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Duke Arts Presents

Jennifer Koh, Violin & Shai Wosner, Piano

Saturday, January 30, 2016 | 8:00 pm

Baldwin Auditorium


Acclaimed and adventurous artists Jennifer Koh (violin) and Shai Wosner (piano) come together for a performance of Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin. The New York Times declared that “Mr. Wosner’s singing tone and expressive musicality complemented Ms. Koh’s insightful, richly hued playing.” The San Jose Mercury News raved of a recent concert that “Koh’s impetuous, bright-toned phrasing was attractively set against Wosner’s flowing, articulate pianism; the [two musicians] deftly captured Beethoven’s high-spirited mix of wit and turbulence.”

The concert opens with Beethoven’s blithe early Sonata for Piano and Violin in D Major and closes with his monumental “Kreutzer” Sonata. Koh and Wosner’s rendition of the “Kreutzer” has been called “vivid and tenderhearted…Wosner’s silky elegance and Koh’s more extroverted musical demeanor made a wondrous combination” (SF Gate). Bookended by the Beethoven works is a new composition from GRAMMY-nominated composer, jazz pianist, and MacArthur Fellow Vijay Iyer, written in conversation with the “Kreutzer” Sonata.

Program

Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 1 in D Major, op. 12
Vijay Iyer: Bridgetower Fantasy (new commission)
Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 9 in A Major, op. 47 (“Kreutzer”)

Made possible, in part, by a Visiting Artist Grant from the Council for the Arts, Office of the Provost, Duke University.