In 1911, Scott Joplin used his life savings to register a copy of his beloved opera Treemonisha with the Library of Congress. Ahead of its time, the work combined classical form and operatic vocal stylings with the genre he is notably famous for: ragtime. Despite several revivals many decades after his death and a 1976 Pulitzer Prize, Joplin never saw the work published or performed during his lifetime.
The Overture performed by Sphinx Virtuosi is an excerpt from a contemporary reimagining commissioned by the Toronto-based, experimental theater company Volcano. This newly realized adaptation brought together an international creative team of Black women in homage to the opera’s namesake and protagonist, Treemonisha—a young Black woman who leads her community through conflict and turmoil.
Volcano’s version features an updated libretto and storyline from acclaimed playwright and broadcaster Leah-Simone Bowen, along with Emmy Award–nominated co-librettist Cheryl A. Davis. Co-arranger and orchestrators are Grammy Award–winning composer Jessie Montgomery and two-time Grammy Award nominee Jannina Norpoth.
The Overture depicts a plantation near Texarkana, Arkansas, in the year 1864. A young enslaved woman named Priscilla flees with her newborn baby. Desperate and pursued by her enslavers, she knocks on the doors of nearby houses for help, to no avail. She places the baby inside a hollow tree, hiding a small bag of luck within the child’s clothing. Moments later, Priscilla is shot and killed. The infant is found and adopted by Monisha and Ned, who name her Treemonisha and raise her as their own. The Overture concludes with the entrance of adult Treemonisha, 20 years later on her wedding day, sitting peacefully and reading beneath the very tree her mother left her under with hopes for her survival.
Volcano’s Treemonisha received its debut in 2023 at the Luminato Festival in Toronto. The work premiered to critical acclaim and was subsequently named one of the year’s best performances by The New York Times. It received six nominations at the Canadian Dora Awards—one in every eligible category. The full opera receives its American debut in May 2025 at the Harris Theater in Chicago (with a few Sphinx alums in the ensemble)!
—Jannina Norpoth
Teresa Carreño, born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1853, was a prodigy nurtured in a deeply musical family. Her father, Manuel Antonio Carreño, was not only a politician but also a musician, and her mother, Clorinda García de Sena y Toro, came from a lineage of musicians, setting the stage for Carreño’s development. Her father served in various governmental roles in Caracas, where an unstable political climate ultimately led the family to flee to the United States in 1862. Carreño performed for Abraham Lincoln at the White House at just nine years old. Over her illustrious career, she performed with prestigious ensembles, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, and composed more than 80 works, significantly contributing to the musical landscape alongside contemporaries like Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann.
Composed in 1895 in the idyllic Austrian village of Pertisau, Carreño’s Serenade for Strings reflects her deep emotional expression and compositional skill. The fourth movement, a vibrant and joyful march, transports listeners to the lush, mountainous landscapes of the Tyrol region. The movement’s rhythmic vigor and bright melodies evoke the spirit of a festive procession, perhaps symbolizing a connection between the vibrant life of her Venezuelan homeland and the serene Austrian setting. Despite its brilliance, this work remains underrepresented in the canon, and Carreño’s contributions as a composer deserve much greater recognition.
—Bill Neri
American Mirror reflects on the coming together of cultures in our society, which consists of many generations and descendants of refugees, immigrants, and enslaved people, and how intercultural collaborations are essential to the well-being of American society. Melodically, the piece draws from West African, North African, and Eastern European vocal techniques and ornamentations, in addition to modal scales. Underneath these melodies, American Mirror uses open harmonies commonly found in Appalachian folk music, and also includes drones, an accompaniment practice found in many musical cultures.
—Derrick Skye
Double Down, Invention No. 1 for Two Violins is a play on words: the two-hand invention made canonic by J. S. Bach, the double-down violin bow stroke which lends extra energy to rhythmic music, and doubling down on virtuosic elements presented in the Wieniawski and Prokofiev duos for two violins. It is a scherzo moving between colorful chromatic runs and gospel riffs, wild bariolage and songful passage work, funk grooves and thrown bow strokes. Double Down was commissioned by the Sphinx Organization for Tai Murray and Njioma Chinyere Grevious, two of my own violin inspirations—get down!
—Curtis Stewart
The roar of burnt tire.
The heat—much better than stale apartment air.
We sit pointedly in new outside dining, waiting for the next bang, the next explosion, the squads. Pop Smoke revelation. Inwood. Washington Heights. Memories drilled into personality.
Wait.
During the pandemic, the phenomenon of outside dining swept New York. Being outside was much respite from being stuck in our crowded Inwood apartment. We would sit on Broadway, and let the chaos of the outside world soothe our restless souls, including the muscular roars of passing motorcycles and the wide cadence of “drill music” up and down Broadway. I associate this music with outside, with release, despite its intricate, violent, and chaotic outer layer.
This work for prepared drum set and strings is my “summer music,” my “hunter’s call,” my “field recording.”
What happens when we bring that outside music, inside—into our concert halls and onto our stages. When the outside becomes the inside, how will it ring in our walls?
—Curtis Stewart
For Daydreaming (A Fantasy on Scott Joplin), I had the wonderful task to put to music my adoration and curiosities of Joplin and his music, while still maintaining freedom of expression and exploration on my own sonic musings. This is where the piece derives its title, as I enjoyed ruminating on Joplin and then letting my imagination soar from the inspiration.
Right away the listener will notice a few nods towards Joplin’s music: The opening brings us in with a glimpse of The Entertainer, followed by light rhythmic movements inspired by Joplin’s fun and syncopated rhythms. Included are also a few “odd” notes here and there along with energetic countermelodies that aim to bring the listener closer to Joplin’s style.
From there, the piece begins to unfold more into my own personal musings on how Joplin’s music inspires me, while occasionally dipping back to remind the listener where the inspiration comes from. Different sections evoke different general feelings around Joplin’s music. One moment the piece will reflect on the exquisite and playful sound of some of Joplin’s music, while in the next it will explore some of the more intimate and robust qualities I’ve enjoyed especially in pieces such as his opera, Treemonisha. Throughout all of the various moments of “daydreaming” in this piece, there remained one consistent ambition: to embody the bold, ambitious, and authentic expression that I find in all of Joplin’s music.
—Levi Taylor