Marguerite Scribante Professor of Piano Paul Barnes joins string quartet superstars Brookyn Rider in concert to celebrate the release of their international CD recording, “Annunciation,” on Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Hall.
The concert is part of the Lied Center for Performing Arts 30th anniversary season. Tickets are $36 (half price for students) and are available at the Lied Center Box Office, (402) 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 or online at http://liedcenter.org. A post-concert, CD signing reception will take place in the Lied Commons.
Barnes commissioned composer Philip Glass to write the piano quintet “Annunciation,” which premiered at the Lied Center in April 2018 featuring Barnes with the Chiara String Quartet, in its final Lincoln performance after serving as the Glenn Korff School of Music’s quartet-in-residence since 2004. It is based on a Greek Orthodox byzantine communion hymn.
“It’s interesting because I now have the perspective of the effect that my many performances of the quintet have had on so many different audiences,” Barnes said. “It’s a gem of a piece that really brings joy to so many different people around the world. And the fact that it began with the support of organizations here in Lincoln and the fact that we get to have the official CD release performance here in Lincoln is really special to me.”
In addition to “Annunciation,” Barnes will also join Brooklyn Rider 2nd violinist Colin Jacobsen on Glass’s “Pendulum for Violin and Piano” (2010).
Brooklyn Rider will open the concert with Glass’s “Quartet Satz” (2017). The second half of the concert will include Ludwig van Beethoven’s “String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132.”
Barnes said concert-goers will notice a harmonic theme in the program.
“The very first piece that they’re going to open the concert with is Philip’s new ‘Quartet Satz.’ It has that same progression that he begins the Quintet with, which I call the ‘love progression,’” he said. “Glass first used this progression in his opera ‘Orphee,’ one of the very first things that I transcribed. So there’s going to be a wonderful harmonic connection. It’s just stunningly beautiful.”
Barnes was thrilled to record the CD with Brooklyn Rider in January and is excited to perform with them in Lincoln.
“Just their quality of musicianship,” Barnes said. “I remember sitting down at the first rehearsal we did before the recording last January. I couldn’t believe how phenomenal it sounded right from the beginning.”
The Oct. 3 concert is sponsored by the Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music and the Glenn Korff School of Music. Additional funding for the concert was provided by Robert and Charlene Gondring, Mike and Amber Kutayli, Jennelea and Troy Montanez, Rhonda Seacrest, Konstantinos Gianakas and Tala Awada, and Ria Papageorgiou. Funders from the Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music include Kandra Hahn, J.A. Woollam Foundation, Kam-Ching and Yvonne Norton Leung, and Bob Kuzelka.
Funding for the Orange Mountain Music recording “Annunciation” was provided by the Pearle Francis Finigan Foundation.
That local support has been critical to the success of this project.
“It’s important because it allows me to dream big,” Barnes said. “I’ve talked to so many of my colleagues around the country, and I tell them how I’m able to raise money here in Lincoln, Nebraska, and they are blown away. The fact that I have commissioned two major works from Philip Glass, and every penny has come from Nebraska sources, that just makes me intensely proud of this place where I live.”
The CD will be available on iTunes on Oct. 11 and will be available on Amazon.com on Oct. 18.
After more than 20 performances of the piece since its premiere, Barnes plans additional performances of “Annunciation” in Dallas in November, as well as next year in Ottawa, Canada; Budapest; Vienna; London; and Dublin.
“It just keeps going on,” he said. “I’m hoping to play it in Athens and some other places in Greece this coming summer.”
Barnes has an active performance schedule. On Oct. 6, Barnes will perform a new piece written for him by Native American flute player Ron Warren at the Omaha Conservatory.
“He wrote a very beautiful piano solo piece that I’ll be giving the world premiere performance of,” he said.
Other upcoming projects for Barnes include a benefit recital on June 27, 2020, for the Frank Lloyd Wright Unity Temple in Chicago, where he will perform an all-Philip Glass recital. In addition, David von Kampen, a lecturer in the Glenn Korff School of Music, is writing a piece for Barnes based on Greek Orthodox chant, which Barnes will premiere at the 2020 Nebraska Music Teachers State Conference, which Nebraska will host next October. Von Kampen is writing both a solo piano version and a choral version, which Assistant Professor of Music in Choral Activities Marques L.A. Garrett with the Chamber Singers will perform at the convention.
“There are a lot of things going on,” he said. “It will be great fun.”