Concerts
Concerts
SubscriptionsMake a DonationPurchase Tickets

Concerts

River Rhapsodies Series

Vivaldi's Beloved Four Seasons | Romantic Voices
The Magic of Sixty-Nine Strings
"Song of Thanksgiving" | Tango to Transfiguration
A Musical Bouquet

For two years, the ASO's River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series has been the MUST-HAVE Ticket in Little Rock.  With performances in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center, this series features our resident sting quartets with other members of the orchestra performing in a more intimate setting than the concert hall.  Come early and enjoy buffet-style dining at Café 42, or enjoy the best sunset vista in town with pre-concert cocktails on the terrace of the Great Hall.  But don't miss out  With only 300 seats available, it will be Standing Room Only!   


Vivaldi's Beloved Four Seasons
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
7:00PM
Giora Schmidt, violin*
David Itkin, harpsichord
Quapaq Quartet
John Dahlstrand, double bass
*Richard Sheppard Arnold Chamber Music Artist of Distinction

Schubert

String Quartet in A minor, Op. 29

Vivaldi The Four Seasons

Vivaldi's high-spirited Baroque masterpiece has delighted listeners for nearly three centuries with its vivid sound pictures.  One hundred years later, Schubert created the hauntingly beautiful "Rosamunde" Quartet, borrowing a theme from incidental music he had composed for a play of that name.

[top]

Romantic Voices
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
7:00PM

Rockefeller Quartet
Sturgis Quartet
Carl Anthony, piano

Webern Five Pieces, Op. 5
Schumann

String Quartet No. 1, Op. 41

Dvorák Piano Quintet

 




Schumann's Quartet beautifully reveals the contrasting sides of his personality -- free and outgoing versus thoughtful and restrained.  Agleam with gorgeous lyrical passages and vibrant with Bohemian rhythms, Dvorák's Quintet is an audience favorite.  Webern's highly-compressed Five Pieces amaze with whispered notes and astonishing beauty.

[top]

The Magic of Sixty-Nine Strings
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
7:00PM

Elisabeth Chardonnet, harp
John Dahlstrand, double bass
Rockefeller Quartet

Caplet

Fantastic Tale after Poe's "Mask of the Red Death"

Bottesini Two Pieces for Bass and String Quartet
Ravel Pavane - Habeñera
Brahms String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 67

Brahms said his quartet included some of his "tenderest and most impassioned" music.  Caplet evokes Edgar Allen Poe's eerie world with fascinating instrumental effects, while Ravel's feel for all things Spanish is amply demonstrated by his stately Pavane and seductive Habeñera.  Bottesini's works show why he was called "the Paganini of the double bass."

[top]

"Song of Thanksgiving"
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
7:00PM
Quapaw Quartet

Haydn

String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 76
"Quintet"

Szymanowski

String Quartet No. 1 in C major

Beethoven String Quartet in A jinor, Op. 132

Beethoven's Quartet floats between heaven and earth:  the sublime central movement, "Holy Song of Thanksgiving," is profoundly spiritual, while the fourth movement march brings us back to reality.  One of Haydn's finely-wroght quartets and the mysterious sonic canvas of Szymanowski round out this magnificent program. 

[top]

Tango to Transfiguration
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
7:00PM
Meredith Maddox, violin
Rick Dimond, accordian
David Renfro, horn
Robin Dauer, horn
John Dahlstrand, double bass

Quapaw Quartet
Rockefeller Quartet

Piazzolla

Oblivión
Escualo (The Shark)
Concierto para trio

Peterburshsky El Sol Sueño
Hommage á Astor Piazzolla (The Sun Dream)
Mozart A Musical Joke
Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)

Schoenberg's tone poem for string sextet was inspired by a poem that tells the story of a cold, moonlit night beautifully transfigured by love.  Mozart is at his most light-hearted and Astor Piazzolla's seductive tangos make for a program that spans the musical spectrum from sultry to sublime. 

Order Tickets

[top]

A Musical Bouquet
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
7:00PM
Rockefeller Quartet
Sturgis Quartet
Krishana Thiagarian, piano


Puccini

I Cristantemi (The Chrysanthemums)

Mendelssohn

String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13

Shostakovich

Piano Quintet, Op. 57

Named for the flowers that evoke rememberance rites, Puccini's dark-hued, emotionally intense elegy memorializes a royal death, while the spirit of Beethoven infuses 18-year-old Mendelssohn's Quartet.  With it's powerful combination of piano and string quartet, Shostakovich's searing masterpiece traverses moods from light to solemn, moving to raucous, ironic to humorous.

Order Tickets

 


[Ensemble Personnel]

Quapaw Quartet
Eric Hayward, violin
Meredith Maddox, violin
Ryan Mooney, viola
Melita Hunsinger, cello

 

Rockefeller Quartet
Christian Baker, violin
Darby BeDell, violin
Katherine Reynolds, viola
Daniel Cline, cello

 

 

Sturgis Quartet
Joanna Whang, violin
Tatania Kotcherguina, viola
William Preece, cello

Wheelchair Accessible
Thanks to Our Sponsors - Barbara/Jean Thanks to Our Sponsors - UAMS Faculty Friends of the ASO Thanks to Our Sponsors - Russellville Symphony Guild Thanks to Our Sponsors - Mary Healey's Fine Jewelry Thanks to Our Sponsors - Regions Bank
Concerts