Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music is gearing up for a weekend of musical performances featuring the Shepherd School Chamber Players Jan. 31 and a Symphony Orchestra program conducted by Christopher James Lees Feb. 1. Both events will showcase the talent of the school’s students and faculty while offering audiences a rich and varied repertoire.
On Jan. 31, the Chamber Players will perform works by Arnold Bax, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Igor Stravinsky as well as Shepherd School alumna Caroline Shaw ’04.
“This is a really beautiful piece to play,” sophomore clarinetist Rita Lai said of Shaw’s “Draft of a High-Rise.”
Lai highlighted the piece’s “challenging rhythmic things for strings and winds” and “beautiful phrases with a lot of freedom” as examples of the musical learning possible when playing chamber music.
“It tells us how to communicate with other musicians, how to listen to others and share our opinions and our ideas with respect,” Lai said. “It also gives us an opportunity to learn our instrument better.”
“In chamber, you really have to have a sense of trust and being able to take risks and feel safe in that group,” said sophomore violinist Marina Ziegler. “It’s just so amazing to put it together with all these incredible musicians.”
Ziegler is part of a septet that will perform Stravinsky’s suite from “L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale)” during the Jan. 31 concert.
“The big violin movement is three dances: the tango, waltz and ragtime,” Ziegler said. “It’s really fun getting to add my own slides and play around with it to make it more jazzy.”
Then on Feb. 1, Lees, resident conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, will lead the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra in a program that spans Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, Chen Yi’s “Duo Ye No. 2” and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3. This pay-what-you-wish concert is an opportunity for music lovers to experience the expressive range and technical brilliance of the Shepherd School’s orchestral ensembles.
Both performances will take place at Stude Concert Hall in Alice Pratt Brown Hall. Tickets are required for both events with the Jan. 31 concert offering free general admission seating and the Feb. 1 performance operating on pay-what-you-wish pricing, both of which you can reserve here. The concerts will also be available to livestream here.