Northwestern University Music in March

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Two master classes and a Q&A session with renowned American pianist Garrick Ohlsson -- winner of the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music’s prestigious 2014 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance -- are among the many March music events that will be held on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.

Ohlsson’s March 2 piano master class, March 3 chamber music master class and March 4  discussion session will all take place at Lutkin Hall.

The biennial Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance honors pianists who have achieved the highest levels of national and international recognition. Winners receive a $50,000 cash award and spend two to three non-consecutive weeks in residence at the Bienen School of Music, interacting with students and faculty. As part of one of the residency weeks, winners offer a public performance.

The prize is made possible by a generous gift from Northwestern alumna Jean Gimbel Lane and the late Honorable Laurence W. Lane Jr. Previous recipients have included Richard Goode (2006), Stephen Hough (2008), Yefim Bronfman (2010) and Murray Perahia (2012).

The Bienen School also will present the March 5 Contemporary Music Ensemble concert featuring flutist Claire Chase, and the March 6 Midwest premieres of works by two Latvian composers -- Ēriks Ešenvalds and Santa Ratniece -- during a Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble concert.

The next Segovia Classical Guitar Series concert on March 7 will feature Raphaella Smits and Adrien Brogna, two outstanding artists who will perform mid-19th-century repertoire on eight-string guitars. Smits also will lead a free March 8 master class as part of her Evanston campus appearance.

Other events later in the month include band and jazz concerts; a women’s choral program of music from Scandinavia and the Baltics; a Bienen School faculty recital featuring oboist Robert Morgan and clarinetist Steven Cohen; and a Newberry Consort performance of early Polish music from the Renaissance through the Baroque eras.

VENUES

All March programs 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; Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place; Regenstein Recital Hall, 60 Arts Circle Drive; and Alice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, as noted.

TICKETS

The Bienen School Ticket Office is located in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Concert ticket prices are offered at three levels: 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, contact the Bienen School of Music Concert Management Office at 847-491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org. To order tickets, call 847-467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.

For series brochures or further information, call 847-491-5441 or email requests to pick-staiger@northwestern.edu. To join the Bienen School’s concerts and events list and receive a monthly events newsletter as well as special discount offers, send your email address to pick-staiger@northwestern.edu. For updates on parking and directions, visit www.pickstaiger.org/construction.

MARCH 2015 MUSIC EVENTS

• Baroque Music Ensemble, “Brandenburgs 1, 2 and 3,” 3 p.m. Sunday, March 1, Alice Millar Chapel. Stephen Alltop will conduct the Baroque Music Ensemble in a program featuring three of Bach’s most sparkling orchestral compositions: his Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 3. The first concerto features hunting horns, the second includes trumpet calls and the third offers a tapestry of solo strings. David Douglass will be the featured violinist. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with IDs.

• Garrick Ohlsson Piano Master Class, 7 p.m. Monday, March 2, Lutkin Hall. American pianist Garrick Ohlsson, winner of the Bienen School of Music’s 2014 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, is one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Chopin. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Ohlsson also is known for his masterful performances of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Ohlsson will coach Bienen School piano students Sean Yeh, Jialiang Wu and EunAe Lee as they each perform Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasie and Ballade No. 4, and Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 106, movements I and II. Admission is free.

• Garrick Ohlsson Chamber Music Master Class, 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, Lutkin Hall. In this master class, guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson, who also is a 1994 Avery Fisher Prizewinner, will coach Bienen School students when they perform Beethoven’s Trio, Op. 70, No. 2 and Trio, Op. 70, No. 1 (first movement). Admission is free.

• Garrick Ohlsson, Q&A Session, noon, Wednesday, March 4, Lutkin Hall. Bienen School piano faculty member James Giles will moderate a discussion featuring guest pianist Garrick Ohlsson, 2014 winner of the Bienen School of Music’s Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano performance, and Bienen School music students. Possible topics include Ohlsson’s practice regimen, maintaining different repertoire simultaneously, repertoire choices, technical work done in student years and early artistic influences. Admission is free.

• Contemporary Music Ensemble with Claire Chase, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 5, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Flutist Claire Chase will perform Frederic Rzewski’s “Coming Together,” Kaija Saariaho’s “Terrestre,” Pierre Boulez’s “Mémoriale,” Austin Busch’s “Calligraffiti” and Jonathan Bauerfeld’s “Chords Are Happening.” Ben Bolter will conduct the ensemble. The concert is presented by the Bienen School’s Institute for New Music. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

• Two Midwest Premieres, Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, “Contemporary Latvia -- Esenvalds and Ratniece,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Donald Nally will conduct a program featuring the Midwest premieres of Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Seneca’s Zodiac” and Santa Ratniece’s “Horo horo hata hata,” which offer contrasting views of the choral colors and textures of contemporary Latvian composers. Ešenvalds evokes an ever-turning kaleidoscope as he marries voices to tuned water glasses, whistles, Tibetan singing bowls and prepared piano (a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects on or between the strings), while Ratniece’s distant animal calls and undulating harmonies imply the hidden depths beneath her soundscape. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

• Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, “Student Showcase,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Conducted by Robert G. Hasty and graduate assistant conductors Chia-Hsuan Lin and Jiang Xie, the program will include Kodály’s “Dances of Galanta,” Benjamin Britten’s Suite on English Folk Tunes and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor featuring cellist Sung Chan Chang. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with IDs.

• Segovia Classical Guitar Series, Raphaella Smits and Adrien Brogna, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7, Lutkin Hall. In this historically authentic presentation, Raphaella Smits and Adrien Brogna will perform mid-19th-century repertoire on eight-string guitars. These instruments expand the guitar's register, allowing for the historically accurate performance of repertoire by influential composers such as J.K. Mertz and Napoléon Coste. In fall 2014 the Soundset label released the first recording by Smits and Brogna -- two artists who have earned international acclaim for their faithful interpretations and unmatched musicality. The Segovia Series program will feature works by Mertz, including his “Der Ball,” “Ständchen,” “La Rimembranza,” “Barcarole,” “Unruhe,” “Mazurka,” “Wasserfahrt am Traunsee,” “Ich Denke Dein,” “Élégie,” “Trauermarsch,” “Deutsche Weise” and “Tarantelle.” Single tickets are $22 for the general public and $10 for students with IDs.

• Segovia Classical Guitar Series Master Class, Raphaella Smits, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 8, Regenstein Hall. Smits will present a two-hour master class for Bienen School students as part of her Evanston campus visit the weekend of March 7-8. Admission is free.

• Concert Band, 3 p.m. Sunday, March 8, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Daniel J. Farris and graduate assistant conductors John Clemons and Daniel Kirk will direct a program of band standards performed by an ensemble of students from across the Northwestern campus. The band will perform Reed’s “A Festival Prelude,” David Maslanka’s “On This Bright Morning,” Holst’s Second Suite in F, Op. 28, No. 2, Mark Camphouse’s “Yosemite Autumn,” Andrew Boysen Jr.’s “Song for Lyndsay and Clifton Willliams’ “Symphonic Dance No. 3, “Fiesta.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

• Philharmonia, “A Night at the Opera,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Bienen School faculty member Robert G. Hasty and Brendan McKeen, graduate assistant conductor, will conduct an evening of overtures, arias and ensemble works from beloved operas. The concert will feature Bienen School voice and opera students. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

 • University Singers, “Incantations,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 9, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Emily Ellsworth will conduct a program of music for voices and strings, including G. B. Martini’s “Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina” and Gary Kulesha’s “Shaman Songs.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs. 

• Jazz Small Ensembles, “Composition 702 -- Student Originals and Arrangements,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 9, Regenstein Recital Hall. Victor Goines and Marlene Rosenberg will direct jazz students as they perform their original compositions and new arrangements. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

• Women’s Chorus, “Music of the Northern Horizon,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, Alice Millar Chapel. An evening of music from Scandinavia and the Baltics will include works by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Ola Gjeilo, Veljo Tormis and Karin Rehnqvist. Christopher Walsh will conduct. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

• Faculty recital, oboist Robert Morgan and clarinetist Steven Cohen, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, Lutkin Hall. Robert Morgan is solo English horn and assistant principal oboe for the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra as well as principal oboe for Music of the Baroque and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. A frequent soloist with numerous area ensembles, he has performed at the White House with Music of the Baroque and in Maryland with members of the Guarneri Quartet. Steven Cohen is active as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the world. He has performed with the New Orleans Symphony and the Texas Opera Theater, Seoul Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestras. Their program includes romantic trios for clarinet, oboe and piano, including Gilson’s Trio in G Minor, Michael Kibbe’s Canonic Pieces for Oboe and B-flat Clarinet, Op. 78 and Destenay’s Trio in E Minor, Op. 27. Kay Kim will be the featured pianist. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with IDs.

• Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, Alice Millar Chapel. Bienen School faculty member Victor Yampolsky and graduate assistant conductor Alexandra Dee will conduct the orchestra in a program featuring Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 in C Major (“Linz”) and Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of Christ,” narrated by University Chaplain Timothy S. Stevens. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with IDs.

• Symphonic Band, 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 13, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Shawn Vondran will conduct a program of traditional and contemporary music for winds and percussion, including David Maslanka’s “Requiem” and Michael Daugherty’s “Niagara Falls.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with IDs.

• Bienen Strings, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, Lutkin Hall. Northwestern’s Victor Yampolsky, director of orchestras, will conduct Bienen School of Music string students in a performance of a variety of works. The concert is dedicated to the memory of Bienen School alumna Caroline Yoshimoto, a young violinist who passed away suddenly. Admission is free. To view a remembrance video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2EmTlu-Iok&list=PLJ50USIikrM6GojLjbYCzZYWyyl0zix4d.          

• Newberry Consort:, “Music from the World of Copernicus -- Polish Cultural Treasures,” 2 p.m. preconcert lecture and 3 p.m. concert, Sunday, March 22, Alice Millar Chapel.  Continuing their exploration of early Polish music, the Newberry Consort will travel from the Renaissance world of Copernicus into the Baroque. The program includes Polish dances (featuring bagpipe), folk tunes, songs and choral repertory from one of Eastern Europe’s richest cultures and one of Chicago’s most vibrant ethnic communities. Performers will include violinist David Douglass; soprano Ellen Hargis; Renaissance wind and string players Shira Kammen, Mark Rimple and Tom Zajac; and vocalists Hargis, Matthew Dean, Eric Miranda, Laura Pinto, Angela Young Smucker and Corey Shotwell. Tickets are $38 for the general public and $5 for students with IDs (or $45 for preferred seating, $35 for general admission on orders made in advance of the concert).

ARTS CIRCLE DRIVE

Northwestern’s Arts Circle Drive has reopened for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The road, drive-up handicap access to Arts Circle Drive venues, the pedestrian path at the lakefront and all sidewalks are now open for public use. New improvements to the South Beach Garage have also eliminated the stairways, and both levels of the two-story parking structure are now accessible to persons with disabilities for easy access to Bienen School of Music venues. Additional parking on the Evanston campus also is available in the new Segal Visitors Center at 1841 Sheridan Road. For more information, call 847-491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.