Tag Archives: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Clarinet Quintets Old and New tonight at St. Luke’s Festival of the Senses.

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Five musicians from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will play a free Festival of the Senses concert at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 14, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Clarinetist Kelly Johnson, violinists Andrew Irvin and Meredith Maddox Hicks, violist Katherine Williamson, and cellist Stephen Feldman will play Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major and contemporary Syrian composer Kinan Azmeh’s “The Fence, the Rooftop, and the Distant Sea.”

The concert, which is free and open to the public, is the fourth in the 2019-20 season of the Festival of the Senses performing arts series sponsored by St. Luke’s and will be followed by a reception in the church’s parish hall.

Written in 1789 and sometimes called the Stadler Quintet, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s only completed clarinet quintet is one of his most admired works. His Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581, has four movements: Allegro, Larghetto, Menuetto, and Allegretto con Variazioni.

Image result for the fence the rooftop and the distant sea“The Fence, the Rooftop, and the Distant Sea” by Syrian composer Kinan Azmeh is a work in five movements inspired by memories of his Damascus birthplace in a distant view of the Syrian coastline seen from a rooftop in Beirut. Azmeh has achieved worldwide fame as a clarinetist and composer with a distinctive voice across diverse musical genres.

A graduate of the Julliard School with a doctorate in music from the City University of New York, he has taken his music around the globe as a soloist, composer and improviser.  His album “Uneven Sky” with the Deutsches Symphony Orchestra won the OpusKlassik Award in 2019, and he is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, whose 2017 Grammy Award-winning album “Sing Me Home” features Kinan as a clarinetist and composer.

Free concert by ASO musicians this afternoon as part of Ruth Marie Allen Concert Series at UAMS

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra presents the fall concert in the Dr. Ruth Marie Allen Concert Series at UAMS. Musicians from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra are featured in the UAMS Hospital Lobby Gallery on Wednesday, November 20 at 4:30 p.m.

The free-to-the-public performance showcases the Rockefeller String Quartet, ASO Concertmasters Andrew Irvin and Kiril Laskarov, and ASO musicians; Jordan Coleman, bass, and Leanne Renfro, Lorraine Duso Kitts, and Beth Wheeler, oboes performing a program of music by Michael Fine and Mozart.

“It is my hope that these concerts will promote the beautiful music of the ASO,” said series founder Dr. Ruth Marie Allen. The concerts also aim to provide the opportunity for celebration and renewal to hardworking UAMS students, staff, and faculty, according to Allen.

Concerts in the Dr. Ruth Marie Allen Concert Series at UAMS are free and open to the public. Parking is available for a fee in Parking Deck 1. For more information please contact the ASO Box Office at (501) 666-1761, ext. 1.

Program
MOZART – Quartet for Oboe and String Trio, K. 370
Leanna Renfro, oboe; Linnaea Brophy, violin, Katherine Reynolds, viola, Jacob Wunsch, cello

FINE, Michael – Double Violin Concerto with String Quartet and Bass
Andrew Irvin, Kiril Laskarov, violin; Rockefeller String Quartet, Jordan Coleman, bass

FINE, Michael – Concerto for Oboe Section with String Quartet and Bass
Lorraine Duso Kitts, Leanna Renfro, Beth Wheeler, oboe; Rockefeller String Quartet, Jordan Coleman, bass

HANDEL – Passacaglia for Violin and Cello
Linnea Brophy, violin and Jacob Wunsch, cello

Artists
Andrew Irvin, violin
Kiril Laskarov, violin
Jordan Coleman, bass
Leanne Renfro, oboe
Lorraine Duso Kitts, oboe
Beth Wheeler, oboe
Rockefeller String Quartet
-Trisha McGovern Freeney, violin
-Linnaea Brophy, violin
-Katherine Reynolds, viola
-Jacob Wunsch, cello

Kelly Singer in Recital: No Place Like Home

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After two years studying and performing in New York City at the Manhattan School of Music, Kelly Singer returns to Second Presbyterian Church to perform her master’s degree recital.  IT takes place today (Sunday, May 19) at 3pm.

The concert will showcase selections from Kelly’s master’s repertoire as well as favorites from past performances with Praeclara, including works by Mozart, Poulenc, Gilbert & Sullivan, and more.

Admission is free; no tickets are required. Goodwill donations will be accepted to support Praeclara and Wildwood Park for the Arts, two of the arts organizations that were artistic homes to Kelly during her years in Little Rock.

Come out to support Kelly and celebrate her accomplishments in a concert that offers both a retrospective on her past and a preview of the bright future that lies ahead for this talented soprano.

Art of the String Quartet featuring ASO musicians tonight at the Clinton Center

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The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents the fourth concert of the 2018-2019 River Rhapsodies Chamber Music season with The Art of the String Quartet, Tuesday, Feb. 26th at 7:00 p.m. at the Clinton Presidential Center.

ASO’s resident string quartets, Rockefeller String Quartet and Quapaw String Quartet, will perform Janáček’s “Kreutzer Sonata,” Mozart’s String Quartet No. 12, along with Puccini and Verdi’s string quartets.

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Quapaw String Quartet was founded in 1980 as the ASO resident string quartet. Responding to what was clearly a statewide need, the ASO and Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation began a partnership in 2000 to form the Rockefeller String Quartet. The quartets have developed a reputation for providing quality school programming, as well as performing statewide as a chamber ensemble and with the Arkansas Symphony. The quartets’ primary responsibilities include string education and outreach throughout the state reaching more than 26,000 Arkansas school children each year.

River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Concerts are held in the intimate setting of the Clinton Presidential Center’s Great Hall. A cash bar is open before the concert and at intermission, and patrons are invited to carry drinks into the concert. The Media Sponsor for the River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series is UA Little Rock Public Radio.

General Admission tickets are $23; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Clinton Presidential Center beginning 60 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 1.

 

Artists

Quapaw String Quartet

  •   Meredith Maddox Hicks, violin
  •   Charlotte Crosmer, violin
  •   Ryan Mooney, viola
  •   David Gerstein, cello

Rockefeller String Quartet

  •   Trisha McGovern Freeney, violin
  •   Katherine Williamson, violin
  •   Katherine Reynolds, viola
  •   Ethan Young, cello

Program
MOZART – String Quartet No. 12 in B-flat Major, K. 172 (Rockefeller)
JANÁČEK  – String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata” (Quapaw)
PUCCINI – String Quartet in D Major (Quapaw)
VERDI – String Quartet (Rockefeller)

Chamber Music Concert tonight – Mozart and a Premiere

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Image result for mozart clarinet concertoTonight (January 14) at 7pm at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Drew Irvin, Stephen Feldman, and friends will perform the Mozart Clarinet Quintet.

Also on the program is the premier of the work “The Fence, The Rooftop And The Distant Sea”, by Syrian composer Kinan Azmeh for string quartet and clarinet.

Tickets are available at the door for a suggested donation of $15. Students are admitted for free with I.D.

LR Culture Vulture turns 7

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The Little Rock Culture Vulture debuted on Saturday, October 1, 2011, to kick off Arts & Humanities Month.

The first feature was on the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, which was kicking off its 2011-2012 season that evening.  The program consisted of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A, Op. 90, Rossini’s, Overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers, Puccini’s Chrysanthemums and Respighi’s Pines of Rome.  In addition to the orchestra musicians, there was an organ on stage for this concert.

Since then, there have been 10,107 persons/places/things “tagged” in the blog.  This is the 3,773rd entry. (The symmetry to the number is purely coincidental–or is it?)  It has been viewed over 288,600 times, and over 400 readers have made comments.  It is apparently also a reference on Wikipedia.

The most popular pieces have been about Little Rock history and about people in Little Rock.

RobinsoNovember: The Arkansas Symphony returns to Robinson!

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The ASO in rehearsal at Robinson Center

The ASO in rehearsal at Robinson Center

For the past twenty-six months, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has been performing its Masterworks concerts away from Robinson Center during its renovation.  The ASO returns to Robinson tonight and tomorrow!

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, presents the third concert of the 2016-2017 Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks season with Return to Robinson: Pines of Rome, Saturday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 20 at 3:00 p.m. at the Robinson Center. The augmented 83-piece orchestra complete with organ and offstage brass, presents Respighi’s symphonic poem, The Pines of Rome to demonstrate and explore the acoustic character of the new facility. The program opens with Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture and also features Mozart’s “Haffner” Symphony and Korngold’s Violin Concerto with soloist Philippe Quint.

The Masterworks Series is sponsored by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust.

All concert ticket holders are invited to a pre-concert lecture an hour before each Masterworks concert. These talks feature insights from the Maestro and guest artists, and feature musical examples to enrich the concert experience.

Tickets are $14, $39, $55, and $67; active duty military and student tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Robinson Center street-level box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100. All Arkansas students grades K-12 are admitted to Sunday’s matinee free of charge with the purchase of an adult ticket using the Entergy Kids’ Ticket, downloadable at http://www.arkansassymphony.org/freekids.

 

 

Program

GLINKA                                Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture

KORNGOLD                        Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35

MOZART                              Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K. 385 “Haffner”

RESPIGHI                             Pines of Rome

 

About Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 50th season in 2016-2017, under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, to which the ASO returns in November of 2016 after a two-year renovation of the historic structure. ASO performs more than sixty concerts each year for more than 165,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series, River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series, Intimate Neighborhood Concerts, and numerous concerts performed around the state of Arkansas, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 26,000 school children and over 200 schools.