Special Preview Performance of "The Scent of Apples"

A special preview performance of The Scent of Apples, a solo marimba composition by Bennington College alumna Tina Davison, performed by percussionist Josh Graham, for the Bennington College community only, at the Robert Frost Stone House Museum.

The Scent of Apples is inspired by the poems of Robert Frost. Frost’s poems serve as inspiration for this piece and are part of a long-term project that pairs literary figures and their writing with new works for the marimba. The official world premiere of the piece will take place at the Bennington Museum on Sunday, September 22 at 2:00 pm.

Tina Davidson is a highly regarded American composer known for her distinctive voice and praised by the New York Times for her “vivid ear for harmony and colors.” Davidson earned her BA in piano and composition from Bennington College in 1976, studying under Henry Brant, Louis Calabro, Vivian Fine, and Lionel Nowak.

With a career spanning over forty-five years, Davidson has received commissions from renowned ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra, OperaDelaware, Roanoke Symphony, VocalEssence, Kronos Quartet, Cassatt Quartet, and public television (WHYY-TV). Her compositions have been widely performed by prestigious orchestras and ensembles such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Relâche Ensemble, and Orchestra 2001. Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn commissioned Davidson as part of her 27 Encore project, resulting in the composition Blue Curve of the Earth, initially released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2013 and later featured on Hahn’s 2018 album, Retrospective. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious grants and fellowships, notably being the first classical composer to receive a $50,000 Pew Fellowship.

Dr. Josh Graham, a percussionist acclaimed as “beguiling” (Chicago Tribune) and a “superb performer” (Chicago Classical Review), has performed extensively throughout the United States and Canada. He currently serves as Professor of Percussion at the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, Principal Percussionist of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, and performs with F-PLUS. Dr. Graham is active in creating new works for percussion, commissioning and premiering chamber works by a variety of composers, including George Tsontakis, Jessie Montgomery, Marta Ptaszynska, Charles Peck, Emma O’Halloran, Matthew Ricketts, Matthew Barnson, Dave Hollinden, and Liza Sobel Crane, among many others.