Ensemble Radieuse to Perform Sunday, March 15

On Sunday, March 15 at 4:00 p.m., the Converse Faculty trio Ensemble Radieuse will perform in Daniel Recital Hall. The Sunday afternoon of lively music and entertainment is open to all and free of charge.

This group, comprised of Christopher Vaneman, flute, Kelly McElrath Vaneman, oboe, and Melanie Foster Taylor, piano, is a flexible trio dedicated to making a broad range of classics and new music accessible and enjoyable to a variety of audiences. The ensemble’s performances feature its members alternately as soloists, in duos, and in trio, and are enlivened by spirited commentary from the stage.

The recital will feature the music of New York composer Brian DuFord. DuFord is known for his compositions for film and documentaries as well as his many works for various wind chamber groups, and has written several pieces with the members of Ensemble Radieuse in mind. Among several works by DuFord will be the premieres of “Tableaux d’Amour” for flute and oboe and “Rumble Strips” (The Henry Hudson Parkway), written for Ensemble Radieuse. T

he concert will close with the premiere of DuFord’s new sextet for flute, oboe, violin, cello, and two pianos, written for Converse’s expanded chamber sextet Conversant. The composer says of his composition, “In short, the whole work is one continuous movement, and displays, due to its origins, a cinematic sensibility. It employs elements of minimalism, romanticism and various other isms.”

In addition to members of Ensemble Radieuse, Conversant incorporates the Converse Trio: Douglas Weeks, piano, Sarah Johnson, violin, and Kenneth Law, cello.