About the Program
Cellist Syneva Colle joins the Davies Concert Series to present the rhapsodic Cello Concerto of Errollyn Wallen. This passionate work, arranged for solo cello and string quintet, combines technical showmanship with soaring, heartfelt melodies.
British composer Wallen, the first Black woman to have her music performed at the BBC Proms, has been called a "renaissance woman of contemporary music." Her compositions range from popular-style songwriting to operas and symphonies premiered by Britain's leading ensembles. In her cello concerto, Wallen evokes the English "pastoral" tradition of depicting natural landscapes through intense lyricism and impressionistic harmonies.
Completing the program will be two other works celebrating the beauty of nature. The Fall of the Leaf by Imogen Holst, for solo cello, presents three lively variations on an Elizabethan melody. The Tree O'Licht by William Sweeney is inspired both by the sounds of birdsong and ancient Gaelic psalmody. Written for two cellos, the work incorporates elements of improvisation into a richly interwoven texture.
Colle is joined in this performance by colleagues Katie McCarthy, Abby Wuehler, Anna Luebke, Seth Goodman, and Omar Martinez-Sandoval.
PROGRAM
Imogen Holst: The Fall of the Leaf
Syneva Colle, cello
William Sweeney: The Tree O'Licht
Syneva Colle, cello
Katie McCarthy, cello
Errollyn Wallen: Cello Concerto
Abby Wuehler, violin
Anna Luebke, violin
Seth Goodman, viola
Katie McCarthy, cello
Omar Martinez-Sandoval, bass
Syneva Colle
cello
Multi-faceted musician Syneva Colle is equally at home composing, arranging, and performing as a cellist and pianist. She is a founding member of Arco, a string orchestra based in Washington, D.C., and a founding member of the Corwin Trio, a professional ensemble based in Nashville, TN. As an experienced session musician, her performances and original string arrangements are featured on over twenty albums spanning a variety of musical genres.
Syneva is passionate about promoting community well-being through music. From 2020 to 2021 she served as Artist-in-Residence at the Collington Life Plan Community. One of her proudest accomplishments is the eight years she spent volunteering with the W.O. Smith Music School, a non-profit center for music education. She has served on the faculty of the W.O. Smith Resident Camp as well as the Tennessee Valley Music Festival.
As a composer, Syneva has a growing catalogue of published music for voice, piano, and strings. In 2016 she composed the original film score for the documentary Huan Dao. Most recently, Syneva’s full-length musical Land Girls (co-written with Stefni Colle) was one of four works produced at the 2019 Atlanta Music Theatre Festival.
After twelve years of working as a freelance musician in Nashville, Syneva relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2019 to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Cello Performance from the University of Maryland. She is studying cello with Dr. Eric Kutz.