Stuttgart Orchestra to perform Glass symphony

Work honors orchestra's 50th anniversary

The Chicago premiere of University alumnus Philip Glass' Symphony No. 3, commissioned in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, will be featured in a performance by the orchestra at 8 p.m. Friday, March 31, in Mandel Hall.

One of the world's most highly acclaimed chamber orchestras, the Stuttgart will be conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, who is music director for the city of Bonn, Germany, as well as for the American Composers Orchestra and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He is also principal conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

The performance will be highlighted by a rare Chicago-area appearance of concert violist Kim Kashkashian, who will join the orchestra for Britten's "Lachrymae (Reflections on a Song of Dowland)" and the Chicago premiere of Giya Kancheli's "Abii ne viderem." Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" will complete the program. Cited for her "rich, mellow timbre and impressive artistry" by the New York Times, Kashkashian has established herself as one of the most accomplished artists of her generation. In recent seasons, she has appeared as a soloist with the major orchestras in New York, Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich and Tokyo. She has numerous recordings on the ECM, CBS Masterworks and Deutsche Grammophon recording labels.

Glass' Symphony No. 3, commissioned by the German company Stiftung Wuerth for the Stuttgart's anniversary, received its world premiere last month in Kuenzelsau, Germany. According to Glass, the symphony has several distinctive features that reflect its commemoration of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. In addition to being a symphony for strings only, the work combines features of a large-scale composition with those of chamber music, alternating the ranges from unison writing for all the players to treatments of the instruments as 19 separate parts.

The performance by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra with Dennis Russell Davies and Kim Kashkashian is the fifth of six concerts in the Chamber Music Series. Tickets are $22, $19 and $17; $8 for students. For tickets and information, call the University Concert Office at 702-8068.