Chamber Music at the Eccles Center

Virtuoso Pianist Michael Gurt

Sunday, August 7

The program will include Liszt's B Minor Sonata, Op. 23, Etude-tableau in E-Flat Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Prelude in D Major, the Etude in D# Minor by Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Prokoviev's Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major. 

Virtuoso Pianist Michael Gurt holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School and won First Prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 1982 along with prizes at international competitions in Pretoria, South Africa, and Sydney, Australia. He has performed as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Capetown Symphony, the China National Symphony Orchestra, and the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa.

He has presented solo concerts at Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) in New York, Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, City Hall in Hong Kong, the Victorian Arts Center in Melbourne, Australia, Baxter Hall in Capetown, South Africa, and the Attaturk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

Michael Gurt's many chamber music collaborations include working with the Takacs String Quartet, the Cassatt String Quartet, and Cellist Astrid Schween, and performing at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Queensland. He has served on the juries of both the Gina Bachauer International and the New Orleans International Piano Competitions, and he has recorded on the Naxos, Centaur, and Redwood labels.

John Jensen with Russell Harlow, Leslie Harlow, and Lauren Posey

Sunday, July 31, 3:00 PM

The program for this concert will include Solo Piano Works by Paul Reale, Intermezzos by Brahms, the Clarinet Trio by Carl Fruhling, the Shostakovich Sonata for Cello and Piano, and Schubert's "Shepherd on the Rock".

Classical and Jazz recording artist John Jensen is known for his gift for improvisation and exceptional musical memory. He received his musical education in Los Angeles, where he attended Occidental College and the University of Southern California, studying with pianists John Crown, Gwendolyn Koldofsky, and composers Ingolf Dahl and Halsey Stevens. After graduating, he served as accompanist on US tours for Columbia Artists Management and joined the Mirecourt Trio with cellist Terry King and violinist Ken Goldsmith.

Chamber Music of Handel, Telemann, Poulenc and Fauré 

Sunday, May, 22 at 3:00 PM

Featuring exquisite 18th Century works of Handel, Telemann, and 20th Century masterpieces by Gabriel Faure´ and Francis Poulenc featuring violist Leslie Harlow, clarinetist Russell Harlow, pianist/harpsichordist Pamela Palmer Jones and cellist Richard Jones.

The Faure´ Trio is an expansively rich work, wonderfully lyrical and melodic, perfect for this combination. The blending of viola and clarinet creates a unique, velvety sound, unlike any instrumental combination.

The Poulenc Clarinet Sonata is one of his most beautiful works and an audience favorite. The Handel and Telemann Trio Sonatas are true chamber music masterpieces and some of the finest examples of the work of these two favorite composers.

All-Star SONOLUMINA WINDS in Concert

Sunday, May 8 at 3:00 PM

The All-Star SONOLUMINA WINDS will present masterpieces of works for winds by Jacques Ibert, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Beethoven Festival has gathered this sterling roster of fine wind players from around the country to form the Sonolumina Winds. The "Five Pieces" for Trio by Jacque Ibert is a collection of light, jaunty and dreamy works for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, perfect for a Sunday afternoon. The Beethoven Sextet for Two Clarinets, Two French Horns, and Two Bassoons was written for this completely unique combination of wind instruments. The final work for the concert will be the famous Mozart Woodwind Serenade for Two Oboes, Two Clarinets, Two French Horns, and two Bassoons. During Mozart's time there it was practiced to write woodwind works to be performed outdoors by wind ensembles, and the style was taken to a new height in the wonderful compositions by Mozart. 

Music of Reinecke, Mendelssohn and Poulenc

Sunday, April 10 at 3:00 PM

Beethoven Festival Director Russell Harlow has an impressive record in creating sophisticated, intriguing, and inviting concert programs. In April the Beethoven Festival will feature clarinetists Lee Livengood and Russell Harlow with pianist Melissa Livengood and violist Leslie Harlow performing works of Reinecke Trio for Piano Op. 264, Clarinet and Viola, Mendelssohn Op. 113, and 114 Concert Pieces for Two Clarinets and Piano, and the Poulenc Sonata for Two Clarinets. The Reinecke Trio is a romantic, tuneful, lyrical chamber work and the blend of clarinet and viola creates a distinctively rich sound all its own. The Mendelssohn Concert Pieces are virtuoso showpieces and the Poulenc Sonata for Two Clarinets is a Stravinsky-like jewel and perfect to contrast with the dazzling Mendelssohn works. 

Clarinetists Lee Livengood and Russell Harlow are known internationally both for their artistry as performers and their dedication and sharing their research in perfecting techniques and equipment, elevating the art of clarinet playing. Lee Livengood has served as the president of the International Clarinet Association and both Russell Harlow and Lee Livengood have performed regularly as guest artists for the International Clarfests held each year in a different nation around the world. Violist Leslie Harlow and pianist Melissa Livengood, excellent artists in their own rights, thoroughly enjoy delving into the clarinet, viola and piano repertoire. 

Violinist Stephanie Chase

Sunday, March 13 2022 at 3:00 PM

Stephanie Chase is internationally recognized as “one of the violin greats of our era” (Newhouse Newspapers) through solo appearances with over 170 orchestras that include the New York and Hong Kong Philharmonics and the Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Baltimore, and London Symphony Orchestras.

Pianist John Novacek in Concert with Beethoven Festival Artists in Residence - A program of remarkable works

Sunday, February 6 at 3:00 PM

The program will feature the Trio Op. 1 No. 1 for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano is a perfect arrangement of one of Ludwig van Beethoven's first published chamber music works, written when he was only 25 years old. He had written other works but this charming trio was one work in the set of trios that were his introduction to Viennese musical society.

The program then travels to the 20th century with the dazzlingly virtuosic 1990 Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano by Jean Francaix.

The afternoon’s concert will conclude with John Novacek returning to the works of Beethoven with the popular Beethoven Piano Sonata Op. 110.

Pianist JOHN NOVACEK regularly tours the Americas, Europe, and Asia as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist; in the latter capacity, he has presented over thirty concertos with dozens of orchestras. 

Having recorded over 35 CDs of works by most major composers from Bach to Bartók and including his own original compositions. He records for the Philips, Nonesuch, Arabesque, Warner Classics, Sony/BMG, IBS Classical, Koch International, Universal Classics, Ambassador, Arkay, Azica, EMI Classics, Four Winds, Pony Canyon, and Virtuoso labels. 

CD titles include Road Movies (2004 GRAMMY nomination as “Best Chamber Music Performance”), Great Mozart Piano Works, Spanish Rhapsody, Novarags (original ragtime compositions), Classic Romance, Hungarian Sketches, Intersection, Romances et Meditations, and, with Leila Josefowicz, Americana (GRAMOPHONE: “Editor’s Choice”), For the End of Time, Shostakovich and Recital (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE: 5 stars/June 2005's chamber choice). 2020 saw the IBS Classical releases of Chausson’s Concert in D for Violin, Piano & String Quartet and an album of viola sonatas by Glinka, Hindemith, and Schubert with violist Randolph Kelly.

Virtuoso Pianist Stephen Beus in Recital

Sunday, August 29 3:00

Born and raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Stephen Beus began lessons at age 5 and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics. Commenting on Mr. Beus’ competition success, Fanfare magazine writes: “In some ways, Beus doesn’t fit the mold of the typical competition winner. His playing is strikingly original and, despite his youth, he has an interpretive voice all his own… Above all, his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth, not quite like anyone else’s.”

As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition, Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana, and Walla Walla Symphonies.

Beethoven Festival Chamber Players in Concert

Sunday, August 22 3:00 PM

Each year since 1983 the Beethoven Festival of Park City has been bringing outstanding classical solo artists from around the globe to perform together in Park City. The Festival continues as one of the nation’s longest-running classical music festivals. The hallmark of the Festival is its vibrant, intimate performances filled with variety and color, designed to appeal to newcomers and chamber music fans alike.

The Beethoven Festival Artists in Residence Russell Harlow, clarinetist, and Leslie Blackburn Harlow, violist, have invited a sterling roster of some of this generation’s finest and most expressive artists. The musicians are spending weeks in residence in Park City preparing each program. Hear violinists Rebekah Johnson (NYC) and Simon Gollo (Venezuela), violist Leslie Harlow, cellists Tom Landschoot (Belgium) and Horacio Contreras (Venezuela) for this collection of their favorite chamber music works. 

The Reverón Trio

Friday, August 20 7:00 PM

The Reverón Piano Trio brilliantly introduces audiences to music from Latin America alongside contemporary and standard repertoire. These seasoned artists promote Latin American music through their work as scholars and entrepreneurs, and they have devoted their careers to the discovery, cataloguing, performance, and recording of this rich repertoire. The Trio commissions new works, while also creating the Sphinx Catalog of Latin American Piano Trios. All Venezuelan artists, pianist Ana María Otamendi, violinist Simón Gollo, and cellist Horacio Contreras are all Venezuelan artists who now perform and teach in the United States. 

The Music of Beethoven, Performed Live with Charles Chaplin’s Iconic Silent Film

Sunday, August 8 3:00 PM
Featuring Pianist Jeffrey Price, Conductor Russell Harlow, Beethoven Festival Chamber Players

Enjoy a full evening of favorite chamber music works by Beethoven, synchronized live to the original versions of Charlie Chaplin’s iconic classic “The Gold Rush”. Beethoven’s timing and mastery of structure along with his ability to throw off the restrictive bonds of classical composition and bend music to his will make him the perfect film composer. “The Gold Rush” is recognized by the AFI as one of the 100 most important films of all time and is considered the most successful film of the silent era. Be forewarned: You will never listen to Beethoven’s the same after this concert. Beethoven captures the full range of human emotion in his music and the perfect balance of timing and surprise. You may never be able to listen to Beethoven again without a wistful smile on your face.