January 22, 8:00 pm
January 23, 6:00 pm
First Pres Santa Monica     

Elliott Carter
 Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord (1952)
Sophia Gubaidulina
  Light and Darkness (1976) 80th Year
Joan Tower
 Night Fields (1994)
Alfred Schnittke
  Sound and Resound (1983)
David Lang
  The Little Match Girl Passion (2007) Los Angeles premiere
                                   
Lyris Quartet
Mark Alan Hilt, organ
Steve Trapani, trombone
Pamela Vliek-Martchev, flute                                       
Leslie Reed, oboe
Timothy Loo, cello
Gloria Cheng, harpsichord
Elissa Johnston, soprano                               
Adriana Manfredi, mezzo-soprano
Grant Gershon, tenor
Cedric Berry, bass baritone

Texts: H. P. Paulli,  Picander;  Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Hans Christian Andersen: "Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening -- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet..."

This deeply moving Passion swept the Pulitzer Prize committee in 2008 and its first recording received a 2009 Grammy®. Music that strikes a riveting balance of hope and suffering, darkness and light, tension and release is offered by a pair of eloquent Russian composers and a bright trio of searching Americans.