Piano-violin duo return for concert

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The piano and violin duo of Thomas Osuga and Sho Omagari will return as the featured guest artists in this year’s New Music Festival.

Osuga, pianist and a Dana School of Music graduate, and Omagari, violin, both of New York, will perform in concert at 7 p.m. Friday at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, 421 Covington St., North Side. Admission is free.

The festival, in its 33rd year, is sponsored by the New Music Guild, directed by Youngstown State University professor emeritus Robert Rollin.

The duo also will play three concerts for children on Friday: 8:30 a.m. at St. Christine’s School; 10:15 a.m. at Holy Family School in Poland; and 1 p.m. at St. Nicholas School in Struthers.

Osuga and Omagari regularly present their imaginative children’s concert in the New York area.

At their evening concert, the duo will perform music by Japanese and American composers, including Beethoven, Mari Kimura, Sergei Prokofiev, Rollin, Rentari Taki, Toro Takemitsu, Somei Satoh and more.

The concert also will include several new compositions performed by the Festival Chamber Orchestra, including Rollin’s “Memorial Pavan” and “Two Klezmer Wedding Songs.”

The “Memorial Pavan” employs two Hebraic themes: the “Peat Bog Soldiers,” a tune sung by concentration camp inmates as they trudged to their work details; and “Ani Ma’amin,” a melody and prayer that is a testament to belief in God. The two melodies are combined in counterpoint in the final section. The “Ani Ma’amin” melody remains part of the Jewish prayer tradition.

The orchestra also will perform Pulitzer Prize winning composer Karel Husa’s “Four Little Pieces” for string orchestra. Years ago, Husa conducted the Festival Chamber Orchestra in a performance of this piece. Husa, now in his mid-90s, was one of Rollin’s composition teachers at Cornell University.

The orchestra also will play the area premiere of Ferenc Farkas’ “Piccola Musica Di Concerto,” a lively four-movement piece for strings.

Osuga and Omagari will also present a violin and piano recital at 7 p.m. April 29 at Jefferson Congregational Church in Jefferson.