Release Date: May 1, 2014
Catalog #: NV5952
Format: Digital & Physical
20th Century
Chamber
Piano
Violin

Ballade

Leoš Janácek composer
George Enescu composer
Edvard Grieg composer

duo526
Kerry DuWors violin
Futaba Niekawa piano

With uncompromised interpretation, duo526, the powerful union of violinist Kerry DuWors and pianist Futaba Niekawa, presents BALLADE, their debut on Navona Records, performing violin sonatas by Leoš Janácek, George Enescu, and Edvard Grieg-repertoire rarely performed together. Yet each of the three sonatas introduces themes from European folk tunes and exalted Romanticism. Janácek’s Violin Sonata illustrates a dynamic conversation, each instrument frequently interrupting, restating, and reacting to what the other pronounces. In Sonata No. 3 in C Minor by Grieg, piano and violin often move together in a dance-like fashion, leading one another to the next phrase. Enescu’s Violin Sonata No. 2 weighs chromatic harmonies against controlled and sustained melodies, exploring the tones of loneliness and melancholy. These pieces highlight the faculties of DuWors and Niekawa-the sustained vibrato, the harmonic sensitivity, the rhythmic spontaneity, precision, and much more.

Founded in 2011 while DuWors and Niekawa were attending the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, duo526 has performed throughout the United States and Canada, nurturing their passion for collaboration and duo playing.

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Artist Information

duo526

Ensemble

duo526 was founded in 2011 by violinist Kerry DuWors and pianist Futaba Niekawa at the Eastman School of Music (Rochester NY) where they worked extensively with professors Jean Barr and Charles Castleman. Invited to the Banff Centre for the Arts four times as Artists-in-Residence between 2011-2018, they worked with Henk Guittart, Roger Tapping, Lafayette String Quartet, Hardy Rittner, and Mark Steinberg. They have been featured on radio broadcasts including “Backstage Pass” WXXI (Rochester NY) and Classic 107 “Morning Light” (Winnipeg MB).