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“This year we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death of this exceptional composer [Gideon Klein]. American violinist Avery Morris followed in his footsteps as part of a Fulbright scholarship. She managed to decipher the message of the compositions he composed before his deportation…” - Judita Matyasova
“Before his internment in Terezín, Czech-Jewish composer Gideon Klein experimented with many different types of music and compositional procedures like serialism and quarter-tone writing. Klein’s 1939–40 Duo for Violin and Viola and “Fantasietta”, written in quarter-tones while he was studying in Prague with Alois Hába, is a particularly interesting work from this exploratory period…I hope that by initiating a dialogue around its performance practice, this work can eventually stand alongside Klein’s other more frequently performed works.” - Avery Morris
“Avery Morris is a violinist and doctoral student at Stony Brook University. This year, she will spend nine months at the Faculty of Music and Dance (HAMU) of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague as a Fulbright Scholar, researching the lost works of Gideon Klein and the legacy of Czech musical modernity.”
"It’s so rare that musicians get the chance to dive this deep into the pieces they perform and composers they study. To not only see the composers' manuscripts for instance, but to walk on the very cobblestones they did, to taste the "svíčková," to hear the bell towers ring and be immersed in the Czech language." - Avery Morris
“During Covid, Avery Morris, with her twin sister Alexandra, performed outdoor concerts in the Marquez Knolls area to the joy of residents, who sat on lawn chairs in the street…” - Sue Pascoe
“Avery’s Fulbright project reveals the dynamic space she is creating for her work as an artist. She explains, “When I was younger, it seemed like there was only one way to be a musician… Now, it feels like some of the traditional molds are beginning to break open. I feel very grateful to be able to take on a project in which I both play my instrument and engage in serious scholarship.”
“Avery Morris discovered the work of Czech modernist composer Gideon Klein during a routine online search for violin/viola duets to play with her twin sister in the early days of the pandemic…”