Crosstown Arts presents the Mahogany Chamber Music Series: “Music for the Soul” in Crosstown Theater.

Crosstown Theater
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Doors at 5:30 pm | Concert at 6 pm
Tickets: $20 | $10 students

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Featuring:

Eunbi Kim, piano

Patterson Sutton Duo (Kimberly Patterson, cello; Patrick Sutton, guitar)

McCain Duo (Martin McCain, bass trombone; Artina McCain, piano)

The Mahogany Chamber Music Series is a series of three chamber music concerts curated by Dr. Artina McCain, spotlighting Black and other underrepresented composers and performers.

EUNBI KIM, piano

Eunbi Kim curates programs that compel audiences to meditate on the parts of themselves that are deeply buried. Creating performances expressing dreamlike “liquid elegance” (Times Union), her intimate performances draw from collaborations with composers, filmmakers, and theater directors to create experiences beyond the boundaries of the traditional piano recital format.

Kim’s recent album “It Feels Like” debuted at #2 on Billboard Classical Charts and confronts the multiplicity of truths behind memories and identity. It features world premiere recordings of works written for her by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Pauchi Sasaki, Angélica Negrón, and Sophia Jani. Drawing from the album and its themes, Kim additionally created a 4-night performance and conversation series, also titled “It Feels Like,” as an Artist-in-Residence at WNYC’s The Greene Space.

She has also created music-theater work Murakami Music, recorded an album of Fred Hersch’s rare concert music, and gave a TEDx talk in 2017. Kim has been presented at The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Asia Society Texas Center, 92nd St Y, and many more.

Kim holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for New York Foundation for the Arts and is co-founder of bespoken, a mentorship program for female-identifying and non-binary musicians. Her teachers past and present include Elena Arseniev, Anthony de Mare, and Rosemary Caviglia.

PATTERSON SUTTON DUO

Praised by BBC Music Magazine for their “beguiling” sound and by The Strad for their “wit and imagination”, the Patterson/Sutton Duo bring the rich cello and guitar repertoire to audiences around the world. The Patterson/Sutton duo have been featured artists at the Guitar Foundation of America Convention and have an ongoing relationship with The Juilliard School as Juilliard Global Visiting Artists.

The Patterson/Sutton Duo’s two studio albums, “Cold Dark Matter” and “Still Life: Collected Music for Cello and Guitar by Stephen Goss” were both released to critical acclaim and widespread international radio play. Composer and guitarist, Dušan Bogdanović declared: “Everything [on Cold Dark Matter] is performed with excellence and sensitivity.” The Duo strives to push the boundaries of the repertoire by commissioning new music for cello and guitar from top composers. Their most recent commission, “Still Life” by composer Steven Goss, was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award, the most prestigious prize for modern music in the United Kingdom.

Recent concert appearances include the New York City Classical Guitar Society, Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, Florida Guitar Foundation, Portland International Guitar Series, Minnesota Guitar Society’s International Guitar Artist Series, University of Colorado International Guitar Festival, Knoxville Guitar Society, Saigon Guitar Series in Vietnam, Shanghai Conservatory in China, Princeton Symphony Chamber Music Series, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, and the Strings Music Festival, among others. Their research in the field of cello and guitar performance has culminated in lecture-recitals at the Dublin Guitar Symposium, International Guitar Research Center Conference in the UK, and the Guitar Foundation of America Convention. Soundboard magazine called their GFA engagement “a deeply inspiring performance”.

The Patterson/Sutton Duo are strong believers in the transformative power of educational outreach. Funded by the US State Department, the duo held a guest-artist residency at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul in 2014, where they worked with the budding generation of Afghan musicians and gave a performance at the Canadian Embassy of Afghanistan. More recently, The Juilliard School has sent the duo to Bratislava, Budapest, Dublin, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and New York City as guest-artists to perform and teach at international schools as part of the Juilliard/Nord Anglia global intuitive.

Dr. Kimberly Patterson holds degrees from the Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is currently Associate Professor of Cello at the University of Memphis. Dr. Patrick Sutton holds degrees from the University of Denver and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is on the guitar faculty at the University of Memphis and Arkansas State University. The duo became husband and wife in June of 2017.

MCCAIN DUO

Known for their fusion of classical, jazz and gospel programming, the McCain Duo (Artina and Martin) present concerts with a surprising depth of emotional contrasts. Audiences describe their performances as “breathtaking, awe-inspiring, and invigorating.” Their marriage and musical collaboration create an intimate range of tone colors and imaginative storytelling.

The McCain Duo are champions of building personal connections with composers to create a larger repertoire. Their award-winning albums Shades and Trombone Czar: The Extended Version feature commissioned works and were each honored with two Global Music Awards.

The duo has performed throughout Asia: at Mahidol University (Thailand), The University of Toronto (Canada) and Radio Television Hong Kong. US highlights include performances at the Gateways Music Festival (NY), the American Trombone Workshop (VA), and The Great American Brass Band Festival (KY). Their concerts and recordings have been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today, CKWR Toronto, and KMFA Classical Austin.

Martin McCain, trombone

A third-generation musician, Martin McCain’s career spans an impressive range of musical genres. As an ambassador of the bass trombone, Martin maintains a versatile performance schedule as a soloist, recording artist, chamber, orchestral, jazz/commercial musician and educator. He is a four-time winner of the Global Music Awards and was featured as their “Emerging Artist” in Billboard magazine, with performances described as “solid and masterful,” (International Trombone Association Journal) with a “warm and beautiful,” tone (Glissando Magazine).

McCain’s performances include concerts at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Croatian National Theatre and others. His performances have been broadcast on CNN’s Juneteenth: A Global Celebration of Freedom, Radio Television Hong Kong and NPR’s “Performance Today”.

As a recording artist, Martin has released four CDs, Renew (2021), Trombone Czar: The Extended Version (2015), Shades (2014), and Trombone Czar: Russian Treasures Recorded Live! (2012) . As a soloist, Martin has performed with the Croatian Army Wind Band, United States Army Concert Band “Pershing’s Own” and the United States Army Brass Quintet. As an orchestral player, he has performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and others.

McCain is the leader of the award-winning jazz trombone ensemble, JazzBonez and a member of the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass. Martin regularly performs with his wife, pianist Artina McCain as the McCain Duo. As a jazz/commercial musician, he has performed with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Frank Sinatra Jr. Orchestra and several Broadway touring ensembles.

In the 2022-23 season, Martin will be an artist-in-residence at Stetson University. Other upcoming engagements include performances in London, Toronto and touring with the McCain Duo. A passionate advocate of creating new trombone repertoire, McCain has commissioned and arranged works that are becoming standard in the canon. These works include his own arrangements of Weber/Rachmaninov, Jack Wilds’ Leviathan for trombone ensemble and Marcus Wilcher’s Shades (international solo competition repertoire).

McCain received his Bachelor of Music degree with a business minor at the University of Southern Mississippi, along with a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Martin McCain is a performing artist for S.E. Shires, Reunion Blues Gig Bags and plays on the “McCain” signature mouthpiece series manufactured by Pickett Brass. Currently, he is an Artist/Teacher of Trombone and Coordinator of Brass at Texas State University.

In his spare time, Martin is an avid barbecue pitmaster and sports enthusiast.

Artina McCain, piano

Described as a pianist with “power and finesse”, “beautiful and fiery” (KMFA Austin) and having a “sense of color, balance and texture” (Austin Chamber Music Center) Artina McCain, has a built a three-fold career as a performer, educator and speaker. As a recitalist, her credits include performances at Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre in London, Weill Hall at Carnegie and Merkin Hall in New York City and more. Other highlights include guest appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra.

Dedicated to promoting the works of Black and other underrepresented composers, McCain curates Underrepresented Composers Concerts for multiple arts organizations. She is an American Prize winner for her solo piano recordings of these works and won a Gold Global Music Award for her recent album project Heritage. In 2021, Hal Leonard published her transcriptions of Twenty-Four Traditional African American Folk Songs. In 2022, she was the mistress of ceremony for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

McCain was a featured inspirational leader in the award-winning PBS documentary series Roadtrip Nation: Degree of Impact in an episode exploring the real-world impact of professionals with doctoral degrees in and outside of academia.

McCain’s performances have been heard on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), Germany’s WDR and television appearances including features on CSPAN for the MLK 50 Commemoration. McCain is a three-time Global Music Awards winner including collaborative projects I, Too (Naxos), with soprano Icy Monroe, focused on African American Spirituals and Art Songs and Shades, a collaboration with her husband and duo partner Martin McCain.

After not performing for 6 years while battling a performance injury, she now enjoys a prolific concert career with more than 10 years of full injury recovery. She uses her recovery to serve as an advocate of musicians’ wellness–curating articles, lectures, and forums to educate teachers and students. Her article on performance injury and Muscle Activation Techniques was published in the Piano Magazine. McCain has presented on wellness and other topics at Universities and the Music Teachers National Association Conference and the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy.

McCain graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University. She received her Master of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Currently, she is Associate Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Keyboard Area at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis and Co-Founder/Director of the Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition.

In her spare time, Artina enjoys boutique shopping, traveling internationally and is an avid tea aficionado.

Artina McCain is a Yamaha Artist.