Beloved works for strings in Wednesday concert
The July 31 Wednesday Upbeat! concert will present two of the most beloved works for string ensemble in classical music – Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night) and Franz Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major, D. 956, commonly known as “the two cello quintet.”
Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht, a string sextet in one movement composed in 1899, was inspired by Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name. Although Schoenberg is noted as a 20th-century revolutionary and the inventor of the 12-tone technique, he is best known among audiences for this early tonal work, an example of late Romanticism. The performers include Janet Sung and Yang Xu, violins; Dimitri Murrath and Caroline Coade, violas; and Amir Eldan and Meta Weiss, cellos.
Schubert’s final work for chamber ensemble, the String Quintet, was composed in the summer of 1828, just two months before his death. Its instrumentation is unusual, using two cellos rather than the customary two violas, achieving a richer and more complex sound. It is widely regarded as one of the high points in chamber music literature. Lewis Kaplan and Muneko Otani play the violins, Jesus Rudolfo Rodriguez the viola, and David Requiro and Meta Weiss the cellos.
Wednesday Upbeat! concerts are held at 7:30 p.m. in Studzinski Recital Hall on the Bowdoin campus. Tickets are $40.
Gamper Festival of contemporary music
The Charles E. Gamper Festival has presented the works of 20th-century and contemporary American composers, including the Festival’s composers-in-residence, guest composers, and top participants since 1965. Concerts are at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, July 27 and 28, in Studzinski Recital Hall.
Saturday’s concert will present an all-American program with works by Robert Beaser, Kathleen Bader, Arlene Sierra, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez , Andy Akiho, Derek Bermel, Matt Zavortink and Andrew McManus. McManus is the winner of the Bowdoin Festival’s sixth annual student composition competition.
Sunday’s concert will present an all-Asian program, with works by Karen Tanaka, Chen Yi, Chinary Ung, Unsuk Chin, Kamran Ince and Jungyoon Wie.
Bowdoin Festival extra
The Bowdoin Festival’s educational series, Bowdoin Festival Extra, concludes with the annual family concert at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 27, at Brunswick’s Curtis Memorial Library and a clarinet demonstration by Michael Webster at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 30, in Gibson Hall, Room 101.
All Bowdoin Festival Extra events are free and open to the public.
For a complete schedule, visit www.bowdoinfestival.org.
Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky in festival finale
The 2013 Bowdoin International Music Festival’s final concert presents an all-strings program of renowned works: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite No. 3 for Solo Cello in C Major, BWV 1009; Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2; and Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky’s treasured string sextet, Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70.
Meta Weiss, one of this season’s Bowdoin Virtuosi, a select group of emerging stars who come to Bowdoin to hone their skills, will open the program with the Bach cello suite. A top prize-winner in numerous competitions and a world-traveling soloist, Weiss has been featured on National Public Radio as guest artist on A Prairie Home Companion and From the Top.
The Shanghai Quartet will conclude their 2013 Bowdoin Festival residency with the Beethoven String Quartet, one of the six early quartets published in 1799-1800.
For the grand finale, renowned violinist Mikhail Kopelman will lead the Tchaikovsky, accompanied by Muneko Otani, violin; Dimitri Murrath and Jesus Rudolfo Rodriguez, violas, and David Requiro and Meta Weiss, cellos.
The Bowdoin International Music Festival was founded in 1964 by Lewis Kaplan and the late Robert K. Beckwith of Bowdoin College. The Festival’s mission is to provide Maine audiences with classical music performed to the highest artistic standards, and to provide gifted young musicians from around the world with an opportunity to study chamber music with world-class artists. Over its 47-year history, the Festival has established itself as a vital force throughout the music world. Visit the Bowdoin Festival on the web at www.bowdoinfestival.org or call 207-725-3895.
Schedule:
Bowdoin International Music Festival
www.bowdoinfestival.org
July 26, 1:30 PM
Artists of Tomorrow concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
July 26, 7:30 PM
Festival Fridays concert
Ravel, Fauré, Saint-Saens
Crooker Theater, Brunswick High School
Tickets: $40
July 27, 11:00 AM
Bowdoin Festival Extra
Annual Family Concert
Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick
Free
July 27, 7:30 PM
Gamper Festival Concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
July 28, 1:30 PM
Artists of Tomorrow concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
July 28, 7:30 PM
Gamper Festival Concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
July 29, 7:30 PM
Monday Sonatas concert
Brahms, Beethoven, Poulenc, Sierra
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Tickets: $40
July 30, 1:00 PM
Artists of Tomorrow concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
July 30, 4:00 PM
Bowdoin Festival Extra
Michael Webster, clarinet demonstration
Gibson Hall, Room 101, Bowdoin College
Free
July 30, 6:30 PM
Artists of Tomorrow concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
July 31, 7:30 PM
Wednesday Upbeat! concert
Schoenberg, Schubert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Tickets: $40
August 1, 1:00 PM
Artists of Tomorrow concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
August 1, 6:30 PM
Artists of Tomorrow concert
Studzinski Recital Hall, Bowdoin College
Suggested donation: $10
August 2, 7:30 PM
Festival Fridays concert
Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky
Crooker Theater, Brunswick High School
Tickets: $40
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