the RUNNYMEDE RETREAT
In the first week of January 2024 Musaics artists gathered for a week-long retreat on the beautiful grounds of the Runnymede Sculpture Farm, where a select group of young composers, instrumentalists and visual artists had the opportunity to work both independently and together on new works, which were presented to the community at a concert on the property’s historic 19th century barn.
Performances
2nd movement from Beethoven’s Sonata in D major op.102 No.2, performed by Audrey Vardanega and Nick Reeves
Nocturne pour violon et piano by Lili Boulanger, arranged (for piano and cello) and performed by Karna Mendonca, with Nick Reeves on cello
An original work by Karna Mendonca, inspired by the music of Lili Boulanger, performed by Karna on piano and Nick Reeves on cello
Participating Artists
Celia Liberace
Celia Liberace (b. 2000) is a DMV and NYC-based painter, having recently completed her BFA at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. She has also studied at L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and Accademia Vivarium Novum in Frascati, Italy. In 2023, she was a faculty member of The Portrait Society of America.
Much of her work represents an amalgamation of both classical representation and modern interpretations of contemporary life, using herself and loved ones as her primary life subjects.
Celia uses human anatomy to reflect upon complex systems woven within nature and to communicate topics regarding sexuality, identity, social and environmental consciousness, and self-actualization. She is deeply fascinated by the body’s potential to convey evolving psychological, spiritual, and physical states, and the simultaneous deterioration or evolution of the body and one’s natural environment.
Ava Liberace
Ava Liberace is an artist based in Virginia and Connecticut, and is completing her bachelors for studio art and biology at Wesleyan University. Most of her works take particular interest in the human form, capturing motion, and merging these points of observation with fabricated worlds and mental states.
She uses formal techniques in drawing to explore close observation and to express different emotional and neurological states and their interactions with the environment through abstract experimentation. Her main medium is pencil and pen, and she has shown work in Sarasota, Florida; Alexandria, Virginia; and New York City, New York.
Karna Mendonza
Karna Mendonca is a freelance composer based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended summer programs at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Interlochen Arts academy, and currently studies both piano and composition with Eric Zivian.Karna participated in both the Stay-at-home Symposium and the Musaics of the Bay Winter Residency, and also helps organize Musaics’ artist gatherings.
Currently, Karna is interested in the intersection between visual art and music, improvisation in the classical tradition, and synthesizing concert music with ideas from jazz, flamenco, and other musical traditions. When he is not writing music, Karna also does research in artificial intelligence at UC Berkeley and plays oboe and English horn in the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra.
Nick Reeves
Nick Reeves is a cellist from Oakland, California with interests in chamber, solo, and experimental genres. As a chamber musician, he attended Sphinx Performance Academy for three years and made appearances performing at venues, such as the Obama White House in 2016 and the NAMM show in 2017.
As a soloist, Nick loves performing the Bach Cello Suites and has appeared at The Oakland Symphony’s Mixtape series and Yo-Yo Ma’s 2018 Oakland Block Party. While involved with Musaics of the Bay, Nick has premiered 4 works and collaborated with Tanya Tomkins, Peter Myers, Nigel Armstrong, Audrey Vardanega and Gabriel Cabezas. Nick has also been heard on “Revolutions Per Minute”, hosted by pianist Sarah Cahill.
Apart from his main focus as a classical musician, Nick loves Jazz and experimental music. In these genres, he has played in an experimental music group backing poet Gregg Eisenberg and frequently collaborates and records with, friend and saxophonist Nathan Nakadegawa-Lee. Nick is currently studying with Richard Hirschl at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts.