Jarrod Hartzler is the Executive Director of Tuesday Musical Association, and he sat down with Bill O'Connell to preview the exciting 2015-16 season. He also gave an update on the upcoming FUZE! series and the status of E.J. Thomas Hall.
Tickets on sale for Tuesday Musical’s new season; first concert featuring Escher String Quartet on Sept. 30
The Escher String Quartet — taking its name from Dutch artist M.C. Esher — opens Tuesday Musical Association’s 2015-16 season on Wednesday, Sept. 30, with a 7:30 p.m. concert at EJ Thomas Hall on The University of Akron campus.
Championed by the Emerson String Quartet and inspired by the artist Escher’s interplay among individual components working together to form a whole, the ensemble serves as artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where last season it presented a critically acclaimed three-concert series featuring the quartets of Benjamin Britten. Other recent performance venues include the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Ravinia and Caramoor festivals. The quartet is also making a distinctive impression in Europe, with recent engagements including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, and the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, among others.
Tickets are on sale now for the Escher String Quartet concert and all concerts in Tuesday Musical’s upcoming six-concert season. Single tickets range from $25 to $60, and are free for all students through a voucher program. Season subscriptions are also on sale, with a savings of 45 percent off on single ticket prices or 50 percent off for new subscribers. Visit www.tuesdaymusical.org or call the Tuesday Musical office at 330-761-3460. Tickets are also on sale at the door as long as seats are available.
Founded in Akron in 1887, Tuesday Musical Association is one of the oldest and finest organizations of its kind in the United States. Its concerts feature acclaimed classical artists and ensembles that are already well established, as well as young emerging artists embarking on major careers. Tuesday Musical also presents robust educational programs and scholarship opportunities for young people.
"This new season is special because it focuses not only on artistic excellence, but also on the expanded mission of Tuesday Musical to take world-class musicians outside of the formal concert venue walls,” says Tuesday Musical Executive Director Jarrod Hartzler.
"Many of our artists will spend three to four days throughout our community, working with students in and out of schools and presenting free public performances. This is possible through Tuesday Musical's new Knight Akron Artist-in-Residence Fund, an endowment to support the additional time and work of our guest musicians.”
All Tuesday Musical’s concerts in the 2015-16 season begin at 7:30 p.m. at EJ Thomas Hall, 198 Hill St., Akron. Most concerts feature pre-concert talks beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Escher String Quartet
The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. Championed by the Emerson String Quartet, the group was on the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme from 2010-2012, giving debuts at both the Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as Artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where last season they presented a critically acclaimed 3-concert series featuring the quartets of Benjamin Britten. In 2013, the Quartet became one of the very few chamber ensembles to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fischer Career Grant.
Within months of its inception in 2005, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet in Residence at each artist’s summer festival, the Young Artists Programme at Canada’s National Arts Centre; and the Perlman Chamber Music Program on Shelter Island, NY.
The Escher Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
David Finckel, cello, Wu Han, piano and Philip Setzer, violin
David Finckel, Philip Setzer, and Wu Han perform the second concert of a two-part series exploring the complete Beethoven piano trio cycle. Named 2012 Musicians of the Year by Musical America, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han perform in the world’s most prestigious concert series and festivals as soloists, as a duo, and in a trio with violinist Philip Setzer. Finckel has been cellist of the Emerson String Quartet for 34 seasons.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Conrad Tao, piano, Margaret Baxtresser Annual Piano Concert
Performing worldwide as a pianist and composer, Conrad Tao has been heralded as a musician of “probing intellect and open-hearted vision” by The New York Times, a “thoughtful and mature composer” by NPR, and “ferociously talented” by TimeOut New York. In June of 2011, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the U.S. Department of Education named Tao as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts awarded him a YoungArts gold medal in music. Later that year, Conrad was named a Gilmore Young Artist, an honor awarded every two years to the most promising American pianists of the new generation.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Marina Piccinini, flute, and Andreas Haefliger, piano
Noted for her performances of compositions by Mozart and Bach, flutist Marina Piccinini has performed with many of the world's top orchestras and conductors. She began her flute studies in Toronto with Akron’s own Jeanne Baxtresser, principal flutist of the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and New York Philharmonic. She received bachelor’s and master of music degrees from The Juilliard School, where she studied with the legendary flutist Julius Baker. Pianist Andreas Haefliger was born into a distinguished Swiss musical family and grew up in Germany, going on to study at the Juilliard School in New York. With his formidable technique and musicality, and his innate sense of architecture and phrasing, he was quickly recognized as a pianist of the first rank.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell
Sir Neville Marriner founded The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in 1958, and his vision and inspiration keep the orchestra's sound and spirit alive. Today the orchestra is led by music director and virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell as well as by the musicians themselves who create inspirational and inventive performances. Joshua Bell is the first person appointed music director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields since Marriner formed the orchestra.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Gregg Kallor, piano, and Adriana Zabala, mezzo-soprano
Gregg Kallor is a composer and pianist whose music fuses classical and jazz traditions. He is the inaugural co mposer-in-residence at SubCulture in New York City. The first season of his two-year residency will feature world premieres of three new pieces and collaborations with cellist Joshua Roman, violinist Miranda Cuckson, mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala, and baritone Matthew Worth. Mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala enjoys a vibrant career that spans performance and recording of new opera, song, and concert works, as well as beloved operatic roles, traditional concerts, and oratorio works. Together, Kallor and Zabala have recorded Exhilaration: Dickinson and Yeats Songs and performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall, on the Carnegie Room Series in Nyack, NY, in the Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis, and on the Salzburg International Chamber Music Series in Austria.