Trillium and Friends returns to Clayton Center with March 7 concert celebrating Black composers
Trillium – a local piano, violin and cello trio, joined by flute for this concert – returns to the Clayton Center for the Arts on March 7. This concert presents works of famous Black composers, offering a tribute to Black musical contributions in honor of Black History Month.
Trillium rehearses before concert, left to right: Kari Lapins, Robert Bonham, Alicia Randisi-Hooker. (Photo courtesy of Robert Bonham)
“By changing our name to Trillium and Friends we can add performers to play quartets or quintets or other combinations,” Bonham said. This concert consists of Kari Lapins on violin, Alicia Randisi-Hooker on cello, Robert Bonham on piano and Shelby Shankland on flute.
When deciding on the theme for this upcoming concert, Bonham said: “Our primary criteria when designing a program is that the music be excellent and that we enjoy it. Next, we want our audience to enjoy it. After that, it is what appeals to our imagination.”
He gave examples of some of the themes they have used for programs, including: American composers, living composers, women, and husband/wife or sibling compositions. This concert will “celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States … and the incredibly rich and vibrant contributions of our Black composers.”
The group started off with the idea to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday. “There are many types of music that could commemorate this milestone: marches of John Philip Sousa, show tunes, hymns and revival tunes, the folk-like songs of Steven Foster, jazz and ragtime, and American originals like Charles Ives,” the press release said.
“Through a series of events [we] settled on the tremendous gifts from the Black community,” Bonham added.
According to the press release, the program will consist of these compositions: Dance Juba, Adoration, Three Negro Spirituals, Five Negro Melodies, Movements and Boogie Woogie and Jubilee. Some of these pieces are solo, while others are a mix of the instruments presented by the group.
“Working on something like the Boogie Woogie has been like tending a very fine garden. You nurture the soil, add the right amount of water, eliminate weeds, and do it again the next day, and the next,” Bonham said, when asked about some of the highlights in learning these compositions. “Then, almost magically, the seedlings begin to grow and mature, and all the effort pays off. Learning music is rather like that. If you do the right things today, everything is better tomorrow, again and again.”
Shankland, who makes up the “and Friends” aspect of Trillium for this concert, used to be a professor of flute at Maryville College. She continues to perform in the Oak Ridge Symphony and has performed with Trillium several times, Bonham said.
Randisi-Hooker plays for the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, and used to teach as an adjunct instructor at MC. She now teaches cello to students of all ages at her private studio.
Lapins plays for the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and other symphonies, and teaches at her studio. She focuses on the Suzuki Method, which teaches music in a way that mirrors how language is taught, using repetition, ear learning and daily practice.
Trillium and Friends is led by Professor Emeritus Dr. Robert Bonham, recipient of the Maryville College Outstanding Teacher Award. He taught at MC from 1965-2006.
“It is a wonderful honor to have a professor emeritus such as Dr. Bonham still excited to be engaged with the MC community and share his exceptional performance talent with us,” Chair of the Division of Fine Arts Adrienne Schwarte said.
“I was privileged enough to work alongside Dr. Bonham for the first few years I began teaching at MC and it was and is a joy to be in his presence,” Schwarte said. “Dr. Bonham, besides his unparalleled instrumental talent, is a gentle, kind and reflective person, that just being around him, one feels calmer and more at peace.”
“Trillium, now celebrating 13 years, has enjoyed playing for enthusiastic audiences from Maryland to North Dakota, Virginia, and North Carolina, in addition to numerous performances in Blount, Knox, and Anderson counties,” the press release said.
As they are based in the Maryville area and have such strong ties to MC, Trillium performs a concert in the Lambert Recital Hall in building B of the Clayton Center every semester. The concert is on Saturday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. and is free to the public.“These concerts are not only an opportunity to experience beautiful music, but to learn about our history, culture and art of the world we are citizens of,” Schwarte said.
Flyer promoting Trillium and Friends’ upcoming concert on March 7 at 7:30 pm, created by Jenny Ribble (‘27)
Courtesy of Deborah Boling