Joan Eighmey and Cody Hiller promise a unique auditory experience for visitors to the Thomas L. Kane Memorial Chapel on Jan. 18.
Concert pianist Eighmey and violinist Hiller, both from Jamestown, N.Y., will present “Atmospheres: Debussy and Franck” at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 in the chapel, located at 30 Chestnut St., Kane.
A small reception will follow the performance.
The performance will feature violin sonatas by both Debussy and Franck and some solo violin work.
Hiller explained he and Eighmey took a different approach to this program than past programs. The title “Atmospheres” was not randomly picked: for this program, the pair chose music based on the atmosphere it creates.
Hiller encourages the audience to think about the title while listening to the music, and to consider the effect, the colors, the character and “take it in as a whole and follow it as it shifts.”
He asks listeners to pay attention to the “interesting chordwork” and “modulation” — as well as the different effects created.
Some moments in the music, he said, are “sublime”; others are “more driving.”
While Claude Debussy and Cesar Franck are two different composers from different times, there are similarities in the spirit they present.
“You can almost combine the pieces together,” he said, explaining if they were played together back-to-back without pausing, “It would almost make sense.”
A press release about the performance describes the two sonatas.
“The Debussy Sonata, the last piece composed before he passed away, takes the listener through rapidly shifting moods and styles, ranging from French Expressionism and Impressionism, to foreign folk styles and jazz, each composed with incredible detail and nuance,” it stated.
Meanwhile, “The Franck Sonata is a journey through four symphonic sized movements, each linked through the opening motif in the violin, found in the first movement, but each with a marked, for lack of better words, atmosphere.
“The first movement is shrouded in mystery and ambiguity, the second, a raging storm full of piano virtuosity, the third movement presents one of the most sublime moments in all music, and the fourth movement makes a triumphant conclusion to the work, presenting all of the primary motives linked together in a brilliant fanfare,” the release stated.
Exploring the pieces to prepare for this performance took more time than normal for Hiller.
Talking from the perspective of the musician making the music, he explained that some music “you can spend about a month, and you got it.” In contrast, “It’s taken me much longer to understand” the type of music in the upcoming show. “The music we’ve worked on kind of evolved quite a bit,” he noted.
“It was like this puzzle: It now just makes so much sense,” he said. “Everything just clicks. I feel like we’ve made a solid work of it.
“It’s just a very different program,” he said, though he added it’s “still very accessible” and “not crazy or abstract or super dissonant.”
Performing gives Hiller the opportunity to do something he loves: “Sharing music I really love and trying to play it in a way that really shows the audience how I feel about the music and how I connect with the music.”
The pair will perform the show again at 4 p.m. Jan. 20 at the First United Methodist Church in Warren.
Hiller talked about how he came to set up the performance in Kane.
Recently, he had been performing in Jamestown and Warren and wanted to expand. A concertmaster for the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiller talked to a woman he knew through the orchestra asking about new venues where he could play. She helped much more than he expected, calling venues for him.
It was she who got Hiller in touch with someone from the Kane Historic Preservation Society, which owns the chapel. The event was planned from there.
Hiller and Eighmey have been working together as musicians for about a year and a half. Hiller asked an acquaintance to play with him for a concert in Warren. When the acquaintance was not available, he put Hiller in touch with Eighmey.
“We’ve been playing music together ever since,” said Hiller.
Becoming a professional musician is a path Hiller has been following for many years. In fact, he has wanted to be a professional violinist since he was 5 years old.
“I started asking for violin lessons when I was 3 and started getting lessons when I was 5,” Hiller said.
