In this program that highlights exceptional musical partnerships from critically acclaimed albums, Amelia Lukas will perform Grossman’s snowy egret, january messenger for bass flute, this time at Reed College’s Kaul Auditorium.

Written while the composer was living in Japan, the work was inspired by Honkyoku, classical Japanese music for shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute. This solo shakuhachi music was played by wandering samurai monks in Edo period Japan (1600-1868), and was originally passed on as an oral tradition. The free rhythm and extended flute techniques such as flutter-tongue and bending pitches all reflect the sonic world of shakuhachi. During the summer rainy season, white egrets stand in the water among the brilliant green new shoots of rice plants. This image, along with hearing her husband practicing shakuhachi in their home, forms the basis for snowy egret, january messenger.

Additional program highlights include Brahms’ exhilarating F Minor sonata, performed by Artistic Director Gloria Chien and heralded clarinetist Anthony McGill, and work by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, performed by McGill and the Catalyst Quartet.