Campus News

Hodgson Faculty Series opens 2016 with Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn

Heald
Michael Heald

The Hugh Hodgson Faculty Series opens 2016 with a slate of “extraordinary” music Jan. 14, at 8 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall at the UGA Performing Arts Center.

Michael Heald, below, an associate professor of violin at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, will join with pianist and fellow School of Music faculty member Liza Stepanova to perform works from Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schubert.

Tickets are $10 each or $5 with a UGA student ID and are available at the PAC box office, by calling 706-542-4400 or by visiting pac.uga.edu.

“The music being performed on this recital is simply extraordinary, with each composer’s style being clearly defined in these works,” Heald said.

The pieces, according to Heald, run the gamut from brooding to joyous, employing a variety of methods: from “dark spontaneity” to classical structures. But a common thread does connect them all.

“Somehow, they all understand the role of the instruments involved, never allowing themselves to write music that is beyond the possibility of being played beautifully and with immaculate control,” Heald said.

Stepanova is an associate professor of piano at the School of Music. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Stepanova has performed extensively in Europe and the U.S., from Berlin’s Museum of Musical Instruments to Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York.