Sphinx Chamber Orchestra October 16, 2008

Eisenhower Auditorium

The Sphinx Chamber Orchestra is an ensemble featuring the top alumni of the national Sphinx Competition for young African American and Latino string players. A New York Times critic described the unique group’s 2004 Carnegie Hall debut as “first-rate in every way.” The ensemble, the Times reviewer wrote, “produced a more beautiful, precise, and carefully shaped sound than some fully professional orchestras that came through Carnegie Hall in the course of the year.” The orchestra returned to Carnegie Hall in 2006 and 2007 to present two additional programs to sold-out houses. The ensemble, which includes musicians from several American orchestras, embarks on its first tour, conducted by Chelsea Tipton II, with a program including works by Mozart, Vivaldi, tango master Astor Piazzolla, and jazz icon Wynton Marsalis. The concert also features the Harlem Quartet, an ensemble of first-place laureates from the Sphinx Competition, and selected solo performances by other laureates.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian): Divertimento in D Major, KV 136
Astor Piazzolla (Argentinean): Winter in Buenos Aires for Solo Violin and Orchestra
Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazilian): Fugue
George Walker (American): Lyric for Strings
Wynton Marsalis (American): Hellbound Highball (Harlem Quartet)
Antonio Vivaldi (Italian): Concerto in B Minor for Four Violins and Orchestra
Michael Abels (American): Delights and Dances for String Quartet and Orchestra

Official Website: http://www.cpa.psu.edu