Dr. Brynna Paros and Louisa Peng presented a flute and piano recital on Feb. 24, at Powell Recital Hall at 7:30 P.M., in a memorialization of Sofia Gubaidulina, who passed in 2025. Her legacy lived on through live music and community as East Tennessee State University’s faculty came together for a night of remembrance.
“She was part of a generation of Russian composers who were searching for new musical languages despite the severe artistic restrictions of the Soviet era,” Dr. Paros wrote in an email. “Spirituality, nature, and mysticism were central to her artistic voice, and she often treated sound less as traditional melody and more as texture and atmosphere.”
The program included two contrasting pieces by the Russian artist: Sounds of the Forest and Allegro Rustico.
“The pieces are placed back-to-back so the audience can hear two very different sides of her voice: one atmospheric and almost suspended in time, the other driving and rhythmically grounded,” Dr. Paros wrote.
Having been a night of diversity, the next act was Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Jet Whistle, then Copland’s Duo, a stark contrast to the prior performance. The sounds took the audience to another musical universe, which resembled folk and experimental curiosity. This act featured a unique flute technique after the lively third movement meant to mimic a jet taking off, hence the act’s title, Jet Whistle.
“It is also genuinely a duo, with flute and piano sharing responsibility throughout and shaping the music in constant dialogue. That collaborative balance is one of the most rewarding aspects of performing it!” Dr. Paros said.
Dr. Paros joined the ETSU faculty in the fall of 2025, thrilled to be able to work alongside talented musicians and peers.
“In my first year of teaching at ETSU, it’s been a real joy and privilege to be able to collaborate with such talented musicians and colleagues. All of these works demand true chamber partnership, and exploring this range of styles together has been especially wonderful.”
The recital came to an exciting close with Dr. Paros and Peng performing Erwin Schulhoff’s Sonata. This piece served as an upbeat and refreshing way to end the performance, offering grooves of jazz and rhythm for the audience to walk away with.
