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Violist Michelle LaCourse has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on four continents. A graduate of Peabody, she is now on the faculty at Boston University's School of Music and was awarded the Metcalf Cup and Prize for excellence in teaching in 2009. She collaborates with composer/pianist Martin Amlin in a recording of works for viola and piano.

AN AMERICAN MENAGERIE: I have had the pleasure of playing recitals in Boston with Martin Amlin at the piano for many years. He is not only a remarkable pianist and collaborator and a wonderful colleague easy to work with and indulgent of my (often fanciful) ideas for thematic recitals but he is also a composer of compelling voice whose writing is rich in emotion and color as well as originality, wit, and intelligence. At about the same time I became determined to record his Violetta (which he had written for us to play together) and his Sonata for viola and piano, I also started looking for viola-piano duos inspired by animals. (I have shared most of my life with a cat and/or a dog from an animal shelter, and have always loved and been fascinated by animals.) Martin went with the idea, and wrote Kennel for me, offering seven miniatures each featuring a breed from one of the seven breed groups recognized by the American Kennel Club. He followed this with his Lullaby for viola and piano. Robert Merfeld, another pianist colleague at Boston University, created Animal Miniatures for me, and went with a whimsical visit to some farm animals and the sounds of a rural evening. I learned about Monica Houghton's Whalefall in a format for viola and organ (which was a re-scoring of it's original setting for voice and piano), and received permission from the composer to perform a viola-piano version of this hauntingly beautiful work. All of this combined has resulted in a wonderful collection of pieces by American composers, including several inspired by a variety of animals, so combining some popular definitions for the word Menagerie (a gathering of animals, or a diverse collection of people or things), we thus have An American Menagerie! And where else could I get to bark, growl, bray, moo, and make cricket noises on the viola? [Michelle LaCourse, December 2014]