The Folias Duo [photo credit: The Folias Duo]
Folias Duo, founded after Maret and Bergeron met at Michigan State University, where both earned master’s degrees in music, has built a singular voice over more than two decades, blending classical training with jazz, world music, tango and improvisation. The pair has performed more than 700 concerts across the United States, South America and Europe, released eight albums, and produced 40 livestream broadcasts during the pandemic when many ensembles paused. Fanfare Magazine called their most recent album, “Heartdance,” “a life-enhancing experience”; Flutist Quarterly has labeled them “top talents.”
Several of the duo’s recent original compositions take inspiration from the Great Lakes, including Maret’s “Looking Glass” and Bergeron’s “Lake Huron” and “Lake Superior.” Bergeron’s compositional output extends beyond chamber works to a symphony and a forthcoming flute concerto. Both musicians serve on the faculty at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids; Bergeron also teaches at Grand Rapids Community College.
Pasadena Presbyterian Church anchors the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Madison Avenue across from the Pasadena Playhouse, a short walk from the Lake Avenue Metro A Line station. Admission to Music at Noon is free, and the audience tends to be a mix of office workers on a brown-bag break and longtime church regulars.
Folias Duo will perform at Music at Noon on Wednesday, May 20 at noon. Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 793-2191 or visit ppc.net. Admission is free.
