The professor of music will be on hand Feb. 2, at the Church of St. Asaph to introduce the performance.
Elysian Camerata, one of the Philadelphia area's most respected chamber music ensembles, will perform Piano Quartet by Professor of Music Ingrid Arauco at their Feb. 2 concert at the Church of St. Asaph in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. The concert begins at 3 p.m., and Arauco will be on hand to introduce her piece.
Araucos' Piano Quartet was originally commissioned by Settlement Music School for its centennial in 2007, and was originally performed by the Auger Advanced Study Ensemble. Elysian Camerata pianist Rahel Inniger describes the piece as a“wonderful challenge,” adding that,“playing music by a contemporary composer, you can relate to it more, because they are of your own time.”
Inniger recently met with Arauco and played her the Quartet's solo piano second movement, receiving positive feedback. Arauco, she says, gave her a lot of freedom in her interpretation. Inniger describes the piece as“off tonal” but accessible, and says that it expresses a range of emotions from joy to sadness. On a personal level, she says she finds the piece“a very beautiful work.”
Arauco began her studies in composition with Robert Hall Lewis while an undergraduate at Goucher College. She received her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied with George Crumb, George Rochberg, Richard Wernick, and C. Jane Wilkinson. She has received awards or fellowships from the American Guild of Organists, Yaddo, and the MacDowell Colony, and commissions from the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Settlement Music School, and the Kindler Foundation in the Library of Congress. Her works have been performed by the Colorado Quartet, Network for New Music, and the Atlanta Symphony, among other distinguished musical organizations. In 1995/96, she was the recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts. Her compositions are published by Theodore Presser Co. and Hinshaw Music, and have been recorded on the Albany, Capstone, and Meyer Media labels.
