Diagenesis 2012-13 Season in Review

It's been nearly three years since Diagenesis first formed and each year has been more exciting than the last. We had a FANTASTIC 2012-2013 season!



September: We started our season with a Florida Tour! School outreach, University Masterclasses, Community Concerts, and University Concerts - It was fantastic and you can read all about it here.

October: JEN GOT MARRIED!!



November: The Helena Pierrot Project was an awesome event celebrating the 100th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, and one of the highlights of my professional career. The concert was hosted by the Myrna Loy Center in Helena, a wonderful arts center that has performances, films, and arts events throughout the year.

We began the evening with lectures from Carroll College professors that gave context for the creation of Pierrot Lunaire : Dr. Roncalli, a philosophy professor, spoke about the collective mindset of 1912, history professor Dr. Glaes outlined basic events in Europe around 1912, and Dr. Petersen, professor of music, described how Schoenberg arrived at the distinct musical sound of Pierrot Lunaire.

Then the performance! We had such a great ensemble: conductor Breanne Cepeda, violin/violist Stephan Cepeda, pianist June Lee, clarinetist Christopher Kirkpatrick, flautist Rachel Beetz, cellist Jennifer Bewerse, and me, the soprano! It was an honor to perform such a great piece with these fine musicians.

The entire event was backdropped by a gorgeous large-scale artwork made of layers of paper by Natalia Hayes.



The evening ended with a question and answer period (such great questions from a very involved audience!), then a reception generously hosted by the Helena Music Teachers Association. The auditorium was absolutely packed! It was an incredible night for Schoenberg’s piece - a true 100th anniversary celebration!

April: Diagenesis was honored to be the Guest Ensemble in Residence for the University of California, San Diego’s Springfest. We premiered a new song cycle by Steve Lewis and a piece by Yi Hong Sim, then performed Birtwistle’s 9 settings of Lorine Neidecker on an all Birtwistle concert. In a very memorable final performance, we presented excerpts of Mischa Salkind-Pearl's Hands and Lips of Wind in front of a giant fish tank as part of a installation-style concert at the Birch Aquarium. You can read more about it on our blog here.



May: In our second residency of the year, Jen and I traveled to Salem, NY for the Music from Salem Cello Seminar. It was WONDERFUL.

Living on a beautiful, magical farm, we enjoyed inspiring work with wonderful musicians: Rhonda Rider, Judith Gordon, and David Russell. Much of our time was spent working on a new piece, Attention by Matthew Whiteside, which we premiered on a recital at SAW (Salem Art Works). What an INCREDIBLE venue! The folks at SAW were excellent hosts. If you are in Salem, NY, you should go there - take a lunch, hang out.



For the week's final concert at Hubbard Hall, Jen and I performed Attention for a second time then came together with all of the other cellists to perform Bachianas Brasileiras by Heitor Villa Lobos.

June: I traveled back to San Diego to begin work on our new recording! While we're going to keep most of this info to ourselves for the time being, let's just say that, through a generous recording grant from UCSD, there will be a Diagenesis CD in the near future!

Jen and I are so grateful for all of the opportunities we've had this past year and especially for all of the support you, our fans, have given us. We couldn't have done it without you.

We're very excited for what the 2013-2014 season will hold and will be sure to keep you posted!

-Heather