Ravel and Whimsical Birdsong
My journey with Ravel began while studying under Simone Dinnerstein at the Mannes School of Music. The summer before school started, we were discussing together some of my future goals and ideas for creative recitals for my future career. I mentioned wanting to play all of Ravel’s solo piano works. Even before having studied many of his pieces, I loved all that I heard, and playing his solo works would be an easily manageable project, since he didn’t have that many.
Simone said that was an admirable idea, but it had been done before many times, so she suggested taking it a step further and not just playing his solo piano works, but playing everything he wrote for and with piano, including chamber music and art songs. It sounded insane, and no longer easily manageable. It didn’t matter. I was hooked.
I took Simone’s class at Mannes on how to connect with an audience verbally about music and performed on Neighborhood Classics, her concert series in NYC public schools. I learned how to curate a program based around a specific composer through participating in her series Bach’s Footsteps. Under her guidance, I began my own concert series, “Whimsical Birdsong,” focused on presenting the complete piano works of Ravel.
The first performance of the series took place at Mannes in 2019, the program curated by Simone. Since then, every concert has been curated by me. One of the things I learned from her about programming is that just because a certain composer may be the focal point of the series, it doesn’t mean that I am restricted to only playing that composer. I have taken that to heart in my own curation, only programming all-Ravel concerts if there is a thematic reason to do so. Otherwise, my programs feature mostly Ravel, but typically one or two other composers to give musical context and contrast to his music.
One all-Ravel concert on the series that I’ll make a point to mention: “Ravel: All of It” was a special project at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall that featured all 32 of Ravel’s art songs in a single evening. Before that, his songs had never all been performed in one program in history, let alone at Carnegie Hall. In fact, many of his songs had their own personal Carnegie debut that night in 2022. Kristina Cook was the best collaborative partner I could have imagined for that project. Together we both (yes, both) memorized the entire program, performed them all in their original keys and languages, and studio-recorded them all to release the first ever album of Ravel’s complete songs that featured only a single pianist and singer duo. Since then, we have toured that program together all over the US, performing from memory every single time.
Over the course of this project, I have developed a deeper connection to Ravel’s music than I ever would have imagined. I understand not just his compositional style, but his psyche. In performance, I work to share that with my audience. Sometimes, that means speaking at length at my concerts about what Ravel was going through in his personal life at the time of composing a certain piece. Other times, it means not speaking at all, letting the music speak for itself.
In 2026, I will perform the final two programs of the Whimsical Birdsong series. That is not to say that I will be finished playing Ravel; on the contrary, I will only be finished performing each of his pieces for the first time. After that, I have the rest of my career to enjoy performing his music in new venues, for new audiences, and on new curated programs.
Below, you can find information about all of the Ravel programs I have curated thus far on the Whimsical Birdsong series. Each program listed is just the original program concept for its debut. In subsequent performances, many programs are shortened or rearranged to meet the needs of the venue.
Simone said that was an admirable idea, but it had been done before many times, so she suggested taking it a step further and not just playing his solo piano works, but playing everything he wrote for and with piano, including chamber music and art songs. It sounded insane, and no longer easily manageable. It didn’t matter. I was hooked.
I took Simone’s class at Mannes on how to connect with an audience verbally about music and performed on Neighborhood Classics, her concert series in NYC public schools. I learned how to curate a program based around a specific composer through participating in her series Bach’s Footsteps. Under her guidance, I began my own concert series, “Whimsical Birdsong,” focused on presenting the complete piano works of Ravel.
The first performance of the series took place at Mannes in 2019, the program curated by Simone. Since then, every concert has been curated by me. One of the things I learned from her about programming is that just because a certain composer may be the focal point of the series, it doesn’t mean that I am restricted to only playing that composer. I have taken that to heart in my own curation, only programming all-Ravel concerts if there is a thematic reason to do so. Otherwise, my programs feature mostly Ravel, but typically one or two other composers to give musical context and contrast to his music.
One all-Ravel concert on the series that I’ll make a point to mention: “Ravel: All of It” was a special project at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall that featured all 32 of Ravel’s art songs in a single evening. Before that, his songs had never all been performed in one program in history, let alone at Carnegie Hall. In fact, many of his songs had their own personal Carnegie debut that night in 2022. Kristina Cook was the best collaborative partner I could have imagined for that project. Together we both (yes, both) memorized the entire program, performed them all in their original keys and languages, and studio-recorded them all to release the first ever album of Ravel’s complete songs that featured only a single pianist and singer duo. Since then, we have toured that program together all over the US, performing from memory every single time.
Over the course of this project, I have developed a deeper connection to Ravel’s music than I ever would have imagined. I understand not just his compositional style, but his psyche. In performance, I work to share that with my audience. Sometimes, that means speaking at length at my concerts about what Ravel was going through in his personal life at the time of composing a certain piece. Other times, it means not speaking at all, letting the music speak for itself.
In 2026, I will perform the final two programs of the Whimsical Birdsong series. That is not to say that I will be finished playing Ravel; on the contrary, I will only be finished performing each of his pieces for the first time. After that, I have the rest of my career to enjoy performing his music in new venues, for new audiences, and on new curated programs.
Below, you can find information about all of the Ravel programs I have curated thus far on the Whimsical Birdsong series. Each program listed is just the original program concept for its debut. In subsequent performances, many programs are shortened or rearranged to meet the needs of the venue.
2018-2019
Central Ravel work: Piano Trio
2 hours with intermission
(Curated by Simone Dinnerstein)
Ravel — Chansons Madécasses for piano, voice, cello, and flute
Lasser — 12 Variations on a Chorale by J.S. Bach for solo piano
Ravel — Trio in A minor for piano, violin, and cello
2019-2020
Central Ravel work: Le Tombeau de Couperin
2 hours with intermission
Montez — Red Sea Trio for piano, violin, and clarinet (premiere)
Couperin — Les folies Françaises for solo piano
Ravel — Le tombeau de Couperin for solo piano
Ravel — Shéhérazade for voice and piano reduction
Ravel — Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano
Central Ravel work: Le Tombeau de Couperin
2 hours with intermission
Montez — Red Sea Trio for piano, violin, and clarinet (premiere)
Couperin — Les folies Françaises for solo piano
Ravel — Le tombeau de Couperin for solo piano
Ravel — Shéhérazade for voice and piano reduction
Ravel — Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano
2020-2021
Central Ravel work: Valses nobles et sentimentales
2 hours with intermission
Ravel — Valses nobles et sentimentales for solo piano
Ravel — Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano
Ravel — Cinq mélodies populaires grecques and Tripatos for voice and piano
Montez — Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano (premiere)
Ravel — Vocalise-étude for voice and piano
Ravel — Berceuse sur le nom de Fauré for violin and piano
Fauré — Nocturne No. 6 in D-flat Major, Op. 63 for solo piano
Central Ravel work: Valses nobles et sentimentales
2 hours with intermission
Ravel — Valses nobles et sentimentales for solo piano
Ravel — Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano
Ravel — Cinq mélodies populaires grecques and Tripatos for voice and piano
Montez — Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano (premiere)
Ravel — Vocalise-étude for voice and piano
Ravel — Berceuse sur le nom de Fauré for violin and piano
Fauré — Nocturne No. 6 in D-flat Major, Op. 63 for solo piano
2021-2022
Central Ravel work: Gaspard de la nuit
1 hour, no intermission
Program (all-solo piano)
Ravel — Menuet in C-sharp Minor
Ravel — Prelude in A Minor
Ravel — Pavane pour une infante défunte
Andres — Old Ground
Bach — Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Minor, BWV 867
Montez — Resurgence (premiere)
Ravel — Gaspard de la nuit
2022-2023
Ravel: All of It
The Complete Art Songs
7:30pm, December 14th, 2022
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
2 hours with intermission
Ravel — The Complete 32 Art Songs for Voice and Piano
Kristina Cook, soprano
Kessa Mefford, piano
2023-2024
Central Ravel work: Concerto in G Major
1 hour with intermission
Montez — Piano Concerto in C minor (premiere)
Ravel — Piano Concerto in G Major
2024-2025
Central Ravel work: Miroirs
2 hours with intermission
Ravel — Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn for solo piano
Ravel — Ma mére l'Oye for 4-hand piano
Ravel — Jeux d'eau for solo piano
Liszt — Les jeux d'eaux à la villa d'est for solo piano
Ravel — À la maniere de Borodine for solo piano
Borodin — Serenade and Notturno from Petite Suite for solo piano
Ravel — À la maniere de Chabrier for solo piano
Chabrier — Bourée fantasque for solo piano
Ravel — Trois Chansons for a cappella choir
Ravel — Don Quichotte a Dulcinée for baritone and piano reduction
Ravel — Miroirs for solo piano
Central Ravel work: Sonatine
90 min with intermission
Poulenc — Sonata for 4-hand piano
Ravel — Sérénade grotesque for solo piano
Montez — Sonata in F minor for solo piano (premiere)
Ravel — Sonatine for solo piano
Ravel — Menuet antique for solo piano
Ravel — Tzigane for violin and piano
Ravel — Sites auriculaires for 4-hand piano
Ginastera — Cinco canciones populares argentinas for voice and piano
2025-2026
Central Ravel work: Valses nobles et sentimentales
1 hour, no intermission
All-Ravel solo piano program
Menuet antique
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Menuet in C-sharp minor
Mouvement de Menuet from Sonatine
Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn
Valses nobles et sentimentales
À la maniére de Borodin (Valse)
Forlane, Rigaudon, and Menuet from Le tomb eau de Couperin
Central Ravel work: Trois poémes de Stéphane Mallarmé
2 hours with intermission
Program (all-chamber music)
Ravel — Trois poémes de Stéphane Mallarmé for piano, voice, string quartet, 2 flutes, and 2 clarinets
Ravel — Frontispiece
Ravel — Chansons madécasses for piano, voice, cello, and flute
Ravel — Trio in A minor for piano, violin, and cello
Central Ravel work: Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano
1 hour, no intermission
Program (All violin/piano)
Debussy — Sonata
Ravel — Tzigane
Ravel — Berceuse sur le nom de Fauré
Debussy — Beau soir (arranged)
Ravel — Sonata No. 2
Central Ravel work: Concerto for the Left Hand
1 hour with intermission
Ravel — Concerto for the Left Hand
Montez — Concerto in D minor (premiere)