Air (for Flugelhorn and Organ)

COMPOSER, VIOLINIST AND POET PATRICIA VAN NESS is Staff Composer at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational (Peter Sykes, Music Director) and Composer-in-Residence at St. Paul's Episcopal, Burlingame, CA (Susan Jane Matthews, Music Director). Her compositions draw upon elements of medieval and Renaissance music to create a signature voice that has been hailed by musicians, audiences, and critics. She has been called a modern-day Hildegard von Bingen (1,2,) with her ability to compose music “ecstatic and ethereal,” “both ancient and new” (2,3). As in medieval aesthetics, her music and poetry explore the relationship between beauty and the Divine.
1 Gary Higginson, Music Web UK
2 Gaby Beinhorn, Suedwestrundfunk, Germany
3 Susan Larson, The Boston Globe

PETER SYKES is one of the most distinguished and versatile keyboard artists performing today. His playing has variously been called “compelling and moving,” “magnificent and revelatory,” and “bold, imaginative, and amazingly accurate.” He performs internationally and appears on over twenty solo recordings. In demand as a teacher and mentor of aspiring professional performers, he is Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Historical Performance Department at Boston University and the principal instructor of harpsichord at the Historical Performance Department at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Since 1985 he has served as Director of Music at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational.

Robin Pyle attended Oberlin University and has played in New England for many years. His uniquely lyrical playing is admired by audiences and critics alike.