Clockwise starting in the upper left: Claude Debussy, Jules Massenet, César Franck, Jean-Marie Leclair
A Tribute to Erika Torri, Honoring Her 80th Birthday and Her Decades of Faithful Service to the Athenaeum
Presented by violinist Victoria Martino and pianist James Lent, with a special dance performance by Beatrice Antonie Martino
Friday, July 22, 2022
7:30 PM
Join Victoria Martino and James Lent, as they pay homage to retiring Executive Director Erika Torri in a performance of four beloved masterpieces of the classical violin repertoire.
The Bon Anniversaire concert is a gorgeous, light, and luscious program (Debussy, Franck, Massenet, and Leclair)—just like a delicious birthday cake—so it lends itself ideally to a festive celebration of Erika’s tenure as Director of the Athenaeum.
2022 is a Major Anniversary Year for All Four Featured French Composers
325 years: Jean-Marie Leclair (1697–1764), universally acknowledged as the founder of the French school of violin playing
200 years: César Franck (1822–1890), whose magnificent violin sonata is undeniably his most celebrated work
180 years: Jules Massenet (1842–1912), whose “Meditation” has become a favorite encore for violinists around the world
160 years: Claude Debussy (1862–1918), whose final composition was his exotic and hauntingly beautiful violin sonata
About Victoria Martino:
A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University and the University of California, violinist Victoria Martino has concertized extensively throughout Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan. Considered a specialist both in early music and contemporary performance practice, her repertoire spans six centuries. Martino is passionately committed to the revival of works by major composers that are rarely performed and has become known internationally for her monographic anniversary concerts and “marathons” of the complete works for violin (unaccompanied and accompanied) by many composers, including Bach, Beethoven, Bernstein, Brahms, Corelli, Dvorak, Gade, Grieg, Handel, Hindemith, Ives, Lutoslawski, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Nielsen, Pärt, Schubert, Schumann, Sibelius, Strauss, Tartini, Tchaikovsky, and Telemann. Martino’s “Mozart Marathon,” an nine-hour performance with James Lent, of all 32 of the composer’s violin sonatas, has been presented regularly to public and critical acclaim since his 250th birthday in 2006. Martino plays an original, unmodified Baroque violin by Michael Andreas Bartl (Vienna, 1760) and a modernized violin by Jakob Stainer (Absam, 1670).
About James Lent:
James Lent holds a DMA from Yale School of Music, where he studied under Boris Berman, Claude Frank, and Peter Frankl. He currently teaches and coordinates collaborative piano at UCLA and serves as the Music Department’s principal pianist for choral and vocal studies. James Lent has been collaborating with Victoria Martino since 2005. The duo has performed throughout North America, presenting works for violin and keyboard that range from early Baroque to contemporary, cutting-edge compositions.
About Beatrice Antonie Martino:
Beatrice Antonie Martino is a NYC-based multidisciplinary artist, choreographer, and performer who specializes in crafting works that celebrate collaboration and the intersections of art, music, dance, and digital media. Beatrice holds B.A. degrees with honors in Dance and Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.A. degree from New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study (Artistic Thesis: What Remains: Ritual Spaces for the Contemporary Mourner). To learn more about Beatrice's work, please visit: https://www.beatricemartino.com.
The concert will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. This event will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of each concert. Masks are optional. Proof of vaccination or negative test within 48 hours of the event is required. Event capacity is limited to 70% for now.