• ~~World-class performers in an intimate setting~~

Ames Town and Gown Concert Season 1999-2000

  • OPUS ONE

Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; Ida Kavafian, violin; Steven Tenenbom, viola; and Peter Wiley, cello.
Friday evening, October 8, 1999, 7:30 p.m. Ames City Auditorium.

The members of Opus One are veterans as well as present members of the world's most prestigious chamber groups including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Tashi, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Orion String Quartet. This new ensemble made its debut in October 1998 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to an overflowing and enthralled audience. This season will bring debuts in major sites in New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Their repertoire ranges from masterworks of the piano quartet form to exciting new works for various combinations of their instruments.

  • THE COMIC INTERMEZZO

Kathleen Van de Graaff, soprano; Peter Van de Graaff, bass-baritone; and members of the Chicago Baroque Ensemble.
Saturday evening, November 13, 1999, 7:30 p.m. Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall, Music Hall, Iowa State University.

In the early 18th century a comic opera art form called the "intermezzo" swept Europe. These entertaining chamber operas were generally for two singers--soprano and bass--with strings and harpsichord accompaniment. Called "intermezzi" because they were inserted between the acts of the larger "opera seria," they provided the audience with comic relief. Our audience will enjoy a complete, fully costumed and staged performance of one of these baroque jewels by the man considered in his day to be the greatest opera composer, Johann Adolphe Hasse (1699-1783). Period instruments and remarks by Peter Van de Graaff will be additional highlights of the evening.

  • THE BRENTANO STRING QUARTET.

Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violins; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Maria Lee, cello.
Sunday afternoon, January 30, 2000, 2:00 p.m. Ames City Auditorium.

Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has been singled out for its musical insight and stylistic elegance, as well as technical brilliance. By 1995, the Quartet had won the first Cleveland Quartet Award, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, and the 10th annual Martin E. Segal Award. The Brentano also received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for the most outstanding chamber music debut for 1997.

  • THE BEAUX ARTS TRIO.

Menahem Pressler, piano; Young Uck Kim, violin; and Antonio Meneses, cello.
Tuesday evening, March 28, 2000, 7:30 p.m. Ames City Auditorium.

Having set the standard for performance of piano trio literature for over 40 years, the Beaux Arts Trio continues to ignite overwhelming enthusiasm from audiences around the world. The Trio's extensive discography encompasses the entire piano trio repertoire and has received such honors as the Prix Mondial du Disque, three Grand prix du Disque, Record of the Year awards from Gramophone and Stereo Review, and a Grammy nomination in 1998. The irrepressible Menahem Pressler, founder of the Beaux Arts Trio, is joined by two of the world's most highly acclaimed string players, violinist Young Uck Kim and cellist Antonio Meneses.

  • MIA CHUNG, piano.

Sunday evening, April 16, 2000, 7:30 p.m. Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall, Music Hall, Iowa State University. Pre-concert conversation with the artist 6:30 p.m.

First Prize winner of the 1993 Concert Artists Guild Competition and recipient of a 1997 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mia Chung has performed in recital in major halls of Washington, Boston, New York, and Amsterdam. Ms. Chung's first recording, featuring sonatas and bagatelles of Beethoven, was listed in Gramaphone as one of the "best CDs" of 1995. A gifted speaker, Mia Chung has also served on radio as "young Artist in Residence" for NPR's "Performance Today," and she was subsequently named their "Debut Artist of the Year." She will share musical insights with our audience at a pre-concert talk.