Talented string players from CityMusic’s orchestra will present two chamber concerts this November at Praxis Fiber Workshop in Cleveland. Violinist Miho Hashizume curated the November 11th program Entr’acte for Strings, featuring Caroline Shaw’s work of that name alongside Krzysztof Penderecki’s Leaves of an Unwritten Diary and two Classical duos. On November 18th, violinist Susan Britton’s program presents the premiere of We the People by jazz cellist and composer Akua Dixon alongside works by Pärt, Tate and Ravel.

November 11 • Entr’acte for Strings

Hashizume’s program contrasts “segmentitive” 20th-century ensemble pieces with the formal elegance of Classical duets. “We have all these technologies, but everyone is still so busy,” she describes, “so I decided to program pieces that move through lots of different ideas, kind of reflecting how we’re always jumping between things in our lives.”

Penderecki’s Leaves of an Unwritten Diary — which he described as “a sentimental journey into long-abandoned landscapes” — is a massive, one-movement work structured in short sections, like entries in a diary. It invites the listener into an aural memory album, the recurring themes building toward a climax featuring a Romani dance tune beloved by Pendericki’s father.

This segmented compositional approach is reflected in Shaw’s Entr’acte, a playful contemporary distortion of the Classical minuet and trio form inspired by a surprising key shift in a Haydn quartet. In contrast, Classical duos by Jean-Marie Leclair and Johannes Sperger relax the audience with the graceful structures of 18th-century dance and sonata forms.

November 18 • Perspectives for String Quartet

Perspectives for String Quartet on November 18th presents a contrasting programmatic arc, journeying from the tintinabuliticprayer of Arvo Pärt’s Psalom through the celebration of identity of Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate’s Pisachi (Reveal) and challenging questions asked by Akua Dixon’s We the People into the affirmation of Maurice Ravel’s sublime String Quartet in F Major.

Commissioned by CityMusic as one of 12 works on the theme “Justice, Equality, Freedom,” Dixon’s quartet is “a musical conversation inspired by the Preamble to the Constitution and the ongoing fight for equity in America today” (program notes by Andromeda Turre Klein). Reflecting the cultural complexity of America by meshing intricate African rhythms with European instruments and compositional techniques, Dixon “invites listeners to sit with discomfort and discord and consider a different reality.” Unsettling musical elements intentionally provoke challenging emotions as the audience engages with this musical depiction of Black America’s ongoing struggle for equality — a whole-tone soundscape, moments of silence to honor “those lost to police brutality and wrongful incarceration,” and the “almost macabre, tritone theme” of the final, ironic movement “Domestic Tranquility.” While Dixon deliberately leaves her composition hanging — “as Black American citizens are still asking “when?,” waiting for basic equal rights” — Britton’s program offers the audience resolution, through the energetic lyricism of Ravel.