Oct 17 Friday
Music by Maurice Ravel
REDEMPTION FANTASTIQUE
This one-act fantasy explores the enchantment and imagination of childhood when a young boy misbehaves, and all around him comes to life—assuming human qualities—to intervene.
Librettist and French icon Colette—actress, journalist, and one of the most influential and provocative writers of the twentieth century—wrote this piece in eight days as a “fantasy ballet.” When approached about making it a musical work, the only composer she was excited about was Ravel.
Once Ravel had the text, it would take him eight years to complete, following his two years at the front in WWI and the death of his beloved mother. It premiered in 1925. Colette’s wartime text met Ravel’s postwar music to create an imaginative work with a naughty child and magic at its heart.
Artistic Staff
ConductorFawzi Haimor
DirectorOmer Ben Seadia
Lighting and Projection DesignerRussell Long
Chorus MasterWalter Huff
Faculty String Quartet-in-Residence
Enjoy this performance from almost anywhere in the world via LIVE@jacobs!
Repertoire to be announced
About the Artists
Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and daring repertory choices, the Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition over the past 30 years as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today, establishing itself as the embodiment of the ideal American quartet sound. Named faculty string quartet-in-residence at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2012, Pacifica was previously quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and most recently received its second Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for Contemporary Voices (2020), featuring the works of three Pulitzer Prize–winning women. In 2017, the Quartet was appointed to lead the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet quickly won chamber music’s top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In 2002, the ensemble was honored with Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and the appointment to Lincoln Center’s The Bowers Program, and in 2006 was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. The Pacifica Quartet has proven itself the preeminent interpreter of string quartet cycles, having given highly acclaimed performances of the complete Carter, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Shostakovich cycles in numerous cities across the United States, in Australia, and in Tokyo and London. An ardent advocate of contemporary music, Pacifica commissions and performs many new works, including compositions by Keeril Makan, Julia Wolfe, and Shulamit Ran. The Quartet has recorded the Carter cycle (Naxos) and the Shostakovich cycle (Cedille Records) to rave reviews. Other recording projects include Leo Ornstein’s piano quintet with Marc-André Hamelin, the Brahms piano quintet with Jacobs Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler, and the Brahms and Mozart clarinet quintets with Anthony McGill. Prior to its appointment to the Jacobs School, Pacifica was on the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for 9 years and served as resident performing artists at the University of Chicago for 17 years. Visit pacificaquartet.com for more information.
Oct 18 Saturday
Morgenstern Books is proud to partner with Constellation Stage & Screen for a Saturday Story Hour, inspired by their upcoming show You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (on stage November 1 - 16 at the Waldron Auditorium). Celebrate the 75th anniversary of Peanuts with our friends at Constellation, who will be reading "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and learn more about their upcoming production!
How do you keep your loved ones close? During the 19th century, Victorians considered hair to be a precious material and would create intricately woven pieces of jewelry out of their loved one’s hair. The Wylie family is known to have collected loved one’s hair as sentimental objects. Come learn about this historic art form and make your own modern take! (NO REAL HAIR WILL BE REQUIRED)
Visit Morgenstern Books on your Saturday afternoon to meet local author Karen A. Wyle and grab a signed copy of her brand new book, That the Dead May Rest.