Ordinarily most Chicagoans don’t look forward to the cold weather, but Northwestern University’s 2012 Winter Chamber Music Festival (WCMF) may change that. Now approaching its 16th year, the Evanston festival features six premier concerts from January 6 to January 22, 2012.
“The festival will open with the Cecilia String Quartet, the First Prize winners of the 2010 Banff International String Quartet Competition, playing a new work by award-winning Chicago composer Stacy Garrop,” said violinist Blair Milton, who organized the festival. “It will close with the St. Lawrence String Quartet performing the Chicago premiere of a piece by Osvaldo Golijov, who is in great demand.”
Milton, an associate professor of music performance at the Bienen School and a CSO member since 1975, has directed the annual Winter Chamber Music Festival since it was launched in 1996. He tries hard to always bring something new and stimulating to the series. “The festival has grown and featured a lot of repertoire and many wonderful artists over the years.”
The following concerts, presented by the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, will take place on the University’s Evanston campus in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at 50 Arts Circle Drive:
6:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6 – Chicago composer Stacy Garrop, whose String Quartet No. 4 is featured on the Cecilia String Quartet’s Jan. 6 program, will discuss her work during a pre-concert talk. Garrop’s music has been performed by orchestras, chamber ensembles and choruses throughout the country. Admission is free.
7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6 – Resident String Quartet at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, The Cecilia String Quartet features violinists Min-Jeong Koh and Sarah Nematallah, violist Caitlin Boyle and cellist Rachel Desoer who will perform Mozart’s String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat Major; Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp Minor; Garrop’s String Quartet No. 4; and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 in F Major.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8 – Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Bienen School faculty members will perform Penderecki’s Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Viola and Cello; Kodaly’s Duo for Violin and Cello; and Franck’s Piano Quintet in F Minor. The concert features pianist Andrea Swan, violinists Blair Milton and Lei Hou, violist Yukiko Ogura, cellist Stephen Balderston and clarinetist J. Lawrie Bloom.
7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13 – Bienen School faculty members—including pianists James Giles and Toni-Marie Montgomery; soprano Nancy Gustafson; oboist Scott Hostetler; clarinetist J. Lawrie Bloom; bassoonist Lewis Kirk; hornist Gail Williams; violinist Gerardo Ribeiro; violist Carol Cook; cellist Kenneth Olsen and harpist Sarah Bullen—will perform Martinu’s Musique de Chambre No. 1 for Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello, Harp and Piano; Respighi’s Violin Sonata in B Minor; Respighi’s Io sono la Madre, In alto mare and Nebbie for voice and piano; and Beethoven’s Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano and Winds.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 – Lynn Harrell, one of the world’s top cellists, will perform with special guest artists pianist Rieko Aizawa, violinist Robert Chen and cellists Loren Brown, Daniel Katz, Kenneth Olsen, Jonathan Pegis, John Sharp, Gary Stucka and Brant Taylor. The program includes Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1; Menotti’s Suite for Two Cellos and Piano; Beethoven’s Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Cello and Piano; and Dvorak’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor (Dumky).
7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20 – The Lincoln String Quartet is comprised of current and former Chicago Symphony Orchestra members, including violinists Lei Hou and Qing Hou, violist Lawrence Neuman and cellist Kenneth Olsen—who will perform with Bienen School faculty pianist Alan Chow, clarinetist Steven Cohen, hornist Gail Williams and bassoonist Christopher Millard on Bliss’ Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet; Janacek’s Concertino for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon; and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 – The festival concludes with Haydn’s String Quartet No. 5 in F Minor; Golijov’s new String Quartet; and Dvorak’s String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major performed by The St. Lawrence String Quartet (violinists Geoff Nuttall and Scott St. John, violist Lesley Robertson and cellist Christopher Costanza).
To reserve tickets for the 2012 Winter Chamber Music Festival, call 847-491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.
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