Pictures in Music is a program of short musical works that arouses the imagination of the listener. The pieces have visual associations, whether a programmatic title (The Valley of the Butterflies), an expressive interpretive title (Slowly – in sad meditation), or a picturesque implication (Festivamente). The program is also a narrative of musical style taking the listener from the Baroque era with a “character piece” of François Couperin, to the Romantic style of Frederic Chopin, and to the exquisite late style of Claude Debussy. Works from the mid-20^th century include two important Canadian composers, Violet Archer and Jean Coulthard, and the program ends in a celebratory spirit with a Prelude by Dmitri Kabalevsky. A program of miniatures to delight the senses and the imagination.  

Sandra Joy Friesen plays a broad range of repertoire and presents a variety of musical styles from traditional to contemporary, to interpretation of pictorial scores and interdisciplinary collaboration. In 2009, her studies in improvisation and free-interpretation with pianist Douglas Finch (London, England) became a turning point in her musical artistry and this practice continues to be a source of inspiration. During this time, she and her husband, visual artist Werner Friesen began interdisciplinary performance blending music with live-response painting and were members of the “eXperimental improv Music Ensemble” in Edmonton, AB, integrating artistic disciplines with composers, dancers, and actors. They continue with interdisciplinary performance as the duo, RESPONS2. Sandra Joy has been promoting the music of Canadian composers since the early 90s and was invited by the Association for Canadian Studies in Mexico and in Brazil to represent the University of Alberta and Canadian composers in solo piano recitals. Receiving generous awards from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Edmonton Arts Council allowed her to complete her first recording Sound Reflections, Volume 1: Off the Shelf; a project of audio plus video recordings that provide interpretive context and address various challenges in contemporary music. Among her numerous musical passions, the elegantly refined and picturesque style of the French masters features regularly in Sandra Joy’s solo piano programs. She also possesses a special sensitivity in art song collaboration and has been performing this vast repertoire throughout her career as well as currently being the pianist for the Cantaré Children’s Choir.

 https://www.sandrajoyfriesen.com |  sandrajoyfriesen@gmail.com