by Kevin McLaughlin
Duo Noire — Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallett — returned to the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society stage at the Maltz Center on Saturday evening, November 15, with a program that spoke as much to their values as to their technique. The Duo prizes an inclusive repertoire that gives space to new and underrepresented voices.
While everyone settled in, Flippin announced a surprise guest. Damien Goggans, a rising professional and alumnus of the CCGS Education Program, stepped forward to sing Thomas Flippin’s “Etude #1, Oh Mother Glasco (Lullaby)” from 14 Études on the Music of Black Americans. Goggans then joined the Duo for the same piece in a trio arrangement, also by Flippin.
The program opened with Flippin’s Delmar Blvd Blues, a compact piece with easy swing and warm tone — the kind of easy-to-love quality that helps a recital find its footing. Its subject — housing redlining in post–WWI St. Louis — cast a longer shadow, though the music carried it lightly. Flippin’s lines had a conversational ease and Mallett grounded everything with an unhurried groove.
Justin Holland’s Scraps from the Opera: Oberon reached back to Cleveland’s own classical guitar past. Holland, who studied at Oberlin in 1841 and spent most of his life in Cleveland, liked to assemble attractive medleys from the operatic hits of his era. Duo Noire gave the Oberon set an old-fashioned charm — Hausmusik for friends. Mallett shaped the melodies with unaffected grace while Flippin added crisp counter-lines and delicate percussion using the soundboard.
The first world premiere, Bryan Senti’s Lengua Quebrada, shifted the atmosphere. With a film composer’s sense of color and an off-kilter 25/16 pulse, the piece mixed harmonics, brushed chords, “chicken scratches” on the strings, and a rock-tinged climax. Flippin and Mallett navigated its rhythmic puzzles with deceptive ease, sharing collective sighs and broad smiles at the close.
Three of Gity Razaz’s Four Haikus followed. The Andante was a small, circling exchange — a deconstructed conversation in short, clipped phrases. The Largo, dark and suspended, provided the emotional center, and the Energetic finale brought relief with its burst of speed and clarity. Razaz’s clean textures and her fondness for timbral toe-dipping suit Duo Noire well.
Flippin’s transcription of J.S. Bach’s Duetto No. 4, BWV 805, let the guitars impersonate harpsichords. Their counterpoint was clean and transparent. Scarlatti sonatas K.466 and K.377 had bright edges, quick tempos and almost bebop-like passagework that Mallett handled with ease, while Flippin served as the rhythmic anchor.
Piazzolla’s Libertango closed the first half enchantingly with rhythmic swing and cool restraint.
The second world premiere, Casimir Liberski’s Zanshin: IV opened the second half. The piece is full of mischievous hocketing figures, displaced rhythms, and chord shapes that felt imported from another instrument entirely. Flippin and Mallett met the work’s challenges with ease, openly celebrating when it was over.
Courtney Bryan’s Soli Deo Gloria, which describes shifting emotional states during prayer, was one of the evening’s high points. Seemingly improvised lines between the guitars were unspooled with great care. Meditative passages offered a moment of rest, and a middle section, with guitar-body percussion and low, rumbling strings, bloomed like an organ swell. Mallett and Flippin took it all on with quiet concentration and serious expressions.
The final world premiere, Layale Chaker’s Bound and Undone, blends Middle Eastern modes with jazz-inflected harmony — mostly in steady 4/4, yet with subtle accents that shift the floorboards. High runs, modal scales, and agile turns sit just outside the guitar’s comfort zone, but Duo Noire approached each hurdle with delight.
Nathalie Joachim’s Held Together was perhaps the evening’s most memorable stretch. Built on a backing track of Joachim’s own layered vocals, it requires the guitarists to wear earpieces feeding click-tracks to stay aligned with a constantly changing meter. Loops of text and harmony — especially the recurring “if I can just keep it together” — swirled in the air, while the guitars held a steady pulse. As the electronics receded into silence, the players brought the piece to a quiet, graceful close.
The program closed with Nathaniel Dett’s Juba, arranged by Duo Noire — lively, rhythm-driven, and close to ragtime in spirit. After the program’s earlier rigors, Dett’s clarity felt like a smart final choice: energetic, direct and played without fuss.
The evening’s through-line was about curiosity, not virtuosity. Flippin and Mallett appeared happiest when pushing the boundaries of what their instruments can do, especially in works by non-guitarist composers. The program may have stretched them, but it never dimmed their can-do spirit.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com November 18, 2025
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