Miami University's own vocal performance instructor, Audrey Luna, has entertained people around the world with the beauty of her voice.
Singing in theaters, concert halls and festivals in cities such as London; Paris; Bremen, Germany and Vienna, Austria; Luna is bringing her musical talent home to perform for the people of Cincinnati.
Chamber Music Cincinnati has joined Luna and the Amernet String Quartet, an ensemble-in-residence at Florida International University, to perform Arnold Schoenberg's Quartet No. 2 for its Dec. 4 concert. The program will be held in the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music's Corbett Auditorium. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. with a pre-concert lecture held by former Miami University music history faculty member Eftychia Papanikolaou, which will begin at 7 p.m.
Chamber Music Cincinnati is a musical organization whose mission, according to its Web site, it is "to present chamber music ensembles and recitalists of the highest quality to Cincinnati audiences."
"It is actually quite unusual for our concerts to feature a local artist like Luna," said Joel Hoffman, president of Chamber Music Cincinnati (CMC). He explained that since the organization usually presents ensembles from different countries it is quite a treat for them to be able to present an artist who is both a local resident and an internationally renowned vocalist.
Luna, who has performed with artists such as James Tocco, the Hagen Quartet and fellow Miami faculty member Brad Caldwell, is a vocal music instructor at Miami teaching courses in applied music.
"Experience in the profession adds dimension to my teaching," Luna said. "I know what it feels like to sing in big concert halls, opera houses and in front of large numbers of people. I bring all those experiences into my teaching."
The Schoenberg piece that Luna will be singing the soprano solo for is one of particular historical importance.
Luna explained that Quartet No. 2 was the first string quartet in history to feature a soprano solo and is Schoenberg's first experiment with atonality. Lacking a tonal center, the piece is one that is particularly challenging, according to Luna.
"(The piece is) very serious," Hoffman said. "This is not the type of song you tap your foot along to. It gives you goose bumps. Your mouth drops and it stays dropped for the 25 minutes you're listening to it."
He said the instrumental music has a ghostly and mysterious feel that "evokes a non-worldly quality." The opening line to Luna's solo, "I feel the air of other planets," sets the mood for the piece's last two movements.
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Schoenberg's Quartet No. 2, Hoffman explains, is a powerful and historically important piece of music and one whose context and meaning should be examined to create a better understanding and appreciation for the work.
Focusing on the historical and cultural contexts of the concert's chosen pieces and how they intersect musically, Papanikolaou's pre-concert lecture will seek to educate the audience about Schoenberg's Quartet No. 2 in addition to Haydn's Rider Quartet Opus 74, No. 3 and Beethoven's Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132, the two other works a part of the Dec. 4 program.
"(The lecture will provide the audience with) a wonderful opportunity to help appreciate the background of the music before they enjoy it live," Papanikolaou said.
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