Coming up in Philly music: One hundred years of Debussy

Mimi Stillman’s Dolce Suono Ensemble is presenting a two-concert festival in honor of Claude Debussy, who died 100 years ago, on March 25, 1918. The first concert, on March 26, got the event off to a spectacular start. The second looks just as promising.

The focal point will be one of Debussy’s most magical works, the sonata for flute, viola, and harp. The rest of the program features works by other composers that reflect Debussy’s influence or place him in the context of his time. They all employ instrumental combinations that exploit Debussy’s interest in tone color and the interplay of instruments with different personalities.

Two pieces come from the minds of living American composers: a 2010 Rhapsodie by Andrea Clearfield and a world premiere by another widely performed local composer, Thomas Whitman. Clearfield’s is one of the more memorable of the 53 pieces Dolce Suono has commissioned. Whitman’s employs the same flute, viola, and harp combination as Debussy’s groundbreaking trio.

Debussy was the first composer to experiment with this evocative combination. More than 130 pieces have been written for it in the last century, but his pioneering sonata is still the all-time champion. Whitman’s Soekia’s Dance is an entry in one of the more rarefied artistic arenas.

The Clearfield employs an instrumental combination that has attracted a number of French composers: flute, harp, and string trio. It will be paired with a classic example of their work: André Jolivet’s 1944 recreation of ancient Greek funeral customs, Chant de Linos. The fifth entry will be a sonata for another inventive combination, violin and cello, by Debussy’s great contemporary Maurice Ravel. Mimi Stillman will handle the flute parts, as usual, and the other musicians include violinist Amy Oshiro-Morales and violist Kerri Ryan (both of the Philadelphia Orchestra), cellist Gabriel Cabezas, and a young harpist with a promising resume, Bridget Kibbey.

The Dolce Suono Ensemble will present Between the Notes on Tuesday, April 24, at 7pm at Trinity Center for Urban Life (22nd and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia). Tickets ($30; $25 for seniors and $10 for students) are available online and at the door.