Civitas Ensemble to Perform Concert on May 1

Civitas Ensemble, a non-profit chamber music group, is pleased to announce its program for its Season Finale Concert on Sunday, May 1 at 3 p.m. at Gottlieb Hall at the Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St., Chicago. Tickets are $30. Student tickets are free and are limited to two per customer.

Civitas is comprised of four artists, three of whom are members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Yuan‐Qing Yu, violin and assistant concertmaster; Kenneth Olsen, assistant principal cello; and J. Lawrie Bloom, clarinet and bass clarinet. The fourth member is Winston Choi, head of the Piano Department at Roosevelt University’s College of the Performing Arts.

Due to an injury, violinist Yu will not be performing in this concert, and the ensemble has devised a new program comprised of a selection of duos and trios.

The new program will include:

· Ludwig van Beethoven — Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 11
Written in Vienna in 1797, this piece for piano, clarinet and cello was composed just as woodwind instruments were being introduced into classical repertoire. The piece incorporates a theme in its third movement that was based off of a tune called “Before I Go to Work” that was popular in Beethoven’s day.

· Franz Schubert — Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821
Written in Vienna in 1824, this piece was originally composed for an instrument called an arpeggione, which was a six-string instrument invented just a year before. Today, arpeggiones are no longer played, so this piece has been transcribed for piano and cello.

· Robert Mucyznski — Fantasy Trio, Op. 26
Robert Mucynski was a Polish-American composer who was born in Chicago in 1929 and taught at DePaul University, Roosevelt University and Loras College in Iowa before moving to Arizona. This trio for clarinet, cello and piano was written in 1969 and shows off the clarinet’s wide range.

· Mikhail Glinka — Trio Pathétique
Russian composer Mikhail Glinka wrote this piece while studying at the Milan Conservatory in Italy in 1832, which probably accounts for its very non-Russian style. Although the tone of the piece isn’t particularly sad, an epigraph on the score says “I knew the love only by the sorrows which is causes.”

Attendees can also enjoy a special offer at Santorini Restaurant, 800 W. Adams St., after the performance. Simply show your concert ticket and receive a free glass of wine and dessert with your din­ner. Reser­va­tions are nec­es­sary and can be made by call­ing 312.829.8820 or by vis­it­ing www.santorinichicago.com.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

DATE: May 1, 3 p.m.

VENUE: Gottlieb Hall at the Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St., Chicago, 60607

TICKETS: $30. Student tickets are free and limited to two tickets per request. Purchase tickets at http://www.civitasensemble.org/

Additional Civitas Ensemble’s Spring 2016 appearances will include:

May 23 at 8 p.m. Live From WFMT

Charles Ives — Largo for Clar­inet, Vio­lin and Piano
Peter Schick­ele  —  Quar­tet for clar­inet, vio­lin, cello, and piano
Franz Schu­bert  —  Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major

June 5 at 2 p.m. at the Art Institute of Chicago
(Part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s CSO Chamber at the AIC series)
Charles Ives — Largo for Clar­inet, Vio­lin and Piano
Quincy Porter — Clar­inet Quin­tet
Aaron Cop­land — Sex­tet
Johannes Brahms — Piano Quin­tet

CIVITAS ENSEMBLE MISSION
Civ­i­tas is a cham­ber music ensem­ble with a three­fold mis­sion: to present engag­ing live per­for­mances of new and tra­di­tional works; to inspire a young gen­er­a­tion of clas­si­cal musi­cians; and to bring the heal­ing power of music to those with lim­ited access to live performances.

ABOUT CIVITAS ENSEMBLE

Civitas Ensemble was founded by members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2011. The ensemble presents repertoire spanning four centuries of music history and also nurtures relationships with living composers to introduce audiences to exciting new works.

Civitas has performed at various venues, including the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and with Yo-Yo Ma at the 2012 Chicago Humanities Festival. The group’s performance on WFMT was selected by the station as the one of the “Best of Live Broadcasts in 2012,” and the ensemble has received rave reviews from the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Classical Review, and Chicago on the Aisle.

Civitas Ensemble is the recipient of grants from the Driehaus Foundation MacArthur Arts Fund, the Albert Pick Jr. Fund, the Leslie Fund, the Dolores Kohl Educational Fund, The Sage Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Illinois Arts Council, and is supported by Judith and Scott McCue and the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.