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Held in the Sharon Kay Dean Recital Hall in McCray Hall, this year’s series is based on the theme “Immerse.”
“Music is a universal language. Emotion, connection, and inspiration are evoked from the sounds that wash over you,” said Professor Joanne Britz, who this year is co-directing the series with Susan Marchant, chair of the Music Department.
“This longtime series brings to campus extraordinary performances from renowned artists,” Britz said. “We are immersed in their performances and are transported to a new time and place.”
Concerts start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now at the Pitt State Ticket Office in the Weede Building, 1701 S. Homer, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, or online. Questions? Call 620-235-4466 (Music Department) or 620-235-4796 (Ticket Office).
Founded by students of the renowned Donald Sinta at the University of Michigan in 1984, PRISM is one of America’s foremost chamber ensembles. They have performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, on television, internationally in Latin America, China, and Russia, as artists-in-residence at Curtis Institute and Oberlin Conservatory, and in concert in nearly every U.S. state.
As two-time recipients of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, PRISM has commissioned more than 300 works by eminent composers, and their discography is extensive. Named by its alma mater, PRISM was the first recipient of the Christopher Kendall Award in recognition of its work in “collaboration, entrepreneurship, and community engagement.”
Italian trombonist Peter Steiner’s playing has been described as “beautifully controlled with a vocal sound” and he is recognized around the world as “a new trombone star within his generation.” His career has taken him around the world as a soloist, principal, or guest chair in numerous top-tier orchestras.
Steiner is returning to campus, this time as part of a duo with organist Constanze Hochwartner. Their collaboration has taken them to Austria, Australia, China, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand as well as the U.S. With the university’s Fisk organ fully engaged, the duo will perform unique and challenging works for trombone and organ.
The Baltimore Consort was founded to perform instrumental music of Shakespeare's time. The group forged its identity as an ensemble dedicated to exploiting the diverse sound colors offered by gut- and wire-strung, plucked and bowed strings, and transverse and end-blown flutes and recorders, capped reeds, and percussion.
In their second performance at Pitt State since 1997, Baltimore Consort will perform the program, “Crossing to the New World - Early and Traditional Music in the British Isles, France, and North America,” honoring the rich trove of music North American settlers brought from their “old countries” to the shores of the New World. These are the songs and dances preserved in Appalachia as well as French and Scottish Canada, and some from the original sources on the other side of the Atlantic.
Soprano Leah Hawkins is the recipient of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024 Beverly Sills Artist Award and a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Additional honors include the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Women in Classical Music Career Advancement Award and a Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant.
Her recent engagements with the San Francisco Symphony, Metropolitan Opera, Arizona Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Apollo Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Seattle Opera, Dutch National Opera, and the American Symphony Orchestras have Hawkins performing roles ranging from major operatic works of Verdi and Beethoven to Anthony Davis’ X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X .
A complete biography may be found at imgartists.com/roster/leah-hawkins/
From the Ancient Greek word χημεία (chemistry), the Khemia ensemble derives its name.
Hailed by the Columbia Daily Tribune as adding a “fresh dimension” to the concert experience, Khemia Ensemble embraces broad perspectives in contemporary classical chamber music. With its dynamic instrumentation (soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and two percussion), Khemia’s unique sound world encompasses the presentation of new classical music with a mix of acoustic chamber works, multimedia, and multi-genre influences.
Eight passionate artist educators, who also hold positions at academic and arts institutions across the U.S., come together to further their commitment to chamber music, sharing their “chemistry” with audiences around the world.
Leland Ko, a cellist of Chinese-Canadian descent, is taking the world by storm, winning the First Prizes at numerous prestigious cello competitions: 2024-Naumburg International Cello Competition; 2023- Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) Competition, along with the J.S. Bach Special Prize and the Orchestra of the Americas Prize. That year, he was selected to be a Young Artist in Residence for American Public Media’s Performance Today.
As two of Ko’s professors described Brahms’ E minor and Kabalevsky’s Bb major cello sonatas, each as a unique sort of solitary dance, the imagery forged a theme. Coupled with some shorter works filled with dreams, mirages, fairy tales and romances, the program to be presented here, “The Dance That Never Was,” grew its inspiration.
Individual concerts:
“Any four package”
Complete season:
Group Tickets
Available by individual arrangement for organized groups of 10 or more from schools, churches, senior citizens associations, etc. We ask that you call 620-235-4466 at least a week in advance to make arrangements.
Some visiting artists will present master classes as part of their visits. These will be open to the public, as well. For further information, please call the Music Department at 620-235-4466.
