Salon: Three Centuries of Music from Paris

From 1743 and the height of the French Baroque, to the pinnacle of the Romantic movement and Belle Époque, from the impressionistic era and into the mid-20th century and the Paris Conservatoire, Salon includes centuries spanning works by Leclair, Fauré, Poulenc and Ravel - bringing color, vitality and Parisian élan to the chamber repertory for flute and piano.

Performing together for more than ten years, Leslie Neighbor Stroud, flute, and Matthew Odell, piano, bringing the excitement and intimacy of chamber music to live audiences throughout New England and beyond, exploring the sensibilities inspiring both traditional and modern classical music. They can be heard on MSR Classics, Centaur Records, and Albany Records.

Leslie Neighbor Stroud, flutist, enjoys a varied career performing on modern and historic flutes. Noted by American Record Guide for her “rich, velvety sound” and “command of all the difficulties,” and The Flutist Quarterly for her “confident, winning performances,” Ms. Stroud has appeared with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Savannah Symphony Orchestra, the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and the San Fransisco Concerto Orchestra. Her performances as a chamber musician and soloist include at Dartmouth College, Accueil Musical (Paris), the Opera House at Booth Bay Harbor, Plymouth State University, Boston University, St. Gaudens National Historic Site Summer Concerts, Musicians of the Old Post Road, ArtisTree Community Arts Center, Pentangle Arts Classical Music Series, Music in the Great North Woods, Old First Concerts in San Francisco, New Britain Museum of American Art, The Wadsworth Atheneum, and as a Tomlinson Fellow at Tabor Academy. As a member of the Peabody Contemporary Music Ensemble her performance in Paul Hindemith’s Hérodiade is housed in the United States Library of Congress, and she was recently the flutist in Nora Jacobson’s Vermont PBS award-winning documentary “Passion in a Pandemic.” Ms. Stroud and pianist Matthew Odell released, in 2019, an album of previously unrecorded works, Sonatas for Flute and Piano by Gary Schocker, on Centaur Records, and most recently Ms. Stroud, Mr. Odell and cellist Peter Zay released, on MSR Classics, In All Directions: Chamber Music for Flute, Cello and Piano by Michel Merlet (2024). Ms. Stroud has taught at the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth, as a founding member of the innovative Schools Music! series with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, at the St. Paul’s School for Girls, and Tabor Academy. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, her teachers include Britton Johnson, Timothy Day, Louis Schaefer, Walfrid Kujala, Gary Schocker, Yaada Weber, and on historic flutes Suzanne Stumpf and Kathie Stewart. For more information, please visit www.lesliestroud.com

The American pianist Matthew Odell began his studies at the age of 10 and has since won acclaim for performances of a wide range of repertoire as a solo recitalist, soloist with orchestra, andchamber musician. He has been hailed as “excellent” by the New York Times and “brilliant ... playing with total commitment and real abandon” by Gramophone. Highlights of past concert seasons include such diverse projects as Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles... with David Robertson and the Juilliard Orchestra for the reopening of Alice Tully Hall, a performance in the New York Philharmonic’s Stravinsky Festival, and a tour of concerts, lectures, and masterclasses in England, France, and Spain. Recent concerts have featured the complete solo piano works of Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, John Adams, and Michel Merlet. In addition to performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and the 92nd Street Y in New York, Mr. Odell has appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and throughout Europe and Asia. A passionate advocate of the music of our time, Mr. Odell frequently premieres works written for him. He has worked with many prominent composers, including Pierre Boulez, John Corigliano, Ned Rorem, Mark Adamo, Michel Merlet, and Robert Aldridge. His debut album Connections: The Piano Music of Olivier Messiaen and his Students was recently released on Albany Records. For more information, please visit www.matthewodell.com