Grammy-Winning Bassist Edgar Meyer to Appear in Two Concerts at University of Chicago, April 24 & 25
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2009
Contact:
Ian Martinez, Director of Communications
imartinez@uchicago.edu
(773) 834-7965
GRAMMY-WINNING BASSIST EDGAR MEYER TO APPEAR IN TWO CONCERTS AT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, APRIL 24 & 25
Updated concert listing announced
CHICAGO - Grammy-winning bassist, composer and MacArthur genius Edgar Meyer returns to the University of Chicago this weekend for back-to-back performances, including a solo recital with pianist Amy Dorfman on Friday, April 24, and with the University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Barbara Schubert, on Saturday, April 25.
Meyer last appeared at the University on October 24 with mandolinist Chris Thile. As part of the University's Visiting Artist Series, Meyer's April visit will include a master class with University students, his solo recital and the performance with the 100-piece orchestra made up of University of Chicago students and community. A public reception follows Saturday's performance.
Recognized as a skilled composer, Meyer will perform his own works both nights, including his Concerto No. 1, Canon and The Great Green Sea Snake. Works by Haydn, Schubert, Brahms, Saint-Saëns and 19th-century double bass virtuoso Bottesini will fill out each program. The second half of the Friday concert opens with a complete performance of J.S. Bach's Unaccompanied Suite No. 1.
TICKETS for the concert on Friday, April 24, are $32 for general public and $5 for students with a valid ID. Tickets for the concert on Saturday, April 25, are $15 for general public and $5 for students. All tickets can be purchased by calling the University of Chicago Presents concert office at (773) 702-8068, or by visiting 5720 S. Woodlawn Avenue on the University of Chicago campus. Meyer's master class on Thursday, April 23, is free and open to the public.
Meyer's performance on Friday has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. Saturday's performance with the University Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by a grant from the University of Chicago Arts Council.
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Thursday, April 23 at 4:30 p.m.
Master class
Fulton Recital Hall, 1010 E. 59th Street
Friday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Edgar Meyer, bass
Amy Dorfman, piano
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th Street, Chicago
Haydn: Divertimento in D major (arr. Piatigorsky)
Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D. 821, "Arpeggione"
Edgar Meyer: Canon
Edgar Meyer: The Great Green Sea Snake
J.S. Bach: Unaccompanied Suite No. 1, BWV 1007
Saint-Saëns: Havanaise, op. 83
Bottesini: Fantasia Cerrito
Saturday, April 25 at 8 p.m.
University Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Schubert, conductor
Edgar Meyer, bass
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th Street, Chicago
Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn, op. 56a
Bottesini: Concerto No. 2 in B minor for Contrabass and Orchestra (arr. Edgar Meyer)
Edgar Meyer: Concerto No. 1 in D major for Double Bass and Orchestra
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Hailed by the New Yorker as "the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument," Edgar Meyer began studying bass at the age of five under the instruction of his father. In 1994 he received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. His uniqueness as a performer and composer earned him a MacArthur Genius Award in 2002.
As a composer, Meyer has premiered works for the opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, as well as commissions for the Montalvo Arts Center and New York's Lincoln Center. As a performer, he has become known for his collaborations with such artists as Béla Fleck, Joshua Bell, Mike -Marshall, and Chris Thile. In addition, his recordings with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O'Connor, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey, have earned considerable acclaim, including a Grammy Award for the latter. Meyer is currently visiting professor of double bass at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Pianist Amy Dorfman has performed throughout North America and Europe, including recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall, CAMI Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Kammermusikwoche summer music festival in Kassel, Germany. For over twenty years, Dorfman has collaborated with Edgar Meyer and has appeared with him on NPR's St. Paul Sunday Morning and on The Lonesome Pine Special for PBS. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Dorfman attended Indiana University's School of Music. She is currently associate professor of piano at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
The 100-piece University Symphony Orchestra presents an ambitious concert season of six performances per year (two each quarter). Known for imaginative productions of unusual works, as well as major symphonic literature, the ensemble opens with the traditional costumed Halloween concert and closes with the celebratory year-end collaboration with the combined choirs. Repertoire generally encompasses 19th- and 20th-century works written for large orchestras. Professional soloists often perform with the ensemble, and members are coached by the Pacifica Quartet and musicians from The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Barbara Schubert is
a senior lecturer in music at the University of Chicago and serves as
director of the performance program and music director and conductor of
the University Symphony Orchestra and New Music Ensemble. In 2001
Schubert was resident conductor of the Contemporary Chamber Players
(now known as Contempo). She is a past president of the Conductor's
Guild and a former assistant conductor of the Colorado Symphony. Winner
of the 1982 American Conductors Competition, Schubert also serves as
music director and conductor of the DuPage Symphony and of the Park
Ridge Fine Arts Symphony Orchestra. Honored by the Illinois Council of
Orchestras as 2003 "Conductor of the Year," she has been at the
University of Chicago since 1981.
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The University of Chicago Presents is one of the city's landmark classical music presenters on the campus of the University of Chicago in the heart of the city's South Side. Among the musical legends who made their debuts at Mandel Hall are violinist Isaac Stern, guitarist Andres Segovia, soprano Cecilia Bartoli and The Juilliard String Quartet.
UCP offers
five concert series--Classic Concert, the Howard Mayer Brown
International Early Music, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the
Artists-in-Residence Series featuring the Pacifica Quartet, and the
Contempo series.
TICKETS:
By phone with credit card at (773) 702-8068; minimum $10 charge
In person with cash, check or credit card, weekdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Office of Professional Concerts, 5720 S. Woodlawn Ave.
- At Mandel Box Office after 6:30 p.m. on concert day
- By email at chicagopresents@uchicago.edu
PARKING: Street or free in lot at 55th Street and Ellis Avenue
DISABILITIES: Persons with disabilities or who otherwise need assistance may call the Office of Professional Concerts at (773) 702-8068 prior to the concert, but no later than 3 p.m. on concert day.
PHOTOS: Photos of the artists may be obtained upon request to the University of Chicago Presents at (773) 834-7965, or by fax at (773) 834-5888. To download pictures directly from the web site, visit chicagopresents.uchicago.edu/news/photos.
ONLINE: chicagopresents.uchicago.edu
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