A native of Kyoto, Japan, Mio Nakamura has established herself as an in-demand soloist, collaborative artist, and chamber musician in the Chicago area and abroad.

She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance with honors, as well as a performance diploma, from Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. A former student of Ludmila Lazar, Mio currently studies piano with Mary Sauer (former principal pianist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and organ with John W. W. Sherer (music director at Fourth Presbyterian Church).

 Mio's solo appearances include recitals with Chicago's Musicians Club of Women Artists in Recital, Lake View Musical Society, Fourth Presbyterian Church's Noon Concert series; on WFMT-FM radio; concerto performances with the Northwest and Evanston Symphony orchestras; and most recently, with the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest.

Currently, she is on the piano and musicianship faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago. Mio also is resident organist at St. John's Episcopal Church in Old Irving Park.   Previously, Mio served as principal pianist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2011 to 2013. With the CSO's Negaunee Music Institute, she has regularly performed for the University of Chicago Woodlawn Charter School.

In June of 2018, Mio performed in the Negaunee Institute’s Concert for Peace and at the League of American Orchestras conference with Yo-Yo Ma.
 
Mio frequently appears as supplementary orchestral keyboardist, guest chamber music artist, rehearsal pianist and audition accompanist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has worked intensely under the music director Riccardo Muti. She plays on the CSO's All-Access Chamber Music, MusicNOW, and Chamber Music with Robert Chen concert series.
 
Most recently, Mio has appeared in several concerts as part of “From the Heart of the Orchestra” series. These were free concerts presented to the public by musicians of the CSO while they were on strike and not able to perform at Symphony Center. The concerts were very well received and were featured on local NBC and ABC, as well as wsws.org.

Liza Sobel & Nathan Canfield

PROGRAM

Debussy - Ariettes Oubliées

1. C'est l'extase langoureuse
2.. Il pleure dans mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville
3.. L'ombre des arbres dans la rivière embrumée

John Adams - This is Prophetic, from Nixon in China

Nathan Canfield - Brennan Song Cycle

2. Le Grande Perche de Terre Haute
3. Downtown at Dusk

Walter Hilse - Psalm 27

Liza Sobel - Skin

1. Introduction: A jigsaw
2. Echo's Song: Follow me
3. Echo and Narcissus Meet: Still here
4. Narcissus' Song: Water, marble
5. Epilogue

Nathan Canfield is a Chicago-based solo and collaborative pianist. A recent graduate of Northwestern University, he received a Master of Music degree in 2018 under the guidance of James Giles. As a staff pianist at Northwestern and a private instructor with over forty students, he balances his working life with solo projects, frequently performing across the Chicago region and beyond.

He has collaborated in duo recitals alongside some of the city’s finest musicians, including members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Nathan is a native of southern Indiana, and in his spare time enjoys composing and arranging music, studying theology, and playing sports with friends and family.

Soprano, Liza Sobel, regularly performs both new and standard repertoire, as well as her own music. Liza frequently performs music by living emerging composers and has sung world premieres of music by: Nicholas Cline, Maxwell Ramage, Tom Schneller, and Zachary Wadsworth. Numerous composers have written pieces specifically for Liza including: Chung Eun Kim, Tyler Kramlich, Tom Peterson.

In addition, she regularly collaborates with Walter Hilse, composer, organist, and professor at Manhattan School of Music, who has composed eight pieces for Liza. She also attended the Castleton Artists Training Seminar festival, founded by the late Maestro Lorin Maazel.

Liza currently studies voice with Theresa Brancaccio. Liza is a doctoral candidate in composition at Northwestern University. She teaches a broad spectrum of music courses at Northwestern, including Music Theory, Aural Skills, History of the Symphony, Intro to Music for non-majors, and Composition for non-majors. She previously studied at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross Conservatory (MA); Cornell University (BA with honors), and Manhattan School of Music.

Texts and Translations

Debussy Arriettes Oubliées; Poems by Paul Verlaine

1.) C’est l’extase langoureuse

It is the langorous ecstasy,
It is the fatigue after love,
It is all the rustling of the wood, In the embrace of breezes;
It is near the gray branches:
A chorus of tiny voices.

Oh, what a frail and fresh murmur! It babbles and whispers,
It resembles the soft noise
That waving grass exhales.

You might say it were, under the bending stream,
The muffled sound of rolling pebbles.

This soul, which laments
And this dormant moan,
It is ours, is it not?
Is it [not] mine[?] -- tell [me] -- and yours, Whose humble anthem we breathe

On this mild evening, so very quietly?

2.) Il pleure dans mon cœur

There is weeping in my heart as there is rain on the town. What is this languor
into which my heart seeps?

Oh, soft sound of the rain
on the ground and on the roofs! For a heart which is forlorn, oh, the sound of the rain!

It weeps for no reason
in this sickening heart.
What! No treason?
This mourning is without reason.

It is indeed the worst torment not to know why,
without love and without hatred, my heart has so much sadness!

There is weeping in my heart as there is rain on the town. What is this languor
into which my heart seeps?

Oh, soft sound of the rain
on the ground and on the roofs! For a heart which is forlorn, oh, the sound of the rain!

It weeps for no reason
in this sickening heart.
What! No treason?
This mourning is without reason.

It is indeed the worst torment not to know why,
without love and without hatred, my heart has so much sadness!

3.) L'ombre des arbres dans la rivière embrumée

The shadow of the trees in the misty river fades and dies like smoke;
while above, among the real branches, the doves are lamenting.

Oh traveler, how well this pale landscape mirrored you pallid self!
And how sadly, in the high foliage, your

hopes were weeping,
your hopes that are drowned.

Nathan Canfield’s IIIII; poems by Matthew Brennan

2.) LE GRANDE PERCH DE TERRE HAUTE

Leaving the ripened fields of wheat

before the early snow,

the cawing crows arrive in crowds—

a painting by Van Gogh.

At dusk, across the Wabash River,

a yellow light remains,

while swirling birds as black as ink

darken the sky like stains,

then pack the leafless trees like pews,

parishioners in a church;

one, higher than the rest, has made

the courthouse dome his perch.

3.) DOWNTOWN AT DUSK

Now that day is gone, a gray half-light

Is filling in the open spaces

Between buildings shut to the coming

Dark. Twilight erodes the bony

Branches of trees whose black hands

Hold up the gold of last leaves,

While the western moon, like a lamp post,

Patiently waits to light the night up.

Walter Hilse - Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat my flesh,

they stumbled and they fell.

Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the day of my life,

to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

For in the time of trouble, he will hide me in his pavilion

in the secret places of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he will set me upon a rock.

And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies around me:

Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifice of joy,

I will sing and chant praises unto the Lord.

Hear O Lord, when I cry with my voice:

have mercy upon me and answer me.

When thou saidist:

“Seek ye my face,” My heart said onto thee:

Hide not thy face from me; put not thy severance away in anger:

Thous hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

Though my father and mother forsake me; yet the Lord will take me up.

Teach me thy way, O Lord:

and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies.

Do not subject me to the will of my foes;

for false witnesses and accusers have risen against me.

If only, I trust to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

Hope in the Lord be of good courage and of strong heart;

yes hope in the Lord

Marianne Parker & Megan Ihnen

Megan Ihnen Marianne Parker photo

Program:

Blackbird Etude - Ed Windels

Look Down Fair Moon - Alan Theisen

Selections from Buffy Miniatures - Rossa Crean

Air Stirs - Nicole Murphy

Thief’s Song - Eric Pazdziora

Give Me Your Hand - Cecilia Livingston

Miracle Ear - David Lang

Prix Fixe - Kevin Wilt

Pianist Marianne Parker and mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen are a chamber music duo inspired by exploring new modes of expression for their traditional instrumentation. Their mission is two-fold: connect eager audiences with composers who are writing contemporary art song and to encourage young musicians to explore beyond the boundaries of voice and piano duos of the past. Both Marianne and Megan have curated anthologies of 21st century repertoire for NewMusicShelf. They premiered the anthology for mezzo-soprano voice and piano at the National Opera Center in January 2019. Marianne and Megan enjoy working with students of all ages and abilities through their workshops and masterclasses. They seek to be a connective force between composers, other performers, and listeners.

Marianne Parker is an award-winning pianist and educator, active internationally as a chamber musician, recitalist, and orchestral pianist. Her debut album, Pages intimes, released in early 2019, features recently re-discovered works by Haitian composers. An active chamber musician, Marianne co-founded the marimba and piano new music ensemble, L+M Duo, in 2016 along with marimbist Laurel Black. The duo is committed to commissioning new work for their medium by today’s composers. Most recently, they presented their program, “Illuminating Wrigley,” in celebration of the Wrigley Building’s centennial anniversary - an event that was highlighted in their recent feature in Chamber Music Magazine; and were invited to perform at the Nief-Norf New Music Festival. As an orchestral pianist, Marianne has performed under the batons of esteemed conductors Riccardo Muti, Jaap Van Zweden, Michael Tilson Thomas, Ludovic Morlot, Carlos Miguel Prieto, and Michael Christy. Marianne is on faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago, where she enjoys sharing the joy of music with students of all ages and abilities. Marianne is currently curating a 21st century anthology of works for solo piano through New Music Shelf Publishing. Marianne’s work is driven by her passion to communicate the vibrancy and variety of classical music, especially to those who have yet to discover it.

Megan Ihnen is a “new music force of nature.” Her performances thrive on elaborate sound worlds and fully-developed dramatic interpretations. Passionate about performing contemporary chamber music and opera, Megan has worked with individuals and ensembles around the globe including: International Contemporary Ensemble, Fifth House Ensemble, Great Noise Ensemble, Rhymes With Opera, and Synchromy. She is deeply committed to the belief that new music should be accessible in cities and towns of all sizes. She has recently traveled to and performed on SPLICE Festival, Oh My Ears, ÆPEX Contemporary Performance, Detroit New Music “Strange Beautiful Music Marathon”, Omaha Under the Radar Festival, Works and Process at the Guggenheim Series, and New Music Gathering. Her voice and saxophone duo Megan Ihnen & Alan Theisen present… has traveled to twenty four cities in the US since 2017. Learn more about Megan at meganihnen.com.

Sonatina in C	Friedrich Kuhlau
Rohan Thiruvathukal, piano
La Donne e Mobile	Giuseppe Verdi
Sarah Chae, piano
Mist	Liam Lupescu
Liam Lupescu, piano
It All Fades Away	Jason Robert Brown
Nick Dorado, bass-baritone
Bad Romance	Stephanie Germanotta
Sophia & Johnny Sebastian, piano duet
Mariage d'Amour	Paul de Senneville
Eleni Medero, piano
Nuvole Bianche	Ludovico Einaudi
Aidan Cullen, piano
Three Blues Pieces	Nancy Faber
Patrick O'Connor, piano
Minute Waltz Moment Musical	Frederic Chopin Franz Schubert
Aaron Davis, piano
Sarabande	Ludovico Einaudi
April Janney & Olena Luchko, piano & violin
It's Hard to Speak My Heart	Jason Robert Brown
Ross Matsuda, tenor and piano
The Man I Love	George Gershwin
Lukas Hoffman, piano

Sonata in C Major, Hob: XVI/50 I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Allegro molto	JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
Etude Op.10 No.1 in C Major	FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Etude No. 10 Der Zauberlehrling	GYÖRGY LIGETI (1923-2006)
Quejas, o La maja y el ruiseñor, from Goyescas	ENRIQUE GRANADOS (1867-1916)
Alborada del gracioso, from Miroirs	MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1936)

Sunday, August 11

ACM Student Showcase

PianoForte Piano Hour - Mio Nakamura

Liza Sobel & Nathan Canfield

Alyson Berger & Amy Wurtz

Marianne Parker & Megan Ihnen

Program:

Lakeshore Rush

~Nois Ensemble

Sound of Silent Film

LUTE

Joel Styzens

The Lucky Trikes

Dawn-Marie's Toddler Jam

CCMF Young Performers

Douglas Johnson and Michael Miller

Lishan Xue

Picosa

Ravenswood Winds

Ian Maksin

The Chicago Ensemble

1001 Afternoons in Chicago

Origin of Animal

Angela Zuniga & Jeff Kowalkowski

Jenny Viets

Lori Orlinsky