Continuing the Printempo series with a cycle of song, Marlaina Owens invites us on a journey combining art song and jazz.
I present pieces inspired by the different stages of love, from the Jazz Age to modern times. Love is portrayed with a sense of nostalgia and the playful, sensual energy that the famous singers, Eartha Kitt and Josephine Baker, elicited in their performance. The program will begin with a cycle of art songs by B.E. Boykin and lyrics by Maya Angelou, and end with some famous jazz standards.
~Marlaina Owens
See the full schedule of Printempo concerts and programs here.
Practical Information
Date Tuesday, June 6 | Time 7:30 pm | Facebook Event
Program
B.E. Boykin (1984-)
Moment of Sonder
Tears
A Conceit
Reversed
Senses of Insecurity
In a time
Greyday
Passing Time
Refusal
How Can I Lie to You
The Lesson
When You Come To Me
Sounds Like Pearls
Remembering
On Diverse Deviations
Marlaina Owens, voice; Ian Tomaz, piano
Jazz standards
Géo Koger, Henri Varna, Vincent Scotto
I have two loves
Thelonious Monk
Round Midnight
Seymour Simons , Gerarld Marks
All of Me
Adnré Hornez, Henri Betti
It’s so good
Muddy Waters
Gonna be Alright
Marlaina Owens, voice; Samuel Gaskin, piano
The Resident Musicians
Marlaina Owens, a native of Los Angeles, has performed throughout Austria, France, Germany, and the United States. A 2022-2023 Fulbright Scholar,Marlaina is an advocate for the work of African American classical compositions. As part of her research project, Marlaina will research the musical similarities between the Parisian Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance. While in Paris, she will also study operatic repertoire under the tutelage of Sylvia Kevorkian and Jory Vinikour. Her opera credits include Anastasio in Handel’s Giustino, Adele and Rosalinda in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Lover in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart and the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Equally at home in theater and music, Owens’ performance art is shaped by his captivating stage presence, stylistic versatility and keen sense of dramatic timing. Her engagements for the 2021-22 season include the role of Anastasio in Long Beach Opera’s production of Handel’s Giustino, and a young artist position with the Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio program. She has also joined Chicago Lyric in their productions of Puccini’s Tosca and Blanchard’s Grammy Award-winning opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones.
Ian Tomaz is an American pianist currently based in Paris, France. He is a 2021 student at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot, where he studies with Pascal Roge. He is spending the 2022-2023 year as a Harriet Hale Woolley Fellow at the United States Foundation, giving concerts as an artist-in-residence at FEU and in the Paris region while working on the great solo, chamber, and chanson savante compositions of Francis Poulenc. Since moving to Paris, he has given concerts at the Salle Cortot, the J.J. Henner Museum and the Czech Cultural Center and has also been chosen as a full scholarship holder for the French Academy of Music, playing for such renowned French pianists as Michel Beroff, Jacques Rouvier, Anne Queffelec, Marie Catherine Girod and Françoise Thinat. He began his studies at ENMP with the generous support of the Marandon Fellowship from the Society of French and Francophone Teachers of America in New York.
As a keyboardist and improviser, Samuel Gaskin is interested in music of various genres. Playing with the Aruna Quartet for a debut recording of American composer William Albright’s Valley of Fire, written for saxophone quartet and organ, he has also played harpsichord with the San Antonio Symphony as well as piano in a few jazz and folk music groups. Winner of the 2016 University of Michigan Organ Competition, Samuel explores the sometimes-contradictory relationship between improvisation and composition. As a composer, recent creations include Domenican Nights, for flute and piano and In Memoriam: Chick Corea, written for the Unheard-of Ensemble. He holds a Masters degree in organ from the University of North Texas. A Fulbright Scholar for the 2022-23 academic year, Samuel continues his organ studies in a Prix de Perfectionnement at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Versailles with Jean-Baptiste Robin as well as independent studies with improviser/composer Thierry Escaich.