Civitas Ensemble to Perform Chamber Music Concert Feb. 28 at Merit School of Music

Civitas Ensemble, a non-profit chamber music group based in Evanston, is pleased to announce its program for its Winter Concert on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. at Gottlieb Hall at the Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St., Chicago. Tickets are $30, and only $20 if purchased before Jan. 31. Student tickets are free and are limited to two per customer.

Civitas is made up of three 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. Both Yu and Bloom at also Evanston residents.

The Feb. 28 concert will include works by Jacques Offenbach and by two less well known European composers and will feature two guest artists: violist Wei Jing Wang and a surprise guest cellist.

The program will include:

· Jacques Offenbach — Cello Duo
German composer Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) is best known for his operettas, most notably The Tales of Hoffman. But he was also a well-known cello virtuoso, and in this piece, he shows off his love for the instrument. Although originally written for two cellos, Civitas will be performing it on one cello and one bass clarinet.

· Johann Nepomuk Hummel — Clarinet Quartet in E-flat Major
Austrian composer Hummel (1778-1837) trained under Mozart at the age of 4 and was considered a European piano prodigy by the age of 10. In this piece, which was written in 1807, he pays homage to his first teacher with a short reference to Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in the first movement.

· Anton Arensky — String Quartet No. 2
Written by Russian composer Anton Arensky (1861-1906) for violin, viola and two cellos, this piece was dedicated to Tchaikovsky and the second movement features the theme from Tchaikovsky’s Op. 54 Children’s Songs.

Civitas Ensemble’s Spring 2016 appearances will include:

March 20 at 2 p.m. Valparaiso University
Alban Berg — Ada­gio from Cham­ber Con­certo
Johann Nepo­muk Hum­mel — Clar­inet Quar­tet in E-flat Major
Franz Schu­bert — Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major

May 1 at 3 p.m. at the Merit School of Music
Stacy Gar­rop — Lit­tle Bits
Peter Schick­ele — Quar­tet for clar­inet, vio­lin, cello, and piano
Bernard Her­rmann — Sou­venirs de Voy­age
Aaron Cop­land — Sex­tet

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 Chamber Series)
Charles Ives — Largo for Clar­inet, Vio­lin and Piano
Quincy Porter — Clar­inet Quin­tet
Aaron Cop­land — Sex­tet
Johannes Brahms — Piano Quin­tet

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

DATE: Feb. 28, 3 p.m.

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

TICKETS: $30, $20 if purchased by Jan. 31. Student tickets are free and limited to two tickets per request. Purchase tickets at http://www.civitasensemble.org/

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.