duoTOPAZ is a collaboration of two extraordinary artists: Mimi Dye, violist, violinist, and composer; and Isabelle Courret, award-winning French harpist. Their unique and highly varied music includes masterpieces of the French Impressionists, Piazzolla tangos, original chamber jazz compositions by Ms. Dye, Spanish dances of de Falla, and the timeless music of J. S. Bach.
Mimi Dye, violist, composer, and Artistic Director of TOPAZ, is well-known to Bay Areas audiences as a soloist, chamber musician, and jazz performer. Ms. Dye received her BA from Mills College, and her MA from Brooklyn College, where she was a student of Itzhak Perlman. She made her New York debut in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and was presented by Four Seasons Concerts in her San Francisco debut at Herbst Theater. Ms. Dye has appeared as soloist with the Carmel Bach Festival, San Francisco Chamber Players, New York String Ensemble, Nova Vista Symphony, Palo Alto Philharmonic, and the Baroque Chamber Players. She is an artist-in-residence at the Yachats Festival in Yachats, Oregon. Ms. Dye has performed with many jazz musicians including Eddie Gale, Wayne Wallace, Terry Disley, and Peter Barshay. Her numerous orchestral credits include playing in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, touring with Barbra Streisand, and recording movie scores in Los Angeles. Her compositions include an album of solo viola works ("Angel Songs of Mimi Dye"), two chamber jazz suites ("Gracias a Dios" and "Paradise Dreams"), two jazz tunes, and a song for youth chorus and orchestra ("Twinkling Stars Trumpeting"). Ms. Dye has produced three of her own CDs: "Spiritual Songs of Hildegard," "Mimi's Classical Favorites," and "Angel Songs of Mimi Dye."
Isabelle Courret, French harpist, studied harp from a very early age at the Conservatoire National de Région de Bordeaux, France. When she was fourteen, she was admitted with distinction to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris where she studied with Jacqueline Borot, Marie-Claude Jamet, and Christian Lamel. At the age of seventeen, she was awarded first prize on the harp with a unanimous decision from the jury. In order to widen her musical background, she continued her studies with Marielle Nordmann and Suzanne Mildonian. In the early 1990s, she performed as First Harp Soloist with the La Scala Opera House in Milan, under the direction of many notable conductors, including Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, and Semyon Byckon. Ms. Courret has been featured in several television events, and has given numerous conderts and recitals in France and internationally, including performances in Monaco, Luxembourg, London, Cairo, Athens, the Yachats Festival in Yachats, Oregon, and in Berkeley and Oakland, California. Ms. Courret has released two CDs; "Pavane" (harp solo) and "Quantim" (French music for flute, viola, and harp).
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