Tuesdays @ 8 Concert Series
to Focus
on 18th Century Master Franz Joseph Haydn
For Immediate Release June 19, 2009
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – The Music Academy of the West will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Franz Joseph Haydn's death by presenting one of his brilliant piano trios at each of the Academy's six Tuesdays @ 8 concerts this summer. The storied Tuesdays @ 8 chamber music series features performances by Academy Fellows, faculty, and guest artists. Series concerts take place at 8 pm Tuesdays at the Lobero Theatre.
A pioneering force in 18th century music, Haydn was extraordinarily prolific and imaginative, composing over 100 symphonies, more than 60 string quartets, and 30 piano trios (the three musical forms most transformed by his gifts), as well as operas, church music, and more. According to Richard Feit, vice president for artistic programs and operations at the Music Academy, the piano trios featured this summer account for a relatively rare – and especially delightful – corner of the Haydn canon.
"These seldom heard little gems are in effect mini piano concerti, with the violin and cello in supporting roles," he said. "In contemporary terms, the violin and cello serve to provide upper- and lower-register accents, respectively, almost like a tweeter and a woofer in a speaker system, leaving the piano to give full expression to Haydn's harmonic and melodic genius. These are not to be missed."
As in years past, the 2009 Tuesdays @ 8 series will challenge traditional conceptions of chamber music by highlighting the venerable genre's vast – and often overlooked – compositional range. Series highlights this season, for instance, will include works by such composers as Jean Françaix, György Ligeti, Frank Bridge, Henri Dutilleux, Tom Johnson, and Dave Hollinden. The series also will include pieces by Witold Lutosławski, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Leos Janáček, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, and Jacques Ibert.
Chamber music traditionalists also will be well served, as the 2009 Tuesdays @8 series will include compositions by the likes of Mendelssohn, Smetana, Brahms, Strauss, and Beethoven in addition to Haydn. In fact, The Academy also will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth with performances of his works on July 14 and 21. Guest performers this season will include the famed Takács Quartet (July 28), whose members will be in residence at the Music Academy over the summer.
The series will kick off Tuesday, June 30, with a program featuring Françaix's Wind Quintet No. 1, Ligeti's Five Pieces for Piano Four Hands, Haydn's Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in D Minor, Hob. XV:23, Bridge's Phantasie Quartet for Piano and Strings in F-sharp Minor, H. 94, and Strauss' Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat Major, op. 18. Complete series information appears below.
Patrons can purchase a discounted series pass, which includes a single ticket to each Tuesdays @ 8 recital, for $168. Individual tickets cost $33. Patrons age 40 and younger can purchase tickets on the day of each recital for just $15, pending availability. Children age 12 and younger will be admitted free.
The Lobero Theatre is located at 33 East Canon Perdido Street in Santa Barbara. The series is generously supported by a gift from Manchester Capital Management.
As part of its 62nd Summer Festival, the Music Academy also will present an ambitious production of Ambroise Thomas' charming French Romantic opera Mignon, as well as performances by conductor Leonard Slatkin and pianist Christopher Taylor. The Academy will present 197 events over the course of this year's Summer School and Festival, which begins June 22 and concludes on August 15. Additional highlights will include performances by the Canadian Brass and the Takács Quartet, and conducting turns by Larry Rachleff, Peter Oundjian, George Manahan, Nicholas McGegan, and Alexander Mickelthwate. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events will be presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
For tickets and information, call 969-8787. Information is also available online at www.musicacademy.org.
Founded
in 1947, the Music
Academy of the West is
among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young
classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the
opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of
internationally renowned faculty artists, guest conductors, and soloists.
Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full
scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major
symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and
university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers
as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara,
the Music Academy of the West presents more than
200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting
artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and
fully staged opera. The Music
Academy began
broadcasting live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn
Hall in October 2008. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
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Tuesdays @ 8 2009
Tuesday, June 30
FRANÇAIX Wind Quintet No. 1
LIGETI Five Pieces for Piano Four Hands
HAYDN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in D Minor, Hob. XV:23
BRIDGE Phantasie Quartet for Piano and Strings in F-sharp Minor, H. 94
STRAUSS Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat Major, op. 18
Tuesday, July 7
PROKOFIEV Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, op. 119
BARTÓK Contrasts
SHOSTAKOVICH/REYNOLDS String Quartet No. 12 in D-flat Major, op. 133, arranged
HAYDN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in C Minor, Hob. XV:13
Tuesday, July 14
HENRI DUTILLEUX Sarabande et Cortège
JANÁCEK Capriccio
HAYDN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in F-sharp Minor, Hob. XV:26
HINDEMITH Kleine Kammermusik, op. 24 no. 2
MENDELSSOHN Sextet for Piano and Strings in D Major, op. 110
Tuesday, July 21
VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas brasileiras, No. 6
STRAVINSKY L'histoire du soldat
HAYDN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in G Minor, Hob. XV:19
MENDELSSOHN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello No. 2 in C Minor, op. 66
Tuesday, July 28
TOM JOHNSON Failing: A Very Difficult Piece for String Bass
LUTOSŁAWSKI Dance Preludes
DAVE HOLLINDEN Platinum
HAYDN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in E Major, Hob. XV:28
BRAHMS String Sextet in B-flat Major, op. 18
Tuesday, August 11
IBERT/OPLAND Quatre Chansons de Don Quichotte
BEETHOVEN Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, op. 16
HAYDN Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in G Major, Hob. XV:25
SMETANA Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in G Minor, op. 15
