University Chamber Music Series
Share the joy of music in the beautiful Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.
7:30 p.m. | Founders Recital Hall
Sponsored by a generous donation from M.K. Hugghins.
A North Dakota native with South Dakota ties, Benton Schmidt is thrilled to perform a recital of major organ works by Bach, Widor, Vierne and Brahms, along with newer works by Brenda Portman and Pamela Decker. He received his Bachelor of Music in piano performance at North Dakota State University, his Master of Sacred Music from the University of Notre Dame, and is currently completing a Doctorate of Music at the University of Kansas. As an organist, Benton particularly enjoys liturgical music of 17th-century France and early Baroque Lutheran music from Germany.
7:30 p.m. | Founders Recital Hall
Sponsored by the Dan and Michele Kemp Chamber Music Fund.
The School of Performing Arts partners with the South Dakota Music Teachers Association to present Iven Konev and Natalia Moiseeva in a duo performance.
Pianist Ivan Konev was born in Ukraine and educated in Moscow, where he completed his bachelor's degree in piano performance from the Music College affiliated with the Moscow Conservatory and master's degree in piano performance from Gnessin鈥檚 Music Academy. Konev holds a doctoral degree in piano performance from the University of Minnesota and currently serves as a professor of piano at the University of Wisconsin 鈥 River Falls.
Natalia Moiseeva holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in violin performance from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia, and a DMA degree in violin performance from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with professor Sally O鈥橰eilly. She regularly performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera and teaches violin at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
7:30 p.m. | Founders Recital Hall
Sponsored by the Patricia Noethe Pierce Visiting Artists in Residence Fund.
Celebrating over a quarter century of music making, the four-time Grammy-nominated group has led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through its dynamic playing, adventurous programming, imaginative collaborations and outreach endeavors that have inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
Recent and upcoming projects include a new double quintet by Arturo Sandoval, featuring Boston Brass; a Jessie Montgomery composition inspired by her great-grandfather鈥檚 migration from the American south to the north; and a work by Carlos Simon celebrating iconic figures of the African American community. These commissioned works and more are a part of the long-standing . Reflecting on the issues of mass incarceration, Imani Winds 11th studio recording, 鈥淏eLonging鈥 by and with Andy Akiho, was released in June 2024 and is nominated for a 2025 Grammy award.
Twenty-seven seasons of full-time touring has brought Imani Winds to virtually every major chamber music series, performing arts center and summer festival in the U.S. The musicians regularly perform in prominent venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center and have a presence at festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Chautauqua Institution and Banff Centre.
7:30 p.m. | Larson Memorial Concert Hall
Sponsored by the Griffith Education Fund.
Live performance of the original score by Dmitr Shostakovich.
The South Dakota Symphony presents this timeless classic with live music. The film is set in the spring of 1871 during the time of the Paris Commune and immediately after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Louise is employed as a salesperson in a wholesale store in Paris named "The New Babylon." She is involved in the Commune, against which Jean, a young man from the countryside with no political affiliations, has to fight as a soldier in the army controlled by the French government. Louise and Jean are in love with each other although they are on opposing sides, but their love has no place in a time of political turmoil. At the end of the film, Jean is ordered to dig a grave for Louise, who has been sentenced to death by the court. Cultural historian Joseph Horowitz will also be on hand to provide introductory remarks.
