PERFORMERS
- Anton Rist, clarinet
- Guillermo Laporta, flute
- Josefina Urraca, piano
- Keir GoGwilt, violin
- Yves Dharamraj, cello
ABOUT THE CONCERT
Petroushskates (1980) is a roughly six-minute chamber work for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano by the American composer Joan Tower, who wrote it as pianist and founding member of the Da Capo Chamber Players. The title fuses two images. One is Stravinsky's Petrushka, whose bustling, colorful Shrovetide Fair scene mirrors the piece's opening; the other is ice skating, whose curving, twirling, continuously flowing motion Tower admired while watching Olympic figure skaters. Together they conjure a 'carnival on ice,' short flurries of notes twirling and leaping like skaters over a single unbroken line. Lively and witty, it has become one of Tower's most frequently performed works.