Invocation Véronique Mathieu, Stephanie Chua, Amy Beach, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Pauline Viardot, Grażyna Bacewicz

• Amy Beach (1867 - 1944): Mazurka op. 40, no. 3:
• 1 Beach: Mazurka op. 40, no. 3 02:56
• Invocation op. 55:
• 2 Beach: Invocation op. 55 03:30
• Romance op. 23:
• 3 Beach: Romance op. 23 06:01
• Grażyna Bacewicz (1909 - 1969): Sonata da Camera for Violin and Piano:
• 4 Bacewicz: Sonata da Camera for Violin and Piano: I. Largo 02:27
• 5 Bacewicz: Sonata da Camera for Violin and Piano: II. Allegro 02:29
• 6 Bacewicz: Sonata da Camera for Violin and Piano: III. Tempo di minuetto 02:25
• 7 Bacewicz: Sonata da Camera for Violin and Piano: IV. Andante sostenuto 02:28
• 8 Bacewicz: Sonata da Camera for Violin and Piano: V. Gigue – Molto allegro 02:06
• Pauline Viardot (1821 - 1910): Sonatina in A minor for Violin and Piano:
• 9 Viardot: Sonatina in A minor for Violin and Piano: I. Adagio 04:14
• 10 Viardot: Sonatina in A minor for Violin and Piano: II. Scherzo: Allegro 02:24
• 11 Viardot: Sonatina in A minor for Violin and Piano: III. Allegro 04:12
• Alice Ping Yee Ho (b. 1960): Four Seasons Ballade:
• 12 Ho: Four Seasons Ballade: Spring 02:49
• 13 Ho: Four Seasons Ballade: Summer 01:55
• 14 Ho: Four Seasons Ballade: Autumn 02:30
• 15 Ho: Four Seasons Ballade: Winter 02:27
• Florence Price (1887 - 1953): Elfentanz:
• 16 Price: Elfentanz 04:04
• Fantasy No. 2 in F-Sharp minor Based on a Folk Melody:
• 17 Price: Fantasy No. 2 in F-Sharp minor Based on a Folk Melody 05:35
• Total Runtime 54:32

Info for Invocation

Véronique Mathieu and Stephanie Chua present INVOCATION, a collection of works for violin and piano written by female-identifying composers of unique heritages, backgrounds, and cultures. With a wide range of aesthetics and a variety of compositional eras, INVOCATION presents a collection of wonderfully animated performances that provide a fantastic model for the exploration of these composers’ works.

Mathieu and Chua carry on the ever-growing tradition of bringing female-identifying composers from all musical eras out of the shadows. Their delicate, tender, and thoughtful iterations of these compositions solidify INVOCATION as a function of its title; a message to the women of this collection to step forward and shine.

Véronique Mathieu, violin
Stephanie Chua, piano

Véronique Mathieu
Described as a violinist with “chops to burn, and rock solid musicianship” (The Whole Note, Toronto), Canadian violinist Véronique Mathieu enjoys an exciting career as a soloist, chamber musician, and music educator. An avid contemporary music performer, she has commissioned and premiered numerous works by American, Brazilian, and Canadian composers, and has worked with composers such as Pierre Boulez, Heinz Holliger, and Krzysztof Penderecki. Her album debut of solo works by Boulez, Donatoni, and Lutoslawski was praised as a display of “outstanding violin playing” and “stunning [performance] with amazing technique.”

Mathieu has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, Shenyang Symphony Orchestra, Saskatoon Symphony, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and the Orquestra Sinfonica de Indaiatuba (Brazil). She recorded for the labels of Radio-Canada, PARMA, Centrediscs, Naxos, and Pheromone among others. Following the release of her 3rd solo album, Cortège, Mathieu was a finalist in the Classical Artist/Ensemble of the Year category at the 2021 Western Canadian Music Awards.

Mathieu holds the David L. Kaplan Chair in Music at the University of Saskatchewan where she serves as an Associate Professor of Violin. She previously served on the faculty at State University of New York (SUNY) in Buffalo, and the University of Kansas.

Stephanie Chua
is an expressive and versatile Canadian pianist devoted to presenting and performing contemporary works through musical insight and innovative programming. She has performed in solo and chamber recitals across Canada, Europe, and Asia. Recent highlights include being a featured performer in Soundstreams’ sold-out 2018 season opener Six Pianos at Koerner Hall (Toronto), a solo recital at SOUL Live Music Project in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) in partnership with Saigon Classical, and Music Toronto’s Discovery Series, and performances at Shanghai New Music Festival and the 21C Festival (Toronto).

In 2009, Stephanie co-founded junctQín keyboard collective with Elaine Lau and Joseph Ferretti. junctQín is a trio of pianists committed to performances of contemporary music and commissioning new works for their unique instrumentation. Since its inception, the group has commissioned and premiered over 40 new works from emerging to internationally established living composers.

Upcoming projects include a large-scale creation and recording collaboration with the Bozzini String Quartet and Canadian composers Rebecca Bruton and Jason Doell, and the award of a Digital Now grant from the Canada Council for Arts to commission three new interactive digital works.

This album contains no booklet.