"Do small things with great love" — that wisdom from Martha Councell-Vargas's late father inspired the flutist to commission a new concerto premiering Sunday at Western Michigan University.
The Migration Concerto, composed by Alonso Pirio, receives its world premiere February 15 at 7 p.m. in Miller Auditorium. Councell-Vargas, a WMU professor of flute, performs as soloist with the Western Michigan University Symphony Orchestra under conductor Bruce Uchimura.
The work emerged from Councell-Vargas's 2020 reflections during the pandemic and following George Floyd's murder. "I was feeling despondent about the state of the world," she says. With student assistance, she secured a Presidential Innovation Professorship in 2022 to discover, commission, record, and perform works by historically underrepresented composers.
After recording Pirio's Sonata for Flute and Piano, Councell-Vargas commissioned him for the concerto. The Los Angeles-based composer, who works in film and video game music, created a deeply personal four-movement work.
Each movement represents a different location tied to Pirio's heritage. The opening movement, Kakamega Forest, evokes Western Kenya where his mother was born, using pizzicato strings and harp to imitate the nyatiti, an eight-stringed lyre. The second movement reflects Northern Virginia, where he was born, incorporating neo-soul harmonies as a nod to the late musician D'Angelo.
The third movement addresses the recent Los Angeles fires — "another reason for migrating is natural disasters," Pirio explains. The final movement, Crossroads, offers redemption through "six minutes of just blistering" virtuosity that Councell-Vargas jokingly regrets requesting.
The concert also features Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Ballade in A Minor, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, and Gershwin's An American in Paris. Tickets are $18 general admission, available at wmich.edu/music/events.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
