Northwestern Music in March

EVANSTON, Ill. --- An evening concert and morning master class featuring world-renowned artist Murray Perahia, 2012 winner of the Henry and Leigh Bienen School’s Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, are among the March music highlights on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.

The University’s Bienen School of Music will also present the final two performances of Mark Adamo’s opera adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”; a vocal master class led by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato; and the first two “Revelation: From China to Spanish Harlem” Spring Festival programs -- Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana and Broadway star Nellie McKay with the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet.

Concert ticket prices are indicated in two ranges: the first for the general public and the second for full-time students with IDs. Northwestern faculty and staff with a valid WildCARD receive a 15 percent discount off the general public ticket price.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall office at (847) 491-5441 or visit Pick-Staiger. To order single or group tickets, call (847) 467-4000 or Pick-Staiger.

For series brochures, call (847) 491-5441 or email pick-staiger@northwestern.edu. Visit Pick-Staiger for video and audio clips, photos and information on upcoming events. To receive a monthly events newsletter and special discount offers, email pick-staiger@northwestern.edu. For updates on parking and directions, visit Pick-Staiger.

All March events listed below are open to the public. They take place on the University’s Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive; Regenstein Recital Hall, 60 Arts Circle Drive; Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place; or Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., as noted.

MARCH 2014

Winter Opera, Mark Adamo’s “Little Women,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1; and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 2, Cahn Auditorium. Adamo’s operatic adaptation of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel premiered at the Houston Grand Opera in 1998. “Little Women,” which will be directed by Michael M. Ehrman, follows the stories of the four March sisters growing up in Civil War-era New England. The Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Hal France with assistance from Chia–Hsuan Lin. Tickets are $16 for the general public and $7 for students with IDs.

Murray Perahia, piano, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 2, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Pianist Murray Perahia, 2012 winner of the Henry and Leigh Bienen School’s Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, has played at countless international music centers and with every major orchestra during his 40-year concert career. He is the principal guest conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in London, with whom he has toured as conductor and pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. His program will include works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and Chopin. Tickets are $22 for the general public and $10 for students with IDs.

Women’s Chorus: Winter’s Night, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 2, Lutkin Hall. Christopher Windle directs works for treble voices, including Veljo Tormis’ “Lauliku lapsepoli,” Maria Lofberg’s “Hildegard Motets,” Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s “Litanies a la vierge,” H. 86, R. Murray Schafer’s “Snowforms,” Ola Gjeilo’s “Tundra,” Eric Whitacre’s “Seal Lullaby” and Shawn Kirchner’s arrangement of “Bright Morning Stars.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

Murray Perahia Piano Master Class, 10 a.m. Monday, March 3, Lutkin Hall. Perahia, winner of the Bienen School's 2012 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, will coach two Northwestern doctoral students. EunAe Lee will perform Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 and Yingying Su will play Beethoven’s Sonata in C Minor, Op. 111. Admission is free.

University Singers, “Gloria,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 3, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Emily Ellsworth directs the University Singers in a performance of Dominick Argento’s “Gloria” from “Masque of Angels” and Mozart’s “Missa brevis” No. 9 in B-flat Major. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

“The Sound World of Luigi Nono,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, Lutkin Hall. The Institute for New Music celebrates the late works of avant-garde composer Luigi Nono. Violinist-violist Miranda Cuckson has premiered numerous solo and chamber works and recorded music by Ralph Shapey, Donald Martino and Ross Lee Finney. Her recording of Nono’s “La lontananza nostalgica utopia futura” for violin and electronics -- the central work of this concert -- was named 2012’s best classical recording by The New York Times. Joining her is composer, improviser and multimedia artist Christopher Burns, associate professor of music composition and technology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The program includes Nono’s “Donda estas hermano?” (“Where are you brother?”) for four solo voices and “…sofferte onde serene…” for piano and tape, performed by soloists from the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and Florida State University piano faculty member and Northwestern alumnus David Kalhous. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

Contemporary Music Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 7, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Timothy J. Robblee will direct the Contemporary Music Ensemble with guest guitarist Eric Singh in a program that includes Juan Trigos’ “Ricercare de Camara VI” and Chris Mercer’s “Untitled” for 10 players. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

Stanley Friedman Trumpet Master Class, 2 p.m. Saturday, March 8, Lutkin Hall. Acclaimed composer and trumpet pedagogue Stanley Friedman will coach Bienen School trumpet players in this master class. Admission is free.

Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, “Student Showcase,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 8, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Victor Yampolsky directs the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra in a program that features Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major (“Classical”), Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor. Pianists Xuan He and Xia Jiang will be the soloists. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with IDs.

Concert Band, 3 p.m. Sunday, March 9, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Daniel J. Farris will direct students from across the Northwestern campus in a concert of band standards. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.  

Philharmonia, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 9, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Robert G. Hasty will direct Northwestern’s non-major orchestra in a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherezade.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

Philippe Geiss Saxophone Recital and Master Class, 6 p.m. Monday, March 10, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Rehearsal Room (use the Ticket Office entrance). Saxophonist and composer Philippe Geiss is among the first musicians from the French saxophone school to build his own crossover style between classical and improvised music. He plays the entire saxophone family, from sopranino to bass. His music has been performed by the United States Navy Band, Branford Marsalis, and the Nederland Wind Ensemble, and saxophone quartets, including Habanera, Alliage Diastema and Ellipsos. Geiss will give a brief recital and coach Bienen School of Music saxophone students. Admission is free.

Joyce DiDonato Vocal Master Class, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. DiDonato, who studies voice with Bienen School Professor W. Stephen Smith, received the 2012 Grammy Award for best classical vocal solo and was named Musical America’s 2013 Vocalist of the Year. Her recent performances include a recital tour of South America, the title role of “Maria Stuarda” at the Metropolitan Opera and the title role of “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. This event will also be presented as a live webcast. For more information, visit Pick-Staiger. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students.

Small Jazz Ensembles, “Composition 602 – Student Originals,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, Regenstein Recital Hall. Victor Goines, Christopher Madsen and Marlene Rosenberg will direct an evening of new music from Northwestern jazz students, spanning a variety of styles. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Robert G. Hasty will conduct the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra in a program that features solo performances by Bienen School faculty violinist Almita Vamos and violist Roland Vamos. Works performed will include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, Milhaud’s “Le boeuf sur le toit” and Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs. 

Symphonic Band, “Origins,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 14, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Timothy J. Robblee will direct the Symphonic Band in an evening of works inspired by music of the Renaissance and Baroque. The program will include Ron Nelson’s “Homage to Perotin” from “Medieval Suite,” Norman Dello Joio’s “Variants on a Mediaeval Tune,” Matthew Tommasini’s “Three Spanish Songs” and Leo Brouwer’s “Cancio de Geste.” Alison Wahl will be the featured soprano soloist. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs. 

Kids Fare, “Orchestral Dreams,” 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 15, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion blend together as the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra presents a “dreamy” program of music. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for children and students with IDs.

Spring Festival, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 30, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana is one of the nation’s premier flamenco and Spanish dance companies headed by co-founder and artistic director Carlota Santana. In its latest tour, “The Soul of Flamenco,” the ensemble offers “a show of graceful, sensuous dance, expressing a host of raw human emotions” (Philadelphia Inquirer), incorporating a new work by Angel Munoz into its high-powered repertoire. Tickets are $26 for the general public and $10 for students with IDs.

Spring Festival, Nellie McKay and Turtle Island Quartet: “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 31, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet will be joined by “The Threepenny Opera” star and singer, ukulele player and comedian Nellie McKay in “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing.” The quintet will perform the music of Billie Holiday, Billy Strayhorn and the Weimar cabaret of the 1920s. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for students with IDs.