Nomad ensemble will present a program entitled Romantic Metamorphosis, featuring works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schubert, curated by Socorro local Eric Sewell on violin, with Lisa Donald on cello, Cory McBride on viola and Liana Austin on violin.

The second concert of the Presidential Chamber Music and World Series is offered as a Free - Pay As You Wish concert to the central NM community.

Romantic Metamorphosis Program

Eric Sewell & Liana Austin, violins; Cory McBride, viola, Lisa Donald, cello

String Quartet in B-flat major, op. 18, no. 6 Ludwig van Beethoven

Allegro con brio
Adagio ma non troppo
Scherzo: Allegro - Trio
La Malinconia: Adagio – Allegretto quasi Allegro - Adagio - Allegretto - Un poco adagio - Prestissimo
String Quartet in E-flat major, op. 12
Felix Mendelssohn

Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante
Canzonetta: Allegretto
Andante espressivo
Molto allegro e vivace
INTERMISSION

String Quartet in a minor, D. 804 804 Franz Schubert

Allegro ma non troppo
Andante
Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio
Allegro moderato
Meet the Musicians

Violin/Curator

Eric Sewell, Violin/Curator, holds degrees in Violin Performance and Musicology from the University of Alabama and Columbia University, and is an alumnus of the Alabama School of Fine Arts. His primary instructors were J. Patrick Rafferty, violin; Jeffrey Milarsky, conducting; Stephen Peles, composition. He has performed in orchestras across New Mexico and is the Assistant Principal Second Violinist of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra.

While in Alabama, Eric performed regularly throughout the Southeast appearing with numerous regional orchestras, and as a concerto soloist and chamber musician. During that time he performed at festivals of contemporary music across the country; collaborated with local composers on premieres of their works; and spent two summers at the Brevard Music Center as a Repertory Training Fellow. In 2001, he completed a concert tour of South Korea which included live broadcasts on radio and television.

Eric has put together a variety of unique concerts in Socorro, bringing together some of NM's finest Chamber musicians. Last season, for NMT PAS, he co-organized a concert with Steel Pan virtuoso Mike Schwebke, forming a project ensemble +PAN Quartet, featuring contemporary international works re-arranged for steel pan, violin, cello and piano, plus one commission for this concert.

As an academic, Eric received a grant to research the musics of Harrison Birtwistle and Rebecca Saunders and has written on topics from serialism and temporality to gender and avant-rock. He continues to curate a series of community concerts in Socorro and Magdalena featuring music of the last 100 years. Highlights include Stockhausen’s complete Zodiac and an extemporaneous accompaniment to silent films by Maya Deren.

Eric is also a paper sculptor, with a handful of commissions and a solo exhibition under his belt. He enjoys hiking and occasionally runs triathlons. His violin, The Traveler, was made for him by Anne Cole.

Violin

Cory McBride, Viola, is a native to New Mexico. He received his education in music, flamenco dance, and biochemistry at the University of New Mexico and holds a degree in biochemistry. His primary instructors were Kimberley Fredenburgh, viola; and Carmelo de los Santos, violin. During his time at UNM, he was a member of the Abraham Franck Graduate String Quartet as he sought further studies with Fredenburgh at the graduate level. He has played in orchestras across New Mexico and in southern Colorado and is the principal violist of the San Juan Symphony in Durango, CO and Farmington, NM.

Cory's involvement in multiple communities and different art forms has given him wonderful learning and performing opportunities. He performs chamber music occasionally with the Durango Chamber Music Festival and Farmington Summer Chamber Music Series, he has collaborated with acclaimed Spanish choreographer Daniel Dona and Yjastros, the American Flamenco Repertory Company to premier their works, and is a member of the dance collaborative Spanish Broom Flamenco.

Cello

Lisa Donald, Cello, is an Albuquerque native, having played cello in New Mexico for over 20 years. Her musical studies as a young adult took her all over the Southwest, and to Miami, Florida; and Kansas City, Missouri. After living and performing in New York City, she returned to Albuquerque to be near family and has been playing with regional orchestras and Opera Southwest, as well as producing and performing in smaller chamber and solo recitals. She teaches cello privately.

Violin

Liana Austin, Violin, grew up in a small town just outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. She began playing the violin in the public school system and quickly developed an interest in the instrument. She was fortunate to study chamber music with Andrew Jennings and violin with Stephen Shipps and Paul Kantor at the University of Michigan during her high school years. Ms. Austin received her Bachelor of Music from Vanderbilt University under the tutelage of Cornelia Heard and Carolyn Huebl. During that time, she focused on string quartets and was first-prize winner of the Music Teacher National Association’s collegiate chamber music division. Liana received her Master of Music degree from Arizona State University as a student of Katie McLin and was a member of the Herberger Graduate String Quartet.

Over the last 20 years, Liana has lived in six different states and Canada. These varying locations have allowed her to be a regular musician with many orchestras including the Nashville Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, National Ballet of Canada, Albany Symphony, New World Symphony, Helena Symphony, Idaho Falls Symphony, and Principal Second Violin of the Wyoming Symphony.

In addition to performing, Ms. Austin also teaches violin and viola. She previously served on the faculty of the Suzuki Strings Department at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C., and now enjoys teaching a private studio of violin and viola students. In her free time, Liana enjoys getting lost running the trails outside her home in Los Alamos, New Mexico, with her husband and two boys.

Romantic Metamorphosis graces Macey stage in a Pay as you Wish Performance

SOCORRO, N.M. – The second in the New Mexico Tech Presidential Chamber and World Music Series is scheduled at Macey Center on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

The program is titled Romantic Metamorphosis by the Nomad Ensemble, with Eric Sewell, violinist and curator, Lisa Donald on cello, Cory McBride on viola and Liana Austin on violin.

Since moving to Socorro about a dozen years ago, Eric Sewell has become a vibrant part of classical music performances in the region. In addition to the ensemble, he has performed in orchestras across New Mexico and is the Assistant Principal Second Violinist of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra.

The name Nomad, he said has practical and visionary significance. First, the instruments vary with the composition and so do the musicians. “Also, the group travels across New Mexico, having performed in Socorro, Albuquerque, Silver City and Alamogordo. Since its musicians live in Socorro, Lemitar, Albuquerque, Washington, D. C., and most recently Los Alamos, even rehearsing is a migratory exercise,” he said.

“More significantly to its mission,” Sewell said, “the idea of nomadic exploration entails foraging and harvesting in the realms of marginal repertoire, returning the fruits to our audiences.”

Sewell said he builds programs around a theme. “The search for works that mutually resonate is a passionate preoccupation of mine. It satisfies immensely to present works with reciprocal effects on each other.”

This program features works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schubert. “(It) concerns itself with liberation and exploration,” said Sewell. “The music comes from the hearts and minds of artists for whom creation was not business-as-usual. These compositions also reveal a historical moment when a cultural tide was turning. This program is then a trace, a glimpse of that rare and dynamic transit through evolving creative expression. The extraordinary authenticity which produces transformative works like these is worth revisiting endlessly,” he added.

Sewell, who holds degree in violin performance and musicology from the University of Alabama and Columbia University and is an alumnus of the Alabama School of Fine Arts, has performed at universities across the country from the University of California Santa Cruz to the State University of New York Stony Brook and from Louisiana State University to Bowling Green State University.