UNCSA celebrates Mozart's birthday with new release of selections from popular annual concerts
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) will celebrate the 265th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with an on-demand video collection of some of the best offerings from past concerts, now available free online.
The School of Music’s annual Mozart Birthday Concert typically features UNCSA faculty-artists in a program of chamber music by Mozart. Since 1978, this annual celebration has been among the most popular and anticipated of the school's offerings.
Widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, Mozart was born Jan. 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria.
The selections include not only performances from past (2017-20) Mozart Birthday Concerts, but also student aria performances made during the time of COVID-19; student-faculty collaborations from showcases by the Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute at UNCSA; and a performance by UNCSA School of Music Emeritus Faculty member Eric Larsen, piano, who founded the Mozart Birthday Concert tradition.
"It has been a great joy for me to review all of the splendid recordings of Mozart works we have celebrated over the past few years, and I only wish we could share them all with you." Brooks Whitehouse
The video, which was compiled in consultation with the School of Music faculty by cello professor Brooks Whitehouse and edited by Music Production Manager Guy Kelpin, will be introduced by School of Music Interim Dean Saxton Rose.
"We are thrilled to keep our treasured Mozart Birthday celebration tradition alive in this extraordinary time with this program of UNCSA Mozart performance highlights,” Whitehouse said. “Since our COVID-19-adjusted calendar does not have us on campus in January, Interim Music Dean Saxton Rose asked me to curate this program from past performances. It has been a great joy for me to review all of the splendid recordings of Mozart works we have celebrated over the past few years, and I only wish we could share them all with you.
"In addition to those performances recorded in Watson Hall with our state-of-the-art livestream cameras, we offer some single-camera recordings from 2017, and two special recordings of arias sung this past fall by Fletcher Opera Institute Fellows Margaret Ann Zentner and Virginia Sheffield.”
The program will include selections from:
- Sonata in C major for Flute and Piano, K. 14, performed by Tadeu Coelho, flute, and Dmitri Vorobiev, piano;
- Trio in G major, K. 564, performed by The Black Mountain Trio (Kevin Lawrence, violin; Brooks Whitehouse, cello; and Dmitri Vorobiev, piano);
- Sonata in G major for Piano Four Hands, K. 381,” performed by Allison Gagnon and Eric Larsen, piano four-hands;
- Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, KV. 306, performed by Ida Bieler, violin, and Allison Gagnon, piano;
- Sonata for Bassoon and Cello, K. 292, performed by Saxton Rose, bassoon, and Brooks Whitehouse, cello;
- Duo for Violin and Viola No. 1, K.423, performed by Kevin Lawrence and Ulrich Eichenauer; and
- String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K. 593, performed by Ida Bieler and Janet Orenstein, violins, Ulrich Eichenauer and Julian Smart, violas, and Brooks Whitehouse, cello.
- Additional selections round out the hourlong program.
Get the best news, performance and alumni stories from UNCSA.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS
January 27, 2021