Piano Pieces by Valerie Ross (Brookline Music School’s Faculty Artist Series)

Brookline Music School (BMS) presents Piano Pieces by Valerie Ross on May 12, 2013 at 4:00pm in Bakalar Recital Hall for free. Piano Pieces will present a grab bag of shorter solo pieces by Romantic and Modern composers, exploring the ways music can evoke different times and places, feelings and ideas in the listener. You'll hear music by famous composers such as Claude Debussy and Johannes Brahms along lesser-known works of Olivier Messiaen and Frederic Rzewski. The program will also feature a world premier of "Mystic Garden," a collection of miniatures by composer Brian Hulse.

Pianist Valerie Ross has been active as a performer and teaching artist, appearing as a soloist and collaborator throughout the Boston area since 2007. Ms. Ross is passionate about bringing art music outside the concert hall and enjoys giving interactive performances and workshops. Her love for new music took her to Europe in the summer of 2012, where she premiered several new chamber works and commissioned a new piece for solo piano. She works as an accompanist for the Halalisa Singers and serves on the faculty of Brookline Music School, Viki’s Piano Studio in Bedford, as well as running Music con brio Piano, a private lesson studio. She earned an MM in piano performance, with distinction from the Longy School of Music, where she studied with Randall Hodgkinson, and a BM in Music Education at the University of the Pacific.

Brian Hulse is Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at the College of William & Mary (U.S.) and Director of Composition at the soundSCAPE Festival in Maccagno, Italy (www.soundscapefestival.org). He holds degrees from the University of Utah (B.M.), University of Illinois (M.M.), and Harvard University (Ph.D. 1999). Hulse’s compositions include works for chamber and choral ensembles, as well as several chamber operas, and have received awards from BMI, ASCAP, Meet the Composer, Harvard University, and other organizations. Noted ensembles which have performed and/or commissioned his music include, Flexible Music Ensemble, Duo 46, Speculum Musicae, 20th Century Unlimited, the Empyrean Ensemble, the Rire-Woodbury Dance Company, the Harvard Glee Club, the William & Mary Choir, and the HBO series “The Sopranos.” He served as Composer-in-Residence for Intermezzo: the New England Chamber Opera Series, and was a Visiting Composer at Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus. His CD Pseudosynthesis appears on Albany Records.