Violist Phelps opens spring concert schedule

Acclaimed violist Cynthia Phelps, whose performances have been called “technically faultless,” “generously nuanced” and “sensuously breathtaking,” will appear on Feb. 5 at UB to present the fifth concert of this season’s Slee/Visiting Artist Series.

Phelps, principal violist of the New York Philharmonic, will be joined in concert by pianist Yi-Fang Huang.

The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus. The program includes  Bach’s “Gamba Sonata in G Major,” Schubert’s “Arpeggione Sonata in A minor,” Schumann’s “Märchenbilder, Op. 13” and Enescu’s Concert Piece.”

Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for UB faculty/staff/alumni and non-UB students. All UB students with ID receive one complimentary ticket to all music department concerts.

The following day, Phelps will take part in a master class for designated string students, primarily from UB. The class, which is open for public observation, will take place at 11 a.m. in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus.

“Not only does Cynthia Phelps produce one of the richest, deepest viola timbres in the world, she is a superb musician,” writes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Phelps, who also is the Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose Chair of the New York Philharmonic, has performed internationally as a collaborator with such artists as Isaac Stern, Itzak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell and Yefim Bronfman, among others.

A much sought-after chamber musician, she also performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York's Bargemusic, the Boston Chamber Music Society, and Music From Copland House.

She is a first-prize winner of both the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the Washington International String Competition, and is the recipient of the Pro Musicis International award.

The Department of Music’s concert schedule for February also features faculty recitals by guitarist Sungmin Shin and percussionist Tom Kolor.

Shin will perform at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 in Lippes Concert Hall, program to be announced.

Kolor will perform at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in Baird Recital Hall. The program will feature Alvin Lucier's 45 minute work for solo percussion and electronics titled “Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas.”

Shin, an adjunct instructor in guitar performance, keeps a busy schedule of performing and teaching in a variety of musical settings. As a musician, he finds a unique balance between his classical training and deep roots in rock and popular guitar styles. He is a founding and current member of the Eastman Guitar Quartet.

Shin is pursuing a doctorate at the Eastman School of Music.

An assistant professor of music, Kolor specializes in 20th- and 21st-century music. He directs UB’s Percussion Ensemble and is principal percussionist with the Slee Sinfonietta, UB’s chamber orchestra in residence.

Outside UB, he is a member of Talujon Percussion, Manhattan Sinfonietta, Ensemble 21, Sospeso, American Modern Ensemble and Newband.

Tickets for the UB faculty recitals are $15 for the general public and $10 for UB faculty/staff/alumni and non-UN students. All UB students with ID receive one complimentary ticket to all music department concerts.

The Department of Music is running a special ticket promotion from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Jan. 29 at the Slee box office, with patrons receiving one complimentary ticket for every ticket purchased at full price. The complimentary ticket does not need to be for the same event. 

Special 15-minute parking is available in Coventry Loop between the designated signs for those purchasing tickets during this promotion.