Program Notes

When Daniel Kurganov asked for a piece that fit a starry celestial theme and I wanted something that might serve as a nod to his recent wedding, I found myself writing Aurora. Inspiration came from the quietude and solace that can be felt right before dawn; how this space changes when one chooses a mate to spend all dawns with.

Origin: the meaning of Aurora in Latin is "dawn", and also referred to Aurora, the Roman goddess of sunrise.

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About the Artists

Romanian-born violinist Ruxandra Simionescu-Marquardt attended the ‘George Enescu’ School of Music and Conservatory of Music in Bucharest, where she was profoundly influenced by professors Stefan Gheorghiu and Modest Iftinchi. As a young musician, she won several prizes and medals in international competitions such as “Concertino” Prague, Henri Wieniawski, Tibor Varga, All-Romania Prize (twice) and participated in the Yehudi Menuhin Competition. In 1986, she left Communist Romania to participate in the Indianapolis Violin Competition, defecting to the U.S. immediately afterward. She continued her studies at Indiana University with Joseph Gingold and at Syracuse University, where she taught for eight years. In 1988, she became the youngest Associate Concertmaster in the U.S., a position she held for 13 years. She was also Principal Second Violin and Concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony in Florida and appeared as guest Concertmaster of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the New Mexico Philharmonic. She has played under many noted conductors, including Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Fabio Mechetti, James DePriest, Raymond Leppard, and Andrew Litton. Ms. Simionescu-Marquardt’s solo performances include appearances with the Bucharest Philharmonic, the Bucharest Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Syracuse Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, Boston Virtuosi, Coastal Symphony of Georgia and the San Marco Chamber Society. As a chamber musician, she has participated in the Bayreuth Festival, Skaneateles Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, and the Grand Tetons Festival. Ms. Simionescu-Marquardt is a dedicated and highly prized violin teacher. She has maintained successful studios for the last 25 years and has prepared several young musicians for competitions and noted conservatories around the country. She is also highly sought after as a coach and clinician for musicians preparing for auditions in professional and youth orchestras. In 2012, she moved to the beautiful state of New Mexico and lives in Rio Rancho with her husband, Paul Marquardt, a composer and pianist. They appear frequently as musical partners in numerous duo recitals and chamber music concerts.

Judith Gordon, piano, gave her debut recital in New York, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 1990. She has performed concertos by Mozart, Saint-Saëns, and Ravel with the Boston Pops Orchestra, and works by Bach, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Hindemith, Berg, and Boulez with such ensembles as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. She has worked with a wide range of living composers, among them Martin Brody, Peter Child, Alan Fletcher, John Harbison, Lee Hyla, Peter Lieberson, and Donald Wheelock, almost all of whom have written works specifically for her. In 1997 she was selected by the Boston Globe as “Musician of the Year.” Judith Gordon has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Music at Smith College since 2006.

About the Composer

Michigan-born, Manhattan-based American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about women’s memoirs and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. Boyd’s five ballets include works choreographed by New York City Ballet principal dancers Lauren Lovette, Ashley Bouder, NYCB soloist Peter Walker, and XAOC Contemporary Ballet’s Eryn Renee Young. Eero, a ballet commissioned by Access Contemporary Music and Open House New York, was written for the grand opening of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Stephanie’s music has been praised as “a racing, brassy score” (New York Times), “attractive lyricism” (Gramophone), “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald). 

Boyd is the 2021/2022 Peoria Symphony Orchestra Composer in Residence, a position culminating in an entire concert of her works, including her violin concerto Sybil, her cantata Sheltering Voices, and a new work inspired by Betty Friedan entitled Everywoman, with Deborah Rutter, Michelle DeYoung, and Sirena Huang as soloists. The 2021/2022 season also includes the premiere of Julia Louisa Esther: a Suffragette Symphony with the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christopher Dragon; Alleluia Olora commissioned by Astral Artists for cellist Tommy Mesa; Aurora, commissioned by the Kurganov-Finehouse Duo, and others. 

Boyd’s music has been commissioned and performed by concertmasters of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Faroe Islands Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal players in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.  Her music has been commissioned and/or played by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New England Conservatory Philharmonic, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, the New York Jazzharmonic, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Roosevelt University Orchestra, the Eureka Ensemble, the JVL Festival Orchestra, the Texas State University Symphony, the Cremona International Academy Orchestra, the UW La Crosse Symphony, the Detroit Civic Orchestra, and the El Paso Youth Symphony. Her work has been presented by the Thalia and her Sisters concert series, the Moirae Ensemble, and Sandcastle New Music in New York City; Æpex Contemporary Music in Michigan; Juventas New Music, Collage New Music, and the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston; Cincinnati Soundbox, and others. Stephanie has worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Lina Gonzales, Earl Lee, Nathan Aspinall, Cliff Colnot, Gill Rose, Julian Benichou, Kristo Kondakci, and Kevin Fitzgerald.

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