Performances to Feature Tenor Ferguson, Vogler String Quartet

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Performances by the Vogler String Quartet and Metropolitan Opera tenor William Ferguson, and three recitals by members of the UB music faculty will be among the offerings to be presented by the Department of Music in November.

The Berlin-based Vogler String Quartet will present the third concert of this season's Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.

Formed in 1985, the Vogler is one of the very few chamber ensembles performing today for that length of time that is still with its original, founding members.

Trained at the Hanns Eisler Music Institute in Berlin, the quartet first attained recognition after winning First Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France, in 1986. Shortly thereafter, BMG/RCA produced the quartet's first CD. Since then, the group has recorded works by Bartók, Beethoven, Berg, Debussy, Janácek, Ravel, Shostakovich and Verdi, as well as the complete string quartets of Brahms and Schumann.

In association with the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the Department of Music will present one of the newest additions to the Metropolitan Opera roster, tenor William Ferguson, in recital at 8 p.m. Nov. 17 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus. Ferguson will be joined by pianist Jerome Tan in a program titled "Gods and Monsters." The recital is part of the Slee/Visiting Artists Series.

As part of his Horne Foundation residency at UB, Ferguson will present programs at Union East Elementary School in Cheektowaga, Lancaster High School and Grand Island High School and Middle School on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15. All students attending those programs will be invited, with the support of the MHF, to attend Ferguson's recital in Baird Recital Hall on Nov. 17.

A native of Richmond, Va., Ferguson will expand his growing list of commendable credits by debuting next summer with the Santa Fe Opera as Caliban in the North American premiere of Thomas Adès' "The Tempest." Last year, he performed in Sydney with Opera Australia, has been a regular artist at the New York City Opera and has made appearances at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opera Festival of New Jersey, the Music Academy of the West, the Tanglewood Music Center (with Maestro Seiji Ozawa) and the Chautauqua Institution.

He holds both bachelor's and master's degrees from The Juilliard School.

Ferguson has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Elihu Hyndman Career Grant from Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Judges' Award in the Opera Indix Competition, a Bagby Foundation Career Grant and the Alan Weiler Award for Excellence, presented by Opera Orchestra of New York. In 2003, he received the Alice Tully Vocal Arts Debut Recital Award granting him a New York recital debut in Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Upcoming engagements include additional appearances with the Marilyn Horn Foundation, the Richmond Symphony and International Sejong Soloists; recitals in New York and Virginia; a return to the Metropolitan Opera; and the world premiere of "Wakonda's Dream" at Opera Omaha.

Founded in 1993, the Marilyn Horne Foundation is devoted to encouraging, supporting and preserving the art of the vocal recital through the presentation of recitals and related educational programs in communities across the United States.

The first of three faculty recitals to be held during the month of November will take place at 8 p.m. Nov. 8 in Lippes Concert Hall when HEARD, the faculty chamber ensemble in residence at UB, takes the stage for a performance entitled "HEARD in the Tropics."

A collaborative chamber ensemble of UB music faculty dedicated to performing both new and traditional chamber music, HEARD features Tony Arnold, soprano; Alexander Hurd, baritone; Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman, flute; Jean Kopperud, clarinet; Jonathan Golove, cello; Jacob Greenberg, piano; and Stephen Manes, piano.

The November program will include special guest faculty member and percussionist Anthony Miranda.

Manes will give the third concert in his presentation of the complete cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas at 8 p.m. Nov. 13 in Lippes Concert Hall. His program will be "Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13" ("Pathetique"), "Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Op. 7," "Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1" and "Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109."

Flutist Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman will present a solo recital at 3 p.m. Nov. 19 in Lippes Concert Hall.

In this hour-long program, Gobbetti-Hoffman will perform the first series of songs, "Op. 198," from Charles Koechlin's complete "Songs of Nectaire" for flute solo, Opp. 198-200.

The complete work consists of 96 pieces arranged in three series—at more than three hours, one of the longest complete works ever written for flute.

The 32 songs of "Op. 198" were inspired by Koechlin's reading of the Anatole France novel "Revolt of the Angels" (1914) and its philosophizing shepherd, Nectaire, who enthralls an entourage with his eloquent and inventive musical discourse on the flute.

Tickets for the Vogler and Ferguson concerts are $12 for general admission; $9 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, senior citizens and WNED members with card; and $5 for students. Tickets for the HEARD and Gobbetti-Hoffman recitals are $5; tickets for Manes' performance are $10 for general admission and $5 for students. Tickets for all Department of Music concerts can be obtained at the Slee Hall box office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the Center for the Arts box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster outlets, including Ticketmaster.com.