$10 admission / 7:30 doors / 8pm start / seated
In celebration of Vigil Vol. 1, released earlier this year on New Focus Recordings, Margaret Herlehy, Lilit Hartunian, and John McDonald perform Ryan Vigil's 90-minute untitled 2018 work for oboe, violin, and piano, a preview of Vigil Vol. 2.
Lilit Hartunian performs at the forefront of contemporary music innovation, both as soloist and highly in-demand collaborative artist. First prize winner in the 2021 Black House Collective New Music Soloist Competition, her “Paganiniesque virtuosity” and “captivating and luxurious tone” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) are frequently on display at major concert halls and leading academic institutions, where she often appears as both soloist and new music specialist. Lilit appears regularly with A Far Cry, Emmanuel Music, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Sound Icon, and Ludovico Ensemble. Recent highlights include co-founding violin and cimbalom duo Lamnth, performing at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s “Ligeti 100” chamber music concerts in Symphony Hall, and appearing on the 2023 Grammy-winning album for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Described as “brilliantly rhapsodic” by the Harvard Crimson, she can be heard on New Focus Recordings, Innova Recordings, Albany Records, and New Amsterdam Records.
Oboist, Margaret Herlehy was born into a musical family in New Rochelle, New York in 1959. Growing up, she recalls an attic filled with her grandfather’s instruments as her experimental playground where she would spend hours figuring out popular tunes on them. At the suggestion of her middle school band director, she started studying the oboe and began playing professionally alongside her teacher Lois Wann at the age of 16. She continued her classical training at the University of Michigan, but an interest in the avant-garde drew her back to New York and to Sarah Lawrence College where she became immersed in the contemporary music scene of the 1980s, premiering new works—including at annual Carnegie Recital Hall performances.
After relocating to New England, she joined the faculties of Phillips Exeter Academy and later, the University of New Hampshire and enjoys working as a freelance artist in the greater New York/Boston area and clinician throughout the US. Reaching to extend her voice on the oboe, she released Rosewood Café, a collaborative project with Boston-based Brazilian Jazz artists. The CD has received international attention, with critics praising her “Powerfully intoxicating” performance (Jazz Lives) and “stunning musical language” (World Music). As a performer, arranger, educator and lifelong learner, Margaret enjoys an eclectic musical life on the New Hampshire seacoast.
Described as “the New England master of the short piece,” John McDonald is a composer who tries to play the piano and a pianist who tries to compose. He is currently Professor of Music at Tufts University, where he teaches composition, theory, and performance. He was the Music Teachers National Association Composer of the Year in 2007 and served as the Valentine Visiting Professor of Music at Amherst College in 2016–2017. His new recordings include At All Device (Bridge Records, 2020), a collection of piano works played by soloist David Holzman; PanSync (Arsis Audio, 2022), works by Su Lian Tan and John McDonald; and States of Play (Bridge Records, 2022), a retrospective of music by Robert Carl and John McDonald.
John’s research interests include composition and new music pedagogy; intermedia collaboration involving composing and performing solo and chamber music; writing for young and non-professional performers; music applications for visual art and science; advocacy of new and overlooked composers through research and performance. His book, Stirring Up the Music: The Life, Works, and Influence of Composer T(homas) J(efferson) Anderson, is forthcoming from Borik Press. McDonald’s works are published by American Composers Alliance, and he is currently serving a term on the Board of Governors for ACA.
Ryan Vigil began playing the piano at the age of three. He started private lessons in music theory at seven and formal composition instruction the following year. From 12 to 18 he studied piano, theory, and composition with Marti Epstein, a decisive encounter that shaped the distinctive relationship with sound and time which continues to define his music today. Other major teachers include Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, John McDonald, and Elias Tanenbaum. Recognized for its open, uninflected approach to time and a refined sense of sonic restraint, his music has been performed on four continents and is frequently heard on new music programs throughout the northeastern United States.
Ryan holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Tufts University, and Yale University. After teaching at the college level for over 15 years—including stints at Colby College, Connecticut College, Amherst College, and, most extensively, eight years on the music faculty at the University of New Hampshire—he transitioned to a career in publishing. Currently a product manager at The Christian Science Publishing Society, Ryan divides his time between Brookline, Massachusetts, and Littleton, New Hampshire.