The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music has revamped its concert series for the 2016-2017 season.
Formerly the Second Thursday Scholarship Series, the Thursday Scholarship Series will offer audiences new ways to engage with the world-class music they’ve come to expect from the school.
Concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall, and attendees are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy activities surrounding the performances and to explore East Campus, including the Georgia Museum of Art and Lamar Dodd School of Art. The series will open Aug. 25 with
“A Golden Age Band Concert,” which will assemble School of Music faculty members and students to re-create the “Golden Age” of music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The UGA Symphony Orchestra, directed by Mark Cedel, will open its season Sept. 8 with Martha Thomas, the School of Music’s Despy Karlas Professor of Piano.
On Oct. 20 and 21, the Opera Theatre will partner with the UGA Symphony Orchestra and the School of Music’s choral area to create another opera production, semi-staged with English supertitles.
An all-star faculty ensemble will take the stage Nov. 3 for “An Evening in Paris,” a musical tour of the City of Light by way of French chamber music of the 1920s and 1930s. This event will be part of UGA’s 2016 Spotlight on the Arts festival.
School of Music musicians will take to the stage of Hodgson Concert Hall Dec. 1 and 2 for the UGA Holiday Concerts.
Evgeny Rivkin, professor of piano, will perform a solo recital Jan. 12 of works from Chopin and other iconic composers. On Feb. 9, the 2017 Piano Extravaganza will showcase the piano area and its Steinway pianos, faculty-led talks on the history of the instrument, a behind-the-scenes look at the piano selection process and a special opportunity for an audience member to become a one-note soloist.
On March 2, the Hodgson Wind Ensemble will perform several of George Gershwin’s masterworks, including “Rhapsody in Blue” with soloist Rivkin and “Catfish Row” with School of Music alumni Washington Isaac Holmes and Monica Murphy singing the title roles of Porgy and Bess.
The Thursday Scholarship Series will close April 13 when some of the School of Music’s best, including the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, perform works by Bach, Schnittke and Stravinski. They will be led by Regents Professor and Franklin Professor of Violin Levon Ambartsumian, Director of Bands Cynthia Johnston Turner and UGA Wind Symphony Director Jaclyn Hartenberger.
