Ithaca College Concerts Series Subscriptions Now on Sale

The Ithaca College Concerts 2001-2 series, "Rhythms of the Dance," will feature three instrumental ensembles that represent a broad spectrum of dance traditions. The opening concert in September will be presented by the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, which will perform baroque dances on the instruments of that time period. In February the Quintet for New Tango will perform selections combining classical music, jazz, and traditional tango. The Haydn-Trio Vienna will close out the season in April with a performance of Viennese waltzes.

All three concerts will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall, located in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. A free lecture will precede each performance at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert A. Iger Lecture Hall.

Season subscriptions to "Rhythms of the Dance" offer a 20 percent discount off single-season ticket prices and are available at the following levels:

• children, senior citizens, and Ithaca College students --- $21.50 ($27.00 value)
• Ithaca College alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators; Friends of Ithaca College; other students --- $36.00 ($45.00 value)
• general public --- $43.00 ($54.00 value)

For season tickets or to request a subscription brochure, call 274-3171.

The new season opens on Saturday, September 15, with a performance by the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, a select group of musicians who use period instruments from the Smithsonian Institution’s collection to present historically accurate performances of masterworks of various eras. Conducted by Kenneth Slowik, the artistic director of the chamber music program at the National Museum of American History, the ensemble also features soprano Amanda Balestrieri. The program for the Ithaca performance will feature works by Bach, Handel, Marais, and Telemann.

Quintet for New Tango will perform on Tuesday, February 26, 2002. Begun by legendary Argentine composer and accordion virtuoso Astor Piazzolla, the new tango (nuevo tango) movement is a fusion of classical music, jazz, and traditional tango. During a 10-year stint as the pianist in Piazzolla’s Quinteto Tango Nuevo, Pablo Ziegler learned techniques that revolutionized tango. Now, with his own quintet, he continues to expand the horizons of nuevo tango by incorporating his training as a classical pianist, tanguero (tango musician), and bandstand jazz performer.

The Haydn-Trio Vienna will give the concert season’s final performance on Friday, April 12, 2002. The members of the trio --- pianist Heinz Medjimorec, violinist Michael Schnitzler, and cellist Walter Schulz --- began playing together as students at the Vienna Music Academy. In 1968 they formed the Haydn-Trio Vienna, which has earned a reputation as one of the world’s leading piano trios. The ensemble’s farewell tour this season features the waltz-inspired program "A Night in Vienna," which includes music by Beethoven, Haydn, Kreisler, Schubert, and Johann and Oscar Strauss.