Arts & Humanities Campus News

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents ‘Stars of Vienna’

From left, Wu Han, James Thompson, Matthew Lipman and David Finckel will perform as part of the Franklin College Chamber Music Series. (Submitted photos)

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) returns to the UGA Performing Arts Center’s Hodgson Concert Hall on March 1 at 7:30 p.m. with a program called “Stars of Vienna.” Co-artistic directors Wu Han, piano, and David Finckel, cello, will be joined by violinist James Thompson and violist Matthew Lipman in music by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.

The UGA Presents concert, part of the Franklin College Chamber Music Series, will be followed by a reception for the entire audience in honor of series founder William Jackson Payne.

“Stars of Vienna” celebrates the legendarily fertile creative atmosphere of the Austrian capital. Mozart’s “Duo for Violin and Viola in G major” shows the composer’s inventiveness in writing for just two melody instruments. Beethoven’s early “Piano Trio in G major Op. 1, No. 2” was one of his most popular works during his lifetime. And the “Piano Quartet in A major” by Brahms blends Romantic fullness with Classical balance.

Wu and Finckel are a classical music power couple. They also serve as co-directors of Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival in Silicon Valley. For 34 seasons, Finckel was a member of the renowned Emerson String Quartet, and since 1997, he and his wife have run ArtistLed, classical music’s first artist-directed, internet-based recording label.

Thompson is a member of the CMS Bowers Program, a three-year residency for outstanding young artists in the early stages of major careers. He has been a soloist with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops and the Cleveland Philharmonic. Lipman is a Bowers Program alumnus who has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Minnesota Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the Juilliard Orchestra.

The Franklin College Chamber Music Series continues March 14 with Trio con Brio Copenhagen in music by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. On April 19, the Pacifica Quartet appears with New York Philharmonic Principal Clarinetist Anthony McGill, one of the leading Black classical musicians in the United States; the program includes works by Prokofiev, Brahms and rising Black composer, pianist, and educator James Lee III.

For each of these performances, 25 tickets are available for just $25, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Performing Arts Center. Tickets for UGA students are always $10.

For a complete list of UGA Presents performances, visit pac.uga.edu/organizer/uga-presents.

To learn more about all UGA Performing Arts Center events, visit pac.uga.edu.

Three Ways to Order

  1. Purchase tickets online at pac.uga.edu.
  2. Call the Performing Arts Center box office at 706-542-4400, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  3. Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center box office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (five-minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)

COVID protocols

For information about the Performing Arts Center’s COVID-19 protocols, visit pac.uga.edu/safety-first. Flexible ticketing will be in place for all performances occurring through May 2022. Patrons may exchange tickets for another performance or receive a full refund until noon on the day of the performance, if occurring on a weekday, or by Friday at 5 p.m. if occurring on a weekend.