Patrick Roulet and Pat Nelson perform in world premier at the Hotel Leo
The Bellingham Chamber Music Society ("BCMS") presents "Dreams" on February 22 at 3 p.m. in the Hotel Leo. The concert opens with Sul Irving Glick’s haunting trio for flute, bassoon, and marimba - "An Evening at Heaven’s Gate," followed by the world premier "Osmia: Dream of the Mason Bees" by American composer Jenni Brandon. The concert concludes with Antonin Dvořák’s American Quartet in F major, Op. 96.
The program features WWU faculty Pat Nelson on bassoon and Patrick Roulet on marimba. Other performers include Kim Breilein - flute, Lenelle Morse, Shu-Hsin Ko and Erin Furbee - violin, Lisa Humphrey and Eric Kean - viola, Erika Block - clarinet, and Sam Sinai - cello.
Ticket information about the concert is available at the Bellingham Chamber Music Society website.
World Premiere Osmia: Dream of the Mason Bees by Jenni Brandon
Commissioned by BCMS in the spring of 2024, "Osmia: Dream of the Mason Bees," is a world premier by American composer Jenni Brandon. Drawing inspiration from the ecology and life cycle of these early spring pollinators, Jenni Brandon has created an homage to these creatures in a delightful septet reflecting the richness of their short but busy lives.
This project came about as a ripple effect of the COVID pandemic. Locked up during the spring of 2020, in between teaching on zoom and trying to figure out how to stay musically inspired, board member and WWU faculty Jen Weeks found herself obsessed with these beautiful pollinators, bought her first 20 bees, built nesting and hatching boxes, and made educational mason bee videos for her public school teacher friends to use in their Zoom classrooms.
Board member Pat Nelson jumped on the bee bandwagon and they decided it would be great if Jenni Brandon wrote a piece for them. Brandon is well known in the music world, has written many pieces for woodwinds, and often draws inspiration for the natural world.
The work will be accompanied by projected imagery that follows the arc of Brandon's work in depicting the life cycle of the mason bee:
Spring time when the first fruit tree blossoms emerge - we start with cocoons - male mason bees emerge first and await females - mating occurs - females get to work creating a series of nests within a natural wood hole or in a human provided tube - they collect pollen to make 'pollen cakes’ for their young to feed on - they lay eggs - they collect mud to make the chamber walls - the eggs become larva - there are parasites and predators - the larva spin cocoons and await the following spring for the cycle to continue.
Pre-concert talk
Join Thyra McKelvie for a pre-concert talk from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Crystal Ballroom of the Hotel Leo on February 22. Thyra is a mason bee expert from Rent Mason Bees and is passionate about sharing information on these beautiful insects and their importance as pollinators.
