Folie à deux at St. John's JP

Curated by Rafael Popper-Keizer Musical Program:Akshaya Avril Tucker: Breathing Sunlight for violin & celloFabian Otten: L’Assillo for violin & marimbaPaul Wiancko: American Haiku for viola & celloCaroline Shaw: Limestone and Felt for cello & marimbaKrzysztof Penderecki: Ciaccona for violin & violaOsvaldo Golijov: Mariel for cello & marimbaFrench for the “madness of two,” Folie à deux explores the possibilities of musical partnership through six striking duos for violin, viola, cello, and marimba. Moving through every possible pairing of the ensemble’s four instruments, this program reveals how intimacy, tension, vulnerability, and joy can emerge when two voices come together.These vibrant works by contemporary composers range from the shimmering stillness of Akshaya Avril Tucker’s Breathing Sunlight to the mournful echoes of Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel; from the playful textures of Caroline Shaw’s Limestone and Felt to the profound gravity of Penderecki’s Ciaccona. Together, they form a kaleidoscopic meditation on connection, memory, identity, and shared experience.By turns playful, sincere, grief-stricken, and ecstatic, Folie à deux celebrates the power—and necessity—of not going it alone.