Composer’s Early Works Featured in ‘Beethoven on the Bluff: The Early Years’

The Mary Pappert School of Music will launch the first of its new two-season series, Beethoven on the Bluff: The Early Years, this Sunday, Sept. 22, at 3 p.m. with Septet/Piano Trios I.

David Allen Wehr

Beethoven on the Bluff: The Early Years will explore the piano chamber music of one of history’s greatest classical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven. This season’s repertoire will focus on the music Beethoven wrote between 1793-1801, when the composer was in his 20s.

Septet/Piano Trios I will feature Ghost Trio—said to be inspired by the Witches scene from Shakespeare’s Macbeth—and its companion, the elegant Piano Trio op. 70, no. 2. The program will also include the Septet, one of Beethoven’s most popular works, featuring music filled with tunefulness and youthful enthusiasm.

Beethoven on the Bluff is under the artistic direction of David Allen Wehr, holder of the Jack W. Geltz Distinguished Piano Chair at the Mary Pappert School of Music. In addition to Wehr, performers for Septet/Piano Trios I include:

  • Charles Stegeman, associate professor and chair of strings, and concertmaster for the Pittsburgh Opera/Ballet Orchestra
  • Adam Liu, adjunct professor of cello and assistant principal cellist for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO)
  • Jeffrey Turner, director of orchestral studies, adjunct professor of double bass and principal bass for the PSO
  • Ron Samuels, adjunct professor of clarinet and member of the PSO
  • Philip Pandolfi, adjunct professor of bassoon and member of the PSO
  • Zachary Smith, adjunct professor of horn and assistant principal horn for the PSO
  • Randolph Kelly, principal viola for the PSO
  • David Premo, associate principal cello for the PSO.

This concert will mark the formal debut of the Duquesne Piano Trio, featuring members Wehr, Stegeman and Liu.

All Beethoven on the Bluff concerts will be held in the PNC Recital Hall with a donation of $10 suggested for admission. For more information, call the School of Music at 412.396.6083 or visit www.duq.edu/beethoven.