BRIGHTMUSIC
SCHUBERT & FRIENDS
FESTIVAL STARTS
NEXT WEEKEND

Eleven Brightmusic musicians –  some of Oklahoma’s finest classical music teachers and performers – and guest artist David Shifrin will present four concerts at the Brightmusic four-concert Spring Festival "Schubert & Friends" on May 18, 19, 21 and 23, focused on the music of Franz Schubert, plus three Classical- and Romantic-era composers and one of America’s best-known contemporary composers.

Concerts 1 and 2 will be given at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral downtown at 7:30 pm on Saturday evening, May 18 and 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, May 19.  Concerts 3 and 4 will be presented at All Souls’ Episcopal Church in northwest OKC at 7:30 pm on Tuesday evening, May 21 and Thursday evening, May 23.

Individual concert admission is $10 per person for each concert.  Season Membership Pass holders will be admitted to all Festival concerts without charge, as will students with ID.  If you’re not a Season Membership Pass holder, you can save money by purchasing a four-concert Festival Pass for $30 per person.  You can do that online (visit www.brightmusic.org and follow the instructions on the right-hand side of the Home page or the Concerts page).  You can purchase a Festival Pass by mailing a $30/person check to Brightmusic at P.O. Box 20254, OKC 73156 (please include your mail and email addresses).  Or you can purchase a Festival Pass at the door to the first Festival concert on May 18.

A complete program listing for each concert is available on our website.  Here’s an overview:

Concert 1 – Saturday, May 18 – St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral – 7:30 pm

Pianist Amy I-Lin Cheng will kick off the Festival with Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 13 in A Major, op. 120, D.664 – a work never publicly performed or published during Schubert’s all-too-short lifetime.  After intermission, eight of the Brightmusic musicians will perform the symphonic Schubert Octet in F Major for Strings and Winds, op. 166, D.803.  The musicians appearing will be Gregory Lee and Katrin Stamatis (violin), Mark Neumann (viola), Jonathan Ruck (cello), George Speed (double bass), Chad Burrow (clarinet), Carl Rath (bassoon) and Kate Pritchett (horn).

Concert 2 – Sunday, May 19 – St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral – 4:00 pm

Appearing at this concert will be guest artist David Shifrin of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest and the Yale University School of Music.  The concert will begin with violist Mark Neumann and pianist Amy Cheng performing Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata in A Minor for Viola and Piano, D.821.  Next, Mr. Shifrin and Amy Cheng will perform Carl Maria von Weber’s Grand Duo Concertant in E-Flat Major for Clarinet and Piano, op. 48 – a virtuosic work for both instruments.  After intermission, violinist Gregory Lee, cellist Jonathan Ruck and pianist Amy Cheng will play Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 in B-Flat Major, op. 99, D.898, a “blissfully happy work, rich in cheerful melody."

Concert 3 – Tuesday, May 21 – All Souls’ Episcopal Church – 7:30 pm

David Shifrin will also appear as Brightmusic’s guest artist at this concert.  It will begin with the Quartet for Clarinet and Strings in E-Flat Major, op. 2, no. 1 by Swedish-Finnish composer Bernard Henrik Crusell.  Chad Burrow (clarinet), Katrin Stamatis (violin), Mark Neumann (viola) and Jonathan Ruck (cello) will perform this work.  There will follow the world premiere of a new chamber music work by contemporary American composer Christopher Theofanidis entitled “Quasi una Fantasia.”  This work is written for two clarinets (played by Chad Burrow and Mr. Shifrin) and string quartet (comprised of violinists Gregory Lee and Katrin Stamatis, violist Mark Neumann and cellist Jonathan Ruck).  This work was jointly commissioned by Brightmusic and Chamber Music Northwest of Portland, Oregon, of which Mr. Shifrin is the long-time Artistic Director.  The West Coast premiere of this work will be on July 13-14 at the summer music festival of Chamber Music Northwest, and the East Coast premiere will be played on November 19 in New York City by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.  Following intermission, violinists Hal Grossman and Gregory Lee, violist Mark Neumann and cellist Jonathan Ruck will join Mr. Shifrin in performing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in A Major, K.581.

Concert 4 – Thursday, May 23 – All Souls’ Episcopal Church – 7:30 pm

The Festival will finish with an all-Schubert program, this season’s Mae Ruth Swanson Memorial Concert.  It will begin with Schubert’s Rondo (“Rondeau Brillant”) in B Minor for Violin and Piano, op. 70, D.895 with violinist Gregory Lee and pianist Amy Cheng.  This was one of the three chamber music works that was actually published in Schubert’s lifetime.  Next, tenor Andrew Ranson, accompanied by pianist Amy Cheng, will perform ten of Schubert’s Lieder (Songs):  “Der Neugierige,” “Ungeduld,” “Des Müllers Blumen,” “Tränenregen,” “Trokne Blumen,” “ Heidenröslein,” “Romanze aus Rosamunde,” “Du bist die Ruh,” “An di Laute” and “An die Musik.”  Following intermission, the Festival will conclude with Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E-Flat Major, op. 100, D.929, performed by violinist Hal Grossman, cellist Jonathan Ruck and pianist Amy Cheng.

Brightmusic’s “Schubert & Friends” Festival will be Oklahoma’s contribution to National Chamber Music Month, a nationwide effort to showcase classical, jazz and contemporary chamber music led by Chamber Music America, a national service organization for ensemble music professionals.

Major funding for “Schubert & Friends” has been provided by the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, the Ad Astra Foundation, Chesapeake Energy Corporation and The Kerr Foundation, Inc.

Complete information about the Festival programs, venues and musicians can be found at www.brightmusic.org.

Join us for all four concerts of this second annual event – bringing the finest chamber music in the classical and modern repertoire to the people of central Oklahoma.

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