Oboe / Oboe, by Emerald City Music

Emerald City Music presents eclectic music in an intimate, open bar setting. This month: the oboe.

Emerald City Music showcases the dextrous versatility of the oboe – a traditionally solo instrument – as a duo. The program was created with two specific super star oboists in mind: returning artist, James Austin Smith and Emerald City Music debut artist, Titus Underwood. The evening explores historical keystone pieces written for the oboe – from the baroque era to classical, mid-20th century, and finally to the contemporary sounds of 2024. The flurry of oboes is interjected with a light hearted and virtuosic piece by Mark O'Connor for violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The program features a world premiere by Fred Onovwerosuoke commissioned by Emerald City Music, written for two solo oboes and string quintet. The American composer, who was born in Ghana of Nigerian parents, writes music that bears influences from across Africa, the Caribbean, and the American Deep South. Instrumentation that features two oboes in double-soli is exceedingly rare and the works with this configuration were primarily popular in only the baroque era. The program platforms one of these works, Albinoni's Concerto, published in 1722, bookending the evening with its modern counterpart.

THE TUNES:
Tomaso ALBINONI: Concert for Two Oboes in C Major, Op. 9, No. 9 (1722)
Marina DRANISHNIKOVA: Poem for Oboe and Piano (1953) 
Mark O’CONNOR: String Quartet (2019)
– interval – 
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: Oboe Quartet in F Major, K. 370 (1781)
Fred ONOVWEROSUOKE: New Work for Two Solo Oboes and String Quintet (2024 ECM Commission and World Premiere) 

THE ARTISTS:
Titus Underwood, oboe 
James Austin Smith, oboe 
Kristin Lee, violin 
Ling Ling Huang, violin
Ayane Kozasa, viola
Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello
Rachel Calin, bass
Oksana Ejokina, piano and harpsichord