BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 12, 2008 – Virginia Tech Department of Music's University Chamber Music Series presents its first concert of the season featuring trios performed by David Jacobsen, flute; Alan Weinstein, cello; and Tracy Cowden, piano.
The concert will showcase composers Haydn, Liebermann, and female composer Jeanne-Louise Farrenc. Performances will be held Saturday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 21 at 3 p.m.
Audiences are likely more familiar with the inventive elegance of 18th century Austrian composer, Joseph Haydn, and the brilliance and charisma of contemporary American composer, Lowell Liebermann (b.1961); but less well known is the French Romanticism of the unsung female composer Farrenc, who was rapidly forgotten by her public and publishers after her death in 1875.
Farrenc was admired and praised by critics during her life, especially in England, Germany, Belgium, and France. Her vast contribution to classical music includes symphonies, overtures, quintets, piano pieces, and chamber music that reveal a deep admiration for Viennese classics, especially for Beethoven and Schubert. Her styling is personal and refined. Farrenc, Paris-born to a family of sculptors and painters, studied piano with a pupil of the Italian born English pianist and composer Muzio Clementi. Antonin Reicha -- a Czech born French composer, a friend of Beethoven, and a professor at Paris Conservatory -- taught her music theory. Between 1842 and 1872, she taught at Paris Conservatory. Farrenc died in Paris three years after her retirement.
David Jacobsen is now in his 20th year as Virginia Tech's professor of saxophone and flute. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois. Learn more about Jacobsen.
Alan Weinstein, cello player for the Kandinsky Trio and Virginia Tech faculty, holds degrees in music performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music. Learn more about Weinstein.
Cowden joined the Virginia Tech music department faculty as assistant professor of piano and vocal coach in 2004. She received the doctorate of musical arts and master’s of music degrees in piano accompanying and chamber music from the Eastman School of Music, and a bachelor’s of music in piano performance from Western Michigan University. Learn more about Cowden.
Tickets go on sale Sept. 8, and are $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students and are available in advance through the University Unions and Student Activities Box Office in the Squires Student Center, at (540) 231-5615, or online. They are also available at the door one hour prior to performance time. All performances will be at the Squires Recital Salon located on College Avenue adjacent to downtown Blacksburg.