Monika Mevissen was blessed with two extraordinary talents.
“I look at my poetry and my music as one piece,” she said. “It is the whole of the concert.”
The concert, titled “Antiphons to Autumn,” features performances by Lisa Cella on flute, Mike Cerri playing trumpet, Peter Cohn on double bass, Ruriko Osawa at the piano and Greg Tompkins playing tenor saxophone. The group, assembled by Mevissen, will perform solo instrumental works of her own compositions, as she, from the front row, embellishes the pieces with the recitation of her poems.
Mevissen said, “The poem I wrote to capture [the essence of] this recital is as follows:
?Throughout the adversity of winter, which leaves us bare and nude as light intrudes even to the darkest depths of our forests, we bethink the fall of our summer robes and remember how we humbly surrendered our last flowers to the chilling winds of November. But now our leaves have decomposed and as they blanket our roots, become nourishment for our new growth. Our response: March.? ”
The antiphons, Mevissen explains, are like Gregorian chant, responding to autumn. The recital, she says, “will embark the ear on a disconcerted trumpet query, wander through mystical bass flute sketches, sway in nostalgic piano cradles … as it anticipates ? the arrival of spring.”
A native of Germany, Mevissen earned a B.A. in music composition from UMBC.
She considers her pieces to be intimate in their subject matter and reflective of a desire to expose the human heart.
“Her compositions are very interesting,” said Lisa Cella, Mevissen?s former teacher and flute player. “There is a mature sonic language [and] I love how adventurous they are.”
Saxophonist, Greg Tompkins agrees, “She?s a composer in the modern context of post-20th-century work. Her pieces have something to say [and] she?s not only challenging herself, but the audience and the performers,” he says.
Mevissen maintains that music is an avenue for social contact that brings people together in one room for a shared experience.
“I want the audience to feel freely, to interpret as they see fit,” she said.
IF YOU GO
» What: Antiphons to Autumn
» Works by Monika Mevissen
» Venue: An die Musik LIVE!
» Where: 409 N. Charles St., Baltimore
» When: Sunday at 4 p.m.
» Information: 410-385-2638
» Tickets: $8/$5 students and seniors
