there is a substantial amount. For financial expediency,
Sibelius composed many short pieces for the violin during WW I, which received acclaim
at the time, but are sadly neglected today.

The Five Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 81 were composed between 1915 and 1918 and
while published as a set, each can stand on its own. The music does not reflect the tragedy
of war, yet has an abundance of charm and melodic invention.

The Mazurka (written first, in 1915) is the most demanding technically, opening in a caden-
za-like manner and replete with virtuoso writing. The Rondino (1917) is written in a quasi-
Rococo style, while the Valse (1917) is languorous and beguiling. Aubade (1918) translates
as morning song and has a Mozartian delicacy about it singing melody with piano
figuration. Finally, the Menuetto (1918) is an entertaining evocation of Viennese Classicism.
Notes by Brendan Carroll 2014

1
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor, L 140 (1917)
By Claude Debussy (1862 1918)
I. Allegro vivo
II. Intermde: Fantasque et lger
III. Finale: Trs anim

Towards the end of his life and in the full knowledge that the end was not far Debussy
planned a group of six sonatas for different instruments. He lived to complete only three, of
which the Cello Sonata, the first, was written in 1915, followed by the Sonata for flute, viola,
and harp, and the Violin Sonata, completed in April 1917. All of them are enigmatic in style
and content, but are intended to be a recreation, at least in part, of 18th-century models.
The connection is not obvious and the procedures of the sonatas are so wayward that the
listener can only trust in Debussys instinct and catch what glimpses he or she can of the
composers message. Phrases are short, often abrupt; shifts of tempo and mood are capri-
cious, sometimes powerfully erupting, sometimes earthbound and impotent, always intense;
the magnetism of his deeply musical personality invites our closest attention.

Debussy was appallingly depressed by the war, not just by the stalemate and the slaughter,
but also by the degenerative effect it had on people, especially his friends. With his illness
daily more painful, he found progress extremely difficult; the Violin Sonata took him much
longer than the other two, extending from early 1916 to April 1917. It was his last completed
work and the first performance (May 5, 1917) was his last concert in Paris. I only wrote
this sonata to be rid of the thing, he wrote, spurred on by my dear publisher. This sonata
will be interesting from a documentary point of view and as an example of what may be
produced by a sick man in time of war.

The Sonata is in G major and minor, the first movement firmly in minor. Neither themes,
keys, nor tempos remain established for long, particularly in the middle of the movement
when a certain dreaminess invades the predominantly vigorous pulse. As the conclusion ap-
proaches, the violins open G becomes a more magnetic tonic and the piece ends abruptly
on it.

The Intermde is all caprice and impulse, starting, it seems, right in the middle. There is an
impish mood here, with sudden sentimental moments of ironic passion. G minor gradually
gives way to a tranquil, wispy G major.

The Finale (in the major) gives the piano a bravura opening to which the violin responds
with the first movements theme, although apart from some wild figuration at the end this
is its only appearance in the movement. The main impulse comes from a constant surge of
notes, interrupted by a kind of drunken waltz in the middle. The final build-up surely reflects
Debussys determination not to let his energies sag, whatever his bodily weakness. As Martin
Cooper has written: there is a certain breathlessness, an inability to rise to the old flights,
as of a mortally wounded bird, which has a beauty and pathos of its own. Notes from
Los Angeles Philharmonic (http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/violin-sonata-g-minor-
claude-debussy)

2
INTERMISSION

Sonata in B Minor for Violin and Piano (1917)

By Ottorino Respighi (1879 1936)
I. Moderato
II. Andante espressivo
III. PASSACAGLIA: Moderato ma energico

Most well known for his Roman trilogy, Fontane di Roma, Pini di Roma and Feste Romane,
Respighi seems to be the composer of large-scale Romantic forms. His lessons in violin began
at age eight, and it wasnt long before he developed an interest in composition. His formal
schooling in composition was at the Liceo Musicale in Rome, where he was deeply rooted in
the German style of composition. As an accomplished violinist, violist and pianist, he took a
position as a violist at the Imperial Theater at St. Petersburg. Developing fluency in the Rus-
sian language, he took advantage of his time there to study with the great Russian master
Rimsky-Korsakov. His lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov profoundly influenced his orchestration
techniques.
Stylistically, Respighis music is a blend of rich melodies with full and rich harmonies. Not
only was he a master of orchestration, he had an uncanny ability of the evocation of Italian
scenes, and the ability to sustain interest for long periods of time. His music shows a strong
inclination toward impressionism while being rooted in the Romantic manner reminiscent of
his contemporary, Richard Strauss. He took quite an interest in works and forms of earlier
composers, and became adept in arranging the works of composers like Monteverdi, Tartini,
Vitali and Vivaldi.
The Violin Sonata in B minor was written shortly after the acclaimed premiere of his Fon-
tane di Roma, a piece that catapulted him into the international spotlight as a composer.
At the same time he was composing the sonata, he was working on a commission from
Diaghilev to arrange some pieces of Rossini for the Ballet Russe (La boutique fantasque), as
well as his Antiche danze ed arie per liuto (Ancient airs and dances). The sonata shows very
little of the influence of these pieces, but is more Brahmsian in its nature. The form of the
sonata is a conventional three-movement form, but is individualistic in its use of constantly
changing meters in the Moderato movement; the second movement, Andante espressivo, is
very passionate, expressive, and lyrical.
Inspired by the theme of the last movement of Brahms fourth symphony, the last move-
ment is based on the Passacaglia, and marked Allegro moderato, ma energico. The ostinato
theme is composed in ten-measure phrases, and jumps back and forth from the piano to
the violin. It repeats eighteen times throughout the movement, mid-way in E major (with
increasing the tempo), before returning to B minor. As the movement draws to a close, the
ostinato reappears in its original form in the left hand of the piano before finishing with a
dramatic coda. Respighis Sonata in B Minor was premiered in Bologna on March 3, 1918
with Federico Sarti on violin and Ottorini Respighi on piano. Notes by Elizabeth E. Torres

3
 CONCERT 2: Threes Company
Ray Shows & Nancy Oliveros, violinists | Heidi Wick, Natural Horn
Mary Ellen Haupert, pianist
Friday, July 28, 2017 | 7:30pm
Myles Reif Performing Arts Center

Program
Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 305
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 1791)
I. Allegro di molto
II. Theme and Variations
Ray Shows, violin
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano

Aside from the symphony, Mozart wrote more violin sonatas than any other type of
music. More than forty sonatas survive, and they were written in every period of Mozarts
life, starting at age of six. Nearly half of the early sonatas are essentially keyboard sonatas
with violin accompaniment, in which the violin merely doubles the melodic lines and adds
incidental imitation and dispensable figuration. But beginning with the so-called Palatinate
(or Palatine) Sonatas (K. 296 and K. 301-306), written in Paris during the first half of
1778, Mozart gave the violin a significantly greater role to play, drawing the two instru-
ments closer to the equal partnership found in the late sonatas. The designation Palatinate
refers to the dedicatee, Maria Elisabeth, wife of Carl Theodor, Elector of the Palatinate (a
region in western Germany adjoining France).

Brilliance, energy and much unison writing mark the first movement, whose exuberance
is relieved only during the gentle second theme. It is in standard sonata form, with a short
but harmonically adventurous development section. The second movement is a theme and
variations set. The theme is, as violinist Abram Loft puts it, all melting lyricism and grace.
The first of the six variations is for piano alone, the second involves many ornamental
touches from the violin, the third consists of flowing triplets traded back and forth between
the two instruments, the fourth has the violin playing a simple melodic line while the piano
provides a luxuriant underlay, the fifth is in the minor mode, and the sixth brings the
sonata to a joyous conclusion. Robert Markow, 2013
4
Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 40
by Johannes Brahms (1833 1897)
I. Andante
II. Scherzo Allegro
III. Adagio mesto
IV. Finale Allegro con brio
Nancy Oliveros, violin
Heidi Wick, horn
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano

For many years, Brahms followed the sensible practice of the Viennese gentry by abandon-
ing the city when the weather got hot. The periods away from Vienna were not merely
times of relaxation for him, however, but were actually working holidays, and some of his
greatest scores were largely realized during his various summer trips. Late in the spring of
1865, Brahms took comfortable rooms in Baden, which, he wrote to a friend, Look out on
three sides at the dark, wooded mountains, the roads winding up and down them, and the
pleasant houses. It was while walking upon the sylvan hillsides above the town that the idea
for the Horn Trio occurred to him. He began the work that summer and continued it after
his return to Vienna in the fall, finishing the score in November.

The Trios opening movement, written in a leisurely Andante tempo (perhaps the speed of
Brahms walk upon the Baden hills), is disposed in an unusual form: rather than the tradition-
al sonata-allegro, it employs two alternating strains (ABABA) whose relaxed structure
is the perfect vessel for this amiable music. The energetic Scherzo is countered by the lyrical
melody of the central trio section marked Adagio mesto (mournfully). In the finale marked
Allegro con brio, this theme is transformed becoming the echo of a folk song that Brahms
sang as a child, In der Weiden steht ein Haus (In the meadow stands a house) is woven,
almost imperceptibly, into the horn and violin lines soon after the return of its opening strain
is, which, transformed, becomes the principal theme of the finale, a joyous and life-affirming
answer to the sad plaint of the preceding music. Dr. Richard Rodda, 2011

INTERMISSION

Suite in G Minor, Op. 71 for Two Violins and Piano

by Moritz Moszkowski (1854 1925)
I. Allegro energico
II. Allegro moderato
III. Lento assai
IV. Molto vivace
Ray Shows, violin I
Nancy Oliveros, violin 2
Mary Ellen Haupert, piano
5
 A German pianist and composer of Polish descent, Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) was
a household name at the turn of the century. His Spanish Dances, originally for one piano,
four-hands, became wildly popular, proliferating in arrangements for solo piano, orchestra,
and numerous chamber combinations. As recently as 1954, the Friskin-Freundlich piano
handbook described them as too well known to require comment. The late Vladimir
Horowitz retained some Moszkowski lollipops in his encore repertoire, capitalizing on their
dazzling brilliance and immediate appeal to audiences. Yet what do we know today of his
music?

As a composer, Moszkowski was far more successful with lighter works, especially those
evoking the sultry, romantic cultures of the Latin countries. Those of his compositions still in
print have colorful titles like Capriccio Espagnok, En Automne, Lajongleuse [The Juggler],
and Etincelks [Sparkles]. His Piano Concerto in E, Op. 59 is occasionally revived, but he
remains best known for his salon music. The Suite for Two Violins and Piano is unusual be-
cause of its unexpected balance among the three players, and because it shows Moszkowski
in a more skilled, less superficial light. An essentially serious work with no programmatic
titles, the Suite reveals a fine understanding of the violins capabilities. While undeniably bril-
liant and often flashy, the writing also demonstrates a solid command of counterpoint and
an unexpected sense of humor.

Moszkowskis piece only loosely resembles the suite of its title. The aggressive first move-
ment merges elements of sonata and rondo forms, introducing harmonic twists that are
Schumannesque in their sweep. The inner movements reveal the Moszkowski of the salon,
bordering on sentimentality, but never sacrificing grace or elegance. Moszkowskis Allegro
moderato is a minuet; his Lento assai reveals an admirable sense of melodic counterpoint be-
tween the two violins. To close, he switches mood to a dazzling tarantella in G major, whose
energy is tempered midstream by a leisurely, chromatic interlude. Laurie Sfiulman, 1990

Performances at the Reif Center wouldnt be possible without these supporting

organizations and media sponsors:

6
Artist Biographies
NANCY
OLIVEROS,
VIOLINIST
Oliveros is the
founding sec-
ond violinist of
the celebrated
Artaria String
Quartet, with
whom she con-
certizes, records,
and teaches the
art of chamber music. Artaria, winner in
2004 of a coveted McKnight Foundation
Artist Award, is the recipient of numerous
grant awards by the National Endowment
for the Arts, Chamber Music America,
and Midori in support of artistic excellence,
creativity, and innovation in individual and
community education. In Minnesota, Ar-
taria is known as its foremost teaching and
performing string quartet, serves as Min-
nesota Public Radios Artists-In-Residence,
and has been featured on Twin Cities
Public Television as a Minnesota Original.
As a member of Artaria, Oliveros has
performed to critical acclaim at many re-
nowned halls and concert series in the
United States and abroad including the
Schubert Club in Saint Paul, Phillips Collec-
tion in Washington D.C., Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum in Boston, Dame Myra
Hess in Chicago, Alexander Schneider Con-
certs in New York City, Festival LEpau in
France, and the Banff Center in Canada.
She has had the privilege of collaborating
with such eminent quartet players as Ar-
nold Steinhardt (Guarneri), Raphael Hillyer
(Juilliard), and Paul Katz (Cleveland), and
was mentored by the beloved Eugene Leh-
ner of the Kolisch Quartet, Walter Levine
of the La Salle, and Alexander Schneider
of the Budapest Quartet. She records for
Centaur records with the Artaria String
Quartet and with her long time piano col-
laborator, Mary Ellen Haupert.
Oliveros earned her bachelors and masters
degrees in violin performance at the Florida
State University serving as a teaching as-
sistant and student of Karen Clarke, Ruth
Posselt, and Gerardo Ribeiro. At Boston Uni-
versity, she was an assistant to legendary
violinist Roman Totenberg and served as
concertmaster of the orchestras while on a
post-graduate fellowship. Her students are
national prizewinners, perform on National
Public Radios celebrated From the Top,
and enjoy careers as professional chamber
musicians in notable ensembles. Oliveros
gratefully owns and plays on a beautiful
Neapolitan violin by Tomaso Eberle, made
in 1781. She is married to Artarias founding
first violinist, Ray Shows, with whom she
has two wonderful sons.
MARY
ELLEN
HAUPERT,
PIANIST
Mary Ellen (Pat-
naude) Haupert
spreads her mu-
sical abilities be-
tween her roles
as Music Direc-
tor for Roncalli
Newman Par-
ish and as a tenured Professor of Music
at Viterbo University, both in La Crosse,
Wisconsin. She holds a bachelors degree
in music education with emphases in piano/
flute performance from the College of St.
Scholastica, as well as M.M. and Ph.D. de-
grees in Piano Performance Practice from
7
Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
She has studied piano with LeAnn House,
Seth Carlin, and Sona Haydon.
Her performing interests are almost exclu-
sively in the realm of chamber music and
she enjoys an ongoing relationship with
violinist Nancy Oliveros and the Artaria
String Quartet. Their frequent duo and
piano quintet collaborations have become
a staple of Viterbo Universitys ONE-of-a
KIND CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES (for
which Haupert is both founder and artistic
director), as well as performances at Ham-
line Universitys Artaria Chamber Music
Series at Sundin Hall, the Schubert Clubs
Courtroom Concert Series, and Wisconsin
Public Radios Live from the Chazen. She
has recorded Louise Farrencs Sonata for
Piano and Cello in B-flat Major, Op. 46
(comp. 1857-1858) and the Sonata for Pia-
no and Violin in A Major, Op. 39 (comp.
1850-1855) with violinist Nancy Oliveros
and cellist Kirsten Whitson in July, 2012,
and Farrencs two piano trios, Opus 33 and
34 with Nancy Oliveros and cellist Laura
Sewell, 2014, both on the Centaur Label.
Haupert has received both of Viterbo Uni-
versitys most prestigious teaching awards-
-the Alec Chui Memorial Award (2012)
and Teacher of the Year (2014)--recogniz-
ing her dedication to excellence in student
research and music composition. Her theo-
ry pedagogy, emphasizing music composi-
tion as an integral part of the curriculum,
has been presented/published at the The
4th World Piano Conference in Novi Sad,
Serbia (Novi Sad, 2012), the Annual Inter-
national Conference on Fine and Perform-
ing Arts (Athens, Greece, 2010 & 2016),
and the International Conference on Edu-
cation and New Technologies (Barcelona,
Spain, 2009 and 2012), and (virtually).
Haupert was named Research Fellow for
the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in
Leadership in 2015-2016 and recently pub-
lished her research (Weaving Words and
8
Music: Fostering a Meaningful Intercultural
Exchange through Music Composition) in
the Athens Journal of Humanities and Arts.
RAY
SHOWS,
VIOLINIST
Ray made his
solo debut with
orchestra in his
native Atlanta.
As a founding
member of the
Artaria String
Quartet, Ray
has performed
in major concert halls in New York, Bos-
ton, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia,
Atlanta, Minneapolis across the U.S. and
in Europe. Winner of a prestigious McK-
night Performing Artist Fellowship, Ray is
a highly regarded chamber musician who
has concertized with many renowned art-
ists including Arnold Steinhardt (Guarneri
Quartet), Eugene Drucker (Emerson
Quartet), Paul Katz (Cleveland Quartet),
and Raphael Hillyer (Juilliard Quartet) and
has appeared on national television and
radio broadcasts in both the U.S. and Can-
ada. He served as Principal Second Violin
of the Portland Symphony for eight years
and was also invited to be a concerto solo-
ist. Other orchestral performance engage-
ments include first violin seating with the
Boston Ballet, Boston Pops Esplanade, the
Boston Opera Company, Concertmaster of
the Sarasota Orchestra, and most recently
concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra.
Ray is passionate about 20th century music
and has performed and recorded music of
todays leading composers, including Gun-
ther Schuller, Augusta Read Thomas, Mar-
jorie Merryman and Thomas Oboe Lee,
commissioning solo and chamber works for
his own New Music Festivals. A Teach-
ing-Artist in Residence at the Tanglewood
Institute, Ray has held positions at Boston
College, Viterbo University, Florida State
University and Baldwin-Wallace Conser-
vatory. He was named MNSOTA Music
Studio teacher of the year in 2010 and
his students have soloed with major youth
symphonies, received generous scholar-
ship awards at renowned American music
schools, are prizewinners at national com-
petitions, and have appeared on National
Public Radios From the Top.
Shows received the coveted Directors
Award and graduated with distinction from
Boston University with his Masters Degree
in Violin Performance under the tutelage of
Carl Flesch protege Roman Totenberg. His
Bachelors degree (Magna Cum Laude)
was received from Florida State University
where he was a Brautlecht Scholar and stu-
dent of Gerardo Ribeiro. Chamber Music
studies were mentored by Eugene Lehner
of the legendary Kolisch Quartet and by
members of the Budapest, Juilliard, Emer-
son, Cleveland, LaSalle, Muir, and Colo-
rado Quartets.
HEIDI WICK,
NATURAL
HORN
Heidi Wick is a
teacher of music
and mathemat-
ics, as well as
performer and
clinician in modern and early horn styles.
She holds three degrees in music perfor-
mance: Bachelor of Music (Concordia
College, Moorhead), Master of Music and
Doctor of Musical Arts (The Ohio State
University and Indiana University). Heidi is
also licensed by the State of Minnesota to
teach mathematics in secondary education,
receiving her training at Capital University,
Columbus, OH. She teaches Mathematics
Intervention at Deer River High School.
On early horn, baroque and classical instru-
ments, Heidi performs in Minneapolis/St.
Paul with the Bach Society of Minnesoata
and Lyra Baroque. She has also performed
in Toronto, ONT with Tafelmusic Baroque
Orchestra and in Cleveland, OH with
Apollos Fire. Locally, she performs with
the Itasca Symphony Orchestra (where she
also serves on the board), Coleraine City
Band and the Itasca Community Chorus.
Having returned to the Grand Rapids area
in the fall of 2016 to live and work, Heidi
has enjoyed connecting with friends and
the community. She is grateful for the op-
portunity to collaborate with former GRHS
schoolmate Mary Ellen Patnaude Haupert
and new acquaintance Nancy Oliveros in
the development of the Bonfire Chamber
Music Festival. She and her husband Don
Hustead live in Cohasset with their dog Isis.
Heidi is the daughter of Faith and Melvin
Wick.
The horn used in todays performance dates
from ca. 1820. The instrument has several
names: classical orchestral horn, Waldhorn,
natural horn, or hand horn. Created by the
instrument maker Labbaye under the com-
mission of the King of Paris, the horn exhib-
its excellent artisanship, including a paint-
ing on the bell. In its day, this instrument
could have premiered Mozart operas and
Beethoven symphonies in the Parisian court.
In my hands, it has performed Mozarts
Gran Partita for Winds, his Magic Flute
(on two separate occasions), Cosi fan tutte,
and Idomeno, as well as several Beethoven
Symphonies. When Brahms wrote the
Horn Trio, he requested Waldhorn in E-
flat to perform the horn part. The work
was written to commemorate the death of
his mother. Keep your ears open to hearing
new sounds; especially note the deep de-
spair or angst in the falling line, the muted
tones of transcendence, and the open full
sounds of joyous gaiety.
9