Flutist Denis Bouriakov will play with the St. Matthew’s Music Guild.
Saint Matthew’s Music Guild continues its fortieth anniversary season at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 14, at St. Augustine-by-the Sea.
Featured will be LA Philharmonic’s Principal Flute Denis Bouriakov playing Mozart and Saint-Saëns, a world premiere by Los Angeles composer/performer Dr. Dawn Norfleet and pianist Gabriela Lena Frank.
Bouriakov was appointed by Gustavo Dudamel in 2015, and has previously served as Principal Flute of the Metropolitan Opera in New York under James Levine.
Established as one of the world’s leading flute soloists, Bouriakov was the winner of the 2009 Prague Spring competition, and a prize winner at most major international flute competitions.
He has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “an expressively eloquent soloist.” Bouriakov will join The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s under the direction of Dwayne Milburn for Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 1 and Camille Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capricioso.
A world premiere of Dr. Dawn Norfleet’s piece “Trek of the Fantast” will be played on March 14.
A Los Angeles native, composer Norfleet hails from a musical family. She earned her Master’s Degree in Music Composition and a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at Columbia University, with a focus on African American Music.
She is a world-class composer of broad cosmopolitan and global influences. Her world premiere is a co-commission by the St. Matthew’s Music Guild and the Gabriele Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music.
Norfleet describes the piece, Trek of the Fantast, as “an Afro-futuristic journey of a sojourner awakening from misty slumber who proceeds through a maze of times and challenges that often excite but sometimes drain. Ultimately, the fantast’s journey is reached through drive, pursuit of wisdom, and ultimate trust in Divine Vision.”
Rounding out the program is Gabriela Lena Frank’s Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout for string orchestra. Named one of the Washington Post’s 35 most significant women composers, cultural heritage has always been at the center of Frank’s music. As a woman of mixed Peruvian/Chinese/Lithuanian/Jewish ancestry, she explores her multicultural heritage through her compositions. Her pieces often reflect her studies of Latin American folklore, and her extensive travels throughout South America.
St. Augustine-by-the-Sea Church is located at 1227 Fourth Street, Santa Monica Due to the devastating fires in Pacific Palisades, The Music Guild will return to its regular home, St. Matthew’s Church in Pacific Palisades, when it is deemed safe to do so.
Tickets are $45 or Music Guild Season pass. Parking is available in the Santa Monica public Parking Structure 1 across the street from the church. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit MusicGuildOnline.org.