Leviathan Trio to perform at Smith Music Recital Hall Sunday

Caroline Kimbro, Reporter

Marshall University’s School of Music will present a guest performance by the Leviathan Trio Sunday at 3 p.m. in Smith Music Recital Hall.

The trio includes West Virginia Symphony’s principal flutist Lindsey Goodman, cellist Hannah Pressley and Marshall alumnus Joseph Dangerfield on piano. Their program will feature new pieces, along with George Crumb’s “Vox Balaenae.”

Mark Zanter, professor of music at Marshall, said the concert is part of the School of Music’s special guest artist series, which features around 10 performances a year. Zanter said the performance will likely please a non-specialist audience, as the concert features a range of exciting, new pieces. Zanter said many of the compositions are comprised of a range of short movements, which create an engaging performance for students to interact with.

“They want to have fun with this program,” Zanter said. “They want to make this music fun and accessible to their audience. It’ll be something that (students) are not really accustomed to hearing.”

Now in their fourth season, the Leviathan Trio is focused on performing contemporary music, emphasizing collaborative commissioning. The group will also perform a piece composed by Dangerfield.

Zanter said the trio will also perform “Vox Balaenae” (Voice of the Whale) by George Crumb, a West Virginian composer from Charleston. “Vox Balaenae” is a work for amplified flute, cello and piano, which represents the story of Earth from a whale’s perspective.

“That’s always a great piece to hear,” Zanter said. “Crumb’s music is very pretty and colorful and has interesting subject matter.”

Zanter said this concert offers a unique opportunity for students to experience a high-caliber performance by accomplished musicians. Goodman is a soloist, orchestral musician, teacher and recording artist dedicated to electroacoustic pieces and living composers. She has released a solo album and given more than 100 world premieres. Pressley runs a private cello studio in Charleston and regularly performs in string quartets at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on rafting trips. Dangerfield was a Fulbright Scholar to the Russian Federation and the Netherlands, where he was a composer-in-residence at the Moscow Conservatory.

The concert is free of charge and open to the public.

Caroline Kimbro can be contacted at [email protected].