The Hartt School Presents East Coast Chamber Orchestra, 2/2

The Hartt School, the comprehensive performing arts school of the University of Hartford, will present the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) on Thursday evening, February 2, 2012, at 7:30 PM, in Lincoln Theater at the University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford.  This dynamic conductor-less ensemble performs the third concert of Hartt’s 2011-2012 Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series. Individual concert tickets are $35, with discounts for seniors, educators, University of Hartford alumni, students, and groups.  A special pre-concert dinner precedes the performance and begins at 6:00 PM in the University’s 1877 Club.  Patrons may purchase tickets to the performances and/or the pre-concert dinners.   Dinner tickets are $35 each.  To purchase tickets or to get additional information, please call the University of Hartford Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587, or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.  

The East Coast Chamber Orchestra formed in 2001 and is comprised of soloists, chamber musicians, members of major American orchestras, and Grammy award winners.  ECCO members play with the symphony orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston, among others.  ECCO’s members are among the most brilliant and sought-after young chamber players and freelance musicians in the country, devoted to reenergizing the concert experience, both for seasoned listeners and for classical newcomers.  

 

This self-conducted chamber orchestra, hailed as “dramatic,” “magically expressive,” and “truly spectacular,” performs Britten’s Prelude and Fugue; Shostakovich’s Sinfonia; Barber’s Serenade for String Orchestra; and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. 

 

In addition, on Thursday afternoon, February 2, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, in Berkman Auditorium, ECCO member Tom Van Dyck presents a double bass master class with Hartt students.  This master class is free and open to the public for observation.   

About ECCO

A decade ago, a group of some of today’s most exciting young string players envisioned the creation of a conductor-less chamber orchestra, based upon democratic principles, whose focus is purely on music-making.  This organic approach, their passion, and commitment resulted in the creation of ECCO.  Its members are soloists, Grammy winners and nominees, chamber musicians in today’s leading ensembles, members of Chamber Music Society II, and principals in major American orchestras:

• Graduates of top conservatories and music schools including Curtis, Cleveland Institute, Juilliard, New England Conservatory, and Peabody;

• Principals and members of major symphony orchestras including Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco;

• Participants of Marlboro Music Festival;

• Young Concert Artists and Concert Artist Guild winners;

• Members of Daedalus Quartet, Enso Quartet, Jasper Quartet, Johannes Quartet, Jupiter Quartet, Parker Quartet, Ying Quartet, Trio Cavatina, Eroica Trio, Sejong Soloists, Silk Road Ensemble, Time for Three, and Konomichi

In the 2011-2012 season, ECCO debuts at the Skaneateles Festival, Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, The Hartt School’s Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series, Wolf Trap, and Chamber Music Northwest, and has return engagements with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Peoples’ Symphony Concerts, Union College Concerts, and Schneider Concerts at the New School. In addition, this season ECCO will release its first commercial recording, which includes Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major Op. 48, Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op. 110a, and the Corelli/Geminiani “La Follia” Variations for String Orchestra arranged by ECCO member Michi Wiancko.

ECCO combines the strength and power of a great orchestral ensemble with the personal involvement and sensitivity of superb chamber music.  Its Town Hall (NYC) and Kennedy Center debuts confirmed ECCO’s position as one of today’s most exceptional ensembles whose fresh interpretations of new and old works, coupled with passionate playing, earn the musicians standing ovations and immediate re-engagements wherever they play 

The final performance of the 2011-2012 Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series is Carter Bray, cello, and Christopher O’Riley, piano, on Thursday, April 19, 2012.  Bray and O’Riley are two of the music world’s most visible and admired performers.  As principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic and as an active soloist and chamber player, Brey is known to audiences around the world.  Host of Public Radio’s long-running program “From the Top,” and acclaimed for his groundbreaking transcriptions of the songs of Radiohead and other rock artists, O’Riley is recognized as one of classical music’s visionary performers and thinkers.  “Finely nuanced…an impeccable partnership.” -- New York Times.  The Garmany Series, which quickly has established itself as the region’s premier showcase for visiting chamber music artists, is made possible in part by a grant from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts school of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre.  Founded in 1920, Hartt has been an integral part of the University ofHartford since its charter merged the then Hartt School of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the University in 1957.  2010 markEd Hartt’s 90^th year of providing world class performing arts education to students in Greater-Hartford and around the world.  With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions a year, performance is central to Hartt’s curriculum.  For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.  

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improving the quality of life for area residents.  The Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families, and in 2010, awarded grants of more than $29 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations, the largest amount granted in the Foundation’s 85-year history.  For more information about the Hartford Foundation, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.

Richard P. Garmany lived in Avon and was an executive at Aetna, and created the Fund at the Hartford Foundation before his death in July 2008.  Hartt’s chamber series was among the first recipients of a grant awarded by the Fund and thanks in part to the success of the Series, the gift was renewed and increased for the 2010- 2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.

To post a comment, you must register and login.