Story

ABOUT DAMSELFLY

The Damselfly Trio - Liz Pearse, soprano; Chelsea Czuchra, flutes; and Lindsay Buffington, harp - is a mobile chamber ensemble dedicated to the music of contemporary composers and poets/writers. Inspired in part by the Jubal Trio’s commissions in the 1980’s, Damselfly has set out to commission, perform and record a new body of music and text for their unique ensemble by composers and poets from around the world. Founded in 2017, Damselfly Trio is based in the US and Switzerland, with concert and educational activities throughout the US and Europe.

In recent seasons, the Damselfly Trio has performed throughout Switzerland, Ireland, the UK and the US. Their concert appearances have taken them to a wide range of venues, including: in the US at Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center in Asheville, Bank of the Arts in New Bern, University of North Carolina-Wilmington; in Ireland at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, Irish World Academy in Limerick, Wild Atlantic Words Festival in Castlebar; in Northern Ireland at Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University in Derry, and in Switzerland at the Rehmann Museum, Villa Boveri and the Zunftsaal Schmiedenhof Basel.

Damselfly has appeared live on Radio BBC NI in Belfast. The trio held a 2018 performance residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in New Hampshire, USA. Damselfly has given masterclasses and workshops at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, East Carolina University, Maynooth University and Queen’s University Belfast. Since 2018, Damselfly has given outreach concerts in public schools in eastern North Carolina under the auspices of the Carolina Chamber Music Festival.

Recent collaborations have been with Swiss composer Alfred Zimmerlin and poet Ingrid Fichtner, and Chicago-based composer Pierce Gradone. Since 2016, Damselfly has worked with Pulitzer Prize nominee Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon on new settings from his cantata “Comala.” Damselfly’s largest project to-date is “Buaine na Gaoithe,” a 30 minute song cycle created by the Irish team of composer Ryan Molloy and poet Martin Dyar. Damselfly Trio’s recording of “Buaine na Gaoithe'' is set for release in 2021 by the National University of Ireland.

For the upcoming season 2021-2022, Damselfly Trio has commissioned composers including Junghae Lee, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Alfred Zimmerlin. Performances will take place at venues and festivals in central and northern Switzerland.

In 2022-2023, Damselfly Trio activities will include concert appearances in upstate NY, Toronto, Chicago, Germany and Switzerland. In addition, they will record Zohn-Muldoon’s “Songs from Comala”. The Trio will release their first album in 2022, featuring music by Ursula Mamlok, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Alfred Zimmerlin and Junghae Lee.

Damselfly Trio has been awarded grants from the Arts Council Ireland, Aargauer Kuratorium, Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Stiftung, and the Swiss Cultural Fund UK.

ENSEMBLE MEMBERS

CHELSEA CZUCHRA - FLUTES

LINDSAY BUFFINGTON - HARP

LIZ PEARSE - VOICE

Passionately dedicated to the flute and new music in particular, Chelsea Czuchra is an active performer and educator in Europe and North America. In addition to working as a freelance orchestral player, Chelsea has diverse experience as a collaborative musician in chamber music, various world music traditions and improvisation.

Chelsea's current projects include the Cochlea Duo with Lindsay Buffington, harp; Damselfly Trio with Liz Pearse, soprano and Lindsay Buffington, harp; and an on-going project commissioning works for vocalizing/moving flutist. Chelsea has collaborated with composers Ryan Molloy, Annea Lockwood, Tristan Murail, Junghae Lee, Jesse Jones, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon among others. Chelsea has received grants from the Nicati-de Luze Foundation, Basel City/Land, Aargauer Kuratorium, Swiss Interpreter’s Society, Dwight & Ursula Mamlok Stiftung, Swiss Cultural Fund UK and the Arts Council Ireland.

Chelsea has performed at the Zeiträume Festival Basel (CH), Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center (US), Rehmann Museum (CH), An Die Musik (US), Bank of the Arts (US), Wild Atlantic Words Festival (IE) Edinburgh Fringe Festival (SC), soundSCAPE Festival (I), PASIC (US), Vancouver Int’l New Music Festival (CA) and Darmstadt Festival (D) among others. As a guest artist she has performed at universities including: Queen’s University Belfast (NI), East Carolina University (US), UNC-Wilmington (US), Irish World Academy (IE), University of Kentucky Lexington, University of Tennessee Knoxville, and University of Southern California. Radio appearances include KXLU in Los Angeles,
Radio X in Basel, Switzerland, BBC NI in Belfast, Ireland, and ‘Relevant Tones’ at WFMT Chicago.
Chelsea held a Winter Residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2020, and in 2018 with Damselfly Trio at Avaloch Farm Music Institute (US). In 2015 and 2016 Cochlea Duo was guest ensemble at the soundSCAPE Festival in Maccagno, Italy. An advocate for arts education, Chelsea frequently performs for outreach programs in the US and Switzerland. Since 2018, Cochlea Duo and Damselfly Trio have given outreach concerts as affiliate artists with the Carolina Chamber Music Festival in eastern North Carolina.

Based in Switzerland, Chelsea was raised in eastern North Carolina and is a proud graduate of UNCSA, the NC Governor’s School, Purchase College and CalArts.

The harpist Lindsay Buffington was born in Maryland, USA, and she has been based in Switzerland since 2005. She currently lives in Luzern. Lindsay completed her studies at the University of Maryland College Park, Conservatoire de Lausanne and Hochschule – Luzern Musik. She completed degrees in Bachelor of Music (summa cum laude), Master of Music Performance and Master of Music Pedagogy. Her main harp teachers included Rebecca Anstine Smith, Chantal Mathieu and Xenia Schindler.

Lindsay is a versatile performer who thrives on playing in diverse musical styles. She enjoys an active freelance career in Switzerland and abroad, and plays regularly both as a soloist and with ensembles. She has performed with the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, City Light Symphony Orchestra, Operettenbühne Vaduz, Zuger Sinfonietta, Ensemble Boswil, Ensemble Paul Klee, Bach Ensemble Luzern, Bach- Collegium Freiburg, Sinfonietta Basel, Sinfonietta de Lausanne, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, Mädchenkantorei Basel, Lenzburger Kantorei and Luzerner Kantorei, among others.
Recent years have included invitations to the Festival ZeitRäume in Basel, World Band Festival Luzern, Moonlight Festival Zofingen and the soundSCAPE Festival, Italy.

An active chamber musician, Lindsay is the co-founder of 3 chamber music ensembles: Deux en Harpe, with harpist Céline Gay des Combes (2008), the Cochlea Duo, with flutist Chelsea Czuchra (2013), and the Damselfly Trio, with Chelsea Czuchra and Liz Pearse, soprano (2017). Each group has commissioned several new pieces over the past years, including works by Michèle Rusconi, Luzia von Wyl, François Pernel, Alfred Zimmerlin and Jesse Jones. Together with these chamber groups, Lindsay has undertaken several concert tours in Switzerland and abroad. Past tours have taken Lindsay to Ireland, the UK, France, Italy and the USA.

Deux en Harpe performed a live concert on Radio RTS1 in Lausanne, and has performed at venues such as Victoria Hall, Manège d’Onex, “kultur i de braui” in Hochdorf, and Bargemusic NY. They were invited to festivals such as “le bois qui chante”, “Orgues, Musiques et Cimes” and “Harfenfest Luzern”. The harp duo released their CD, “Pas de deux harpistique,” in 2011.

The Cochlea Duo thrives on harpist Lindsay Buffington and flutist Chelsea Czuchra’s combined interest in a broad spectrum of music, including original works and transcriptions for flute and harp, as well as a commitment to commissioning new works for this ensemble. Cochlea’s repertoire includes music by Toru Takemitsu, Gareth Farr and Astor Piazzolla among others. They have commissioned works by composers including Vera Kappeler, Ryan Molloy and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon.

Lindsay has received support from institutions including the Aargauer Kuratorium, Fondation Nicati-de Luze, Arts Council Ireland, Dwight & Ursula Mamlok Stiftung, and the Swiss Cultural Fund UK.

In addition to her work as a performer, Lindsay teaches harp at the Musikschule Horw and Musikschule Hochdorf in Canton Luzern. In past years, she has been invited to teach at the harp camp “Vac'Harpes”, and at the Coastal Carolina Harp Society “Wilmington Harp Day”. She has presented workshops on composing for the harp at the soundSCAPE festival in Italy and at Maynooth University in Ireland.

More about Lindsay

Finding joy in variety, Liz Pearse is a musician of many pursuits. Liz began her exploration of the endless possibilities of the voice after a childhood spent playing any instrument she could lay hands upon. As a performer, her uniquely colorful and versatile voice has led to performances of wide-ranging works from medieval to modern, and though she is known as a specialist in contemporary vocal repertoire, she also deeply enjoys a well-aged song. Liz has recently begun a long-term project commissioning and performing works for singer at the piano (though she still enjoys the collaborative process!), and presented her second full-length recital of such pieces, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Francis Poulenc’s Le bestiaire featuring newly-commissioned animal portraits, in 2019. When it's safe to do so, she will be thrilled to collaborate with other live performers again. . .

Liz has a special affinity for music post-1900. As a soloist, her recent projects include multiple performances of Pierrot lunaire, touring Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi, electroacoustic programming including Philomel, and on-going commissions dedicated to the creation of works for self-accompanying soprano.

In addition, Liz forms one-quarter of Quince Ensemble, a treble quartet dedicated to the creation and performance of contemporary vocal literature. With Quince, Liz has performed on tours of Morton Feldman’s Three Voices, David Lang’s love fail (including the work’s Polish premiere), and on numerous collegiate residencies and festivals from coast to coast. Quince’s third album, Motherland, was released to critical acclaim by New Focus Records in April 2018, and they recently released love fail on Innova Recordings.

In previous seasons, Liz has had the privilege of performing at the Lucerne Festival, singing Berio's Coro under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. She also performed at soundSCAPE Festival in Italy, where in 2013 she shared the distinction of "Outstanding Performer" with her brother, conductor and percussionist John J. Pearse. Other chamber and solo engagements have included the Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium; (le) poisson rouge; Omaha Under the Radar; Kerrytown Concert House; Baldwin Wallace University; and Constellation Chicago. Her opera credits include Lyric Opera Kansas City, Michigan Opera Theatre, Toledo Opera, and Opera in the Ozarks, in addition to many performances with Indiana University and Bowling Green State University Opera Theatre.

Liz recently received her Doctorate in Contemporary Music from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. There, her studies included research on the prevalence and incorporation of contemporary repertoire in the collegiate voice studio, and her dissertation “BECAUSE THERE IS NO BASIS FOR COMPARISON”: THE SELF-ACCOMPANYING SINGER AND ROGER REYNOLDS’ SKETCHBOOK FOR THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING was presented in October 2018.

Liz's doctoral recitals included Messiaen's Harawi and an electroacoustic program, among a diverse range of art song and chamber programs. She also won both the Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition and the BGSU Competitions in Music concerto competition while at BGSU, and her mentor there was Dr. Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers. Prior to her doctoral work, Liz studied with Patricia Stiles at Indiana University.

More information about Liz can be found at lizpearse.com. Liz belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donates a percentage of their concert fees to organizations they care about. She supports Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter, and various Midwest-based new music presenters.

More about Liz