Join us as FEU welcomes back female alumnae composers and performers to the Grand Salon stage in concert with current artists-in-residence for a unique program that truly demonstrates this year’s International Women’s Day theme: Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress.
Isabelle Pazar — one of this year’s Harriet Hale Woolley scholars and artists-in-residence at FEU — has created a special program celebrating the impact that the exceptional cultural life and spirit of FEU has had on many women artists. Intertwining jazz, French chanson, classical and contemporary music, the concert will culminate in the world premiere of an original creation for flute and jazz piano trio, composed by FEU alumna and 2022-2023 Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar, Anson Jones. A musical journey that mirrors the diversity of disciplines and genres studied, performed and created by several generations of artists who have lived in the 5th floor community. This evening promises to take you down memory lane and to awaken your curiosity as you discover some recent melodies.
We are delighted that Carol Robinson, Jennifer Schiller and Anson Jones are returning to FEU for this occasion. Discover their artistic universes below.
Practical Information
Date Thursday, March 7 | Time 7:30pm | Facebook Event
You can donate to our Hello Asso account to support our cultural activites and get a Patron’s ticket that evening upon showing your receipt!
Program
Carol Robinson (b.1956)
Le fond de l’air
Isabelle Pazar, flute
Édith Piaf (1915-1963), Marguerite Monnot (1903-1961)
Hymne à l’Amour
Anson Jones, voice
Anne Sylvestre (1934-2020)
Les Gens qui Doutent
Anson Jones, voice
Véronique Sanson (b.1949)
Vancouver
Anson Jones, voice
Anson Jones (b.1999)
After Goodbye
Cigarettes and Beethoven
King of the Tides
Anson Jones, voice
Henriette Renié (1875-1956)
Scherzo-Fantaisie
Jennifer Schiller, violin
Marta Power, harp
Sato Matsui (b.1991)
Six Tanka anciens (arr. for violin and harp)
D’une couleur Invisible
Est-ce la Lune
l’Herbe d’Eté
Jennifer Schiller, violin
Marta Power, harp
Anson Jones (b.1999)
Three Short Pieces for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio
1. Rue Foyatier
2. Rue Cler
3. Rue Des Taillandiers
(commissioned by flutist, Isabelle Pazar, and dedicated to her grandmother, Therese, and mother, Anne Marie)
Isabelle Pazar, flute
Amaury Faye, piano
Wilbur Thompson, bass
Jesus Vega, Drums
FEU Musicians
Isabelle Pazar, flutist and winner of the 2022-23 Fulbright scholarship, studies flute pedagogy and traditional techniques of the French flute school. Her research project led her to study alongside flutist Patricia Nagle at the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. Isabelle’s love of musical composition, and particularly of the Romantic era, brought her to Paris to study the flute in her native land. Originally from the United States, and more specifically Maine, Isabelle is a doctoral candidate in music performance at Stony Brook University in New York, where she had the good fortune to study with renowned flutist Carol Wincenc. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College after studying with assistant flute professor Judy Grant, creator and director of the Boston Flute Academy. In 2017, she received a scholarship from Boston College to attend the Cremona Italy International Music Festival and Competition. Isabelle earned a master’s degree in music performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020, where she studied flute with Dr. Cobus du Toit and worked as an assistant studio flute teacher. She also helped teach music history. She also studied with flutist Sooyun Kim of the renowned Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in New York, and performed in several MasterClasses for flutists Leone Buyse, Elizabeth Rowe, Mario Caroli, Linda Toote, and Lorne McGhee. Recipient of the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship for 2023-2024, Isabelle is thrilled to continue her studies in Paris as artist-in-residence at the Fondation des États-Unis.
Alumni Musicians
Anson Jones is a New York-based singer-songwriter whose work draws inspiration from jazz, classical and popular music. She graduated from Princeton University in 2022, where she won the Louis Sudler Arts Prize and the Isodore and Helen Sacks Music Prize. Anson was a 2022-23 Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Fellow and spent this year living at the United States Foundation as part of the 5th Floor Artist Community, composing music inspired by the use of glass in Parisian architecture. When she is not working on academic projects, she enjoys producing popular music. She particularly appreciates indie, rock and folk music, and she released a rock-jazz EP on Modern Icon Recordings in June 2022. She has been the leader of her music groups in New York, played in exhibitions of songwriters such as the New York Songwriter’s Circle and the 5PM Concert Series , and also performed at the 2020 Litchfield Jazz Festival. Anson also enjoys studying music cognition, computer science, visual arts, and architecture. All of his interests contribute to his approach to music as an interdisciplinary process.
Carol Robinson is a Franco-American composer and clarinetist. Her background and passions are eclectic. She was trained as a classical musician and graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory in the U.S. She came to France to expand her knowledge of contemporary music with the help of an H.H. Woolley scholarship. She performs in major venues and festivals all over the world, including Festival d’Automne, MaerzMuzik, Archipel, RomaEuropa, Wien Modern, CTM Berlin, Geometry of Now, Crossing the Line, and Huddersfield. She is equally comfortable with established repertory and experimental creations. She collaborates regularly with musicians from diverse backgrounds, as well as with choreographers, video artists, and photographers. Author of some one-hundred works, her first compositions were in musical theater. She has received commissions from various institutions, including Radio France and the French Ministry of Culture, as well as from international ensembles and festivals. Carol Robinson has created numerous musical pieces that combine electronic and acoustic sound. New York City’s MODE RECORDS released three of her works in 2023: Nacarat for electric guitar, Black on Green for double bass, and Les si doux redoux for basset horn. Her recent discography reflects the breadth of her work. In addition to her own compositions and Cross-Currents, a compilation in collaboration with Cathy Milliken, it includes monographs by major contemporary composers (Scelsi, Nono, Feldman, Berio, Radigue, or Niblock), as well as classical music, jazz, and alternative rock. She was named Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2014.
Originally from New York, violinist Jennifer Schiller has led an active musical career in the United States as well as in France. She is an alumna and former recipient of the FEU Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music , she received her master’s degree from Indiana University and her doctorate from the University of Kentucky. As an orchestral musician she has performed with ensembles such as the Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Philharmonic, Boston Ballet, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. In Paris, she performs regularly with the Les Siècles orchestra and the Opera Fuoco orchestra on period instruments, and with harpist Marta Power in the Schiller-Power Duo on modern violin.
Guest Musicians
Considered one of the most promising pianists on the scene today (Artist to Follow 2024 Jazz Magazine/Jazz News, Revelation 2023 All About Jazz), composer, pianist and arranger Amaury Faye is one of the spearheads of the new generation of French jazzmen. After a distinguished career at Berklee College of Music, where he studied with NEA Jazz Master Joanne Brackeen, and receiving the Berklee Performance Award for best pianist of the year, he has performed on numerous stages in France and abroad (Mexico, Japan, Azerbaijan, Europe, China, US, Canada, Haïti…) and has released some twenty albums as a sideman and six as a leader.
Born in Chitose, Japan, Sato Matsui is a Paris-based composer and the Founder and Artistic Director of IMAGO. Her musical style draws influence from traditional Japanese sonorities as well as her training as a classical violinist. Matsui holds her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the Juilliard School and her Bachelor’s degree from Williams College. Her recent projects include a commission for a flute concerto for Carol Wincenc, which was premiered at the 2023 National Flute Association Gala Concert at Symphony Hall in Phoenix, Arizona. In April of this year, Matsui’s Oiseau Lunaire received its U.S. premiere at Carnegie Hall by pianist Will Healy. Her trio Hanasaka Jiisan for oboe, bassoon, and piano was commissioned by Cornelia Sommer for the 2022 International Double Reed Conference in Denver, Colorado. Matsui’s large ensemble piece Kinokonoko, commissioned for the New Juilliard Ensemble, received its Lincoln Center premiere at Alice Tully Hall in 2019. A lover of interdisciplinary collaborations, Matsui has worked extensively with dancers and choreographers as well as other artists. In 2020, she was invited by the New York City Ballet to take part in the New York Choreographic Institute, where she collaborated with choreographer Jonathan Faulry. In 2017 was named the Resident Composer for the Creative Movement and Gestures Program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. In 2017, Matsui worked with librettist Sarah LaBrie to create and produce Hoshi, an opera that follows a young woman’s conflicting search for reconciliation with her estranged father. Her original scoring of Shakespeare’s play As You Like It was produced and directed by Ian Belknap in May of 2019 at the McClelland Drama Theater in Lincoln Center. In 2019, Matsui received a Fulbright Scholarship and moved to Paris in order to research the manuscripts of Erik Satie for her doctoral dissertation. She is the winner of the 2019 Charles Ives Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Originally from Michigan (USA), Marta Power obtained her Higher Concertist Diploma at the École Normale de Musique de Paris in 2008 where she studied with Isabelle Perrin. To further her harp studies, she also obtained a Brevet in Music History (2004) and Analysis (2006) from the École Normale de Musique de Paris, as well as a degree in Musicology from the University of Paris IV. She is a laureate of several international competitions, including the 4th Félix Godefroid International Harp Competition, the Camac Harp Competition of the North London Festival of Music and Drama , and the Salvi “Le Parnasse” Competition. In 2006, she created the Atlantic Harp Duo with harpist Elizabeth Jaxon , allowing her to perform around the world and gain reputation. Marta Power currently continues her activity as a harpist and teacher in Paris. Anxious to go beyond the framework of classical music, Marta Power also participates in theatrical shows. In 2020, she founded the duo Schiller-Power with violinist Jennifer Schiller.
Wilbur Thompson, a versatile bass player proficient in both electric and upright bass, traces his musical roots back to South Carolina U.S, where he honed his craft in the rich tradition of gospel music within the church. Embracing a diverse range of black American music styles, including soul, R&B, hip hop, and jazz, Wilbur’s musical journey led him to pursue a degree in music after high school. A few years after graduation, Wilbur relocated to the vibrant musical hub of New Orleans, where he quickly established himself as a sought-after bassist and collaborator. He has had the privilege of performing with renowned artists such as Preservation Hall, Sarah Vaughn International Competition winners Gabrielle Cavassa and Quiana Lynell, and other legends of the New Orleans music scene. Wilbur’s musical prowess is showcased in his two recordings: “Sweet Hour Of Worship,” a captivating live gospel/jazz fusion album that earned him a nomination for best gospel artist in New Orleans, and “Tears In A Bottle,” a studio masterpiece blending elements of gospel, jazz, and folk music. In 2022, Wilbur embarked on a new chapter in Paris, France, where he continues to make his mark on the music scene, collaborating with artists such as Gabi Hartmann and Grammy-winning songwriter Jesse Harris. His journey is a testament to the universal language of music and its power to transcend borders and connect people from diverse backgrounds.
Jesus Vega is a Mexican-American Drummer currently residing in Paris, France. Born and raised in King City, California, he was afforded the opportunity to take part in the Monterey Jazz Festival Education Program and All-Star Ensemble during his formative years. He holds a Bachelor’s in Music from Sacramento State University and a Masters in Jazz and Improvisation from the University of Nevada, Reno. Mr. Vega has had the privilege to study/perform with: Vince Lateano, Mike McMullen, Peter Epstein, David Ake, Andrew Heglund, Igor Osypov, Dima Bondarev, Yuriy Seredin, Olga Amelchenko and Musina Ebobissé.
