Department of Music

• Saturday, February 13, 2010
• Old Cabell Hall
• 8:00pm
• Adults ($20-35), Students ($10/free with UVa ID)

• Sunday, February 14, 2010
• Monticello High School
• 3:30pm
• Adults ($20-35), Students ($10/free with UVa ID)

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra continues its 2009-10 Musical Postcards season with “Heartland of Europe” on Saturday, February 13, at 8:00 p.m., at Old Cabell Hall on the UVa Grounds, and Sunday, February 14, at 3:30 p.m. at Monticello High School in Charlottesville.

Conducted by Music Director Kate Tamarkin, the concerts explore the musical landscape of Hungary (now the Czech Republic), Poland and Estonia.  The program includes Zoltán Kodály’s Dances of Galánta; Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in f minor, Op. 21; Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten; and Andrzej Panufnik’s Sinfonia Sacra (Symphony No. 3). 

Bank of America is the corporate sponsor of both performances.

Featured as guest artist in Chopin’s virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2 is Mimi Tung, Piano Instructor at UVa’s McIntire Department of Music.  A graduate of The Juilliard School of Music, Ms. Tung studied with world-renowned pianists Edward Steuermann, Aube Tzerko and Leo Fleischer.  She has performed with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra under the batons of Walter Susskind, Arthur Fiedler and Leon Kirchner among others.

“Striking the perfect balance between clarity and rhapsody” (The Washington Post), Ms. Tung has been heard on television and radio in major American and Asian cities.  She was previously on the faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music, the St. Louis Music Conservatory and the University of California.  

Written in 1933, Kodaly’s Dances of Gálánta were written to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic Society.  They draw on the characteristic Hungarian verbunkos, a folk dance traditionally played by Gypsy bands.

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt draws inspiration for his mesmerizing music from mysticism, Renaissance harmony, chant-like melodies and the works of Prokofiev and Shostakovich, which made a strong imprint upon him during his youth.  Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, composed in 1977 for string orchestra and bell, has been described by New York Times critic Allen Kozinn as “an orchestral threnody in which a touch of Britten’s own lush string scoring style invokes the memory of the British composer.”

Sinfonia Sacra (Symphony No. 3) was a pivotal work for Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik, winning First Prize in the Prince Ranier Competition in 1963 and earning him overdue international recognition.  It commemorates one thousand years of Polish Christianity, a bold message during the Communist era.  Built around three Visions and a concluding Hymn, it highlights four trumpets that are separated at the perimeter of the full orchestra for the duration of the symphony.

Free pre-concert lectures will be held 45 minutes before each concert on both days.  Saturday’s lecture will take place in Minor Hall on the UVa Grounds. Sunday’s lecture will be held in the Forum at Monticello High School.  Both will be presented by Mcintire  Department of Music Associate  Professor Richard Will.

“Noon Notes,” a free popular lecture series by Music Director Kate Tamarkin, will continue this season on Friday, February 12, at 12:00 p.m. in the Northside Branch of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library.

Free parking is available in the UVa Central Grounds Parking Garage, located on Emmet Street, on Saturday night and at the high school on Sunday afternoons.

Tickets are $35, $30, $25 and $20 for adults, and $10 for students.  UVa students may request one complimentary ticket in advance.  Tickets may be purchased at The University of Virginia Arts Box Office, (434) 924-3376, 12:00-5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday in the lobby of the Drama Building at 109 Culbreth Road, or on-line at www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu.

Remaining dates in the Musical Postcards season are “English Variations” on March 27-28 and “The New World” on April 24-25.