Curated by newly-appointed Music Director Madeline Adkins, NOVA’s 41st season showcases an incredible array of music, including works by ten women from six countries, a special focus on music by British composers and beloved classics.
SALT LAKE CITY – NOVA Chamber Music Series opens its 2018-19 Season on Sunday, October 14 at Libby Gardner Hall with music by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Zemlinsky and Schoenberg.
In 1899, composer Arnold Schoenberg met the love of his life. Three weeks later, he completed one of the most passionate pieces the musical world has ever seen: Transfigured Night. NOVA Chamber Music Series’ first concert explores the works that influenced this musical love letter.
Madeline Adkins, who is also Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, explained that “Chamber music is such an intimate experience, allowing composers some of their most personal moments of expression. With Road To Night, that expression has the beauty of emotional connections between loved ones.”
The concert begins with Franz Schubert’s Quartet Movement in C minor, D. 703, performed by the Fremont String Quartet, featuring violinist Madeline Adkins, violinist Claude Halter, violist Brant Bayless, and cellist Rainer Eudeikis— all Utah Symphony principal musicians. Pianist Andrew Staupe will next perform the Fantasies on Poems by Richard Dehmel by Alexander von Zemlinsky, Schoenberg’s teacher and eventual brother-in-law. Mezzo-soprano Aubrey Adams-McMillan and Brant Bayless then join Staupe for Johannes Brahms’ wedding present to two beloved friends, the Two Songs, op. 91. Madeline Adkins and Andrew Staupe follow with Mozart’s Sonata for Piano and Violin in E minor, K. 304, composed as a tribute to the composer’s mother as he mourned her passing.
The concert concludes with Arnold Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, a beautifully romantic string sextet composed after the composer met Mathilde Zemlinsky, whom he would soon marry.
Audience members are invited to join Jeff Counts, Utah Symphony VP of Operations & General Manager, for a pre-concert discussion exploring the music at 2:30 PM in room 270 at the University Of Utah School Of Music.
NOVA’s Libby Gardner Series consists of six concerts on which outstanding Utah musicians perform a blend of beloved classics and exciting new works. Programming includes works by both local and nationally renowned composers.
Sunday October 14, 2018 3 PM
Libby Gardner Hall, University of Utah School of Music
$20 general admission, $18 seniors, students free.
For more information, please visit novaslc.org or email info@novaslc.org.