I am thrilled that my string trio Carmina solis et lunae was chosen to be presented at a concert in Moscow on September 27th. The Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory's Musical Bridges concert series has selected seven pieces by composers of the New York Composers Circle to be performed on this concert. The works are by composers Peter Kelsh, Christopher Sahar, David Picton, Eric Heilner, Dana Dimitri Richardson, Hubert Howe, and myself. Performing will be The 20th Century Ensemble, which includes Maria Khodina, violin, Vyacheslav Grebennikov, viola, Nadezhda Grebennikova, cello, Elizaveta Danilina, piano, and Sayaka Takahashi, piano. The performance will take place in the Nikolai Myaskovsky Concert Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

The opportunity comes by way of an exchange collaboration that the New York Composers Circle has engaged in with other composer organizations. The first was with the Birmingham Arts Music Alliance (BAMA) from Birmingham, Alabama which resulted in three concert exchanges in the 2018-2019 concert season. Composer Bunny Beck of NYCC had a piece presented on a BAMA concert in the fall of 2018, and the NYCC presented two works by BAMA composers on two different concerts in the spring of 2019. The collaboration with Moscow Conservatory is the first international exchange, which should help pave the way for future endeavors with other like-minded organizations both internationally and domestically. In fulfillment of our end of the exchange, the NYCC will present works by Russian composers on select concerts during the 2019-2020 concert season. Details of the as yet to be scheduled concerts may be found on the website of the NYCC (https://newyorkcomposerscircle.org/index.html).

This just proves that music is indeed the true international language spoken by all cultures!