From The Balkan Songbook by Alan Thomas.

Performed on May 28, 2023 by the Poway Symphony Orchestra at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. Conducted by John LoPiccolo. Soloist: Katie Kim.

Easy breezy vibes at East Neuk Festival’s Garden Party at Kellie Castle in Pittenweem, Fife. Live Music Now Scotland artists were invited to entertain the afternoon crowds with free pop-up performances on the 'Drying Green'. It was a fabulous day - thanks to fiddle and acoustic guitar duo, Robbie Greig and Sean Gray, and Prismatic Winds quintet for sharing live music, al fresco. The Okapi Duo (pictured above) features Katie Kim on flute and Brian King on guitar. Katie earned her BM in performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory, Ohio. Brian was born and raised in the culturally rich city of New Orleans, Louisiana and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Oberlin Conservatory in 2018. Read more about Okapi Duo at www.theokapiduo.com Thanks to Brian Anderson for the video, www.broadcastingcottage.co.uk

From the Balkan Songbook by Alan Thomas

Opaki Duo play Circulo Magico by Sergio Assad

Katie Kim - Flute, Brian King - Guitar and William Kass - Cello play D'un Aire d'una Mujer from Trio Sefardi by Alan Thomas.

Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Tim Weiss, director. Luke Lentini, violin Jason Butler, viola Linnea Scott, cello Katie Kim, flute Remy Libbrecht, oboe Amer Hasan, clarinet Justin Gunter, percussion Yimu Wang, piano Program note: "a very star-like start" is a short capriccio for eight instruments. While the ensemble has eight instruments, the persistent voice crossing, hocketing, and transparency of texture may make the ensemble seem much smaller. I completed the work at the Millay Colony, an artist colony founded by the estate of the Edna St. Vincent Millay and housed on her property in Upstate NY. The title comes from Robert Frost’s description of fireflies in the garden, a common sight on the colony grounds. The quote in fuller context reads: “Here come real stars to fill the upper skies, And here on earth come emulating flies, That though they never equal stars in size, (And they were never really stars at heart) Achieve at times a very star-like start. Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.” Though the title came at the end of the compositional process, as it often does, the poem did seem to express a metaphor for the mosaic construction of this piece, as well as the humility and supplication of the creative process. —John Liberatore