The 2002-2003 Union College Concert
Series season begins on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the acoustically superb Union
College Memorial Chapel, with pianist Ignat
Solzhenitsyn, son of Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Recognized as one of today's most
gifted young artists, and enjoying an active career as pianist, chamber
musician, and conductor, his lyrical interpretations have won him worldwide critical
acclaim.
The Series, described by former
Albany Times-Union music critic Scott Cantrell (now chief classical
music critic of the Dallas Morning News) as “a series whose distinction
could hardly be outdone in any of the world's musical capitals,” has once again
lined up the finest international artists and ensembles to perform, a few in
their Capital District debuts.
The esteemed pianist Yefim Bronfman makes his Series debut performing a program
he will take to many of the world's musical capitals. The brilliant Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic returns prior to
an appearance at Symphony Hall in Boston. The Brazilian virtuoso pianist Arnaldo Cohen returns with a program featuring the works of
Lizst and Chopin.
The exciting new chamber ensemble,
La Fenice (Phoenix),
offers both unusual and familiar repertoire for oboe, strings, and piano. For the first time ever, we will have a world
premiere, a work written for the group by Fred Lerdahl,
Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia
University and recipient of
numerous honors, awards, commissions, and recently composer in residence at the
Marlboro Music Festival.
Acknowledged
as one of the finest violinists performing today, Midori makes her Series debut
in a season commemorating the 20th anniversary of her professional debut, with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic. Another notable debut is the highly acclaimed
and well recorded mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink
exploring the rarely heard Cantata literature of J.S. Bach with the period
instrument group, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
Pianists Ursula Oppens
and Frederic Chiu make their Series debuts with, respectively, the Pacifica
String Quartet and the Budapest Strings.
Ms. Oppens, heard several times with the
Albany Symphony in contemporary works, will perform a pre-concert recital
featuring a recent work by Italy's
foremost composer, Luciano Berio. With the Pacifica String Quartet, the
afternoon will conclude with the glorious Dvorak Piano Quintet. Frederic Chiu, a Harmonia
Mundi recording artist, performs a Bach keyboard
concerto with the Budapest Strings, last heard three
years ago with flutist Paula Robison.
Another Series debut features the
unique Flanders Recorder Quartet and Friends – recorders of all sizes, with
harpsichord, lute, percussion, and the renowned countertenor Steve Dugardin, in selections from their best selling Opus 111
CD, “Magic.”
The Nash
Ensemble of London, in its third Series appearance, will perform chamber music
masterpieces by Mozart (Horn Quintet) and Brahms (Horn Trio and Piano
Quintet). Also returning are Series
regulars, the Emerson String Quartet, cellist David Finckel
and pianist Wu Han, Musicians from Marlboro, Boston Camerata,
and the Artemis String Quartet.
For details, visit:
http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries/
Following is a chronological
listing of concerts:
8 p.m., Wednesday, October 16: Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano
8 p.m., Saturday, October 26: Artemis String Quartet
8 p.m., Wednesday, November 6: Musicians from Marlboro
8 p.m., Wednesday, November 13: Budapest Strings with Frederic Chiu, piano
3 p.m., Sunday, November 24: Pacifica String Quartet with Ursula Oppens, piano
8 p.m., Saturday, November 30: Yefim Bronfman, piano
8 p.m., Tuesday, December 17: Boston
Camerata
8 p.m., Friday, January 3: David Finckel, cello and Wu Han, piano
3 p.m., Sunday, January 26: La Fenice (Phoenix)
8 p.m., Friday, February 21: Freiburg
Baroque Orchestra with Bernada Fink, mezzo soprano
3 p.m., Sunday, March 2: Emerson String Quartet
8 p.m., Saturday, March 15: Midori, violin and Robert McDonald, piano
8 p.m., Saturday, March 22: Flanders
Recorder Quartet and Friends
8 p.m., Friday, April 4: Dubravka Tomsic, piano
8 p.m., Friday, April 11: Nash Ensemble of London
8 p.m., Wednesday, April 23: Arnaldo Cohen, piano
Students will be admitted to all
concerts at half the ticket price. Subscription to all 16 concerts is only $130,
which is a savings of $205 over single ticket purchase price. Season tickets
may be purchased in advance by mail from the Scheduling Office, Union
College, Schenectady,
N.Y. 12308.
Single tickets may be purchased at the door one hour before concert time.
Parking for all concerts is available in the lot at the corner of Seward
Place and Nott Street,
with trolley service to the Chapel.
These concerts are made possible,
in part, by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Times
Union Newspapers, and the Schenectady County Initiative Program.