Albany, NY -- The Music Program of the University at Albany’s Department of Music and Theatre is pleased to present two concerts in March. The UAlbany Symphony Orchestra and UAlbany Concert Band will present a shared concert on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 7:30pm. Faculty member Max Lifchitz performs nature-inspired music by composers from around the world in a concert entitled Is Spring Right? on Wednesday, March 27 at 7pm. Both performances will take place at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus at 1400 Washington Avenue.

Opening the concert on March 14, the UAlbany Concert Band will present four selections.  Conducted by UAlbany faculty member Kevin Champagne, the first half of the concert will feature the band in Sovereign Variants by James Curnow, Bolero by Maurice Ravel, Kilimanjaro: An African Portrait by Robert Washburn and The Lion King by Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer.

The UAlbany Symphony Orchestra will take the stage for the second half of the March 14 concert.  Performing under the direction of Christopher David Neubert, the group will present two works: Summer Dances by Brian Balmages and Polka and Fugue from the opera Schwanda the Bagpiper by Jaromir Weinberger.

The March 27 concert by pianist Lifchitz will open with Ohr/Light, a recent work by the young Korean composer Jee Seo depicting the sunrise. Music conjuring images of rushing water will follow including a work by Mexican composer Marcela Rodriguez’s Como el agua en el agua (Like Water in Water) and Rabun Gap by Tennessee-based Johnathan McNair. Italian Barbara Rettagliati’s Rocce (Rocks) aims to portray three different rock formations using a contemporary, virtuosic language. Flashes of Illumination was written after Lithuanian composer Žibuokl? Martinaityt? reputedly gazed at stars twinkling in the night sky. Austin-based John McGinn’s Three Preludes culminate with images of a wild animal dancing in his lair.

Lifchitz will also perform two of his recent compositions informed by recent events. Lonesome Tears was penned while enduring enforced isolation during the recent pandemic. Is Spring Right? – for the felt hand alone – was composed in response to present-day climate abnormalities and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Advance tickets to the March 14 concert are $5 for the general public and $4 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff.  Tickets purchased on the day of the shows are $10 for the general public and $9 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. All tickets must be purchased on-line from the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s site at www.albany.edu/pac. 

Admission to the March 27 concert is free. No tickets or reservations are required.

Information and assistance can be obtained by contacting the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s main office at (518) 442-3995 or [email protected].