Free Musicale Will Launch Northwestern 2012-13 Music Season

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University‘s distinguished music faculty will perform in duets, trios and small ensembles this fall. They also will appear alongside their students during two special gala concerts.

Presented by the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, events are open to the public and are held on the University’s Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive and Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place, as noted.

• The annual Faculty Musicale at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall will launch Northwestern’s 2012-13 music season with performances by faculty members. The Bienen School will welcome new associate professor of flute John Thorne and new associate professor of saxophone Timothy McAllister. Other faculty performers include pianists Sylvia Wang, James Giles, Elizabeth Buccheri and Alan Chow and trombonists Michael Mulcahy, Peter Ellefson, Randall Hawes and Timothy Higgins. The program features Mozart’s “Allegro con spirito” from Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos; Copland’s Movement 1: “Flowing” from Duo for Flute and Piano; Chen Yi’s “Duo Ye”; JacobTV’s (Dutch composer Jacob ter Veldhuis) “The Garden of Love”; and Ben Mansted’s arrangement of Bach’s Concerto After Vivaldi in D Major. Admission is free.

• Associate professor of saxophone Timothy McAllister, trombone lecturer Randall Hawes and University of Michigan collaborative pianist-coach Kathryn Goodson will perform a recital of contemporary works at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, in Lutkin Hall. McAllister is a member of the renowned PRISM Quartet and an internationally acclaimed soloist. Hawes performs with the Detroit Symphony, Music of the Baroque and Chicago Chamber Musicians. The trio will perform Carter Pann’s Duo for Alto Saxophone and Bass Trombone; Daniel Schnyder’s “Blues for Schubert” and Trio; David Biedenbender’s “Liquid Architecture”; and Libby Larsen’s “Holy Roller.” Additional chamber works are also on the program. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Bienen School faculty will perform alongside their respective students during two annual Chamber Music Gala concerts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, in Pick-Staiger. Both programs will feature an array of chamber music classics. Faculty performers and coordinators include violinist Gerardo Ribeiro, clarinetist Steven Cohen, pianist James Giles and hornist Gail Williams. More information on these concerts can be found at www.pickstaiger.org/events/chamber-music-gala as it becomes available. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Northwestern University horn professor Gail Williams and Indiana University tuba professor Daniel Perantoni present a recital at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, in Lutkin Hall. The duo will be accompanied by pianist Kay Kim in a program featuring the Chicago-area premiere of James Stevenson’s Horn Sonata as well as David Gillingham’s Divertimento for Horn, Tuba and Piano and Anthony Plog’s “Dialogue” for Horn, Tuba and Piano. Williams and Perantoni are founding members of Summit Brass Ensemble. Williams, a former member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Chicago Orchestra, is also a founding member of the Chicago Chamber Musicians. Perantoni has appeared as a featured artist at Carnegie Hall, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Spoleto Festival USA. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• The newly formed Chicago Wind Quintet will perform in recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in Lutkin Hall. The ensemble is comprised of Northwestern faculty members, including flutist John Thorne; oboist Robert Morgan; clarinetist Steven Cohen; hornist Gail Williams; and bassoonist Christopher Millard. The quintet will perform Poulenc’s Sextet for Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn with pianist and faculty member Elizabeth Buccheri. The program will also feature other chamber masterworks. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Faculty member James Giles will lead the “Watercolors: Music of Claude Debussy” concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, in Lutkin Hall, in honor of the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth. Students will perform water-inspired pieces by Debussy, his French compatriots and other composers. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid ID.

• During “My Beloved Is Mine…Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, in Lutkin Hall, the ensemble (no tiny birds) and Bienen School faculty member Alan Darling will explore the realms of the art song recital. The program features songs by Britten, Purcell and Schubert framed by readings from the letters of Britten and Peter Pears (Editors note: Pears is pronounced “Peers.”). Darling will be joined on stage by (no tiny birds), an ensemble comprised of graduate students, undergraduates and alumni of the Bienen School’s voice and opera program, including soprano Julie Tabash, mezzo-soprano Eli Sutherland, tenor Marcus Shields, baritone Stephen Richardson and pianist Darling. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

Northwestern University Construction and Parking

Due to construction on the south end of campus, Arts Circle Drive is closed to traffic. Free parking is still available on weekends and after 4 p.m. weekdays in the two-level lakefront structure located on Campus Drive. After turning onto Campus Drive from Sheridan Road, enter the parking structure on the right by way of ramps leading to the upper and lower levels. For vehicles with handicap placards, reserved spaces are available on weekends and after 4 p.m. weekdays in the lot directly west of Louis Hall. For more construction and parking information, visit www.pickstaiger.org/construction.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Office at (847) 491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org. To order tickets call the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org. For information regarding construction, visit www.pickstaiger.org/construction.