ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY
The nation’s second oldest symphony, combining masterful musicianship with a knack for making modern repertoire accessible, will be in residence at UC Davis for three days, March 15-17. The symphony’s activities besides the Egghead Music Walk will include master classes, a matinee performance for area schoolchildren, a rehearsal with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra — and the following public events:
A "heartfelt" performance at the hospital (main lobby, UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento), noon-1 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Erik Harris, guitar, and Heidi Harris, violin, will play a relaxing selection of music at a tempo of 60 to 72 beats per minute — mimicking the resting heart rate. Selections will include Méditation from the opera Thaïs and The Girl from Ipanema, along with Beatles tunes.
A classical concert by a symphony ensemble, 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17, at Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St., Sacramento. Tickets are available in person at the admission desk, online or by phone, (916) 808-1182. Limited tickets may be available the day of the concert at the admission desk.
A concert by the full symphony, 7 p.m. Sunday, March 17, in Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The program:
- Brahms — Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a
- Berg — Violin Concerto
- Beethoven — Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36.
Preperformance talk: David Robertson, symphony music director, in conversation with Don Roth, the Mondavi Center’s executive director (and former executive director of the St. Louis Symphony). Tickets are available at the box office, in person, online or by phone, (530) 754-2787 or (877) 754-2787.
The residency is made possible with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Related story: Quarter-ending concerts start with a program in memory of Marya Welch.
By Dateline staff
How do you like your eggs? With music by UC Davis composers, of course — a half-dozen new works to go with the campus’s iconic Egghead sculptures. The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts commissioned the works and has arranged for their premieres during a walking tour of The Egghead Series next week.
The musical stroll with performances by members of the St. Louis Symphony is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the See No Evil/Hear No Evil Egghead installation in the traffic circle between King Hall and Mrak Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
“If you think of the statues you see on many university campuses, they are usually serious and solemn and noble,” said Don Roth, executive director of the Mondavi Center. “There is something very ‘Davis’ about the Eggheads — truly great art (by the late Robert Arneson of the art faculty), but with a bit of a smile and a wink.
“I knew the work of this great Davis artist would be inspiring to our wonderful UC Davis composers.”
Each of them — Ross Bauer, Sam Nichols, Pablo Ortiz, Mika Pelo, Kurt Rohde and Laurie San Martin — composed a work of three to five minutes in length, and, together, the works form a suite.
The premiere performances are part of the St. Louis Symphony’s three-day UC Davis residency, featuring events on and off campus and culminating with a concert at the Mondavi Center the night of March 17. See box for details.
AT A GLANCE
WHAT: Egghead Music Walk, featuring new works by UC Davis composers
WHEN: 2 p.m. Friday, March 15
WHERE: The campus’s five Egghead installations (see map of the walking tour)
Each of the venues, in order, with the name of the accompanying work and the composer:
- See No Evil/Hear No Evil, in the traffic circle between King Hall and Mrak Hall — Two Eggheads, one piece of music: hear no evil … after Arneson, Bach and Copland, by Kurt Rohde
- Eye on Mrak, on the north side of Mrak Hall — Night Music, by Mika Pelo
- Bookhead, in front of Shields Library — Tiny Font, by Laurie San Martin
- Yin & Yang, in front of Wright Hall — Two Eggheads, two pieces of music: The Fleeting Yin of the Motive, by Pablo Ortiz (for the Egghead that is upright and speaking, with eyes closed); and Both Sides, by Ross Bauer (for the Egghead that is lying on its side with the back of its head facing the speaker)
- Stargazer, east of North Hall and south of Young Hall — Portrait of the Artist (detail), by Sam Nichols.
TIMING AND RECEPTION: Each piece is three to five minutes long; a reception will begin at approximately 3 p.m., after the last performance, at Stargazer.
ADMISSION: Free and open to the public
ONLINE
Media Resources
Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu