Graduate Lecture-Recital: Jonathan Goya

Jonathan Goya headshot
Wednesday, April 6, 2022, 7:30 PM

Harkness Chapel, 11200 Bellflower Road
Free and open to the public

Harkness Livestream 

Program

Visit this page for the program information. 

The Violin Duo and Louis Spohr (1784 - 1859): A Career in Music for Two

~with~

Guillermo Salas Suárez, violin
Add Liu, violin/viola
Jane Leggiero, cello
Kameryn Lueng, special guest

Grand Duo Op. 3, Allegro (c. 1820)
Leon de St. Lubin (1805 - 1850)

Quatour Brillant Op. 82, Allegro moderato (1829)
Louis Spohr (1784 - 1859)

Grand Duo Op. 39 No. 3, Andante con Variazioni (c. 1820)
Louis Spohr (1784 - 1859)

About 

Duos for two violins were published in vast quantities in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and many of these duos are impressively grand in their scale and technical demands. Who was buying these virtuosic duos, and why was this instrumentation so popular at this moment in time? This lecture-recital will examine the pedagogical roots, social function, and economic value of duos and duetting through the career of Louis Spohr, one of the most influential performer-composer-pedagogues of his day. This exploration of primary documents, including published music, letters, concert reviews, and Spohr's autobiography, reveals the central role that duetting played in the musical lives of professional violinists, both within Spohr's circle and throughout Europe.

Historical violinist Jonathan Goya is pursuing a DMA at Case Western Reserve University, where they study with Julie Andrijeski. In addition to today's lecture-recital on the role of violin duos in the career of Louis Spohr, Jonathan recently presented a recital of French Baroque music for the Boston Early Music Festival Online Fringe Concerts. Before moving to Cleveland in the middle of a pandemic, Jonathan spent several years teaching at Bard High School Early College in Manhattan and performing throughout the Northeast. Jonathan directed the BHSEC Chamber Ensemble, which performed a vast array of music including works by Lully, Bach, and Haydn with period bows; excerpts from Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire with student choreographies developed in a workshop with Meredith Monk; and premieres of student compositions on nearly every concert. Jonathan served as concertmaster for period orchestras in performances including Handel's Samson and Messiah, Vivaldi's Teuzzone, and led the string band in many of Continuo Collective New York's 17th-century opera projects. Jonathan's latest side project, the construction of a clavichord, is proceeding very slowly.


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