We are excited to announce that violinist Joseph Puglia will be Oerknal’s curator-in-residence for our 2019 | 20 season! Joseph has crafted an exciting program exploring virtuosity in musical performance. What constitutes virtuosity? What happens when a performer is pushed to the outer most limits of their abilities?

Works by J.S. Bach and James Tenney are presented side-by-side, examples of unique styles of virtuosity from across centuries. Jesse Broekman is a young Dutch composer of singular talent and ability; his duet Among all names for flute and cello is a virtuosic melding of texture and timbre, creating a super-instrument out of the two component parts. The highlight of these concerts is the world premiere of a new concerto for violin and chamber ensemble by Richard Ayres – Richard’s music is colorful, energetic and vibrant, exploring the traditional role of 'soloist' in ways both subtly subversive and manically extrovert.

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As a part of this project, Joseph and Oerknal will hold workshops with the composition department of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. 10 composition students will create a 20-minute 'suite' exploring various concepts of virtuosity (melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, textural, structural, etc.) – each composer will craft a piece of up to 2 minutes in length using no more than 100 notes – pieces will be scored for various instrumental groupings, ranging from solo to nonet.