Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Performing Arts Center will present the ARCO Chamber Orchestra on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. Guest conductor Daniel Kaplunas will lead the orchestra in a world premiere performance of Efrem Podgaits’ new arrangement for violin and orchestra of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major. ARCO artistic director Levon Ambartsumian will perform as violinist for the Beethoven sonata.
Ambartsumian will conduct the remainder of the program, which includes Schubert’s Five Minuets with Six Trios and three Bach piano concertos featuring pianists Evgeny Rivkin and Anatoly Sheludyakov from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.
The ARCO Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1990 by Ambartsumian during his years as professor of violin at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. The orchestra’s reputation grew following tours of Italy, Spain, Germany Romania, France and Korea.
In 1995, Ambartsumian joined the University of Georgia faculty as the Franklin Professor of Violin, while remaining artistic director and conductor of ARCO. He was able to bring some of his students with him to America, and his orchestra has now become a talented international blend of musicians.
ARCO performed in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2001 and has been invited to return every year since then. The chamber orchestra has released several CDs, and the ensemble’s recent tour of Italy included a performance in La Fenice, the famous opera house in Venice.
The ARCO concert will be recorded for broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today, heard by over 1.3 million listeners across the country.
Tickets for the concert are $20 with discounts for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the Performing Arts Center box office at 706/542-4400 or toll free at 888/289-8497.
The ARCO Chamber Orchestra is supported by Buddy and Lucy Allen and the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.
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