Name: Reunion Redux
Start: 2026-04-16T19:00:00-05:00
Location: The James Theater

Red Cedar Chamber Music: Reunion Redux
Red Cedar Chamber Music’s Directors and core ensemble, violinist Miera Kim and cellist Carey Bostian, will be joined by violist Oliver Bostian to present Reunion Redux, a program of music for string trio.
The program features the viola as soloist in Bach’s Sonata in G minor for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord Obligato with the violin and cello taking the right and left hands of the harpsichord part. Kodály’s Intermezzo opens the program. The short work comes from the early years of his career (1905) when he and his close friend Bartók were just beginning to compose in earnest and had begun collecting folk music on wax cylinders, first in Hungary and then all over Europe. Also on the program is the String Trio by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Castelnuovo-Tedesco is familiar to Red Cedar audiences as he was one of the most prolific composers for guitar in the twentieth century. His string trio, in three movements, is incredibly lyrical but closes with a very rhythmic and guitar-like Vivace.
Two living composers are featured on the program. Costa Rican clarinetist and composer Vinicio Meza has captured the Latin American style with his Suite latinoamericana. In four parts, it includes a tango, a waltz and two choro (one slow and one fast). We also commissioned our friend, Iowa City violist and composer Brian Lenth, to write a work for this concert. His new piece, again and again and again, is a rhythmically driving work that will leave the audience (and performers) breathless.
The original guest artist for this program was to be Choong-Jin Chang, principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Unfortunately, CJ will not be able to visit this spring due to his recovery from a serious medical issue. However, since his time here was going to be limited to just a week, we had already scheduled a 4-day residency and several performances of Reunion Redux with our son Oliver Bostian. Fortunately, Oliver is available to cover for CJ and our “reunion” will be with our captive guest artist from the pandemic years.
Oliver is finishing up his undergraduate degree in violin performance at the University of Iowa but has primarily been playing viola for chamber music since he was in 9th grade. This will be a busy spring for him as he was a winner of the UI Symphony’s Concerto/Aria competition and will perform the complete Bartók Viola Concerto with the University Symphony on April 1.
This series of concerts is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aegon Transamerica Foundation, the City of Marion, Farmers State Bank, the Giacoletto Foundation, the Grandon Foundation, the McIntyre Foudation, and the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation (Program Support Grant Fund, Iva C. Robb Fund for Artistic Initiative, a Liars Theater Legacy Fund, John A. and Elsie M. Nelson Fund, and the Linn County Fund). Additional support comes from GreatAmerica Financial Services and Hills Bank.
Special thanks to Artist Sponsor Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman PLC.