FREE Courtroom Concert: Songs of the Season

Songs of the Season: Celebrating MN Composers and Poets

Carrie Henneman Shaw, soprano
Clea Galhano, recorder
Lux String Quartet: Stephanie Skor & Ellen Hacker, violins;
Kirsti Petraborg, viola; Rosa Thompson-Vieira, cello
Curated by Abbie Betinis

Don’t miss this year’s FREE Songs of the Season concerts at Landmark Center! This year’s program (12 noon and repeated 6pm), curated and hosted by Minnesota-based composer Abbie Betinis, features soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw, Cléa Galhano, recorder, and the Lux String Quartet. The program features Star Bright, a suite of five carols by David Evan Thomas, many of Betinis’ annual carols from her Burt Family tradition, and interweaves poetry from Minnesota poets Danez Smith, Robert Bly, Grace Fallow Norton, and Joyce Sidman.

Praised in the New York Times “as graceful vocally as she was in her movements”, “consistently stylish” (Boston Globe), and as a “cool, precise soprano” (Chicago Tribune), Carrie Henneman Shaw is a two-time McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians winner (2010, 2017). She has premiered major works by such Minnesota composers as Jocelyn Hagen and Abbie Betinis, and sung American premieres by such composers as Georg Friedrich Haas, Hans Thomalla, and Augusta Read Thomas. In addition to her work as an interpreter of contemporary works, Carrie specializes in music of the 17th century and has performed operatic roles with one of America’s leading Baroque opera companies, Boston Early Music Festival. Carrie is a member of Chicago’s Ensemble Dal Niente, Quince Ensemble, and uluuul. She holds degrees in English and voice performance from Lawrence University and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She teaches at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Cléa Galhano has performed in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe as a chamber musician, collaborating with recorder player Marion Verbruggen, Jacques Ogg, Belladonna, Lanzelotte/Galhano Duo and  Kingsbery Ensemble. As a featured soloist, Galhano has worked with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Musical Offering and Lyra Baroque Orchestra. Among other important music festivals, Ms. Galhano has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Tage Alter Music Festival in Germany and at Wigmore Hall in London, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York and Palazzo Santa Croce in Rome, always receiving acclaimed reviews. Ms. Galhano was featured in 2006 in the Second International Recorder Congress in Leiden, Holland in 2007 and 2013 at the International Recorder Conference in Montréal and in 2012 at the ARS International Conference, Portland, Oregon.

She gave her Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall debut in May 2010 and her second Weil Hall recital on December 2013 with the international Cuban guitarist Rene Izquierdo.

Galhano studied in Brazil at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, the Royal Conservatory (The Hague), and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, earning a LASPAU, Fulbright Scholarship and support from the Dutch government. As an advocate of recorder music and educational initiatives, she served for six years on the national board of the American Recorder Society, and is the Music Director of the Recorder Orchestra of the Midwest. Ms. Galhano recently received the prestigious 2013 McKnight fellowship award, MSAB Cultural collaborative and MSAB Arts Initiative. Currently, she is a faculty member at Macalester College, Music Director of the Recorder Orchestra of the Midwest, and has being recently appointed Adjunct Lecturer in Music, Recorder at HPI, Jacobs School of Music, IU.

Ms. Galhano has recordings available on Dorian, Ten Thousand Lakes and Eldorado label and she is the recipient of the National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota.

Lux String Quartet is a Twin-Cities based ensemble, bringing a dynamic edge to performance and education since 2013. Avid recitalists, Lux maintains an active presence in a wide array of musical spheres, from concert halls and churches, to coffee shops and podcasts. Their concert series, “Lattes with Lux,” established an enthusiastic fan base and is currently hosted by several local, independent coffee houses around the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Lux has performed in many concert series including the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series, the Waverly Chamber Music Series in Waverly, IA, the Lakes Chamber Music Society in Alexandria, MN, the Music Among Friends Series at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, and the Music @ Lynnhurst in Minneapolis. Each season Lux presents three recitals at The Baroque Room.​

Dedicated to music education and instilling a love for their art in the next generation, Lux regularly presents concerts and workshops at elementary schools, early music education programs, and middle and high school orchestra programs in partnership with Schmitt Music. Lux served as MPR ClassNotes Artist in the 17/18, 19/20 and 20/21 seasons. Lux is currently quartet-in-residence at the Colorado Chamber Music Institute, and is formerly quartet-in-residence at the Augsburg University Suzuki Talent Education and the Oskaloosa Music Festival.

A wide spectrum of musical backgrounds and tastes contributes to the group’s creativity, which is reflected in their collaborative projects with other artists. During the 22/23 season Lux collaborated with dancer and choreographer Danielle Ricci. In addition to presenting the classics of the string quartet repertoire, Lux frequently collaborates with living composers such as Minnesota-based David Evan Thomas, Australian Nicholas Vines, and David Ludwig.​