Courtroom Concerts

Courtroom Concert Program Details

April 6, 2017, Noon
Courtroom 317, Landmark Center

Music of Jeffrey Van
Jeffrey Van, guitar ; Brenda Mickens, violin ; Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano

Evocacion de Manuel de Falla

Transitions Suite No. 1
   Carry My Hope
   Uncertainty
   Supplications
   The Winds of Change
   A Flower of the Field

A Ring of Birds
   The Hermit Thrush
   Three Little Birds in a Row
   Little Birds of the Night To a Skylark
   The Owl
   The Young Crows

Guitarist and composer Jeffrey Van has premiered over 50 works for guitar, including Dominick Argento’s Letters from Composers, five concertos, and a broad variety of chamber music. He has performed in Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and as part of Duologue, with flutist Susan Morris De Jong, premiered and recorded commissioned works from more than a dozen composers, including Stephen Paulus, Roberto Sierra, Tania Leon, Michael Daugherty, Libby Larsen and William Bolcom. He is a founding member of The Hill House Chamber Players, with whom he performed for thirty years. He has been featured on many National Public Radio broadcasts, has made several solo and ensemble recordings, and appears on ten recordings with the Dale Warland Singers. His compositions include works for guitar, guitar and violin, guitar and flute, chorus, chamber ensemble, and vocal solo. The Van-Dixon Duo’s recording of Van’s Reflexiones Concertantes (Concerto for Two Guitars and Chamber Orchestra) has been released on the Centaur label. His music is published by E.C. Schirmer, G. Schirmer,Walton, Boosey & Hawkes, Morningstar, earthsongs, and Hal Leonard.

Brenda Manuel Mickens, formerly of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, currently freelances as an orchestra and chamber musician and teaches privately in the Twin Cities. She received her Master of Music Performance from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She grew up in San Diego, California, and was member of San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera.

Clara Osowski is an active soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. Hailed for her artistry and “rich and radiant” voice (Urban Dial Milwaukee), her recent awards include, the runner-up un the 2016 American Prize for Art Song, runner-up in the 2016 Schubert Club Bruce P. Carlson Scholarship Competition, a 2016 Oregon Bach Festival Vocal Fellow, winner of the 2017 Houston Saengerbund competition. and runner-up in Das Lied International Song Competition. Clara’s passion for song creation and collaboration is evident in her most recent premieres with Linda Tutas Haugen (Gjendine’s Lullaby), Jeremy Walker (Alma Gentil) and James Kallembach (Songs on Letters of John and Abigail Adams and St. John Passion). Highlights in the 2016-2017 season include a residency at the 50th Contemporary New Music Festival at Indiana State University, soloist in Paul Rudoi’s premiere oratorio with Magnum Chorum in the Twin Cities, and several recital engagements across the United States. Clara is featured on numerous recordings with Consortium Carissimi (Naxos), and James Kallembach’s St. John Passion, released with high acclaim on Roven Records. In collaboration with pianist Mark Bilyeu and composer Libby Larsen, Clara serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Source Song Festival, a week-long art song festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to her solo work, she participates in a number of ensembles, including Consortium Carissimi, Lumina Women’s Ensemble, the Rose Ensemble and Seraphic Fire.