Cellist Michael Samis and Pianist Amy Dorfman to Perform at Blair School of Music's Turner Hall, 2/12

Pianist Amy Dorfman and cellist Michael Samis will perform a recital at the Blair School of Music's Turner Hall, Thursday, February 12, at 8 pm. Aptly scheduled on Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the performance explores music by composers who had a voice in human rights, standing for equality in their daily lives and through their music.

A brief overview before each work highlights the individual composer's efforts toward the proliferation of equal opportunity and freedom. The program opens with the energetic Romanian Folk Dances of Béla Bartók. This celebration of the under-respected Hungarian peasant music became a voice for all people; a stark contrast to the imposing Germanic fascism of the early 20th century.

The performance includes the moving sonata by British Romantic composer, Dame Ethel Smyth. Smyth became involved in Britain's women's suffrage movement, and eventually spent time in prison because of her activities. Paired with Smyth's rarely-heard sonata is the well-known and loved A-Major sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, who advocated for equality and democracy. This sonata was the first to match the piano and cello equally, with the two instruments answering each other back-and-forth in perfect symmetry.