Bienen School of Music Announces Spring Faculty Recitals

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A program of Schumann's songs for voice and piano, a performance by the Lincoln String Quartet and guest artists from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, two piano recitals, and a woodwind collaboration of faculty members and their students, are among the five spring recitals by faculty musicians of Northwestern University's Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music.

All of the programs are open to the public and will be held at Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place, on Northwestern's Evanston campus.

Tenor and Bienen School of Music Professor Kurt Hansen will present an evening of compositions by Robert Schumann at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 4. In a program titled "Schumann Abend" ("Schumann Night"), Hansen and guest pianist Karina Kontorovitch will perform "Kinderszenen," "Dichterliebe" and "Liederkreis." A specialist in oratorio, Hansen has performed as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and Minnesota orchestras as well as Music of the Baroque. Tickets are $9 for the general public; $7 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5 for full-time students with valid IDs.

Faculty pianist James Giles will join guest violinist Ilya Kaler in performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 10. Their program includes Schubert's Sonata in A Major, Brahms' Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Bartok's Rhapsody No. 1 ("Folk Dances"), Eugene Ysaye's "Poeme elegiaque" and Paganini's "La Campanella." Giles regularly performs to acclaim in important musical centers in America and Europe. Winner of gold medals at the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Paganini competitions, Kaler is professor of violin at DePaul University. Tickets are $9 for the general public; $7 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5 for full-time students with valid IDs.

The final concert in Northwestern's "Trio of S" miniseries focusing on "S"-named composers takes place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29. The program of works by Ludwig Spohr includes " Six German Lieder," Quintet in C Minor and "Fantaisie and Variations on a Theme of Danzi." Performers include soprano Pamela Hinchman, flutist Jennifer Gunn, clarinetist J. Lawrie Bloom, bassoonist Dennis Michel, hornist Gail Williams, pianist Alan Chow and the Lincoln String Quartet (violinists Qing Hou and Akiko Tarumoto, violist Laurence Neuman, and cellist Brant Taylor). Tickets are $12 for the general public; $9 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $6 for full-time students with valid IDs.

Faculty pianists Elizabeth Buccheri and Sylvia Wang will present a recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 4. Long associated with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Elizabeth Buccheri has been heard in concert with violinists Midori and Gil Shaham and the Vermeer and Shanghai String quartets. Wang performs a wide range of solo repertoire in addition to collaborations with artists across the country and in Europe, with appearances in North and South America, Southeast Asia and Australia. Their program includes William Bolcom's "Abendmusik," Antonin Dvorak's "Legends," and Leonard Bernstein's "Symphonic Dances" from "West Side Story" as arranged by John Musto. Tickets are $9 for the general public; $7 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5 for full-time students with valid IDs.

The Charivari Quintet with a select group of Bienen School of Music woodwind students will appear in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7. The Quintet is comprised of flutist Camille Churchfield, oboist Robert Morgan, clarinetist Steven Cohen, bassoonist Christopher Millard, hornist Gail Williams and harpist Elizabeth Cifani. Together they will perform Maurice Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin" for woodwind quintet and harp, Carl Nielsen's Woodwind Quintet, and Emile Bernard's Divertissement for double woodwind quintet. The students will be featured during the Bernard piece. Tickets are $9 for the general public; $7 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5 for full-time students with valid IDs.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Office at (847) 491-5441 or visit the Pick-Staiger Web site at http://www.pickstaiger.org. To order tickets by phone, call the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000.