Lyrique Quintette Concert to Feature Premiere Performance, Famous Paintings

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Lyrique Quintette at the University of Arkansas will present a concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall on the university campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Lyrique Quintette is the faculty woodwind chamber ensemble in residence in the music department of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Members include Ronda Mains, flute; Theresa Delaplain, oboe; Nophachai Cholthitchanta, clarinet; Timothy Thompson, French horn; and Richard Ramey, bassoon. 

A versatile troupe, the ensemble has been invited to perform throughout the United States and abroad. The members perform chamber music as chamber music should be heard — in an intimate, personal and comfortable setting — bringing the performers and audience together as partners in the creation of an art form. The Quintette’s wide range of repertoire and dazzling performances make it a favorite of audiences of all ages.

Featured during the concert will be the first performance of the Quintet for Winds by music department member Christopher Lacy. Lacy, who serves as artistic director of the Opera Theater, is a 2009 winner of an Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship in Composition. Lacy’s Quintet was inspired by the Italian Commedia dell'Arte, whose well-known operatic characters include Harlequin and Pierrot.

A member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Lacy has won numerous awards for his compositions, including the 1989 Virgil Thomson Award. His compositions have been performed worldwide, and he has received grants and commissions from major funding organizations such as the Sosland Foundation and the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation. Upcoming publications include Three Mediterranean Landscapes for Flute Choir and Percussion from Falls House Press. The Quintet for Winds and Stick Figures for Two Clarinets and Two Bassoons are published by Trevco Music.

The Lyrique Quintette is also performing Debussy’s Children’s Corner suite, arranged by university graduate Richard Bobo, from the original piano work. A suite of six pieces, this work evokes an adult view of childhood. Each piece of the suite, originally written for Debussy’s daughter, has a descriptive title, among them “Golliwog's Cakewalk” and “The Snowflakes are Dancing.”

Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition rounds out the evening. A walk through an exhibit of paintings, originally for solo piano, inspired this work. The Quintette’s performance will include a slide show of some of the original paintings, which include the famous “Hut of Baba-Yaga” and the “Great Gates of Kiev.”

A reception in honor of Lacy’s Quintet will follow the concert, sponsored by the John Harrison Opera Foundation.