Picosa to perform at Mayslake

The next installment of Music at Mayslake will acquaint the audience with chamber music written by Chicago-area composers.

Picosa performs at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 4, in the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County's music series at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st St., Oak Brook.

The varied program of chamber music showcases works by local composers. Misook Kim is a Korean-American composer who serves on the faculty of Wheaton College. Picosa's composer-in-residence Jonathon Kirk brings a new setting of "Wraith" for flute and electronics, which gives the listener the experience of living in a painting by Mark Rothko in a performance by Jennie Brown.

Closing the concert is Shulamit Ran's masterpiece "Mirage." Ran is professor emeritus of the University of Chicago, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and a member of Picosa's advisory board.

The other three contrasting works bring a dark and rich sonority to this musical world. Tigran Mansurian may be an unfamiliar composer, but his "Agnus Dei" for clarinet, violin, cello and piano is filled with beauty.

Stravinsky's "3 Pieces for Clarinet" is the showcase for virtuosic clarinetist Andrea R. DiOrio. Finally, violinist Elizabeth Brausa Brathwaite brings Beethoven's classic "Romance No. 2 in F Major" for violin and piano to the stage.

Guest artist Kuang-Hao Huang performs on the piano, and Picosa's newest core member, Patti Garvey, on the cello.

Picosa also offers the Interludes Chamber Ensembles program, inviting student and amateur chamber ensembles to present preconcert performances at its Mayslake Peabody Estate concert events. The March 4 concert features the Fox Valley Philharmonic Woodwind Trio performing a work by Caspar Kummer at 2:30 p.m.

Following Picosa's concert, audience members are invited to stay for the Meet the Musicians Gourmet Dessert Reception to chat with all the performers and enjoy treats.

Tickets are $25. High school students and younger are free, and accompanying parents receive a discounted ticket of $10. College student and senior discounts are also available.

For information and tickets, visit picosamusic.com.