Ensemble Schumann

Michael White Biography:

Born in Chicago, Michael White attended the Chicago Music College and the Juilliard School where he worked with Peter Mennin and Vincent Persichetti. He was composer-in-residence for the public schools of Seattle and Amarillo, where he began composing operas. He subsequently taught at Oberlin and the Philadelphia Musical Academy. His passionate love of music has been enriching the lives of students and other music lovers at the Julliard School in NYC since 1979 and at the Wintergreen Festival in Virginia since 2007.

Notes by composer Michael White for Introduction and Dance for oboe, viola and piano:

This work, written for Ensemble Schumann in 2015, concentrates on the differences rather than the similarities between the three instruments. The emphasis, then, is on the very contrasting colors produced by a wind instrument, a string instrument, and a keyboard. The "Introduction" is a slow, lyrical duet for the oboe and the viola, and is followed immediately by the fast, rhythmically exciting "Dance". This new section uses constantly shifting meters, jazz inflections, and imitative counterpoint between all three instruments. In the final minute of the work, the oboe and viola drop out, leaving the piano to finish alone -- literally fading into nothingness.