Athens, Ga. – A concert featuring music from the court of Catherine the Great will be held Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. in Ramsey Hall of the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center.
The event is being held by the Collectors of the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art and the UGA Performing Arts Center in conjunction with “Exuberance of Meaning: The Art Patronage of Catherine the Great,” an exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art opening the day before the concert.
The concert will feature music from the court of Catherine the Great, including some she commissioned and had a hand in writing. Specifically, it will include excerpts from a famous Italian opera written for Catherine, excerpts from a Russian opera written for and by Catherine, an aria composed by a lady-in-waiting for Catherine and a short work composed for the fortepiano, a type of early keyboard instrument that Catherine would have had at court.
The Hugh Hodgson School of Music recently acquired a fortepiano that replicates an instrument that belonged to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The fortepiano will be played by Anatoly Sheludyakov, a resident accompanist at the music school.
Following the concert, the Collectors will host a private, ticketed reception at the Georgia Museum of Art, beginning at 4 p.m. Mikulka Polish Foods will cater the event with traditional Russian cuisine. A gallery talk with Asen Kirin, curator of “Exuberance of Meaning” and associate director of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, will begin at 5 p.m.
Tickets for the reception and private gallery talk are $35 for members of the Collectors (an upper-level group within the museum’s membership organization) and $45 for non-members. To reserve tickets or find out more about becoming a member of the Collectors, call Sarah George at 706-542-0830.
Museum Information
Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional museum support through their gifts to the University of Georgia Foundation. The Georgia Museum of Art is located in the Performing and Visual Art Complex on the East Campus of the University of Georgia. The address is 90 Carlton St., University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 30602- 6719. For more information, including hours, see http://www.georgiamuseum.org or call 706-542-4662.