Brahms and Elgar Variations
Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 2:30 pm
This program features Elgar’s Cello Concerto, arguably the most exquisite concerto ever written for cello, performed by the 2016 Sphinx Competition winner, Thomas Mesa. These concerts also explore the theme and variation form in two works: Brahms’ Haydn Variations and Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
Sorry, tickets to this experience are no longer available.
Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Hemmens Cultural Center
Andrew Grams, conductor
Thomas Mesa, cello
Brahms Haydn Variations
Elgar Cello Concerto
Elgar Enigma Variations
This program features Elgar’s Cello Concerto, arguably the most exquisite concerto ever written for cello, performed by the 2016 Sphinx Competition winner, Thomas Mesa. These concerts also explore the theme and variation form in two works: Brahms’ Haydn Variations and Elgar’s Enigma Variations. In both of these pieces, at the beginning a musical theme is presented and then changed many times in various ways. The Haydn Variations holds eight different permutations of the theme. The Elgar Engima Variations has 14 different sections, each reflecting the personality or essence of the composer’s family and friends.
Gwen Gage, ESO Board Member: This concert is special to me because in 2016 Betty Grams, my sister and I watched Andrew conduct the Sphinx Orchestra in Detroit. That was the year Thomas Mesa won the Senior Division and I’ve been waiting for a Sphinx young artist to grace our stage ever since then. Thanks Maestro!
Concert Sponsors
John and Gwen Gage
This program is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
