NOVA OPENS SEASON WITH STRAVINSKY AND INTRODUCES NEW SERIES

The NOVA Chamber Music Series begins its new season Sunday with a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s 1918 theater piece A Soldier’s Tale.

The performance is a collaborative effort with Plan-B Theatre Company and features actors Jay Perry and Jason Tatum, as well as Doug Fabrizio of KUER’s RadioWest.

Jason Hardink

“It’s not going to be a staged performance,” said series artistic director Jason Hardink. “There’s going to be some movement and some props, but no dancer. The music is going to take center stage.”

It will be a “dramatic reading,” Hardink added, with Fabrizio narrating. “I don’t like full blown productions of [A Soldier’s Tale]. I like doing it this way.”

In the chamber ensemble Stravinsky uses, the violin is the main instrument. “It’s a large part and it’s central,” Hardink said. To set the stage for the Stravinsky, the first half features movements from J.S. Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin. For Hardink, this is symbolic, because Bach’s music is “soulful” and in the Stravinsky, the soldier gives his soul – his violin – to the devil.

Playing the violin in the Stravinsky and Bach is Kathryn Eberle, the Utah Symphony’s associate concertmaster. Joining her are symphony colleagues Corbin Johnston, double bass; Lee Livengood, clarinet; Lori Wike; bassoon; Jeff Luke, trumpet; Larry Zalkind, trombone; and Keith Carrick, percussion. Guest artist Steven Schick will conduct.

Schick is both a conductor and percussionist specializing in contemporary music. Last January he made his NOVA debut conducting Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire. On Sunday, he will do double duty. Besides directing he will also be featured in two solo percussion works by the Greek 20th century composer Iannis Xenakis: Rebonds and Psappha. “The Xenakis pieces will offer a good contrast to Bach and Stravinsky,” Hardink said.

Hardink is excited about NOVA’s first collaborative venture, and he’s hoping it will become a permanent part of the series. “The partnership has been working well, and we’re looking to do more collaborations in the future.” One of his goals is to do a commissioning project with one of Salt Lake City’s dance companies.

Commissions have been an important element of NOVA. This season there will be several commissioned works, including world premieres of two pieces by University of Utah faculty member Morris Rosenzweig: Preludes for Piano and So as to include an additional perspective on periodicity and caprice…. They will be performed on Nov. 10.

Jason Eckardt (Photo Credit: Molly Sheridan)

Jason Eckardt has had a number of his works played on NOVA concerts. On Feb. 9, 2014, his commissioned pulse-echo for piano and string quartet will receive its world premiere. And on April 27, 2014, University of Utah faculty member Bruce Quaglia’s commission, L’Acqua Alta: Concerto da Camera, will be premiered.

Rounding out the list of world premieres is Michael Ellison’s String Quartet No. 3, Fiddlin’, which the Fry Street Quartet, quartet-in-residence at Utah State University, will play on Jan. 12, 2014.

Starting this season NOVA will expand its offerings with the new Gallery Series. The series has been designed to focus around special projects and one specific musical personality, Hardink said. “This season and next, the Gallery Series will spotlight Kathryn [Eberle] in Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas,” Hardink said.

Kathryn Eberle (Photo: Courtesy Utah Symphony)

There will be two Gallery Series concerts this season, on Oct. 13 and Feb. 23, 2014. Eberle, accompanied by Hardink, will play Beethoven’s first five violin sonatas, op. 12, nos. 1, 2 and 3; op. 23; and op. 24, Spring.

Also on the two concerts will be solo piano works by the 61-year-old German composer Wolfgang Rihm. “There is no specific connection between Rihm and Beethoven,” Hardink said, “but I feel there is a connection because their music is powerful. And I think the audience will be able to hear that connection.”

The Gallery Series takes place in Finch Lane Gallery at the Art Barn. “It only seats 75 people max,” Hardink said. “It will reintroduce an element of intimacy to NOVA.”

Below is the complete 2013-14 NOVA season. Concerts begin at 3 p.m. Except for the Gallery Series, which will be held in Finch Lane Gallery at the Art Barn, 54 Finch Lane, all performances take place in Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah campus.

Tickets for this Sunday’s concert are $20 for general admission, $18 for seniors and $5 for students. University of Utah students are admitted free of charge. Tickets can be purchased online at www.novaslc.org, or at the door.

  • Sept. 23: “A Soldier’s Tale” – Program: Xenakis, Rebonds and Psappha for solo percussion; J.S. Bach, selected movements for solo violin; Stravinsky, A Soldier’s Tale.
  • Oct. 13: Gallery Series – Program: Beethoven, Violin Sonatas, op. 12, nos. 1, 2, 3; Rihm, Klavierstück No. 1.
  • Nov. 10: “The Latin Quarter and the French Quarter” – Program: Rosenzweig, Preludes for Piano, and So as to include an additional perspective on periodicity and caprice…; Poulenc, Tel jour, telle nuit; Fauré, Piano Quartet in C minor, op. 15.
  • Jan. 12, 2014: “Fry Street Quartet” – Program: Haydn, Quartet in G major, op. 76, no. 1; Ellison, String Quartet No. 3, Fiddlin’; Dvorak, Piano Quintet in A major, op. 81.
  • Feb. 9, 2014: “Late Beethoven and New Complexity” – Program: Eckardt, Cuts; Echoes’ White Veil and pulse-echo; Beethoven, Sonata for Piano in E major, op. 109, and Grosse Fuge, op. 133.
  • Feb. 23, 2014: Gallery Series – Program: Beethoven, Violin Sonatas op. 23 and op. 24, Spring; Rihm, Klavierstücke Nos. 4 and 5.
  • March 2, 2014: “Music from Poland” – Program: Szymanowski, Mythes, op. 30; Schumann, selected songs for soprano and piano; Chopin, Introduction and Polonaise brillante, for cello and piano, and Piano Trio in G minor.
  • April 27, 2014: “NOVA in Canyon Country” – Program: Quaglia, Through the Dark Passage and the Canyon Below…; Venire dall’ Passaggio Scuro; and L’Acqua Alta: Concerto da Camera; Johnston, Passacaglia 9(7), and Viola and Piano: One Application; Mozart, Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Kegelstatt, K. 498, and Serenade for Wind Instruments in E flat major, K. 375.
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About Edward Reichel

Edward Reichel, author, writer and composer, has been covering the classical music scene in Utah since 1997. For many years he served as the primary music critic for the Deseret News. He has also written for a number of publications, including Chamber Music Magazine, OPERA Magazine, 15 Bytes, Park City Magazine and Salt Lake Magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He can be reached at ed.reichel@gmail.com. Reichel Recommends is also on Twitter @ReichelArts.

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