On Thursday, Oct. 26, the St. John School of the Arts will inaugurate a new concert season — and the new grand piano that will remain a centerpiece of celebrations as the not-for-profit school marks its 20th year.
The evening's performing artists are the classical duo Double Exposure, and the piano half, Jamaican-born Eleanor Alberga, promises to put the new Yamaha 6-foot, 1-inch concert grand through its paces. She and violinist Thomas Bowes perform as partners – not as a solo violinist with a piano accompanist.
The London-based Bowes, who is English, and Alberga, who was born in Kingston, bring impressive credentials to their premiere performances in the Virgin Islands. (In addition to the St. John School of the Arts concert, Double Exposure will also appear at a Classics in the Garden concert on St. Thomas on Wednesday, Oct. 25, and at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College on Tortola on Friday, Oct. 27.)
Bowes, one of Britain's most sought-after violinists, and Alberga, among the world's leading black female composers and classical pianists, happen also to be husband and wife. They were so, in fact, for some years before they began performing as a duo in 1994.
Bowes, who studied at the Trinity College of Music, has recorded with the London Philharmonic and performed with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra on its historic 20th anniversary U.S. tour in 1998. His violin is a 1659 Amati.
In recent years, he has premiered numerous violin concertos, including one by Alberga commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In 1990-94, he was concertmaster and director of the London Mozart Players. He has worked with Sir George Solti, Michael Tilson Thomas and other leading conductors and has frequently been invited to lead Britain's major orchestras, including the London Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic.
Alberga left Jamaica at the age of 20 to study on scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her background, in addition to pursuing classical studies in piano and voice, includes having performed as a member of the Jamaican Folk Singers and of an African dance company. She was the "ghost pianist" in the British film "Truly, Madly, Deeply."
Her credentials as a composer include having works commissioned and performed by the London Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, London Chamber Symphony and the European Women's Orchestra. Her works encompass a broad range of Western and Eastern instruments, including the sitar.
For the Virgin Islands tour, the duo will perform two of Alberga's compositions, "Jamaican Medley," a tribute to her island music influences, and "No-Man's-Land Lullaby," an emotion-rending requiem for those who died in World Wars I and II that incorporates a motif from Brahms' "Lullaby." Also on the program are Bartok's Rhapsody No. 2 for Violin and Piano, de Falla's "Suite Populaire Espagnol," the Elgar Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor, Op. 82, and Ravel's "Tzigane."
Having "each established an eminent career on their own," a Washington Post reviewer wrote, Bowes and Alberga together "radiate an irresistibly engaging musical presence. Add to that a knack for imaginatively conceived programing."
Critics have concurred on the riveting emotional impact of "No-Man's-Land Lullaby," which Alberga composed in 1996 after visiting a number of European battle sites on the 50th anniversary of the Allies' victory in the Second World War.
An Arizona Republic critic credited Bowes with "a rich vibrato and passionate good sense. His sound was a silvery gleam up high that could turn to a woody warmth on the lowest string." This reviewer also lauded the duo for playing Elgar's sonata "without a hint of the fussiness that sometimes goes with Elgar, and with plenty of the rhythmic intensity that rarely does."
A San Mateo (Calif.) Times reviewer praised the duo's fiery, but well-balanced, gypsy fervor in both the Bartok and Ravel pieces. And in the de Falla suite, the Washington Post reviewer said, "the duo charged each passing mood with poetic nuance."
St. John School of the Arts director Ruth "Sis" Frank notes that the cost of the new grand piano was entirely covered by contributions from the community. "We sold keys and that kind of thing, and the Caneel Bay Resort paid for having it shipped from New York," she said.
Beginning its 20th year, the school has an enrollment of more than 180 students this fall, a "very big" number, Frank said. "We are trying to build a second building," she added. "We need it."
When, where, how much
Double Exposure performs on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. at the St. John School of the Arts. Tickets are $25 general admission and $15 for students with I.D.
Season tickets for all eight classical and non-classical concerts on the 2000-2001 schedule remain available at $187 general admission and $136 for students.
Reservations are strongly recommended, as seating is very limited. They may be made and further information may be obtained by phoning (340) 779-4322 or (340) 776-6777.
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