Music From Behind the Iron Curtain

How do world-renowned composers respond to censorship by a notorious dictator? In the case of three masters of the twentieth century, “with defiance and resilience,” according to Deborah Clasquin, Professor of Music at Humboldt State University, pianist and member of the Helmholtz Trio, which will perform “Music From Behind the Iron Curtain” on Saturday, September 9 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus.

This program of music by Serge Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich and Grazyna Bacewicz “celebrates the determination and wit each composer used to survive their world of oppression” in the Soviet Union of Joseph Stalin.

The Helmholtz Trio is Terrie Baune on violin, Carol Jacobson on violoncello and Deborah Clasquin on piano. Baune is concertmaster of the North State Symphony and Associate Concertmaster of the Oakland-East Bay Orchestra; Jacobson is conductor of the Eureka Symphony. In addition to teaching at HSU, Clasquin has appeared in Paris, Moscow and Kiev as well as other U.S. cities and throughout northern California as a recitalist and orchestral soloist.

The Trio will play “Five Melodies, for Violin and Piano” by Prokofiev, “Trio in E Minor” by Shostakovich and “Sonata no. 4 for Violin and Piano” by Bacewicz.

Tickets are $8, $3 students/seniors, and can be purchased at the Works in Eureka and Arcata, the Metro in Arcata, and at the HSU Ticket Office, or at the door. Call the Concert Line at 707 826-5436 for details. The Fulkerson Recital Hall is located in the Music Building at Humboldt State.


Helmholtz Trio Bios

Terrie Baune, violin, is concertmaster of the North State Symphony and Associate Concertmaster of the Oakland-East Bay Orchestra. She is currently a member of the Empyrean Ensemble, a new-music ensemble in residence at UC Davis. She has been on the faculty of UC Davis, CSU Stanislaus and UC Santa Cruz. Her other professional credits include four yours as a member of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C., violinist in the Gabrielli Trio, a National Ensemble in New Zealand, and the Concertmaster position with the Fresno Philharmonic, the Rohnert Park Symphony and the Santa Cruz Symphony.

Carol Jacobson, violoncello, has attended the University of the Pacific and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Her chamber studies include the Royal Danish Conservatory, as well as the Royal Conservatory—the Hague. She is current Conductor of the ArMac Orchestra and the Eureka Symphony. She has been a member of the Amicelli Cello Quartet and the North Coast Chamber Players.

Deborah Clasquin, piano, enjoys an active career as a recitalist, as well as orchestral soloist, and has appeared in concert in Paris, Moscow, Kiev, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco and throughout Northern California. Numerous prizes and awards have marked her performing career, as well as being broadcast nationwide by National Public Radio’s Performance Today. She is a Professor of Music at Humboldt State University and was recently nominated as a Distinguished Teachers in the Arts Program by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

Media

From Eureka Times-Standard: Taking their name from German scientist and musician Hermann von Helmholtz, the lineup includes HSU music professor Deborah Clasquin on piano, Carol Jacobsen, from the ArMac Orchestra and the Eureka Symphony, playing violoncello and Terrie Baune, of the Empyrean Ensemble in residence at University of California, Davis, lending her violin to the group.

According to Clasquin, she and Baune have played in different groups for the last 10 years, and the three have played together in various ensembles. In 2003, the desire to form a piano trio was finally realized and we can share in the spoils Saturday night.