Tradition

Jennifer Frautschi, violin 
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin 
Barry Shiffman, viola 
Matthew Zalkind, cello 
Philip Chiu, piano 

Gabriela Lena Frank: Four Folk Songs
Iman Habibi: Relics
Jerry Bock: “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof (arr. Kelly Hall-Tompkins)
Jerry Bock: “Fiddler Rhapsody and Scherzo” from Fiddler on the Roof (arr. Oran Eldor)
Dvořák: Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 87 

Music that celebrates a variety of traditions – from central Europe to Iran, from the concert hall to the stage of a Broadway theatre – makes up this exhilarating program. Like so much music by nineteenth-century Czech composer Dvořák, this profound chamber work echoes with the traditional songs and dances of his native land. Many others have followed in his footsteps. Two recent examples contribute to this concert: Gabiela Lena Frank with her Folk Songs, patterned on the melodies of her mother’s home country, Peru, and Iranian Canadian composer Iman Habibi, whose talents have earned him numerous commissions from such major-league ensembles such as the Boston and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. His composition, Relics, is a theme and variations. The theme is original. “Each of the following variations, each relic,” he says, “explores a distant memory of my childhood.” The concert is rounded out by familiar selections from the classic 1960s musical Fiddler on the Roof including the famous “If I were a Rich Man” performed and arranged by none other than Kelly Hall-Tompkins, known equally for her Broadway performances of the famous tune and her illustrious career as soloist and chamber musician.