Program

Igor Stravinsky
Suite Italienne
Julian Brown, violin
Tamami Honma, piano

Stravinsky
Theatrical version of L'Histoire du soldat
Kayla Wilfong, narrator
Katie Ahmann, soldier
Khris Sanchez, devil
Diane Meechai, princess
Cal Arte Ensemble
Tamami Honma, conductor

About the Performance

The Cal Arte Ensemble presents L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) featuring a full cast of narrator, actors, dancer and musicians in this major work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and his literary collaborator Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz based on a Russian folk tale, The Runaway Soldier and the Devil. In a modern twist on convention, the performance of the soldier will be played by a woman, singer-actor Katie Ahman, a two-time National YoungArts Winner.

The musical performance tells the story of a wayward soldier, who while on leave makes a Faustian bargain exchanging her violin (and soul) with the devil for a book that predicts the future. While the book makes the soldier immensely wealthy, it comes at great cost to her relationships with friends and family. In the hopes of making a new life she pursues a chance at winning the hand of a sleeping princess (Dian Meechai). The devil (Khris Sanchez), though, seemingly outplayed for a while eventually thwarts her plans.

The music has the unmistakable rhythmic and tuneful dazzle of Stravinsky featuring a lively concoction of jazzy figures, dance forms and marches for a small group of players. Besides narrator, and actors playing soldier, princess and the devil, the music will be performed by a seven-piece ensemble of musicians conducted by Cal Arte's artistic director Tamami Honma.

As an appetizer to each performance, Ms. Honma will be playing the piano with Cal Arte’s resident violinist and co-director, Julian Brown in Stravinsky's neoclassical Suite Italienne for violin and piano, a work based on the ballet Pulcinella which in turn was based on the delightfully ear catching melodies of 18th century Italian composer Giovanni Pergolesi.