Feb. 11 concert a memorial to Flight 3407 on anniversary

ANA: (from left to right) pianist Anne Kissel, cellist Natasha Farny, and soprano Angela Haas

ANA
CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT
Featuring the performance of Toward the Light, Flight 3407
and the release of and readings from the book
The Still Empty Chair:
Love and Loss in the Wake of Flight 3407

On Friday, February 11, at 8 PM, the chamber ensemble ANA will present a concert at Christ the King Chapel at Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, NY. The performance includes music inspired by poetry from The Empty Chair, as well as readings by contributors from both the first and second editions of the book. Admission is free and open to the public.

ANA will perform a program that features the composition Toward the Light (Flight 3407) by SUNY Distinguished Professor James Piorkowski. The performance occurs on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the tragic crash of Continental Flight 3407 and pays tribute to the lives lost that night in Clarence, NY. Additional compositions on the program include music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Ned Rorem.

Soprano Angela Haas, cellist Natasha Farny, and pianist Anne Kissel established their unique trio, ANA, out of a shared desire to create chamber music with a slightly unusual instrumental mix. Because there are surprisingly few works written for this ensemble, one of the chief goals of ANA is to commission and perform new works. Toward the Light (Flight 3407) was the first work written specifically for them. ANA members are all faculty at the Fredonia School of Music, State University of New York.

The concert coincides with the release of The Still Empty Chair: Love and Loss in the Wake of Flight 3407, an expanded collection of poems, essays, articles, prayers, photos, and remembrances that honor the victims of the plane crash. It is co-edited by Gunilla Theander Kester and Gary Earl Ross.

The new edition of The Still Empty Chair will include a CD recording of the musical composition Toward the Light (Flight 3407) with cover art by Buffalo artist Hugo Rodriguez.
This event is sponsored by the Canisius College Fine Arts Department, Office of Campus Ministry, and Student Affairs.