2012–2013 Season

The Concerts

Student tickets are available.

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Please note that all evening concerts start at 7:30.

Concert 1

Genesis

Sunday, September 30 — 2:30 p.m. Beall Concert Hall

Newly-appointed Artistic Director Kelly Kuo begins his tenure by prefacing Mozart's majestic Prague Symphony with two suites of eighteenth-century dance forms viewed through the lenses of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century composers Grieg and Ravel. Originally composed for the piano, both works have been transformed into charming Neoclassical essays deeply influenced by their composers' distinct harmonic identities.

Kelly Kuo, conductor

Grieg: Holberg Suite
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504 (Prague)

Program notes

Concert sponsors Bob and Carolyn Walwyn, in memory of Daphne E. Walwyn

Post-concert reception hosted by The Taiwanese Women of Eugene

Concert 2

Candlelight Baroque

Sunday, December 9 and Monday, December 10 — 7:30
First Christian Church, 1166 Oak Street

This season's signature Candlelight Baroque concert brings Vivaldi's revolutionary violin showcase, The Four Seasons, innovatively featuring four different members of the orchestra rotating as soloists. Maestro Kuo leads from the harpsichord Bach's virtuosic Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, another cornerstone of the Baroque literature. Gorecki's Three Pieces in the Old Style, a haunting essay for strings, complements these masterworks.

Kelly Kuo, conductor
Alice Blankenship, Matthew Fuller, Yvonne Hsueh, Holland Phillips, violins
Jill Pauls, flute

Gorecki: Three Pieces in the Old Style
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050, D Major
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Program notes

Concert 3

Going Green

Saturday, February 9 — 7:30 p.m. Beall Concert Hall

Visions of earthly beauty arise with the presentation of Arnold Schoenberg's transcriptions for chamber ensemble of two symphonic works: Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde for two voices and orchestra. For the latter work, the OMP orchestra will be joined by two rising stars of the opera stage.

Kelly Kuo, conductor
Robert Breault, tenor
Donnie Ray Albert, baritone

Debussy (arr. Schoenberg): Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Mahler (arr. Schoenberg/Riehn): Das Lied von der Erde

Program notes

Concert 4

Intimate Encounters

Saturday, March 9 — 7:30 p.m. First Christian Church

Artistic Director Kuo goes back to his roots as a piano major at the University of Oregon when he plays Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 "a quattro"—with string quartet—as Mozart himself allowed it to be performed. Music by two of the world's foremost living composers holds sway in the rest of this program, including Osvaldo Golijov's tribute to the bandoneon, deemed "the best Piazzola tango Piazzola never wrote."

Kelly Kuo, conductor
Deborah Nansteel, mezzo-soprano

Rossini: String Sonata No. 6 in D
Golijov: Last Round
Harbison: Mirabai Songs
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414

Program notes

Concert 5

Homage to the Past

Saturday, May 11 — 7:30 p.m. Beall Concert Hall

The season concludes as it began, featuring the full forces of the Oregon Mozart Players. While Britten's galloping Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge showcases the OMP strings, the winds will get their turn in Richard Strauss' youthful Serenade, Op. 7. Additionally, Helena Spencer, OMP's talented principal bassoonist, shows off a charming concerto by Vivaldi, and Haydn's Symphony No. 98 receives its first OMP performance.

Kelly Kuo, conductor
Helena Kopchick Spencer, bassoon

Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
Vivaldi: Concerto for Bassoon in B-flat Major, RV 504
R. Strauss: Serenade for Winds in E-flat Major, op. 7
Haydn: Symphony No. 98 in B-flat Major, Hob. 1:98

Program notes

Concert sponsor Diana V. Gardener

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