Mistral’s Annual Valentine Concert

“No Ordinary Women”

Saturday, Feb 12, 4 pm in Andover – West Parish Church

Sunday, Feb 13, 5:30 pm in Brookline – St. Paul’s Church

 

Mistral’s 25th Anniversary Season continues with its annual tribute to love, this year an eclectic program called “No Ordinary Women,” a celebration of three centuries of women composers. This year’s performances will take place in two intimate churches: On Saturday, Feb 12, at 4 pm at West Parish Church in Andover, and on Sunday, February 13, at 5:30 pm, in St Paul’s Church in Brookline. And yes, there will be chocolate hearts.

Three new dynamic artists will be making their Mistral debuts: cellist Christine Lamprea, soprano Simone Paulwell, and BSO horn player Rachel Childers. Simone hails from Washington, D.C., and will perform an entertaining set of songs based on the poetry of Lucille Clifton called No Ordinary Woman (the concert’s namesake) Other Mistral favorites, violinist Sarita Kwok, violist Stephanie Fong, pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower, and artistic director and flutist Julie Scolnik will complete the all-women roster!

The music will vault across centuries and styles: a violin fantasy by African American composer Florence Price, two trios by French composers Louise Farrenc, and Melanie Bonis, a string quartet by famed German composer Fanny Mendelssohn, a song cycle by American composer Gwyneth Walker, and finally a haunting mixed ensemble work called Island Nocturnes, by living composer Elizabeth Brown, whose music has been called, “luminous, dreamlike, and hallucinatory.”

  • Florence B. Price: Fantasy for Violin and Piano
  • Louise Farrenc: Trio for flute, cello, piano part below
  • Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in Eb major
  • Gwyneth Walker: No Ordinary Women (poetry by Lucille Clifton)
  • Melanie Bonis: Scènes de la forêt Op. 123
  • Elizabeth Brown: Island Nocturnes for flute, piano, horn, cello, viola, violin.

Julianne Lee, violin; Sarita Kwok, violin; Stephanie Fong, viola; Christine Lamprea, cello; Julie Scolnik, flute ; Simone Paulwell, soprano; Rachel Childers, horn; Sophie Scolnik-Brower, piano

We trust that with our COVID protocols (proof of vaccination, masks, and half-capacity seating), our music lovers will feel safe and attend in person. Nothing compares to live performances, both for music lovers and performers alike.

Please visit www.MistralMusic.org or e-mail or call 978-474-6222.

MISTRAL has been bringing “unstuffy, unpredictable, and unmatched” concerts with internationally renowned musicians to the Greater Boston area since 1997. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Julie Scolnik, Mistral performances are always a little eccentric, stubbornly personal, impassioned, and committed to invigorating old traditions with an ever-youthful perspective. The Mistral 2021-22 concert season is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.