Coming up in Philly music: Dolce Suono returns with 'Rediscoveries'

Two years ago, Mimi Stillman’s Dolce Suono ensemble received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts that supported two programs devoted to music Americans listened to during the Federalist period. Stillman has now received another NEA grant for a project that's eminently suitable for support by a federal agency. It’s called “Rediscoveries: Festival of American Chamber Music,” and it will present chamber music American composers have created during the last few decades.

As most composers discover, it’s actually easier to get a world premiere than a second performance. Music organizations love to announce world premieres. Repeat performances are less newsworthy. The first "Rediscoveries" concert will feature pieces by William Schumann, Vincent Persichetti, Elliot Carter, Leonard Bernstein, and one living composer, Shulamit Ran. They’re all composers with major reputations, but most of the works on the program probably haven’t received half the performances they deserve.

The concert will give its audience a sample of the range and variety of our country’s modern contribution to the classical-music tradition. The instrumentalists will be three of Dolce Suono’s regulars: flutist Mimi Stillman, cellist Gabriel Cabezas, and pianist Charles Abramovic. They’ll be joined by a versatile young soprano, Kristina Bachrach, who will provide the vocals in Ran’s “Moon Songs.”

The Dolce Suono Ensemble will present Rediscoveries I on Wednesday, February 20, at 7pm at Trinity Center for Urban Life (22nd and Spruce Streets). Tickets are $10 to 30 and they’re available online, by calling 267-252-1803, and at the door.