March 9, 2010
Contact: Sara R. Leonard
Concert and Production Manager
413/542-2195
AMHERST, Mass. – The Amherst College Department of Music will present Grammy-nominated violinist Jennifer Koh’s “Bach and Beyond” concert in celebration of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 325th birthday on Wednesday, March 31. The performance, which includes works by Bach, Ysaye, Saariaho and Salonen, will take place at 8 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall in the Arms Music Center at Amherst College.
Koh is a young, internationally recognized, Grammy-nominated violinist who has been praised for her “burning intensity and prodigious command” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Strad magazine writes that Koh “supports her mesmerizing flights of fancy with a beguilingly silvery tone, fabulous technique and dead center intonation.”
Koh’s “Bach and Beyond” will begin with the work of the master composer himself and follow the trajectory of his influence through the 19th and 20th centuries to the present day. The program will open with Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E Major, and continue with works by Ysaye, Saariaho and Salonen that Koh feels are in conversation with Bach’s legendary works for solo violin. The program will conclude with Bach’s Partita No. 2 in d minor, bringing the performance full circle.
Koh will team up with Israeli pianist Shai Wosner the following evening to perform a program of Mozart and Schubert. The New York Times describes Wosner’s performances as exuding “virtuosity, determination and an infectious glee.”
Tickets for both concerts will be available for reservation beginning on Wednesday, March 17, through the Amherst College Concert Office. Call 413/542-2195 or emails concerts@amherst.edu. Ticket prices are $28 for the general public; $22 for seniors and Amherst College employees; and $12 for students with ID.
For a complete listing of upcoming Amherst College Department of Music events, visit us on the web: http://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/music/events.
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