It is a masterwork, a tour de force, the challenge of a musical lifetime.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Ciaconna for Violin Solo in d-minor” is widely considered among the most brilliant, influential and technically demanding works in the violin repertoire. Even the greatest virtuosos can spend years — indeed, entire careers — exploring its intricacies and complexities.
At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, Isabel Trautwein, violinist for the Cleveland Orchestra, will launch the fall Danforth University Center Chamber Music Series. She will perform Bach’s Ciaconna, along with works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, in the Goldberg Formal Lounge.
Born in Huntsville, Ala., Trautwein was raised in the United States and Germany. She began studying violin at age 5 and later served as a member of both the European Community Youth Orchestra and the German National Youth Orchestra. Prior to joining the Cleveland Orchestra, in 2002, she was principal second violinist of the St. Louis Symphony, concertmaster of the New World Symphony in Miami, and a member of the Houston Symphony and the Naumburg Award-winning Pacifica String Quartet.
Accompanying Trautwein will be pianist Patti Wolf, who regularly appears with the St. Louis Symphony, the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis and the Chautauqua Symphony in New York. A former visiting professor in Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, Wolf trained at the St. Louis Conservatory before earning degrees at the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music. She maintains an active private studio.
DUC Chamber Music Series
The Chamber Music Series will continue Oct. 15 when St. Louis harpsichordist Charles Metz joins The Newberry Consort, one of the nation’s premiere early music ensembles, for music of the 13th through 18th centuries.
On Nov. 2, the duo New Morse Code — aka cellist Hannah Collins and percussionist Michael Compitello — will present the world premiere of “Language of Landscapes,” a new work by Washington University composer Christopher Stark, assistant professor of music in Arts & Sciences. Commissioned by Chamber Music America, the 20-minute piece, includes cello, percussion and electronics, as well as found and discarded objects ranging from plastic bottles and reclaimed hardwood to a Starbucks coffee sleeve used as a cello mute.
Finally, on Dec. 15, African Musical Arts will present the Songs of Africa Ensemble. This multi-cultural vocal and instrumental group is dedicated to the music, instruments, languages and cultures of Africa and to the work of composers of African descent.
All performances are free and open to the public. The Danforth University Center is located at 6475 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call 314-935-5566 or email daniels@wustl.edu.
