Becky Billock, piano
  • home
  • Noteful
  • biography
  • Recordings
  • concerts
  • media
    • YouTube
    • press
    • gallery
  • Blog
  • contact
Picture

Picture

Canticum, November 2015
5 Negro Spirituals by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Trio Romantico by Manuel M. Ponce
Suite Huasteca by Juan Ramirez

Maureen Conlon Gutierrez, violin / Elisa Kohanski, cello / Becky Billock, piano
Performed as Trio Nova Mundi from 2012 to 2017
Canticum  
kan-ti-kuh m] noun, plural cantica  /ˈkæn tɪ kə/ 
  1. part of an ancient Roman drama chanted or sung and accompanied by music.
  2. song
  3. passage in a comedy chanted or sung
  4. sing-song voice
  5. lampoon or libelous song
  6. incantation or magic formula
Much of what we try to accomplish as instrumentalists is to achieve the lyricism, the nuance, the authenticity of the human voice.  We strive towards “singing tone,” we take “breaths” between phrases, and we shape lines in a way that would seem only natural were we powering that line with our very lungs.  And in truth we approach all music in this way, because that is simply good musicianship.

But now and again we instrumentalists stumble upon those gems in the repertoire; we find a perfect vehicle for striving towards vocal nirvana.  And it’s often because the composer had the human voice in mind.  In our collection the pieces themselves are either direct transcriptions from vocal repertoire, or were inspired by that genre.   The Negro Spirituals are based upon the songs that brought immense cameraderie and respite to the enslaved people in America.  The Trío Romántico draws heavily upon Ponce’s experience as a song-writer, with beautiful soaring lines in the strings, and a piano score that closely resembles vocal accompaniments, particularly in the first two movements.  The Suite Hausteca explores tunes that not only provided a Latin-American backdrop for song, but also dance.

So join us—and let us sing you a song. 
​
~Trio Nova Mundi

Production Team

Recording engineer:  Steve Zelenko
Editing and mastering:  Curtis Dahl
Layout and design:  David Mumm
Photography:  Alisa Garin Photography and Elisa Kohanski
Musesnine label logo:  Paul Billock
Studio space:  Shadyside Presbyterian Church
Manufacturing:  Oasis CD Manufacturing
Disbribution:  Trio Nova Mundi & CD Baby

Home
Noteful
Bio
​Recordings
​Concerts
Media 
​Blog
Contact

Teaching Studio 
About the Studio
Just for current students
Links

Pittsburgh Concertino Chamber Orchestra

Beacon Theater


© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • home
  • Noteful
  • biography
  • Recordings
  • concerts
  • media
    • YouTube
    • press
    • gallery
  • Blog
  • contact