Secret Signs is inspired by the courage, irony, secrecy and persistent romanticism of the 20th century Russian artistic sensibility. At the center of the program is the ever enigmatic Dmitry Shostakovich, with his enormous artistic resonance. Featured are four of his powerfully personal Songs on Poems of Alexander Blok, a close friend and colleague; intimate piano prelude transcriptions for viola and piano by pianist, composer, writer, Lera Auerbach; and the great Piano Quintet in G minor by Shostakovich. Pianist, composer, Inessa Zaretsky’s Cloud, Castle, Lake, inspired by Nabokov’s ironic Kafka-esque short story, steeped in the clandestine political nightmare of the time, is also being premiered in its violin and piano version for this program.

AUREA is a performance ensemble engaged in a joyous pursuit: to investigate and invigorate the harmony of music and the spoken word.

Springing from collaborations between founders – violist Consuelo Sherba, harmonica virtuosoChris Turner, and actor Nigel Gore, with violinist, Katherine Winterstein and cellist, Emmanuel Feldman- AUREA’s concerts combine poetry, drama, epistles, classical and folk music, puppetry, and movement into performances that sweep from intimate chamber settings to major theatrical venues.