June 10th, 2023 8:30pm
Performer: Folias Duo
Astronomy Speaker: Dr. Daniel Cotton
Folias Duo
Folias Duo are “facile players who draw on tango rhythms and melodies sometimes, at other times they write with a scenic sensitivity” (Fanfare Magazine). They are “daring in self-written music” (American Record Guide).
Flutist Carmen Maret and guitarist Andrew Bergeron of the Folias Duo are a married couple whose unique interpersonal performer-composer collaboration of twenty years breathes new life into classical music. Folias Duo melds characteristics of European classical music with jazz, world music, and improvisation into the rhythms, contours, and textures of their meticulously crafted and scenic music. As composers and performers, they continue to test the technical and sonic possibilities of the intimate flute and guitar combination. “These two artists are top talents, almost singular within contemporary flute and guitar ensembles” (Flutist Quarterly).
Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Folias Duo is a self-managed performing group that presents to classical music audiences throughout the United States, South America, and Europe. Specializing in concerts for audiences who enjoy creative, artistic, and out-of-the-ordinary experiences, the duo has appeared at notable venues such as the Detroit Institute of Arts, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Wellspring Theater-Epic Center, St. Cecilia Music Center, Fairbanks Arts Festival, Albuquerque Museum, National Flute Association Convention, Bayfield Summer Concerts, Lick Observatory, and countless other listening rooms, library theaters, and guitar society meeting spaces.
Folias Duo has produced and released seven albums featuring original compositions and arrangements, including five albums on the Blue Griffin Recording label from 2004-2014. More recently, they released Dreaming to Live (2017) and Delicate Omens (2019) on their Folias Music label. Their forthcoming album Heartdance will be released summer of 2023 on the Folias Music label.
Maintaining a close artistic relationship with the great outdoors, Folias Duo continues to write music inspired by national parks and national forests. They served as Artists-in-Residence on Isle Royale National Park, gave concerts in the North Cascades National Park, and composed music about wild places such as Big Bend National Park for their Marufo Vega and Viewpoints albums. Since 2016, Folias Duo has sponsored their own “DIY composing residencies” in rustic national forest cabins in Colorado, Iowa, Ontario, Oregon, and Michigan.
Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron earned Master of Music degrees from Michigan State University and Bachelor of Music degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Grand Valley State University. Now, with over twenty years of experience as educators and entrepreneurs, Carmen and Andrew continue to nurture the growth of countless young musicians. They teach private lessons for flute, guitar, and composition through Folias Music School, and they are adjunct professors in music theory, music history, and music business at Aquinas College and Grand Rapids Community College.
Lecture Information
Dr. Daniel Cotton (Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy)
“Sunglasses, Viking Navigation and Astronomy with Polarimetry”
Polarimetry is perhaps the least well known property of light. It was discovered in the 1800s, but before that it was the key to accurate Viking navigation. Today it is an enabling technology in everyday items like sunglasses. Traditionally, in astronomy, it has been used to understand magnetic fields and the dust between stars, as well as the atmospheres of planets. Recent advances in precision are now enabling new discoveries to be made about the atmospheres of stars as well. In this talk I will describe what polarisation is, and how it is used in each of these areas.
Dr. Daniel Cotton is astronomer at the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy (MIRA) – a private non-profit institute dedicated to research and education in California. He grew up near Newcastle, Australia where he also went to University. There he completed a PhD in Physics in 2008 on nanoscale lithography of plastics with electronic properties. Since then he has worked in space and astronomy, first in space telescope instrumentation at Leicester in the UK, then studying the atmospheres of planets and stars at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He also worked at Australia’s largest telescope, the Anglo Australian Telescope, as a technician and telescope operator. His major scientific achievements include mapping the distribution of carbon monoxide on Venus and realising decades old predictions of polarisation in stellar atmospheres caused by their rapid rotation and harmonic resonance-induced pulsations. Outside of astronomy he plays soccer and cricket and has published poetry and short fiction.
Ticket Information
Tickets can be purchased at Eventbrite starting May 8th, 2023 at Noon.
Join Friends of Lick Observatory (FoLO) and Get Tickets Early
If you’d like to purchase tickets as early as noon on April 27th, 2023, join our Friends of Lick Observatory (FoLO) program by March 1st, 2023. As a thank you for supporting the observatory, you’ll get special access to purchase tickets before they go on sale for the general public.
More information about tickets and pricing is available at Music of the Spheres.
Program Information
| 7:30 pm | Doors Open | Brief Telescope Visits |
| 8:30 pm | Concert, Main Hall | |
| 9:30 pm | Science Talk, Lecture Hall | Telescope Viewings |
| 10:30 pm | Science Talk (repeated), Lecture Hall | Telescope Viewings |
| 1:00 am | Doors Close |
Gift shop is open from 7:30pm-8:30pm, and reopens after the concert until 11:30pm.
More general information about the event is available at Music of the Spheres.