This preview has been provided by the St. Stephen’s Concert Series.
On Sunday, May 1 at 4:00 pm, violinist, Nicholas Kitchen, and pianist, Andrew Tyson, will present an all Mozart concert at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Durham. A half hour Pre-Concert Discussion will take place at 3:00 pm, and a reception will follow the concert. The concert will mark the end of the 2015-2016 season of the St. Stephen’s Concert Series.
The program will consist of four of Mozart’s sonatas for piano and violin (K. 301, K. 304, K. 454, and K. 526) plus the 6 Variations in G minor, K. 360.
At. St. Stephen’s, the Kitchen-Tyson twosome has been called the church’s “Dynamic Duo.” Both Kitchen and Tyson grew up at the church and both began their musical studies in the Triangle area. Kitchen studied with Georgio Ciompi, founder of the Ciompi Quartet at Duke, while Tyson studied with Dr. Thomas Otten at UNC. Later on both studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Though separated in age, it was only natural that they would eventually collaborate musically.
Their first collaboration took place at St. Stephen’s in November, 2010. The concert closed with “a passionate, searing” performance on the Franck piano/violin sonata, to quote CVNC reviewer William Thomas Walker, who added, “The dynamic range and tonal palette were extraordinary.”
Since then the duo has performed a series of concerts devoted to the piano/violin sonatas of Beethoven. Among their highlights were two performances of the “Kreutzer” sonata. Responding to the first performance of this work, CVNC critic Tom Moore wrote, “The Kreutzer offered music making that would be the pride of any concert stage in the nation, or in any metropolis internationally — truly world class.”
Tickets ($25) are available at the door. The concert is free for those 18 or under. The church is located at 82 Kimberly Drive, Durham NC 27707.
