Established and Rising World Stars to Perform at Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Internationally-renowned classical guitarists Zoran Dukic and Eliot Fisk, soprano Amanda Majeski, West African superstar Habib Koite and his band, award-winning pianist Murray Perahia and Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato are among the guest artists who will appear on Northwestern University stages this winter.

Presented by the University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, their performances and master classes are open to the public. They take place on the Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive; Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place; or Regenstein Recital Hall, 60 Arts Circle Drive, as noted.

WINTER 2014 GUEST ARTISTS

• Croatian guitarist Zoran Dukic opens the 2014 Segovia Classical Guitar Series at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, in Lutkin Hall. With more than 30 prizes to his name, Dukic has given recitals around the world, inspiring commissions from artists that include Sergio Assad, Dusan Bogdanovic and Vojislav Ivanovic. Dukic’s concert features works by Malats, Piazzolla, Barrios and more. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for students with valid IDs.

• Cellist Marc Johnson leads a chamber music master class featuring Bienen School students at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, in Regenstein Recital Hall. Johnson has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Vermeer Quartet. As both a quartet member and soloist, he has commissioned and premiered works by composers Ezra Laderman, Chinary Ung, Cristobal Halffter and Steven Mackey. He also is a Boston University faculty member. Admission is free.

• Soprano and Northwestern alumna Amanda Majeski gives a recital with pianist Alan Darling at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, in Lutkin Hall. Majeski’s current season engagements include “Don Giovanni” with Opera Philadelphia and a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago in March in “La Clemenza di Tito,” as well as a debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall with Darling on Feb. 7. Darling performs at the Ravinia Festival and serves on the faculty of Lyric Opera’s Ryan Opera Center. Their program, which will be repeated at Weill Recital Hall, includes Haydn’s “Scena di Berenice,” Schumann’s “Frauenliebe und Leben” and Berg’s “Sieben Fruhe Lieder.” Tickets are $12 for the general public and $8 for students with valid IDs.

• Clarinetist Andrew Simon coaches Bienen School students in a master class at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, in Regenstein Recital Hall. Principal clarinetist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon has performed and lectured throughout the United States and in Italy, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic, Japan and Australia. A graduate of the Juilliard School, he serves on the faculties of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University. Admission is free.

• The Segovia Classical Guitar Series continues with a performance by guitarist Eliot Fisk and cellist Yehuda Hanani at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Fisk has collaborated with artists Paco Pena, Bill Frisell and the Miro Quartet. Hanani has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and numerous other prestigious ensembles. The duo performs classics ranging from a Boccherini sonata and Schubert lieder to Spanish masterpieces. Tickets are $24 for the general public and $10 for students with valid IDs.

• Mary Stolper leads a flute master class featuring Bienen School students at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in Lutkin Hall. Stolper has performed in Ravinia’s recital series and with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the University of Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players. She is principal flutist of the Grant Park Symphony, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Opera Theater and Fulcrum Point. Admission is free.

• The 2013-14 Keyboard Conversations series resumes at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall with “The Romantic Music of Chopin.” To celebrate Valentine’s Day, pianist Jeffrey Siegel performs an all-Chopin program, including the Romantic-era Polish composer’s Polonaise in A-flat, Nocturne in F, waltzes and etudes. Tickets are $22 for the general public and $16 for students with valid IDs.

• Germany’s Johann Sebastian Bach Music School Orchestra joins the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and University Chorale in concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The orchestra makes its home at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, where Mendelssohn was once conductor. Its collaboration with Bienen School choruses, conducted by Donald Nally and Ron-Dirk Entleutner, celebrates music from the New World and the Old, featuring Barber’s interpretation of Pablo Neruda’s poetry in “The Lovers,” Mendelssohn’s chorale cantata “Verleih uns Frieden gnadiglich,” Reger’s “Hymnus der Liebe” and Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture.” Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Cynthia Meyers leads a flute master class for Bienen School students at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Piccolo player in the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2006, Meyers previously served as principal piccolo of the Houston Symphony and principal flutist of the Omaha Symphony. She also has performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Minnesota Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Admission is free.

• Singer and guitarist Habib Koite and his band of West African musicians perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. One of Africa’s most popular musicians, Koite has collaborated with artists Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Eric Bibb and Gary Davis. Koite and his ensemble showcase the diverse sounds of Mali, blended with Afro-Cuban, flamenco and blues influences in a program of music from Koite’s new album “Soo.” This performance is presented in conjunction with One Book One Northwestern. This year’s One Book, Roger Thurow’s “The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change,” examines the challenges faced by African smallholder farmers in western Kenya. Tickets are $22 for the general public and $10 for students with valid IDs.

• Murray Perahia, winner of the Bienen School of Music’s 2012 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, gives a recital at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 2, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Perahia is the principal guest conductor of London’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with whom he has toured as conductor and pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. Highlights of his current season include the Schumann Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and his first performances at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Center in Australia. This program features Bach’s French Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 23 in F Minor (“Appassionata”), Schumann’s “Papillons” and Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor. Tickets are $22 for the general public and $10 for students with valid IDs.

• The Bienen School’s Institute for New Music celebrates the late works of avant-garde composer Luigi Nono with “The Sound World of Luigi Nono” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in Lutkin Hall. Violinist and violist Miranda Cuckson and composer-improviser-multimedia artist Christopher Burns perform Nono’s “La lontananza nostalgica utopia futura” for violin and electronics, named 2012’s best classical recording by the New York Times. Also on the program are Nono’s “Donde estas hermano?” for four solo voices, performed by the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and conducted by Donald Nally, as well as “…sofferte onde serene …” for piano and tape, performed by pianist and Northwestern alumnus David Kalhous. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• 2012 Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato coaches Bienen School vocalists in a master class at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. DiDonato, who studies voice with Bienen School Professor W. Stephen Smith, was named Musical America’s 2013 Vocalist of the Year. Her recent performances include a recital tour of South America, the title role in “Maria Stuarda” at the Metropolitan Opera and the title role in “La donna del lago” at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Her many other honors include the Met’s Beverly Sills Award and induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

For more information, call (847) 491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org. To purchase tickets, call (847) 467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.