Pre-concert lecture in the Lower Lobby at 7:15 PM. Kenneth Kiesler, conductor, Amy Cheng, piano, Nicholas Phan, tenor. Free - no tickets required
Czech music takes center stage for the opening concert of the University Symphony Orchestra, as SMTD celebrates the 100th birthday of Vitezslava Kaprálová. In her short life of only 25 years, she penned many works for orchestra, studied with two of the renowned musicians of the era (Boulanger and Martinu), and conducted the Czech Philharmonic. Pianist Amy Cheng and U-M alumnus and Grammy Award-winner Nicholas Phan are featured in music to be included in an all-Kaprálová CD to be recorded by Kiesler and the USO. The Czech celebration opens with the sweeping melodies and dance rhythms of Vltava (Moldau), and closes with the brass fanfares and folkloric music of Janácek’s virtuoso showpiece for large orchestra, Sinfonietta.
This event is part of the 2015 Kaprálová Festival: A Celebration of the Life and Works of Czech Composer Vitezslava Kaprálová (1915-40). For complete festival information, see music.umich.edu/kapralova.
Special thanks to Josef Kaprál, Brno, and Karla Hartl and the Kapralova Society, Toronto.
Sponsors: School of Music, Theatre & Dance; CREES; Department of Women’s Studies; Office of Research; WCED
