Bienen School to Host Impressive Roster of Guest Artists

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The United States Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants; award-winning guitarist Rovshan Mamedkuliev; virtuoso pianists Steven Spooner, Ran Dank and Soyeon Kate Lee; and the cutting-edge Prism Quartet are among the guest artists offering concerts this spring at Northwestern University.

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

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 tickets, call (847) 467-4000 or visit Pick-Staiger.

SPRING 2014 GUEST ARTISTS

• Bienen School faculty tenor Kurt R. Hansen will be joined by the Chicago Piano Vocal Score for “Shall We…Brahms?!” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in Lutkin Hall. The program will celebrate the works of Brahms, including “Liebeslieder Walzer,” Op. 52 and 65 and four solo piano intermezzos. The Vocal Score is comprised of soprano Michelle Areyziga, mezzo-soprano Tracy Watson, baritone Douglas Anderson and pianists Karina Kontorovitch and Ruth Lin. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• The United States Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants will perform at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 6. The U.S. Air Force Concert Band presents more than 100 concerts annually and performs a variety of repertoire from light classics and instrumental features to classical transcriptions and original works for band. The band will be joined by the 18-member Singing Sergeants, the official chorus of the U.S. Air Force, which has appeared before every president since Harry Truman. The Singing Sergeants regularly perform at events for the White House, Department of State and Department of Defense and other high-level military and civilian functions. Free general admission tickets are available only by calling the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000 for reservations; four-ticket limit per customer. All ticket holders must be seated by 2:45 p.m.

• Rovshan Mamedkuliev will close the 2014 Segovia Classical Guitar Series at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 13, in Lutkin Hall. Winner of 23 international competitions, including the 2012 Guitar Foundation of America Prize, the Azerbaijani virtuoso has stunned the guitar world with his exceptional technique and introspective interpretations of the classics. An advocate for contemporary music, he has commissioned works from Philippe Lemaigre and other prominent composers. His program will feature works by Leo Brouwer, Turina, Tarrega and others. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for students with valid IDs.

• Pianist Steven Spooner will perform an unusual recital at Lutkin Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22. Audience members will vote at the beginning of the evening to choose the program he performs. Spooner’s career regularly brings him to major venues on four continents, including Paris’ Salle Cortot, Holland’s Vredenburg Centre, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Rome’s Santa Cecilia. His performances and recordings of works by Liszt have garnered attention worldwide. Spooner has collaborated with artists in the Borromeo Quartet and Silk Road Ensemble. Recent orchestral engagements include performances of the Schnittke Concerto with Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, the Sao Paulo Chamber Orchestra, the Brevard Symphony Orchestra and the New Orleans Civic Symphony. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Husband-wife piano duo Ran Dank and Soyeon Kate Lee will perform in recital at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 9, in Lutkin Hall. The New York Times has praised Dank for “the sweep and fire of his playing” and Lee for her “lively imagination and a firm sense of style.” First prize winner at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Dank also is a Naumburg and Sydney International Piano Competition laureate. Lee won the 2010 Naumburg International Piano Competition as well as the second and Mozart prizes at the Cleveland International Piano Competition. The duo recently premiered Fredric Rzewski’s “Four Hands” at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge. Their program will include Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” piano sonatas by Janacek and Rachmaninoff and music by Brahms and Scriabin. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

•  The 2013-14 Kids Fare series concludes at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 17, with “Prancing and Dancing” in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Special guests DanceWorks Chicago will share the company’s creative, energetic and joyous blend of music and dance with young audience members. Single tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs and children.

• Pianist Jeffrey Siegel’s 2013-14 Keyboard Conversations series of concerts with commentary will conclude with “Mistresses and Masterpieces” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 23, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Siegel’s program explores works of love, passion and longing inspired by “significant others” in the lives of Liszt, Schumann and Brahms. Tickets are $22 for the general public and $16 for students with valid IDs.

For updates on parking and directions as the south campus construction project progresses, visit Pick-Staiger.