The 34th Union College Concert Series, featuring the Emerson String Quartet, Artemis String Quartet, pianists Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman and other world-renowned musicians, will kick off Friday, Sept. 30. All performances are in the acoustically-superb Memorial Chapel.
The series will pay tribute to the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, the 100th anniversary of Shostakovich's birth and the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Schumann, which occur in 2006.
The 14-concert season opens on Friday at 8 p.m. with an all-Schubert program, A Schubert Lieder Abend, by tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Julius Drake, and concludes May 8 with an all-Mozart program by pianist Mitsuko Uchida.
In November, the prize-winning Belcea String Quartet, a young British group, will perform Schumann's A major quartet, op. 41, No. 3.
Marking Mozart's birthday weekend in January, acclaimed pianist Pei-Yao Wang and Friends will perform three Mozart Concerti arranged by the composer for piano and string quintet, K. 413, 414 and 415.
A perennial favorite, the Emerson String Quartet, will play Shostakovich's final three string quartets, Sunday, April 2 at 2 p.m.
Concert parking is available at nearby campus lots. The Union College trolley will be available to shuttle concert goers from the Nott/Seward lot one hour before the start of the concert and one hour after the end of each concert. The complete schedule is on the web at www.union.edu/ConcertSeries/. Single tickets are available for purchase in advance at the Union College Central Scheduling office.
For tickets phone (518) 388-6080; for mailing list and brochures (518) 388-6131; and for other information please call (518) 372-3651.