Last Sunday Recital of the Season Features Terra Voce and Lise Keiter

The Music Department at Mary Baldwin University is pleased to announce the final Sunday Recital of the season featuring the popular duo Terra Voce at 3 p.m. on April 12 in Francis Auditorium. The duo, flutist Elizabeth Brightbill and cellist Andrew Gabbert, will be joined by pianist Lise Keiter for an afternoon of chamber music.

“It’s wonderful to have Terra Voce on the series again,” said Keiter, chair of the music department at Mary Baldwin. “They always choose such an interesting and appealing selection of pieces, and their warm and friendly performance style really draws the audience in.”

Sunday’s diverse program ranges from part of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, to selections from Piazolla’s Histoire du Tango, to Gonzaga’s Araponga, a lively Brazilian choro that will close the program. Brightbill and Gabbert arranged these works for their unusual flute and cello instrumentation.

“We enjoy the challenge of arranging pieces we love for flute and cello, because not much is composed for this instrumental combination,” explains Brightbill. “For example, we’ve arranged the Bach Aria and First Variation from Goldberg Variations because a good friend performed this at our wedding. We also enjoy crafting programs that feature a wide variety of musical styles, and this concert is a treat for us because we get to play with piano as well.”

The program’s more traditional offerings include a trio by Haydn and Erwin Schulhoff’s sonata for flute and piano, where they will be joined by Keiter at the piano. Gabbert will also share the D Minor Ricercare for solo cello of Gabrieli, which Brightbill describes as “one of the earliest pieces composed for solo cello, predating the famous J. S. Bach suites.”

In addition to their numerous performances on college campuses and community concert series, Terra Voce has appeared on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, in the Christ Chapel Chamber Series at New York City’s Riverside Church, and as finalists in the National Flute Association’s Chamber Music Competition. They have released two CDs; their self-titled debut CD (2009) and The Frost is All Over (2011) which was chosen as an “Editor’s Pick” on CD Baby. They have also recently been selected to be on the Virginia Commission for the Arts Performing Arts Tour Directory. Prior to moving to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Brightbill and Gabbert lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they were members of the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra. Keiter performs regularly in both solo and chamber music settings, including recent performances with the Heifetz Institute and with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.

Tickets for April 12 may be purchased at the door and are $5 for the general public and $4 for seniors and students (Mary Baldwin students are free). For more information call 540-887-7294 or visit Music at Mary Baldwin.