The Opus 2 Duo consists of William Terwilliger on violin and Andrew Cooperstock on piano. This award winning duo has travelled throughout the world performing concerts that have featured music of American composers. In addition to the standard literature for the violin, they have performed a great deal of music originally written for violin and piano by such composers as Copland, Bernstein, Gershwin and others. They have also made their own arrangements of American music not originally written for violin, and have worked with arrangers who have SET music for the duo. In particular the duo has had a long standing relationship with arranger Eric Stern.

Stern’s arrangement of Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” for the duo is the third collaboration that the Opus 2 Duo has done with Eric Stern. The other two collaborations have consisted of suites of music from Bernstein’s “Candide” and Gershwin’s “Girl Crazy.”

“Eric is a wonderful composer and transcriber. In terms of Broadway music he really lives and breathes this music. He was a long time conductor and music director on Broadway. He knew Sondheim very well and they worked together many times... we couldn’t have been more delighted to have brought out this recording this year in commemoration of Sondheim’s 90th birthday, “ says Cooperstock.

The timing of the release of this recording was very poignant for both Cooperstock and Terwilliger. The CD was released on the 19th of November 2021, and Sondheim sadly passed away on November the 26th. Sondheim knew of the Stern’s arrangement and knew that the Duo would be performing the suite in New York, but was unable to attend the performance. The Duo performed the suite in New York and Sondheim passed away three days later.

“It just hit me… I was shocked and saddened… it was very poignant,” states Terwilliger.

As Cooperstock says, “I just wish we could have met Sondheim personally but we fell that we knew him at least second hand. He knew about us, he heard our recording, he commented on it, he knew our arranger very well… we feel that even though we didn’t get to meet him personally that Sondheim has had a major influence on our lives.”

The suite was written and performed for Sondheim’s 90th birthday, but it has now become a wonderful tribute to his life and music.

The Suite consists of five little sections that are made up of some 0of the more well-known tunes from the musical:

  1. Night Waltz
  2. You Must Meet My Wife
  3. A Weekend in the Country
  4. Send in  the Clowns
  5. Night Waltz Reprise

The playing on the recording is wonderful! And the Opus 2 Duo has gifted us, the listener with a fantastic new suite made up of Sondheim’s iconic music. Eric Stern’s “A Little Night Music Suite” is sure to become a favorite of violinists and audiences for many years to come!

To see Chris Wolf’s conversation with the Opus 2 Duo click here