Hodgson School hosts UGA International Chamber Music Festival

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music hosts guest artists from the Southeast, South America and Europe for a three-day chamber music event on August 29-31 in the UGA Performing Arts Center.

The UGA International Chamber Music Festival will hold three performances in Ramsey Concert Hall at 8 p.m. each day of the festival, featuring international guest artists playing alongside Hodgson School faculty members.

Directed by Milton Masciadri, professor of double bass at the Hodgson School and a UNESCO Artist for Peace, the festival’s concert programs include a wide variety of works from traditional masters—Schubert, Brahms and Beethoven—as well as composers from Latin America.

The programs change each night, with UGA faculty members rotating in and out to play with the guest artists. Faculty performers include Daniel Bolshoy, guitar; Michael Heald, violin; Milton Masciadri, double bass; D. Ray McClellan, clarinet; Maggie Snyder, viola; David Starkweather, cello; and Liza Stepanova, piano.

Guest artists Claudio Cruz, Ana Flávia Frazão, Sergio Gallo, Markus Placci and Arthur Ross form the core of the festival, performing each night.

Violinist Claudio Cruz is currently the music director of the Youth Orchestra of the state of São Paulo in Brazil and the artistic director for the Brazilian traditional music festival, “Oficina de Música de Curitiba.” He is also first violin with the Carlos Gomes String Quartet.

Ana Flávia Frazão has earned widespread acclaim as a pianist with performances in Asia, Europe and North and South Americas. Along with her dynamic career as a pianist, Frazão is Associate Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the Federal University of Goiás in Brazil.

Brazilian pianist Sergio Gallo is the winner of concerto competitions of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra and of the University Symphony in Santa Barbara. Gallo has performed with orchestras in the Americas, Asia and Europe. He teaches at Georgia State University and at Rocky Ridge Music Academy in Estes Park, Colorado.

Markus Placci made his debut as a violinist at age 13 with the Bologna Symphony in his native Italy. Since then, his remarkable career has led him to numerous appearances throughout Europe and the United States, international awards and an appointment to the violin faculty of The Boston Conservatory.

Augusta native Arthur Ross is Principal Violist for Symphony Orchestra Augusta. Ross also performs with the Hilton Head Orchestra, the South Carolina Philharmonic, and with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Violist.

Tickets to the festival’s concerts are $20 each (free for UGA students) or $45 for all three concerts. Tickets are available at pac.uga.edu or the Performing Arts Center box office. Each performance will be streamed live to music.uga.edu/streaming.

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia sponsors more than 350 performances each year. Go to http://music.uga.edu to view the school’s performance calendar, subscribe to the weekly email newsletter, and learn more about the School of Music.