The Fondation des Etats-Unis and the resident musicians are happy to welcome the Passepartout Duo, who will perform during the second part of the Rendez-vous Musical.
The FEU Musicians’ Program
J.S. Bach: Preludede la Suite No. 1 en sol majeur pour violoncelle (adapté pour saxophone baryton)
Alyssa Hoffert, saxophone baryton
William Sharpe: Prelude No. 6
William Sharpe, piano
Edward Yadzinski: Sirène
Jenny Maclay, clarinette
Thierry Escaich: Jeux de Doubles
John Kamfonas, piano
John Kamfonas: Diverging Paths, Part IV
John Kamfonas, piano
Giacinto Scelsi: Tre Pezzi (1984)
I. noire = 80-84
II. dolce, meditavo
III. noire = 108
Alyssa Hoffert, saxophone soprano
Concert saxophonist, avid chamber musician, and versatile music educator, Alyssa Hoffert has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe. She holds an MM in Saxophone Performance from the Hartt School and a B.S in Music Education cum laude from Case Western Reserve University/the Cleveland Institute of Music. As a 2015 recipient of the Frank Huntington Beebe Grant, Hoffert is currently studying saxophone at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris under the tutelage of Jean-Michel Goury. She is also a Conn-Selmer endorsed artist and performs on Selmer (Paris) saxophones and mouthpieces.
Willian Sharpe is a student from New York City. He has been studying composition at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris for five years. In 2012 he started to write a set of Preludes for piano which he has performed at concerts and recitals most recently in the Salle Cortot. Last year, he was commissioned to compose a String Quartet in three movements for a garden party near New York. Before moving to France, he also studied classical guitar and violin for ten years.
Vandoren Regional Artist Jenny Maclay is quickly establishing her career as a clarinet soloist, recitalist, orchestral player, and chamber musician. Ms. Maclay is the recipient of a 2015-2016 Harriet Hale Woolley Award to study music in Paris, where she attends the Versailles Conservatoire. She has achieved a number of notable musical honors, including selection as a semi-finalist and finalist for such international competitions as Astral Artists and Concert Artists Guild. Her teachers are Philippe Cuper, Mitchell Estrin, and Donald Dowdy.
Embracing his Penchant for improvisation alongside his passion for the classical and contemporary repertoire, pianist John Kamfonas has given concerts around the world, from Italy to India, Beijing to New York. Mr. Kamfonas is currently a musician in residence at the Fondation des Etats-Unis in Paris where he is pursuing a performance diploma at the Ecole Normale de Musique in the class of pianist, pedagogue, and author Jean Fassina.
Passepartout Duo’s Program
Hannah Lash – C Georges
Aperghis – Quatre Pieces Febriles
Wally Gunn – Can You Hear Me?
Franco Donatoni – Omar
Passepartout Duo’s musicians are drawn together by a shared value of art, people, and travel; however, they continue to collaborate out of a passion for communicating these ideas with diverse audiences. Pianist Nicoletta Favari and percussionist Christopher Salvito hail from Italy and America respectively, and are dedicated to organizing performances in both Europe and America with the hope of bridging the gap between cultural music ideologies and engaging a wider audience for classical contemporary music. Passionate about the piano-percussion instrumentation and the various configurations it can assume, the ensemble supplements its promotion of the current repertoire with a continual search for new composers and collaborations. For more information, you can visit their website and Facebook page.