The Sheldon Museum of Art and the Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music recently joined forces to form the Sheldon Friends of Chamber Music. This new partnership formally bonds the music organization and the museum, which has played host to the chamber music concerts for 45 years.
The partnership will allow the museum to more effectively promote the chamber music concerts through a variety of marketing efforts, and the Sheldon Friends of Chamber Music staff will continue to manage the programming side of the concert series. A member of the Sheldon staff also will sit on the Sheldon Friends of Chamber music board of directors.
The 2010-11 series, titled "Nebraska Ties," will offer five performances beginning Sept. 26 with "Quartet! Quintet! Sextet! Oh Maia!" Cellist Daniel Levitov, a Lincoln native, and his wife, violinist Karin Brown, will join the Maia Quartet. The group will perform Haydn's String Quartet Op. 64 No. 5 "Lark," Boccherini String Quintet Op. 11, No. 6 "Bird Sanctuary," and Brahms String Sextet No. 2 in G, Op. 36. Levitov is on the faculty at Baltimore's Peabody Institute. The Maia Quartet is in residence at the University of Iowa.
The rest of the concert season includes performances from the Cassatt Quartet in October; a February performance from the Ames Piano Quartet with cellist George Work, a Lincoln native; and Trio Nuovo performing in March. The final concert, in April, will feature the Castalia Trio with guest cellist and Lincoln native Kim Cook.
The concerts take place in the Sheldon's Abbott Auditorium. The museum is located at 12th and R streets on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus.
Pre-performance lectures explore the concert content for the audience, and post-performance receptions offer wine, food and conversation with the musicians. Pre-performance lectures begin 30 minutes prior to the concerts.
Season tickets are $130 for adults and $30 for students. New season subscribers may take 50 percent off the adult subscription price. Single tickets are available for $35 for adults and $8 for students. NET Radio members with a member card get a two-for-the-price-of-one discount for one event, and Lincoln Arts Council donors with a Spark card receive a $5 discount on adult admission. For more information or to reserve tickets, call (402) 435-5454 or visit http://www.lfcm.org.
Full details on the season follow.
* "Quartet! Quintet! Sextet! Oh Maia!" Sept. 26, 3 p.m. -- Lincoln native and cellist Daniel Levitov and his wife, violinist Karin Brown, will perform an exciting season opener program of Haydn's String Quartet Op. 64 No. 5 "Lark," Boccherini String Quintet Op. 11, No. 6 "Bird Sanctuary," and Brahms String Sextet No. 2 in G, Op. 36.
* Cassatt Quartet, Oct. 24, 3 p.m. -- Partially funded by the American Masterpieces-Chamber Music grant provided by the National Endowment of the Arts, the award-winning Cassatt Quartet will perform an out-of-print Howard Hanson string quartet score from 1924, Samuel Barber's String Quartet that includes the famous "Adagio" movement as well as works by living American composers Daniel Godfrey and Gabriella Frank.
* Ames Piano Quartet, Feb. 18, 2011, 8 p.m. -- The Ames Piano Quartet will play with Lincoln cellist George Work and plans to perform piano quartets by Brahms, Schoenfield and Schumann.
* Trio Nuovo, March 13, 2011, 3 p.m. -- Trio Nuovo features some familiar faces in a new setting: Lincoln Symphony Concertmaster Anton Miller and UNL faculty members Mark Clinton and Karen Becker will perform in an afternoon of piano trios, including works by Shostakovich, Arensky and Chausson.
* Castalia Trio, April 16, 2011, 8 p.m. -- Lincoln native and cellist Kim Cook will perform as part of a trio, featuring work by Schubert, Ravel and Muczinski.
Sheldon Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects focusing principally on American art. The museum is open free to the public during regular hours: Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays. For information or to arrange a tour, call (402) 472-4524. Additional information is also available on the Sheldon website, http://www.sheldon.unl.edu.
Sarah Baker-Hansen, Sheldon Museum of Art
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/rq7