OBU to Host ‘andPlay’ Violin and Viola Duo in Concert Feb. 15

February 9, 2022

The OBU Division of Music will present the violin/viola duo “andPlay” in concert Feb. 15. The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Raley Chapel’s Yarborough Auditorium. The public is invited to the free event.

The dynamic performing duo andPlay features Maya Bennardo on violin and Hannah Levinson on viola. The duo will perform “My Loves are in America” by Carolyn Chen, as well as “Bezier” by David Bird. They will also perform “Prisma Interius VIII” by Catherine Lamb.

Dr. Jim Vernon, chair of the Division of Music and Burton H. Patterson Professor of Music, encourages members of the campus community, as well as the public at large, to attend this evening of remarkable music.

“OBU Music is excited to host this outstanding performance duo on our campus,” Vernon said. “Specializing in commissioning new works from young composers, andPlay is dedicated to showcasing these and other new works. Guest artists such as these add incredible value to the University community and to our music programs.”

Bennardo and Levinson met while studying at Oberlin Conservatory and continued their educations at New York University and the Manhattan School of Music. Their duo andPlay is committed to expanding the existing violin/viola duo repertoire by commissioning new works and actively collaborating with living artists. Based out of New York City, they first played to an eager crowd on Fire Island in summer 2012 and have since commissioned more than 40 works.

andPlay’s current season includes in-person events in Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Nebraska, Oklahoma and New York. They will premiere new works this season by Shawn Jaeger, James Parker, Mariel Roberts, Lester St. Louis and Maya Bennardo.

Recent highlights include a five-city tour in Sweden performing their Translucent Harmonies program, appearances at the Oh My Ears Festival in Phoenix and Re:Sound Festival in Cleveland, and a recording residency at EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center in Troy, New York). andPlay’s debut album, “playlist” (2019, New Focus Recordings), was listed on Bandcamp’s “Best Contemporary Classical” for October 2019.

Beyond the concert stage, Bennardo and Levinson are passionate educators offering workshops in contemporary string techniques, chamber music coaching and composition notation for strings. Their audience engagement series, “andPlay (in) Conversation,” includes events such as graphic score workshops for children and opportunities to look inside the collaborative process as composers write new works for the duo.

Learn more about andPlay. Learn more about the Division of Music at OBU.