Pianist Anastasia Antonacos to Premiere ‘Oh Monarch, How Beautiful You Are’

Pianist Anastasia Antonacos will present the world premiere of the new work ‘Oh Monarch, How Beautiful You Are’ for solo piano she commissioned from composer Alexandra du Bois in 2018. The new work was commissioned jointly by Maine and New Hampshire Music Teachers Association and Music Teachers National Association. It was written, in part, while du Bois was composer-in-residence at Harrison House Music, Arts & Ecology, Joshua Tree, California and at Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Boscawen, New Hampshire (with Parhelion Trio for their collaboration with du Bois on their Vera Rubin: Dark Matter project) during 2019. Oh Monarch, How Beautiful You Are invites sonic meditation on evidence of climate change in the Northeastern United States and simultaneously with internal recitation of gathas from peace activist, writer, poet, teacher, and Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.  Antonacos will perform the work at Rose Performance Hall at the Manninen Center for the Arts during the 2019 Quad State Conference. More info to be announced.