The 2011-12 University of Delaware Master Players Concert Series offers a variety of musical programs.

Master Players series

Eighth annual UD Master Players Concert Series to open in September

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9:11 a.m., Sept. 16, 2011--The 2011-12 University of Delaware Master Players Concert Series (MPCS) will open in September, with a UD Faculty Gala, and continue through April, concluding with the annual iMusic concert.

The MPCS season is as follows:

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The UD Faculty Gala season opening will be held Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m., in Mitchell Hall. The Faculty Gala features many of UD’s leading faculty musicians performing compositions written for their instruments and voices. These high caliber musicians show the audience how their talent and passion for music are inspiring and influential to the next generation of musicians. Every year since the 1990s, returning and newly arrived faculty artists shine in this concert, which is a true Newark tradition.

The Art of Anne-Marie McDermott, a piano solo recital, will be held Sunday, Oct. 16, at 3 p.m. in Gore Recital Hall of the Roselle Center for the Arts. One of the world’s most beloved concert pianists, McDermott recently celebrated 25 years of concertizing worldwide as a recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist with many of the world’s top symphony orchestras. A testimony to her stature and curatorial imagination, she was appointed artistic director of the Vail Music Festival in 2011, as well as curator for chamber music for the Mainly Mozart Festival. During her MPCS debut recital, McDermott’s fiery piano technique and soulful musical expression will take your breath away. A resident of New York City, McDermott is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with whom she performs and tours extensively each season. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music and was winner of both the Young Concert Artists auditions and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. 

Mostly Mozart – A Xiang Gao and Friends Chamber Concert will be held Saturday, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m., in Gore Recital Hall. The concert features MPCS founding artistic director Gao and his musical collaborators in a daring performance of master compositions in the chamber music literature by Mozart, including his magnificent Quintet for Clarinet and Strings and Duo for Violin and Viola in G Major. UD faculty pianist Christine Delbeau will perform a masterpiece by Claude Debussy, Sonata for Violin and Piano, with Gao. Renowned British cellist Alison Wells, UD faculty clarinetist Marianne Gythfeldt, Canadian violist Esme Allen-Creighton and UD alumna violinist Stephanie McCullough also join Gao on the stage of Gore Recital Hall. The prize winners of the 2011 Delaware National String Competition Ledah Finck, Duo Shen and Nathan Lowman will share the stage with Gao to perform Vivaldi’s Concerto for 4 Violins. The concert also features many of today’s master violinmakers’ top quality concert violins from the Boorse Violin Collection.

Holiday Pops will be held Friday, Dec. 2, at 8 p.m., in Mitchell Hall. The second annual MPCS holiday family concert is directed by Gao and hosted by the renowned producing artistic director of UD’s Resident Ensemble Players (REP), Sanford Robbins. An imaginative and interactive musical celebration, this family concert is for audience members ages 4 and up and guarantees an inspiring kickoff to the 2011 holiday season. The pops concert not only showcases a medley of world-class instrumentalists, but also one of the nation’s most prestigious gospel choirs, the Morgan State University Choir. Audiences also have the opportunity to join the musicians in creating an improvisational performance using cutting-edge music technology.

6ixwire United – A Crossover Jazz Concert will be held Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m., in Mitchell Hall. Gao will perform on the Western violin and Cathy Yang will perform on the erhu, or Chinese violin. The musicians formed the crossover duet 6ixwire Project in 2009, and since then have enjoyed an international concert career performing classical, contemporary, jazz and crossover music. During this concert, the two violinists from two worlds will collaborate with many established jazz musicians from New York City, New Orleans and other cities. The concert features the world premier of 6ixwire United, a composition by Gao supported by a UD research grant.

Franz Schubert's Winterrise, a vocal and piano recital, will be held Thursday, March 22, at 8 p.m., in Gore Recital Hall. British pianist Roger Vignoles, internationally recognized as one of the world’s finest collaborative artists, will perform. He will be joined by UD faculty baritone Robert Brandt in a performance of one of the greatest and most popular song cycles ever written, Franz Schubert’s Winterreise (A Winter’s Journey). The 24 songs of this cycle are settings of the evocative poetry of Schubert’s contemporary, Wilhelm Müller. The cycle is a deeply moving and heartrending portrayal of suffering and loss. It traces the poet¹s journey as he walks through a winter landscape reflecting not only on his lost love, but also on larger questions of life¹s meaning. This concert is funded in part by a grant from the UD Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events (CAPE).

iMusic 5: Encounters will be held Friday, April 20, and Saturday, April 21, at 8 p.m., in Mitchell Hall. The theatrical multimedia concert, created and directed by Gao, will take the audience back to the last golden period of imperial China, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). Through music, visual presentations and drama, the audience will experience the impact of the encounters between cultures, as artistically interpreted by performing artists and experts drawn from multiple disciplines. This concert is the first of the Encounters Series, which introduces historically significant music, languages, literatures, history, philosophy, religions and other art forms under one guise to promote cultural understanding and exchange. This program is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

MPCS tickets

The state-of-the-art Gore Recital Hall in the Roselle Center for the Arts only seats 200 and those interested in attending are encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance. MPCS tickets cost $25 for the general public; $20 for senior citizens, UD faculty, staff and alumni; and $10 for students with ID. Tickets are available at the REP box office in the Roselle Center for the Arts, telephone 302-831-2204.

For more information about MPCS, visit the website.

Photo by Evan Krape

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