Off Broadway Trio’s free concert to showcase contemporary music

The Off Broadway Trio’s concert this week at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts will offer a rare opportunity to see music composed by living composers played live in Columbus.

The group features three Columbus State University faculty members. The members are Susan Tomkiewicz, CSU’s associate professor of Oboe, Stephanie Patterson, CSU’s assistant professor of Bassoon, and Susan Hoskins, CSU’s collaborative piano coordinator.

Since beginning their time together in 2016, the trio has performed all over the United States.

Although the ensemble is relatively new, Tomkiewicz said they have big plans for their show.

“Off Broadway is currently planning a performance of two world-premieres at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Granada, Spain, in the fall of 2018,” she said.

If all goes as planned, this will be the ensemble’s international debut.

Off Broadway Trio’s concert this week is titled After the Rain. The repertoire will include contemporary music written in the 20th century. Two of the compositions were written by living composers Peter Hope and Theodor Burkali.

Although CSU does have a Contemporary Ensemble and a Composition degree track, most other concerts in Columbus feature more traditional music of the classical genre from past eras like the Romantic, Classical or Baroque periods.

Off Broadway Trio’s After the Rain concert repertoire boasts well-balanced variety within the genre. Listeners can look forward to hearing Hope’s “Four Sketches for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano,” Francaix’s “Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano” and Burkali’s “After the Rain” for which the concert was named.

Tomkiewicz said that the Off Broadway Trio was created for two very specific purposes.

“The trio is dedicated to promoting existing works for oboe, bassoon and piano,” she said. “We also commission new works for this configuration.”

Off Broadway Trio is only one example of over 200 concerts a year given through CSU that are free and open to the public.

For more information about this concert or other concerts presented for free through CSU, visit music.columbusstate.edu.

This story was originally published October 22, 2017 at 3:14 AM with the headline "Off Broadway Trio’s free concert to showcase contemporary music."