Isles Ensemble concludes season on May 14 with Brahms, Schumann and AJ Isaacson-Zvidswa's Angels Sang to Me
Soprano Maria Jette joins the musicians of the Isles Ensemble to conclude its 19th season on Sunday, May 14 (Mother's Day), with a program entitled "Brilliant Minds," the capstone of their four-concert series "Season of Reflection." The concert begins at 4 p.m. at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church.
The May 14 program includes three pieces that explore the challenges of mental illness and the remarkable works of art that have been created by people struggling with it. Isles Ensemble musicians Laura Sewell, Leslie Shank and Sifei Cheng premiered Twin Cities-based composer AJ Isaacson-Zvidswa's “Angels Sang to Me” in 2021 with Maria Jette, and they are pleased to present it again.
Jette will sing Johannes Brahms' “Two Songs for Voice, Viola, and Piano, op. 91,” composed for Brahms' friends Joseph Joachim, the famed violinist, and his wife Amalie. Both songs were first publicly performed together in 1885, with Brahms at the piano.
The program concludes with the joyful and triumphant “Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 47” by Robert Schumann, an artist who struggled with his own inner demons. It was written during a productive period in which Schumann composed several large-scale chamber music works. He was said to have written the E-flat Major quartet with his wife Clara in mind, and she played in its premiere in 1844.
AJ Isaacson-Zvidswa's “Angels Sang to Me” explores her personal experience with mental illness using words from her own journal, as well as the words of other artists (Robert Schumann, Hector Berlioz, Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson) who struggled with mental illness. The piece is a journey of despair, fear, hope and finally resolution.
It is a delight to welcome Maria Jette back the Isles Ensemble stage. Her wide-ranging career has encompassed everything from early Baroque opera to world premieres, in the United States and abroad. She often appeared with Garrison Keillor on “A Prairie Home Companion” and is a regular with VocalEssence (led by conductor Philip Brunelle), Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, Minnesota Sinfonia, The Schubert Club and Lyra Baroque Orchestra.
Admission is $25 for individual tickets or pay what you can. Children and students are admitted free of charge. Tickets may be purchased at the door:
2020 W Lake of the Isles Parkway, Minneapolis. More information at islesensemble.org.
