Scrag Mountain Duo to perform at Lyrica concert

When first hearing the Scrag Mountain Duo of Mary Bonhag and Evan Premo perform, listeners may be struck by the unusual combination of a soprano vocalist and a double bass instrumentalist. But closer attention will reveal how the unseen communication of a husband and wife can lift music to ethereal heights.

“What we bring to our audiences is a deep love and commitment to one another (we have been together 18 years and married for 12),” Bonhag said, “that translates to so much trust and almost telepathic communication in performance, as well as the reverence we each have for the composers and music we are performing and the desire to draw our audiences into this music we love.”

In the seventh virtual concert of Lyrica Chamber Music’s 2020-21 season, titled “Love and Longing,” Premo and Bonhag will perform works by contemporary composers that explore the poignant and the mystical aspects of love and spirituality. The program will be on YouTube on Sunday, May 30, beginning at 5 p.m.

The concert is presented with the support of Morris Arts which seeks to build community through the arts.

“It's all about helping the audience find meaning in the music we are sharing,” Bonhag said of their approach to performing. “And we are sharing it because we love it.”

Although the composers for this program are of the here and now, the texts they set stretch from romance under the dark shadow of World War II, to the striking poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, to the mystical poems from the 13th century by Persian writer Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī.

Rumi provided the inspiration for a set of five songs by Premo, who is a composer as well as a bassist.

“Mary and I were introduced to the Sufi mystic Rūmī in college,” Premo said. “At our wedding Rumi was read. Two of the songs in this set of five were composed for weddings of dear friends of ours. Like mystics in so many religious traditions, Rumi's poetry works on many levels: romantic love, love of the earth, and love of God.”

Lembit Beecher’s “Three Songs of Remembered Love” draws on family stories about his grandmother’s escape from Estonia during World War II.

“The Three Songs capture three moments of love between his grandparents ̶ the first moment she saw him, their first dance, and their wedding day,” Bonhag said. “Sadly, Lembit never met his grandfather as he was taken to a work camp in Poland and never heard from again. The music is fresh and poignant and full of love and longing. Lembit also includes the voice of his grandmother telling parts of the story, and it is incredible to hear her share these intimate moments of long ago with the spontaneity, clarity and affection as if it was yesterday.”

Katherine Balch dipped into Rimbaud’s “Les Illumination” for her song cycle “Phrases.”

“This highly evocative piece is in four movements and moves from the opening declamation and ritualistic conjuring, to the second song which has hints of early music where the voice is treated almost like another string instrument as it weaves in and out of the double bass line,” Bonhag said.

“In the third song, soprano and bass dance in a complex and joyful frenzy, and finally the last song evokes the sound of pink clouds, wispy and beautiful. In only seven minutes, Balch takes the listener to another world of magic and mystery and we return changed.”

Shawn Jaeger’s “In Old Virginny” was written for Premo and Bonhag when they were in college together and evokes the music of his native Appalachia. As Bonhag puts it, “the jilted lover rages and cries, mourns and tenderly remembers love lost.”

As for that combination of soprano and double bassist, yes, it is a little unusual. That’s what makes a concert like this so much fun.

“I love playing with expectations of what double bass and soprano will sound like,” Premo said. “For example, in ‘The Reed Flute World’ movement from "Rumi Songs" the soprano part is lower than the bass part for nearly the entire movement. And Katie Balch does an incredible job of creating completely new sound worlds never before heard by this combination of instruments.”

Expect to hear more of Premo’s music in the 2021-22 season when he will serve as Lyrica’s Composer in Residence.

“My music will be featured on some Lyrica concerts throughout the season including a world premiere of new work for piano and flute,” Premo said. “The working title is ‘Wind Patterns.’ I hope to explore the ‘air’ element musically through themes of environmentalism and spirituality. I can't wait to hear David Kaplan and Catherine Gregory bring the work to life!”

Bonhag and Premo are the founders and loving proprietors of Scrag Mountain Music in Vermont. Its mission is to introduce communities in Vermont to classical music and bears the motto, “Come as you are. Pay what you can.” (Not unlike Lyrica’s virtual concerts.) Vermont’s mountain greenery is a backdrop for all Bonhag’s and Premo’s concerts.

“Certainly our music making is influenced by the place where we live,” Bonhag said. “This morning we were rehearsing looking out at the Groton Mountains with not a human-made structure in sight. All green. That has got to infiltrate our music making and rehearsing ̶ feeling connected to the natural world and finding inspiration in the plants, the flowers, the trees, the animals, the air and wind, the sky, moon, stars.”

The two performers have adjusted to doing virtual concerts and can even see some virtues in the process.

“While it took a little time to get used to the platform, we have found the concert experience to be surprisingly satisfying,” Bonhag said. “Of course we cannot see our audience, but I always can sense them and very deliberately send my voice and music making out into the ether to our audience with all the warmth of a live concert.”

The concert can be seen on Lyrica’s YouTube channel. The concert is free, but Lyrica welcomes donations which go toward supporting this concert series. Suggested donation amount is $30.

For more information about Lyrica Chamber Music, visit www.lyricachambermusic.org or call 973-309-1668.