During the 2023 Rendez-vous Musical series, the resident musicians will occasionally work with a theme. For February, they have created a special program for Black History Month. Join them in the Grand Salon to see their performances of a selection of jazz classics, songs by artists such as Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin and classical works by Hailstork.
The concert will be followed by a visit of the exhibition Variations variables opening on February 1st.
These concerts offer the musicians in residence an opportunity to perform works they are studying or creating in an open and friendly atmosphere. Members of audience, delighted to (re)discover classical, contemporary, and new works, often stay behind to talk with the musicians, who take great pleasure in these exchanges, always speaking about music and their specific disciplines with great passion.
Practical Information
Date: Sunday, February 5 | Time: 5pm | Facebook Event
Covid: Wearing a mask is not mandatory, however it is strongly recommended. Please use the hydroalcoholic gel at your disposal.
Program
Valerie Coleman (1973-)
Requiem Milonga
Isabelle Pazar, flute, Ian Tomaz, piano
Adolphus Hailstork (1941-)
Songs of Love and Justice
I. Justice
II. Difficulties
III. Décisions
IV. Love
Marlaina Owens, soprano, Ian Tomaz, piano
Lawren Brianna Ware
Borealis
Ian Tomaz, piano
Jazz standards (selected)
Billie Holiday (1915-1959), Arthur Herzog Jr. (1900-1983)
God Bless the Child
Charlie Parker(1920-1955)
Billie’s Bounce
Anson Jones, voice, Samuel Gaskin, piano
Stevie Wonder (1950-)
Ma Cherie Amour
Alicia Keys (1981-)
If I Aint Got You
Aretha Franklin (1942-2018)
(You Make me Feel) Like a Natural Woman
Anson Jones, voice, et piano
Josephine Baker (1906-1975)
J’ai deux amours
Marlaina Owens, soprano, Edgar Jaber, piano
The Resident Musicians
Born in Boston and raised in Bucharest, Edgar Jaber is currently finalizing a master’s degree in Mathematics and Engineering at CentraleSupélec/Université Paris-Saclay.
He is a pupil of the Romanian pianists Toma Popovici and Viorica Rădoi at the National University of Music in Bucharest. His repertoire focuses mainly on classical and romantic german composers as well as early XXth century modernism.
The American soprano, Marlaina Owens, a native of Los Angeles, has concertized throughout Austria, France, Germany, and the United States. Her operatic credits include Adele and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Lover in Il Tabarro, and the title role in Suor Angelica. Equally home in both theater and music, Owens’ performance artistry is shaped by her captivating stage presence, stylistic versatility and keen sense of dramatic timing. Her engagements in the 2021-22 season include playing Anastasio in Long Beach Opera’s production of Handel’s Giustino, and a young artist position with Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio Program. She will also join Chicago Lyric in their productions of Puccini’s Tosca and Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. She spent summer 2021 in Germany and France, training with various professionals, like operatic sopranos, Annick Masis, Roberta Alexander, and Janet Williams. In the 2020-2021 season, her focus was the role of Denise in Long Beach Opera’s imposing new work, Creative in Me. Most impressively, this operatic work has been adapted to be performed virtually, and in its entirety, via Zoom. Marlaina also collaborated on a virtual film exhibit with Long Beach Opera and the Museum of Latin American Art. For the 2019-2020, Marlaina enjoyed soloist opportunities with the LA Opera League and the Shivers Concert Series in Colorado Springs. She was a finalist in the historical NAMN Marian Anderson Voice Competition in Chicago, and an emerging artist with the Berlin Opera Academy. She holds a Master’s degree in Voice from University of California, Irvine, and a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Loyola Marymount University.
Isabelle Pazar is a flutist and Fulbright Research Award recipient currently living in Paris, France at Fondation des États-Unis to study flute pedagogy and technique in the tradition of the French Flute School. As part of her research project, Isabelle is enrolled at École Normale de Musique de Paris, Alfred Cortot studying with flutist Patricia Nagle. Originally from the state of Maine in the United States, Isabelle is a Doctor of Music Performance candidate at Stony Brook University in New York studying with renowned flutist Carol Wincenc. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Boston College where she studied with adjunct professor flutist Judy Grant, Founder and Director of the Boston Flute Academy. In 2017, she received an Advanced Study Grant from Boston College to attend the Cremona International Music Academy and Competition in Italy that year. Isabelle graduated with a Master’s in Music Performance degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020, where she studied flute with Dr.Cobus du Toit and worked as the teaching assistant for the flute studio as well as a teaching assistant for music history. She has also studied with flutist Sooyun Kim of the famed Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York City and has performed in many master classes for flutists Leone Buyse, Elizabeth Rowe, Mario Caroli, Linda Toote, and Lorne McGhee. Isabelle’s love of French composition specifically from the Romantic era has led her to Paris to study flute in its place of origin.
Ian Tomaz is an American pianist currently based in Paris, France. He has studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot since 2021, working with Pascal Roge. He is in residence at the Fondation des Etats Unis in 2022-2023 as a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, performing concerts as an Artist in Residence at the FEU and around Paris while working on the major solo, chamber and art song compositions of Francis Poulenc. Since moving to Paris, he has performed at Salle Cortot, Musee J.J. Henner and the Centre Culturel Czech and was also chosen as a full scholarship participant for the Academie de Musique Francaise, playing for renowned French pianists including Michel Beroff, Jacques Rouvier, Anne Queffelec, Marie Catherine Girod and Francoise Thinat. He began his studies at the ENMP thanks to the generous support of the Bourse Marandon from the Societe des Professeurs de Français et Francophones D’Amérique in New York.
Anson Jones is a singer, composer, and songwriter from New York City whose work pulls in turns from modern jazz, modern classical music, and popular music. She graduated from Princeton University in the class of 2022, where she won the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts and the Isodore and Helen Sacks Memorial Prize in Music. She is 2022-2023 Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley scholar and FEU resident, composing a suite of music inspired by Parisian examples of glass architecture. In between academic projects, she enjoys making more commercial music – she loves indie, rock, and folk music, and in June 2022 she released an EP of jazz-rock fusion on Modern Icon Recordings. For both her commercial and academic music, she’s played with her own groups around New York City, joined in writer’s showcases like the New York Songwriters’ Circle and the 5PM Concert Series, and performed at the 2020 Litchfield Jazz Festival. Anson is passionate about many other fields as well – she has passions for music cognition, computer science, art, and architecture. She has even worked at a series of architecture firms and as a data science intern at a neuroscience lab. Her range of interests all inform her approach towards music-making as an interdisciplinary process.
As a keyboardist and improviser, Samuel Gaskin is interested in exploring music of all kinds. Collaborating with the Aruna Quartet for a premiere recording of William Albright’s Valley of Fire for saxophone quartet and organ, he has also played harpsichord with the San Antonio Symphony and piano in several jazz and folk bands. Winner of the 2016 University of Michigan Organ Improvisation Competition, Samuel explores the sometimes-contradictory relationship between improvisation and composition. As a composer, recent premieres include Domenican Nights, for flute and piano, and In memoriam: Chick Corea, written for the Unheard-of Ensemble. He holds a Master’s degree in organ performance from the University of North Texas. As a recipient of a 2022-23 Fulbright grant, Samuel is pursuing an Artist’s Diploma in organ at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Versailles as well as independent lessons with improviser/composer Thierry Escaich.