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Sapphire Trio Performed American and Classical Music in Bahrain from May 15th through May 17th
The all-women American chamber ensemble The Sapphire Trio performed American and classical music in Bahrain from May 15th through May 17th, providing Bahraini audiences with a glimpse of the diversity of expression and talent in the American musical arts community. The Sapphire Trio gave two major concert performances. On May 15th the trio performed at the Ibrahim Al Arrayedh Poetry House in downtown Manama, under the sponsorship of Sheikha May bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, Undersecretary for Culture and National Heritage in the Bahrain Ministry of Information. They also performed on May 16th at the Ambassador’s residence for a crowd of 150, drawing heavily from members of Bahrain’s women’s societies. Many of the individuals attending the concerts commented that they were only tangentially acquainted with American musical styles outside of jazz and blues, the Trio entertained and educated with interlaced musical sets and mini-talks in which they described the origins of the music they were performing, the international roots of American music, and vignettes of their personal experiences as woman musicians. Retelling stories such as the origins of the famous clarinet “shmear” that opens Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue emphasized American ingenuity and improvisation in the musical statements of American artists.
The Trio engaged in a joint rehearsal with the Bahrain National Orchestra, a chamber orchestra of mixed strings, flute, and piano, which is dedicated to performing traditional and 20th Century Arabic music, along with Arabic transcriptions of western music. With Margaret Baldridge at the center of the violin section, Maxine Ramey in duet with the BNO flutist, and Jody Graves beside pianist Noor Al Qassim, the orchestra rehearsed pieces by Arabic composers Fareed Al Atrash and Fairooz Al Rahabani along with piano features by Frederick Chopin set in Arabic style. The rehearsal periodically paused for discussion of ensemble music technique, similarities and differences in Arabic and western style and performance, and for short selections from the Trio.
The Trio conducted a round of master classes with the violin and clarinet sections of the all-male Bahrain Police Band. The workshops concluded with resounding approval: a melee of questions from the players about technique, musicianship, and sources for solo and small ensemble sheet music and recordings. One junior clarinetist commented that he learned more in the single day of workshops than in all his years of study. The Trio also conducted master classes in violin, clarinet, and piano for students at the Bahrain Music Institute and a workshop in piano teaching for the Piano faculty at the Bahrain Music Institute and several Bahrain secondary schools.
The Sapphire Trio is composed of clarinetist Maxine Ramey, violinist Margaret Baldridge, and pianist Jody Graves. Based in Missoula, Montana, The Sapphire Trio derives its name from a mountain range along the Montana-Washington border. The trio formed in 1998 to explore the newly created and uniquely American concert literature for clarinet, violin, and piano. Their repertoire consists of works by American composers such as James Niblock, Rick Sowash, Peter Schickele, Paul Seiko Chihara, Gerald Krumbholz, and George Gershwin. The artists are active soloists, chamber musicians, and clinicians, and they appear regularly in performances and festivals throughout the United States. They have performed in Germany, Austria, and Japan, and with this tour of the Gulf region, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.