Embark on an interstellar musical adventure with this cosmic Pops program! Reprising and expanding on 2024’s Eclipse concert, Jeff Tyzik and your RPO soar through the galaxy with iconic tv and film themes and classical masterpieces. Experience the mystery and majesty of outer space with celestial soundscapes and stunning visuals—prepare for liftoff!

RICHARD STRAUSS

Also sprach Zarathustra opening

COURAGE/MCCARTHY/CHATTAWAY/GOLDSMITH/ARR. CUSTER

Star Trek Through the Years

JOHN WILLIAMS

Close Encouners of the Third Kind

CARY RATCLIFF

Aurora Borealis
with Madrigalia

GUSTAV HOLST

Mars Excerpt
with Troupe Vertigo

JEFF TYZIK

Star Suite
Lift Off
Nebula
Galileo

with Madrigalia, Troupe Vertigo

JAMES HORNER

Avatar Suite
with Madrigalia

DEBUSSY/ARR. TYZIK

Clair de Lune

JOHN WILLIAMS

Star Wars Suite (with Troupe Vertigo)
Imperial March
Cantina Band
Luke and Leia’s Theme
Duel of the Fates (with Madrigalia)
Star Wars Main Theme

Tickets

Embark on an interstellar musical adventure with this cosmic Pops program! Reprising and expanding on 2024’s Eclipse concert, Jeff Tyzik and your RPO soar through the galaxy with iconic tv and film themes and classical masterpieces. Experience the mystery and majesty of outer space with celestial soundscapes and stunning visuals—prepare for liftoff!

RICHARD STRAUSS

Also sprach Zarathustra opening

COURAGE/MCCARTHY/CHATTAWAY/GOLDSMITH/ARR. CUSTER

Star Trek Through the Years

JOHN WILLIAMS

Close Encouners of the Third Kind

CARY RATCLIFF

Aurora Borealis
with Madrigalia

GUSTAV HOLST

Mars Excerpt
with Troupe Vertigo

JEFF TYZIK

Star Suite
Lift Off
Nebula
Galileo

with Madrigalia, Troupe Vertigo

JAMES HORNER

Avatar Suite
with Madrigalia

DEBUSSY/ARR. TYZIK

Clair de Lune

JOHN WILLIAMS

Star Wars Suite (with Troupe Vertigo)
Imperial March
Cantina Band
Luke and Leia’s Theme
Duel of the Fates (with Madrigalia)
Star Wars Main Theme

Tickets

Laura visits with woodwind students at SDSU.

Laura presents “An Introduction to Modal Flute Warmup at SDFG’s Spring Festival

Visit with the Nazareth University Flute Studio to share new material from the new version of
Modal Flute Warmup

Masterclass, session about Modal Flute Warmup, and a performance (music of Kevin Puts, Gabriela Ortiz, Marc Mellits, and Laura Lentz)

Visit MTSU Flute Day website
See program notes for 1PM concert

Listen, also: a concert exploring mutuality and community

To “listen, also” means not just to speak — but also to receive, and to listen with care and attention. It’s a quiet contribution to the kind of world we want to live in, one that values
mutuality, care, and compassion for one another.

Laura Lentz, flute
with Helga Swatzak, piano
and special guests

Music of Laura Lentz, Marc Mellits, Pauline Oliveros, Gabriela Ortiz, and Kevin Puts

Go here for program notes
Go here for ticket information (tickets are pay what you can)
The concert is raising funds for the Rochester Rapid Response Network, a mutual aid group formed to support immigrants facing detention or deportation by engaging in community-based strategic actions and public education guided by directly affected immigrant families. Go here to learn more.

On Performance Today!

Last May, 2025, Beo String Quartet , Tom Nanni, and I premiered JacobTV’s fantastic work, “Serendipity” (Raga No. 2), for alto flute, string quartet, and tabla.

Listen in to that performance on the nationally broadcast classical program, Performance Today on Wednesday March 11, at 10AM EST on WXXI Classical 91.5 FM in Rochester, or check your radio schedule to see what time Performance Today airs by you.

Here is the episode you can stream starting 3/11/26!

Thank you to Performance Today and host Valerie Kahler for airing this performance!

Visit with Conor Nelson and the UW-Madison Flute Studio to share Modal Flute Warmup

Visit to Amy Porter’s Studio Class to share Modal Flute Warmup with students

Release of new version of Laura’s book Modal Flute Warmup, published by Conway Publications

Single release from the album “Serendipity”

Raga No. 2 Serendipity by JACOBTV
Laura Lentz, alto flute
Beo String Quartet
Tom Nanni, tabla

LISTEN:
Spotify
Apple Music
Bandcamp

Building Your Flute Artistry session with students of Pam Martchev at SDSU (San Diego)

Building Your Flute Artistry session with students of Claire Gunsbury (Pittsburgh, PA)

Sound, Sip, & Savor with fivebyfive at 4Now @ Payton Violins

It’s mini fivebyfive!
Come join the musicians of fivebyfive as we play smaller ensemble pieces together!

Program includes music by Jennifer Higdon, Jon Russell, and Olivia Kieffer

9:00-9:40
Rooted in Rochester: Exploring New Sounds Through Duets

Join Rochester flutists Laura Lentz and Alexandra Hine for a program of duets and new music. The program includes works for two flutes by Michael Frazier, Laura Lentz, and Sean William Calhoun, all with ties to Rochester. Audience members are invited to listen, participate, and try out some of the techniques/sounds themselves.

9:50-10:30
Discovery Flute Cards: Creative Sparks for Playing and Teaching

Flutist Laura Lentz shares a sneak peak at the upcoming release of Discovery Flute Cards, created in collaboration with flutist and educator Anastasia Mousouli, which build on the theme of discovery from Laura’s book Modal Flute Warmup. 

These cards offer sparks for exploring sound, breath, emotion, and expression. Participants will discover new ways to tune into themselves, their music, and each other, making practice, teaching, and performance more creative and mindful.

Rochester Ensemble celebrates its 10th anniversary

alongside Quantum Mechanics 100th anniversary

October 18–19, 2025

Smith Hall, University of Rochester

Step into the unseen world of quantum mechanics with Subatomic Mysteries, an exhilarating fusion of music, dance, visual art, and science. Presented by Rochester chamber ensemble, fivebyfive, this immersive program invites audiences to experience the wonder and complexity of the tiniest building blocks of our universe — not through equations, but through sound, motion, and light.

Subatomic Mysteries is a first-of-its-kind exploration of quantum theory as interpreted by artists and is part of fivebyfive’s 10th anniversary season. When the musicians learned that 2025 is also the 100th anniversary year for Quantum Mechanics, they began a quest to collaborate and feature the abstract beauty of physics with the expressive power of music and dance.They are thrilled to be working with the University of Rochester’s Program of Dance and Movement and physicist Antonino Di Piazza of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

The program features all-new music by Amy Nam, Sean William Calhoun, Steve Danyew, and Felipe Pérez Santiago, each piece paired with original choreography and cutting-edge visual projections. Watch as dancers embody the strange elegance of entangled particles, wave-particle duality, and branching probabilities. 

PROGRAM:

• Bifurcations by Felipe Pérez Santiago, choreographed by Mariah Steele

• Branches by Steve Danyew, choreographed by Ripp Greatbatch

• Playing Dice by Sean William Calhoun, choreographed by Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, featuring digital projection art by W. Michelle Harris

• Quiet/Loud by Amy Nam, choreographed by Missy Pfohl Smith, with additional projection design by Harris

TICKETS

Rochester Ensemble fivebyfive celebrates its 10th anniversary
alongside Quantum Mechanics 100th anniversary

October 18–19, 2025

Smith Hall, University of Rochester

Step into the unseen world of quantum mechanics with Subatomic Mysteries, an exhilarating fusion of music, dance, visual art, and science. Presented by Rochester chamber ensemble, fivebyfive, this immersive program invites audiences to experience the wonder and complexity of the tiniest building blocks of our universe — not through equations, but through sound, motion, and light.

Subatomic Mysteries is a first-of-its-kind exploration of quantum theory as interpreted by artists and is part of fivebyfive’s 10th anniversary season. When the musicians learned that 2025 is also the 100th anniversary year for Quantum Mechanics, they began a quest to collaborate and feature the abstract beauty of physics with the expressive power of music and dance.They are thrilled to be working with the University of Rochester’s Program of Dance and Movement and physicist Antonino Di Piazza of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

The program features all-new music by Amy Nam, Sean William Calhoun, Steve Danyew, and Felipe Pérez Santiago, each piece paired with original choreography and cutting-edge visual projections. Watch as dancers embody the strange elegance of entangled particles, wave-particle duality, and branching probabilities. 

PROGRAM:

• Bifurcations by Felipe Pérez Santiago, choreographed by Mariah Steele

• Branches by Steve Danyew, choreographed by Ripp Greatbatch

• Playing Dice by Sean William Calhoun, choreographed by Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, featuring digital projection art by W. Michelle Harris

• Quiet/Loud by Amy Nam, choreographed by Missy Pfohl Smith, with additional projection design by Harris

TICKETS

Laura will present a workshop on her book Modal Flute Warmup, share the new work of Marc Mellits for flute and piano, Discrete Structures, with pianist Helga Swatzak, and meet for a book signing at the Flute Center booth in the Exhibit Hall.

Sunday October 12 - CHICAGO FLUTE FESTIVAL
10:00 – 10:45 am Workshop Modal Flute Warmup
Irion Hall Choir Room 200
Laura Lentz will present principles and exercises from her new book, Modal Flute Warmup: Sound Discovery and Color Palette Expansion, which encourages discovery through a warmup approach that uses modes. Laura will speak to the idea of discovery that we can bring to our practice as both learners and performers. By being curious and aware of what we are doing as we are doing it, we take on an active role, creating space for reflection, asking questions as part of the learning process, and seeking out solutions to problems.

2:15 – 3:30 pm Recital “A Sonic Tour”
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel Main Hall
Featuring solo flute, flute and piano, and flute/viola/bass trio. Compositions from Argentina, Puerto Rico, Persia, Czech Republic, Romania and the United States. Including works by Mellits, Franzetti, Morales, Vali, Schulhoff, and Bartok. Performers include Laura Lentz, Nora Lee Garcia, Jennifer Bouton, and the Bouton Trio.

RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCED: Friday 10/10/25!

Music of Missy Mazzoli, Marc Mellits, JacobTV
with Beo String Quartet; Tom Nanni (tabla); Svetlana Garitselova (cello); Jacob Ertl (piano) recorded at Blue on Blue Recording Studio (Marc Webster)

Starting Friday 10/10/25, you can listen by streaming here:
Spotify
Apple Music
Bandcamp

Photos from the album release party

• composer Marc Mellits on Zoom

• composers Missy Mazzoli & JacobTV sending congratulations videos

• violinists Gio & Jason from Beo String Quartet on Zoom

• cellist Svetlana Gartiselova and pianist Jacob Ertl joining to perform “Magic with Everyday Objects” by Missy Mazzoli

• tabla player Tom Nanni joined in the celebrations

• and a bunch of other friends, students, and colleagues stopped by to celebrate!
  
  Thank you to Blue on Blue Recording Studio for hosting!

“Between Magic & Structure,” a program of new chamber music with flute that explores the space where form meets spontaneity, and where the calculated intersects with the unexpected.

music by
Missy Mazzoli, Harriet Steinke, Gabriela Lena Frank, Marc Mellits, and Anthony Moles

with musicians
Margaret Leenhouts, violin; Marcy Bacon, clarinet; Svetlana Garitselova, cello;
Jacob Ertl, piano

Visit Rochester Public Library (South Avenue) to experience “Book Serendipity!”

Audience members can pick any book they please, open to a page, and listen as flutist Laura Lentz improvises music based on what’s on the page.

Free!

Music of Marc Mellits, JacobTV, Philip Glass at George Eastman Museum

with:
Laura Lentz, flute
Beo String Quartet
Tom Nanni, tabla

Go here to learn about The Serendipity Project (workshops, concerts, culminating album)

a program of chamber music celebrating
the power of good chance happenings 

SATURDAY MAY 10, Payton Violins 
250 N. Goodman Street, Rochester NY
5:45PM  serendipity workshop
7PM  pre-concert chat with MONA SEGHATOLESLAMI from WXXI
7:30PM  concert 
Reception follows performance 

Registration and further info:
 https://www.paytonviolins.com/events

Go here for program notes
Go here to learn more about The Serendipity Project (workshops, concerts, a culminating album)

The program (50 minutes of music plus a 10 minute intermission) features works by four leading and innovative composers and provide a vibrant exploration of serendipity:

 • Missy Mazzoli:  Magic with Everyday Objects  (flute, cello, piano)
Originally written for mixed quintet, this work uncovers beauty and possibility in unexpected places.

 • Marc Mellits:  Discrete Structures  (flute + string quartet)
Commissioned by a consortium of 25 wind players, this work exemplifies the balance of structure and spontaneity.

Intermission 

 • Gabriela Lena Frank:  Canto de Harawi: Amadeoso  (flute, clarinet, piano)
This tone poem captures a childhood dream, bridging imagination, history, and personal experience.

 • JacobTV:  Serendipity2  (alto flute, string quartet, tabla)
This piece celebrates cross-cultural dialogue and reimagines the original improvised solo violin part for alto flute.

with:
Beo String Quartet
Tom Nanni tabla
Svetlana Garitselov cello
Jacob Ertl piano
Marcy Bacon clarinet
workshop led by Katie Fittipaldi
pre-concert chat with Mona Seghatoleslami

Visit The Strong on April 26 at 1 p.m. to experience “Book Serendipity!”

Audience members can pick any book they please, open to a page, and listen as flutist Laura Lentz improvises music based on what’s on the page.

Free with museum admission.

fivebyfive + Emily Pinkerton (banjo) perform live on WXXI Classical 91.5FM’s program Live from Hochstein (Rochester, NY)

fivebyfive premieres NYSCA-funded Ephemera Ballads and shares music from Catskills and Appalachians with multi-instrumentalist Emily Pinkerton

fivebyfive premieres NYSCA-funded Ephemera Ballads and shares music from Catskills and Appalachians with multi-instrumentalist Emily Pinkerton