Opus Two
William Terwilliger, violin
Andrew Cooperstock, piano
Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 4:00 pm
Ticket: $50
In an exhilarating program for violin and piano, the award-winning duo, Opus Two celebrates the genius of the American musical. Violinist William Terwilliger and pianist Andrew Cooperstock create musical fireworks with their unique and stunning arrangements of musical theatre classics by Bernstein, Gershwin, and Sondheim.
The playing is splendid. Opus Two is widely acclaimed for its tone, style, and polish.
Strings Magazine
. . . accomplished, sophisticated, and filled with the sheer joy of music-making.
American Record Guide
one of the most significant and worthwhile concerts of the season. . . performed with virtuosity, musicianship and excellent balance.
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Opus Two
Photo by J. Henry Fair
Opus Two has been internationally recognized for its “divine phrases, impelling rhythm, elastic ensemble and stunning sounds,” as well as its commitment to expanding the violin-piano duo repertoire. The award-winning duo, comprising violinist William Terwilliger and pianist Andrew Cooperstock, has been hailed for its “unanimity of style and spirit, exemplary balance and close rapport.”
Opus Two first came to international attention as winners of the United States Information Agency’s Artistic Ambassador Auditions in 1993 and has since performed across six continents, including major tours of Europe, Australia, South American, Asia, and Africa. Their US engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall, where they performed Haydn’s Double Concerto for Violin and Piano, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall and a standing-room-only recital at New York’s Library for the Performing Arts. State Department associations have taken them to Japan, Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, Switzerland, Peru, Ghana, and Australia, and they have also held multiple residencies in China. The duo has presented master classes worldwide at a number of prestigious institutions such as New York’s Juilliard School, Beijing’s Central Conservatory, and Kiev’s Gliera Conservatory.
Champions of American music, Terwilliger and Cooperstock have recently recorded Gershwin: Music for Violin and Piano, which features selections from Porgy and Bess, Gershwin’s original Short Story, Jascha Heifetz’s arrangements of An American in Paris and Three Piano Preludes, and newly commissioned arrangements by Broadway conductor/arranger Eric Stern of selections from Gershwin’s musical Girl Crazy and classic songs from the Gershwin Songbook. Singer-actress Ashley Brown, Broadway’s original Mary Poppins, joins them on The duo has created a multi-media program dedicated to this music and has presented it widely including a 20-concert tour of the Southeast and a highly praised performance at New York’s 54 Below.
Highlights of recent seasons include two twenty-city US tours across eleven states; performances with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra; and a European tour, which featured the duo in recital and as concerto soloists in Nice, Monaco, Bern and Geneva, and as invited guests of the US Ambassadors to Switzerland and the United Nations. The Strad praised the ensemble’s debut performance at London’s St. John’s, Smith Square as “beautifully drawn, brilliantly coloured and intense,” remarking that “violinist William Terwilliger played with supreme tenderness and finely judged control and was partnered with assurance and sensitivity by Andrew Cooperstock.” Opus Two’s festival appearances include performances at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music (Queensland), Piccolo Spoleto (South Carolina), Brevard Music Festival (North Carolina), Round Top International Festival-Institute (Texas), Raritan River Music Festival (New Jersey), Rocky Ridge Music Center (Colorado), Vianden International Music Festival (Luxembourg), Hell Hot! New Music Festival (Hong Kong), Saarburg International Music Festival (Germany), and Classical Music Festival (Austria).
Opus Two’s discography features a critically acclaimed series of single-composer recordings of American music, including works by Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Robert Starer, Paul Schoenfield, and Lowell Liebermann. The duo’s Naxos debut recording Leonard Bernstein: Violin Sonata; Piano Trio; New Transcriptions features the world premiere of Four Moments from Candide, by Eric Stern. The duo has performed Aaron Copland’s complete works for violin and piano extensively across the United States and abroad, and their recording of this music features works never before recorded, including two early, unpublished preludes.
