Caption: Selected from “Drawings for the Illustrations of Boccaccio’s Decamerone” (published in Paris, with imprint: Londra, 1757). Gravelot, Hubert François. Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress.
We recently announced The Boccaccio Project, an initiative of Concerts from the Library of Congress that includes 10 new commissions from composers across the country. In the mid-14th century Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) wrote the Decameron, a collection of 100 stories shared between a group of 10 acquaintances who had removed themselves from society during the darkest period of a plague. The stories are framed by a narrative structure that gives context to the collection. The experiences of quarantine and loss are now universally understood in a way that would have been difficult to imagine just a few months ago.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we draw on Boccaccio’s example to offer some musical responses. We have asked 10 pairs of composers and performers to write and perform brief solo works to be premiered online over the course of 10 weekdays in June. We are excited to announce the schedule below, as well as how you can watch on the premiere date and beyond:
Monday, June 15, 2020, 8pm
Jeremy Jordan (piano) and Damien Sneed (composer)
Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 8pm
Andrew Nogal (oboe) of the Grossman Ensemble and Richard Drehoff, Jr. (composer)
Wednesday, June 17, 2020, 8pm
Kathryn Bates (cello) of the Del Sol String Quartet and Miya Masaoka (composer)
Thursday, June 18, 2020, 8pm
Jenny Lin (piano) and Cliff Eidelman (composer)
Friday, June 19, 2020, 8pm
Erin Lesser (flute) of the Wet Ink Ensemble and Erin Rogers (composer)
Monday, June 22, 2020, 8pm
Charlton Lee (viola) of the Del Sol String Quartet and Luciano Chessa (composer)
Tuesday, June 23, 2020, 8pm
Daniel Pesca (piano) of the Grossman Ensemble and Aaron Travers (composer)
Wednesday, June 24, 2020, 8pm
Mariel Roberts (cello) of the Wet Ink Ensemble and Ashkan Behzadi (composer)
Thursday, June 25, 2020, 8pm
Jannina Norpoth (violin) of PUBLIQuartet and Niloufar Nourbakhsh (composer)
Friday, June 26, 2020, 8pm
Nathalie Joachim (flute) and Allison Loggins-Hull (composer), both of Flutronix
How to watch
Starting at 8pm ET on the scheduled premiere date, each video will be available on the following platforms:
Missed the premiere? No problem—watch any time on each event page listed above or the Library’s YouTube channel.
You can also register on Eventbrite on each of the pages listed above if you’d like a reminder about a premiere.
We hope that you will be able to join us for two weeks of inspiring music!
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