Tag: Tawnie Olson

Friday Festival Recap – July 05 – 2013

Today’s recap takes a slightly different bent. With so much focus on our recent festival it seemed appropriate to take a step back. Here we have glimpses at Local Composers Concerts from years past. We’re proud of our tradition fostering regional music.

 

Two composers chat at the 2010 Local Composers Concert

Kathryn Swanson-Ellis and Gale Gardiner chat after successful performances of their music at the 2010 festival.

 

Tawnie Olson introduces her work, À mon seul désir, during the 2011 Local Composers Concert.

 

Owen Weaver takes a much deserved bow after an incredible performance of Lisa Coon‘s Percussion Sculpture No. 1 at the 2012 festival.

 

 

Picture of the Day – July 19, 2012

In addition to featuring a diverse array of musical styles, the Local Composers Concert also presents audiences interaction with the many composers living near Hartford. Here Tawnie Olson introduces her duo for bassoon and piano, À mon seul désir. Of the piece, Dr. Olson says:

This piece was inspired by Elizabeth Shoemaker, her skilled interpretation of Saint-Saëns’ Bassoon Sonata, and by an idea of marriage informed by my relationship with my own husband. At first the instruments seem to co-exist peacefully, but independently, but after a crisis material is passed back and forth between them. This dialogue incites the bassoon to jubilant virtuosity, and then the opening material returns; the piece has come full circle. The circle – the shape of a wedding ring and an ancient symbol of perfection – is also meant to be suggested by the piano part’s slow journey through its entire range. The title of this piece comes from the final Lady and the Unicorn tapestry, in the collection of the Musée de Cluny.

Recordings of Tawnie Olson’s music and updates on her projects can be found here.

Tawnie Olson presents her Music