Fairy Tales and Fables

Sought after nationally for her one-of-a kind performances, Leslie Amper began her career with a critically acclaimed New York debut in Carnegie Recital Hall. She went on to delight audiences in Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco as well as at Monadnock Musicʼs Virtuoso Piano Series. A member of New Hampshire Music Festival, she is a frequent participant in Boston’s Emmanuel Music solo and chamber music celebrations. After two years at Oberlin College, she continued her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with Rudolph Kolisch, Gunther Schuller, and Russell Sherman. An acknowledged scholar and practitioner of contemporary music, Amper hasrecorded Andrew Imbrieʼs Short Story for Neuma Records which was chosen for the international radio broadcast, Art of the States. Equally adept at accompanying silent film, she has compiled piano accompaniments at the Harvard Film Archives for the short films of Georges Méliès and King Vidor’s The Crowd, among others. As a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts solo recitalist grant, she presented Messiaenʼs monumental Vingt Regards sur lʼenfant Jésus in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. Other performances include the musical component for the Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition 1934: A New Deal for Artist which toured the United States and the onstage piano performer in Peter Sellars’ production of Chekhov’s A Seagull at the American National Theater. Leslie Amper’s multi media piano performances related to the visual arts have been presented at museums and colleges nationwide including the National Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, California State University East Bay, Carnegie Mellon. Her piano duo performances with her husband, Randall Hodgkinson have included Monadnock Music, Emmanuel Music, Harvard Bach Society Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, and a command performance for the President of Iceland.

Leslie Amper is on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory Department, and Wheaton (MA) College.

Violinist Lilit Hartunian performs at the forefront of contemporary music innovation, both as soloist and highly in-demand collaborative artist. First prize winner in the 2021 Black House Collective New Music Soloist Competition, Ms. Hartunian’s “Paganiniesque virtuosity” and “captivating and luxurious tone” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) are frequently on display at the major concert halls of Boston, including multiple solo performances at Jordan Hall and chamber music at Symphony Hall (Boston Symphony Orchestra Insights Series), as well as at leading academic institutions, where she often appears as both soloist and new music specialist. Highlights from the 2023 season include concerts with A Far Cry at The Kennedy Center, Boston Modern Orchestra Project at Carnegie Hall, a performance of Ligeti’s Horn Trio for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s celebration of Ligeti’s 100th birthday, as well as the release of an album featuring A Far Cry, Roomful of Teeth, and pianist Awadagin Pratt and the launch of a new violin and cimbalom duo, Lamnth. Described as “brilliantly rhapsodic” by the Harvard Crimson, Ms. Hartunian can be heard on New Focus Records, Innova Recording, SEAMUS records, New Amsterdam Records, and on self-released albums by Ludovico Ensemble and Kirsten Volness. As collaborative artist and ensemble musician, Ms. Hartunian regularly performs with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, A Far Cry, Sound Icon, Emmanuel Music, Callithumpian Consort, Guerilla Opera, and Ludovico Ensemble, and recently performed as guest artist with the Lydian Quartet, Arneis Quartet, and The Rhythm Method. For recordings, photos, and news, visit www.lilithartunian.com