For immediate release                      

April 7, 2017                                        

NOVA Chamber Music Series concludes their season with Utah Virtuosi on April 23, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY — The NOVA Chamber Music Series presents virtuoso violinists and violists performing music at the limit of possibility for their instruments by Paganini and American composer Eric Wubbels. Featured musicians include violinists Kathryn Eberle, Aubrey Woods, Robert Waters, and violists Brant Bayless, Elizabeth Beilman, Joel Gibbs, and Carl Johansen.

Eric Wubbels’ Viola Quartet of 2006-7, subtitled “Transcendental Etude,” is a searing virtuoso work of uncompromising complexity and vigor. The work is a terrifying undertaking for violists and a thrilling experience for an audience, pushing the instruments and players to their breaking point. The demands of this work are not unlike Paganini’s solo violin Caprices, which to this day still strike fear into the hearts of violinists due to their difficulty.

Also on the program, Kathryn Eberle and Brant Bayless collaborate on Mozart’s B-flat Duo for Violin and Viola, while Utah Symphony violinist Alex Martin offers a brilliant finale to our season as the featured soloist in Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto.

The third Violin Concerto is arguably Mozart's most popular violin concerto; its intimate and playful character makes it especially well-suited for a chamber ensemble and soloist. With Utah Symphony violinist Alex Martin performing the concerto, it will surely be an incredible and unforgettable end to NOVA’s 2016-17 season.

Eric Wubbels (b.1980) is a composer, pianist, and Co-Director of the Wet Ink Ensemble. His music has been performed throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and the U.S., by groups such as Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, yarn|wire, Kupka's Piano (AUS), Berlin PianoPercussion, Ensemble Linea (FR), New York New Music, SCENATET (DK), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, and Talea Ensemble. The recipient of a 2016 Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Wubbels has been awarded commissioning grants from Chamber Music America's Classical Commissioning Program, ISSUE Project Room, MATA Festival, Barlow Endowment, Jerome Foundation, New Music USA, and Yvar Mikhashoff Trust, and residencies at the MacDowell Colony (2011, 2016), Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and Civitella Ranieri Center.

Audience members are invited to join Artistic Director Jason Hardink for a lively preconcert talk on the repertoire of this concert and next season’s 40th anniversary programming. Preconcert talks are held in room 270 at the University of Utah School of Music at 2:30 PM.

 

NOVA’s subscription series consists of six concerts, with each performance juxtaposing old and new music performed by Utah’s talented local musicians. Programming includes works by both local and nationally renowned composers.

 

Sunday April 23, 3 PM

Libby Gardner Hall, University of Utah School of Music

$20 general admission, $18 seniors, students free.

For more information, please visit novaslc.org or email [email protected].