Announcing our debut season!

Hi! We are Lamnth - a violin and cimbalom duo founded by Lilit Hartunian and Nick Tolle. We couldn’t be more excited to present our debut season full of commissioned premieres by composers we admire.

Our first show is TONIGHT (11/29, 8PM in Seully Hall)! Get to know our 5 commissioned composers through these 5 fun questions!

1. How would you describe your musical aesthetic to a new audience?

Erin Graham: I’ve been very interested in forms of unconventional narratives, distortion, exaggeration, and humor (often dark humor) lately and have been seeking to capture these attributes in my music.

Maya Bennardo: My music is characterized by slow, unfolding timbral movements--exploring the co-existence of pitch and noise. I like my audience to be able to sit in a sound environment—like walking in a forest—allowing their ears to acclimate and be drawn to different aspects of the sound.

Marti Epstein: Patient, timeless, focus on harmonic beauty and polyphony

Darcy Copeland: Textural and eclectic

Mischa Salkind-Pearl: My music is probably best heard as a search for song; bits of melody, fragments of ideas that never quite take off, grasping at musical memories, near-lyricism. I'm often trying to capture a sense of something slightly beyond recognition.

2. What movie/tv show/book/podcast/etc are you totally obsessed with right now?

Erin Graham: I’m completely obsessed with 2001 - A Space Odyssey - justice for HAL!

Maya Bennardo: I derive so much joy from a gossip podcast, so Normal Gossip and Everybody Has a Secret are always on my listening list! I have also been loving the Wiser Than Me podcast hosted by Lulia Louis-Dreyfus. Book-wise I am currently reading Jhumpa Lahiri's new Roman Stories and they are absolute magical perfection. 

Marti Epstein: Podcasts: Switched on Pop, Normal Gossip. TV Shows: Great British Baking Show (natch)

Darcy Copeland: I've been watching The Sopranos for a few months now, and I'm in season 5, so I guess I'd say that. I haven't had much time to read novels lately, but I have been obsessed with Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim since I finished it last year.

Mischa Salkind-Pearl: Don't be angry, but my very nerdy answer is the catalog book to an exhibit of Sol LeWitt's Variations on Incomplete Open Cubes, which is a beautiful book all about art and making and the cultural significance of forms and colors. My less nerdy answer is "Party Down," seasons 1-2.

3. What is your favorite fall activity?

Erin Graham: my favorite fall activity is anything having to do with Halloween, but especially dancing the dark dances at goth night (which is a year-round activity!)

Maya Bennardo: Nothing beats a crisp autumnal walk through a forested area followed by warm beverage in a favorite mug with a saffron bun on the side. This fall I have also really gotten into knitting, so I could also say lighting a cozy candle, turning on an old favorite episode of GIlmore Girls, and sitting on my couch knitting. 

Marti Epstein: Walking in the woods WITH LILIT

Darcy Copeland: I love going for walks among the fall colors and breathing the crisp air. I also enjoy baking and brewing up homemade hot chocolate and mulled wine.

Mischa Salkind-Pearl: Coffee walks

4. What matching "Lamnth blue" item do you think Nick and Lilit will be sporting at their debut concert?

Erin Graham: I wonder if Lilit and Nick will wear matching Lamnth blue lipstick or eye makeup at their debut concert. I’m excited to see

Maya Bennardo: I would say either a sassy ankle sock or some sweet hair ribbons. 

Marti Epstein: Fetching socks

Darcy Copeland: I hope it's the fabulous eyeliner from the promo pics! 

Mischa Salkind-Pearl: Bolo ties. Or stovepipe hats.

5. Which two pieces of music inspired you the most while you were writing your Lamnth piece?

Erin Graham: Two songs that inspired me the most when I was writing this piece were Morphine by Boy Harsher and Clock Man by French Police - something about the hypnotic yet emotional simplicity of both of these tracks.

Maya Bennardo: I don't know if these pieces inspired my writing, but during this period I was listening to Linda Catlin Smith's string trio, Meadow  and Taylor Swift's Midnights album and more specifically the song, Bejeweled. 

Marti Epstein: Grisey "Quatre Chants" and Brynn Harrison’s Piano Quintet

Darcy Copeland: Pregunta No 2: Cóndor by Luis Fernando Amaya and VT. Movements of words and letters, Errors of everyday life by Alec Goldfarb.

Mischa Salkind-Pearl: Well, one clear one is Blasco de Nebra's Sonata no.6 in E Major. Another is Kacy & Clayton / Marlon Williams' Plastic Bouquet.

Check out the whole playlist of everyone’s inspiration here:

Can’t wait to play for all of you tonight, 8PM in Seully Hall at Boston Conservatory!

Live Lamnth Love,

Nick + Lilit