UGA Presents is bringing cellist Matt Haimovitz to Athens to perform Bach’s complete suites for unaccompanied cello in a two-day event he calls “Bach Suites: A Moveable Feast.” On April 3 and 4, Haimovitz will perform pop-up concerts in locations around Athens, culminating in a Hodgson Concert Hall performance on April 4 at 7:30 p.m.
For his Moveable Feast, Haimovitz has commissioned preludes from contemporary composers to accompany each of Bach’s suites. The April 4 Hodgson Hall concert will feature Bach’s Suite I with prelude by Philip Glass, Suite III with prelude by Vijay Iyer and Suite VI with prelude by Luna Pearl Woolf.
Haimovitz has been praised by The New Yorker as a “remarkable virtuoso” and by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles.”
“Bach Suites: A Moveable Feast” includes a performance of Bach Suite IV with a prelude by Roberto Sierra on April 3 at noon on UGA’s North Campus on the sidewalk near the Chapel steps; a performance of Bach Suite V with a prelude by David Sanford on April 3 at 5 p.m. at the opening of the Farmer’s Market next to Creature Comforts, 271 W. Hancock Ave.; a performance of Bach Suite II with a prelude by Du Yun on April 4 at noon at the atrium of the Tate Student Center; and a performance of Bach Suite I, Suite III and Suite VI with preludes by Philip Glass, Vijay Iyer and Luna Pearl Woolf on April 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Hodgson Concert Hall.
Tickets for the Hodgson Hall concert start at $25 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400. A limited number of discounted tickets are available to current UGA students for $6 and $10 with a valid UGA ID (limit one ticket per student).
The concert will be recorded for broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today, the most popular classical music program in the U.S.
A pre-performance talk will be given by David Starkweather, professor of cello in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. The talk begins at 6:45 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall.
Patrons are invited to make it an evening with a tour and free dessert at the Georgia Museum of Art at 5:30 p.m.
Hodgson Concert Hall and Ramsey Concert Hall are located in the UGA Performing Arts Center at 230 River Road in Athens.