?Ecstasis Duo releases second album, From the Shadows: Lesser-Known Works for Cello and Piano

The Ekstasis Duo (Natasha Farny, cello; Eliran Avni, piano) shines a light on impressive works for cello and piano in From the Shadows: Lesser-Known Works for Cello and Piano, all by 20th and 21st century composers. Featuring pieces by Henriëtte Bosmans, the once acclaimed but now mainly forgotten Dutch composer/pianist; composer/pianist George Walker, the first African American to with the Pulitzer Prize for Music; Alexander Zemlinsky, the fin-de-siècle Viennese composer. and Chen Yi, a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music finalist and Guggenheim Foundation Fellow.

The Duo first juxtapose the vigorous romanticism and evocative harmonies of Bosmans' Sonata against the melodic and sometimes agitated lines of Walker's. Next is Zemlinsky's Three Pieces for Cello and Piano followed by the Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in written for western instruments, which will reproduce the sound and style of two traditional Chinese instruments - the Hsiao and Ch'in.

From the Shadows: Lesser Known Works for Cello and Piano
Henriëtte BOSMANS Sonata voor Violoncel en Piano in A minor
George WALKER Sonata for Cello and Piano
Alexander ZEMLINSKY Drei Stücke für Violoncello und Klavier
CHEN Yi Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in for Cello and Piano

53:57 minutes
Recorded at Oktaven Studios

From the Shadows is available directly from the Ekstasis Duo's website here and also at Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes, and more.

Since their debut in 2018, the Ekstasis Duo has appeared on distinguished national stages including New York City’s Merkin Hall, Arizona’s Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts, Ohio’s Holland Theater, Rochester, New York's "Live from Hochstein," Maryland’s Resonance Chamber Music Series, and The Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The duo produced their first CD, “Women’s Voices,” in the fall of 2021.

The duo premiered a concerto for Cello, Piano, and Orchestra, written for them by renowned Israeli-American composer, Avner Dorman, in 2022. Commissioned by a consortium that includes the Fredonia Foundation and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, the premiere was performed with the Sewanee Summer Music Festival Orchestra, followed by an October performance with the College Symphony Orchestra in King Concert Hall at SUNY Fredonia.

Natasha and Eliran met at Juilliard. Both artists have a strong commitment to performing rarely heard works and championing diversity and inclusion. As a duo, they perform masterpieces alongside recently-discovered jewels with a special regard for minority figures and women composers. ekstasisduo.com