January 21, 7:30 PM 
First Pres Santa Monica

Kaija Saariaho
  Je sens un deuxieme coeur (I feel a second heart, 2003)
  LA premiere
Toru Takemitsu
  All in Twilight for guitar (1987)
Henri Dutilleux
  Ainsi le Nuit (Such is the night, 1976)
Chinary Ung
  Aura (2006)
        
                                               
Gloria Cheng, piano
Jonathan Moerschel, viola
Eric Byers, cello
Michael Kudirka, guitar
Lyris Quartet
Elissa Johnston, soprano
Kathleen Roland, soprano
Jacaranda Chamber Ensemble
Mark Alan Hilt, conductor

An aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object, be that the moon or the Buddha — a halo in religious art, or a misty light that emanates from an unlikely source. The nocturnal sensibility of this program brings together music from four regions far apart. The dark lunar strings and piano of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's trio illuminates the cycle of her pregnancy, while these Japanese and French masters dwell in the shifting aspects of night. Aura, the Cambodian American composer Chinary Ung's panorama of instrumental and vocal color, asks the performers for expressive gestures that conjure the transforming force of spirit/nature in the aftermath of calamity.