Soundbox Ventures Presents “Celebrating Ned Rorem” on March 8

March 1, 2024 – Sarasota

Soundbox Ventures continues its “Listen Hear” Salon Concerts at St. Boniface Episcopal Church with “Celebrating Ned Rorem” on March 8 at 7 p.m. The centerpiece of the program is “Aftermath,” a song cycle by the late American composer Ned Rorem written in the wake of 9/11, which contemplates the universal experience of sorrow. Violinist Max Tan and pianist Marisa Gupta return to the series and are joined by baritone Tom Meglioranza and cellist Lev Mamuya. The program honors the sacrifice of those who have served, embraces those who have experienced loss, and pays tribute to an American artist whose musical poetry continues to speak in today’s chaotic world. Each program is free and registration is required. A light reception with the artists follows the performance. Register at www.soundboxventures.org/events. St. Boniface Episcopal Church is located at 5615 Midnight Pass Road on Siesta Key.

“Loss, grief, sorrow—these are not topics for social conversation,” says Tan. “Often, we evade speaking about such things, but there is sometimes a need, though not necessarily a desire, for such conversation.”

Tan explains that the program pays tribute to the late American composer Ned Rorem, who died in November 2022. Gifted in words and in music, Rorem was also a prolific diarist, publishing scandalous carnal exploits as well as thoughtful and deep essays in music criticism and philosophy. As chronicled in Rorem’s “Paris Diary” from 1966, Leonard Bernstein pronounced: “The trouble with you and me, Ned, is that we want everyone in the world to personally love us, and of course that’s impossible; you just don’t meet everyone in the world.”

“Bringing Tom and Marisa together for this program is quite special, as they presented the European premiere of “Aftermath” at Wigmore Hall with Rorem in attendance, who was especially complimentary,” adds Tan. “And I have known Lev for over a decade and his penchant for poetry resonates with the core of this program.”

Pianist Marisa Gupta has a versatile musical life, performing solo and chamber music, ranging from rare repertoire of the past to a deep commitment towards music of today, performed with heartfelt conviction and a deep intellectual engagement. Born in the United States of Thai and Indian parentage, Gupta made her debut performing Prokofiev’s 1st Piano Concerto with the Houston Symphony. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including top prizes at the Concours Maria Canals (Barcelona), the Viotti Competition (Vercelli, Italy), Corpus Christi and Kingsville International Music Competitions, a Solti Foundation Award, a Fulbright scholarship for study in the UK, and many others. She was an Edison Visiting Fellow at the British Library (for the study of

early chamber music recordings and performance styles) and was named a finalist by the BBC for its New Generations Thinkers Scheme, an initiative inviting leading British

Gupta received the Diplôme de Soliste from the HEM Genève in Switzerland and her doctorate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has given lectures, masterclasses, and lessons at numerous institutions and has served on the faculties of The University of Huddersfield (UK) and The University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music.

Taiwanese American violinist Max Tan has been praised as “eloquent” (New York Times) and “warmly rhapsodic” (Boston Globe) for “rhetorical playing that transcends the barlines” (Wieniawski Gazette). Forging a varied career as performer and educator, he has performed internationally on some of the world’s most venerable stages, soloing with the Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, The Juilliard Orchestra, amongst others.

Recipient of the 2023 Gershen Cohen Violin Award, Tan makes his Carnegie Hall recital debut with pianist Marisa Gupta on April 3, 2024. His writings about music have appeared in “The Juilliard Journal” and “L’education musicale.” A Harvard alum and current doctoral candidate at Juilliard, Tan is founder and artistic director of Soundbox Ventures, the concertmaster of Opera Philadelphia, and assistant faculty of violin at Juilliard’s Pre-College

American baritone Thomas Meglioranza was a winner of the Walter W. Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Franz Schubert/Music of Modernity, and Joy In Singing competitions. Described in The New Yorker as an “immaculate and inventive recitalist,” his “Songs from the WWI Era” program was named one of the “Top Ten Best

Classical Performances of the Year” in the Philadelphia Inquirer. His discography includes the Schubert cycles and assorted lieder, and French mélodies with pianist Reiko Uchida, songs of Virgil Thomson with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Bach cantatas with the Taverner Consort. Meglioranza has been an oratorio and pops soloist with many of America’s leading orchestras and has also appeared with many period instrument ensembles, including the American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque, the New York Collegium, the Waverly Consort, and Apollo’s Fire. He also regularly performs with the Mark Morris Dance Group, including the role of Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas. A native New Yorker of Thai, Italian, and Polish heritage, Meglioranza graduated from Grinnell College and the Eastman School of Music. His non-musical interests include cooking and fungi.

Lev Mamuya is a musician, writer, and arts administrator whose work focuses the relationship between art and its consumers and interrogates the way cultural documents are received and evaluated. Having received a BA in History and Literature from Harvard in 2018, he completed his MM in cello performance at New England Conservatory in 2019, studying with Paul Katz and Yeesun Kim. Mamuya’s work today continues to operate across multiple practices and disciplines. Mamuya is a critic, non-fiction writer, and poet, with work published in The Drift, San Francisco Classical Voice, Boston Musical Intelligencer, and The Harvard Advocate. He was the recipient of the runner-up award at the 2022 Rubin Institute for Music Criticism. An experienced soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, Mamuya has performed recently with the Semiosis Quartet, Boston Public Quartet, Castle of Our Skins, and A Far Cry. Mamuya also works with From the Top, America’s largest national platform celebrating young classically-

trained musicians, and executed various arts-administrative projects as a freelance consultant.

Founded in November 2022 by violinist Max Tan, Soundbox Ventures is a project-based performing arts management organization headquartered in Sarasota. Tan explains that the mission is to “build meaningful connections between musicians and audiences by organizing artist residencies and concerts that focus on making the artist process accessible.” Tan adds that the group’s pilot “Listen Hear” series was incubated at the Sarasota Art Museum last season.

The “Listen Hear” series is “an interactive exhibition for music,” says Tan. “Each program examines a specific way we hear expression and meaning. Imagine walking into a musician’s living room and witnessing music being written, or artists gathering to explore chamber music…all with food and drink!” He adds that the series was inspired by Alex Ross’ book “Listen to This.”

“One of the joys of being an artist is to connect with a local community of friends and to produce art that is homegrown,” says Tan. “Think of Soundbox as the musician’s sandbox; it provides the resources to enable them to develop a project and then share it with the local community. I am extremely excited for this series and other projects ahead – stay tuned!”

Mia Laity, the executive director of Soundbox Ventures, says that the Soundbox team “believes in facilitating as many opportunities as we can for every individual to engage with music in a way that nourishes their inner artist. I’m especially excited to watch the ‘Listen Hear’ series further spread its wings in the grand space of St Boniface’s sanctuary. The space is ideal for gathering; the room is an acoustical

instrument in itself; and the context of the sacred space is in perfect harmony with the invitation to contemplate profound beauty in community.”

For more information about Soundbox Ventures, visit SoundBoxVentures.org.

Program notes to “Aftermath” By Ned Rorem

“In the wake of the September 11th shock, I asked what a thousand other composers must have asked: what is the point of music now? But it soon grew clear that music was the only point. Indeed, the future will judge us, as it always judges the past, by our art more than by our armies—by construction more than by destruction. The art, no matter its theme or language, by definition reflects the time: a waltz in a moment of tragedy, or a dirge during prosperity, may come into focus only a century later.

My need though, as I pondered this instantly and forever changed world—with the Twin Towers in ruins and the Middle East in sorrow—was to reflect the immediate through the choice of texts to be used for this project for Ravinia. A week earlier I might have opted for a whole different slant.

As a Quaker I was raised to believe that there is no alternative to peace. Perhaps it’s wrong, perhaps right, but I am not ashamed of this belief. As with war, so with love. Seven decades of observation has shown that love has as many definitions as there are definers. Having lost a great love three years ago, my mood at the close of my life is one of quizzical melancholy. As to whether that mood seems reflected in these songs is not for me to say here in words. Music speaks for itself.”