Duo della Luna
Duo della Luna – a voice/violin duo
specializing in the performance of intimate contemporary music…
Individually, violinist Airi Yoshioka and composer/singer, Susan Botti have devoted much of their musical careers to new music. After performing together in various chamber music configurations for years, they discovered a special spark when the music was stripped down to just their two voices intertwined (Botti’s Mangetsu for soprano and violin, commissioned by Yoshioka).
… Soon after Mangetsu premiered, they began to brainstorm about more works that they could perform together, gradually developing a wide-ranging repertoire of contemporary works that celebrate the natural world, and their love of myth and story-telling. Their programs also incorporate arrangements of folk songs, for their universal, timeless messages, along with Botti’s adaptations of some of Bela Bartok’s violin duets (re-duo’d for voice and violin).
For information on their debut recording, Mangetsu
The Voyager Ensemble
In the spirit of armchair travelers everywhere, the Voyager Ensemble explores a new country of the world every concert by combining standard repertoire from the country along with a contemporary work/commission by a composer from that region. Then musicians hailing from the same region join the ensemble with the aim of infusing the concert with cultural and musical flavors. Founded by violist David Yang and violinist Airi Yoshioka in 2016, the ensemble has featured music from Hungary, France, Argentina and this year, Finland. Voyager has given world premieres by Nicolas Bacri (France) and Fernando Altube (Argentina).
Damocles Trio
Founded by violinist Airi Yoshioka, cellist Sibylle Johner and pianist Adam Kent, Damocles Trio is equally versatile in both traditional and contemporary piano trio repertoire. Additionally, Damocles Trio’s interpretation of the music from Hispanic regions have been documented on two acclaimed CDs: Complete piano trios of Joaquín Turina and Heitor Villa-Lobos as well as a world-premiere recording of Trio Brasileiro by Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez.
Photo Credit: Rothko Chapel/Runaway Productions
Ensemble Pi
Ensemble Pi a socially conscious new-music group, founded by pianist Idith Meshulam in 2002, “examines political activism in music”, featuring artists whose work seeks to open a dialogue between ideas and music on some of the world’s current and critical issues. For more than seventeen years, Ensemble Pi presented an annual Peace Project concert, commissioning new works and collaborating with visual artists, writers, actors and journalists such as William Kentridge, Louise Fishman, Naomi Wolf, David Riker, and Bread and Puppets. Among the composers commissioned are Laura Kaminsky, Brayan Courtney, and Frederic Rzewski. Ms. Yoshioka joined the ensemble in 2007.
[Watch] Word Interpretations: The Ninth Annual Peace Concert
New Bartok Quartet
Comprised of respected string faculty from University of Maryland UMD, James Madison University and University of Maryland Baltimore County, the NBQ imaginatively pairs repertoire from the classical period with one of the Bartók quartets. Wanchi Huang, Airi Yoshioka, violins; James Stern, viola, and Eric Kutz, cello.
OpenPageEnsemble
OpenPageEnsemble is Washington's newest chamber group, performing vocal and instrumental small-ensemble works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Founding directors, Rosa Lamoreaux, voice, and Lori Barnet, cello, are continually grateful for the privilege of performing music of the past 10 centuries, yet are compelled by curiosity to explore and perform music of our own era, and to commission new vocal and instrumental works for small ensemble. Ms. Yoshioka is one of its original members.