‘Appalachian Spring’ Kicks Off New Season of ‘Schubert on the Bluff’

The Mary Pappert School of Music’s Schubert on the Bluff concert series will begin this weekend with musical performances of works by Austrian composer Franz Schubert as well as American classical composer Aaron Copland.

Appalachian Spring will be held this Sunday, Sept. 11, at 3 p.m. in PNC Recital Hall. A 2:30 p.m. pre-concert discussion by Dr. Ed Kocher, the William Patrick Power, C.S.Sp., Endowed Chair in Academic Leadership at Duquesne, will feature a presentation on the history and background of Copland’s body of work.

Copland created the ballet Appalachian Spring for the renowned dancer Martha Graham, and it has become one of the most beloved works in all of classical music.

In the season opener, Schubert is represented by the Arpeggione Sonata, performed by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) principal violist Randolph Kelly, and by a selection of waltzes and German dances from Franz Liszt’s Soirées de Vienne, played by Natasha Snitkovsky, adjunct professor of piano. Faculty from the School of Music will be joined by additional PSO musicians, as well as guest violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley (Berlin Philharmonic) and pianist Cynthia Raim (Music from Marlboro).

The concert will also feature Duo for Flute and Piano, which fuses Copland’s jazz-inspired works from the 1920s and his famous folk-inspired ballet scores of the 1940s. The piece was originally commissioned as a retirement gift by students of Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Flutist William Kincaid.

Copland will be featured throughout season two of Schubert on the Bluff. Seating is reserved for all performances in the series. Admission is $10; audiences can purchase tickets online, by email or by calling 412.232.3853.

For more general information about the concert series, call 412.396.6083 or visit duq.edu/schubert.