Happy Monday to all!
For today’s Musical Moment, I want to introduce you to one of Houston’s best and most visible violin and piano duos, the Gerling-Mut Duo! They will be presenting a recital on Saturday November 6th at 5:00pm in the Chapel of the Ressurection as part of Friends of the Arts’ Chapel Chamber Music Series. Members of the Gerling-Mut Duo are violinist Dr. Ingrid Gerling and pianist Dr. Andreea Mut. Some of you may recognize Dr. Mut from her magnificent performance in the Friends of the Arts event “A Night at the Opera” on October 22nd.
In addition to their various concert engagements around Houston, Dr.’s Gerling and Mut also perform regularly in Hobby Airport as part of the “Harmony In the Air” series. More information about the performers below!
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Dr. Ingrid Gerling, a violinist native of Porto Alegre, Brazil, has performed extensively as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. She completed her D.M.A. at the Moores School of Music under the tutelage of Frank Huang, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. Currently she holds the positions of Orchestra Director and Professor of Violin at both San Jacinto College and the University of St. Thomas.
Romanian pianist Dr. Andreea Muţ attended the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, before completing her Master of Music degree at Sam Houston State University, and her Doctorate in Collaborative Arts at University of Houston. Dr. Muţ has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout Romania, France, Colombia, Mexico and the United States. Dr. Muţ is currently the collaborative pianist for GRAMMY-winning ensembles ROCO and the Houston Chamber Choir, and is a staff pianist at University of Houston. She also serves as the organist at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church in Houston, TX.
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The music I chose for this week happens to be one of my own pieces that I composed specifically for this duo. Since Dr. Gerling is Brazilian, I chose to compose a work that incorporates the bossa novarhythm. Some of you may remember my column on bossa nova earlier this year, but it is still one of the most prominent contributions to music by Brazilian composers. “Rain Lullaby” was composed in 2018 and is meant to simulate the coming and going of a gentle rain storm.
I hope you enjoy this piece, and that you will consider coming to their recital this Saturday at 5:00pm in the Chapel!
Have a great week!
Justin
