Listen to the entire program:
Geoff Nuttall: Opening Remarks

Violinist Geoff Nuttall, violist Hsin-yun Huang, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and pianist Stephen Prutsman play the passionate late-Romantic French masterpiece by Gabriel Fauré, the Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 45.
GABRIEL FAURE: Piano Quartet in G minor No. 2, Op. 45
Geoff Nuttall, violin
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Stephen Prutsman, piano

The beautiful Anglo-American ballad is performed in its “standard” setting by the Westminster Choir, led by Joseph Flummerfelt.
TRAD. ARR: The Water is Wide
Joseph Flummerfelt, conductor, Westminster Choir

Geoff Nuttall introduces Spoleto Composer-in-Residence Jonathan Berger, who in turn offers a few remarks about the piece he wrote for violinist Livia Sohn called “Sink or Swim.”

Violinist Livia Sohn gives a tour-de-force performance of the four-movement theme and variations by Jonathan Berger, based on the familiar folk tune.
JONATHAN BERGER: Sink or SwimLivia Sohn, violin

Now it’s the turn of Spoleto Chamber Music’s pianist-cum-composer Stephen Prutsman, who explains the inspiration for his clever new song-cycle “Piano Lessons,” written for Dawn Upshaw to perform in recital with Emanuel Ax during their current Chopin/Schumann Bicentennial recital tour.

From the Dock Street Theatre, soprano Dawn Upshaw gives the Spoleto premiere of “Piano Lessons,” by pianist Stephen Prutsman, set to the poems of Billy Collins. Prutsman explains, “This curious and mysterious beast, with its enormous smile, occupies a large part of our collective heart. The song cycle is dedicated to those most patient of people: our piano teachers.” (See the related story on today’s Spoleto Today).
STEPHEN PRUTSMAN: Piano Lessons
Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Stephen Prutsman, piano
Billy Collins, lyrics

From Sunday night’s concert by the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra at Gaillard Auditorium, Emmanuel Villaume conducts the orchestra in a performance of the Siegfried Idyl by Wagner.
RICHARD WAGNER: Siegfried Idyl in E, WWV. 103
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor, Spoleto Festival Orchestra
Brevard Playing Bach
Pianist and Brevard Dean Bruce Murray leads his young charges through a performance of the Keyboard Concerto in G minor, BWV 1058, in concert at the Western North Carolina music festival.
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Keyboard Concerto in G minor, BWV. 1058
Bruce Murray, conductor, Brevard Sinfonia
Pianist and Brevard Dean Bruce Murray leads his young charges through a performance of the Keyboard Concerto in G minor, BWV 1058, in concert at the Western North Carolina music festival.
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Keyboard Concerto in G minor, BWV. 1058
Bruce Murray, conductor, Brevard Sinfonia