Ryan McQuinn

Inspired by “a loom, a fence, a wire, a thread”: The Art of Mär Martinez

Presented by: The Art & History Museums of Maitland, The Central Florida Composers’ Forum, the Howey Music Series, and Mudita America.

Event Details

Admission: FREE (Sponsored by Duke Energy)
Date: May 27, 2025
Time: * Event Window: 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
- 5:30-6:00 – Stroll the A & H gallery.
- 6:00-6:45 – Interactive Q&A session with Mär Martinez
- 7:00 PM Concert in the Gallery
Location: Art & History Museums of Maitland, 231 W. Packwood Ave., Maitland, FL 32751.

Concert Program

Experience a stunning night of music where the instrumental accompaniment evokes the shifting patterns, tension, and texture of Martinez’s visual art. Works marked with an asterisk (*) are receiving their world premières.

GERALD LAW II – Remnants of Home*
- Text: Poem by the composer
- Performer: Christine Honein, soprano
NICK SCOUT – Vibrant Colours in the Darkest Nights*
- Text: Poem by the composer
- Performer: Christine Honein, soprano
CHARLIE GRIFFIN – Ballad of the Wild Girl*
- Text: Poem by Gülten Akın (Translated by Filiz Turhan)
- Performer: Christine Honein, soprano
DENISE BROADHURST – Three Rossetti Poems
- Text: Poems of Christina Rossetti (“When I am gone, my dearest”, “The sea has such a rainy sound”, and “A blue-eyed phantom far before”)
- Performer: Emily Heumann, mezzo-soprano
ERIK BRANCH – These Vulgar Spools*
- Text: Poem by Logan Anderson
- Performer: Christine Honein, soprano
RYAN McQUINN – Through Ebony to Ivory*
- Text: Poem by the composer
- Performer: Christine Honein, soprano

Featured Performers

Christine Honein – Soprano
Emily Heumann – Mezzo-soprano
Aysima Anik – Violin
Dennis Fleitz – Cello
Eric Rokni – Santoor
Christian Snedeker – Percussion

Aysima Anik (Violin): Born in Istanbul, Turkey, AYSIMA ANIK began her musical journey at age four with piano and music theory lessons. In 2009, she started her violin studies with Ebru Yunkus and later joined the studio of Assoc. Prof. Nilay Sancar at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul State Conservatory. Aysima has participated in masterclasses at the Ayvalık International Music Academy. She performed as the concertmaster of the MSFAU Youth Orchestra (2017–2018), toured with the Doğuş Children’s Symphony Orchestra (2017–2019), and toured with the Turkish Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (TUGFO) from 2021 to 2023, serving as Assistant Principal Violin in 2023. She earned second prize with Alg Quartet at the 2nd Chamber Music Competition at the Eğirdir Classical Music Festival.

Additionally, she has performed as a soloist with the MSFAU Symphony Orchestra and was a semifinalist in the 2022 International Suna Kan Violin Competition. In 2024, Aysima transferred to Rollins College as a Presidential Scholar, where she studied violin with Prof. Joni Roos. She performed with the Rollins String Ensemble and orchestra, appeared as a violinist in several choir concerts, and performed with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park. In May 2026, she graduated from Rollins College summa cum laude and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor society. She will continue her studies at the Eastman School of Music under Prof. Juliana Athayde, pursuing a Master of Music in Violin Performance and Literature

Dennis Fleitz (Cello): the youngest of six musicians, Dennis grew up surrounded by the sounds of musical theater, classical piano, and jazz. This rich musical upbringing continues to shape his programming, guiding his belief that each concert is an opportunity to introduce audiences to an exciting and diverse range of genres and artists. Dennis is completing his MM in Cello Performance at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, studying under the former acting principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Stepansky. He previously earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida, where he studied with David Bjella. He will continue his studies at the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Paul Watkins and Ole Akahoshi. At Peabody, Dennis served as principal cellist of the Peabody Conductors’ Orchestra, performing for Marin Alsop’s conducting studio, and also held the principal role in multiple cycles of the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. At UCF, Dennis was the principal cellist of the UCF Symphony Orchestra and was awarded the Dr. Gale Sperry Music Scholarship, the Dr. Marilyn W. Whistler Award, and the Presser Award. Dennis has earned numerous accolades, most recently winning the 2026 VSA International Young Musicians Program, for which he is eligible as a musician living with Type 1 Diabetes.

In 2024, he was awarded second prize at the Music Teachers National Association Young Artists Competition, representing Florida and the Southern Division; judges praised his playing as “sensitive and colorful,” with “terrific virtuosity and showmanship.” He also won first prize at the Beth Mason Young Artists Competition in 2022, performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra. He has participated in leading summer programs, including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, where he studied with David Ying, and the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he studied with Eric Kim and Kangho Lee. Dennis’ love for music doesn’t stop at playing cello. He also spends much of his time composing and singing. His passion for composing has led to successful commissions from a variety of parties, including the UCF Cello Choir, the Round Top Music Festival Cello Section, which performed his arrangement at a Round Top Festival Orchestra concert, and a wedding in Denmark. Song-writing is his favorite hobby, but beyond music, Dennis enjoys playing video games, working out, bowling, penny-boarding, and spending time with his family.

Emily Heumann (Mezzo-Soprano) has gained recognition for her “credible” storytelling (Orlando Sentinel) and “delicious vocals” (Arts + Culture Texas Magazine). She performs in a variety of settings, including concerts, oratorios, operas, musical theatre, and recitals, and has appeared with many companies across the U.S. and Europe. Emily is also an active voice teacher and clinician, currently part of the voice faculty at The College of Central Florida, where she was named the 2019 Adjunct Professor of the Year. She also serves as the Executive & Artistic Director of The Howey Music Series, a nonprofit that brings intimate classical and jazz concerts to nontraditional venues across Central Florida. Emily earned her Master’s degree in Voice Performance & Pedagogy from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston and her Bachelor’s in Music from Rollins College. In her free time, she loves spending time with her husband, composer Dr. Eric Heumann, and their son, Lucas. Learn more at emilyheumann.com.

Christine Honein (Soprano): Praised for her vocal clarity, crystalline coloratura, and abundant musicality, Lebanese-American soprano Christine Honein has appeared on stages across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East in both operatic and concert repertoire. Most recently, she was featured as a soloist in New Year concerts with the Donau Philharmonie Wien and the Pilsen State Opera Orchestra, performing under the baton of Maestro Manfred Müssauer and Maestra Rima Tawil. Christine’s operatic highlights include Sœur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites (Opera For Earth), Mrs. Hayes in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah (St. Pete Opera, company debut), Maria in West Side Story (Eklund Opera), Dalinda in Ariodante (Eklund Opera), and Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea (FSU Opera). In 2025, she also made her debut with the Nantucket Chamber Music Festival, performing works by Ned Rorem and Howard Frazin as part of The Rossini Club.

On the concert stage, Christine is deeply passionate about championing new works by her colleagues and friends, with a particular commitment to highlighting the music of Lebanese composers. In Spring 2025, she curated and presented Whimsical Melodies, a chamber program at the University of Tampa. The previous year, she appeared as a guest artist at the University of Wyoming, where she presented her recital A Musical Voyage: From Sevilla to Beirut and led a masterclass for voice students. Born in Lebanon to Lebanese parents, Christine spent her formative years in Beirut and Florida. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Florida State University and a Master of Music from the University of Colorado Boulder, and is a student of soprano and conductor Rima Tawil, whose mentorship has been central to her artistic growth. Through her work, Christine aspires to use music as a means of expression, connection, and cultural exchange-bridging the rich traditions of East and West.

Eric Rokni (Santour): Eric is a musician, physicist, and educator whose work bridges science, culture, and performance. He earned degrees in Music and Physics from Rollins College before completing a PhD in Acoustics at Pennsylvania State University. Eric currently teaches physics at High Point University, where he continues to perform on cello, santour, and other instruments. Drawing on his Persian and Jewish heritage, Eric’s musical background is deeply rooted in traditions where the santour holds a central cultural and artistic role.

Christian Snedeker (Percussion): Based out of Orlando, Florida, Christian Snedeker is a Percussionist, Drummer, Producer, Recording Artist, and Music Educator. A dynamic and diverse player, Christian maintains a busy performing schedule, split between many facets of the industry, including Theme Park, Musical Theater, Jazz/R&B, Orchestral, and Recording. He is a full-time drummer and Drum Captain for The Untrainable Dragon at Universal Epic Universe and performs in various other shows at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, as well as being active as a freelancer with jazz and pop artists and with his jazz fusion group, Narrative. Christian is an active performer in the musical theater circuit as well, having played drums and percussion for theater companies such as New Generation Theatrical, The Renaissance Theater Company, Encore! Performing Arts, and for touring shows. Christian also subs in with professional orchestras across the state, including the Bach Festival Orchestra, The Nu-Deco Ensemble, The Brevard Symphony Orchestra, and The Villages Philharmonic. Christian is honored to have shared the stage with notable names including Joey Fatone, Grace Kelly, Josh Gad, John Stamos, Neil Patrick Harris, Chuck Findley, and Jodi Benson. Christian is a graduate of the University of Central Florida’s Percussion Studio and, since 2022, has proudly endorsed Constantine Cymbals.

Composers

ERIK BRANCH: Erik Branch was born in New York City and received a B.A. and M.A. in Music from Hunter College, where he studied composition with Myron Fink and Arthur Harris, piano with Peter Basquin and Marcia Eckert, and voice with Russell Oberlin. He lives near Orlando, Florida, where he is active as a pianist, music director, composer/arranger, operatic tenor, and actor on stage and screen. His compositions have been performed in New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Orlando, Tulsa, Austin; in Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Athens, York, Bucharest, Hong Kong, and Hanoi; at Harvard University, and West Point, amongst other places.

DENISE BROADHURST (1970-2008): Denise Broadhurst was a composer, pianist, oboist, and educator active in the New York contemporary music scene. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota, and her PhD in Music Composition was awarded posthumously by the CUNY Graduate Center. As a composer, Broadhurst’s catalog includes orchestral works, instrumental chamber music (such as her flute Sonatina and violin Scherzo), and vocal text settings, including her 3 Christina Rossetti Songs and the spoken-word + audio + live saxophone piece Not Waving, But Drowning. A recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Broadhurst was a tenured Assistant Professor of Music at Nassau Community College and taught at Hofstra University. Her legacy is preserved through her compositions and an endowed memorial scholarship supporting young musicians.

CHARLIE GRIFFIN: Charlie Griffin is an accomplished composer, educator, and arts administrator with a distinguished thirty-year career. His music has been performed in over twenty countries and featured at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, as well as at international festivals including Spoleto and Aspen. Notable performances include collaborations with the St. Louis Symphony and Orlando Philharmonic. A versatile creative professional, Griffin has lectured at renowned institutions such as Hofstra University and Columbia University, as well as at U.S. Embassies in Latvia and Lithuania. In 2010, he helped launch Full Sail University’s Music Production program and, shortly after, founded the Central Florida Composers Forum. Beyond music, Griffin explores creativity through improv, acting, and creative writing.

GERALD LAW II: Gerald Law II is a composer based in the Central Florida area. Law’s approach brings a unique sound driven by his background as a drummer and cellist, combining rhythm and melody in an inspiring way. His recent work includes music written for Henry Severe’s short film, ‘Delusionally, Ari’.

RYAN McQUINN: Ryan McQuinn is an award-winning composer, audio engineer, and sound designer whose work spans concert music, musical theater, audio dramas, and video games. His work is driven primarily by emotion and intuition, with theory serving to understand and refine ideas rather than to generate them. His music often explores contrasts between beauty and tension, intimacy and scale, darkness and wonder. Alongside composition, McQuinn works extensively in audio production and live sound, continuing to explore the intersection of storytelling, immersive sound, and imaginative musical worlds.

NICK SCOUT: Nick Scout is a multi-instrumentalist whose foundation is rooted in stringed instruments, with a style that encompasses everything from Gypsy jazz to neo-soul, classical to country-western, Hindustani to punk. Scout marries emotion with lawless fantasia in an approach all his own.

About the Partner Organizations

Art & History Museums of Maitland (A&H): The Art & History Museums of Maitland (A&H) is a premier cultural destination and community gathering place in Central Florida, about 15 minutes from downtown Orlando. A&H is a group of sophisticated attractions that includes a contemporary art museum, 3 interactive history museums, and a campus recognized as Greater Orlando’s only National Historic Landmark. A&H also features a community art school nestled among its beautiful gardens and unique architecture. Founded in 1937 as an artists’ retreat, our space continues to fulfill this mission through artist residencies that serve both local and international artists. A&H provides the Central Florida community with many free, family-friendly activities every month. artandhistory.org

Central Florida Composers’ Forum (CF²): The Central Florida Composers’ Forum (CF2) is an organization of composers and new music practitioners dedicated to the proposition that a thriving local arts scene makes a city an infinitely better place to live. CF2 strives to be part of a larger cultural conversation where the musical, visual, and other performing arts connect with audiences through innovative music programming, vital collaborations, and multidisciplinary performances that aim not just to reach audiences but to move them. cfcomposers.org

Howey Music Series: The Howey Music Series, which presents performances at the historic Howey Mansion in Howey-in-the-Hills in Lake County, was founded in 2018 by soprano Arisa Kusumi Sullivan as a nonprofit organization with the mission to breathe new life into musical treasures by bringing approachable and educational concerts to Central Floridians by underscoring the captivating qualities of great classical and jazz music, performed by the best artists. In addition, the series has a Mansion Music program for young listeners and additional pop-up concerts. howeymusicseries.org

Mudita (Mudita America): Established to bring communities together through innovative arts collaborations that defy boundaries across genres, cultures, and people, Mudita serves as an artistic collective of tomorrow. Founded initially in Japan in 2019 to share diverse global art with youth through the mechanism of empathy, its American branch—Mudita America—was established in 2022 to expand this shared vision across the Central Florida community. Built on core values of collaboration, innovation, accessibility, and empathy, the organization crafts multi-cultural performance experiences and structural fusions of international instrumental traditions. In recognition of its community impact, Mudita America was nominated for Best Chamber Music Group in Orlando Weekly’s Best of Orlando 2025. Three of tonight’s featured musicians—Aysima Anik (violin), Dennis Fleitz (cello), and Eric Rokni (santoor)—are proud resident members of the Mudita collective. muditausa.com

Special acknowledgments to Executive Director Danielle Thomas, Chief Curator Dan Hess, and program assistant Logan Anderson. Program design by Erik Branch. Concert sponsored by Duke Energy.

Full Program Text, Lyrics, & Composer Notes

1. Remnants of Home (Gerald Law II)

Program Notes: The violin and cello are utilized as a nod to the santur (santoor). The approach showcases these two instruments swapping roles throughout the piece, with each serving as the drone (root or fifth) and melody at some point. The piece alternates between two time signatures (7/4 and 6/4) and there are moments where both instruments “reset” as the drone, complimenting each other’s rhythmic pattern. The first half of the piece features the pizzicato technique, leaning towards the sound of the mallets striking the santur. The percussionist will rotate between the riq and darbuka drums throughout the piece.

There is a duality mentioned by Mär throughout her research in numerous facets. This comparison or coexistence is represented in both the alternating roles of the strings and the percussion instrument used. The vocal melody and ad lib figures draw on the influences of the cultural song. The trills and smooth flow through the minor scale are present throughout, even over the drone’s alternate pitches. The text was created from Mär’s writings, research, and accounts of her experience. To connect this piece with her work, it was important to me to draw inspiration as if I were present with her. Diving into her words and photos was my way to visualize her journey.

Lyrics (by Gerald Law II):

We watch, we talk, we realize
There’s nothing new under the skies
My home, your home, though ‘cross the sea
Our people’s freedom under siege
What if I became a mountain?
A tower, revealing, or fortress, concealing
A loom
A loom, a fence
A loom, a fence, a wire
A loom, a fence, a wire, a thread
The city’s a loom, remnants of home
Loom as a fence, remnants of home
Fence barbed with wire, remnants of home
Woven like thread, remnants of home.

2. Vibrant Colours in the Darkest Night (Nick Scout)

Program Notes: Juxtaposition in life and art has always drawn my attention. I found these pieces of art to convey, at times, heavy themes, but with brightness and brilliance in the colors that draw my eyes straight to them and initially evoke excitement. In my work, I wanted to take that same approach: to showcase heavy themes with an uplifting sound. Not to draw away from the heaviness, but to remind us all that two things can exist in the same realm at the same time.

Lyrics (by Nick Scout):

In the cradle
Fertile Crescent
Home. Home. Home.
With history at odds
Two worlds exist at once:
One read,
One lived.
Which one is true?
Both are.
Fear looms bright.
Not disguised, built into one’s life
For a lifetime.
But,
Beauty is abundant here
If you know where to look.
Around you In the cradle,
Fertile Crescent,
Birth place of it all.
In the cradle,
Fertile Crescent,
Birth place of us all.

3. Ballad of the Wild Girl (Charlie Griffin)

Program Note: Gülten Akın (1933–2015) was one of Turkey’s most influential contemporary poets, known for verses that look at isolation, gender, and structural barriers. In Ballad of the Wild Girl (originally Deli Kızın Türküsü), Akın explores the cyclical vulnerability of human longing (and fury when that vulnerability is frustrated or unrequited).

This setting utilizes an English translation by Filiz Turhan (a high school classmate!) and is scored for soprano, violin, and cello. Musically, the piece features frequent time signature changes designed to evoke the propulsive fluidity, asymmetry, and rhythmic shifting characteristic of traditional Middle Eastern and Turkish music. The composition was written to directly engage with Mär Martinez’s exhibition: a loom, a fence, a wire, a thread. Born from Martinez’s Fulbright research in Istanbul, her paintings contrast the organic, asymmetrical curves of human figures against the hard, rigid geometry of razor wire, checkpoints, and fences. Ballad of the Wild Girl aims to mirror this tension.

Filiz Turhan’s creative work has appeared in The Sonora Review, The Threepenny Review, The North American Review, The Closed Eye Open, and elsewhere. She serves as an Associate Prose Editor for The West Trade Review and has been a professor of English at SUNY Suffolk for many years. Like many of her students, she is a first-gen American and was a first-gen college student. Her family’s home city in Turkey is not far from Gülten Akın’s origins in Yozgat.

Poem by Gülten Akın (Translated by Filiz Turhan):

If I were to bump into you on a boulevard
If I were to reach out and grasp your hand
If I were to look into your eyes, but say nothing
If only you could understand

If I stretch out my hand, but can’t reach you
With all my love and my loneliness, too
Oh, thinking does me no good
And you haven’t a clue
You never have a clue
This ballad ends and starts anew

It rains, and the acacias drown
By night, the clouds roam
I’m crazy for the clouds, wild for the rain
But to you, it’s all just a game
Love me or kill me

Along the way, you lose it all
An insect starting anew
In the dark in this ungodly rain, I’ve stood
Burn, my lonesome heart, burn ‘
cause what’s gone is gone for good.

4. Three Rossetti Poems (Denise Broadhurst)

Poems by Christina Rossetti:

1. When I am dead, my dearest

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress-tree:

Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

2. The wind has such a rainy sound

The wind has such a rainy sound
Moaning through the town,
The sea has such a windy sound,
Will the ships go down?

The apples in the orchard
Tumble from their tree.
Oh will the ships go down, go down,
In the windy sea?

3. A blue-eyed phantom far before

A blue-eyed phantom far before
Is laughing, leaping toward the sun:
Like lead I chase it evermore,
I pant and run.

It breaks the sunlight bound on bound:
Goes singing as it leaps along
To sheep-bells with a dreamy sound
A dreamy song.

I laugh, it is so brisk and gay;
It is so far before, I weep:
I hope I shall lie down some day,
Lie down and sleep.

5. These Vulgar Spools (Erik Branch)

Program Notes: When I first saw Mär Martinez’s work, I was immediately drawn to the images of weaving and geometric patterns, and imagined how these could be realized musically. Once again, I sought out my friend, the poet Logan Anderson, who provided a beautiful, sophisticated text, well-suited to music, which plays on the images of weaving cloth – and stories. (One of my favorite lines – “the lessons of eccentric tales” occasioned a Scheherezade reference.) Often, the instrumental accompaniment suggests the shuttling of the loom or the tracing of the patterns in carpets and tapestries. To quote Mr. Anderson: “These Vulgar Spools” embraces teachings woven across heritage. Like ‘loom’ itself- guiding us to peer curiously. As the thread is sung, written, and read, each reflects the unique selves entangled by nature. These stories protect along unknown paths, noting the unorthodox animal, with familiar patterns: tranquility, strength, vulnerability. “And ensue…”

Lyrics:

Variation 1.
Loom close;
the lessons of eccentric tales
Stars paint above blue shadows, shaped by yew
Slip wool, glide wool, spin wool, ensue
Over, then under, till entangled, patterned, and smooth
I know the knot, by stories, the fox taught,
Uncaged,
A galloped haunch;
zigzags launched in paths the hare chased;
reflections unclear (lost)
As madness, the ox splits tears…
in fertile spools,
Slip wool, glide wool, spin wool, ensue till entangled, patterned, and smooth
In these night skies, repeating histories
As our bodies, flesh bare, lay in threads
On throws, wound and doubling, bound, dyed and tying;
over multiplicities
Slip wool, glide wool, spin wool, ensue
Over, then under, till entangled, patterned, and smooth.

6. Through Ebony to Ivory (Ryan McQuinn)

Program Notes: Inspired by Martinez’s artwork and through the lens of an Arabic mode, I was drawn to how the same collection of notes could suggest both shadow and radiance depending on harmony and orchestration. The title reflects the emotional journey at the center of the work: a conscious movement through darkness toward light, where tension, beauty, and transformation coexist rather than oppose one another. Through Ebony to Ivory explores that shifting emotional space, allowing moments of unease and warmth to emerge from the same musical language.