Photo by Cedric Letsch on Unsplash
Pianist Audrey Vardanega presents another Musaics of the Bay performance in Berkeley this Saturday, with repertoire by Mozart and Schubert. The Crowden School concert also features violinist Nigel Armstrong and cellist Tanya Tomkins. This is the first season of the series, which both presents chamber music, and mentors young players.
There’s more information at the Musaics of the Bay website.
“I’m really fortunate and excited to be playing with the violinist Nigel Armstrong, and the wonderful cellist Tanya Tomkins, both of whom are Bay Area natives, and it’s just been delightful to work on this trio with them,” Audrey Vardanega says. “This was just a trio I’ve wanted to play for a really long time. And it felt like the right time to give it a whirl, and that’s why I asked Nigel and Tanya to play it with me, cause I felt like both of them would have a sort of chemistry on this piece specifically, and through our rehearsals that’s proven to be true, so I’m really excited.” For his part, Nigel Armstrong says the trio stretches the limits of what could be done in a chamber work. “Schubert was known for the ‘Heavenly length’ of his compositions, I think it was Schumann who said that, this is definitely one of those pieces. I think it has this amazing expanse of these melodies, he goes in so many keys with them.” And cellist Tanya Tomkins adds, “This piece in particular, it really put Schubert on the map. And, you know, they really did think he would be the next Beethoven, except that he had the horrible misfortune of dying incredibly young. So it’s appropriately youthful as well. It’s such an impressive piece, and it’s also an impressive work for somebody so young, as are all of his works.”
