Horizons Concerts You May Have Missed

May – July 2023

June 4 – Borealis String Quartet

Patricia Shih and Yuel Yawney, violin

Nikita Pogrebnoy, viola

Sungyong Lim, cello

Borealis String Quartet presents Beethoven Plus!

Purchase Tickets Here

Program

Quartet #4 in C minor, Op. 18 Ludwig van Beethoven

Allegro ma non tanto, Scherzo, Menuetto, Allegro

Quartet in F minor, Op. 80 Felix Mendelssohn

Allegro vivace assai, Allegro assai, Adagio, Finale: Allegro molto

Notes on Beethoven’s Quartet #4 in C minor, Op. 18

The quartet in C minor is a unique work in that it is the only quartet for which no sketches exist. Beethoven was obsessed with reworking his musical ideas, and we find no evidence of his usual process in the composition of Op.18 #4.  This, and the similarity between the first and second themes of the first movement, has led many scholars to conclude that this work stems from an earlier period of Beethoven’s life. Like all of his works in C minor, Beethoven’s Op. 18 #4 is turbulent and dramatic. This quartet is the only minor key work in Beethoven’s set of six Op.18 quartets.  

The first movement opens with an ominous theme in the first violin, accompanied by an insistent line of eighth notes in the cello, and eventually, second violin and viola. One dramatic feature in the exposition is a chordal exchange between the lower three voices and first violin. Almost sounding like the ensemble is askew, the first violin insistently finishes the three-chord statement of the lower three voices.  In the second theme, the texture loosens, and lightly swings. The brief development features foreboding rumblings in the cello, and an extended version of the one instrument against three instrument exchanges from the exposition. The coda heats up as the movement drives toward the ferocious ending.  

The second movement serves as much as a slow movement as it does a dance in three, or slow scherzo.  The elegant opening statement of the second violin features perky eighth and sixteenth notes and is almost metronomic in character.  The music requires a great deal of flexibility and subtlety, as the web of counterpoint becomes more complex. Just as the exchanges between the opening three-note motive and scampering sixteenth notes become heated, the music gives way to the elegant wanderings of the first violin. Even at its most dramatic moments, we feel the music is ready to give way to a gentler character.  

The Menuetto features Beethoven’s use of unexpected accents falling on the third beats, giving the dance an air of unpredictability and instability.  The trio is graceful and genial, featuring a dialogue between the lower three voices with a fleet eighth note accompaniment in the first violin.  The trio segues to a unique Da Capo (repeat) of the Menuetto where Beethoven specifically instructs the players to play faster than they did the first time through. 

The last movement in c minor, is a quick rondo that features a brilliant first violin part with a sense of gypsy improvisation.  This is not a movement driven by profound thought as much as raw energy.  The second theme material, in a major key, is led by the expressive second violin line and explores rich harmonic colors and slower moving accompaniment. The sizzling music from the opening returns, always pressing the mood to become more agitated. The movement ends with a sparkling prestissimo that culminates in the surprising concluding bars in C Major, giving the music a sense of triumph and unexpected optimism. 

Notes on Mendelssohn’s Quartet in F minor, Op. 80

Mendelssohn’s last complete string quartet is a dark tour de force celebrated for that blistering intensity that music writer James Keller calls “combustible.” Throughout Mendelssohn’s work one finds passionate drama and that signature nervous drive, high strung, anxious, and ready to explode. But in the F minor quartet of 1847, the mood is unrelentingly sustained across three of the four movements ending with a virtuosic firestorm, a conflagration of musical angst. Connections with his personal life seem compelling.

At this point in his life, Mendelssohn was immensely famous and successful, but overworked, exhausted and in desperate need of rest. Word arrived that, Fanny, his cherished sister and intellectual soul mate, had suddenly died of a stroke. Devastated, Mendelssohn took a vacation with friends in Switzerland and composed his final quartet dedicated to her memory. Two months later, Felix would follow the fate of his sister, father, and grandfather, dying of a stroke himself at the age of 38. Whether one dares to connect this biographical setting to the abstract music of his string quartet, one cannot deny the musical effect: surging agony enfolding a loving elegy within.

 Three bristling movements surround the slow-moving song. The first is a suspenseful sonata with all the nervous splendor of Mendelssohn’s finest music dating back to his childhood masterpieces. Here, as in many places throughout the quartet, one hears the influence of Bach and Beethoven in contrapuntal textures that deftly weave throughout, occasionally jutting out in bare exposed edges. The unrelenting forward momentum crashes through the end of the sonata like an unstoppable, accelerating train. The “scherzo” brings no relief. Unlike his trademark scherzi’s lightweight tensile agility, this one lurches and stomps, recalling something of his spicier tarantellas. The trio is hushed and cryptic, low rumblings suddenly overcome by the raging storm in the foreground.

The slow movement brings a welcome repose with a final example of Mendelssohn’s sweet songs without words, a tender outpouring of love with lyrical grace. But it is not without its own sorrow in the “wilting” opening line, the climatic surge of a passionate plea, and the almost stark scoring with long solo lines that whisper over sustained pedal points.

The finale restores the pervasive panic of the quartet as a whole. Restless, dissonant, stabbing and surging, sharp waves of music crest above a few small islands of lyrical repose quickly submerged by a muscular sea pierced by the cry of a soaring violin frantic with mad figurations. We are lost at sea, destined to drown in raging waters.

Is this quartet a reflection of Mendelssohn’s personal life, a tale of despair regarding his sister’s death, a journal of dread dashed off while his life deteriorated? Or, as some have conjectured, might this have signified the beginning of a new style in Mendelssohn’s music, perhaps something more professional than personal, a craft rather than a confession? Regardless, the quartet is unique and would become his final completed composition. In a lifelong album of music so supremely colorful, this page is etched and spare, a black and white photo that manages to be that much clearer.

Notes © Kai Christiansen Used by permission

Concert sponsors: Linda and John Leng

Get to know The Borealis String Quartet

One of the most dynamic and exciting world-class ensembles of its generation, the Borealis String Quartet— Comprised of Patricia Shih and Yuel Yawney on violin, Nikita Pogrebnoy on viola, and Sungyong Lim on cello, has received international critical acclaim; praised for their fiery performances, passionate style, and refined, musical interpretation.

Read more about the quartet here.

Check out previous performances by the quartet here.

June 11 – NAU Faculty and Friends

Silvan Negrutiu, piano

Brian Krinke, violin

Eric Lenz, cello

Allison O’Bryant, violin

Jacqueline Schwandt, viola

NAU Faculty and Friends will play from their home stage in Kitt Recital Hall, bringing  you the Dvorak Piano Quintet, and Shostakovich Trio

Purchase Tickets Here

Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67 –  Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Andante, Allegro con brio, Largo, Allegretto

Brian Krinke, violin; Eric Lenz, cello; Silvan Negruțiu, piano

Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81  – Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

Allegro ma non troppo, Dumka. Andante con moto, Scherzo. Molto vivace, Finale. Allegro

Brian Krinke and Allison O’Bryant, violin; Jacquelyn Schwandt, viola: Eric Lenz, cello; Silvan Negruțiu, piano

Concert sponsors: Mary and Robert Newstead

Notes on Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor

Shostakovich completed this trio in 1944, shortly after composing the “wartime” Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. Shostakovich had scarcely finished the first movement when he received word of the sudden death (at age 41) of his close friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, a brilliant musicologist, critic, and artistic director of the Leningrad Philharmonic. For nearly twenty years, Sollertinsky had been one of Shostakovich’s most loyal defenders. His influence included introducing the composer to the music of Mahler. Shostakovich wrote to Sollertinsky’s widow, “Ivan Ivanovich was my very closest and dearest friend. I am indebted to him for all my growth. To live without him will be unbearably difficult.”

In dedicating the Second Piano Trio to the memory of Sollertinsky, Shostakovich paid homage to an existing tradition of elegiac trios by Russian composers (Tchaikovsky’s, following the death of Nikolai Rubinstein, Rachmaninov’s, following the death of Tchaikovsky, and Anton Arensky’s in memory of the cellist, Karl Davydov). Yet, this music seems to be much more than a contemplative elegy for a single man. It’s a haunting, universal lament, emerging amid the horrific suffering of the siege of Leningrad, the desolation of the Eastern Front, the iron-fisted artistic censorship of Stalin, and the first terrifying glimpses of the death camps of Treblinka and Majdanek. It was performed once on November 14, 1944 and then, due to censorship, could not be played again for many years.

The first movement begins with a solitary, ghostly whisper. A lonely, lamenting melody unfolds in the cello’s hazy harmonics. A few moments later, the violin and piano enter in succession, creating an icy, numb fugato. Each voice speaks with a sense of quiet struggle. The cello is in its highest, most uncomfortable register, while the violin is the lower voice, turning the natural order on its head. The piano emerges in its darkest and most ominous depths. Without warning, the music shifts into the faster Moderato section. As the movement progresses, there is a sense of gradual, mounting intensity. It’s something akin to the anxiety which comes from being unable to express some unspeakable horror. Sudden flashes of “joyful” dance music seem mockingly out of place. The final chord feels disturbingly out of balance, favoring the third and fifth and denying us the finality of a clear tonic.

The second movement (Allegro con brio) is a grotesque dance in the form of a wild, demonic waltz. As the violin and cello engage in a sardonic conversation, the piano’s chords land like steel blows. Later, the roles reverse and the piano picks up the melodic line, accompanied by violent pizzicati. A folk melody fragment in the middle of the movement suggests frenzied, forced “joy.” This “black scherzo” in F-sharp major is stunningly brief, arriving and departing in a whirlwind.

In the third movement (Largo), a lamenting conversation between the violin and cello develops over a hypnotic passacaglia bass line in the piano. This form, which recalls the baroque period, emerges in other works by Shostakovich, most notably the First Violin Concerto. Listen to the way the piano’s chorale chords alternate between consonant harmony and sudden, crunching dissonance, looping in an unrelenting funeral dirge.

The final movement (Allegretto) is filled with ghostly echoes of klezmer music. The playful humor of the melody’s “wrong” note lands as a chilling and terrifying joke, perhaps “the hysterical laughter of despair.” This is the ironic humor we hear throughout Mahler’s music. Shostakovich returned to this klezmer melody in 1960 with the second movement of his Eighth String Quartet. The first movement’s opening fugato melody returns, surrounded by swirling scales in the piano. In the final bars, a brief memory of the third movement’s passacaglia emerges. Fragments of the klezmer melody evaporate like a ghost, and the final resolution fades away with a glimmer of sunshine.

—Timothy Judd

Notes on Dvořák: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, B. 155, Op. 81

Dvořák was born in Nelahozeves, near Kralupy, September 8, 1841. He died in Prague, May 1, 1904.

In the spring of 1887 Dvořák had been trying to revise his early piano quintet—also in A major—and found it a hopeless task. But the process may have lit a spark, for on August 18 he began writing his famous A major piano quintet, Op. 81, completing it on October 3. This was a period of contentment in Dvořák’s life, and, although one must be wary about drawing parallels between life circumstances and particular works of art, the Opus 81 quintet is essentially a happy work.

He wrote most of it at his house on the edge of the forest land of Vysoká, his favorite place. The quintet received its first performance on January 6, 1888 at an Umělecká Beseda (Artistic Society) concert. The work ranks with the great pieces of chamber music even without attempting great innovation—it was instantly, and still is, beloved by performers and audiences.

The quintet represents a particularly successful fusion of Dvořák’s Czech nationalism and the Austro-German tradition. Alternating slow and fast sections and contrasting moods play prominent roles not only in the Dumka (second movement), but also in the first movement. Although there are no specific folk-dance or folk-song quotations here, Dvořák’s original melodies often transmit that quality. The lovely opening cello melody soon turns toward the minor mode; this is only the beginning of many effortless changes back and forth between major and minor of which Dvořák was so fond. Dvořák explained that the untranslatable word dumka was of Ukrainian origin and had its roots in melancholy poetry. But what he might have added was that a dumka was a kind of lament that had to be followed by a dance or else its true nature could not be felt. His music shows this understanding to perfection in the alternation of contrasting slow and fast sections, a combination to be found in the folk music of his native Czechoslovakia.

In this dumka, the F-sharp minor opening melody suggests a lament, but with the typical Slavic rapid mood change it soon gives way to a cheerful D major melody. The main contrast to the lament “refrain,” however, arrives with the outbreak of the vivace section whose theme Dvořák derived from the Dumka’s opening. Subtitled furiant, the scherzo takes on the spirit of this lively Slavic folk dance, though not its customary displaced accents. Dvořák’s biographer Otakar Šourek suggests a connection with the Czech folk song “Když jsi ty, sedláčku, pán” (When you are, farmer, a gentleman).

The central section takes a calm, slightly wistful look at the opening material before the scherzo proper returns in its spirited guise.

Dvořák’s sense of fun permeates the merry finale, in which he contrasts folk-like melodies with elegant contrapuntal devices in his development section.

The slow chorale passages in the coda serve to emphasize the exuberance of the main theme, which happily rounds off the piece.

—©Jane Vial Jaffe

June 18 – Ann Hampton Callaway

Ann Hampton Calloway sings The Great American Songbook

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Horizons Concert 3-Packs

 What is THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK?

The most influential American songs and jazz standards from the mid 20th century are included under this umbrella. These songs, which were written predominately for Hollywood and Broadway, became the core repertoire for jazz musicians from the 1920’s to the 1960’s and are a cornerstone of the American cultural experience. Standards by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, and Richard Rodgers, amongst others are key to the Great American Songbook. Singers who immortalized the Songbook include the legends Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and many more. This great tradition of song is kept alive in the present by singers like Diana Krall, Michael Buble, and the marvelous Ann Hampton Callaway.

ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY, a member of the LGBTQA community, is proud to be performing during Pride month here in Flagstaff. She is one of the leading champions of the great American Songbook, having made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host and producer. Voted recently by Broadwayworld.com as “Performer of the Year” Ann is a born entertainer. Her unique singing style blends jazz and traditional pop, making her a mainstay in concert halls, theaters and jazz clubs as well as in the recording studio, on television, and in film. She is best known for Tony-nominated performance in the hit Broadway musical Swing! and for writing and singing the theme song to the hit TV series, The Nanny. Callaway is a Platinum Award winning writer who has written for many, including Barbra Streisand, Carole King, Rolf Lovland and Barbara Carrol, and Cole Porter.

Notable Performances

Callaway’s live performances showcase her warmth, spontaneous wit and passionate delivery of standards, jazz classics and originals. She is one of America’s most gifted improvisers, taking words and phrases from her audiences and creating songs on the spot, whether alone at a piano or with a symphony orchestra. Ann has performed with many well-known acts in iconic venues including:

• Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
• Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood
• Performed for President Clinton in Washington, D.C.
• President Gorbachev’s Youth Peace Summit in Moscow
• The award-winning show, Sibling Revelry, at London’s Donmar Warehouse
• Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade
• The Streisand Songbook with The Boston Pops
• 54 Below

Awards

• Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Swing!
• Theatre World Award for “Outstanding Broadway Debut”
• Platinum award selling songwriter with seven Barbra Streisand cuts
• 2013 “The Streisand Songbook” won two Broadway World Awards and the MAC Award for Show of the Year
• 2014 Broadway World New York Cabaret Award “Performer of the Year”
• 2016 Broadway World New York Cabaret Award “Best Jazz Vocalist”
• 2017 Broadway World New York Cabaret Award “Best Jazz Vocalist”
• 2017 Broadway World New York Cabaret Award “Best Tribute Show” for the Ella Century
• 2019 Broadway World New York Cabaret Award for “Commercial Recording Of The Year” for Jazz Goes To The Movies
• 2022 Broadway World Editor’s Pick – Entertainer Of The Year
• She has received fifteen MAC Awards from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs

Press Quotes

• “For sheer vocal beauty, no contemporary singer matches Ms. Callaway.” –Stephen Holden, The New York Times
• “Callaway establishes herself as one of the best equipped jazz vocalists swinging today.” – Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
• “Astonishing.” – LA Weekly
• “…superbly intelligent, singularly creative pop-jazz stylist who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Streisand, Ronstadt, Shirley Horn and Dianne Reeves…” – Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes
• “Great is one of the most over-used words in the dictionary but just as Ella Fitzgerald was the greatest jazz singer of her era, so too is the magnificent Ann Hampton Callaway of hers.” – Musical Theatre Review

Concert sponsors: Mary and Robert Newstead

June 25 – Jeffrey Swann

Jeffrey Swann, piano, plays a special concert in conjunction with the Flagstaff Piano Festival

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Horizons Concert 3-Packs

Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 11  – Robert Schumann

I. Introduzione. Un poco Adagio – Allegro vivace (1810-1856)

II. Aria

III. Scherzo e Intermezzo. Allegrissimo – Lento

IV. Finale. Allegro un poco maestoso

Notes on Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 11 – Robert Schumann

The Piano Sonata No. 1 in F♯ minor, Op. 11, was composed by Robert Schumann from 1833 to 1835. He published it anonymously as “Pianoforte Sonata, dedicated to Clara by Florestan and Eusebius”. Eric Frederick Jensen describes the sonata as ‘the most unconventional and the most intriguing’ of Schumann’s piano sonatas due to its unusual structure.[1][2] The Aria is based on his earlier Lied setting, “An Anna” or “Nicht im Thale”.[3] Schumann later told his wife, Clara, that the sonata was “a solitary outcry for you from my heart … in which your theme appears in every possible shape”.[4]

The four movements are as follows:

I. Un poco adagio – Allegro vivace (F♯ minor)

II. Aria: Senza passione, ma espressivo (A major)

III. Scherzo: Allegrissimo (F♯ minor) – Intermezzo: Lento. Alla burla, ma pomposo (D major) – Tempo I

IV. Finale: Allegro un poco maestoso (F♯ minor, ending in the tonic major)

Soirées de Vienne, S. 427, Nos. 1 & 3 –  Franz Schubert/Franz Liszt

I. Allegretto malincolico (1811-1886)

III. Allegro vivace

Valse oubliée, S. 215, No. 1 – Franz Liszt

Notes on Franz Liszt

The huge literature of transcriptions by Franz Liszt (1811-1886) has always suffered a mixed reputation: prized by fellow composers from Busoni to Finnissy, performed by virtuosi from Arrau to Zilberstein, yet vilified by many critics. Even the composer’s long-term companion, Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein, considered them ‘puerilities’.

In the composer’s own lifetime they were thought inseparable from his incomparable artistry at the piano: Sir Charles Hallé told the story of a concert given by Liszt and Berlioz in Paris in 1836, in which Berlioz conducted the Marche au Supplice from the Symphonie Fantastique. At the conclusion of the movement, Liszt sat down and played his own portion of the work ‘with an effect even surpassing that of the full orchestra, and creating an indescribable furore.’

Love, enthusiasm, and veneration always marked Liszt’s attitude toward Schubert, and he paid his tribute by word and deed. He transcribed many of the Lieder for solo piano and edited  most of his piano compositions for publication. As a conductor at Weimar, he even attempted to revive Schubert’s much-maligned operas.

In the often-overlooked Soirées de Vienne, Liszt turned his keen and sympathetic eye to the six groups of piano waltzes which Schubert composed between 1815 and 1923. Unlike much of his music, they were published and widely distributed during his lifetime. They are brief and occasional works but full of Schubert’s inimitable spontaneity, entrancing melody, breathtaking modulations, emotional range, and (sparingly deployed) pungent dissonance. Liszt drew from all six groups in composing the Soirées de Vienne. He preserved the Viennese flavor of the original melodies, lending them just enough sonority to make them suitable for a concert hall without sacrificing their original intimacy and delicacy. He juxtaposed the tunes and made transitions from one to the next with characteristic taste and discrimination. He refrained from heavy-handed virtuoso treatment, yet he achieved flashing brilliance whenever Schubert had wrotten with a bold or assertive pen.

Liszt wrote some delightful waltzes when he was in his twenties and early thirties—Valse de bravoure, Valse mélancolique, Valse-Impromptu—and then more or less abandoned dance forms for forty years. So it has long been assumed that the four Valses oubliées which he produced in his seventies were inspired by some kind of nostalgia for his carefree youth. Although the title (‘Forgotten Waltzes’) seems to confirm that assumption, and although there is the occasional sentimental episode, the Valses oubliées are actually not so much nostalgic as ironic. Obviously, they do not display the demonic attitude of the Mephisto Waltzes, but they all have something sardonic about them—even the most popular of them, No 1 in F sharp major. It is characterized by the impish rhythms in the opening bars, the pressure put on the initially charming main theme, the feverishly glittering second theme in high right-hand octaves, and the inconclusive ending.

Six Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56/BB 68 – Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Notes on Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances

The Romanian Folk Dances is a set of 6 dances originally written for piano in 1915. Bartók himself made a version for small orchestra a couple of years later while some of his friends wrote adaptations or transcriptions for different ensembles. For example, Arthur Willner created a version for string orchestra only and Zoltán Székely did the same for violin and piano.

The music comes from original melodies and tunes from Transylvania which Bartók heard (and recorded) himself, and which were originally played on fiddle or shepherd’s flute.

Bartók had an interest in folk music for most of his life, and a lot of his works turn around it. He made extensive studies, recordings, and analytical research on the subject and was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology. Bartók emphasized the multi-ethnic origin of his own works in many of his lectures and letters but avoided explicit references to any nationalism. The original title of the Romanian Folk Dances included “from Hungary.” This was eliminated by Bartók himself when Transylvania became part of Romania in 1920.

Tango – Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Notes on Stravinsky’s Tango

The modern era began in the early 20th century and Stravinsky composed the Tango in 1940. The composer lived at a time when any rules regarding music were exceeded. Composers ventured beyond traditional Western music, therefore discarding any harmonic structure, and were less concerned about the melodic line. There was more emphasis on rhythms and the timbre of a musical sound.

Stravinsky was on the brink of modern music. His ballet composition ‘The Rite of Spring’ was composed in 1913 and started one of the most famous riots in the history of music. A whole new experience of music was delivered, with harsh complex rhythms, no melodic line, and erratic energy. At the time, listeners hated this new genre of music. Serge Diaghilev, the founder of the Ballet Musses, asked ‘Will it last a very long time this way?’.

Tango is a famous music genre around the world. It originated in Spain with the Spanish settlers. Ballroom tangos originated in South America and quickly spread through Europe in the early 1900’s. Tangos are performed as a duet by a man and a woman and incorporate some romance. They are usually danced to a repetitive style of music, which consists of either 16 or 32 beats per measure.

Stravinsky’s Tango is in 4/4 time, which is typical of this style of music. Like all tangos, the timing and rhythm should be strict. Outlines of D minor can be found, however it is unclear as there are a lot of chromatic notes. Syncopated chromatic notes outline the beginning of each phrase. The piece is very rhythmic throughout and the chords are very compact, creating an engaging tango piece.

Waltz in A Minor, Op. 34, No. 2 – Fryderyk Chopin

Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 42 (1810-1849)

Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4

Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53

Notes on Chopin

Frédéric Chopin was born in 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, a suburb of Warsaw. Six months after his birth, Chopin’s father, Nicholas, took a job teaching French at the Warsaw Lyceum in the Saxon Palace, and the family relocated to Warsaw.

Chopin’s mother played and taught piano and probably gave Chopin his initial instruction on the instrument.

In 1816 Chopin began his first formal lessons with the Czech pianist, Wojciech Żywny. He made rapid progress and, at the age of 7, began performing in public and composed two polonaises.

Chopin was among the biggest musical celebrities of the Romantic era. He was a fervent nationalist expatriate who led an unorthodox and publicly visible romantic life. He died in Paris in 1849 at the young age of 39, probably of pericarditis aggravated by tuberculosis.

Chopin is remembered for his sensitively expressive and intelligent piano playing and his deeply inspired compositions. Most of Chopin’s works are for the solo piano, and virtually all of them are included in the core repertoire for the instrument.

Artist profile:

Jeffrey Swann enjoys an international performing career which has taken him throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. He won the first prize in the Dino Ciani Competition sponsored by La Scala in Milan, a gold medal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and top honors at the Warsaw Chopin, Van Cliburn, Vianna da Motta, and Montreal Competitions, as well as the Young Concert Artists in New York City.

In addition to presenting lecture-recitals worldwide, Mr. Swann has performed with the symphonies of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Indiana, Dallas, Saint Louis, Phoenix,Houston, Lexington, Baltimore and Minneapolis; and in Europe with the orchestras of Rotterdam, The Hague, Belgian National and Radio, Santa Cecilia, La Scala, Maggio Fiorentino (Florence), RAI Turin and Rome, Südwest Rundfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Prague Philharmonic, Radio France de Montpellier, and the London Philharmonia, among many others.

He was for many years Artistic Director of the Dino Ciani Festival and Accademia in Cortina, Italy and of the prestigious Concerti della Normale concert series in Pisa, Italy. Jeffrey Swann is currently a Professor of Piano at New York University and the President’s Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Northern Arizona University.

Concert sponsors: Fredericka Stoller and Bill Grabe

July 9 – Tom Michael and Beckie Menzie, Chicago Cabaret

Tom Michael and Beckie Menzie bring you Chicago cabaret

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Horizons Concert 3-Packs

Chicago’s Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael in an Afternoon of Cabaret!

In what has been described as a “musical marriage”, Chicago’s Beckie Menzie & Tom Michael bring their acclaimed vocal stylings and anecdotes to a collection of Broadway music that includes songs from such classics as “West Side Story” and “Carousel” as well as the more contemporary favorites “Chicago” and “Wicked.”  Don’t expect to hear the songs done as they were in the original shows…Beckie & Tom sing Broadway, their way!

Concert sponsors: Jane and Mal Jozoff

Patron sponsor: The Nau Honors College

July 16           Wilde Boys Trio, featuring R. Carlos Nakai

R. Carlos Nakai, William Eaton, and Will Clipman

R.Carlos Nakai, William Eaton, and Will Clipman have been collaborating for over 30 years!

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Horizons Concert 3-Packs

Bringing together the world’s premiere Native American flutist, harp-guitarist, and pan-global percussionist, this all-star trio boasts a collective twenty GRAMMY® nominations and sixty Canyon Records albums. Nakai, Eaton & Clipman elevate contemporary instrumental music to inspirational new heights, seamlessly weaving extraordinary improvisation into the lush tapestry of their original compositions for an experience of live sonic synergy that is not to be missed. From soothing dreamscapes to mesmerizing trance dance grooves, Nakai, Eaton & Clipman provide the perfect soundtrack for the movie that is playing now on the inside of your eyelids.

R. Carlos Nakai is the world’s premier performer of and composer of the Native American flute. Nakai has released thirty-six albums on Canyon Records, including two RIAA Certified Gold Records, and has sold over four million albums worldwide. He has received eleven GRAMMY® nominations.

William Eaton is a musician, composer, recording artist and instrument maker whose imaginative harp guitars and multi-stringed instruments have been recognized world-wide. Eaton is the Director and co-founder of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, a guitar making school in Phoenix, Arizona. Eaton received the Arizona Governor’s Arts Award in 2015.

Will Clipman has been a drummer since the age of three, and has mastered a pan-global palette of ethnic percussion in addition to the traditional kit. Clipman has recorded over seventy albums, thirty-five of those for Canyon Records, and has received seven GRAMMY® nominations.

Concert sponsor: Karen and Mike Kitt

Patron sponsor: The NAU President’s office

July 23             Corde a Vide, baroque trio

Jubal Fulks, violin

Peter Schimpf, guitar

Lorna Peters, harpsichord

baroque violinist Jubal Fulks and harpsichordist Lorna Peters

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Horizons Concert 3-Packs

Corde à vide

Jubal Fulks, violin

Peter Schimpf, guitar

Lorna Peters, harpsichord

The adventurous and dynamic trio, Corde à vide—violinist Jubal Fulks, harpsichordist Lorna Peters and guitarist Peter Schimpf, will present “The Spirit of Improvisation,” a program of sonatas, chaconnes and preludes featuring the music of Corelli, Purcell, Bertali, Couperin and Biber. Their concert repertoire, which spans over a century of Baroque music, exemplifies the spontaneous, improvisatory character of this period, and will showcase the startling, cosmopolitan harmonic language of the 17th century, the rich complexity of the German baroque, the exhilarating virtuosity and dramatic flair of the Italian writing, and the sumptuous textures unique to the French style.

Committed to mentorship and teaching, Corde à vide the has enjoyed residencies at Lawrence Conservatory, Trinity University, University of Northern Colorado, Metropolitan State University, Chico State University, Sacramento State University, and Pomona University. They have given master classes, coached chamber music and directed student baroque ensembles in Wisconsin, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, California and Washington. The trio’s latest passion is Sinfonia Spirituosa, a baroque chamber orchestra dedicated to presenting bold, historically-informed performances on period instruments.

Program for July 23, 2023

Preludium in E Minor for Solo Guitar – Francesco Corbetta (1615-1681)

Sonata for Violin and Continuo in E Minor, Op. 5, No. 8 – Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)

Preludio~Allemanda~Sarabanda~Giga

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suite in G Minor for Solo Harpsichord – Jean-Henri d’Anglebert (1629-1691)

Prelude~Allemande~Courante~Gaillarde~Gigue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sonata seconda for Solo Violin and Continuo – Giovanni Battista Fontana (1589-1630)

INTERMISSION

Allemande in G Minor for Solo Harpsichord – Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)

Passacaglia in G Minor for Solo Violin – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1706)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prelude in G Minor for Solo Violin – Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Music for a While – Henry Purcell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unmeasured Prelude in C Major for Solo Harpsichord – Louis Couperin (1626-1661)

Chaconne in C Major for Violin and Continuo – Antonio Bertali (1605-1669

Concert sponsor: The NAU President’s Office