FESTIVAL 2019
March 3-10

Glass - Sonata for Violin and Piano arr Sax/piano Amy Dickson with Amy Dickson Saxophone

Beethoven - Piano Trio in B Flat Major op.97 "Archduke" with Ani Kavafian, Violin; Edward Arron, Cello

Bacewicz - Partita for Violin and Piano with Axel Strauss, Violin

Schnittke - Piano Quintet with the Escher Quartet

Puts - Air for Cello and Piano (2004) with Edward Arron, Cello

Mendelssohn - Sextet in D Major, op.110 (Ani Kavafian Violin, Ettore Causa Viola, Pierre Lapointe Viola, Edward Arron cello, Philip Alejo Double Bass

AFCM is thrilled to present the 26th annual festival, a week of chamber music with favorite returning artists and dynamic new artists who together with artistic director Peter Rejto will come together in a variety of ways over the course of five world-class concerts.

The festival will mark saxophonist Amy Dickson of Australia’s Tucson debut and she will give the U.S. premiere of Ross Edwards’ new quintet. Joining her, also in his Tucson debut, will be pianist James Giles who will perform the monumental Taneyev Piano Quartet. Also a first at the festival will be Chris Rogerson's new Quartet written for the Escher Quartet. Other highlights include violist Ettore Causa in an impressive arrangement of the Brahms Lieder, and cellist Edward Aron performing "Air” from the Pulitzer Prize winning composer Kevin Puts.

The festival has a slight Russian theme so the Taneyev Quartet will be augmented by the Shostakovich Quintet, Schnittke Quintet, and the rarely-performed Arensky Quartet for two cellos. Violinist Axel Strauss and pianist Bernadette Harvey, favorite festival musicians, will perform 20th century Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz’s partita for violin and piano. Also returning is violinist and Yale School of Music professor Ani Kavafian; she appeared in our first festival in 1994.