At 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 4, the UW-Whitewater Department of Music will be holding a piano trio concert led by faculty members, as a part of the Music Mosaic series. The performance will be held in the Light Recital Hall, and will feature three differing movements played by Leanne League on the violin, Benjamin Whitcomb on the cello, and Myung Hee Chung on the piano. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased for adults ($10), seniors over 65 ($9), children under 18 ($3), and UW-Whitewater students with a valid ID ($3) by calling 262-472-2222, going online to tickets.uww.edu, or by visiting the Greenhill Center Box Office.
The first movement “Piano Trio in E-flat Minor Hob. XV/31; Op. 53” is a composition written by Franz Joseph Haydn; a late-work trio in an unusual key. The second movement “Vitebsk: Study on a Jewish Theme” by Aaron Copland, based on a Jewish melody that uses quarter tones. Copland wrote the piece for an accomplished violinist, hence the level of difficulty that will be heard from both the violin and the piano. The third movement “Trio in D Minor, Op. 32” is written by Anton Arensky, delivering a rich, Russian piece of chamber music to the audience. Whitcomb notes that the performance will demonstrate the “breadth of writing styles for piano and strings” and that the audience will be able to enjoy “the classical elegance of F.J. Haydn, the lush Romanticism of Anton Arensky, and the distinctive and interesting sound of American composer Aaron Copland”.
The Music Mosaic series benefits the UW-Whitewater Music Department’s Scholarship Fund, which allows for the opportunity to recognize students for their talents and academic excellence. The next performance to be held in the Music Mosaic series is the Whitewater Brass Quintet, which will be at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, April 8 in the Light Recital Hall.
Tickets for the Music Mosaic performances are on sale and can be purchased for adults ($10), seniors over 65 ($9), children under 18 ($3), and UW-Whitewater students with a valid ID ($3). For more information on the Music Mosaic series or to purchase tickets, please visit tickets.uww.edu, call(262)-472-2222, or visit the Greenhill Center Box Office.
About the Artists
Leanne League is an assistant concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and a core member of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. She is an adjunct instructor at UW-Whitewater and runs a private violin studio in Madison. From 1996-1999, she was a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida. As a Baroque violinist, she performs with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble.
Benjamin Whitcomb is a Professor of Cello and Music Theory at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, where he has received awards for his teaching, research, and service. As an active recitalist and chamber musician, he performs more than 30 concerts each year around the country and overseas. At UW-Whitewater, Whitcomb initiated and continues to coordinate the Theory/History Colloquium speaker series, the Musical Mosaics Faculty Concert Series, the Chancellor’s Quartet program, and the Summer String Camp.
Myung Hee Chung started playing the piano at the age of 4 and won prestigious national competitions in Korea by the age of 10. She came to the United States at 17 and later attended the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music in New York. She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the world and has performed with many major orchestras including the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Baltimore, and Portland, as well as the New Philharmonic and Seoul Philharmonic. In August 1995, she joined the faculty at UW-Whitewater, where she is a full Professor and Keyboard coordinator.
