Skip to content
This groupmuse happened on Wednesday, December 30, at 7:00 PM EST.

This is a livestreaming Groupmuse Virtual Concert

A live virtual performance with community videochat and a Q&A with the artists.

Harp and Viola Duos: Violetta and Jay play Bax and Kay
Virtual Livestream

Harp and Viola Duos: Violetta and Jay play Bax and Kay

New York City

Wed, December 30, 2020 7:00 PM, EST

Capacity
57 of 100 spots still available
No COVID-19 restrictions
Drinking policy
Bring your own drinks
Indoors
No bathroom at this event

Host

Stella P.

Hello all,

This is violist Jay Julio and harpist Violetta Norrie writing to you from our residences in New York City. We're so excited to move into the new year with a duo concert -- if you haven't been to one of our past viola-harp duo shows, you're in for a treat! It's a unique instrumentation, and we typically feature pieces originally written for other forces. However, this time around, we'll stick a bit closer to some of the first sounds that brought this duo formation to fame for the first half, with turn-of-the-century English composer Arnold Bax's "Fantasy Sonata" starting us off. We'll then move to the music of a generation later and an ocean away, with the Viola Sonata by United States-based composer and longtime presence in the New York City compositional scene Ulysses Kay. We're thrilled to be the first harp-viola ensemble to try this work in this arrangement!

We so look forward to seeing you there!

What's the music?

Jay Julio (they/them) Viola

Arnold Bax - Fantasy Sonata
//
Ulysses Kay - Viola Sonata

//

Violetta Maria Norrie is a harpist, performer, and improviser of diverse range and ability. She began playing the harp at the age of 6, after falling in love with the instrument at a Renaissance Faire. Since then she has performed orchestral, solo, and chamber music at venues including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Recital Hall, the Dimenna Center, and Symphony Space. Violetta has played as a member of many ensembles including Opera Theatre of Montclair and Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. She has been featured on The Today Show on NBC, MTV's Silent Library, and the Harmony ad campaign for Emirates Airlines. In addition to her classical repertoire, Violetta is interested in contemporary music, jazz, poetry, linguistics, performance art, and improvisation. She regularly performs experimental music and improvisations as a solo artist, as a member of DUO for Saxophone and Harp, and as a founding member of Yale’s student-run new music ensemble Versicolor. She is a passionate advocate for those underrepresented in the arts, and seeks to combat their erasure through inclusive programming and artist promotion. Violetta is a former faculty member of the Turtle Bay Music School, a current teaching artist at Virtu.Academy, and student teacher at Yale School of Music. She attended Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris as part of their year-long ERASMUS program with Isabelle Moretti and Sivan Magen and holds a B.M. from Manhattan School of Music. She is currently completing her M.M. with Dr. June Han at the Yale School of Music.

Originally from Uniondale, New York, first-generation Filipino-American Jay Julio is a multi-instrumentalist, teacher, and composer-arranger currently based in Harlem. They look forward to a change of scenery soon, beginning a new chapter as one-fourth of the 2020-2023 LA Orchestra Fellowship. They have recorded on United Common Records, Captured Tracks, Fiendish Endeavor, and Broadway Records, and most recently appeared in the official collaborative music video for Major Lazer & Marcus Mumford’s single, Lay Your Head On Me, released as a fundraiser for COVID-19 research efforts. Jay has received fellowships to attend the Music Academy of the West, Orpheus@Mannes, and the Aspen, Manchester, and Lake Tahoe music festivals; they have also spent summers at the Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute as a Young Artist of Color, and have been invited to the Spoleto and Pacific Music Festival. After taking their first viola lesson at age 14 at the Mannes Preparatory Division, Jay graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy at 16 studying with Renee Skerik with their highest musical honor, the Young Artist Award, received their BM in Viola Performance from the Manhattan School of Music under Karen Ritscher on full scholarship, and received their MM at the Juilliard School on a full-tuition Susan W. Rose Fellowship under the tutelage of Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Matthew Lipman. Through the LA Orchestra Fellowship, they are receiving a GC (Graduate Certificate) at the University of Southern California as a student of Yura Lee. Other important mentors include Anne Lanzilotti and Lina Bahn. For rhythm, Jay studies poetry.

Comments

Sign up or Login to leave a comment.

Violetta M., over 2 years ago

Thank you for coming everyone! It was so wonderful to get to play for you all! We hope to see you at future concerts (online and in-person) and wish you all a very happy new year :)


Jay J., over 2 years ago

Hello all! We're both so honored to came out (virtually) to listen to us, and we really hope you enjoyed this program of rarely-heard music that certainly deserves some more love! If you missed the live performance, don't worry -- you can still catch it on the Groupmuse page to re-watch it!

Have a happy NYE/New Year's Day and wishing you all a safe and lovely season!


Attendees

Joey C. Emcee
Kathleen I.
Cindy S.
Po-Wei G.
Holly B.
+4
Amy A.
Nancy P.
Laura J.
Sam Z.
Samn J.
Regina P.
Lee C.
Linda G.
Isabella A.
Louise K.
+1
Mia R.
Nancy J.
Corrina K.
Philip H.
David K.
Helen H.
Lucy Y.
Amy L.
Jill C.
Johnson F.
Ryan B.
Howard S.
Sheri R.
Stephanie G.
Solomon R.
David G.
Marghretta M.
David H.
Andrea H.
Webster G.
Evalynn T.
Carolyn S.
MIke K.
Elle A.