As Pastorius Park’s concert series winds down for the summer, this week’s performance harkens back to the concert’s classical music origins.
New River Ensemble (NRE) will perform chamber music at the park, but not in the way audiences may expect. Their music aligns with Chestnut Hill Community Association’s mission to offer expansive music to its residents.
“We do multigenre work under the guise of chamber music, but in this program, we won’t be playing Beethoven or Brahms or Bach,” Lisa Liske-Doorandish said. As cellist of the three-piece ensemble, she’s most excited to perform work composed by partners Martha Hyde and Brendan Cooney.
The group coalesced at Friends Music Summer Camp in 2002. Though they live in different states and independently pursue different avenues of classical music, they still share a love of teaching and performing for young children. They’ve also held workshops for children and performed in elementary schools.
Liske-Doorandish teaches cello at Meredith College and has a private studio in Cary, North Carolina for students young and old. She counts herself lucky to find secure success at playing the cello.
Hyde bounced from percussion to strings to woodwinds as a child through a series of fortunate events. She moved to New York City after college, taking her first gig there with National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in 1979. She currently works in a pit orchestra on Broadway, and will play clarinet, flute, and piccolo at Pastorius Park with NRE.
Liske-Doorandish calls Hyde’s original compositions “inviting and pure. [They have] an open and fresh feeling that always gives me a sense of hope.” One piece Hyde composed for the group is called “Trio of American Dance.” It surveys folk dance traditions in four classical movements.
“There are a number of elements that are endemic to American dance,” Hyde said. The piece opens with a barn dance, slows to a ballad, and ends with a jig and reel. However, Hyde’s compositions are not limited to European styles. NRE will also perform a piece she wrote inspired by an Iroquois creation myth entitled “The Woman Who Fell From the Sky.”
“We’re gonna read the story before we play the piece,” Hyde said. NRE hopes equipping its audience with context opens hearts to different kinds of music. As teachers, the trio seeks to inform and inspire its audience with renewed styles of chamber music.
Folklore with a twist
NRE will also perform some original works from Cooney, including an adventurous reimagining of a showtune by Cole Porter. Cooney studied jazz piano at Oberlin College and performs gigs around Philadelphia separate from NRE. He lives and teaches in Mt. Airy.
Another piece Cooney composed for the group meditates on the John Henry folklore. In the 19th-century story, Henry dies after beating advancing railroad technology, either from exhaustion or from the heartbreaking reality that machines will overtake the human worker. Cooney wrote his rendition, entitled “Automation,” after examining the effects of the pandemic on music consumption.
“I try to write music that is meaningful to me and fun to play,” Cooney said. The jazz pianist commonly inserts improvisational interludes and compelling harmonic changes into his compositions. Liske-Doorandish hopes the ensemble’s excitement to perform inspires attending children to learn music.
Chamber music lives
In addition to their original compositions, NRE will also perform selections from Claude Debussy’s Children’s Corner suite. They hope integrating groovy arrangements of classical pieces and original explorations of unfamiliarity sows curiosity in their audience.
“There was a time when so-called classical musicians were always playing new music and rearranging well-known pieces for their audiences,” Cooney said. NRE strives to revitalize this classical tradition with their compositions and performance. Hyde describes chamber music as a “living organism.”
On composing, Cooney said, “It takes practice and a little bit of fearlessness.” Over time, composing transformed into a practical skill he began to enjoy. Since piano-clarinet-cello trios are uncommon, he and Hyde consistently create magic.
Liske-Doorandish said the ensemble typically performs at private events in Philadelphia, so she’s excited to play for a new group of people. She and Hyde will travel from their respective states a few days before the show to rehearse with Cooney. Hyde looks forward to being in Philadelphia again.
“We can press a button and hear anything these days, but it’s not the same,” Liske-Doorandish said. “Having a really unpredictably diverse audience who don’t quite know what we’re gonna spring on them is exciting.”
New River Ensemble performs at the Pastorius Park Concerts, 8177 Roanoke St., Chestnut Hill, on Wednesday, July 23, 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
Born Cranky, an eclectic and jovial jam-band, performs at James A. Cisco Park & Pond, 299 Montgomery Ave., Glenside, on Thursday, July 24, 6 p.m. Admission is free.
