The middle movement from Philadelphia Portraits: A Spiritual Journey (Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child - setting by composer Cynthia Folio). Composed for and performed by Lois Bliss Herbine, Temple University, Rock Hall with pianist Charles Abramovic, May, 3, 2015 in a concert celebrating Cynthia Folio's birthday .
Philadelphia Portraits: A Spiritual Journey
THIS WONDERFUL FIVE-MOVEMENT WORK BY CYNTHIA FOLIO FOR PICCOLO AND PIANO WAS COMMISSIONED BY AND DEDICATED TO RESPECTED PICCOLO ARTIST LOIS HERBINE, WHO PREMIERED THE WORK AT THE 2011 ANNUAL NFA CONVENTION IN CHARLOTTE. IN THE PROGRAM NOTES, THE COMPOSER STATES THAT HERBINE SUGGESTED THE THEME AND PROVIDED FEEDBACK ON DRAFTS. IT WAS TRUELY A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS, AND THE RECORDING THAT I HEARD OF HERBINE PERFORMING THE WORK REINFORCES THAT SENSE OF SHARED JOY IN THE CREATION AND PERFORMANCE OF A NEW COMPOSITION"- ANDREA LOEWY, THE FLUTIST QUARTERLY 2013
INVERNO AZUL (BLUE WINTER): CHAMBER MUSIC FOR FLUTE BY CYNTHIA FOLIO, BCM&D RECORDS
RECORDED 2014 AT BOYER COLLEGE RECORDING STUDIO, BOYER COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND DANCE, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, PHILADELPHIA, PA, DAVID PASBRIG, RECORDING ENGINEER
Musicians: Cynthia Folio, flute; Claudia Anderson, flute; Jill Felber, Flute; Michele Kelly, flute; Marc Adler, flute; Kim Trolier, flute; Lois Bliss Herbine, piccolo; Charles Abramovic, piano; David Cramer, flute; Andy Laster, bari saxophone; Christopher Shelb, bass flute; Terell Stafford, trumpet; Bruce Barth, piano; Aleck Brinkman, bass; Dan Monaghan, drums
PICCOLO ON FOLIO'S PHILADELPHIA PORTRAITS WITH CHARLES ABRAMOVIC, PIANO; IN FLUTE QUINTET, QUINTLEXIA WITH CYNTHIA FOLIO AND MICHELLE KELLY, FLUTES; MARC ADLER, ALTO FLUTE; CHRISTOPHER SHELB, BASS FLUTE
Notes from the composer, Cynthia Folio:
PHILADELPHIA PORTRAITS (2011) is dedicated to Lois, who commissioned the piece and premiered it at the National Flute Association Convention in 2011. Each movement has a subheading:
I. Vincent Persichetti
The place where men meet to seek the highest is holy ground (Felix Adler, quoted by Persichetti)
II. John Coltrane
Let us sing all songs to God To whom all praise is due … (Coltrane, A Love Supreme)
III. Marian Anderson
I dearly love Negro Spirituals. They are the unburdenings of the sorrows of an
entire race, which, finding scant happiness on earth, turns to the future for its joys (Anderson)
IV. Benjamin Franklin
Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction (Franklin)
V. Betsy Ross
Ev’ry heart beats true ‘neath the Red, White and Blue (George M. Cohan, “You’re a Grand Old Flag”)
QUINTLEXIA (2013) can be performed as a quintet or as a flute choir piece. It was commissioned by the Oklahoma Flute Society as a celebration of the 20th Annual Oklahoma Flute Fair, where it was premiered. The title comes from a Saturday Night Live skit in which Bill Murray is interviewed by Jane Curtain because he supposedly had a disability, called “quintlexia,” which meant that he could only say five words: “That’s true, you’re absolutely right.”