Recomposing Home - an Uncommon Perspective of Musical Life in Germany

Trio Gaia performs works by Mauricio Kagel, Clara Iannotta & Clara Schumann

In Recomposing Home the Boston-based Trio Gaia presents an uncommon perspective of musical life in Germany, showcasing three global figures of classical and avant-garde art whose careers began, ended, or were shaped by their time in Germany.

With her 61-year long career, Clara Schumann is at once an archetype of the 19th-century European virtuoso, yet also a formidable figure who defied social expectations by continuing to teach, travel, and perform in spite of the obligations of marriage and motherhood.
Meanwhile, two “ausländers” from opposite ends of the 20th century present intriguing challenges to traditional assumptions of assimilation and homogeneity in German artistic life. Amidst significant cultural renewal post-World War II, we meet Mauricio Kagel of Argentina and Clara Iannotta of Italy; both are part of a new wave of artists drawn to Germany’s rapidly expanding avant-garde community who make Germany their new home in different ways. Kagel moves to West Germany at the age of 26 and stays on in Köln for the rest of his life, eventually succeeding Stockhausen as director of the Cologne Courses for New Music and making numerous indispensable contributions to the city’s musical life. Still based in Berlin today, Iannotta’s story stands worlds apart from her namesake, constantly crossing boundaries of geography and art as her music pushes the standards of experimentation and exploration.
In tandem with Harvard Art Museum’s new Special Exhibition, Made in Germany?, this program takes a look at three composers whose varied careers offer a broader view of German artistic identity and recenters the migrant creatives who continue to redefine and enrich the cultural life of the country and beyond.

Trio Gaia, New England Conservatory's most recent graduate piano trio in residence, formed in 2018 and is dedicated to offering audiences dynamic, personally relevant experiences inside and outside the concert hall. The trio has won 1st prize at the 2022 WDAV Young Chamber Musicians Competition, as well as prizes in the 2022 Premio Trio di Trieste International Music Competition, 2021 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, and the 2019 Plowman National Chamber Music Competition.