“delightful, passionate… a dialogue, a duel at times… unintimidated… ”
Susan Botti, soprano/composer; Airi Yoshioka, violin
As solo artists, Susan and Airi have devoted their musical careers to new music. After performing together in various chamber settings, Airi commissioned Susan to write a work for just voice and violin, resulting in Botti’s Mangetsu. Realizing that there was a special spark when the music was stripped down to just their two voices intertwined, they formed Duo della Luna to explore this further. The duo has performed in the US, Canada and Italy. Given the unusual vocal/instrumental combination, it was natural that their individual devotion to contemporary works would continue as a duo. Their repertoire celebrates the natural world, myth, story-telling, and folk songs… for their universal, timeless messages.
Duo della Luna’s debut recording will be released in July, 2021 by New Focus. It features contemporary works by Susan Botti, Kaija Saariaho, Linda Dusman; Botti’s arrangements of selected duos by Béla Bartók (originally for two violins), and arrangements of folksongs from Italy and the US. The recording occurred after a residency at the magical Avaloch Farm in New Hampshire.
Photographs by Davide Dell’Agostino