E&FA to Present Duo Diorama at Makawao Union Church

Ebb & Flow Arts will present Duo Diorama with violinist Minghuan Xu and pianist Winston Choi.

Ebb & Flow Arts will present Duo Diorama with violinist Minghuan Xu and pianist Winston Choi in a free recital on Saturday, March 12, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Makawao Union Church. A pre-concert discussion will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The Chicago-based husband-and-wife team will perform a wide-ranging program of 20th century classics and recent works, including Elliott Carter’s Duo, Stuart Folse’s Perperikon, Robert Lombardo’s Variations on Joy and Laughter, Claude Debussy’s Sonata and Vivian Fine’s Portal.

“We are thrilled to present this remarkable duo for the third time on Maui, with special underwriting from E&FA Board Member Paul McMahon,” said E&FA Executive Director Robert Pollock. “Their past two concerts were standing-room-only—our Maui audience loves them!”

“Both players were terrific. Xu’s fiddling featured spotless finger and bow technique, a keen feel for dramatic flair, and a big, sturdy tone free of forcing. Choi was a more than equal partner at the keyboard. His sound was lively and lucid, his digital work was immaculate, and his shaping of material showed insightful articulation of phrase and voicing.”—New Music Connoisseur

“Choi is an intellectual when it comes to music,”said Conductor Victor Yampolsky. “It manifests itself in his handling of musical forms and composers’ styles and wishes. Xu is spontaneous, rhapsodic, and romantic. Together, it is a wonderful dynamic.”

While on Maui, Duo Diorama will also record music for E&FA’s third CD on its Maui Institute for Modern Music label, due for release later this year.

Makawao Union Church is located at 1445 Baldwin Ave., above Pā‘ia.

This event is part of E&FA’s annual, multi-day, multi-site, international NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST FESTIVAL 2016. NSEW Fest 2016 is produced, in part, with support from the Makana Aloha Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, AHS Foundation, John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture & Arts, Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music, Edward T. Cone Foundation, BMI Foundation, Kosasa Family Foundation (ABC Stores), Central Pacific Bank Foundation, Mayor Arakawa Community Kokua Fund, Earle Brown Music Foundation and private contributions. Web site service is provided by Maui Web Designs.

Ebb & Flow Arts Inc. is a nonprofit presenter of modern music and multimedia events. The only such presenter in Hawai‘i, E&FA was founded in 1999 by composer-pianist Pollock. It aims to build bridges between the arts and connect artistic expressions and cultures. E&FA creates a global soundboard and mirror for music and art in Hawai‘i. E&FA also teaches children how to read and write music with Scaling Haleakala, an original curriculum.

For more information, go online, call (808) 876-1854 or email [email protected].