by Eric E. Harrison, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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Read notes for New World Dances (1992) for piano trio
On the front half of the program, the trio, which champions the work of women composers thrilled the audience (at least the ones not made nervous by a few 20th century dissonances) with four New World Dances by Gwyneth Walker.
The pieces -- "Up Tempo", "Slow Dance", "Soft Shoe", and "Rapid Fire" -- feature harmonies and rhythms of 20th century American musical forms, including jazz, blues and rock 'n' roll: the three women, all of mature aspect, didn't miss a beat, even in the "Soft Shoe" which opened and closed with pizzicato passages in which Deane and Bucchianeri plucked and even strummed their strings like guitars and upright basses.
Walker, like many contemporary composers, likes to use extra-musical tricks: all three players at one time or another became percussionists -- Deane on her fingerboard, Bucchianeri on the body of her cello and Norberg on the lid of the piano.
From Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, Arkansas, February 28, 1997