PROGRAM NOTES

Henning Rübsam, dancer/choreographer

Violetta Klimczewska

Born in Toruń, Poland, Violetta Klimczewska graduated from the National Ballet School in Warsaw in 1985. She danced with the Grand Theatre in Warsaw until 1990 while studying Dance Pedagogy at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music.  A featured performer in the musical Metro, both in Warsaw and on Broadway, she joined Henning Rübsam’s SENSEDANCE in 1993. From 1995 to 2005, she performed with the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera and appeared in the Tony Award-winning musical Contact at Lincoln Center. Her film and television appearances include Enchanted, Center Stage, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She earned a BA in Dance from Empire State College in New York in 2007. 

Violetta has choreographed for stage, parades, and music festivals in Poland and Lithuania. In 2024, she was rehearsal assistant for Henning Rübsam’s ensemble work “Monarcas.” 
 

Hélène Taddei Lawson

Hélène Taddei Lawson is a choreographer and a dancer who develops a multidisciplinary practice around contemporary and urban dance, sound design, voice, and video. She creates choreographic pieces, site-specific performances in museums, public space happenings, dance videos and movies, and artistic installations. She’s also artistic director of Plateforme Dance Festival in Bastia and co-artistic director of Dissidanse itinerance, an international choreographic network.

Andrea Casarrubios
“luzAzul” for clarinet, cello, and piano  (2016/2024) (World Premiere of clarinet version) 
"luzAzul" was written for Trio Appassionata's 10th year anniversary in 2016, and revised for Thomas Piercy in 2024 in this version for clarinet, cello, and piano. The work is based on the emotional duality of feeling home in two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean, feeling a profound sadness for what is left behind, no matter the direction of the flight. This duality is reflected in the work's palindrome structure.
Clarinet version made for Thomas Piercy
 

Masatora Goya
“How We Became Stardust” for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2023)

Do we gaze at the stars because we are..., or were..., or will be...?
Commissioned by Thomas Piercy
 

Roger Stubblefield
“Gavotte” (from Three Dances) for clarinet, cello, and piano (Opus 28) (2024)

Roger Stubblefield's Three Dances (Opus 28) for clarinet, cello, and piano explores a synthesis of classical forms and contemporary harmonic language. The collection moves beyond simple dance rhythms, instead treating the historical forms as frameworks for expression, allowing Stubblefield to explore complex interactions and textures within a familiar structural context. 
 

The first movement, the “Gavotte,” specifically draws inspiration from the classic French court dance. Traditionally characterized by its moderate tempo and a defining structural feature where phrases typically begin on the second half of the bar, Stubblefield respects these elements while injecting a modern sensibility. 
 

In this “Gavotte,” Stubblefield manipulates the instrumental voices to create a sense of interplay. The cello and clarinet often share the melody, while the piano provides a rhythmic and harmonic foundation that underpins their conversation. Ultimately, the “Gavotte” bridges the gap between historical precedent and contemporary art music, offering a work that is rhythmically vibrant and harmonically rich. The dance is light in spirit but deeply anchored, providing both the performers and the audience with an engaging and spirited musical experience.
 

Beata Moon
“Autonomous Assembly" for flute, clarinet, cello, and piano (2025) (World Premiere)

It is a joy writing music for Henning Rübsam and his modern dance company, SENSEDANCE, and for Thomas Piercy and Random Access Music.

These quotes inspired each movement in "Autonomous Assembly." 

1. “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.”

2. “War is just a racket… We must take the profit out of war.” Smedley Butler (1935)

3. “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.”— Gandhi

4. “It is always our own self that we find at the end of the journey. The sooner we face that self, the better.” – Ella Maillart

5. "Our purpose is to grow up and become love." Thomas Campbell
Commissioned by Thomas Piercy and Random Access Music

Frances White
“From the book of infinite secrecy” for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2025) (World Premiere)
Commissioned by Thomas Piercy and Random Access Music

Fifteen Minutes of Fame  program notes for individual pieces
"Fifteen Minutes of Fame"15  - one-minute pieces for hichiriki and low flutes (2025) (World Premieres) by the following composers: Nantenaina Andriamorasata, Vahan Luder ArtinianDavid Bohn, Ross James Carey, Monica ChewPhilip Czapłowski, Douglas DaSilva, Paolo Geminiani, Simon Hutchinson, Sakiko Kosaka, Matt A. MasonGene Pritsker, Allen Schulz, Jane Wang, and Dalen Wuest.
Composed got Thomas Piercy and Lish Lindsey
 

"Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame" is 15 one-minute works written by different composers specifically for a musician or ensemble. Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame, a Vox Novus project,  gives a variety of new music by living composers to audiences hungry to hear what is being created in today's music scene. The Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame project has featured more than 75 musician/ensembles premiering the works of over 1000 composers in New York City. The project has presented works across the United States and 10 other countries.