Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Performing Arts Center will present the ARCO Chamber Orchestra on April 17 at 3 p.m. in the Hodgson Concert Hall, 230 River Rd., Athens, as part of the Franklin College Chamber Music Series. UGA Franklin Professor of Violin Levon Ambartsumian, who also serves as ARCO’s artistic director, will conduct the orchestra along with guest conductor Daniel Kaplunas. The performance is free and open to the public.
ARCO’s program will include Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Small Wedding Ring by Efrem Podgaits, and Mikhail Bronner’s Concerto for Violin, Tuba, and Chamber Orchestra, featuring UGA tuba professor David Zerkel.
The ARCO Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1989 by Ambartsumian at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he served as professor of violin. Among its handpicked charter members were a few instructors, some of Ambartsumian’s students, and several recent graduates from the conservatory. Almost immediately, ARCO performances throughout Europe drew high critical praise and enthusiastic audience responses. International acclaim grew in subsequent years following ARCO’s concert tours in Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, France, and Korea. When Ambartsumian came to UGA in 1995, he was able to bring some of his students with him to America. The ensemble has now become a talented international blend of musicians with several CD’s to its credit. ARCO made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2001 in Weill Recital Hall and has been invited to return every year since then.
For more information, see http://www.uga.edu/pac/ or call 706/542-4400 or 888/289-8497.
