Department of Music
 

University Chamber Music Series

The University Chamber Music Series presents a full season of concerts offering both new and traditional music from Virginia Tech faculty members and internationally known guest artists. The series provides outstanding learning opportunities for students and brings world-class professional performances to Blacksburg, the New River Valley, and southwest Virginia. Past seasons have included masterworks like Stravinsky's Histoire du soldat, the world premiere of a song cycle based on texts by Edgar Allan Poe, and ensembles such as the Manhattan Piano Trio, Emerson Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Imani Winds, English Concert, and Alarm Will Sound.

We are proud to partner with the Main Street Inn as our University Chamber Music Series lodging sponsor.

Upcoming Events

Megan YanikMegan Yanik, viola

Sunday, September 2, at 3 p.m. | Squires Recital Salon

Megan Fergusson Yanik brings the soulful voice of the viola to Virginia Tech to open the 2012–2013 University Chamber Music series. Yanik, who has collaborated with artists such as Ida Kavafian, Paul Katz, and Yang Wei of the Silk Road Ensemble, joins Virginia Tech faculty members Tracy Cowden, piano; Ariana Wyatt, soprano; and Elizabeth Crone, flute; in a program of exquisite works highlighting the lyricism of each member of the ensemble. From Britten's Lachrymae: Reflections on a Song of Dowland to Bolcom's poignant cantata Let Evening Come for soprano, viola, and piano, the viola shines through as an instrument capable of profound expression. The ensemble also presents works by Duruflé, de Falla, and Alan Smith.

To purchase tickets, call (540) 231-5615, visit the Student Centers and Activities ticket office during regular hours, or BUY TICKETS ONLINE!
$15 General; $12 Seniors/Faculty/Staff; $5 Students/Youth

 

Kandinsky TrioKandinsky Trio

Sunday, September 16, at 3 p.m. | Squires Recital Salon

The University Chamber Music Series continues with the Kandinsky Trio — Alan Weinstein, cello; Benedict Goodfriend, violin; and Elizabeth Bachelder, piano — celebrating its twenty-fifth season with a unique commissioning project entitled "25x25." Twenty-five composers are writing 25 short pieces commemorating the Kandinsky Trio's quarter-century of music making. In this concert, the Kandinskys return to Squires and debut works by Virginia Tech composer Kent Holliday and two of his former students: Tim Mauthe, who is currently teaching composition at the College of William and Mary, and Vladimir Smirnov, who is pursuing a Ph.D. at Duke University. The delightful Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1, by Beethoven and Brahms's seminal Trio in B Major, Op. 8, are also performed.

To purchase tickets, call (540) 231-5615, visit the Student Centers and Activities ticket office during regular hours, or BUY TICKETS ONLINE!
$15 General; $12 Seniors/Faculty/Staff; $5 Students/Youth

 

 

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber EnsembleAcademy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble

Monday, October 22, at 8 p.m. | Lyric Theatre

Presented in partnership with the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble was created in 1967 to perform the larger chamber works — from quintets to octets — with players who customarily work together, instead of the usual string quartet with additional guests. Drawn from the principal players of the orchestra, the chamber ensemble tours as a string octet, string sextet, and in other configurations including winds. Its touring commitments are extensive, with annual visits to France, Germany, and Spain and frequent tours to North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan. The eight-musician chamber ensemble performs Brahms's Sextet in G Major, Op. 36; Shostakovich's Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11; and Mendelssohn's Octet for Strings In E-flat Major, Op. 20.

To purchase tickets, call (540) 951-4771, visit the Lyric Theatre during regular box office hours (Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.), or BUY TICKETS ONLINE!
$40 General; $32 Seniors/Faculty/Staff; $10 Students/Youth

PHOTO: ALICIA J. ROSE

 

New York PolyphonyNew York Polyphony

Wednesday, November 14, at 8 p.m. | St. Mary's Catholic Church

Presented in partnership with the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.

New York Polyphony is establishing a reputation as one of world's finest vocal ensembles. Praised by National Public Radio for the "rich, natural sound that's larger and more complex than the sum of its parts," the four men of NYP deliver dynamic performance in a wide range of styles. The quartet applies not only refined musicianship and interpretive detail, but also a uniquely modern sensibility to its varied repertory, which ranges from austere Medieval melodies to cutting-edge contemporary works. The program includes William Byrd's exquisite Mass for Four Voices; the sensuous texts of the Song of Songs, an anthology of Hebrew love poems by Renaissance composers; and contemporary works by Grayson Ives (b. 1948).

To purchase tickets, call (540) 231-5615, visit the Student Centers and Activities ticket office during regular hours, or BUY TICKETS ONLINE!
$30 General; $24 Seniors/Faculty/Staff; $10 Students/Youth

PHOTO: CHRIS OWYOUNG

 

Ensamble Quito 6Ensamble Quito 6

Saturday, February 23, at 8 p.m. | Squires Recital Salon

Ensamble Quito 6 is the resident ensemble for Virginia Tech's first annual Congress on Latin American Music, entitled "Transcending Borders: Latin American Music and its Projection onto a Work Stage." Established in 2004, Ensamble Quito 6 consists of six professional musicians who individually have been acclaimed for the quality and consistency of their musical accomplishments. The goal of the group is to investigate and disseminate the traditional, classical, and contemporary music of Ecuador through compositions and arrangements that have been specifically created for this ensemble. Jorge Oviedo, the director of the group, is a composer who has received international recognition.

To purchase tickets, call (540) 231-5615, visit the Student Centers and Activities ticket office during regular hours, or BUY TICKETS ONLINE!
$15 General; $12 Seniors/Faculty/Staff; $5 Students/Youth

 

Jeremy DenkJeremy Denk, piano

Sunday, March 24, at 3 p.m. | Lyric Theatre

Presented in partnership with the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.

The New York Times describes Denk's playing as "bracing, effortlessly virtuosic, and utterly joyous," and reviewers frequently comment on the freshness and originality of his musical interpretations (as well as in his blog). "Mr. Denk is the ideal interpreter for music that defies easy classification," wrote the Richmond Times, the New York Sun called his "Waldstein" Sonata "a radical take on a revolutionary work," and the Washington Post referred to his "brilliant playing at the edge of Schumann's sanity." The program features Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35, and Tres Sonetti del Petrarca, S. 161; Fantasy and Fugue on the Name BACH, S. 529; and Après une lecture de Dante, fantasia quasi Sonata; and Isoldens Liebestod, S. 447; by Franz Liszt.

To purchase tickets, call (540) 951-4771, visit the Lyric Theatre during regular box office hours (Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.), or BUY TICKETS ONLINE!
$30 General; $24 Seniors/Faculty/Staff; $10 Students/Youth


Colorado QuartetColorado Quartet

Saturday, April 13, at 8 p.m. | Squires Recital Salon
Sunday, April 14, at 3 p.m. | Squires Recital Salon

The Colorado Quartet returns to Virginia Tech to complete the Beethoven cycle in two separate performances with two separate programs. The quartet has been a ground-breaking ensemble for nearly three decades. Catapulted onto the scene by back-to-back wins at the Banff International String Quartet and Naumburg competitions, it was the first all-women quartet to attain international stature. The first female quartet in history to perform the complete Beethoven quartet cycle in Europe and North America, its recording of the cycle is available on the Parnassus label. Of the Late quartets, Fanfare Magazine said: "The Colorado Quartet tears into these works with a combined tension, cohesion, grace, and complete understanding of the music… if it's the music and what the music says that interests you, well, this is the only set of the late quartets you'll ever need. These four women bring Beethoven to intense, blazing life."

To purchase tickets, call (540) 231-5615, visit the Student Centers and Activities ticket office during regular hours, or BUY TICKETS ONLINE! Tickets for each concert are sold separately.
$15 General; $12 Seniors/Faculty/Staff; $5 Students/Youth


For More Information

Questions, comments, or suggestions? To learn more about the Virginia Tech University Chamber Music Series, please call the Department of Music at (540) 231-5685 or e-mail music@vt.edu.