Trio to present Bach masterpiece for Strings - May 1

The Jackson Symphony Orchestra will wrap up its 2011 Chamber Music Series on May 1 with an ambitious program that features “Xie Min and Friends.”

The string trio will perform a monumental work by composer Johann Sebastian Bach that has been transcribed for strings. The concert begins at 3 p.m. May 1 at the JSO's Peter A. Weatherwax Hall, 215 W. Michigan Ave. Tickets are $15 per person and include light refreshments.

Titled Goldberg Variations, the piece for harpsichord was written in 1741. Talented Russian composer and violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky transcribed it in 1984 so it could be performed on strings instruments instead. Musicians performing Goldberg Variations must have virtuoso technical skills. Because of its one-hour duration, it’s also a test of concentration for the players.

The music begins with an aria followed by 30 “variations” (material repeated in a changed form). The aria reoccurs at the end. Goldberg Variations is considered by many to be the most important set of variations composed in the Baroque era. Bach named it after his pupil, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who was harpsichordist in the court of Count Keyserlingk.

When Goldberg Variations was published, the cover page read: Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach. “Refreshing our spirits” at the JSO chamber concert will be Xie Min on violin, Roman Kosarev on viola and Andrew McIntosh on cello.

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Xie Min is Concertmaster of Jackson Symphony Orchestra as well as ECO Violinist in the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada. He graduated from Michigan State University in 2004 with a Doctor of Musical Arts in violin performance. From 1996 to 2004, Min served as Principal Second Violinist of the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Concertmaster of the MSU Symphony Orchestra, Artist-in-Residence at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and Concertmaster of the Faculty Orchestra at BLFAC.

Roman Kosarev, a doctorate student at MSU is an active solo and orchestra performer. He served as a Principal Violist with the MSU Symphony Orchestra (2004-2009), Midland Symphony (2005-2007), Greater Lansing Symphony (2006-current) and Battle Creek Symphony (2008-2009). He also plays with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra as the third chair viola (2008-current). Since 2005 he has spent summers at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where he teaches and performs with the Festival Orchestra as Principal Viola. Kosarev studied violin at Vladimir Music College in Russia, then viola at the Glinka State Conservatory. Later he completed Post-Graduate Studies in Chamber Music at the conservatory.

Andrew McIntosh has been Principal Cellist of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra since 1997. During that time he has also been active as a freelance cellist in Ontario and southern Michigan, playing regularly with the Canadian Opera Company and Esprit Orchestras in Toronto, as well as the Detroit Symphony and Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit. McIntosh obtained a Bachelor of Music from McGill University and completed a Masters of Music from The Cleveland Institute of Music.

For additional information, please call the Jackson Symphony Orchestra at 517-782-3221.
Reservations through 517-782-3221 or jacksonsymphony.org.