Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music 2nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series continues in 2011-2012 with a lineup of ensembles, individual performers and an opera performance of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème on Nov. 10. All performances will be at 8 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall at the UGA Performing Arts Center. Tickets for the concert series are $15 and $5 for students with a valid UGA ID.
Established in 1980, the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series showcases performances by UGA students and faculty on the second Thursday of each month throughout the academic year. Proceeds from individual ticket sales and season subscriptions allow for year-long academic scholarships and assistantships for students and provides donors with the opportunity to sponsor individual students of the music school at several levels of giving. In 2011, the 2nd Thursday series provided scholarships to 45 students based on faculty recommendations, academic achievement and performance auditions.
“A direct collaboration between our donors and students, this scholarship series is one of the most visible connections between UGA and the surrounding community,” said Dale Monson, director of the Hodgson School of Music. “Some of the finest musicians in the world are right here on our campus, and these premiere concerts demonstrate the extraordinary level of performance achieved by our students.”
The schedule for 2011-2012 is as follows:
September 8 – Conductor Mark Cedel leads the UGA Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid Suite, and Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, “Romantic.”
October 13 – The UGA Wind Ensemble, conducted by director of bands John Lynch, plays a celebrations-themed program that includes George Frederick Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks and H. Owen Reed’s La Fiesta Mexicana.
November 10 – Puccini’s La Bohème captures the loves and struggles of a group of young bohemians in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1840’s in this production under the supervision of Frederick Burchinal, with opera orchestra conducted by Mark Cedel.
December 1, 2 – A local tradition, the UGA Holiday Concert celebrates the season with music performed by the UGA Symphony Orchestra, the UGA Concert Choir and the University Chorus.
January 12 – Russian piano virtuoso Evgeny Rivkin returns to the Hodgson Hall stage with a program that includes selections from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
February 9 – UGA Faculty Chamber Ensembles, including the Franklin String Quartet, the Georgia Woodwind Quintet and the Georgia Brass Quintet, offer a varied evening of chamber music.
March 8 – “A Night of Rhythmic Music” will be a performance by the UGA Percussion Ensemble, led by Tim Adams and the UGA Jazz Band, directed by Steve Dancz.
April 12 – Levon Ambartsumian conducts the ARCO Chamber Orchestra in a program that contrasts the music of Bach and Schubert with the contemporary Russian composer Efrem Podgaits, who will be in residence at the Hodgson School of Music.
To purchase tickets, visit the UGA Performing Arts Center online at http://www.uga.edu/pac/.To support the scholarship series, contact Suzi Wong, director of development for the fine and performing arts at swong@uga.edu or at 706/542-9867.
For more information on the Hodgson School of Music, see www.music.uga.edu.
