Zoeter & Friends Faculty Chamber Music Concert

INTENSITY

Join Garrick Zoeter and distinguished faculty from Shenandoah Conservatory for INTENSITY, an electrifying evening of chamber music that explores the raw emotional power of sound. Featuring clarinetist Zoeter alongside Akemi Takayama (violin), Ko Sugiyama (violin), Doris Lederer (viola), Julian Schwarz (cello), Marika Bournaki (piano) and narrator John Bonanni, this dynamic recital brings together celebrated performers and educators in a program that pulses with urgency, lyricism and dramatic storytelling.

The evening showcases music that confronts grief, memory, faith and resilience with uncompromising force. Highlights include Prayer for solo clarinet by Kinan Azmeh, the haunting Lamentation of the Bird and Remembrance for clarinet and piano by guest composer Polina Nazaykinskaya, and Afilador by Andrea Casarrubios for clarinet and strings. Nazaykinskaya’s powerful Haim, scored for narrator, clarinet, piano and string quartet, weaves spoken word and music into a deeply human meditation, while Sergei Prokofiev’s spirited Overture on Hebrew Themes adds a vibrant, folkloric energy and rhythmic drive to the evening’s sweeping emotional landscape.

“Intensity… it is all around us… in our lives… in the world… everywhere.” This concert embraces that conviction — music performed with utter commitment and fearless expression. Audiences will be moved, challenged and inspired by an evening where artistry meets emotional immediacy, and chamber music burns with blistering intensity.