Ensemble Aubade performs vivid chamber music by European and American composers for flute, viola and piano (Peter H. Bloom, flute; Francis Grimes, viola; and Steven Sussman, piano) and masterworks for flute, viola and harp (Bloom and Grimes with harpist Mary Jane Rupert). The esteemed ensemble, based in Boston, concertizes across the United States, winning praise for stellar musicianship, vibrant performances, and engaging residencies.
Click the link for a short video of Aubade performing Allegro from CPE Bach's Wq 94. vimeo.com/555285680 |
In the video above, Ensemble Aubade performs Robert Russell Bennett's tribute to George Gershwin, from Bennett's Seven Postcards to Old Friends
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Francis Grimes, viola, is an esteemed chamber musician, orchestral player and educator. He has performed with the Boston Pops, Boston Opera, Masterworks Chorale, Sinfonova, Boston Ballet, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and other premier ensembles. He concertized nationally with the Star Wars Orchestra and performed with choral groups in tours of Italy, England and the Czech Republic. He regularly serves in the orchestras of Boston's venerable Colonial and Schubert Theatres. Mr. Grimes has served on the faculties of Milton Academy, All Newton Music School, Community Music Center of Boston, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the Young People’s Symphony of Rhode Island. He attended Boston University’s School of Fine Arts, and completed his BM at Indiana University as a student of William Primrose. He attended summer programs at Tanglewood and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. He also studied with Roman Totenberg, Bernard Kadinoff, Eugene Lehner, and members of the Berkshire String Quartet at Indiana University, and the Fine Arts Quartet at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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Peter H. Bloom and Mary Jane Rupert perform internationally as the Duo “2” (multiple flutes, piano and harp), with tours in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and across the United States. They’ve been praised for “beautiful phrasing, consummate duet passages, superb technical facility” (St. Andrews Performing Arts), and called “the very best players playing at the height of their powers…able to communicate the inner depth and meaning, the imagination of the music.” (Dr. David Tattersall, University of Canberra College of Music, Australia).
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Steven Sussman, piano, is acclaimed as a soloist, accompanist, chamber musician and orchestral member, performing classical music, jazz, and musical theater in New England and across the United States. He is the director of Opera Presto, toured previously with Brown Bag Opera, appeared with American Classics, and was staff accompanist at the Berklee College of Music. An experienced educator, Sussman serves on the faculty at The Rivers Conservatory of Music, teaches at the St. Marks School, and maintains an active teaching studio. He serves in the music ministries at First Parish Church (Bedford MA), St. Ignatius Church (Boston College), and Christ Church (Needham MA). He earned a Master of Music in performance from Boston University, studying with Anthony di Bonaventura, and a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University, where his principal teachers were Enrica Cavallo-Gulli and Jorge Bolet.
Mary Jane Rupert, harp, praised by The New York Times as exhibiting "indeed real sensitivity," has performed throughout the world from Carnegie Recital Hall to the Beijing Concert Hall. She has appeared with chamber ensembles, choral groups and orchestras across the United States, including the Record Players, Musica Sacra, Cecilia Society, Masterworks Chorale, the Boston Philharmonic, the New Hampshire Symphony, and New Philharmonia. She serves on the faculties of Boston College and Tufts University. Previously, she held teaching positions at Missouri Western College, Western Michigan, MIT, and Wellesley College, where she taught harp for 20 years. Dr. Rupert's recordings can be found on the North Star label and Harmony Hill. Her arrangements of the Nutcracker Suite for Flute and Harp and Flute and Piano are published by Noteworthy Sheet Music. A graduate of Oberlin College and Indiana University, she earned a BM in piano performance, Masters Degrees in both piano and harp, and a doctorate in piano performance. Her principal teachers were Gyorgy Sebok and Lily Dumont (piano), and Marcel Grandjany (harp).
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