Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia ARCO Chamber Orchestra has been invited to participate in a benefit concert in Venice, Italy, sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as part of a three-day international conference, The Future of Venice and its Lagoon in the Context of Global Change.
The concert will take place on Nov. 13 in the Gran Teatro La Fenice, considered one of the world’s leading opera houses, and will be one leg of a musical tour in Northern Italy by ARCO from Nov. 11-17. Two UGA faculty members, Milton Masciadri and Levon Ambartsumian, will be guest soloists at the Venice event, along with Alex Klein, former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony, and Japanese cellist Day Miyata. The opening gala concert is part of UNESCO’s efforts to raise funds to support its program on risk preparedness.
In all, 22 students, faculty and staff will travel to Italy for the musical tour. To support the trip, the Hodgson School of Music is inviting donors and members of the university community and beyond to accompany the group to Venice to attend the gala concert and the next evening’s concert in Verona, as well as embark on a musical tour of the city. The price of the trip is $2,600 for accommodations for five nights as well as for the concerts and tour, $1,000 of which is tax deductible. Interested parties should contact the school of music by email (edith@uga.edu) by Sept. 23 to reserve space.
A fundraiser and send-off concert featuring the ARCO Chamber Orchestra will be held Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall at the UGA Performing Arts Center. Tickets for this concert are $10 for the general public, $5 for students and are available through the Performing Arts Center box office (http://tickets.perfcenter.uga.edu/).
ARCO’s invitation and participation was arranged though the UNESCO Artists for Peace program, of which Masciadri has been a designated member since 1998.
“It is an honor for one of our ensembles to be asked to play this event in Venice,” said Dale Monson, director of the music school. “Having our students perform on one of the world’s most prestigious stages will be a rare educational opportunity and will bring significant attention to UGA and the Hodgson School of Music.”
The ARCO Chamber Orchestra is an internationally recognized string ensemble of students and faculty in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. For more information on ARCO, see http://www.music.uga.edu/ensembles/Chamber/Student/Strings/ARCOChamberOrchestra/.
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