Joshua Bell, Menahem Pressler To Perform at Jacobs School's Summer Music

As part of the inaugural Indiana University Summer Festival of the Arts, the Jacobs School of Music has assembled a "Summer Music" series of more than 40 free and ticketed events from June 20 through Aug. 10. In all, the series offers an array of world-class concerts featuring orchestra, chamber music, piano, band, percussion, opera, chorus and other special events.

Highlights this year include violin virtuoso and Jacobs faculty member Joshua Bell, legendary pianist Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler and eclectic string trio Time for Three.

Bell will perform Bruch's Scottish Fantasy with the Festival Orchestra conducted by Michael Stern July 1. Since receiving an Artist Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music in 1989, Bell's career has skyrocketed him to international stardom.

In addition to Stern, the Festival Orchestra will be led this year by renowned conductors Bramwell Tovey and Giancarlo Guerrero. Taking place July 1 and 21, and Aug. 5, respectively, the concerts will feature a variety of works, including Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, Mahler's Symphony No. 1 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. Considered one of the finest ensembles in the region, the Festival Orchestra's musicians include distinguished faculty members, guests from major symphony orchestras in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Minnesota and St. Louis as well as talented students at the Jacobs School.

A Pressler and Friends program June 22 and repeated June 23 will include Jacobs School faculty violinist Alexander Kerr, violist Diemut Poppen and cellist Desmond Hoebig. A founding member and pianist of the former Beaux Arts Trio, Pressler has established himself among the world's most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans more than six decades.

Time for Three, a string trio that includes Indianapolis Orchestra Concertmaster Zach De Pue, will offer a July 5 performance with elements of classical, country western, gypsy and jazz idioms.

Jacobs Dean Emeritus Charles Webb, piano, will commence the chamber music series June 20 with friends Steven Mann, piano; Esther Kim, violin; Susan Moses and Joseph Kaizer, cello; and Jeff Dunford, horn.

The Penderecki and Afiara quartets, and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson and Weiss-Kaplan-Newman trios return, while the Cecilia String Quartet makes its IU Summer Music debut.

The festival's piano recital series includes performances by Gregory Sioles, Read Gainsford, Jacobs professor Edward Auer, Junghwa Moon Auer and others. Solo and chamber recitals feature violinists Kevork Mardirossian, Mihaela Martin and alumna Tai Murray; violists Atar Arad and Stephen Wyrczynski; cellists Amir Eldan, Csaba Onczay and Peter Stumpf; and pianists Chih-Yi Chen and Jeannette Koekkoek, among others.

Additional performances to look forward to include the Caixa Percussion Trio with Jacobs professor Steve Houghton, the IU Percussion Academy faculty and the Jeff McLaughlin Jazz Quartet.

The Symphony Orchestra, composed of Jacobs students, will perform two free concerts -- July 13 and Aug. 10 -- conducted by Cliff Colnot, principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's contemporary MusicNOW series and of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

The Summer Festival Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by William Jon Gray, will perform the Mozart Coronation Mass, a Mozart Horn Concerto with soloist Jeff Nelsen and a work that includes organist Christopher Young. The July 15 program will be repeated July 16.

Opera performances this summer include the Summer Opera Workshop directed by faculty member Patricia Stiles June 22 and workshop performances July 29-30 of the new work The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh: A Melodramatic Opera in Three Acts written by faculty member P. Q. Phan.

The popular Summer Band concerts, featuring the conducting talents of Stephen W. Pratt and David C. Woodley from the IU Department of Bands, will be held on the lawn of the MAC. The concerts, featuring marches, popular favorites, solos and light classics, are scheduled for 7 p.m. July 13, 20 and 27.

Because of renovations at the Musical Arts Center, all orchestral concerts will take place at IU Auditorium, with most other events in Auer Hall.

Some events are free and some require tickets. A limited number of Festival Passes, at a discount, are offered to the general public (with further reductions for any full-time students). Tickets and Festival Passes will be available from the Musical Arts Center Box Office and the IU Auditorium (Festival Orchestra concerts only) beginning Tuesday, June 7.

Visit www.music.indiana.edu/summer for complete information and to purchase tickets online, or call 812-855-7433 for ticket info.

 

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