UB a stop on quartet’s farewell tour

The Tokyo String Quartet, a frequent performer in UB’s Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle, has announced that after 40 seasons, the 2012-13 season will be its last. The world-renowned ensemble has made UB a stop on its Farewell Tour.

The quartet will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus, as part of the Department of Music’s Slee/Visiting Artist Series.

Earlier in the month, the Slee Sinfonietta, conducted by Robert Treviño, will open the music department’s 2012-13 concert season with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 in Lippes Concert Hall. The concert is presented in conjunction with the Robert & Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music.

The Tokyo String Quartet first performed in UB’s Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle in 1976, and appeared in two concerts as part of the series’ 50th anniversary celebration. It last performed at UB as part of a Beethoven “mini-marathon” in 2008.

The program on Sept. 28 will begin with a work by Joseph Haydn, known as the “Father of the String Quartet.” Haydn’s “Rider” quartet is followed by Bartok’s “String Quartet No. 6,” his final string quartet and one of his last works.

The second half of the program will feature Mendelssohn’s “String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2,” an early Romantic quartet.

Tickets are $30 for adults, $20 for faculty/staff/alumni and senior citizens, and $15 for students. There are no advanced ticket rates for this concert.

A pre-concert reception with light hors d’oeuvres and an open bar sponsored by the UB Alumni Association requires an advanced ticket that can be purchased by contacting the Alumni Association at 645-3312 or ub-alumni@buffalo.edu.

In its Sept. 24 concert, the Slee Sinfonietta—UB’s professional chamber orchestra in residence and the flagship ensemble for the Center for 21st Century Music—will open with two pieces by Alban Berg. They are “Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5,” spirited miniatures featuring UB faculty members Jean Kopperud, clarinet, and Eric Huebner, piano, and “Chamber Concerto,” composed for Arnold Schoenberg’s 50th birthday and featuring violinist Yuki Numata and pianist Daniel Pesca.

In the second half of the concert, the Sinfonietta will present György Ligeti’s “Melodien,” which was employed in the first radio series of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and John Adam’s “Chamber Symphony,” a virtuosic piece influenced by Schoenberg’s “Chamber Symphony” and cartoon music.

Advance tickets are $12 for the general public; $9 for UB faculty, staff, alumni and senior citizens; and $5 for students. At the door, tickets are $20, $15 and $8.

Tickets for all Slee Hall concerts can be purchased at the Slee box office, at the Center for the Arts box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets, including Ticketmaster.com.