University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 24, 2008

By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

A Beethoven “mini-marathon” performed by the Tokyo String Quartet highlights the Department of Music’s concert offerings in February.

The quartet, considered to be one of the greatest chamber music ensembles in the world, will present the first three concerts in the annual six-concert Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle.

Also on the concert schedule are performances by baritone Jesse Blumberg, who will be at UB for a four-day residency; the annual Eastman Organists Day; and a recital by Jeremy Bruns, organist-choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Buffalo.

The three concerts by the Tokyo String Quartet will be performed over two days—Feb. 1 and Feb. 2. While at UB, the quartet also will present a master class and a preconcert talk, and will attend a postconcert reception. All events will take place in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.

The master class at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 will begin the weekend’s activities. Quartet members will coach UB music students in a public forum. The class is free and open to the public.

The first concert in the cycle will take place at 8 p.m. Feb. 1. The quartet will perform Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127; Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1; and Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3.

The second concert will take place at 3 p.m. Feb. 2, preceded by a talk with the artists at 2:15 p.m. The ensemble will perform Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 74 (“The Harp”); Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2; and Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131.

The final concert in the mini-marathon will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 2. A postconcert reception with the artists will take place following the evening concert. The program: Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3; “Grosse Fugue,” Op. 133; and Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 1.

Advance tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, senior citizens and WNED members with card and $8 for students. Tickets at the door are $30, $20 and $12.

The Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences and critics alike since it was founded more than 30 years ago. Regarded as one of the world’s supreme chamber ensembles, the Tokyo quartet—Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda (violins), Kazuhide Isomura (viola) and Clive Greensmith (cello)—has collaborated with a remarkable array of artists and composers, built a comprehensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings and established a distinguished teaching record.

In association with the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the Department of Music will host baritone Jesse Blumberg for a four-day residency Feb. 6-9 that will include visits to three local high schools, a meeting with UB vocal students and other music majors, and a formal recital of art song.

About 400 students will hear Blumberg sing selected excerpts from his program and talk about the importance of the art song form during 45-minute sessions at Sweet Home High School and the Buffalo Seminary on Feb. 6 and at Clarence High School on Feb. 7. All high school students attending the sessions with Blumberg will be given a voucher for them and their family members to attend for free Blumberg’s recital at 8 p.m. Feb. 9 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus. Blumberg will be accompanied by pianist Thomas Bagwell.

Advance tickets for others attending the recital are $12 for general admission, $9 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, senior citizens and WNED members with card, and $5 for students. Tickets purchased at the door are $20, $15 and $8.

In 2004, Blumberg was the first-prize winner in the art song category of the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Vocal Competition. He also was named a New York district winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2005 and has won the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists.

He has participated in apprentice programs at the Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, and covered major roles at each of these companies. In addition to his operatic career, he is committed to the performance of vocal recitals, with a particular passion for the music of Schubert, Schumann and Wolf.

Founded in 1993, The Marilyn Horne Foundation is devoted to the vocal recital and to exceptionally gifted young vocal recitalists. Its mission is to encourage, support and preserve the art of the vocal recital through the presentation of recitals and related educational programs in communities across the United States.

Eastman Organists Day, the annual event that showcases advanced students from the Eastman School of Music’s prestigious organ studio and gives these musicians the opportunity to perform on the Fisk organ housed in Lippes Concert Hall, will take place at 8 p.m. Feb. 8 in Lippes Concert Hall.

Tickets are $5.

This year, students Naomi Gregory, Tiffany Ng, Randall Harlow and Bogna McGarrigle will perform works that span the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Organ enthusiasts will have another opportunity to enjoy the Fisk organ, with a concert by Jeremy Bruns at 8 p.m. Feb. 29 in Lippes Concert Hall.

Tickets are $12 for general admission, $9 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, senior citizens and WNED members with card, and $5 for students.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and prize winner at the 2003 Dallas International Organ Competition, Bruns previously served as associate organist at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City. He recently accepted the position of organist-choirmaster at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Buffalo.

Tickets for all Department of Music concerts can be obtained at the Slee Hall box office, the Center for the Arts box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets.