Department of Music

On February 5, 2009, the UVA Chamber Music Series third concert will feature the critically acclaimed members of the Albemarle Ensemble and Rivanna String Quartet with university performance faculty in a program highlighting the unusual timbre of composers Franz Schubert, Antonin Pasculli, Judith Shatin, David Diamond, and Arthur Weisberg. Joining the ensemble members will be Jeff Decker, saxophone; Mary Kathleen Ernst, piano; I-Jen Fang, percussion; Peter Spaar, bass; Kate Tamarkin, conductor; and Mimi Tung, piano. The captivating program will start at 8pm in Old Cabell Hall of the University of Virginia.

In this third concert of the five part series, the UVA Chamber Music Series presents the rich, inspiring palette of color and sound by composers who explore the timbres of different instrumentations to create unexpected and distinctive music. The concert also features an outstanding ensemble of UVA faculty and Virginia musicians, in rare and intriguing combinations, such a quintet with a double bass or a bassoon and a viola duo. Also unusual is a program including three contemporary American composers.

Composer and oboist, Pasculli fulfills his title, “Paginini of the oboe” through the operatic fantasy Gran Concerto su temi dall’opera I Vespri Sicilani di Verdi for oboe and piano. As a virtuoso, Pasculli weaves well-known operatic melodies into the composition to highlight his performance while entertaining audiences. Recently performing Vivalid’s Concerto for Oboe RV 447 with the Chamber Orchestra of Charlottesville, new principal oboist Aaron Hill will appear with Mary Kathleen Ernst, internationally acclaimed pianist.

The developer of a new mechanism to address the acoustical problems in playing the bassoon, bassoonist Weisberg composed music strongly influenced by atonal and serial techniques. Duo for Bassoon and Viola taxes the agility and technical ability of the performers. A student of Weisberg, UVA faculty member bassoonist Elizabeth Roberts and violist Ayn Balija will perform the challenge in rhythm, meter and high register as a tribute to Weisberg.

One of America’s foremost composers of the twentieth century, David Diamond composed Concert Piece for Horn and String Trio in a highly lyrical style which blends the horn with the violin, viola, and cello. Highlighting Diamond’s fascination to melody, the French Hornist Ian Zook will join strings David Sariti, violin; Ayn Balija, violist; and Adam Carter, cellist to develop the complex contrast of sound and emotional intensity which even directly affects a naïve audience. A neo-Romantic dedicated to melody, Diamond presents a traditional structure with the complex energy found in modern music.

Recently celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Virginia Center for Computer Music at the University of Virginia, founder and William R. Kennan, Jr. Professor, Judith Shatin explores the rhythm, basis, key to the soul of the Afro-Cuban rhythm in Clave. Written for flute, clarinet, saxophone, violin, viola, cello, piano and percussion, Clave celebrates the music which gives rise to a perceptual delight deeply moving the audience. Taking on the flavor of a Latin band, the largest ensemble of illustrious faculty includes Alan Flute Cox, flute; Nancy Garlick, clarinet; Jeffery Decker, saxophone; David Colwell, violin; Ayn Balija, viola; Adam Carter, cello; I-Jen Fang, percussion; Mary Kathleen Ernst, piano; and Kate Tamarkin, conductor.

Culminating the evening with a Romantic favorite, Schubert’s Quintet in A Major for Piano and Strings, popularly known as the Trout Quintet, features the unusual pairing of piano with violin, viola, cello, and double bass. This instrumentation creates a full sound, reminiscent of an orchestra in a parlor. Beloved, the composition contains Schubert melodies presented in a lighthearted, young Austrian voice. Distinguished faculty member, Mimi Tung performs as pianist with David Colwell, violin; Ayn Balija, viola; Adam Carter, cello; and Peter Spaar, double bass.

This concert takes place on Thursday, February 5, 2009, at 8pm in Old Cabell Hall of the University of Virginia. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students, 5 ARTS$ for UVA students and free for those under 18. A reception follows.