Part of the Pure Lucia project, “Lunch with Lucia” is a web series of lunchtime conversations exploring the music and legacy of composer Lucia Dlugoszewski. Hosted by curator Dustin Hurt, each live Zoom session features a guest artist or scholar delving into a different facet of Dlugoszewski’s work—from her groundbreaking timbre piano technique and invented percussion instruments to her radical approach to composition for brass, strings, and dance. These informal, accessible discussions offer a unique chance to rediscover one of the most visionary—and underrecognized—figures in 20th-century experimental music.
For this program, trumpeter Peter Evans joins Dustin Hurt for a deep dive into Lucia Dlugoszewski’s fiercely original music for trumpet. Though best known for her innovations with piano and percussion, Dlugoszewski’s writing for brass—especially trumpet—is among her most technically demanding and emotionally charged. Characterized by blisteringly fast passages, extreme leaps, and extended range, her brass works push instrumentalists to their physical and expressive limits.
During her lifetime, Dlugoszewski collaborated closely with virtuoso trumpeter Gerard Schwarz, composing two of her most significant brass works: Space is a Diamond for solo trumpet, and Abyss and Caress for trumpet and orchestra—commissioned by Schwarz and Pierre Boulez, and premiered by Schwarz with the New York Philharmonic. These works were among the few pieces published and commercially recorded during her life, making them some of the most widely circulated examples of her output.
Peter Evans, one of the leading trumpeters in contemporary music, has been performing and championing Dlugoszewski’s music for over five years. He recently recorded Abyss and Caress with Klangforum Wien and will soon perform Space is a Diamond and Angels of the Inmost Heaven as part of the Pure Lucia concert series in Philadelphia. In this conversation, Evans will reflect on the intense technical challenges and rich expressive possibilities of these works, offering insights into what makes Dlugoszewski’s trumpet music so distinctive, thrilling—and still ahead of its time.
This online program takes place from 12:00pm to 1:00pm Eastern US time (EDT) as a Zoom Webinar. Registration is required, but free. An archive of the program will be available on the page after the event.
This event is part of PURE LUCIA, a retrospective of the life and work of Lucia Dlugoszewski.
Major support for PURE LUCIA: THE MUSIC OF LUCIA DLUGOSZEWSKI has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage with additional support from the Amphion Foundation.
